14 | Fourteen

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~And suddenly, suddenly, all the love songs were only about you~

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Tushar skimmed through the article clutched in his right hand, the small, black lettered words going ahead of his understanding. A distant heaviness on the back of his head remained by, unnoticeable to him while his eyes, momentarily, glanced at his left wrist. It was twenty minutes past one in the afternoon. Lunch break, he mumbled, releasing a long breath of exhaustion.

It was not usual of him to be tired around the time such as this, never was he this slow in his work, never was he this unfocused. Being a Chartered Accountant in such a reputed corporation, he would have tons of files piled up, and he always would, finish off with his work within office hours. However, something felt different. Was it the heavy breaths he took, or the disturbing headache, or the slight shiver in his body with excess sweat, he could not comprehend.

As he bit on his bottom lip, for more concentration before looking at the same page he had been looking for the past ten minutes, a subtle knock had him looking at the door, his eyes droopy and lacking focus. Must be Ronit, he shrugged before a soft 'yes' left him.

As he had thought, Ronit Arora, his college pal and now, his colleague, the executive director of the HR department, entered, his over-priced Samsung Note being held in his left hand while his eyes briefly glancing at Tushar Chatterjee.

"Not done yet?" Said Ronit, tucking his phone back into his pant pocket.

Tushar couldn't have the energy to say anything, just loosely shaking his head as he averted his eyes to the thing he was trying to understand.

"Aren't you coming with me, today?" Ronit asked, again, his optimistic tone could be taken as someone who had the jolliest personality, but Tushar knew how wrong it was. Maybe Ronit looked silly and amiable, but he had, just like any other human, a dull past to him, maybe darker than others. Friend or not, Tushar knew Ronit was the rudest person he had known, if his wife was to be excluded.

"You go, I am not hungry," Tushar mumbled, feeling the loss of appetite from the night before.

When he still felt the presence of his friend beside his chair. Sighing, he turned back to see Ronit standing at his earlier position, a concerned expression masking his mostly, expressionless features. The way Ronit observed Tushar made him grimace, feeling the heaviness back on his head.

"What–" Tushar began but was cut off with a low mumble from his friend.

"You are sweating–" he asserted, his eyes narrowing as they glided through his forehead, momentarily stopping to notice his only friend's gloomy eyes.

"So? The weather is warmer today and this shirt–" Tushar sighed, "–is quite uncomfortable." He could not understand why Ronit was contemplating over his features. What was there unusual to notice, anyway?

Ronit nodded, questioning the man before him once again for lunch, however, being dismissed again. He turned back, unsure if he should stay back, but one glance at his friend, concentrating on the piece of article, Ronit concluded he should not disturb Tushar.

Before leaving, he thought back to something that had stuck him the very first day he noticed Tushar after his marriage. And, today also. That gloomy gaze, saddened eyes, his low mumbles. . . his only friend was not happy.

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