Written In My Heart.

Ayaan was sitting in his office lost in thoughts about the day Sofia had left the house.. It was a week after the trip and Sofia had been bugging him for almost 3 days then about returning home as she was promised but he ignored her changing the topic every time.. It was same that morning too..

1 Week After The Trip I

Ayaan was climbing down the stairs with Sofia in tow.. He was getting late so he was rushing while wearing a watch and then tying his tie.. Sofia followed with his coat in her hands..

S: Atleast listen to me Ayaan..

A: Don't you see how late I'm getting.. I'll listen later Sofi..

S: How long will you keep delaying it.??

She whines as he stops in his tracks turning to her as She holds the coat up and he puts his arms in it one by one giving her a thankful smile..

S: I just wanted to tell you that I'm going home..

Ay: look.. I know this is important.. But I really am getting late.. We'll talk about this when I get back home.. I promise.. Tonight.!!

He says cupping her face nodding at her for approval.. Without listening to another word he walked away towards the door..

S: I'm going no matter what...

She said softly thinking he didn't heard it.. But he did as he thought to go back again and talk.. But deciding to do it in the evening he left.

Back To Present

He regretted that action the most at this point in life.. His chain of thoughts were broken as he heard a knock on the door.. He asked them to come in as an employee came in..

Later, Ayaan entered Sofia's room to see her sitting on the bed with her head in her hands.. She seemed pretty lost as he enters and sits beside her. She was leaning down almost in her lap as he kept his hand on her shoulder calling her softly.. She jerked up surprised looking at her..

S: Ayaan.? When did you come..??

A: Is everything OK..? You seem worried..

S: N.. No no.. Everything's fine..

A: Are you sure.??

S: Y.. Yeah.. Absolutely sure..

A: OK... So how about we go out for lunch.. You'll feel refreshed.??

S: Sure...

A: OK.. What would you like to have.?? Ice cream.. Pizza.. Burger or something else..??

S: Anything is fine..

A: OK... How about pizza and then ice cream..? It's been long since we had any of those..

S: OK..

A: Then go freshen up..

He says dragging her up and giving her a gentle push.. She gave a smile and then went to freshen up changing.. They both soon leave and then went to the Pizza Hut and had pizza.. Then they went to get ice

cream..

S: Where's Nick.. I haven't seen him around in a while..

A: Yeah he's busy nowadays with uncle.. Business trips and meeting..

S: Yeah.. Now I rarely see him on breakfast or dinner tables..

A: Ya.. He'll be free in a few days I think..

S: And you're uncle.. How's he.?

A: Fine as well.. He's quite busy with office these days...

S: didn't he just come back from a business trip.??

A: He did.

S: Shouldn't he rest for a while.. Working so much can make him sick..

A: Yeah I know..

S: it's your business.. Shouldn't you be handling it..??

She asks hitting his hand I lightly.. As he makes an offended face at her..

A: What can I do if he doesn't listen to me..?? And besides.. He's been handling it for years now.. I can't suddenly ask him to step down..

S: Yeah.. That's true..

They both continue conversing while having ice cream.. Later that day Sofia was in her room when she heard a knock on the door.. She asked them to come in as Nick walked in..

S: Nick.. How are you..?

N: Perfectly fine.. What about you.?

S: Yeah me too.. You've been quite busy nowadays..

N: Yeah.. Just helping dad with the office..

S: Hmm.. Ayaan told me..

N: And... How are things at home.??

S: Umm.. Fine..!! What brings you here.. I haven't seen you in days..

N: I was on a trip with dad.. And it's almost dinner time.. I'm here to call you..

S: Oh.. Alright let's go..

They went down to have dinner where Sofia saw Ayaan's uncle Mr. Edward As she greeted him while sitting on the chair opposite to Ayaan..

S: Good evening uncle Ed.

E: Good evening Sofia.. How are you.?

S: I'm fine.. What about you.. How was your day..??

E: Nice.. How is your health..? I've been hearing about it only from Ayaan..

S: Yeah I'm... Better now..

She says looking down at her plate playing with the fork.. Ayaan looks at her a little worried and then passes her the dish as she gives a smile almost forced while taking some for herself..

The next day Nick came down stairs and saw Ayaan standing by the dining table leaning back on it.. He seemed lost in his thoughts as Nick came and stood by him.. He kept a hand on his shoulder bringing Ayaan back from his thoughts..

N: Good morning..

A: Oh hi..good morning.. When did you come.?

N: Just now.. Where were you lost.?

A: Just thinking about.. Stuff....

N:Hm.. Where's Sofia.. Isn't she coming for breakfast..??

A: No she's asleep.. She said she'll have later..

N: Oh..

They stood silently for a while..

N: I wanted to talk to you about something..

A: What.?

