I threw one file over another. My presence was here in this spacious office but my mind was occupied by one person, my sister, Kinjal.
News leaked that she was pregnant in the house.
It was sudden, I only stepped into the room to talk with her when I realised my mother condemning her and I overheard them their furtive conversation.
No one else knew and this was the very reason I feel irritated and disappointment. Why was Kinjal so indiscrete? Why did she not place the honour of our family before her insignificant feelings?
More importantly...Who was the father of her child?
My fingers curled into my fist. I slammed my hand against the coffee coloured desk, a solitary tear trickled down my eye which I quickly brushed away.
The sonorous ringing of my phone reverberated through my ears. I cursed silently when I glanced at the screen. Kinjal was calling.
I pressed the red button to disconnect her call. There was no will left in me to talk with my injudicious sister.
The phone rang again.
I froze and felt the blood drain from my face. This time, my mother was the caller.
With a trembling fist, I answered the call.
"Mom?"
There was some shuffling and hesitation. I heard my mother talking swiftly with somebody else. Again there was more shuffling and a sobbing voice replied.
"A-Aham?"
My brows knitted together in fury. Gopi, the illiterate, the obstacle between my happiness, the woman who knew everything but intelligence!
Habitually, I responded with an irritated and angry voice.
"What do you want? Give the phone back to my mother."
"...Mo-Mother says...She says that..." Gopi sniffed through broken sobs. I rolled my eyes, and held the bridge of my nose.
"Come out with it already!" I yelled.
"She says...She knows...Knows who the f-father...Of Kinjal's child..."
My eyes widened in shock.
"He-...The father is..."
At that moment, there was a knock on the door but before I could say anything, a familiar face entered the room. I lowered the phone slightly and sat up from my chair.
"Umaang?" I spoke. My heart raced as he lifted a revolver at my direction, a sickly grin spread across his face.
"The one who ruined Kinjal's life: It was me," he uttered before breaking into a maniacal laugh. The phone fell from my grasp and I forced myself to ignore Gopi's frightened voice.
"You son of a..." I said; half anticipating his next action and the other half of me shook with trepidation.
"This one is for Anita!" Umaang shrieked.
The next thing I knew was red liquid gushing out from a hole in my chest and then from my head. My vision was blinded by the colour crimson as my limp body impacted with my desk before hitting the floor. Immense pain gripped my entire body.
There were the sounds of screaming and yelling but only one voice rang through my ears.
Aham! Aham, what happened!?
Aham!
I felt as if I was as light as the clouds that traced the sky, only, I was a cloud that traced over darkness.
My mind raced through childhood memories, each one splintered as if a piece from shattered glass. I thought about a woman who I believed that I loved, yet she was a monster wearing a lady's mask.
Then I thought about the woman who loved me for real: Gopi...How could I have treated her the way I did?
Scarlet tears travelled down my cheeks like rain.
Aham!
The voice was like an angel's call, beckoning me to let go.
"Gopi, I'm sorry..." I whispered. The celestial image of her dissipated from my mind and my eyelids closed over my eyes, my body embracing eternal slumber and repose.
Ishaani
Cricket
