Archana walked towards her desk. The office was quiet and slowly filling in. Work started at 9.30 AM. It was just 9.00. Archana “Archie’s” heels clacked in the empty lobby as she walked steadily over to her desk. She was too busy juggling her handbag, lunch bag and her water bottle. Her desk was covered inside a cubicle from two sides.
After arranging everything she turned to switch on her system. And she drew in a sharp breath. Her stomach twisted in a knot and her mind numbed for a full minute. Her eyes were wide as she gaped at the monitor. The first thing was she peeked over her cubicle. She could feel her heart slowly pick the pace. Her ears were humming as it harmonized with the constant thudding of her heart.
She looked around the office scared. There were couple others at the far end of the lobby near the water cooler. They were too engrossed in talking. Like her they had also dropped in early. And the two office boys who were giggling with each other as they wiped the desks.
The green-cover area was intact. All the indoor plants were thriving. The lights were glinting normally. People were traipsing in one by one. Nothing was out of the ordinary.
Except the small Post-it pasted on the additional monitor on her desk that read:
“You should smile more often Archie. It suits you.”
Archie looked at the Post-it for a minute as if willing it to scream at her. She quietly peeled it off and opened the bottom-most drawer. A stack of similar Post-it messages was lying neatly stacked. She added it to the pile making a mental note to contact her friend Rajat in the evening. Rajat was in the police. She had contacted him when she had realized she had a stalker. He had said that he was happy to take things via investigative methods. Though he was also quick to point out that there might be very “less interest” as there was no substantial evidence this was a serious thing or a prank as no crime was associated.
Yet!
What! Were they waiting for her to be discovered dead in a canal or a ditch. May be then the notes would be helpful!
Rajat however regularly followed up with her. He told her to inform him of the slightest change and every time a new note came.
The devil is in the details.
Archie already felt the heat rise in her neck. She quickly took out a satin scrunchie from her bag, tied her thick, wavy locks above her ears, except for the loose strands. She quickly wiped the tears that had sprung up in the corner of her deep, black, pained eyes. Her otherwise pinkish lips that full were now in a grimace and a thin line of exasperation. She quickly wiped her black coffee cup with a tissue, tucked her water bottle and walked towards the cafeteria.
Morning poison is essential.
“A note came?”
Archie almost shrieked and dropped her ceramic cup. She turned to her right. It was undoubtedly,
“Nandan! Don’t you scare me like that. You know what is going on.”
“Informed Rajat?”
“He might be sleeping. I have left a message.”
The two grabbed their coffees and strolled towards the lobby. The entire Godavari Techno Park was visible from here. They were glad it was windy. They sipped their coffees in silence as they saw people enter the park and hurry towards their blocks. There were 5 business hubs and a shopping mall inside the Techno Park. The salient feature was the huge, singular garden that snaked around the entire premise. It even had a waterfall and bridge. The architect had really brought up a concept and implemented it flawlessly. It was clean, green and ensured that the Techno Park was a site to behold and contributed to the environment.
The beauty of hanging with Nandan was silence. She could be with him without talking, with her own thoughts and he wouldn’t badger. They saw as their other friend, Amrita, walked past hastily calling out a “Hey! Good morning!” as she had to punch in time.
It had started with a “Hi Archie” Post-it on the main door of the office. Initially, she had joined in the office humour. She could take a laugh.
Though her heart was broken with the recent events in her life, she knew better than to let it govern her thoughts and spill over at places it didn’t deserve to be. She would bite her jaw and smile. Nandan and Amrita knew what was going on. So, they were a little subtle and too sweet with her to ensure that she didn’t blow a fuse.
The “Hi Archie” Post-its didn’t stop. Soon, Archie began to feel irritated. The lame-ass joke had gone a bit too far. She started asking around everyone. Though she knew the culprit won’t show up, that didn’t stop her from making her thoughts clear.
And then one day the “Hi Archie” Post-its progressed. They continued to needle expressions.
Archie, are you feeling better?
Archie, isn’t the weather glorious today?
Archie, I’m glad you have good friends.
Archie would break into sweat every time a new Post-it came. Whoever it was knew where she worked. Could it be someone at workplace? She had raised her concerns with the HR as well. And then the HR gave some very disturbing information.
“We don’t own such Post-its. This is not part of our stationery stack. I regularly need to deal with Admin department for my supply. We stopped using Post-its and switched to notepads because it was becoming a maintenance hazard. The admin would do a nut if they knew that Post-its are still coming in and entire stack of daily office supplies is vanishing – specially, if it is being used to prank someone.”
Archie had walked out of the cabin in a daze. She had accidentally tumbled over a lot of things when she realized this was not something regular. And she had run to the only two people she trusted – Amrita and Nandan.
***
Archie immersed herself in the job at hand. She was glad she had a workplace at all. Many of her contemporaries had been part of the layoffs happening in multiple companies across the globe. She thanked herself daily she had a job to hold on to.
The emails came in and she replied in one swift action. The new Post-it was consuming her attention. She had thought about this multiple times – was something sinister at play? It had been three months since the notes had started. Why hadn’t the stalker not gone above and beyond just sending Post-its.
Her brain clouded as she could feel an unknown presence. They were slowly approaching taking one step at a time. This was slowly getting personal. They thought she should smile more. She felt as if bugs were crawling under skin. Her stomach was in an uneasy knot most of the time these days. They were getting closer but ever so slowly.
They were playing with her mind. She was getting consumed by their distant behaviour. And yet, she didn’t want them to make their presence known.
They know me and I am exposed to their scrutiny.
She felt filthy and naked. And may be that is what they wanted her to feel.
Nandan and Amrita would keep checking on her from their desks to ensure that she was freaking out.
Archie was rubbing her temples. A headache was threatening to creep in. It was only 12 in the noon. She had an entire day to deal with.
As she blearily gazed at her monitor, an email slid into her vision. She read the title and part of the contents.
Her eyes popped in shock. The headache went to the back of her head in an instant. She opened the email and read the contents. And her eyes widened with each passing second. She wildly turned to look around at Nandan and Amrita.
They were already looking at her.
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© 2026 Ashwati Menon | The Dusty Bookshelf
Post-it is an original work published as part of the Epistories series. All characters, events, and storylines are protected by copyright. Unauthorized reproduction, adaptation, distribution, or publication, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without prior written permission.
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