Six hours later, I drove into the office premises, having taken a nap and a shower in between. Passing the door to my own department's room, I walked on until I reached the cover designers' space.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" I asked the girl sitting at the desk nearest to the door. She wore thick-rimmed glasses and had long brown hair, but all in all, didn't look a minute over twenty.

"Yeah?" She peeled her gaze away from her computer screen and squinted at me.

"Do you know Sahil? He's a designer in your department," I explained.

"I don't think I've heard the name before. But then I only started working here a week ago. Why don't you ask Sarah, over there? She knows everyone around here," she pointed to the woman sitting in the far corner of the hall.

I thanked her and strolled to Sarah's cubicle. She was sketching something with her head bent over a sheet of paper, but looked up as I came near. She appeared to be in her fifties, and had a short bob. I realized I'd seen her in the office before, but didn't know she worked here. I greeted her, introduced myself, and repeated my query.

"Why do you want to know about him?" she asked, her unblinking grey eyes seeming to see through me. The question took me by surprise.

"I... have a message to pass on to him," I said, not entirely untruthfully. Her unflinching gaze and subsequent silence, though, unnerved me. I sighed, and decided to come clean. "I actually met him last night while he was on his night shift. We talked, and he helped me with my work. He knows me. Do you mind telling me which shift he has today? Or, like, his phone number? He left in a bit of a hurry," I elaborated.

Her eyes instantly softened. That wasn't exactly the reaction I'd hoped to get, but it was okay as long as she didn't shoo me away. "He is no longer reachable, dear. Come, have a seat. You'll want to hear this."

Is this a prank? I thought as I dragged an empty chair to her cubicle and sat down facing her.

"Sahil has been dead for the last six years."

The blood must have drained from my face because she reached out to hold my hand. "I don't mean to scare you, but he was a very kind and friendly guy, and his soul has often come back to continue helping the people in the office. I knew him well, being the head of the department; he looked up to me as a mother. Who you saw last night could not be Sahil; but he could be his ghost."

"But—he—we—I could touch him! We high-fived!" My voice sound feeble even to myself.

"I don't honestly know how ghosts work, Nisha, and he's never appeared to me; but believe me, it wasn't him." Her expression was pained now. "He was a talented designer, Nisha, but a jealous colleague poisoned him one night right there in his office, and he died before any of us could reach him. The culprit was served a life sentence, but Sahil's spirit has not been able to rest for some reason."

In my own office...

"Was our break room previously his office?" My brain, befuddled as it was, began to connect the dots.

"Yes, right! How did you—wait, you found him there, didn't you?"

"Actually, he found me," I mumbled. "I didn't even hear his approaching footsteps, but it was so quiet I should have heard him coming. I was working late, so I went to the break room to rest a bit, when I came across this stunning cover design of a princess on the desk."

"A princess? Were her clothes turquoise-silver, by any chance?"

"Yes!" I stared straight at her.

Recognition dawned on her face. "That was probably what pulled him back. I'd thought we had locked it up somewhere. It was the last and the best cover he made; but we couldn't ever bring ourselves to use it. He had just completed it when he drank that coffee and..." she trailed off, looking out the window.

"The coffee was poisoned?!?" I blurted. "He—he offered me some, but no wonder he said he didn't drink coffee anymore. Oh my god, I should have asked him why!"

She squeezed my hand. "You couldn't have known. And, you know, I feel it's better you didn't know who he was. You said he helped you, right? Would you have been in a position to even face him if you knew he wasn't there in the flesh and blood?"

"I'd probably have fainted." I was already dazed just hearing about it.

"What did he say when he left you?"

I closed my eyes, trying to block out all the new information I had received. "I was hungry. He said he knew a place to eat that remained open round the clock. We were going to meet in the lobby after locking up our offices, but he never came down. He did leave me some food with a note, though," I frowned and retrieved the paper from my pocket.

She read it silently and handed it back to me. "He hasn't done anything like this before. It looks like he wants to meet you again," she seemed as puzzled by it as I was.

"Do you think I should wait for him tonight? He always worked night shifts, right?"

"Yes, but... you shouldn't do it alone. Let me come with you."

I was relieved to have her company. "Okay." I swallowed.