Fragments

Chapter - 1

He awakens, his hair tousled, and senses a dizzy spell washing over him.

Clink.

The sound interrupts his stretch as he extends his legs. A smattering of beer bottles litters the floor. Fumbling around, he pats on the floor. locates his phone—its screen cracked halfway. He unlocks it to a cascade of emails.

Rejected from the interview.

With a guttural cry of frustration, he hurls the phone aside. Turning his attention to the bottles, he checks each for remnants of beer, finding only a few meager drops.

Making his way to the fridge, hope dwindles as he discovers it barren. Returning to the room, he eyes the locked wardrobe

Launching onto the bed, he rummages beneath, retrieving a key. With practiced precision, he unlocks the wardrobe revealing a neatly arranged array of clothing, a splash of color amidst the gloom.

Inside a purple purse, he just finds his girlfriend’s office ID card. Himanshi Arora. He finds no money. His expression freezes, a fleeting moment of contemplation before he closes the wardrobe. Replacing the key beneath the bed, he collapses onto the floor.

"Arghhhhhh!" His cry reverberates through the room as he lashes out, shattering a beer bottle. Shards scatter, some embedding into his toes, drawing blood that mingles with spilled beer on the floor.

With a resigned sigh, he stoops to suck the remaining drops of beer from the floor.

Chapter - 2

Door opens.

His girlfriend enters inside. Takes a halt as her eyes fall on the blood on the floor. She sighs. Puts the handbag on the sofa, and takes a bandage out of it. She walks towards the room. “Again?” she says.

The boy's head raises to her. His gaze lingers on her for a few seconds, struck by her beauty: her pearl-like eyes, elegantly curled hair, and the shimmer of gold earrings he had never gifted to her.

She comes closer. Stoops in front of him. Looks at his leg. “What’s this, Aarav?” she asks.

He looks away.

“You’ll get the job, don’t worry,” she says.

SIlence.

She bandages his leg and goes from there.

At night,

He opens his eyes. Looks at Himanshi. She’s on the bed, sleeping. He goes to the kitchen. He grunts as he tears off his bandage forcefully. He crumbles it into a ball, looks at it for a while and throws it on the dustbin, where thousands of used bandages are inside it.

Chapter - 3

He checks the mail. Rejection mails from the companies again.

His phone gets a notification. It’s a Whatsapp message from Himanshi.

He opens Whatsapp.

I'll be late tonight. Please don’t wait for me and eat dinner. Love you.”

His thumb pushes into the screen. The phone screen cracks a little.

At night,

Himanshi checks if Aarav is sleeping. She tiptoes to the hall. Opens the door. Looks behind to see if Aarav is there and goes out, closing the door.

Aarav opens his eyes.

Chapter - 4

Aarav squints against the harsh sunlight streaming through the window, his body stiff and aching. He fumbles blindly across the floor, fingers brushing against empty beer bottles before finding the cold, cracked screen of his phone.

He picks it up. Opens it.

It doesn’t open. It’s switched off.

He plugs it in the charger. Still no use. It doesn’t open.

He lunges to Himanshi’s bed and opens her laptop. Opens gmail.

Himanshi’s gmail account opens.

Two Tickets have been confirmed for Lakshadweep.

Later,

She comes back home, looking at the blood on the floor. She goes to the room. Beer bottles are broken and scattered. “Again?” she asks and bandages his leg.

Chapter - 5

Aarav is lying on the floor, his head leaning back on the wall. He looks at the beer bottle shards. Puts his right leg on it.

Himanshi comes back home. Her neck bandaged.

Aarav gaze lingers into her neck.

Her eyes follow his gaze. She winces. “I fell at the office. Bandaged it,” she smiles and goes to the washroom.

Aarav squints, his eyes narrowing as he presses his leg firmly against the jagged edge of the beer bottle shard.

When she comes out of the bathroom, she finds the blood on the floor, dribbling down from his leg. “Again?” she says and bandages it.

At night, he pulls the bandage and throws it in the dustbin.

Chapter - 6

He checks the mail. Emails of rejections from several companies again. He shuts down the flap of the laptop hard. Heaves a sigh.

He checks his phone. The phone screen is broken. He opens linkedin. Types Ankit Bansal. Taps on the search button.

Several Profiles of Ankit Bansal open up.

He scrolls down and selects the one he knows. He looks at his photo.

A strikingly handsome man, dressed in a sleek black coat, his hair perfectly gelled and a stubble beard accentuating his sharp features. His well-built physique exudes confidence and charm, giving him a dashing and irresistible allure.

He looks at Ankit Bansal’s profile. Working in MNC. 40 LPA. Golf as a hobby. Aarav’s face reflects on the phone screen. His hair ruffled, and his face is quite dirty and an unkempt beard covering his face.

Chapter - 7

Aarav’s phone beeps. He glances at the screen.

There’s a Whatsapp message from Ankit Bansal. He opens the message.

‘Hey. your girlfriend hasn’t been coming to the office for 3 days. Where’s she?’

Aarav leaves the message on seen and walks towards the fridge to get a beer can. The blood oozes from his leg, and dribbles down onto the floor as he walks. As he gulps down the beer, his gaze falls on the dustbin.

The dustbin is empty.