"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.
"You seem to be in a first-class mood today," Anisha addressed sarcastically.
"Your grandmother called. She wanted to visit your uncle in Dubai but your grandfather refused. You know how adamant he gets." Mom shook her head in disbelief.
"Still hiding from him, when she calls you?" Anisha looked over her shoulder at her mom who was seasoning the eggs with pepper.
"Aiyyo, yes, yes, he was out for a walk, that's why she called me. He will lose it if he finds out your grandmother still calls me," she shuddered.
"Ma, it's been more than 25 years, he can't come to terms with dad? I mean it's not like dad's here anymore. They live right here in Mumbai, like 20 minutes away!"
"He is stubborn."
"Right," Anisha snickered, as she crossed her arms.
Anisha's parents had to elope as her maternal grandparents refused to give their blessings. Her grandfather never forgave them.
Her grandma, however, tried to reconcile but she did so behind her husband's back. She had waited for years and the moment Anisha's dad was out of the picture. She reached out. Hence, all the secrecy.
For the longest time, Anisha's parents fought like cats and dogs, whether it was about bills, school, work, or family. She woke up one night to find her mom in the living room, wailing that he had left them.
Just gone. No goodbyes, nothing.
Anisha was only thirteen and didn't contemplate what was going to happen to them emotionally or financially. She ended up with major insecurity that everyone was meant to leave.
"Why don't you go meet him... just barge in. It's not like he is going to call the police on his own daughter." Anisha shrugged taking a bite of the delicious breakfast, "This is great, mom."
"Good, you're doing the dishes. The maid is not coming today," she smirked at her daughter.
"Ugh! Alriiiigghht," Anisha whined making her mom giggle. They both were a team, they shared household chores, finances, and scandalous tattles.
They spent the rest of the day, binge-watching shows on Netflix. It made Anu lethargic so she had a few too many cups of coffee.
As she scrolled through her personal emails, she made the ultimate mistake of logging into her work mail. It was loaded with reminders about the upcoming conference call on Monday morning with Mr. Siddharth Kanwal.
The Kanwal's were the big fishes in the exports industry, owning a good market share, and they were loaded!
Midtown, her firm needed them as a client, Anisha needed them. She had her eyes set on the Sr. Account Manager position and didn't want to leave any stones unturned. She had to prove herself worthy, especially to her boss. Her boss, Rajan, had offered her the position even with her pitiful GPA. Anisha wasn't a dud but the assault court case against Rithvik took a toll. It ended up putting a lot of strain on her grades.
His entire defense for assaulting Anisha had been about how she had caused him to spiral out of control. Her choices in clothes, her numerous male friends, and partying ways were used to paint a picture. It was an emotional turmoil.
Rithvik had ruined her. Even the thought of dating another man, made her anxious to the core. She had been on several dates after Rithvik but nothing flourished into anything serious.
Anisha would sense Rithvik in all of them.
As she clicked to log out from her mailbox, her eyes swept over the last few emails from Mr. Kanwal. She wondered if he would be another version of Rithvik. A pure devil.
***
A/N
Shoutout to my fellow writer neelamamalshaikh for reading my entire book and sharing a detailed review of my work in her new book, 'Honest and Spoiler Free Reviews'
A small snippet of her comments below: