You and I - a pranushka tale

chapter forty

It was almost five in the morning and Mithrah couldn't sleep. She paced the floors of her apartment, her phone clutched against her chest as her eyes darted repeatedly to the slowly ticking time. Soon, the first crime article of Vision will be published. Soon, Prabhas was going to raid the building.

She didn't know which she felt more worried about.

As the hands of the clock ticked, she felt her heartbeat fasten with every moment it neared the next hour. "Everything is going to be fine," She muttered to herself. "Everything will be fine." In her mind, many different outcomes of the events replayed continuously. She was conjuring up all the obstacles of the publication and all the dangers of the raid. Most of her predictions didn't end well, leaving her wrecked with nerves.

When the chimes of the clock rang to alert the time, Mithrah felt her phone vibrate. It was five am and there was a message from Meera letting her know the publications are finally out. If it was even possible, she felt her worry increase. She knew she wouldn't find out until later whether the new segment was a success or not but she felt the sudden urge to run into some newsagent and watch strangers read the magazine and analyse their reception.

Making a face at her own eagerness, she sat down and then got up. The sofa that usually felt like sitting on clouds had suddenly began to feel like stones and pebbles as a stiffness spread up her spine. Meera's message was of a positive and excited tone but she couldn't seem to release that sigh of relief she desired.

She was waiting on one more message.

When her phone vibrated again she felt her heart leap in her throat as she peered down at the message. It was a message from Prabhas. He had congratulated her on her article followed swiftly by a light hearted mention that they were about to enter the building.

How can he seem so calm she wondered with an annoyed expression as nothing but restlessness occupied her. Raids were dangerous and the outcomes were numerous, both positive and negative. Sleep wasn't going to occupy her and the walls of her apartment were beginning to feel like iron cages.

With an exasperated sigh, she decided to go to a nearby cafe. It may be the crack of dawn, but she knew the little coffee house that was open throughout all hours of the days would be bustling with the activity of the nearby university students.

She couldn't have been more wrong.

When she swung open the huge wenge door, absentmindedly she admired the dark cappuccino shade of its wood. Her fingers softly grazed the smooth surface as the smell of coffee welcomed her. She couldn't help but feel something was missing when she heard the bells ring, but the moment her gaze drifted around the mismatched sofas she realised what it was.

There wasn't a single person in the coffee house, but for the lonesome worker behind the counter who lifted her head to give Mithrah a tired smile before she continued placing the mugs carefully in line.

Maybe she overestimated the students she expected to be sat slouched in sofas with a laptop clinging onto their hands. Feeling slightly bothered that once again she was only going to be accompanied by her loud thoughts and not the quiet mumbles of others, she lethargically walked to the counter.

She repeated her typical order to the equally tired staff before slumping into a brownish red armchair, one that engulfed her almost entirely. Finding solace in its arms, she sighed and leaned back, quietly admiring the sounds of her order being made. At the back of her mind, she knew that the location Prabhas was at was only a few minutes away by cab.

Her finger hovered over the taxi app, temptation coursing through her veins. What's the worst that could happen she wondered. Maybe she might anger Prabhas but that was barely a concern for her. Or perhaps she would successfully find herself caught in the middle of a crossfire which was slightly alarming. But wouldn't that mean Prabhas was in danger too?