Dr Meera Saravana has been on the run for the last ten years due to a fatal misunderstanding. She ends up in New York, hoping that maybe this time everything will work out. But that's turning out to be impossible the more she gets involved with the...
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Ivan is pacing in his study and it's driving Anya mad.
Step, step, pivot, turn. Step, step, pivot, turn.
It was going to drive her into an early grave.
Her own children were much well behaved than Ivan and they were six and ten respectively. She set her book down in her lap, watching as her brother toyed with the blue ribbon in his hand, twisting the fabric till the edges started to fray. His expression said it all. Anyone could see how torn up he was inside, the guilt and worry was eating away at him like termite in a bog wooden house.
It's been months since the incident with Zoya. Now that he was gone, the constant pressure had eased slowly. Things would get better slowly. There were less attacks on their men and their businesses, their stock prices managed to go up now there was more faith in them, and the board members were no longer looking to sell their shares and jump ship.
Anya hoped for a new normal where she wouldn't have to watch her back every five minutes. Now she just wished that her brother wasn't such a coward and actually chased his one chance of happiness.
"How long are you going to pace like that?" She snapped, irritated with him. "You're driving me up the wall."
His footstep faltered for a second before resuming. "I'm not pacing. I'm thinking."
Anya frowned. At this point she was wondering if she was going to have lines on her face by the age of thirty five.
"So you're just taking a walk around the room to ease your thoughts then?" Anya got up, slamming the book on the table. Ivan stopped in his tracks, his shoulders coming up to his ears defensively. "Or are you just going to stare at that stupid blue ribbon till you waste away?"
Ivan scowled. He turned around sharply on his heels. She expected a reaction out of Ivan. Anger. Resentment. Something! Instead he stared down at the ribbon entwined between his fingers. He opened his mouth, and then closed it quickly. Whatever it was that he wanted to say, Anya hoped he would ask soon because she was heroic impatient with his indecisiveness. It wasn't fair to anyone——especially Meera.
She remembered the morning she went to see her and how much her heart ached for her.
*****
Meera was sitting in her hospital room, tired and silent.
The hospital room was big enough to fit two families. There was a small pull out couch and a tv that was running some game show about wheels and fortune. The fluorescent lights made the room look smaller than it actually was, casting an artificial glow over everything. In the corner was Meera laid out on the bed, a blanket draped over her lap as she stared outside the window. Her eyes followed the people in the streets below, watching with disinterest.
Meera is strong.
Anya knew from the moment that she saw the young woman at the restaurant that she was resilient. Her eyes looked so tired but somehow she managed to smile at Anya, cracking a joke and being charming. Being strong all the time must have been exhausting. Anya knew that feeling well, sometimes she just wanted to sit in the garden and stare at the flowers all day. No family business, not siblings with issues, and no overwhelming stares of people following you every single fucking day.
