Chapter 16

It was almost midnight 12:00 AM and Sabari couldn’t sleep. The incidents related to Ananya haunted him badly. The more sleepless he was, more the questions started to arise.

Sabari turned around to see what Ananya was up to. She was in deep slumber.  After looking at her divine and peaceful sleep, he fumed even more.

‘How dare can she sleep peacefully after lying me?’

‘Who is the one she is talking to? That too switching off his phone immediately after talking to her’

Sabari looked at the clock and the time was 12:45 AM. He understood his disturbed mind wouldn’t allow him to sleep. That would disturb his productivity at work the next day. So, he decided to take a sleeping tablet.

Sabari came out of the bed and walked towards the cupboard in the corner of the bedroom, where the tablets usually was kept. He opened it and along with the tablets there was a diary.

Sabari had seen Ananya scribbling in the same diary numerous times. He did not have a chance to explore it until then. But the situation forced him to open it.. For once, he turned back to check on Ananya. She had not moved an inch from the position in which she was sometime back.

Sabari slowly turned the pages. The first few pages had contact information of home appliances maintenance companies, addresses of few of his cousins and detailed food recipes. As they were in detail, he ignored those pages. After turning a few pages, he came across a page that had a few English verses. His eyes turned bright when he saw a note ‘Vasu’s best Poems’.

Sabari read it one by one to understand the real meaning of it. He tried to relate it with Ananya. Few verses that he read were tied to a generic subject than to ‘Romance’ or ‘Love’.

Just when Sabari was about to move to the next page, he heard Ananya’s voice from behind.

“Hey!!! What are you doing at the cupboard?”

Sabari was alarmed at Ananya’s voice. Ananya couldn’t exactly see from behind as what Sabari was doing. He utilized the chance, turned his head towards her and answered.

“I had a severe headache and struggling to sleep. So, thought of having a tablet.”

“You got it?”

“Ya…”

“Ok.. Then get to sleep”

“Ya.. coming.. “

Sabari placed the diary back into the cupboard and grabbed a tablet. He walked to the dressing table, swallowed the tablet, gulped the water and got back to bed.

Once Sabari rested on bed, Ananya asked him, “Sabari!!! I’m watching you from the time since you came for lunch. Something is wrong. Any issues at work?”

“Not really…”

“If not work, what else is wrong?”

The question from Ananya tempted Sabari to blurt out the provocative questions in his mind.

‘Should I ask her now?? No… I have to just act believing her stories and wait until she is caught red handed.‘

He fixed his mind and stayed calm. He looked at dragging it with a different story line.

“Sabari!!! Are you listening?”

“Oh.. yes… This is related to my project… Recently I’m feeling insecure about it”

“Like what?”

“I’m doubtful whether I can finish this project successfully”

“What made you doubt all of a sudden?”

“The recent incidents… particularly… The three chimps died when I was doing an important procedure, which was part of the research”

“Ya.. You have already told about it”

“This was kept confidential.. But it isn’t anymore.. Due to the blunders of James and Ramesh, the death of the chimps is out and worst is that, it has caught the attention of the cops. Inspector Mahadev, a talented officer had entered in our office for enquiring about it. They are not good signs”

“I believe he came only for clarification and not an enquiry”

“You are right... But he might come anytime whenever he feels suspicious about us”

“You need to stop thinking about it… When you are scared, there are chances that the scare might drive you to commit mistakes. You need to be careful. Your MD Sidharth is a powerful person and hope he will be able to manage all these”

“Yup.. I know.. “

“Then what makes you worry… “

Sabari turned to Ananya, looked at her, straight into her eyes and paused for a moment. He said, “Sometimes I cannot believe people around me”

Sabari’s storyline extended. Ananya was taken back by that statement. She was shocked for a moment and asked, “Whom do you mean?”

“I mean… People who work in my company… Including my superiors and subordinates”

“Why don’t you report this to your MD”

“It is not as easy as you think… “

“huh??”

“Ya… You might be shocked if I mention the name”

“Who?”

“Prathap”

“What?”

“Yes.. I can’t report about Prathap… And even if I do so, Sidharth won’t believe my statements”

“But… Tell me this… Why do you suspect him?”

“While the whole project is my brain, Prathap sometimes takes ownership of the idea. Especially, while during discussions with Sidharth… He underplays my role in this whole project“

“Can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead”

“Where do you have the details of the project? I mean design, execution, results, etc, etc”

“It is with me”

“Where exactly?”

The question from Ananya alerted Sabari and he became cautious. Without expressing it, he replied, “I’m sorry….As per my organization’s policy, it is highly confidential… It cannot be revealed even to family members”

Before Ananya was about to say something, Sabari’s phone rang. Sabari was surprised and he looked at the clock. The time was just a few minutes to 1 AM. He wondered who might be calling him at the wee hours.

Sabari woke up from the bed and walked to the dressing table where he kept his mobile. The phone display said it was Sidharth. He wondered why should Sidharth call him late hours.

His heartbeat raised and with shaking hands, he picked the call.

“Sir??”

“Sabari… Sorry you to bother you at this time…But I had to call you to inform this.. Don’t get shocked.”

That raised Sabari’s heart beat even more. “What happened sir? Anything serious”

“Very much serious…Prathap is dead”