After

04| Damages

04| Damages

I shut the video off, stretching my neck to release the tension built in my muscles. I could still read the messages propping up on Google Meet for final confirmations. My eyes fell on the wall clock realizing it was 3:17 already. I was sure my team must be hating on me for ruining their sleep. "Guys, don't loathe me for the heavy workload coming your way all of a sudden, I'm sure it's a matter of a few days before we go back to normal but I need your cooperation till we figure out."

"We understand Ma'am, it's our job." I heard replies one after the other before I bid them farewell for a few hours. Unlike Arsalan, I was no workaholic. He'd wake up every day with the intention to work his ass off, he'd pay attention to every article that was being published under his brand, he'd personally curate content that will have an impact on the society, at the same time he'd ensure he regularly visits mills and quality checks the grains and spices before exporting, he'd deal with the clients, especially the foreign investments one on one as much as possible and never forget to take an update on how the hotels are running on hourly basis.

It was beyond me to understand how he could invest himself in multiple businesses equally and get a result out of it all. I understood that the newspaper was his passion and his brainchild, that he built it from scratch, to an evening daily in Indore to the most reputed, trusted and authentic in the entire country in a matter of few years but he never failed his father's inheritance too. He maintained the legacy he received and not only widened the distribution across states in India but brought international buyers for the produce of his mills. His hotel, Hemera, was amongst the top even in Delhi and was soon going to open in Udaipur. Arsalan had also inaugurated an hospital in his father's honour a few years back.

To say the least, Sithara was super proud of Arsalan, he was truly an inspiration and doing great in life but as his wife, it only worried her about his health & well being. She knew the amount of attention and efforts Arsalan put into his work was borderline obnoxious. She did not like that he had so little time to spend with his family but what she didn't appreciate more was the stress that came along. It literally made him grow old, she could see it in the tiny wrinkles that appeared sometimes when he frowned to his swollen eyes. It made her sad.

Sithara had always valued the sense of self-esteem & satisfaction that working, being busy and independent brought but she evenly cared about her life after work. She found herself happier when she was a wife, a mother, a child, a friend. Maybe that was what being a woman was. Maybe that was what made men different from women. Maybe more women in the economy today was why we were talking of work-life-balance in the first place.

She put an end to her thoughts when she heard her children still scream and play outside. She stood up in a jiffy, furious at them. She thought they must have slept by now but here they were, running behind each other with guns in  their hands.

"Why aren't you in bed already???" She questioned firmly, holding onto Arryn's hand first before he could escape. Sithara glared at Athiya and Aadya.

"Amma nobody is sleeping in the house." Aadya meekly answered, her fingers tweaking with the hem of her dress.

"It's so much fun." Athiya added.

"To bed right now." She did not respond to their statements.

"Amma no, please. Ten minutes more. Let us finish this round." Arryn tried to get rid of her clutch.

"Tomorrow." She hurled her two girls.

"Mami please. Mumma helped us in this game. She gave us permission." Zayan spoke.

"It's too late. Continue when you guys wake up." She spoke more politely to him but disappointed in Daniya. How could she be this careless? Not that she was working or anything.