Chapter 11
They never went bowling. Mohith was in bad shape. Yet he walked straight until they reached the Porsche and then he just leaned against it. Anna struggled in his pant pockets to find the car keys all the while trying to keep him from falling to the ground. She got the keys and put him in the passenger seat of the tight sports car. Mohith was a big man and Anna had to use all her strength, imagination and ingenuity to get him in. Being ever so stubborn she finally succeeded and had a long sigh of relief before getting into the driver's seat.
"You really are a drunken fool Mohith. But I understand now. I understand..."
Anna was nearly in tears herself. She drove slowly and got Mohith to his room with the kind assistance of Fernando. They removed his shoes and put him to bed. Fernando bid Anna good night and left Anna in Mohith's room. She felt so bad for the poor man. It was almost compassion that drove her to kiss his sleeping lips and to stroke his short hair. She left the night lamp on and locked the door on her way out to her room. She was so tired.
In her room, two rooms down the hall from Mohith's; she undressed and went into the shower. It was 2.30 in the morning and she almost certainly knew that she had to take Friday off as well. She was so sore all over. She tried to massage her neck in vain. She took a long hot shower and kept on thinking about what Mohith had confessed to her in the open-air restaurant right next to the Keg. She finally came out in a pink bathrobe wrapped around her aching body and a blue towel hugging her long hair. She went to the cocktail bar and poured her a scotch on rocks and sat down facing the great view she had of the city and the sea from ten stories up.
Chapter 12
The phone rang. Anna woke up and looked at the radio clock at her bed side. It was still six o'clock on a Monday morning. She let her eyes adapt to the dim light and focused again on the bright red digits of her clock. It was indeed six o'clock in the morning and this was not a dream. She wondered who would call her at this hour of the day.
"Hello"
"Dr. Anna Slovak?"
A fully awake and calm voice greeted her.
"This is she"
"Dr. Slovak, I am inspector De Silva. Sorry to wake you up so early maam... but it is very important that we talk to you regarding an urgent matter"
"It's ok Inspector. I was getting up any way. So how can I help you?"
"Well Dr. Slovak it's about Dr. Mohith Prasad."
"Ok..."
"Was Dr. Prasad known to you, Dr. Slovak?"
"Yes I know him. What's this all about? Is he ok?"
"Well, I regret to inform you Dr. Slovak that Dr. Prasad been in an accident last night. His body hasn't been recovered and he is presumed to be dead. I am terribly sorry."
The voice said as casually, professionally and as unemotionally as one could imagine.
The morning sun was peeping through the thick red velvet blinds of Anna's suit at the Hilton. The room was painted a soothing shade of pink and was richly furnished with bright Persian rugs and antique Sri Lankan wooden furniture. The golden rays of the morning sun brought with it the sweet fragrance of the fresh sea breeze. The gulls were up and about and the whole world was waking up and yet Anna felt like she couldn't wake her self up from the terrible nightmare she was experiencing.
As she lay on her canopy bed, frozen and terrified, she could see the pearl white ceiling spin in a fury. The white linens were no comfort to her as her whole body started to burn and her eyes started to melt. The violent shivers signaled an eruption of emotions as Dr. Anna Slovak burst into tears at the news of the death of her Mohith.
"Dr. Slovak, I am truly sorry for your loss maam but it is my duty to inform you that your presence is requested at the city police station of Colombo at your earliest convenience"
All Anna could hear was the sound of a dead phone as she held on to it as if holding on to life itself. The tears rolled off her pink cheeks and soaked her pillow as her deep blue eyes glistened empty as sapphires hugging the bottom of a red tumultuous ocean.
Chapter 13
The suit on the tenth floor of the Hilton gleamed in a mud brick red. The blue ocean had turned into a bloody shade as the magnificent ball of fire sank into the distant horizon. Life itself was depicted as the mild fresh morning rays matured into a harsh golden inferno and bleed away into the distance as the day grew dark and cold. This was the first time Anna had realized that this was a constant reminder of the tragic fate that all of us are damned to at the end of the rainbow of life. Yet god is not completely unkind, she thought, for tomorrow will dawn a new sun giving hope and warmth to the cold and cruel world. But she knew that she would not see her Mohith tomorrow or ever again.
The half empty glass on the mahogany table blended into the evening with the precision and skill of a talented brush stroke. In the twilight the cold smoky liquor darkened, reminding Anna of the enormity of the tragic events she had endured since that dreaded call. The modern age had replaced the gray owl, the banshee and the grim reaper with a simple invention called the telephone and Anna wondered how it could turn any innocent soul into the messenger of death with a simple press of a button.
The day finally turned to night and Anna was lost in thought. She sat motionless staring at the waves and listening to the howling wind. She was alone and cold and had sought comfort in a bottle of Scotch which complemented her half empty glass. Even though the twenty year old liquor burnt down her throat she still felt cold and empty for her mind had ventured alone to the site of the watery grave which failed to comfort her lost lover.
