When The World Turned Purple

Anna Chapter 3

“I’ll take the first flight to you, okay?” Isaac was saying on the other line, I heard a bit of shuffling and imagined him hurrying to pack a travel bag, “Have you talked to Mehmet?”

I had. I had called his assistant and he’d been extracted from the pharma meeting but after hearing about father’s passing he promptly hung up on me without waiting to hear the circumstances in which he had died or asking how I was holding up.

“He hung up on me. I called the office.”

The Kothi's garden was full of activity and the lights had been turned on so all the government officials could get on with their work. I was sitting on one of the swings in the garden. And after an initial interrogation, I had been left alone to my own devices and no one was paying me any mind.

The police were here, they had been called after the army officials decided they were required. Most of the policemen on the scene were surveying the house and were trying to keep the growing crowd standing outside the barn at bay, someone had obviously leaked information and the entire village had come to see the dead Sahibs body.

Isaac was silent for a moment, I imagined him narrowing his eyes and wondering how to respond, he had this special expression, much too telling, and it was reserved for equations and conversations with me, “He'll come around. He's probably rushing to airport as we know it. I'll be with you soon too, just wait okay, you don't have to do anything.”

I didn't answer. Isaac was still recovering, I didn't think a 12 hour flight was going to do wonders for him. “Have you talked to Joshua? What does he say about the flight?”

Joshua was Isaac's on call doctor, he was also the leading researcher responsible for the purple plague project our company was working on. I wondered vaguely how the meeting would have gone, Michael our CFO was not happy with the progress the project was making. He wanted to pull the plug on it, saying it was much too expensive.

There was another pause, he answered in a more reserved manner.“I haven't. He's in the same pharma meeting with the rest of your employees.”

The army was here as well, sweeping the area and looking purposeful as they stood waiting for a team of pathologists to roll in. I had already given a very vocal speech about the dangers of approaching a body that was infected with a disease nobody understood. It only managed to hinder them for a while of-course, because after some conversation they climbed up the Kothi's back wall and observed the body from the outside through the big window in father's room.

They exhausted themselves after a while and came back into the garden. Scanning the area and distrustfully observing a band of civil servants who were busy apologizing to the pair of scientists, Calum and Big Bobby. Shockingly, I had not made the list.

“You can't fly without your doctor's approval.”

Several of the civil servants were simply lounging around, I wondered what they were doing. I didn’t think we required all of them for protocol. One of them, a sharp looking man, extracted his phone from his coat pocket and the rest of the free ones observed him as he walked away to attend it.

Isaac wasn't saying anything and I became anxious. Our relationship had become strained after his accident.“Isaac … please …”

“I'll talk to Joshua.”He said plainly,“Okay?”

“Okay.”

An awkward silence stretched between the two of us. He had become distant after waking up from his coma, despite the fact that he was making a full recovery and the accident hadn't been disfiguring or maiming.

Thank-god.

I wondered if it was my behavior, I had started being careful around him, keeping up with his doctors and making sure he had everything he needed.

Maybe it was because he had started believing that I thought of him differently after his accident. But that wasn't true. The only thing I wanted was his safety, I had almost lost him once and I couldn't take another chance.

I shifted my weight on my feet, thinking of something to say,“Are you angry? I just want to make sure you're alright, you don’t have to take a flight today … in-fact … I'll be back in Boston in a week's time anyway …”

“Your father is dead and you've just discovered his dead body, yet you're worried I'll get a headache if I take a luxury flight.”

I blinked,“We don't know what the pressure will do, I don't …”

“I'm not a child Annie. I can take care of myself. You should be grieving your father not coddling me.”

I gulped down the lump in my throat and fought off the fresh tears that were threatening to fall. Really? Did he really think saying that was appropriate?“Well alright then." I said and hung up.

I rose from the swing and walked away from the main garden, crunching the wet grass under my feet until I was standing on the fence away from the commotion, looking down at the valley beyond. The little houses were all lit up like fire flies in the dark, like lanterns for the lost.

The valley itself was under cloud cover, looking like something from a dream. I could see Khan's house, it was the nearest one. I wondered if one of his many children was looking out of his house at the Kothi. Maybe it was his only daughter, I imagined him pulling her back inside.

The big house on the hill is cursed now Ayesha, don't look at it anymore, the dead Sahib could be looking at you from his mountain grave.

The tears were coming down in streams, and it was taking all of my strength to stay standing.

I no longer had a father. No one to stand by my side when the world around me came down, no one to come home too.

Why God, why him? Why me? Why like this?

My body exploded in goosebumps and then in fear as my nerves shot up and I began to shiver, how had I stood in the same room as his body?

My phone was ringing again, I took it out of my pocket and sow Isaac's picture flashing on it.

“Excuse me Miss Shah?”

I turned around and found the civil servant I had been observing before standing behind me. He looked like a mountain local, fair skinned and light haired. There was something earthy about the way he talked, “Yes?" I said.

He composure fell a bit, I imagined I didn't look particularly appealing, but it was something seeing a crying woman and then it was another, seeing the daughter of the victim of a heinous crime.

He gulped and looked away,“The chief secretary would like to speak to you.” He held out his phone.

“What?" I said wondering if I had heard him right. From behind him I could see another truck rolling in, the army officials became vigilant. After a minute the doors of the truck opened and a group of men jumped out. The army pathologists had arrived.

“The chief secretary says she's a friend of yours.”

