Sometimes, no matter how much you run, the truth keeps haunting you. It doesn't matter if you close your eyes or block your ears, it follows your scent, it catches up to you and it eventually corners you in the dark.
Aman paced his living room, a thick layer of anxiety coating his every move. he was waiting for Sophie, the one person he called his anchor. Even though she had sounded perfectly normal on the phone, he knew that "normal" was often just a mask people wore to hide the rot underneath.
As he sat on the edge of the sofa, his eyes drifted to the wall clock-a sleek modern piece that Sophie had gifted him years ago. He froze.
"Wait a minute....i never installed the batteries in the clock". A cold shiver raced down his spine. Had Sophie done it? He stood up, drawn to the wall like a moth to a flame. The clock had a steady, relentless rhythm tick,tock,tick,tock. Usually that sound was a heartbeat of a structured life, but today that sane rhythm made him fell violently unstable.
His hands began to shake as he approached the device. His breath became uneven, shallow and hot. As he reached out to pull the clock from the wall to check the battery compartment, the burning sensation on his wrist flared with a white-hot intensity. He ignored the pain, his fingers inches form the wood, when the sudden, sharp chime of the doorbell shattered the silence.
"Oh...it seems Sophie is finally here," he whispered, his voice cracking.
He abandoned the clock and hurried to the front door. When he swung it open, he was greeted by the sight of Sophie, looking as radiant and carefree as ever.
"Yo" she said, winking at him with those deep piercing blue eyes. "Come in, come in.....as if you ever needed a invite" Aman joked, though the humor felt hallow in his chest. As he crossed the threshold into the apartment, her eyes seemed to shine with an unnatural brilliance for a fraction of seconds. A small knowing smile played on her lips as she made herself at home.
" So you wanted to talk to me about something important right?" she asked, her gaze fixed on him.
"Oh yeah but before that....tea, coffee, beer? what do you want?"
"Since i have to listen to you i prefer whiskey." She joked, echoing Aman's own earlier attempt to drown his thoughts.
"Hah, shut up and drink water," Aman snapped back " i need you sober I am not going to carry you home like i did last time."
They both sat down in the sofa, the distance between them feeling both familiar and vast. Aman leaned forward, his eyes searching hers for any sign of lie.
"Uh Sophie....regarding the surgery," he began his voice trembling. "Do you know exactly what time we started? And for how long did we operate?"
Sophie tilted her head, a playful grin in her blue eyes. "Hmm the surgery? why do you -want to know? you were just calling me a peanut-brain but look st you now"
"Oh shut up and just tell me." Aman snapped the pressure in his head reaching a breaking point. Sophie shrugged her expression relaxing into total certainty. " Heh, yeah. We started the surgery at 10:00 AM sharp, Aman. And it went on for four hours."
A wave of relief washed over Aman, momentarily cooling the heat in his blood. His memory was right he was not crazy. But then the image of the Anesthesia withdrawal form flashed in his mind -the 8:00 AM timestamp, the cold, ink and his own undeniable signature.
"Who is lying?" he thought, his world tilting once again. "What is real? What is time?