WINE

It was 2000 and it was a six-litre 1992 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon bottle sold at a Napa Valley charity auction.

Well, it was a record for The most Expensive Wine ever sold.

Price half a million dollars.

My story is also based in the year 2000 and has an expensive wine bottle.

Erm -- expensive but not half a million dollars.

It played out as the world rang in the new millennium.

It was approaching midnight of 31st December 1999 in Bombay and worldwide this date was a night of anticipated horror and suspense. 

There was a virus (bug) that was going to hit the world computers at the stroke of midnight.

Not in its true sense but just because of Y2K.

Y2K is the shorthand term for "the year 2000." 

It was commonly used to refer to a widespread computer programming shortcut that was expected to cause extensive havoc as the year changed from 1999 to 2000 at the turn of the Millenium.

There was panic as many computers were programmed to allow only two digits for a year instead of four digits (99 instead of 1999) and now as the date descended from 99 to 00 everyone expected that there would be mayhem.

Titled the Millennium Bug it was supposed 

to wreak havoc on computer systems ranging from airline reservations to financial databases to government systems.

Putting aside fears of Y2K many revellers all around the world were all geared up to ring in the good times.

Who knows it could be their last before the end of the world.

                   ---------////---------

Monica Dsouza was her name. 

Wine glass in hand she sat perched alone on the bar stool.

She was beautiful with an aura of elegance and grace.

Her low neckline sleeveless designer gown draped her to enhance her appearance.

Lost in thought and feeling sad she sipped on the red wine as the loud music blared in the background.

                   ---------////---------

Samson D’abreo was a rich software entrepreneur. He was a bachelor.

As he entered the bar of the five-star hotel he saw her.

                   ---------////---------

Taking advantage of the Y2K problems Samson had positioned his small company to provide solutions for troubleshooting this impending giant.

Fear psychosis had driven many companies towards him to provide solutions in resolving the Y2K bug.

He was financially a success.

Returning, a few years back, to India from the US had given him an advantageous position over his local competitors. Setting shop he went full steam ahead as he had the knowhow and a promise to stall the oncoming problem.

His business flourished and he employed as many young brains he could to cope up with the demand.

The countdown had started and the apprehension was thick in the air.

10, 9, 8,7,6,5,4,3,2 ------- Happy New Year!!

Simultaneously the electronic world was viewing with bated breath 

On the digital counter, 99 moved to 00 without any hiccup 

The transition was without a hitch and was smooth. 

Armageddon had not yet come. 

The world was still there.

Past midnight, relieved when he got confirmation that all was ok with his client's accounts, he popped into the five-star hotel neighbouring his office.

                          ---------///--------

As he entered the packed bar he saw the partying was in full scale.

But what struck him like a bolt of lightning was this beautiful lady sitting alone on the bar stool.

It was as if she was ’Out of this World’.

Approaching the barman he asked for his regular drink and started a casual conversation with this elegant lady.

As the conversation progressed her soft-toned voice drew him with intrigue.

Offering her a drink they whiled away their time exchanging banter.

As he got more and more impressed with her their conversation drew them closer.

He had gauged that she was genuine and not a cheap trickster or gold digger.

As she finished the last sip of her red wine he called the barman over and asked him which was his most expensive red wine in stock.

He was in a mood to celebrate.

The barman returned with a bottle of imported red wine from the Bordeaux region of France priced at Rs 15,000 (this was a lot of money for a wine bottle in India in the year 2000) and after presenting the bottle left it unopened on the counter for the couple to examine the label and admire the details.

Suddenly she started shivering.

It started as a light tremble but after some time accelerated to her jaw chattering with the cold.

Samson got concerned that it was the ac draft that was affecting her.

Offering his warm expensive jacket which carried all his worldly belongings like keys, cash, credit cards, and the most expensive mobile phone he helped her wear it.

It did not help.

She had mentioned that she was staying alone in Bandra itself and she politely asked him to be dropped home.

He was not completely drunk but he was slightly inebriated. so he decided he would take her by taxi to her house.

Deciding to buy the bottle of wine he signed his bill to be charged to his business account, picked up the unopened wine bottle and walked out of the hotel asking the doorman to hail the cab.

