The Midnight Moon

Chapter XXI

“Thank you for coming early today,” Anya said when she saw Ali entering the office.

“No problem. Let me keep my bag on my desk.”

“Sure.”

Ali kept the bag on his desk, removed a small comb from his pocket and started combing his hair. Anya laughed at him and just then her phone started ringing. Ali came and sat on a chair while Anya talked to her parents. She was standing closer to the glass wall so Ali could not hear her, but he could tell she was upset about something. Her conversation with her parents often made her angry or upset.

“Something wrong?” Ali asked Anya when she disconnected the call.

She shook her head and sank into a chair before saying, “My mom's only mission in life is to get me married. I don’t understand why she is obsessed with it.”

“We are talking about a desi mother. My mother wants me to get married. What do you expect from a girl's mother?”

“Why? I can find a guy for myself. Why is she running around?”

Ali smiled. “I guess, that is what she is worried about.”

She shook her head again. “At this point, she just wants me to get married. I don’t think she gives a damn about who the guy is.”

“Oh, trust me, mothers always give a damn about that.”

Anya sighed. “How hard is it to understand that I don’t want to get married. I left my house because of this nagging. What is next? Should I leave the country?”

“Try leaving the city first. Maybe that would work.”

Anya smiled. “Anyway, you took a bus here?”

“No, I came in a chopper.”

Anya narrowed her eyes. “Very funny.”

He smiled widely. “It was.”

“ I have something to ask you.”

“Go ahead.”

“Yesterday, when you were talking to Kabir.” She bit her upper lip.  “ I heard your conversation.”

“Stalker.”

She chuckled before her face turned serious. “You broke into Dia's house?”

Ali's smile disappeared. He sat up straight. “That. Ah. Actually.” Ali was embarrassed to continue.

“What had happened? I do not remember why you did that.”

He lowered his eyes. “Because her husband is a dog.”

“I guessed it was him. But what did he do that you acted like that? You are one of the most civilised person I know. Then what happened?”

“My father, he was a businessman. We were not very rich, but it was still better than today. But then he died and his business partner refused to acknowledge him and his family.”

“What do you mean?”

“His partner said, my father sold him the business before dying. Which was, of course, a lie. My father died suddenly, and he said my father had planned it before he dies. He said, my father was given the money of the deal. Which was again a lie. We were left to die of hunger while he enjoyed the glory of the business my father built with his sweat and blood.” Anya felt the pain in his voice. His eyes were dry, but she was afraid that it would soon be filled with water. Ali had never looked more serious. “ We had the papers and we had a hundred percent chance of winning if we file a case.  I could not do anything back then. But then I grew up. I found out the fees of the best lawyers in town. Then I worked hard day in and day out to save that kind of money. Guess who I ended up hiring.”
“Aman.”

“That bastard Aman.”

“What did he do?”

“He worked or pretended to work for two whole years and made me pay his huge fees. Every time I saw him I gave him some amount. Then came a day when I had nothing in my hand and no food at home. When I started working I thought our bad days were over. But the worst was yet to come.”

“Then what happened?” was all Anya could say.

“He was working for my father’s partner. He took all the papers and changed them. Now, the papers say he is the founding member, he invested all the money and my father never existed. He gave us hope and I gave him every rupee I had. And he did this.” He smiled. “ But it was not about the money. It was about my father. He worked day and night for that business not so that one day someone takes his dream from him. Yes, he is not here, but that does not mean his dream died as well. I wanted to get back that business only for my father. Because he always wanted me to continue his work and make the business more successful. He used to say that he can see my future. He always thought I was made for that business.” He paused for a minute. He did not want to show his emotions.  “That day when I found out what Aman did, I lost my mind. I went to his office which was lock. Then I went to his house, but no one was opening the door. But I saw his car in the parking and I was angry. I did not mean to scare Dia. I did not think there was anyone else inside beside him.”

“What did you do then?”

“Nothing much. I yelled and broke a few things. And then Kabir came and dragged me out of the house.”

“Did you hit him?”

“No. I was about to, but then I saw Dia standing in the corner of the room. She looked terrified. I realised I was acting like the monster that Aman was. I should have hit him though.”

“You should have! Why did you leave him?”

“Dia did that. Or else he would have ended up in the hospital.”

“I will scold Dia for that.” 

Ali smiled. “I am really sorry for scaring Dia. I hope she does not remember me.”

“She remembers you.”

“Really?”

“unfortunately.”

“Tell her I am sorry. I am really sorry.”

“It is OK.”

“If you need any help regarding her then let me know. I would help as much as I can. I still cannot forget her eyes.”

“Eyes?”

“Yeah. Her eyes showed how scared she was. I have had dreams of those eyes a lot of times. I did not  remember her face but I can never forget those eyes.” He chuckled. “They haunt me. I can never forgive myself for that.”

“it was not your fault.”

“Still, how can I be so engrossed in myself that I scared a girl that much? She was so scared Anya. I cannot even explain how much.”

