“Two coffees”, she ordered without asking Sid anything.
“Anything else to eat, madam?"
“Not right now” she cut off him and stared at Sid.
Sid nodded to the waiter to leave and leaned forward to talk with Anna.
“I got stuck at work, and --”
“What do you want to ask me, Sid?” she asked furiously.
“Well, what are you doing with your life Anna?”
“What????” His sudden question made her look startled. She didn't expect such a straightforward yet rude question from him, even after having a conversation on the phone last night.
“Yes, what are you doing? Did you apply for the job I recently asked you to? “
“NO”
“Did you at least call that agent?”
“NO”
“Now, do you understand my question? What are you even trying to achieve with your life?”
Sid sat back in anger staring at Anna. Her eyes were getting red, her face went pale, and she bit her teeth even more tightly fighting back her tears.
Sid continued his questions.
“By the way, what's going on with you and Sam?”
This time Anna looked at him in surprise and in confusion. “Sam, Who?”
“Oh! You don't even know his name and still stalking him for weeks?” Sid gave her a crooked look.
She banged the table and rose; being friends with him for almost 15 years and yet he is questioning her as in a police investigation made Anna lose her temper.
Sid looked around as people noticed them in doubt. Sid held her hands and made her sit back.
“‘Am sorry, now tell why do you go to Sam's place? Don't you know he is having criminal records?”
Anna looked at Sid as if she got one more answer to her quest. But she just looked down avoiding eye contact with Sid.
As the coffee arrived both took a silent break from the heating conversation. After a couple of minutes, Sid continued,
“Why are you not applying for any job, Anna? It's high time you become independent. You can't rely on your parents forever
Anna just nodded and sipped the coffee gazing at the setting sun.
“You can't just follow your passion, you need money. Just apply for the jobs I sent you” Sid looked at her for a reply. But she didn't respond.
“Your parents called me yesterday; they are worried about you….”
Anna gave him a cold look.
“What do you expect from them, Anna? You are 26 now, jobless and roaming around single to some random guys home, why can't you agree for marriage at least?”
“Who would want to marry a jobless woman right now, Sid?” she stopped sipping just enough to ask this and resumed her coffee.
“Then go get a job na, don't stick to your hopeless passion” Sid started to raise his voice.
Anna sat back, leaving her coffee on the table, and looked at Sid for a few seconds.
“Do you even know me anymore Sid? I thought I could rely on you as a friend. But you are acting just like my parents. Maybe even worse”
Sid did not have an answer.
“Ok sorry again, your parents sounded too worried over the phone and I felt that I should take up the responsibility of being your best friend….”
“Why should you take the responsibility, Sid? You can’t even understand the pain I am going through right now."
Sid felt sorry for behaving rudely to Anna. He looked out the window as it became darker. Taking his last sip he looked at her. Her eyes were clouded. Her anger has now turned to worries.
Sid knew the pain of being jobless and having to stay at his parents ' place even at this age. This was not by her choice, but she couldn't get through interviews for multiple reasons. She tried all her ways. Maybe her strong desire to achieve her passion to be an artist is hindering her way to mend a career. Being a practical person Sid could never decipher the world of art and creativity. The world filled with satisfaction rather than likings. Sid had seen Anna Smile with glitter in her eyes only when she was doing something creative. Being a friend he wants to see her smile always but that will not help her mend a better future.
Both stayed silent, buried in their own thoughts.
“Let us leave?” Anna broke the silence.
Sid nodded yes and they stood up. Anna walked out of the cafe and stood gazing at the stars. Sid joined her after paying the bill.
“Tell me about Sam, when you feel free” Sid hugged her lightly and smiled.
She smiled back at him and waved goodbye.
Both parted with many questions in mind yet to be resolved.
On her way home, Anna’s mind flew a few months back.
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It was a dark day in her life. A day she thought would never happen as she was very ambitious and well-sorted about her life. The images of the day kept on flashing before her eyes. The huge fight with her parents, the river, the bridge, and the loud cry for help pricked her ears. Anna shrugged her shoulders and sat straight in the rickshaw she got in involuntarily.
