EPIPHANY- PreRish Short Story

CHAPTER 4

“Hello commissioner.. yes tell me.. okay.. no please make sure..okay thank you. I'd be there.. Yes, I am leaving right now”  Mehra's voice broke her chain of thoughts and she tried her best to make sense of each and every word that Mehra said on phone. 

 
“There is a new update which I just got. Shooter has been found to be a close man of some KUMARDADA, he was in jail for past few years and has close connection to a certain land mafia group which was active some time back. Attempts have been made to bail the shooter, I have to rush to the police station to ensure he doesn’t get bail under any circumstances. You please take care.. call me if you hear from doctors.. and Mam message me if you need anything, I’ll have it arranged” said Mehra leaving.

 
“Mr. Mehra.. I don’t know how to thank you!” said Prerna feeling overwhelmed by the support he extended in the time of crisis.

 
“You don’t have to Mam. Sir ne bhaut kuch kia hai … Yea toh mera farz hai" Mehra said with a weak smile and left.

 
"Kumar, land mafia" just the words were enough to make her restless. She could not find herself to understand what kind of connection did a mafia gang had to do with Mr. Bajaj. She never heard anyone mention about all this; not even once did Mr. Bajaj say a word that she could relate this to.

  
While she tried to remember any incident that could help her connect the dots and make some sense of the situation;  a nurse removed the curtain from inside and she saw Rishabh with a tube running down his chest. He no longer had an oxygen mask on his face, but a thick plastic tube ran down his throat now. He barely looked like the person she met a few hours back. She looked at him and as tears rolled down her eyes, she recalled how she had almost lost him about 3 years ago, all because of her own incapability to see anything beyond her blind love for a man named 'Anurag Basu'.

 
3 years ago, after Mr. Bajaj and Kukki left, leaving her with divorce papers and a letter; Mrs. Bajaj could not find the peace that she thought she would, if she went back to her love Anurag Basu; only if she had known what life had planned for her. Anurag went missing the night of their wedding, only to come back after a long month, married to a sweet girl Sonalika who did everything she could to save Anurag and remembered nothing about her. He just remembered that Prerna was his childhood friend.

 
Due to financial crisis that Sharma family was going through at that time, Prerna was compelled to work with Moloy Basu after he requested her several times. She worked as his secretary and he made sure of her comfort as she was around 6 months pregnant then.  

 
Anurag Basu had also joined the business and head a new company named "STAR AND KINGS Media Pvt Ltd." he bought to start something on his own. She often found Sonalika visiting him during lunch hours. They looked happy together. She felt extremely uncomfortable seeing them together in front of her eyes. But never made any attempt to intervene in their lives because that would have ruined Sonalika's life and she didn't want to do that as it wasn't her mistake. 

 
Seeing them together made her retrospect her own actions while she was in wedlock herself. She realised how her husband must have felt every time she decided to be with Anurag leaving him and her daughter behind. But nothing made him lose his trust in her and never did he ever stop her for anything. She felt guilty of her actions every time she went back to those 4 months in her memories, when she was married to Mr. Bajaj. 

She heard no news of him ever since he left. He went incognito from any news like before, he had entered in her life. She missed him and every time she looked at her unborn baby she would remember his words, when he asked her to be careful or take care of herself. She missed Kukki, and felt bad for not giving enough love to the little child who had nothing but selfless love for Prerna.