“But she does not hold any grudges against you. She sympathises you. In fact, she said she felt bad for you.” 

“That’s very nice of her, but we cannot forget what I did.”

“You are being too hard on yourself.”

“I should be. A man should never scare a girl like that. Whatever the reason is.”

“I wish her husband thought the same way.”

“Who said he is a man?”

“Oh my God, yes!”

“Do you think of me as a bad man after listening all this?”

“What nonsense is that? If anything Aman's image deteriorated in my mind.”

“I am very ashamed of what I did, though.”

“You should be.” Ali looked up at her with his eye a little wide. Anya smiled. “Never do something like that again. Don’t let anger take over you again.”

“At least you don’t give me a lecture about anger. You aren’t qualified for it.” Anya narrowed her eyes. Ali smiled before standing up. “Any more questions?”

“No.”

“I am going for a walk then. I am not going to start working until it is time.”

“Bye-bye.”

Once Ali was gone Anya had nothing to do. She kept thinking about Ali and Aman. But it did not do any good to her heart. She started looking for a distraction. She was going through her Instagram when suddenly she received a call. It was an unsaved number, but Anya knew who it was.

“What?” was her replacement of hello.

“When are you going to come?” Samar asked softly.

“I found a new psychologist online.”

“You and I, we both know that is not true. You have not even tried to look online let alone find one.” Anya narrowed her eyes but said nothing. “So, when are you planning to come?”

“I am not sure. I have to work till Friday and with the launch of a new product, we all are very busy. We cannot leave the office before eight these days.”

“Heard that from Kabir. I can come early in the morning. Whatever time suits you.”

“I will talk to Dia and let you know. Do you work on Saturday?”

“Yes.”

“But it is so far.”

“You can come after eight.”

“It will take me one and a half hour to reach home and then coming to your place will take more time.”

“I think one day can be an exception.”

“That won’t make me feel good.”

“I am not doing this especially for you. I have done this before. So no need to feel bad.” But Anya did feel bad. She looked up, trying to control her anger. “I will talk to Dia and let you know. Bye.” She disconnected the call abruptly. Samar smiled before removing the phone from his ear.

“Why are you smiling?” Kabir asked his brother.

“I made her angry.”

“And you love doing that.”

“More than anything else.”

“She is a roaring tiger. Why mess with her?”

“What can she do max to max?”

“That is the problem with her. She can do anything. Why do you want to risk it?”

“She can do anything, but why do you underestimate me? She does not like me because she never wins when against me.”

“But you aren’t fighting a battle to win against her.” He said with a smirk.

“You are getting late for work. Leave.”

Kabir smiled. “Waste your life. What can I say?”

“Leave.”

Kabir took the bag in his hand and stood up. “I am leaving, but let me tell you, I am sure Anya is angry.”

“When is she not angry?”

Kabir shook his head. “Waste your life.”

Kabir had teased his brother the whole week, and he knew he was soon going to reach the limit. But he was going to enjoy until he sees Samar's death glare. When he reached the office the first person he saw was Anya. He knew it might be the worst and the last idea that would ever cross his mind, but there was something about the day that made him happy, hence courageous.

“Good morning, Anya.”

“What is so good about the  morning?”

“I thought you had a good morning. You talked to my brother early in the morning.”

“How can someone have a happy morning after talking to Samar?”

“Well, a lot of people have a good morning after talking to him.”

“Like?” Anya demanded.

“His friends, his parents, his brother and of course Alia.”

“He is still in contact with that Alia?”

“Why won’t he?”

She took a deep breath. “She has a boyfriend. Why does she talk to him?”

“You cannot always talk to one person.”

“So she has no one else to talk?”

“Apparently.”

“Good for Samar.”

Kabir smiled. “What were you doing?”

“Planning to kill someone.”

“My brother?”

“I will kill him tomorrow. Today I will kill Rohit. He insulted me.”

“And you had to mention him early in the morning.”

“I had to deal with him early in the morning. Anyway, tell your brother I will find another one. I am not going to take my sister to him!”

“Don’t be silly.”

“I have to go,” Anya announced before leaving.

“What the hell? Anya is so silly. Just like my brother.”

And then Kabir’s whole week was spent in convincing Anya but she was adamant. She said she did not want to see Samar and kept refusing, but Saturday morning she was standing in front of her mirror trying to set her hair.

“What is wrong?” Nani asked Anya.

“My hair refuses to look good today!”

“You don’t care about your hair.”

“Yeah but once in a while, they should look good.”

“They look fine. Dia is all ready and standing in front of the door. Leave before her courage leaves her.”

Anya looked one last time in the mirror before pouting. She picked her bag and left the room. She was murmuring how nothing goes well with her when she saw Dia. She was nervously standing in front of the main door. Anya smiled at her proudly. She went closer and kept her hand on her cousin's shoulder.

“Ready?”

Dia looked at her and Anya smiled again. Dia looked at the door and bit her lower lip. “Yes.”