The taxi slowly cruised into the porch of the hotel lobby. Helping her get in gently he sat beside her. 

Getting into the taxi she gave her address as Rose Bungalow, Bandra Talao Road 

It was a short distance away and they would reach in 20 minutes.

As they sat in the back seat of the taxi exchanging sweet nothings, lost deep in the eyes of each other, the cab swerved around the cemetery road as it approached its destination.

She suddenly asked the driver to stop.

The driver braked against the long high stone wall bordering the cemetery.

 She requested Samson if she could step out of the taxi and grasp in some fresh air.

He agreed and she got out from her side and slammed the door of the cab.

Samson immediately got out from his side and walked over to the other side of the taxi.

He stood in shock. 

She was not there.

Poooooof!!

She had disappeared into thin air.

She was not in sight.

She could not have sprinted away or climbed the high wall so fast. It was just a couple of minutes since she got out.

It was as if she had melted into the ground or permeated into the solid rock stone wall.

He was perturbed and so was the cab driver.

The realisation slowly came that his jacket was with her and he also realised that she had taken the expensive unopened bottle of wine.

He could not come to terms with this and decided to go to the address she had given.

She had mentioned that she had lived alone in the bungalow. 

They drove towards Bandra Talao Road.

He was acquainted with this area and always admired the quaint standalone bungalows that adorned this quiet tree-lined street.

Getting out of the taxi knew he was in the right house as the bungalow entrance was marked DSOUZA’S in a wooden bark door sign. 

Both he and the driver banged on the wooden door of the dilapidated ’Rose Bungalow’.

He did not expect it to be answered.

After a series of hard knocks, a light suddenly came on inside the house and they heard a slow shuffling from within.

Someone on the inside was approaching the door.

The opening of the latch sounded as the heavy door opened with the unoiled hinges creating a creaking sound.

A lone lit bulb hung inside the room from an exposed twirled wire spreading a yellowish luminous glow.

There in front of their eyes stood an elderly white curly-haired bespectacled man. 

Dressed in white pyjamas draped with a black crumpled woollen shawl he stood barefooted looking sleepy and tired.

Bent in stature he hobbled towards them and enquired the reason of their visit.

Samson asked for Monica Dsouza.

Explaining to him what had transpired he saw the old man's sleepy face awaken fully and go white.

What he heard next shocked him.

”She is no more!!!” he sobbed.

”Monica was my daughter and tragically died last week”.

When Samson refused to believe this and got suspicious that it was a father and daughter trickster gang who had duped him of his belongings and the wine bottle, the old man broke down, sobbed and mentioned that she was his only support in this whole world and had left him all alone.

She was buried in the cemetery at the end of the road.

Not convinced he asked to see some proof to which the old man shuffled around a drawer of a heavy wooden table and got a local newspaper which was dated 24th December 1999 

It had an obituary printed on it.

He got goose pimples as starting back at him from the coloured photo was the smiling face of the girl in the bar -- Monica Dsouza.

Still not satisfied he wanted to confirm by visiting the grave and so the three of them jumped into the cab and drove the short distance into the cemetery grounds.

Getting out of the cab the three of them walked toward the grave pointed out by the old man.

The full moon shone it's glimmer as the wind blew dust and the rustling dry leaves wooshed around creating an eerie scene.

From a distance, they could see the wreaths and heap of flowers still on the ground of this grave.

A glistening white marble headstone shone with words etched in black.

In loving memory 

             OF

MONICA DSOUZA 

12.03.1972 - 23.12.1999

Within our hearts

you are always near. 

Still loved, still missed 

and so very dear

R.I.P 

As Samson rushed towards her grave he tripped and fell straight onto the heap of the slowly dry and dying flowers over the mound.

His hand struck a bundle of rolled-up soft fabric among the flowers.

He shockingly realised it was the woollen jacket that he had given her in the bar.

As he lifted it from the grave and the jacket unfolded there was a light clinkity clink as a bottle rolled out onto the muddy ground.

It was the ’empty’ bottle of the expensive imported red wine from Bordeaux.

Image credit — the Internet.