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Epilogue: And After
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What did Tashi do? Prologue
The man scrolled through the photographs he had saved in his protected folder. It disappointed him slightly; he had seen them all and used them to his heart’s content.He needed more, and he needed them soon.He remembered the woman’s name well. All he had to do was check her Instagram profile. He typed her name in the search bar and pressed enter. When he saw the first thumbnail among the search results, a primal excitement spread in his loins.It was her. And her profile was public.Greed and anticipation making his heart beat faster, he went through the selfies, sunsets, and quotes till he came across a photograph she had uploaded seven weeks back. It was a no-make-up selfie of the woman with her mother. “Chilling at home with mom,” the caption read.What interested the man the most was the location along with the caption. He clicked on the map link and opened a photographic view of her street: he noted she lived in a twelve-story apartment.“Sweet,” he thought, as he
What did Tashi do? Chapter One
You have five minutes. Tick tock. It was eleven in the night.A lone dog greeted the cab that stopped in front of a twelve-storeyed apartment with a low howl. A slender young woman got down, glancing at the deserted street for a moment before turning to pay the driver. Heels rapping smartly on the concrete, she looked at her watch and waited for him to return the change.She was a little over five feet tall, dressed in fitted black trousers and a matching blazer. A large shoulder bag was slung to her right, blocking half her body from vision, failing, however, to hide the alluring shape of her chest. Her thick black hair highlighted with a bold auburn shade fell to her shoulders in cascades, casting shadows on her pale face. Her full lips were painted red and the epicanthic folds in her eyes were rimmed in black kohl.The woman’s name was Tashi Chotten and today had been her first work anniversary as a graduate trainee engineer at a reputed EPC firm
What did Tashi do? Chapter Two
One click and you’re doneA ray of sunlight broke through the mullioned window and cast a checkerboard of brilliant morning light across Tashi’s bed. She raised a hand to cover her face, eyelids fluttering for a while, then opening. She sat up and stretched her arms, taking in the familiar sounds of the cooing pigeons nesting above her window. For a moment, she couldn’t quite place the strange heaviness in her heart. She blinked several times to clear the veil of slumber from her eyes. Slowly, bits and pieces of the happenings of the previous night came back. She had gone to bed late last night, and in her sleep-deprived state, she allowed herself a small hope that maybe all of last night was a bad dream, the product of her paranoia. She held her breath and checked her phone. The last email on it was “If you don’t listen to what I tell you, I’ll mail your naked pictures to everyone who is even remotely connected to you professionally. I’ll destroy your ca
What did Tashi do? Chapter Three
I am right beside you It was a chilly Sunday afternoon, almost three weeks after that first email.Tashi stepped out of her home to do some grocery shopping. She had wanted nothing better than to curl up in bed and introspect, but her mother had forced her out of her room to talk with her. She was concerned about her state of mind, why she kept refusing meals and why she hardly shared anything about her day anymore. Tashi dodged all questions, not wanting to burden her mother. After several failed attempts at proposing an outing, she had reluctantly agreed to go out and buy some milk.But Tashi regretted her decision almost instantly. The weak sun felt harsh on her face and seeing so many people milling around filled her with inexplicable anxiety. Her otherwise lustrous hair hung around her face in lank, oily strands. The deep brown rings rimming her eyes and the tired lines around her mouth were telling of having spent several sleepless nights on end. Her crumple
What did Tashi do? Chapter Four
The gods must have been laughing It was raining outside. Frail arms closed about her drawn-up knees, head lowered, sheathed in limp hair that hadn’t been washed in days, Tashi wept. Her sobbing helped her withdraw into herself, to seek solace in a place deep within that was unrelenting and unforgiving. Her phone lay forgotten by her side, the screen flashing with four unread emails from the blackmailer. Over the past three weeks, her tormentor had kept her constantly on the edge, but today – with a single text message showing her just how close by he was, he had shaken her entire world. The thin line that blurred her reality from the horror online was shattered, and she had no hope of turning back. This thought felt heavy as a sack full of rocks on her frail heart. Unbidden, her mind conjured up a memory of Akash’s trembling voice on the phone. He had been bold in suggesting they go to the police, but he hadn’t contacted her during the next few days. She
What did Tashi do? Chapter Five
But he was my best friend Tashi sat up straight, not sure of what to expect. “Do you remember my friend Ravi from section B?” “Yes, Ravikant, your so-called best friend. I could never bring myself to like him - he made me uncomfortable at times.” “He and I were friends from the first year. You know how close we were. So, um, after you broke up with me, Ravi – sort of – asked me for your nudes sometimes.” Tashi was horrified. “What? Don’t tell me you obliged?” “No, I never let him save your pictures, I swear,” his voice sounded more uncomfortable now. “But there were times when I… uh, when I showed him some of them.” She was disgusted. “How could you have done that? I trusted you so much, I never -“ “Calm down, Tashu,” he said using the name he had called her all those years back. “I was an asshole and I accept it. This is something I am extremely ashamed of, and I - I swear, if there was a way I could undo it, I would. But right now, you need to stay
What did Tashi do? Chapter Six
The only way out of this messSleep is an enemy these days, it hardly stops by where I lay - staring at the ceiling, heart beating in rhythm to the relentless ticking of time- as the hands of the clock gouge my face like fingernails made of steel.My thoughts flow out in black rivers:some get lost in the darkness beneath my eyes,and some come back to haunt me -words stripped of meaning clogging my veins,making my heart stop,choking me up as I try to take one desperate lungful of airbefore I go down,before I lose myself.The sun has lost significance- it comes up and goes down at will,but my world remains dark all the same.The bed, these sheets, my heart, this painare all I have,and these words - that shatter the silence into a billion shards,with jagged edges I could slash my wrists with.But escape is not an optionand release is not going to be easy.I am going to go somedaybut the world i
What did Tashi do? Chapter Seven
Tashi, you crazy womanIt was forty minutes past seven in the evening.A woman stepped out of a twelve-storied building, her hair in disarray. A loose cardigan was thrown lazily over her shoulders as if she had put it on in haste. Her clothes were mismatched, and she had dark circles under her eyes.Her gait was unsteady as if she were drunk. She walked with the air of one who had lost the will to live. Every few steps, she kept looking back as if to check if she were being followed. Then, looking ahead and gaining her composure, she walked on.The woman’s name was Tashi Chotten, and today, she had lived through one of the most gruelling experiences of her life. She had faced a storm head on and had come out victorious. It didn’t matter that the victory was short-lived; that it rested precariously on the thin edge of a dagger.What mattered was that after months of being made to feel small and defeated, Tashi had fought tooth and nail to carve out for herse
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