I looked back at him and frowned,“Of-course I know her. We went to the same damn school. She taught me to braid my hair." I took the phone from him.

“Elina." I said, looking away from the man and at the valley again.

“Anna, I'm sorry about your loss.”

“Your men were quick to respond." I glanced back around at the group of civil servants, they were all looking at me.

“Yes, we're responsible for all foreigners that enter the state. I was immediately informed when the American called his embassy in the capital. We responded as soon as we could. The country can't afford a dead or even displeased foreigner at this time. You know how it is, after the operation we’re standing on a thin line.”

I looked down at my feet,“I see.”

She was quite for a minute, I imagined her pretty face tapered into a grimace, and her big almond eyes narrowed. She was always quick, there was little that got past her, and she was passionate too, determined in a way none of our peers were. “I haven't called to offer my condolences unfortunately, even though I am very sorry.”

“What are you calling for then?”

“To discuss a matter of national security. You can't discourse the details of the scene to anyone. The government is going to close off the site and we'll be sealing your father's files soon. Not even Mehmet, not even your fiancé, no one. The gentlemen with you will be paid a good sum to stay quiet about it.”

A wave of shock overcome me, for a moment I was unable to speak.

“Annie?" Elina said on the other side of the line, she sounded unsure for a moment before becoming resolute again,“This is how it has be Annie, I'm sorry, if the story gets out to the media it'll cause chaos, and then there's the fact that two foreigners have been exposed to whatever has infected your father. We have to keep it quiet. This is a delicate matter.”

“Mehmet deserves to know." I said weakly,“He should know El.”

Elina was quiet for a moment, "Do you have a place to stay? Where are you going to sleep?”

I looked around at Kothi, I had been planning to stay with Father.“I don't know.”I said, coming to the realization that I had no place to go.

“You can stay in the secretariat housing near the village, it's an hour's drive from your father's Kothi. I'm in a car nearing the airport as we speak. I'll be flying over to the province and will be with you for breakfast after dealing with everything at in the valley tonight. I'm guessing Mehmet will be with us for lunch if he's already on a plane. Which I'm sure he is. I'll be there to talk to him, you don't have to say a thing.”

I shook my head, this was going to be a disaster. Mehmet had never really recovered from her choosing the government over him. Things were going to get heated, I didn’t think I had the strength to live through a rewind.

“El, I don't want to offend you, but you're the last person he needs to see right now.”

“We've put it behind us Annie. You're underestimating our professionalism.”

I sighed, I didn't want to argue,“Alright then." I became aware of the buzzing inside my sweater pocket again, extracting my phone I sow Isaac's face flashing on the screen.

“I'm guessing you have to attend that.”Said El,“Hand the phone back to the civil servant, he'll be driving you back and will make sure you're taken care off.”

“Alright." I said, glancing at the man,“She wants to talk to you.”

His brows knotted and he looked unsure for a bit before taking it from me. A cold wind was blowing making my hair flow behind me. I placed my hand on my forehead and immediately recoiled it after it I was stung with pain. I was dumb folded for a second before I remembered I had hurt myself back inside the building.

“Ye ... Yes … madam secretary?”

I looked down at Isaac's smiling face, and then around at the twenty so strangers in the garden and realized how alone I was and how much I wished he was here with me,“Hello.”

‘I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, you're sad and overwhelmed and I should have been more considerate …”

‘It's okay, just … just talk to me right now. I don’t want to be alone.”

“Okay … okay good then. I talked to Joshua, he says I can fly over. I'm waiting for Michael.”

“Michael, our Michael?”

“The very one. He wants to have a word with the two of you about the research project, and he wanted me to tell he got a hold of Mehmet before his flight took off. He's as well as can be expected and should be with you before lunch.”

“Well." I said, slightly overwhelmed,“Good, the two of you seem to have it all covered.”

Isaac was quiet, this time he whispered,“I can't wait to be with you.”

Despite the day I'd had, my cheeks heated up, and I smiled slightly looking down at my feet in embarrassment,“Me neither.”

“Miss Shah." The civil servant was calling me from behind, I turned around to look at him. “We should leave miss. The chief secretary wishes that I drive you to the secretary housing immediately, she expects me to report back after you've gotten there safely.”

“Annie?" Isaac was saying on the line. I nodded at the man and followed him to a black range rover, he opened the door for me and I climbed inside. I looked out at the barn and was surprised to see that the villagers had all left, there was no one outside the gate anymore.

That was quick, Elina was serious about keeping it clean.

“Hey, I was just getting into a car. I'll be staying in the secretary housing near the Kothi. That's where you have to come.”

“I'll be there soon.”

“Elina is coming too, the state's chief secretary.”

“The same Elina Mehmet has a thing for?”

“The same one Mehmet is in love with." I looked out of the window and glimpsed Calum and Big Bobby being escorted to a similar black rover. I had forgotten they were still here.

“That's going to be something.”

Calum was talking to one of the civil servants with an aloof expression, his gaze caught mine from behind the man's back and he waved at me impassively as the rover started to roll out of the garden.

My heart fluttered in fear and I looked away.“Annie? Is there something wrong?”

“No. I … I was just thinking about Mehmet and Elina.”

“It's not your problem." Isaac said, as the car started to pick up speed and we started rolling down the Kothi's hill. He was silent for a moment, I heard someone from the background,“Michael's here. I should get going, I'll call you when I get to the airport.”