An immaculately dressed Sanjay Oberoi walked down the aisle, towards his 32nd floor corner office. He was an Investment Banker by profession, yet had a keen interest in the pop culture. One could make out Sanjay was a hurry. Understandably so; he was returning from a three-day long vacation. A considerable amount of work had piled up. In the twelve years Sanjay has worked in Axis Capital, he had made a reputation for himself. He had 80-hour work weeks, yet somehow managed to be a family man. People in the firm respected his principles.

In his office, he was quite baffled by the fact he did not have any files resting on his desk. He was already battling a suspicion of why did anyone not greet him that morning. It was odd, but he had boiled it down to a mere coincidence. His empty desk gave him reason to suspect something. He called for his secretary. She, composing herself, slowly walked into his office. Another strange sight! Anita had been a friend of Sanjay for almost ten years. But he could understand very well, her banters of affection were now replaced by an obligatory smile.

“Another family vacation Sanjay?”

“Have you taken your medicines Anita?”, quipped Sanjay as the twinkle in his eyes stay no more. “And give me the Derivative Briefs”.

“That case has been re-assigned to Mr. Amman.”

“What! I have been working on that for a week”, snapped Sanjay.

“Oh, Mr. Agarwal is expecting you.” Says Anita, stomping out of his office expressionless.

Fear starts to run through Sanjay’s mind. Was he going to get fired? Well, of course he was. What else could explain all this? It was not the loss of a steady salary haunting him. He had an impressive portfolio. He could be employed anywhere. But it was the loss of his dignity that was screeching in his mind. Why fire him now? He had never been a lackey. Was it because of the mini vacation he took? Maybe…. although he had it approved.

What probably was the longest two-minute walk in his life ended, when he was unceremoniously greeted by Mr. Agarwal in front of his office. Walking towards his seat in long strides, Mr. Agarwal sat himself down. On other days, Sanjay was generally asked to sit and share a drink with Mr. Agarwal, while talking business as usual. Today was different. It was 10 in the morning, so drinking wasn’t the best option now, but he wasn’t even given the liberty to sit. As uncanny as it was, Sanjay didn’t wait for permission. He didn’t think a COO who gave a company twelve years of his life should be victim to such humiliation.

A couple of minutes passed, neither of them spoke a single word. The awkward silence was finally broken by an unsynchronized noise made by stiletto heels.

“May I come in Sir?”- stood on the door, a gorgeous blonde. Her mascara was smudged, hair disheveled and nose puffy.  It didn’t take Sanjay long to connect the dots. She was obviously crying.

Sanjay stood up, and offered her his handkerchief. Her blood shot eyes did scare him a little. She wasn’t the only person who was let go that week. The revaluation of the firm caused quite a few of the associates their jobs. Sanjay tried to break the bad news as smoothly as possible, to them. Yes, he was met with a lot of tears. But this! He couldn’t anticipate such a radical repartee. He had also promised the associates glowing letters of recommendation for their new employers. What caused Sunidhi to become such a mess escaped him.

“Sanjay”, started Agarwal in his gravel voice

“We in this firm care about the integrity and well-being of our employees. I don’t know how to say this. This young lady has made the accusation that you have physically assaulted her the day you were asked to fire the associates”.

Sanjay couldn’t compute what Agarwal was saying. He went blank. He mindlessly looked around the familiar walls. He dropped down to the chair again. Mobilizing all the strength he could, he stuttered, “What?”.

He couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t hear anything. It was like a switch in his mind just flipped off. He couldn’t function anymore. All he could see was a black screen. And the screeching silence he could hear. It was deafening.  

Sanjay woke up. But, instead of the familiar office walls, he could see shabby grey ones. His room was barricaded by bars. He was in a jail.

He shouted for help. But the calls when unanswered. He tried to peek out of the cell. But there was no one there. All he could see was a dark endless alleyway with degenerates like himself locked up in cells away from society. There were no police, there was no jailer.

“Someone call an ambulance”- a familiar voice shouted. A camaraderie of bankers rush into Agarwal’s office. Sanjay lay there- lifeless on the floor. Agarwal was in a state of daze. He was unsure as to what should he do. Sanjay although a suspect of a horrendous crime, could not be left to die.

The medic comes into the room fast. He tries to do the necessary to cheat death. Yet, too little too late. Sanjay was no more. Already a heart patient, this news given to him so nonchalantly was a trigger for him.

Anita seeing her friend depart before her eyes, struck something. Her eyes were watery, but she wasn’t crying. It was only fitting she calls his family. Sanjay’s wife and she were friends after all. But, she couldn’t. She couldn’t come to terms with how coldly she spoke to Sanjay the last time they talked. It would be engraved in her memory. A regret she will be chained to forever.

The next few weeks in the office were uneventful. The ambience was grey. No one was focused on the task they were assigned. But, can they be blamed? No one in the world is strong enough to witness a death right before them. Sunidhi was re-hired. Even though Sanjay did die, he was the instigator of something really ugly. Had he not died, he would probably be in jail now. So, Sunidhi should not be robbed the opportunity of working here merely because he died.

