At around 02:50 a.m., a lady-constable banged her wooden rod against the steel railings of the cell, bullying us to shudder, and I turned around to look at her. "Do you know anyone in Mumbai, who can help you? Call them up and we'll let you go now. Otherwise, we'll only release you late in the morning", she said, and I rose my feet, rubbing my cold, and numb, hands together. "I do", I answered her, softly, and hugged myself, as I staggered towards her. I buried my hands deep inside my denim pockets, while I waited for her to unlock the cell and hold it open for me. It was an unbearably chilly night, where the winds were merciless and skin-piercingly cold; I thought I'd end up with blisters, or something of that sort. The emptiness in my stomach and the odor in the air simply piled on, and churned out the worst in me.

The lady-constable gestured me to make a call, and I picked up the telephone, holding it in the air, thoughtfully, as I struggled to remember Darshan's number. It wasn't the time for me to differentiate between right and wrong; I was certain that he'd be the most disappointed person, if he found out that I spent a night in jail, but I couldn't hide it from him anymore because he was the only person, who could lend us a helping hand in Mumbai. As I keyed-in his number, I still didn't want him to know about the truth, because I feared the outcome and I didn't want to lose respect before his eyes, but that night, I did not have a choice. Between Darshan and the girls, I was destined to let one of the two down. Somewhere, I was convinced into believing that Vaish, Nash and Chanch were behind the bars, because of my stupidity, and I ought to fix the situation for them; I couldn't undo the mistakes I made, but I could change something for them, and I was desperate to do it. I wanted to do anything I could to prove that I never intended to harm them in any way, even if it meant that the moves I made could hinder the relationship I shared with Darshan.

Keenly, I listened to the outgoing rings, but the call went unanswered. "I'll try one more time. I guess, he's sleeping", I mumbled, and redialed his number. The unendingly long rings were ongoing, and the outcome remained unchanged; he did not answer the call. He was someone who never answered incoming calls from unknown numbers, and for a moment of time, I wholly believed that his ignorance would cost me a lot. Just when I thought that I was caught up in a situation without an escape, silence crept into the line and I heard him breathe, from the other end of the call.

"Hello?", he said, sleepily, and a surge of relief emptied into my heart, but within moments, fear captured it. "Hello", my voice was thin, feeble and shaky. "Who?", Darshan questioned, sounding clueless. "Darshan, it's me, Dityaa", I blurted out, right away. "Dityaa?", Darshan said out, shockingly, and visited silence, which was unbroken for around twenty whole seconds. "Dityaa? What happened? Why is it so noisy? Where are you? Aren't you at home?", he shot question after question in my direction, and the fear that lived in my heart enlarged; I was beyond petrified to admit the truth, but I was in a situation where I had to do it, whether, or not, I wanted to did not matter. "Darshan, I'm in the Police Station", I blurted, shutting my eyes, and tightened my grip around the telephone in my hand. "Huh, what? Why? Did someone do something to you?", he panicked, as I expected. "No...", I whispered, and took a deep breath in. "...I'm in jail", I confessed the truth, and swallowed hard. He was silent, and it scared me, but I wasn't surprised; I didn't know what ran on his mind in the moments of silence, but a part of me felt that we were falling apart, in some way. "Nash, Vaish and Chanch are with me. We visited the Rainbow Lodge to do something, and we were mistaken as prostitutes", slowly, I unveiled the truth, lowly. "I—it is my fault. Nash, Vaish and Chanch did not do anything. The---they declined and turned down the idea, b—b—but I didn't listen to them and I forced them to come with me. They didn't have a choice. I wanted to visit the Lodge, and I—I convinced them", I took the whole blame upon me, even though I still believed that it wasn't entirely my mistake. I may have triggered them, but they were the ones who chose to walk on the path, when they had the choice to stay at home; but as I said, it wasn't the time for me to differentiate between right and wrong. I took the burden upon my shoulders, only because I didn't want them to still think that I was a selfish and self-centered person, who defended herself for everything. I wanted them to know that I could make sacrifices, too, and that moment, I thought I sacrificed a part of my relationship with Darshan to save our friendship.

"I'm not surprised. Only you can do something as stupid as this", he taunted, and it was the last thing I needed, but I still took it, because I deserved it for being downright stupid, and brainless. "You visited a brothel, who - in their right sense – would do that?", Darshan scolded. "Darsh, I had a reason", I almost cried, but gulped down the quiver in my voice. "Regardless of the reason, Dityaa! Whatever the reason is, why would you want to go to a brothel? Are you mad? Don't you have a brain to think? Or, is this your way of living life to the fullest? Is this how you take risks, and ruin your reputation?", Darshan barked at me, and I remained silent, looking down, guiltily. "God!", he spat, and breathed out loudly. "I'm having enough problems in my life, and you're making it worse!", Darshan muttered, angrily, giving me a reason to cry in silence; he was growing sick of me, and it was coming to the surface. "Can you get us out of here? There's no one else I know in Mumbai. If not for me; at least for Vaish, Nash and Chanch, come here. They're being punished for something they didn't do. Please, Darshan", I pleaded, with tears staining my face. "Please", I whispered, licking my lower lip. "I'm on my way, and I'm coming only because I don't want others to suffer for something you did!", he answered, harshly, and cut the call on my face. I kept the telephone aside, and turned back around, once I wiped away the tears that wetted my face. "Someone's coming?", the lady-constable asked, and I answered her with a brief nod. "Who?", she raised her brow, and I took a moment to think. "Someone I know...a friend", I lied, because I didn't want to drag him down with me; his biggest fear was a tarnished reputation.

"Darshan said he's coming", I informed the girls, once I walked back inside the cell, but they didn't bother to look in my direction, let alone respond. Nash stared at the concrete floor, while Vaish and Chanch rested their heads on either sides of her shoulders, in silence. They sat on one corner of the room, and I was in another; we were divided, and something told me that once we'd walk out of the Police Station, nothing would be the same between us, again. I had a gut feeling...and I was right – once we parted ways, we didn't look back at each other.