Anchor's Lifted

Anchor's Lifted Final Part

"Aruna?" The call had come from the front door. Aruna peeked her head up from being buried in some boxes.

"Mom?" Aruna had expected company from Charity since she blew off the last few days of work at the Newsroom, where she was a content writer. Hadiya walked into the house and took in the sight of the light gray walls and marble countertops. She stopped when she fixed her eyes on Aruna's pile of brown boxes and the black trash bags tossed to the side.

"I came to check in on you. I had to make sure you were okay." Hadiya inched toward Aruna with a puzzled look.

"I'm fine mom. I told you I was." Aruna made her way past the mess in the living room and picked up on her moms confusion. "Oh I was just rearranging some things. Redecorating." Aruna rushed the words in an effort to move along the conversation.

"Come here and let me look at you. I haven't seen you in a while." Hadiya placed her things on the table and pulled Aruna in tightly. Aruna felt herself mold into her mothers arm before she softly pulled back.

"I'm really okay mom." Aruna began to pack up some of the pieces laid out on the floor. "Dad here too?" Aruna tried to hide the eagerness in her voice.

"I talked to him yesterday and he said he would be here later in the week. Told me to update him but I'll let you do that." Hadiya huffed at her ex-husbands demandingness.

As Aruna maneuvered around the house, her mom kept a watching eye on her. Aruna could feel her mother's gaze on her movements. Hadiya took note of the contents in the trash. The marble shell that Aruna had found her first summer here peeked out. Hadiya went to pick it out while noticing that Aruna had thrown out many of her sentimental items.

"They said the guy was a tourist here. Apparently he came here by himself for some fun and had a tendency to become unhinged when he drank." Aruna listened to the facts about the man. Suddenly, as if the man knew she was thinking of him, Aruna could feel his eyes heavier than she could her moms. All week Aruna had been replacing things in the house. It started with her spot by the beach. She couldn't go near it in fear of him still being there. Then he had tainted the lamp that she had gotten a year earlier from the antiques shop by the lighthouse. Slowly he had found a way to linger his stench of dreariness and terror on the things Aruna loved most. She had no other choice than to throw them out so that he didn't get to her.

"Hey Hon, you okay?" Hadiya could sense her daughter's nerves. Aruna quick-stepped through the entire house and made sure not to linger in one spot too long.

"You asked that already Mom."

"I know, you just seem out of step. When have you last eaten?" Aruna slowed down for a brief moment as she thought about the question. She knew she hadn't slept since her nightmare. Eating had consisted of tossing back energy drinks to keep her from closing her eyes. She had some snacks in between those moments but nothing substantial.

"I'm okay, you can stop asking about me." Aruna hadn't meant to come off as snappy but it helped.

"Ru?" Hadiya had switched her voice from concern to firmness.

"Hadiya." Aruna's return of the tension quieted the entire town.

The glint in Hadiya's eyes was piercing and yet it was no match for the eyes she saw when she stopped moving. Still the idea of facing off against Hadiya as she was now, mad as hell, was not something Aruna wished to participate in. Aruna took the respectful way out and dismissed herself with an unfelt apology.

The walk on the boardwalk frustrated Aruna. She groaned at her need for peace and the lack of it. There were a million things to do, writing deadlines, washing clothes, getting her car fixed, helping with Charity's destination tour, and they were not getting done. The day was bright, the sun was high, the air was cool. All things Aruna would have longed for the week before.