The Orphanage.

News

Ashwin woke up next to Aarohi early in the morning next day. A cool breeze blowed in filling the room with a pleasent and soothing calmness and cool as Ashwin opened the windows to let in the sunshine. Aarohi woke up as the sunlight penetrated her eyelids causing a reddish orange coloured blotch to dance before her eyes.
"Good Morning" she greeted Ashwin with a warm smile. Ashwin smiled back but did'nt greet back. He was still troubled with yesterday's terrible nightmare. Aarohi looked up at his face. She saw a flicker of concern mixed with terror on his face.
"What's the matter Ashwin?"
"Nothing"
"C'mon, you can tell me."
"Nothing, just some terrible nightmare I had last night"
"Oh. Its okay Ashwin. It was just a bad dream. Ashwin face was still hung gloomy.
" Now when a woman's love is troubled" said Aarohi witha playful smile "do you know what she does?" she said with a smile as she approached him and placed both her elbows on her shoulders and wrapped her hands around his head.
" No. Perhaps you can show me" he smirked.
Both kissed each other warmly.
" Good morning" whispered Ashwin. Both chuckled.
"It will definitely be a good morning everyday if kiss every morning" chuckled Aarohi. They kiss again.
"I have a very important meeting today. The presenration is almost complete" said Ashwin with an air of concern. Aarohi smiled.
"Okay. I will get you some tea and breakfast. Till then, you finish your presentation". Ashwin kissed her on the forehead and Aarohi left. He looked at the clock. It showed 12:01 am. It was the exact time the call came yesterday.
"Strange. Looks like the battery ran out."
With that he went back to his laptop and finished the presentation. After completing his presentation he went in for a shower. Aarohi companied him. They both settled down for a breakfast together. Aarohi made him a breakfast of a bread with stuffed potatoes and spice, orange juice and tea. He relished at the delicious meal.
He suited up, ready for the day. Aarohi kissed him goodluck.
*****************
"Sir, the profit margin of our company has declined to 15% from the last 25% in the past four years. If we continue then it will drop 5% more"
" Then what do you suggest for this problem?" asked a board member.
"Sir, I have made a list of products that are causing this drop. I suggest we lower the production of these items. I also have made a list of products un demand as per the customer feedback. I also conducted a survey of the market and found these products are in demand apart from the customer's feedback. If we could improve these products a bit and increase their production, our profit margin will greatly increase to 35%."
"And what if this measure fail?" asked another member.
" Sir even if we fail, with the current situation of the market and the cost of the raw materials, this loss will be minimal. Even by trying to perform this change, our profit margin will increase to 20%, even if for a short period of time. Its a win win situation in either way."
"Brilliant work Ashwin. Brilliant."
"Thank you sir"
There was an applaud from the board. The meeting was a success. After the presentation was over, Ashwin was promised a promotion.
The meeting went fabulous.
**********
Ashwin was sitting on his table in the canteen enjoying lunch with his fellow coworkers when his phone rang.
He picked up the call. It was his neighbour Anuj.
"Ashwin!" said Anuj, in a terrified voice.
"Anuj?. What happened man?"
"It's Aarohi. Something happened to her."
"What happened to Aarohi?"
"I can't explain it over phone. Come to the hospital quickly."
"Dammit Anuj"
He cut the call. Ashwin dashed towards his car in the parking lot. He quickly opened the door of his car and rushed for home. The hospital was 20 minutes away from his office. Ashwin did it in 10. He parked his car and ran into the hospital and found Anuj and his wife Preeti waiting for him. Anuj had a look of pure terror in his eyes. Preeti was crying. Ashwin's eyes became watery. He was hoping for the best. "Ashwin." said Anuj in a voice almost choking himself as he looked up at him. Anuj and Ashwin had been friends since childhood. They were almost like brothers. "Anuj. What happened Anuj?" asked Ashwin.
"Aarohi.."
"What happened to her?"
" I don't know. One moment she was fine and another she..." His sentence was cut short as he choked.
Ashwin dashed towards the room when Anuj caught his shoulder moving his head left to right gesturing Ashwin not to go inside. Anuj knew this would devastate him.
Ashwin stared hard at him with rage at his boiling point. Anuj immediately stepped back. Ashwin paced towards Aarohi's room as if he was afraid to face the worst.