N: About Sofia.. Don't you think she's acting weird..

A: You think so.??

N: yeah.. Even when I met her yesterday night.. She seemed a bit lost..

A: I know right.. I've been noticing too..

N: So have you.. Spoken to her.??

A: No but.. I've been thinking about it.. I just couldn't find the right time..

N: do you think... She might be... Slipping back into...

A: Yeah I'm afraid of the same thing.. It's like no matter how many times we pull her out she keeps slipping in again and again..

N: So what are we gonna do.??

A: I'll try to speak to her today.. And see what happens.. What about you.. You're not having breakfast..??

N: No I.. I'll have it at the office.. I'm leaving now..

A: Oh alright.. I'll come by later.. After she has her breakfast..

N: OK bye..

A: Bye.!

He leaves for his office as Ayaan was still stand there thinking about Sofia when he got a call from the private investigator that he had hired.. He picked the call as he spoke..

A: Yeah..

I: Sir I've checked his call records almost 5 months prior to his death and I've found a few repeated numbers.. I've emailed you the list.

A: OK wait I'll check..

Ayaan rushed up to his room and opened his laptop checking his mails. The mail had a few document attachments to it. He checked the first one that was a long list of phone numbers and a few were highlighted in green and orange.

A: Yes..

I: The number highlighted in orange is the number he had been in very frequent contact with from almost 5-7 months before his death.

A: Wait. This number... It belongs to my uncle.

I: Ah.. Yes sir. I was wondering.. Could there be a chance that we could Suspect him maybe...

A: What? Have you lost your mind.. He's my uncle.. Why would he kill her dad?? They're freinds and have been working together for years now. Why would he do Such a thing? Tell me about the other numbers.

I: Ok sir... There are three different number highlighted in green that came in contact with him at different times during the his last 4 months. But I have not been able to find any connections between them and Mr. Smith

Ayaan opened the other file and saw three pictures along with a bit of information..

Ay: so who are these people.?

I: I'm not sure sir.. I thought you might recognize them.. do you think they might have known him.?

Ay: I'm not sure.. i haven't heard about any of them from uncle..

I: And what's even weird is thay they don't have anything in common with Mr. Smith or each other.. and their call are also very random without any kind of patterns..

Ay: did you find out more about them.?

I: Yes sir.. but I didn't find anything suspicious for anyone except the second man.

A: About him.? What is it..?

I: He seems to have an old police record with theft and robberies.. and have been arrested a few times before.. He is also known to be working for a powerful gang but the police haven't managed to find any proof against him though..

A: Ok... But Why would a person like this be calling uncle Jones .??

I: He called rarely in the first 3 months but in the last 2 his calls had became more frequent..

A: I see.. Soo could this mean he might have been threatening uncle and can be behind his murder..

I: Or maybe he might have been being used by some one to threaten him..

A: Yeah.. That could be the case too.. But who would do this and why.??

I: In most of the case the reason is

either property or revenge or in some cases the person might end

up knowing something they shouldn't have.. And in Mr. Smith's case the former doesn't apply since

he has only one daughter and no other relatives.. soo it could be either revenge or....

A: He knew something he shouldn't have..

I: Yes.. But either way we can't seem to find any suspects.

A: Alright then you look more into him and i'll try to find any connection for the other two.

I: Ok sir.

He ended the call keeping down the phone and stared at the pictures on the screen trying to recall if he ever saw any one of them.

A: Different people. living in different

cities and working in different companies. Why would they be

calling uncle? Could they be his friends? What would they want from him.? could they be someone related to business? If that's the case

could ask uncle Ed. H

would definitely know. Yeah i'll ask him in

the office today. That reminds me I should probably wake her up for breakfast. I have to go to the office as well.

With that thought He closed his

laptop keeping it aside and left the room while putting his phone in his pocket. Walking up to her room he knocked a few times. hearing no response he assumed her to still be

a asleep and opened the door. Everything was pitch dark as he reached out to the light switch looking worried. He opened the light as his eyes widened looking around the room. Everything was a mess. Her blanket was lying on the ground beside her bed and there were broken glass pieces around. He walked closer to the side table where all the things were scattered as he noticed the slight red on the glass pieces.. Kneeling down he noticed more blood around as he

followed the trail with his eyes which led to the washroom. He rushed knocking hard on the door calling for Sofia. The door opened on its own as the sight before him left him breathless. His eyes widened as his blood ran cold.. He walked a few

steps ahead with his mouth hung open not being able to form any kind of words. He collapsed beside her on the ground as the red liquid covered his hands. He reached for

her shaking her slightly as his eyes fell on her wrist leaving him completly astonished as tears gathered in his eyes flowing out and

a slow whisper left his lips.

A: Sofia...

*The End*

-Zareen.