The cold and empty shell of a charred and twisted monstrosity of metal gently rocked as the muddy water passed through and over it heartlessly.
"Dr. Slovak I presume. I'm inspector De Silva."
He could feel her hand tremble as they neared the edge of the cliff. It was still very cold for the sun had failed to lift the mist which followed the tropical storm the previous night. It didn't take an inspector of police to know that Anna's shivering body had nothing to do with the weather.
"Watch your foot, Doctor. The edge is loose. As you can see the storm last night has done a bit of damage to the area."
Indeed the storm had been violent. Anna could vaguely remember the fallen trees and the yards of electric wire dangling on the road as she drove to the scene. Every thing was a bright and fresh shade of green as the winds had carpeted the ground with vegetation. Anna stared blankly at the two skid marks on the road.
"Those are tire marks from the vehicle maam. The Porsche was doing about two hundred and fifty kilometers an hour when it collided with the steel fence."
"What fence?"
"There was a fence here to protect vehicles from going over the edge."
"I can't see any fence inspector. Don't you think that if there was a fence here then that car wouldn't be down there?"
Anger quickly dissolved into tears as she buried her face in her trembling hands.
"I know this must be difficult for you Dr. Slovak" he said in the same unemotional tone which introduced himself in the morning.
"You will understand better what happened here, once we go down to the river and the vehicle"
The ride was bumpy and the Land Rover rocked violently as it struggled to battle the tree trunks and the debris on the narrow and muddy road. The four liter diesel engine deafened the ears and yet inspector De Silva insisted on talking all the way as they made slow progress towards the wreck.
"So how do you know the victim?"
"What?" Anna couldn't hear what the inspector was saying. She was lost in a land of sorrow and noise.
"How do you know Dr. Prasad?" The inspector yelled from the front seat.
"We worked together. He was my boss"
"When did you last see him?"
"Ah........ Yesterday morning" She mildly hesitated.
"Where did you see him on Sunday Dr. Slovak?" Inspector De Silva's tone was getting firmer. He was calmly interrogating her.
Anna could remember exactly where she saw Mohith last. She remembered it all.
The stars blanketed the clear blue sky as Anna poured herself another scotch. The cubes of ice danced in the reddish liquor and sang in a soothing jingle. The strong spirit and the cold ice played tricks on her mind as she wrapped her quivering lips around the glass. The ice reminded her of the song the evening wind played on the metal wind chimes in the park. She remembered the long steel pipes hanging from the tall tree which had a name she could not pronounce. She remembered sitting down on the children's swing and listening to the chimes as they dangled lifelessly from above.
"Hey gorgeous, you need a hand with that?"
She remembered the strong hands massaging her shoulders and the warm breath whispering in her ear. She felt the cold of the wind disappear as the warmth of his chest wrapped her whole body in a blanket of desire.
"I beg your pardon Sir...." And she giggled.
"Let me show you, Dr. Slovak, how a simple swing works. It's simple harmonic motion really but I wouldn't even dream of boring you with the specifics. Besides a beautiful lady like you just wouldn't understand"
She could tell that Mohith was enjoying this innocent flirtation. She was also amazed to see that even after a decade of celibacy Mohith still had it in him.
"Well Sir, I will have you know that I did have elementary school education before I got my doctorate. So you need not explain the simple laws of physics to me"
She tried to put on a straight face but the happiness was much more stubborn than she had anticipated. She was being charmed by the man she had been dreaming of for the past couple of years. Anna was determined to enjoy every moment of it.
"Well excuse....... me for trying to teach you the mechanics behind it. I guess I'll just have to skip the chit chat and get right to business ha?"
"And what business would that be?"
"The business of sweeping you off your feet"
Anna screamed in joy as she was literally swept off her feet into mid air. Mohith had strong hands and she could feel the thrust on her slender back. With each push she was flying higher and higher. The tranquility of the evening was shattered as her laughs echoed through the park. Even the wind chimes had stopped their singing for the sheer beauty of a woman's voice was unmatched by any instrument known to man or god.
With each push Mohith whispered in her ear.
"Thank you"
The words slowly died down and Anna felt a shiver running down her spine. Instead of a whisper she felt Mohith's moist lips touch the skin of her slender neck. She closed her eyes as she let go of the ropes. She was flying high and didn't want to come down. As she came a little bit closer to heaven she whispered "please make him catch me". She came down fast as if falling from a dream. The wind hugged her back and kissed her hair. She shut her eyes tighter and gathered up all her love and courage to cuddle up in his arms. And yet he never caught her. She opened her eyes to see Mohith sitting on the wooden bench and staring at the stars.
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