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Anna is an averagely tall woman in her late 20s’. Her deep hazel brown eyes shimmer as she flaunts her fluffy hair each time. For her whitish complexion, the dark brown hair complements her better. She often likes to tie her hair up rigid not falling onto her eyes but fails when she bites her anger in. She seems to be happy most of the time despite being a job seeker even at this age. An unusual chirping of birds can bring her smiles showing her off-white teeth. People around here usually get stuck on her one canine tooth that missed the proper alignment of the jawline. Anna sometimes likes it when her peer group makes funny yet lovely comments on her smile. No one has seen her crying around as her showers witnesses it all. Her love for animals is always a topic of discussion around her. Any cruelty towards it might become one of the reasons she pops out into flames which most of her friends don't admire about her. Being independent of her choices she often stares into the distance to drink up some perspective to life. Anna had sorted her dreams and wishes over all stages of her life. She had a vision of how her life has to be and would be. But life is often mischievous, it throws realities on our face just when we least expect it.
Anna is blessed with a well-educated family and a colorful childhood, probably the reason behind her thoughts that dreams could never shatter.
“Where were you?” her mother asked as she opened the door for her.
“I was with Sid” she gave a haste reply and went to her room and slammed her door.
For the way she was brought up, this behavior was something that could never be expected from her. But at this moment she could only feel angry at everything and everyone around her. It was a kind of tantrum one throws towards life when dreams get shattered. Anna looked at the mirror and smiled. It was a very weak and unhappy one. She kept staring at the mirror as Sid’s voice was ringing in her ears. ‘Sam’, ‘criminal records’ she closed her eyes deeply to find a connection between what she saw that day and this new information. She kept thinking why she saw that and what was the reason behind it also why she chose that particular riverside that day…. Many questions and one vague answer ‘Maybe it has something to do with her life. But what? she kept thinking. Her train of thoughts took her many places that had nothing to do with her questions.
“Urgh…” she shook her head in aggression and went to take a shower.
A hot shower after a long day could release most of one's stress out. Anna slept like a baby as if nothing bothered her anymore.
She woke up the next day happy for no reason and got ready to go out.
“Have this bread and go….” her mother called out to her as Anna waved her hands to her mother and closed the door. She walked through the streets with quick steps in the beginning gradually slowing down her pace as she crossed a few yards away from her home. Anna felt that to be a pleasant start for the day. The sun shined brighter, yet cold winds blew her hair swinging. It announced the arrival of winter. She loves this month of the year. The combination of two kinds of weather. It gives her eyes a reason to smile and look around. There were few shops on the side path. Most of it by small vendors. The place had almost everything, within a few kilometers what a family needed to survive the reason why Anna didn't have to learn driving for these necessities. Or she pointed this reason for not learning to ride. She preferred walking over the stress of riding. She smiled at herself and stopped near her usual tea shop.
She waved at the tea-seller and gestured a tea at him. He smiled back and started making tea. She then moved towards the backyard of the shop where her friend was waiting for her, wagging his tail like a swing. She smiled at him and hugged him. Lucky jumped and rolled over her and looked at Anna to take him for a walk. She unlocked his tag and held the leash in her hands and brought him to the front. The tea seller handed her a tea and two buns. She started to sip her tea while feeding lucky the buns. She looked at him in love as she remembered the day Anna found him.
About a month ago Anna was going through the toughest part of her life. Being rejected by many companies, not able to perform better at interviews, peer pressure, stress from family about her future and to add fuel to these, her passion to become an author and content creator which was in contradiction to her graduation and practical needs. Everything kept pushing her against her wills and she was under stress. Sid, who is a logical person, couldn't help her with the passion-related quest. Having no one to share her real emotions she started to grow anger inside her towards the unknown twists and turns in self, which led to a huge fight with her parents that day.
“I DON'T NEED ANY CHARITY, I WILL SURVIVE ON MY OWN” she shouted at her parents and slammed the door, the first such event in her life’s happening. She walked out of her house to a place she liked but never visited. She had crossed this place many times on her way to school. That place always called her attention for a reason unknown till the day she decided to find solace on a bridge of that riverside.
She stood there with flooded eyes. Biting her teeth she was really fighting not to shed those tears down. What had happened to me? She thought multiple times. Why is it being so hard to find a job, why is it being hard to find peace with life at present? As thoughts swirled inside her mind faster, she stared at the stream. The river was calm yet playful as it pushed through the rocks and hurdles on its way. Each moment she was seeing new water at the place Anna had fixed her sight on. She closed her eyes letting her tears roll down her cheeks and dripping. As she whimpered standing on the bridge she started to feel light. After a few deep breaths, she was finally able to gain back her senses. Like the river, she pushed away from her pain and sat to find some answers. Anna couldn't make out how long she sat there just gazing at the water till she heard a whelp. It startled her to the core. She turned around to find what it was. She walked cautiously tracing the sound and caught her eyes on a tall stout man trying to strangle a dog. She gasped at the sight. After few seconds of trance, she yelled at the man
“Hey, what are you doing?” she advanced to the scene. As she was approaching, the guy left the dog and moved away. She called out to him but he didn’t turn back.
