So, the party had finally ended. It was 2 am. It would still take her an hour to reach home even without the traffic. A couple of friends waved goodbye as she was getting into the cab with her handbag and the wine bottle her hosts had given her. She felt sleepy but she dare not sleep. Although the last few puffs had hit her pretty hard. And then the psychedelic Pink Floyd music made it worse…or better. She tried keeping her eyes open as her mind drifted. She tried to read the label on the wine bottle in the dim light.
Robin had given her the bottle as she was leaving. “Take it. We have received enough bottles today as gift to last 3 months”, Robin had told her cheerfully as she was leaving. Robin was like that, always caring for others. Today was Robin’s engagement party. There were quite a few of their mutual friends. Some of them knew about their past relationship so things were a bit awkward. That’s why she chose to get high. Usually, she would keep herself in check. But not today.
She was single now. But she chose to concentrate on her work instead of relationships. She liked her job. But she was not a fan of her colleagues. Especially this one guy. He always loitered around her desk and kept watching her although she had made her disinterest in him clear. She felt that she was strong enough to take care of herself in this big city. Thats what her mom had taught her. Although she had not met her for almost 6 years now.
“wake up!!”
The image she chose to keep in her mind of her mother was when her mother used to wake her up in the morning as a child. But as she had grown up, her parents had started fighting continuously, eventually separating. Whenever she met her parents, they would poison her against the other. So her visits to home shortened and eventually, there came a point when she did not want to go home anymore.
Robin’s parents also used to fight continuously but they never separated. Robin could understand her like no-one else could. They had met in her gym, and they had instantly hit it off. They even took a flat together as her lease was expiring on her old flat. Things happened for the first time when Robin was at a low point having broken up with her boyfriend.
She had never felt so comfortable with any guy as she felt with Robin. They dared not tell anyone about their relationship, but some of their close friends later knew. Their relationship was difficult. Both of them took turns to keep the other strong when things were rough, but they knew in their hearts that there was no future together. Robin was the one to finally break things off. Lisa didn’t blame her; though she wished things were different. When she was alone, she still remembered her touch…..
“OH MY GOD!!” She had not realised that she had passed out. She was coming back to consciousness. She tried to open her eyes but couldn’t see clearly in the dark. She tried to think. The cab was not moving. She felt someone touching her. She could feel her shirt was open. She was lying flat on the back seat of the car. The gate near her head was open and a man was standing near her head. His hands were on her body. She had to do something. She clutched the wine bottle with all her strength and hit where she thought the man’s head would be.
She heard a shriek. Then another. Footsteps. She opened her eyes and tried to sit down. She could now see the man who was lying near the door of the car in a pool of blood. The blood was dripping from his head drenching his white clothes and his stethoscope was lying on a side still attached to his ears.
The sounds of Silence 