“Umm, not sure.”Priya takes a deep breath.“Aditya, someone broke into our office last night.The police are here.”
“What?When?”The news increases my worry.
“Today, at around three in the morning.I got a call from the street guard.He found the office door open.I rushed here to find the office ransacked.But the funny thing is, no valuable item is missing.”
Who broke into Priya's office?What were they searching for?An uneasiness settles in my stomach.I pace in the kitchen.“Your office has CCTV?”I ask Priya.
“Yes, but the ones inside were tampered with.The police officer checked.”Priya douses my hope.
“What about the one on the stairs leading up to the bank opposite your office?”
“Hmm, let me speak to the bank manager.But she will be here only by ten.”
“What do we do till then?How do we find out who forwarded those emails?The break-in may not be related.”I express my concerns to Priya.
“Aditya, do you want me to speak to Jimmy?”
Priya or anyone else will not help.This is a grave I have dug, so I must work my way out of it.“No.Give me a few days.”
“Okay.Let me know if I can be of any help.Meanwhile, I will keep you informed of the developments here.”Priya consoles me one more time before hanging up.
Bile rises in my chest, spreading a bitter taste of guilt in my mouth.The punching bag I had hoped to tear apart is taken away from me.On whom now do I vent my frustration?If not Priya, who is behind this?A fear plants itself in my mind.Have they found out?But how?This time, I don't stop myself and dial Jatin, narrating every event since morning, including the break-in at Priya's office.
“Do you think Rahul broke into Priya’s office and forwarded those emails?”
“Hmm, the timing suggests the two incidents are not a coincidence, but Addy, will your ex-in-laws go so far?”
“Hate, anger, and revenge drive most conflicts, even lead to war between nations.Shalini's family is out for my blood.They will do everything to ruin me.I am not worried about myself, but my actions have hurt Jimmy.”
“Addy, go to him.Jimmy is upset.Go plead, grovel, do everything you can to speak to him.If he must know the truth, you should be the one to tell him.”
“What if he does not listen?”
“Find a way, Addy.”
Jatin is right.But will Jimmy even meet me?After agreeing to Jatin's plan to keep tabs on Shalini's father and brother, I disconnect the call.Time to put on my adult pants and face the music.
***
“Who the hell let youinside?I have no place for liars.”Jimmy slurs as he screams at me from the bed.
I had to beg Sahil for one chance to speak to Jimmy.The sight of a dishevelled, broken Jimmy cuts through my soul.
“You are no different from Jatinder.For a petty amount of money, people like you will speak any number of lies, even if your mouths destroy someone's life.”
I soak in his verbal punch, which he lands on my face by placing me in the same bucket as his cousin, who had outed him to his parents.
“Jimmy, you are drunk.”I reach out to steady him as he stands from the bed.He shrugs my hand away.
“Don't you dare touch me!You hide behind the curtains of your fake straight-passing relationship while we do the dirty lifting of being beaten up, tortured, and abandoned.”Jimmy's finger jabs into my chest, pushing me back.
Every word is a fireball.The rasp of each breath singes, burning me and my world to ashes.The forest fire I had so dreaded engulfs me in its throes.
“You could do so much more.”Jimmy seethes in rage.“Instead, you chose to hide, like a coward.What use are your degrees, your stature, your wealth?”
Another piercing jibe.Another step back.
“You had the privilege to speak to the hundreds of kids and people like me who are hanging by a thread with no hope.Imagine an eighteen-year-old boy tied by a rope in a mud hut in a remote village corner, denied food for days.Consider the darkness of abandonment when his mother stood by the side while her relatives dragged her son by his hair and beat him every morning and evening because he refused to marry a girl.”Jimmy's eyes are moist.I reach out to touch his face.But again, he pushes my hand away.
