After the door closed
The door closed softly behind Meera, and the room returned to silence. For a few seconds, Radhika didn't move. The house outside continued its rhythm, distant voices, the clatter of utensils. The day unfolding without pause.
Inside, the faint hum of her laptop filled the space, waiting. She let out a slow breath and turned back to the desk. The screen still held what she had been working on earlier. Half-finished, paused, mid-thought.
Radhika rested her fingers on the keyboard, hesitating only briefly before continuing. The words came easier now, as if the interruption had clarified something rather than disturbed it. She worked in quiet focus, eyes scanning, correcting, completing. There was no rush, only intent.
She leaned back slightly, gaze drifting towards the window. Some truths needed time before they could be spoken, some wings needed strength before they could be shown.
She was not hurting anyone, she was not running away. She had chosen to stay, to follow the rules. She was expected to follow, but staying didn't mean surrendering herself. Life was given once, and when it was over, no one would ask how obedient she had been, only whether she had lived.
The thought settled calmly inside her, like a stone dropped into a still pond. Radhika turned back to the screen, finished the last few lines, and clicked save. The work was done, quietly, completely.
She closed the laptop and stood up, smoothing the creases of her dress. "Better hurry," she murmured to herself, "for the next interrogation will begin at the breakfast table."