The Choice

Akash was furious. He had been working his ass off for this firm. Despite his high billings and outstanding client reviews, the MD had yet again sidelined him for the promotion. He could have endured this if only the promotion had not gone to Rishik instead. Rishik, of all the people! Akash hated his guts. And he wasn't alone. Rishik was a jerk who nobody wanted to have anything to do with. Being the son of the founder meant he could work at the largest law firm in the city in spite of his consistently mediocre performance. His affair with the MD was also an open secret.

Akash had had enough. Today he openly threatened the MD. If her relationship came out, the partners wouldn't want her to be managing director anymore. The stars were aligned against her. She had overstepped this time and Akash wasn’t going to let this go.

Over the last couple of months, Akash had gone through a breakup, denied promotion twice and lost a long-standing client. He didn’t know what was going wrong for him. He’d never been a jolly man but even for him, this was a tough phase about which he couldn’t talk with anybody. At work, people would see this as a sign of weakness. Outside of work, he knew few people and nobody he could share with.

He felt somewhat better after his confrontation with the MD earlier today; as if a weight had been taken off of him. Then why not go and give Rishik a piece of his mind as well? That jackass has had it coming for a long time now.

Akash and Rishik lived in the same building, as did most other employees of their firm. Rishik never missed an opportunity to brag about the view from his 13th-floor balcony. What right did he have? It was all his father’s. Rishik had never achieved anything on his own.

Akash stepped out of the elevator, thinking of all the many ways in which he was going to disgrace Rishik. He knocked twice on the door. No answer. He waited for some time and rang the bell. No answer yet. This only added to his anger. He gave the door a push and stumbled as it swung open. Quickly getting hold of himself, he looked around. This place was familiar. Many happy evenings were spent here when this flat still belonged to Rishik's father. His respect for that man was the only reason Akash had been holding back so far. Not anymore. Rishik had done nothing but discredit the memory of his deceased father.

Akash wasn’t done reminiscing when the trail of blood caught his eye. With great trepidation, he followed it to the balcony. There on the side lay Rishik. His still face looked pale in contrast with his blood-stained shirt. For a minute or two, Akash stared in disbelief. Twenty years of practising law had not prepared him for this. He felt suffocated with heat. The cool evening breeze did nothing to help him. He could sense the energy flowing out of his body. When he got some composure, reality struck him in the face. He wasn't ready for this. After everything that had been going on with him, he couldn't deal with this now. This had severe implications. Should he inform the police? He didn’t need a degree in law to tell him how this made him look. He would be the prime suspect. He had a motive. He had threatened Rishik's girlfriend earlier today. His hatred for Rishik was no secret either. No, he just couldn't report this. What else could he do? He would have run away if he didn't know better. People had noticed him coming here. If he ran today, he would forever be on the run. What other choice did he have? He couldn’t decide.

Akash stood himself up. Rishik wasn’t wrong about the view. The sea under the night sky was breathtaking. Over the horizon, the sky and the sea met like two lovers uniting in death. And then he began to cry. He was already a broken soul. His dead colleague only served as the final straw. Truly alone and helpless, he felt like he was lost in the abyss.

Next morning, two lawyers were found dead - a man stabbed to death and another that fell off the building.