PROVING INNOCENCE: 3.Death

Ananya felt an unusual discomfort today. She was restless, kept looking at her watch and was disappointed when it was only 11 o' clock. Not able to sit in her cabin anymore, she decided to take a tea break.
A phone call disturbed her plans.
'Listen Ananya...' The person on the other side had started off without a greeting. By the time she could recognise who he was, he went on
'I just found something. You need to meet me. In front of your office. Now'. The call disconnected.
By now she knew who it was.
It has been over a year since Suchit had spoken to her last. But it wasn't time to be angry at him either. She knew he was troubled, by the tone of his voice. He needed her, and she would be there.

Ananya and Suchit had been great friends since childhood. They had done schooling together, and their friendship began when Suchit's friend wrote a love letter to Ananya. Apparently so, Ananya also had a crush on this friend of his and within matter of days, Ananya, Ajay and Suchit became a trio everyone talked about. Unfortunately though, Ajay and Ananya broke their relationship as easily as it had all began. Soon, Ajay began to accuse Suchit for this break up and a cloud of misunderstanding broke their friendship too. However, as destiny had it, Ananya and Suchit started to be better friends than ever.
They never looked back. They decided to attend college together. Their friendship was known to both the families who often misunderstood it to love. It even went to the extent of the families planning their marriage soon after engineering. Suchit and Ananya had laughed about it, explaining to their families that their relationship was nothing more than a close friendship between a boy and a girl.

They were two years into college when Suchit fell in love with a girl named Ishita. She was sweet, Ananya thought. She had even helped him approach her and was the reason Ishita's and Suchit's friendship grew stronger. One fine day, when Suchit started dating Ishita, she had plainly put forward a  condition- to choose between her and Ananya. Apparently she thought their friendship looked inappropriate, and she couldn't see him hanging out with Ananya more than her. What Suchit did shocked her. He promised Ishita that he would never talk to Ananya again. And this way, Ananya's trust was shattered and they never spoke again.
After Suchit's father died, Ananya tried to regain contact. But he didn't respond. Soon after, they were out of college and they found their own jobs. Ananya, worked in Deloitte while preparing for her GATE exam, while Suchit landed a dream job in Amazon. As a coincidence, both of them were posted in their hometown, Hyderabad. Yet, no contact.
Until now.

Suchit found her in the parking lot of her building. She seemed more beautiful than he ever found her before. Her dress highlighted her petite figure, which was a purple long kurta with white leggings. Her straight, kohl-black hair fell onto her shoulders and her gaze was ever so emotional. She ran to him as soon as she noticed him. She hugged him tight, dropped a tear or two and looked at him with intent. They shared an awkward stare for a couple of minutes when he said nothing.
She broke the silence
'I'm sorry. To hug.....' And before she could complete, he started
'No. I'm sorry. It's all my fault. But Ananya, today I have come to you for something very important. You must have guessed'
'Yes. When you spoke to me on phone like that, I knew. What is it da?'
'My father...' He tried to not break down. But after all this, he knew he couldn't be as strong. Not today. Not with her. Tears started to flow down his eyes.
'Suchit, no. Don't make me do this. Tell me, what is it?' She spoke as she wiped the tears off his face.
'It wasn't suicide Ann. It was murder. And I think I know the killer'

Ananya fell silent. Absolutely silent.