'par poonam jhoot kyun bolegi...' thought ishita, as she walked through the corridor. The diary was still in her hands, she felt more important than ever to always keep it in her sight. She couldn't trust anyone now.

"hey!" exclaimed poonam as she placed her arm around ishita's shoulder, which she was quick to get off of her.

"kya hua?" asked poonam, as ishita glared at her for a second, only to show the diary to her.

"ohh, mil gayi na tujhe....sorry yaar, woh maine galti se rakh li thi, mujhe toh ghar jaake pata chala jab maine apna bag khaali kiya, pata hai, meri chemistry book kho gayi..." she explained as ishita crossed her arms.

"poonam, meri mom ke death se das din pehle ki saari entries gayab hain...." informed ishita, as poonam stood there shocked.

"what? That's so strange...." remarked poonam, as ishita opened the diary, and showed her how so many pages had been teared off at once.

"kal se pehle ek bhi page nahi phata tha...." stated ishita.

"tujhe lagta hai yeh maine kiya hai? Yaar ishu, main aisa kyun karungi!" defended poonam.

"i don't know, you tell me...." said ishita, as poonam stood there appalled.

"ishu, main kuch nahi kiya hai, i swear. Mujhe kal diary mili, main teri ghar aayi, uncle ke haath mein deke chali gayi...that's it." clarified poonam.

"poonam, yaar, jhoot bolne ki bhi hadd hoti hai, just tell me the truth." Said ishita, frustrated.

"ishu, main sach keh rahi hoon yaar..." insisted poonam, as ishita just shook her head in disbelief.

"baat mat karna mujhse.." commanded ishita before she left.

                                                      ***

"yaar teri maa bhindi ke alaawa kuch aur kyun nahi banati..." complaint dushyant, as he unlocked the apartment.

"kyunki woh master chef nahi hai, ki roz tere liye kuch naye pakawaan banaye..." retorted kavin.

"aur waise bhi, woh har roz toh nahi banati bhindi..." defended kavin, as dushyant rolled his eyes.

"abhi pichle Tuesday hi banayi thi..." quipped dushyant.

"matlab hafta pehle na, my point exactly." Stated kavin.

"acha, ab kal jab gatte ki sabji bani thi, tab toh tune bhi kaha ki roz banti hai yeh sabji....aur teri maa ne kaha ki mahina ho gaya hai usse banaye hue.." recounted dushyant.

"tu kya alibaba aur challis choor waali goofa khul raha hai ki itna time lag raha hai!" scolded kavin, as dushyant was about to reply back, but paused when he saw purvi.

She became agitated upon seeing them as she quickly unlocked the door and got inside the apartment.

"bhai, isse kya daure pad jaate hain humein dekh ke?" questioned kavin.

"teri bhindi jaisi shakal ho gayi haina ab, khaufnak lagta hai..." remarked dushyant, as kavin glared at him.

"kya? kehde apni maa se kam bhindi khelaya karein, warna yeh dekh kar bhagegi hi..." stated dushyant as he got inside the house, and kavin followed, trying to comprehend the situation.

                                                          *** 

Kavin was trying to focus on what was written in his textbook, but his thoughts couldn't help but wander off to purvi's behaviour today. When suddenly a cup of tea was placed in front of him, and he looked upto find dushyant.

"le, jaisi chai pasand hai tujhe waise hi banayi hai. Ab itna mood bhi mat kharab kar inn dharaon ke peeche." He said in an attempt to cheer him up, as kavin grabbed his cup and turned to him.

"yaar, purvi ka behaviour thoda strange nahi hai, aisa lag raha hai jaise, chupa rahi hai kuch..."speculated kavin.

"honestly, bilkul waise react kar rahi hai jaisa meri mom ke jaane ke baad karti thi...." recounted dushyant, as kavin got alerted.

"mujhe dekhti hi ghabra jaana, kisi bhi tarah mujhe avoid karna...." continued dushyant, as kavin started to connect the dots.

"you think she's avoiding me?" questioned kavin.

"par woh tere se kya chuppa rahi hogi?" followed dushyant with a question.

"pata nahi, par..." insisted kavin, as dushyant intervened.

"ek kaam karte hain, main aaj shaam baat karta hoon usse, probably koi tension hogi ghar mein, isiliye pareshaan hogi, don't worry." Assured dushyant.

"hmm." Agreed kavin, still not able to take his mind off from the topic.

                                                            ***

"dushyant." Remarked anjula, as she opened the door.

"hi aunty, purvi hai?" asked dushyant, as anjula let him in.

"aaj, purvi ki yaad kahan se aa gayi?" asked anjula.

"bas aise hi, kuch baat karni thi.." responded dushyant.

"maa, woh tadka laga diya hai daal ko..." said purvi coming out of the kitchen, as her face fell flat seeing dushyant.

"arre, woh main dekh leti hoon, tum dono baitho na..." assured anjula as she walked to the kitchen, and purvi, hesitantly walked to the living room where dushyant was seated.

"hey..." greeted purvi dryly.

"sab theek hai na purvi?" asked dushyant, as purvi tried to avoid eye contact with him while nodding in agreement.

"yaar purvi itna insult toh mat karo mujhe, ki mere moh pe jhut bol rahi ho..." commented dushyant.

"dushyant, i just..." fumbled purvi.

"why are you avoiding kavin? Kya hua hai?" shooted dushyant more questions.

"he is really worried, you know....just tell me, what is it?" ranted dushyant, as purvi started to tear up.

"i killed his father dushyant..." confessed purvi.

"what!" yelled dushyant.

"that night, poonam ki gaadi ke neeche, kavin ke papa aaye the. Tumse baat karne ke baad, uss din maine baat kit hi apni maa se, i wanted to know ki shivani aunty mere kaaran toh nahi gayab hui thi....then she told me ki how woh accident MLA ke bete pe blame kardiya gaya tha and.....i just, i can't face him now.....he has been so hurt because of me and....kya kar diya maine!" melted down purvi, as dushyant rubbed her back .

"do you know he likes you?" posed a question dushyant, as purvi shook her head.

"he does, a lot...just imagine if he finds out that you were the one who almost destroyed his family. Kyunki purvi, seedhe-seedhe kahoon, uss hadse ka dukh, aaj bhi, uski maa ke saath uska relationship poison kar raha hai..." revealed dushyant, as purvi just swallowed in horror.

"you did not just kill a man, you destroyed his family...." stated dushyant, as it all settled down in purvi's head.

It isn't until you see the real consequences of your actions, that you really know, what you did.