At 23:15, Nash returned, but she was on her own. I held the door open for her, and looked around at the empty corridor, in search of Vaish. "Vaish...", my voice echoed twice in the narrow, lonely and dimly lit corridor. "She's spending the night with her cousin, who lives nearby", Nash said, and slowly, I shut the door. "Oh...even Chanchal fell asleep", I informed and locked the door twice. "I'm sorry you had to face this after a long first day at work", Nash apologized, and collapsed back on the couch, throwing her head back. "Don't apologize, yaar; that makes me feel like an outsider! We share a common space; I know that disagreements will be a happening part of our routine", I told Nash, and she smiled for a brief moment before letting out a wide yawn. "You look extremely tired. May I help you with your dinner? And please don't go to bed without eating anything, Nash; you look so weak", I requested. "I'll have a bowl of salad, maybe. Could you please chop the vegetables for me?", Nash asked, politely; there was no way I could say no to a decent request.

"You know what...", I spoke up, walking towards the kitchen. "...I just went out for dinner with...with someone I know...", I stated, vaguely. "Of course, with someone you know, Dityaa!", Nash emphasized, and sat up on her usual spot on the marbled kitchen counter, as I picked out a cold carrot, cucumber and tomato from the fridge. "That person had mushroom soup in a goddam five-star hotel. And now look at you; despite having all the good food in the fridge, you're settling for a salad. What's wrong with your taste-buds? Weird people", I judged, washing the vegetables. "I hope the partner you end up with turns out to be this big-ass foodie, who talks about food even in his sleep!", I wished and Nash giggled, looking down at her hands. "But what if I'm already dating a diet-freak?", Nash looked up at me, and raised her brow. "You're dating someone...", I echoed in blankness. "What if?", Nash shrugged. "Don't play mind games with me, Nash. Get to the fucking point!", I said, sternly, and Nash smiled; she smiled and her smile gave herself away. "Oh la la, look at that smile!", I teased, forcing the smile on Nash's lips to stretch. "Even after such a long and tiring day, you're blushing, baby!", I pulled her leg. "Enough, Dityaa", Nash chuckled. "Tell me about him!", I insisted with interest, keeping the vegetables aside. "I don't know if you've heard about him...", Nash started off, and out of sheer excitement, I cross-spoke, silencing her. "YOU'RE DATING A CELEBRITY? IS HE A BOLLYWOOD ACTOR?", I jumped. "No!", Nash furrowed her eyebrows and shot a weird look at me. "He's a cricketer, though; he plays for Sri Lanka and he made his debut in International cricket three days ago", Nash stated facts. "And he scored a half-century on debut, if I'm not wrong", I guessed and something lit up Nash's face; she looked proud. "I read about it in the Sports section, I guess", I tried to recall. "Yeah, Omar Fayaz; he scored a 54 against South Africa", Nash elaborated.

"The world doesn't know you're dating him?", I asked her. "And it won't know for a while, I guess. I want this to be between us for a while, and I don't want this to be under the spotlight at the moment, when he just started his career. If it somehow comes out through the media, we'll accept it; otherwise, we'll simply stay silent until we feel we're set to let the news out", Nash said, and I nodded, slowly. "But...isn't it hard?", I questioned, and Nash looked on in confusion, tilting her head to the side. "How do you love someone, and not show the world? I mean, if I love a man, I would want the world to know that I love him; not because I want to show off, but probably because...I don't know how to love in secrecy. If I love you, I'll fucking stand up on a table and tell the whole world that I do. Don't you have that in you?", I asked Nash, who wrinkled her nose. "I'm someone who believes that beauty deserves to be preserved", Nash shrugged. "But if you're going to keep it to you, and only you; aren't you staring at a white wall? Eventually, you'll get bored and in your case, maybe, you'll fail to see the beauty in it, with time", I said. "When you're in love, even a white wall looks colourful", Nash smiled. "Poetic. Nice", I whispered, and grabbed a knife, while she laughed. "This is between us, alright?", Nash expectantly looked at me, and I nodded sincerely; little did she know that she let out a secret to the biggest blabber-mouth in the Universe! "Acha, listen, Nash...", I said, dicing the tomato. "I'll tell you something, and you have to keep it between us. Tit for tat, okay?", I cracked a deal to which Nash agreed. "I work for Darshan Raval", I revealed, and Nash literally stopped moving for a couple of seconds. "Which Darshan Raval?", Nash went blank. "How many Darshan Ravals do you know bro? I'm talking about the on the wall, near Vaish's bed. The singer...who is my boss, too", I pointed and filled half a bowl with tomatoes. "I went for dinner with him. Okay, he told me not to tell anyone...but because he told me I shouldn't tell anyone, I feel I should tell someone because I cannot hold it in. I don't have a thing towards him, so it honestly wasn't a big deal to me...until he told me, 'Don't tell anyone' in the car", I exhaled heavily. "In the car?", Nash echoed in curiousness. "Yea, he dropped me home", I blurted out, and the next immediate second, I covered my mouth when I realized that I revealed everything to her. "Fuck, I wasn't supposed to say this", I whispered and Nash giggled. "But that's okay; we live in the same house. Why should I hide it from you? I would have told Vaish, too, but she's a hardcore fan; she would either slap me, thinking I made this up to make her jealous...or she would start believing that I could be the medium through which she could meet him and I don't want to give her false hopes", I blabbered. "You need to tape that mouth around Vaish, then. Off late, she has been missing Darshan a lot, if she finds out, she won't spare you", Nash smiled. "When I'm actually good on terms with Darshan, I'll make sure he meets Vaish", I said, confidently. "Aww!", Nash's voice melted and she tilted her head to the side.