Bound to leave

Chapter 1: The weekend

"Annuuuu, its ten in the morning, wake up for God's sake!" Mom's loud voice led Anisha to duck her head further under the covers. With her eyes still shut, she swiped her hand around the pillow to locate her phone.

Squinting her eyes as she tried to unlock her phone, the screen light tormenting her corneas. Anisha sighed as she recalled the last conversations she had with her gal pal, the previous night.

Charmi and Anisha had been best friends for the last seven years. She had been planning Anisha's supposedly surprise birthday party. A party Anisha knew a lot about.

Anisha was aware of it in general except the venue and guest list. Knowing Charmi for almost a decade now, she was sure the party venue would undoubtedly be very exciting. One thing she was certain about was that the guest list was not going to be long.

Since her breakup with Rithvik, she had kept a distance from the common friends they shared. Charmi being the exception. Only a year ago, Charmi had watched in terror what Rithvik was capable of. Making it possible for her to see through his bullshit

Most of them felt that Rithvik was the real victim in the situation. Considering all those years Anisha had spent with him, believing every word and promises that left his mouth; She couldn't blame them either. He was a master manipulator.

Anisha still had nightmares from that night at club Nirvana when his hands had grasped her neck. Anisha's body was screaming in pain as no sound escaped her mouth. She had dug her nails into his face to escape his clutches only making him angrier... Anisha trembled recollecting those dark memories.

Anisha had started to become more or less a recluse; Prioritising late nights at work rather than late nights at a party. Charmi had to always drag her out of the house if she wanted her to attend one of her parties, which were pretty regular.

Anisha switched on the data causing her phone to beep several times. All the notifications were about the 50 unread messages from Charmi. Anisha shook her head in disbelief going through a few.

'Why aren't you replying girly?:('
'Hellllloooo'
'Party canceled! :/ '
'Come on, don't do this to me :'(...'
'Tell me what you're wearing'.

They went on. Anisha sighed and peered into her closet, praying that she'd find a nice dress to wear because the last thing she wanted to do was go shopping.

'Wear that black top you look hot. ;) I am going to introduce you to some hotties so be ready by noon. XOXO', Charmi had written in her final text.

Anisha grimaced re-reading Charmi's text about introducing her to guys. She wasn't giving up even after Anisha had rejected a dozen of her shortlisted dates in the past months. She was her personal human tinder.

"..Get off that phone! How many times have I told you never to start the day using that wretched thing?" Her mom's voice jolted her back to reality. Sigh! There goes my Saturday...

Anisha stomped into the bathroom. She began to brush her teeth barely able to keep her eyes open. After which she tidied her long black hair into a tight bun to wash her face. She sneaked into the living room noticing that her mom was still bustling in the kitchen.

"The Queen is up, I see," her Mom taunted as she scraped the leftovers from the pan.

"Good morning, mother," Anisha faked a smile to share her displeasure on being rudely woken up that morning.

"I've made eggs, come here and help me toast the bread," her mother commanded, pointing to their prehistoric fridge.

Anu grabbed the bread from above the refrigerator in dismay. She began to butter each of them before placing a pair in the toaster.