An uncanny friendship strikes up between Sunidhi and Anita. Although the wound comparatively fresh, Anita hardly talked about Sanjay anymore. It didn’t take a genius to figure out Anita was having problems sleeping. So, she was a frequent to the nearby bar. Sunidhi, was her accompaniment.

“Say Sunidhi, I was thinking, why don’t you join me for dinner tonight?”

“The usual?”

“No, why don’t we have dinner at my place tonight”

“Fine by me” said Sunidhi, enamoured by the prospect being a part of ‘Anita’s close social circle’.

Anita’s flat hadn’t had a guest for the longest time. She had poured herself into her work for the last decade. Never having time for anyone else, her entire persona was based around how exceptionally well she was at what she did. But Sanjay’s death made her wiser by a thousand years. Her clouds of confusion were now replaced by ideas as clear as day. She needed someone to share her drinks of loneliness with. The guilt she carried was weighing down on her. She needed to open up to someone. She tried several times to talk to her peers at the firm. But she was only a secretary. Why should someone be a shoulder to cry on for a mere secretary. Sunidhi, although being a controversial figure in the firm lately, was the only one who didn’t turn a deaf ear to her woes.

Anita’s house is small, yet cozy. It’s elegantly designed, hinting the owner is a person of taste. Anita dimmed the lights, giving the place an aesthetic ambience. Sunidhi goes to the kitchen to open the bottle of wine she bought on her way here. Anita brings the chess set out.

“Oh, how long since I last played this. It was a gift from Sanjay, do you know?”

Sunidhi gave Anita an awkward look. There was no more a smile on her face. As Anita kept continuing about Sanjay, Sunidhi was getting visibly uncomfortable. Both the ladies were pretty drunk. So, was this the alcohol talking?

Suddenly, quipped Anita, “I know Sanjay didn’t do anything to you though. You were just looking for a way to get your job back. This was the easiest one.”

“No, how dare you- “

“Come on, zip it. Except for your word, there is no proof of anything. No scars, no CCTV footage, no alibi”

“You know I won’t lie about this”- Sunidhi blinded in rage by now. She took her bag, and was about to stomp out the gate, only to be stopped by Anita’s intimidating scream “Stay right there!”.

She had a gun pointed towards Sunidhi. “This is an unlicensed firearm. This too belonged to Sanjay.”

Sunidhi was scared out of her wits. She couldn’t see anything, couldn’t hear anything. The switch in her mind flipped off. She couldn’t compute the gravity of the situation. All she could grasp was a gun being pressed against her head.

“Have you been taking your medicines Anita?”, asked Sunidhi in a much petrified tone.

Anita, despite of the question asked, speaks in a menacing voice, “Now, tell me did you lie or did you not”

“I swear I did not”- shouted Sunidhi

“This is not the answer I want to hear, tell me, did he hit you or not?”

“He did…. please let me go”- tears rolled down Sunidhi’s eyes. Her voice, broken and she evidently had lost her sanity.”

“NO THAT’S NOT TRUE. TELL ME DID HE HIT YOU OR NOT.”

Sunidhi felt the only way to escape the situation would be to accept what Anita was saying.

Calming herself down she says, “Ok yes, I did. Please Anita you are my friend lets talk. Let’s sit and let’s talk.”

Anita obviously was unstable. So, Sunidhi slowly slid the gun away from her hand, and held it. She gently made Anita sit down.

Before Sunidhi could say anything, Anita started- “He loved me you know. He promised me once the divorce went through, he would marry me.” A blindsided Sunidhi kept the gun on the table, listening to this shocking revelation. No one in the office knew about this. Was it true? It could be Anita’s make belief too, she had a lot to drink that night.

“And the day he died; I saw you smirk”. Anita spoke softly yet seemed extremely intimidating. Sunidhi wanted to counter her, but couldn’t muster up the courage to do so. The last time she did counter Anita. The results of that weren’t very ceremonious.

“You know Sanjay told me, if you are wronged, always seek retribution. Doesn’t matter how much time it takes”.

Sunidhi could easily comprehend the malice in her voice. A quick glance to the left side of the table confirmed the gun wasn’t there anymore. Her heart was beating frantically fast.

“Looking for this?” - Anita waved the gun.

“Please Anita, don’t be stupid. If you do this you will spend the rest of your days in jail. Please let me go and we will never talk about this again. I know you are hurting. But things will- “

“Aha”- started Anita with an eerie chuckle. The sparkle in her eyes were no more. There were just flames of maddening rage. “Oh, I am not killing you. That’ll be too simple. You see I have already spread the suspicions about you at office. I don’t think this is a great revelation to you. And, this is why you strike up a friendship with me, because I was going to cost you your job. And once your multiple tries of manipulation fails and you are at the end of your wits, you do the necessary to keep your job.”

Sunidhi looked at Anita with disbelief. She went completely pale. She was under the impression this was all a sick ruse. How could she prove all this?

“Well, Sunidhi, you did hold the gun, which means it has your fingerprints, and the stories against you in the firm are running wild. So, you will have a hell of a time proving otherwise.”

Anita pointed the gun at her forehead, and pulled the trigger.

Sunidhi, frozen in her seat could hear police sirens. The neighbours had probably called them because of all the shouting.

She scrambled through Anita’s purse. Some beacon of hope that could redeem her from this.