Anish was working in his office, hands busy on the keyboard, eyes busy on the screen when suddenly a plate was kept beside him on the right. He looked from the corner of his eyes at the plate which had two slices of pizza, some wafers and a piece of cake.
Anish looked up and saw Medha standing.
“It’s my birthday,” said Medha smiling
“Oh.. Happy Birthday,” said Anish with a smile
Medha worked in a different department. Anish and Medha were part of a group which got on the bus together when going back home from the office.
“So, you will leave early today?” asked Anish picking up a slice of pizza and taking a bite
Medha sighed and then an expression of anger could be seen, “Apparently there is too much work for me to leave early.”
“You should have taken a sick leave,” said Anish
“I will remember next time,” said Medha as she started walking to back then Anish called out
“Wait,” Anish said looking at the remaining part of the slice of pizza in his hand, “This is so good, where did you get it from?”
“Late Slice,” said Medha, “It’s from the area you live in actually”
Anish nodded his head wondering why he hadn’t heard of this pizza shop.
The day at the office ended and Anish was on his way home, when he was at the gate of the society, he observed a delivery person from ‘Late Slice’ driving out.
Anish lived in a rented apartment; he had been living in this one for almost a year. Lack of employment opportunities in his hometown had forced him to shift here for work. The pay was good and his career and personality had grown quite a bit during his stay in this city.
That night Anish had the urge to order from ‘Let Slice’ again and so he opened up the food delivery application and ordered a cheese and onion pizza. Anish thought he would take a quick shower till the pizza came but the bell rang while Anish was taking out his clothes for the night.
Anish opened the door and found the delivery person waiting with a smile.
“That was quite fast,” said Anish
“Yes,” said the delivery person, “the pizza shop is nearby”
“Here? Where?” asked a surprised Anish
“A few floors below,” said the delivery person
“You mean in this building,” asked Anish
“Yes,” said the delivery person smiling
Anish paid for the pizza and then didn’t think much about it until a month later when he thought of the pizza once again and he thought of going and getting the pizza himself.
Anish, on his way back home went to the security guard and asked, “There is this place which sells pizza here”
The guard gave a confused expression, was it about the place or the food item Anish couldn’t understand. Yes, there are some here who do not know about pizza here.
“Is there some place here that sells food items?” asked Anish
“I don’t know, I am new here,” said the guard
Just then Anish saw Dilip, a boy he knew. Dilip was talking to his friends sitting on a bench.
Anish went to him and said, “Have you eaten pizza from Late Slice?”
“Yes”, said Dilip, “We had pizza from there last week”
“Where is the pizza shop?” asked Anish
“I don’t know, we ordered online,” said Dilip
Anish looked around a bit, trying to find the smell of pizza being baked. There was maybe a moment when he had caught a faint smell but that could be just any resident of the apartment building cooking.
Anish gave up and went back to his apartment. He decided to order the pizza online and ask the delivery guy for the exact location.
The bell rang in fifteen minutes and Anish opened the door to the same smiling delivery person who had come before.
“I couldn’t find your pizza shop. There are no ads or signs anywhere,” said Anish
“Yes, we know,” said the delivery person
“Then how do I reach the pizza shop?” asked Anish
The delivery person’s smile began to disappear and then he responded, “You don’t. We don’t want you or anybody to find us and discover what we do there. So, it’s better you order only online”
“What?” asked Anish in a surprise tone
The delivery person smiled again and he handed Anish the pizza and said, “The pizza is on us, this conversation never took place.”
The delivery person walked away as Anish stood holding the pizza in his hands. Well, Anish never ordered from there again is all we can assume.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Late Slice
Early Morning Memories 