• The Way Back Home •

7

"Sir?"

Ram looked up to see his new assistant standing at the door. He gestured for her to walk into the cabin with a bouquet of flowers.

"Yes?"

"Uhm," Lovely shifted on her feet. Then she slowly kept the bouquet on his desk and said, "My daughter sent this for you. I hope you accept it."

But before Ram could say anything, she left.

Ram stared at the flowers on his desk. Along with the bunch of flowers, was a small handmade card that said 'thank you for the burger'. There was something so weirdly innocent and heartfelt about the gesture that made Ram so happy. He probably felt like that after days. He touched the petals of the bright sunflowers lightly and whispered, "Thank you, Pihu."

If he had a daughter, would she send flowers to him too? Ram's eyes closed. How he wished to have a child, someone who would be a piece of his heart and own his entire heart. Someone who could be his own in the truest sense of the word. What would he not do for him or her? He would give his child the world and beyond.

Ram's mind flashed with the memory of plucking small daisy flowers and making a flower crown for Shivina. She would wear it proudly till they didn't wilt. If he tried to do that with Pihu, would she wear it too?

He didn't know. He would never know.

Pushing all the thoughts aside, Ram pulled his laptop towards him. He couldn't afford to get lost in random thoughts all the time. He had to work, he had to distract himself to stop his spiral.

He blindly opened his email to check for the latest emails that needed his attention. As he quickly replied to a few, his mind again digressed into a different path. Ram wondered if he had gotten any emails from Shivina or her university. Maybe that could help him know her course better and make him remember stuff? He didn't even remember when had they applied for this course and how things had unravelled.

Shaking his head, Ram typed Shivina in the search bar that threw up a lot of very old emails.

Amongst them were credit card bills, a few designer bills, some random invites. But strangely, all of them were from five years ago.

Ram rubbed his head. How come there were no latest emails?

Feeling the familiar uneasiness creep into his bones, Ram checked the date. Then he looked at the laptop screen again. They all were indeed old. After a point, everything about Shivina stopped. Even the news and page 3 appearances that he had set a Google alert for.

Ram rubbed his chest. Something was definitely amiss. He picked up his phone to call Shivina. She needed to know this. The phone rang for a few seconds before Shivina picked up and answered.

"Hey Bhai!" she chirped.

Hearing her beautiful voice, Ram's erratic heartbeat calmed down. Maybe it was just a stupid glitch.

"Shivi..." he whispered. "Are you fine?"

"I am absolutely fine, Bhai. Why are you asking me that?" Shivina answered back. "Is everything okay with you? You sound so dull!"      

"No..." Ram shakily took a sip of the water. "I..."

Ram couldn't speak anymore. His eyes fell on an email that was titled Shivina Kapoor's death certificate. A sudden stab of darkness came over Ram. He kept the glass away and opened the email with shivering hands.

In it, there was an attachment that had two copies of Shivina's death certificate. Even though his eyes stung with tears; Ram read the death date. It was from five years back.