Suicide from 24th floor

It had been a long day and Raghu was tired. He had been working overtime for the last two weeks and it was beginning to tell on him. But he had no option. The delivery date for the new software was fast approaching and they were only halfway through the testing. God forbid, if some serious bug was discovered, they may have to put in a lot more hours than now. As it was, they were already working 15 hour days.

He looked up from his desk at the office clock. Midnight. Meeta will be angry. He knew he should spend more time with his pregnant wife, but there was too much pressure at work. Yearly review was approaching. His boss seemed happy with his performance up till now. This was not the time to take it easy.  Anyway, he was doing this for her and his unborn child, wasn’t he? They will understand. He hoped.

Alright. This should do it. He ran the code. The results will be out in the morning. This test was the biggest hurdle. It had already required some minor modifications to code. If this run was successful, they could expect smooth sailing the rest of the test process.

He locked his system and stretched. Sitting hunched up in front of a computer screen was killing his back. Just a few more days, he thought as he rubbed his lower back.

He got up, picked up his jacket and bike keys and walked to the elevators.  It was very late so the corridor was only dimly lit. He turned a corner.  This section was completely dark. He hesitated. He had always hated the dark.

Taking a deep breath, he walked forward. He didn’t like looking at the dark glass panes. He was afraid he might see someone looking in. He knew that at 24 floors this was an irrational fear. But he was all the more terrified for it. Dark. It was his one fear. He felt ashamed of it, reminding himself that he was not a child anymore, but nothing helped.

He had almost walked past it. One full-length glass pane that wasn’t there. It was only the draft from the open window that made him realize this. He was surprised. This was a definite safety hazard. He must complain to the Office Admin about this.

He looked closer. It was a sliding window. He should close it, in case anyone leaned against it in the dark and fell. He reached out a hand to close the window.

“Stop!”

He jumped. There, hanging by just his fingers, was a man in dark suit. “Help me!”

Raghu held the man by his arms and pulled. After a lot of effort, he was finally able to pull the man into the corridor.

They both fell on the floor, panting.

“Thanks!” The man in black suit wheezed.

“You’re welcome. How did you get there? Were you trying to kill yourself?”

The man shook his head. He took a couple of seconds more to catch his breath. Then got up and went back to the window. He looked down. Raghu looked vary. Was the guy going to commit suicide right in front of him?

The man beckoned to him. Raghu let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. He went over.

 

The man pointed down. Raghu tried to see over his shoulder. The man shifted sideways so as to give him space.

Raghu looked down. He wasn’t particularly afraid of heights. In fact, he prided himself on not getting vertigo when looking down from the window of his office on 24^th floor. But today, his head swam. He thought he would retch.

There, 24 floors below him, was what looked like the broken body of a girl.

“I pushed her, but lost my balance.” The last words Raghu heard as the dark window of the 24^th floor receded from his vision.