Obsession
“Hey, are you ready? I am ready to leave from here. I should be there in about 20 minutes.”
“Yea sure, I will be ready by then.”
“Okay, see you.”
Raveena and Navya were office colleagues. Raveena had recently joined the organization and Navya had been assigned the task of making the newcomer feel welcome into the company. Navya had been in the company for quite a while and everybody knew her. Well, they knew her as one of the oldest employees. She was rather reserved and kept mostly to herself.
“Navya, this is Raveena. She is going to handle regional sales for us. Please show her around.” Pulkit, her boss said to her and left.
“Hi, I am Raveena.”
“Hey, Navya. Nice to meet you. I head the marketing team here. Please take a seat and I’ll take you on an office tour shortly.”
“Yea,sure.”
It had been almost 2 years to that first meeting and now both of them had formed a connection. However, from Navya’s perspective, they were best friends. Navya had always been shy as a kid and that turned into major introvertedness as an adult. She was a huge computer geek and had a knack for new technology and gadgets which kept her busy mostly. Lately, she had discovered her new love for murder and serial killer documentaries. However, she had a rather hard time opening up to people, even socializing in general was hard but with Raveena it was different; she had felt an instant connection with her. Raveena was not like her at all. She was extroverted, bold, spontaneous and not to mention drop dead gorgeous. She knew how to get everybody’s attention when she wanted it and Navya would admire these qualities in her. They had recently started gymming together which got them closer in a way but Navya would sometimes feel that she was a little too invested in the relationship that they shared. She would be the first one to text, to call or even suggest some other activity outside office. Raveena would hardly ever say no but she never initiated any activities as well and this got Navya thinking at times. However, Navya was more than happy to be in Raveena’s company because their friendship made her very happy and she finally felt like she was being noticed by someone.
Navya had always displayed compulsive behavior and had major trust issues. Whether it was family or the few friends that she had or even her office routine. She had to follow the same routine everyday and a little change in the routine would get her very upset causing her to lose her temper, and it was not the prettiest of sights. People at office would still talk about her breakdown that occurred a few years ago.
*Loud thud. Glass shatters.*
“Shit, someone just broke the glass door with the chair.”
“What the hell happened here?”
“Dude, its Navya. Look at her. She really lost it today I guess.”
*Chaos in the office. Everybody is out of their seats. Chatter ensues.*
“I think she got a bad appraisal.”
“No dude, I think her boyfriend dumped her.”
“I think she just did it to get some attention, that weirdo.”
*Tears are streaming down Navya’s cheeks and she feels like she is on display. Everybody starts going back to their seats as they see their CEO coming.*
“Navya, come with me. Let’s talk?”
“I don’t know what happened. I just lost my temper and everything went blank. I don’t know what happened.”
“Navya. You have been here with us for a very long time. Now ideally I would have to fire the person causing such damage to company property but before I take any action, can you please tell me what happened?”
*Navya knew her job was at stake and at this point this was the only regular thing in her life that she could salvage. She started talking to Pulkit with some sighs and sobs in between.*
“Alright, alright. You are a trusted employee Navya and I hope you know that. Now I understand this must have been hard for you. Why don’t you take a couple of months sabbatical? I’ll even recommend a good therapist for you if you want.”
And that was the end of that. Navya came back to work after a couple of months. She had even seen a therapist, not that it had helped her majorly, but it did feel good to know that someone was listening to her.
“Hey, did you meet the new girl who joined Analytics. She is awesome. ” Raveena went on for about a minute about the new girl before settling in.
“No I have not met her.” That was all that Navya had to say. She was not very happy about the fact that Raveena was all chirpy about someone else but she also knew Raveena well enough to expect such behavior. She wanted to say something, but bit her tongue.
“Hey, where have you been? I was waiting for you in the cafeteria for lunch.”
“Oh, I am so sorry. I totally forgot. I was out with Kajal, she wanted to get some stuff and then we got hungry so we had lunch outside. Sorry!” And Raveena walked away.
“I cannot let this happen. No way am I going to let this happen. Who is she? She cannot just come in here and take my Raveena away from me. Raveena is my friend!” thought Navya to herself. Her face was stern and her eyes were red. She was furious.
“I am so glad we came out dancing. This place is amazing.” chirped Kajal.
“See I told you. What do you think Navya?”
“Yea its cool.” And Navya faked a smile.
Navya had been trying to fit in with Raveena and Kajal. They were both so similar in nature and got along well pretty quickly. She could not do anything to keep Kajal and Raveena apart; hence, she would hang out with them just to be in Raveena’s company.
“Okay, she is drunk.”
“No...No... I am fine!” slurred Navya.
“I guess we should head home. Let’s share a cab?”
Raveena got dropped off first. Kajal was heading home after dropping Navya.
“You cannot ta…”
“I am sorry what?”
“Raveena is ….”
“What are you saying Navya? Raveena is what?”
“Mine” and she passed out.
Kajal thought she was too drunk and was blabbering some random stuff. She took it lightly but made it a point to make fun of her later.
“Dude, you were so drunk last night. I think you you louuu Raveena.”
