Chapter 37 - The Letter

                                    

                                          
Aashna saw Abhimanyu settling on the backseat of his car as his driver left for his house. Pressing her lips downheartedly, she left for her home, too.
Right below her building stood a bicycle, just like Aashna's old one. The only difference was that it was brand new. Making her way through all the other parked vehicles, Aashna reached that bicycle and scanned it thoroughly in utter surprise. In the basket, she found a wax-sealed envelope that was addressed to an orphanage. She was about to keep it back in the basket but instinctively turned it to see its backside for one last time. There, on one corner, she found the words "For, AB" written in a tiny font, visible enough to be readable from the naked eye.
'AB... Aashna Bagchi...' She thought and made a pout while thinking something. 'Huh? No, what even-' She finally kept the envelope in the basket and headed towards the staircase. On her way, she met the watchman of her building who told her how a girl almost her age had come asking for her and had left a bicycle in the parking.
Aashna returned to the bicycle and hesitantly opened the envelope. It was a letter and the recipient was her.
[Hello, Aashna. First of all, I'm really sorry for addressing this letter to an orphanage. I don't mean it in any demeaning way to anyone, I promise! Actually, my parents won't allow me to have contact with anyone else other than Abhimanyu. So that orphanage thing. I hope you can forgive me for that. I actually have a lot of things to apologise for, so if possible, please forgive me for this list, too. I know I am the bad person in your story, and for all the right reasons to be fair. And I don't know if I could convince you otherwise. Abhimanyu might have already told you this but I want you to know this from me. I was the one who broke your bicycle that day. I was very angry for... reasons. He was there to stop me but too late. Saying that I didn't mean that then, would be a lie. But I regret it now. Really. I know it's not believable, but I don't know how to apologise properly, I'm sorry. That day in University, I was the one who, very knowingly, dragged Kartik to the main road and almost got him seriously injured. I don't have his address so I'll apologise to him here. I'm sorry. Not only these, but I've had a lot of hostile thoughts against you, Muskan, Kartik and one another boy, I don't remember his name. Him whose home was your night out spot. I'm sorry. I have decided to try and rectify my mistakes to whatever extent possible. I hope you all can give me a second chance. I promise I'll prove myself somehow...]
Aashna felt the apology was genuine. Well, it was. And she had already forgiven her. Kartik, as well. She continued reading.
[If you don't mind, I want to talk about Abhimanyu a bit here. You can skip this paragraph if you'd like. His father found out about him and I having interactions with you all and gave us a final warning. For Abhimanyu, it was almost life-threatening. I've never seen his father so exceptionally infuriated. I don't know if as a result of that or not, but Abhimanyu has isolated himself in his room. Confined within four walls, he stays there, doing what? Nobody knows. He never lets me in. Some servants from his house told me that they often hear sobs, whimpers and similar faint sounds. During laundry, they find blood-stained clothes coming in from his room. Aashna, I'm scared. I'm really scared of what's happening to him. I can't meet him because he won't let me. But I heard that he's been regular to college and behaving like everything's normal when it's not. If he lets you talk to him, could you please confront him about this? I know it's shameless of me to ask a favour just after apologising for all the hideous crimes I've committed, but I'm as helpless as I'm desperate. If you-]
Aashna couldn't read any further. She was physically incapable of doing so. Blobs of tears dropped from her eyes to land on the letter. The letter, too, threatened to leave her viciously shaking grip. Soon, Aashna's sight blurred and all she could see was a translucent liquid floating in her eyes. Her legs had long given up to all the shaking as she fell to her knees. She was fully aware of what was happening to her but she couldn't just snap out of it. Being alone in the parking lot made it further impossible for her.