Tug of Fate | When Stars Align Book one

Alisha

Alisha

Gold Coast, Same day

"So you received everything? I am sorry again for this Ananya." I speak into my phone as I tell Ananya once again how deeply sorry I am that she has to get this sorted at the last minute. I know how difficult it is to manage things like this.

"Yeah I received it. Liam sent the contacts and Logan sent me the budget details as well. He was really apologetic as well. It's okay, we will make it work. Thanks Alisha. But if there is any issue I may have to call on you for help." She says. She has a beautiful voice. I can listen to her voice all day long. Just when I am about to reply I hear a voice ask who are you talking to babe, who is Liam and Logan?

I hear a quick intake of breath from Ananya, and she tells the voice I'm speaking to Alisha my colleague from Australia, and –

Her voice is cut off when a manly voice comes over "Who is this?"

"Hey, this is Alisha. You are?" I am a little uncomfortable as to how this man can easily interrupt an official call. And who the hell is he to Ananya, what-

"Oh sorry. Yeah I will give the phone back."

What the fuck, Rishi! I hear Ananya fuming and whisper shouting at this man. And at last she comes back on the line. "Sorry for this. I will contact you if something is wrong. That okay?" she asks. I can tell she is angry and wants to disconnect the call asap.

I take the hint "Yes. Please do. We will chat tomorrow, it is almost my dinner time here."

"Oh I am so sorry Alisha. Of course. We will talk tomorrow. "

And with that we disconnect.

I have this heavy, foreboding that something isn't right with that guy Rishi. Who is he? Boyfriend? Husband? What?

Well..what can I do. I have enough drama in my own life

I shrug and start on my dinner.

By the time I am done cleaning everything up, and getting ready for bed, I still cannot shake the tightness in my chest. Just before I hit the bed, I check the time. It has been four hours since I spoke to Ananya.

I drop her a quick text

Hey. Hope all is okay. Was just feeling weird and had to check up on you. Feel free to tell me to mind my business though. Lol

I keep waiting for her reply. I check the time in India. 9 pm. Maybe in a bit she will.

It never comes.

****

Next day at work is terribly busy. I left home this morning, feeling all sorts of motivated and restless. Motivated because there is just so much to do. The company is coming to Oz next week and that means that my team and I are going super crazy. Restless because I haven't heard from Ananya this whole time.

After lunch, I call Ananya. It goes straight to voicemail. I look-up the intranet and find Ananya's team's contact details. After locating her desk number, I call her there. No response. After that, I look up Becca's number. She had answered a few questions yesterday after Ananya's outburst, so I figure both of them had the same level of seniority. No response from Becca's extension either. Last resort. I look up Smarajit's extension and manage to get Becca's cell number from him. After thanking him, I call Becca.

I am about to disconnect when she picks up – "Hello?"

"Becca? Hi, this is Alisha. I was speaking to Ananya about the event and we left our conversation mid-way yesterday. I texted her too but she hasn't responded. How is she doing? Have you heard anything from her? I just have this feeling and wanted-"

I hear a sharp inhale and Becca sob on the phone. Shit. What happened.

"Becca?"

"Yeah. Hey. I am sorry. Now is not a good time. She is fine. I am with her. I will let her know you called and asked about her. Thanks for that. Buh Bye." She disconnects without even waiting for my response. The fuck.

I am not a pious or a religious person. But something overcomes me and I join my hands together and say a prayer - God please. Let her be okay. Let me be okay. Let all the darkness fade away. Also, let me find a way out of my own mess.

I have no idea where that came from. But it felt right. With my mother's gambling debt and me trying to protect myself from the gambling mafia, courtesy of Mom, I've felt on more than one occasion I was fighting a losing battle. But I've carried on.

As I stare out from the balcony, enjoying my smoke break, I am filled with an overwhelming sense of restlessness. As if I am waiting for something, as if I am meant to go for it. And I have no freaking idea what.....