You and I - a pranushka tale

chapter thirty-four

"This knife is used for bread and butter. Not for necks!" Mithrah whispered harshly.

Meera shrugged with childlike excitement. "It's just for safety." She replied, trying to carefully tuck the small knife away but she almost dropped it to the ground was it not for Mithrah's quick reflexes. The two women were attempting to walk through an alleyway whilst remaining hidden and a metal knife falling to the hard, concrete floor would not help their case.

A few turns later, as they followed deeper into the alleyway, a half-concealed building began to show from behind thick trees.

"I have an idea." Mithrah's new friend told her as they crouched behind a parked car before peeking at the group of men walking ahead.

"Is this going to guarantee we will be alive at the end of the day?" Mithrah asked jokingly but there was a tone of seriousness interwoven in her voice.

Meera looked back at her with a somewhat brave and motivated face. "No."

Mithrah sighed deeply and looked up at the sky wondering if she was cursed. All she wanted to do was have coffee and eat a cake that had enough sugar to give her diabetes. This was not how she expected her first day of work to unfold...

A few hours earlier.

Radha had somehow managed to get her daughter to arrive at work earlier than when she was expected to come. This didn't rest well with the protagonist. Mithrah thought to live alone meant she would get to sleep for as long as she could but the five loud missed calls her mother gifted her with made it very clear that was not the case.

Leisurely, she got dressed, taking her time to care for her appearance. 'It wasn't like she was in a rush,' she thought bitterly as she combed through her soft, silky hair. Soft music echoed in the background. But her thoughts were not with her surrounding. Before she knew it, she was standing in her favourite temple.

She had felt anxious.

Nervous didn't begin to cover how she felt about her first day at work. But visualising the temple bought her a sense of serenity that wasn't present a few seconds prior. Yet, it wasn't just the temple. Suddenly, Prabhas was standing right beside her and they were on a balcony in her home. He had his arms around her and his chin was resting on her head as he teased and soothed her all at once.

She smiled and softly touched the diamond pendant that lay on her skin. Why should she feel nervous? This was what she had always wanted to do. She was a writer and this was her talent. She had no reason to fear the day that was to come and just like that she felt her worry dissipate as excitement took its place.

The heat hit her skin almost immediately as she stepped out of her building and made her way to the bus stop. Only as she got on the bus did she realise she forgot to bring lunch or even snacks. She grimaced as she realised she would have to buy food outside again. Radha had scolded her only the night before about how she needs to stop living on takeaways. But Mithrah couldn't help it. She found it rather tedious to cook for just one person.

As the bus neared her work, it stopped at a red light causing Mithrah's attention to fall at a small store. A frown settled on her face as she saw a group of men with weapons visible in their hands. They were taking money from the owner and it didn't appear to be a friendly transaction. She realised with disgust it was protection racketing. Veeraiyandi had strictly prohibited that in her village, labelling it as fraudulent and only a method of money extortion and it was something she strongly agreed with. She felt her irritation grow as she could tell by the expression on the owners face that it was money he didn't want to give away but alas he was choiceless.