Conflagration

Chapter 21: Catastrophe

Author's note: The next couple of chapters are full of heartbreak and angst. Readers beware, but to me this angst and pain are a necessary part of the Arylie journey. They are each other's biggest strength and weakness the foundations of which are set in pain and tragedy.

A couple of days later, Shekhawat Mansion

Imlie woke up with an unfamiliar pit of dread low in her stomach. Something was off and she knew it . The day seemed normal, the sun was rising and as usual, her mother had gotten up before her and was probably in the kitchen. She however couldn't shake the feeling that something very wrong was about to go down. She dragged the blanket up over her head and tried to fall back asleep, willing the knot of tension in her gut to subside.

"Gudiya, wake up" her mother's sweet voice spoke from the foot of the bed, tugging the blanket at her feet so her face became visible.

"Didn't you say you need to get to the office early today?"

"No Amma, I am not going to office today" Imlie grumbled, rearranging the blanket to cover her head again.

Meethi's brows knit together in a frown. She sank onto the bed near Imlie's head and ran her hands lovingly over the little bit of her daughter's hair that was visible outside the blanket.

"What happened bitiya? You seemed fine yesterday night, have you fallen sick?"

Imlie slowly lowered the blanket an inch, regarding her mother with confused eyes. "I don't know Amma, I just feel weird. Like something really bad is going to happen you know, like the world is going to end."

Meethi smiled gently at her pulling the blanket the rest of the way. "Gudiya that is just a feeling. You must have seen some bad dream and this feeling is just a lingering after effect."

Imlie shook her head, "No, I don't think I saw any bad dreams. I just think I shouldn't go to office today."

Meethi harrumphed "If you don't go to the office then how will you fulfil your dream of becoming a journalist pagli (crazy girl)? Rajeshji gave you this job believing in your abilities. It would be very disrespectful of you to not go to work just because of some feeling. Just pray to Sita Maiyya and everything will be all right."

Imlie reluctantly acknowledged the sense in Meethi's words. She had a lot of work at the office including submitting the final draft on the new library being inaugurated and doing some research on the drug trade for her next article. Staying in bed was not an option.

As she finished her morning ablutions, the knot in her stomach grew tighter and tighter. She skipped breakfast, the thought of food making her nauseous and rushed to the office hoping that once she immersed herself in work, her misgivings would vanish.

At about 11 am in the morning Editor Sahab called her to a conference room on the ground floor. Too engrossed in her own thoughts, she didn't notice the blinds in the room had been closed and the door locked as soon as she entered.

As her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the projector on the table, a figure moved out from behind the desk directly into her line of sight.

"Dadda!" she whispered, her mind frozen unable to believe he was right in front of her.

Satyakam looked dirty and tired. He wore some kind of dark blue uniform liberally smeared with dirt. The smile and the twinkling eyes under that scruffy beard and unkempt hair remained the same.

Imlie let out a low shriek hurling herself into his outstretched arms, sobbing as he gathered her up in a tight hug. Satyakam ran his hands lovingly over her hair and back, murmuring soothing words as she wept all over him.