Leap of Faith

Before the Night

 In the evening, Shweta and I shopped until we were bone tired. The whole shopping was from Nikhil's expenses. Naturally, we did not see the price tags! We had bought her all her clothes, bags, and jewellery. I bought a dark blue velvet lehenga for myself.

"Are you going to be okay?" Shweta asked as she was packing her giant bag. All her clothes were spread out on the bed.

"It is just two days; I can manage," I assured her as stood facing her by the long dressing table.

"I hate to leave you alone tomorrow. On your birthday!" Shweta sat down on the floor giving me a pitied look.

She did remember my birthday; I guessed I could live with that. Anyway, birthdays were not my thing. It could be my thing, but nobody actually bothered, especially when I grew older. Shweta did give me presents since she had known me. The usual standard of our birthdays was already set in our group. We used to go for dinner at a joint, have a small cake there, with the birthday song playing in the background. That was all about it.

"You can't help it, can you?" I sighed. "You only have ten days to your wedding. So it is fine. Really."

Shweta stood up and walked to me and hugged me tightly.

"Okay..." I patted her back warmly. "Enjoy your time with your parents. I am sure you will be bugged enough in two days to come back to me, happy and relieved."

We both laughed at the same time. "You are damn right!" Shweta chimed.

***

The early bright rays of the sun through the windowpane woke me with a start. Normally, I would sleep through, but today of all days, I could not. I was getting ready all the while wondering why Aayan forgot my birthday. I did not care for anybody else, but he was supposed to wish me today. But he wasn't even here. The emptiness seemed to engulf me; the silence in the house bothered me.

I had ample time to start for office, so I made a special breakfast for myself. I could not eat alone, so I powered up the laptop on the dining table. I opened my anonymous account.

There was one message from Riya. I opened it hastily eating a mouthful.

Hi,

The other day I remembered a peculiar incident. It was the day of my results. I came home, excited to tell dad about my result. I was about to open the door of his study room when I heard my dad's raised voice. When I slowly I peeked inside, I saw my dad hunched on his table, his shoulders slouched. I was facing Vikram's back, so I could not see his expressions. However, he stood upright and proud, as he does now. My dad seethed with anger. He said something about the fire incident. That it could harm the company's image. The eerie thing was Vikram did not even open his mouth until my dad was done. Then he went to fill his glass with wine or something like that. As soon as he drank it, he sat down calmly. Vikram only told him that he would handle the situation, so he didn't have to worry about it.

I had never seen him like that, completely defeated. He looked so tired and worn out. The last two years of his life, he was nothing like himself. He was often lost in his own thoughts, appearing somewhat depressed. I cannot actually describe it. But, he was different.

I thought you should know this. Anyway, you take care.

Riya.

My brain raced as I reread the mail.

"The fire incident. Hmm..." I mumbled aloud searching my memory. Then suddenly it struck me. I had heard about the fire incident before.

"SpeedExter!"