Navya was red with embarrassment. She did not know how to react.
“What are you guys talking about?” Raveena did not know what was happening.
“So get this. Last night madam tells me ‘Raveena is mine’ ”
“Awww” Raveena joins in on the fun.
Both of them started laughing. Navya did not like this. She was not used to this kind of attention and someone making fun of her. She storms out of the room with her laptop.
“Damn, I was just kidding. Did she get offended?”
“Don’t worry. She will be alright. I haven’t seen her this worked up before.”
“Do you know about Navya’s incident here?” asked Kajal
“Oh man, yes. I don’t have all the details though. Just heard bits and pieces.”
“Oh, I know the full story. You just need to ask the right people. Check this out...”
In the next cabin with her headphones on, seething with anger, tears streaming down her cheeks, listening to her harrowing experience at work being narrated by someone she barely knows to the person she cares about so much. This is when Navya comes to a decision. She was losing the one good thing she had in her life.
A couple of months ago, when Navya realized that Kajal was going to be a regular face she would have to see and bear with, she decided to keep tabs on Raveena. She had not just managed to bug the room without anyone noticing, but she had managed to install a tracker on Raveena’s phone. She wanted to keep a tab on her phone calls which she attended outside work as well, but she had not yet gotten the opportunity. Navya had been given the backseat ever since Kajal had shown up. She started thinking and the more she started to think, the more she hated Kajal. She wanted her gone, out of her life, out of Raveena’s life. She wanted her world to be perfect again, like it was before. And she knew what she needed to do to restore balance.
“Hey, can we meet on the terrace at 3PM? Raveena’s birthday is coming up and I thought we could plan something?”
“Yea sure, I would love to do that.”
“Okay, don’t tell anyone. See you.”
“Yea bye!”
Kajal did not know what happened as she walked on to the terrace; all of a sudden she slipped and fell on her back. She felt a sharp pain at the back of her head and that was it.
“Hey, it has been a couple of days since I have heard from Kajal. This is very unlike her. I am a little worried. She isn’t even answering her phone.”
“Oh, I was not very close to her so I have no idea.” and Navya continued typing on her laptop.
*Suddenly there is a huge commotion in the workspace and everybody is rushing outside.*
“Dude, they found a dead body on the terrace.”
“It is a girl they are saying.”
“Was it suicide?”
*Usual chatter and chaos ensues. A police inspector walks in. He asks to meet with the CEO and is given the directions to his cabin. Everyone moves back to their seats gradually.*
“Urgent meeting in the conference room at 4PM.” Everybody gets an email from the CEO’s desk.
“Hey, did you see that email? I think it’s about that dead girl.”
“I hope we get a day off or something. They must be closing down the building right?”
*Everybody assembles for the meeting. Nervous chatter. CEO enters.*
“Hi everyone, I am glad you are all here. This is definitely the first time in our history that I have had to make such an announcement. Umm, I am not sure how many of you knew her because she was fairly new to the company. This is about Miss Kajal in the Analytics department. Her body was found on the terrace.. ”
*Huge gasps echo in the room.*
“What?”
“This is so weird.”
“I cannot believe this!”
“Yes yes I understand this is a cause for major concern and we do not yet know what exactly happened. The police are trying to figure it out. Meanwhile, we have been asked to stop using this building. Now I cannot really stop work here, however, I am announcing 3 days Work-From-Home because we need to figure out temporary alternate options for working spaces.”
“Hey, don’t cry.”
“I cannot believe she is gone. We had become such good friends you know!” Raveena is crying her eyes out. Her only solace right now is Navya’s soothing voice.
*A few weeks later the police rule it as an accidental death; the cause being accidentally slipping and landing straight on a concrete brick leading to hemorrhage thus leading to death. *
Somewhere in an apartment, relaxing on her bed is Navya. She has another 30 minutes before she has to get ready and go meet Raveena for lunch. She has a very peaceful smile on her face. The balance in her life had been restored finally. She was very pleased with herself. It was a cakewalk for her. Luring Kajal in on the pretext of planning Raveena’s birthday, spilling oil all over the area after a few steps, positioning the brick with the ice pick that she had fashioned, right in place which would enter her skull just enough to cause damage, melt away and not be discovered in any way. Navya’s observant nature and her interest in science had helped her calculate the kind of impact she would need in order to cause enough damage. Kajal was a fast walker and Navya knew that very well.
“Aaj main upar, aasman neeche.. ” Navya sang and went ahead to get ready for Raveena’s birthday lunch.
“Hey, are you ready? I am ready to leave from here. I should be there in about 20 minutes.”
“Yea sure, I will be ready by then.”
“Okay, see you.”
Navya was happy that the balance had been restored to her world and this time she did not need to lose her temper. Something her therapy sessions came in handy for. She was calm, composed and patient. Her therapist was right after all. A little patience reaps huge rewards at the end of the day.
“Hey, ready to go?”
“Yes, let’s go!”
As a bystander, one could see two very happy young girls on a scooty all dressed up going somewhere. Some could even call them best friends.