Anna reached out to the dog; it was hurt pretty bad and tired enough to defend him. Anna didn't know what to do, but seeing the dog struggle she decided to help him. She walked out of the place towards the road to get a rickshaw and took the dog to a vet. It was severely injured and needed rest. Anna couldn't stay at the hospital so she left the dog at the shelter and thought to visit it later the next day. Little did she know that the dog would become a part of her life? After a few days of rest and better treatment, the dog was good to go. She named him ‘Lucky’. But couldn’t take him to her home. This made her decide to leave lucky at a tea shop. The tea seller was known to her for years, which lost his son a few months back. Anna thought maybe Lucky could help the man heal his pain. That was the part of Anna's life where she felt important and liked. After which she started to visit lucky every day and often took him for a walk.
On one such day taking him for a walk near the riverside, Anna found him first, Lucky started to behave indifferently. He sniffed around and walked faster dragging Anna with him. She called for him to slow down, but ‘lucky’ was in haste. He took Anna to a place that seemed spooky in a way. There were only a few houses and most of them were locked. Some even looked haunted. Lucky walked as though he was in search of something. Anna started to get chills as she couldn't control the dog but just went with him into the unknown place. Lucky was taking careful steps nearing a house. He wanted to go but something made him stay back. Anna pulled him back behind a tree as she watched a man come out of a house that had a rusty look. The house looked like a container block with no windows seen in the front. It had only one way for the entry-The wooden door which was cracked, still having a sturdy look. Anna found that man familiar. He was tall and stout with a whitish complexion. He wore a hat hiding his hair. He had a sharp nose and rather twinkling eyes. He wore a black T-shirt and blue jeans. He knew to carry himself in public. With no much effort, she could recognize him to be the one who tried to kill lucky. She was filled with anger which turned to curiosity sooner, seeing lucky wag his tail. Anna was bewildered by his action. Dogs wag tails only when it is friendly. Then why is Lucky hesitating to go near that man? Is it because of the recent abuse? If yes then how is he able to wag his tail? Anna couldn't find a satisfactory answer to her contradictory questions. This made her decide to stalk the man with Lucky to find an answer. She chose this quest as a distraction from her own unresolved problems. Yet her gut feeling said that she has something to do with this.
Anna started this mission and it's been a month. The only clue she could get was that this man has some secrets not easy to crack. That's when Sid called Anna to meet and the whole conversation happened. This gave her the answers as ‘Sam’ and ‘criminal record’. This took Anna back to Lucky for this day’s walk.
As a usual gesture, Anna was having her tea and Lucky his bun. Many thoughts popped into her mind. She has an online interview that evening. She was not sure how prepared she was for that. Yet Anna didn't spend time on it either. Anna took luck for a walk to that area where Sam lives. As they neared, she could see two bikes parked at the entrance. There were four hefty men with long hairs and dusty beards long till it touched their tummies. All looked very shabby. They were having a conversation with Sam; from their body language, it seemed a little unpleasant. Lucky sat under the tree near Anna wagging his tail and letting out anxious wails when the men raised their voices against Sam. Each time they shouted lucky started to become more restless.
“Just get out, I won't come with you now” Sam shouted and tended to close the door. But a hefty guy seemed to be the gang leader pulling Sam out clutching his t-shirt- collar.
“We didn't come to take your excuses; we will take you with us”. At this point, lucky broke his leash and ran towards them, and started attacking.
Anna moved back in shock to hide behind a tree. She was frightened by the dog's action. What if those people come to know that she was stalking? She couldn't find a way out. Anna saw lucky being feisty and fighting which was beyond her imagination.
She watched lucky pouncing on each man and dragging them away from Sam. All four men were startled and for a few moments, they couldn't resist the dog but move out of the place.
After a safe distance, the leader shouted
Anna thought it was a waste of time to stay there. As she walked past the tree she heard him bark. Wishing hard not to be seen by Sam Anna turned to see Sam with his dog. It was a moment of great fear for her. Her throat started to get dry, she swallowed her fear and she stood in trance. Sam walked towards her and smiled.
“Hi, thank you for bringing back my dog in good condition. I am Sam” he stretched his hands for a greeting.
“Hi...Anna...tha...nk you…” she mumbled and turned to walk away
“Wait, I can’t keep him here. Please take him along. You took good care of him, ``Sam requested with hope.
Anna turned and gave a curious look. Sam knew she would try to pull the truth out of his mouth so he frowned and gestured to her to take Lucky back, in anger and moved away.
Anna took the dog and walked towards her home.
Anna always felt her life to be pieces of puzzles getting arranged. But the idea of introducing new puzzle pieces made her feel frustrated. That night she couldn’t sleep at all. Sid said Sam to be a guy with criminal records. But the way he looked and spoke didn’t give her any negative vibe. Then suddenly the scene of Sam hurting Lucky flashed in front of her making it even more confused. Then why was he happy to see Lucky back.
“Urghhh….” she pulled her pillows near to close her ears as if to block her mental voices. After a few more restless turns, over the bed, Anna slipped into a deep sleep.
The next morning she woke up with a gasp, as she had completely forgotten the interview the previous day. She opened her laptop in haste and found an email of rejection. The only thing left for her to do was to send an apology letter to any one of the usual fake reasons and ask for any chance in the future. After pressing the send button she closed the laptop and sat silent for five minutes. She then shook her thoughts away and got ready for her usual walk.
Anna reached Sam's house and this time she was determined to get an answer.
She knocked on the door and waited with a fearful heart and confident mind. Sam opened the door and was quite surprised to see her there and it showed in his eyes. He asked her to wait out and closed the door.
“What was that all about?” Anna blurted
“What?” Sam asked back as he knew nothing.
“I know it was you who tried to kill Lucky -”
“Lucky?? Cool name. He is Rocky by the way” Sam interrupted
“Whatever, you tried to kill him one day and now petting him? I don’t understand”
Anna wanted an immediate answer. which was not likely to happen.
Sam smiled and started to brief his life.
“I was born an orphan and brought up by the gang leader you saw. He gave me everything including better education but with his illegal money. I came to know that very late. So I left the house with Rocky. But wherever I go they chase me as I know their secrets. Recently he murdered my friend who refused to be their gang member. They will soon kill me too. I am trying to find a solution for these.”
Sam stopped and looked at Anna fearing that he gave her too much information. Being normally silent he felt surprised by his own action.
Listening to all this Anna asked
“But I still didn't get an answer why you strangled lucky... I mean rocky” she patted the dog and sat near Sam.
“I love him so much as he is the only soul I have. They keep illegal products in my house for safety and Rocky reveals it to the police while investigations and most of the time I get arrested along with them”
‘aha...That gives him the criminal record’. Anna thought
Sam continued “last time, they visited me straight after the murder, blackmailing me to join them. Now I am afraid that police might add me to the suspect list. Rocky chased them away from the streets but it alerted the whole place. I was not able to control him. He is doing this to protect me, but it ended up a mess. That frustration made me hurt my Rocky” Sam hugged Rocky remembering that day to be painful for him.
In Spite of being a serious issue, Anna felt this part to be a little funny as she imagined Rocky running behind the criminals and Sam standing helpless. she laughed making Sam angry.
“Ok, cool down. I have a friend who has a friend in the police. Shall we tell them all the truth and get you out of the mess.”
Anna wanted to see if Sam was really genuine. To her surprise, he agreed to this plan.
That evening Anna met Sid and explained everything.
Sid felt it to be a risky business. But he had no other option than to listen to Anna as she acted upset.
Raga, Sid’s friend, later handled the case and made sure that Sam would not be added to the suspect list even though he would have to visit the station for inquiries.
That was a relief for him. Later on, Anna handed over Rocky back to Sam.
This took over a week to get a fine resolution. The day when Sam was cut off from the suspect’s list and freed from the allegations, Anna and Sam took a walk along the riverside they first met. Rocky kept running around playing with sticks Sam threw every now and then. On reaching the bridge Anna stood there in silence. Gazing at the stream. She paused for a few moments and smiled. Sam was talking but Anna couldn't hear anything as she was thinking about this whole month. Wanting to be a story writer, she found this plot to be very interesting to start this journey with her own experience. Maybe that was the reason behind all these events. Maybe or maybe not. Anna felt some relief in her thoughts as she got a new companion to walk the rough path with.
As the sun started to set, spreading the orangish-red blanket all over. Sam and Anna retreated from the place with Rocky, sharing their laughs with each other.
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