"What are we doing here?", I asked my mom, gravely, staring at the building, without blinking my eyes, until I felt a prickling burn. "We're staying here. Come on, get down", mom answered, happily, and pushed the car-door open, once Pops parked the car in the parking lot, right beside Darshan's car. "Where are we staying, again?", I questioned, blankly, holding my mom back. "Oh, I thought you'd know this area. Darshan lives here, and he asked us to spend our stay in Mumbai with him. Such a sweetheart", mom smiled. "He offered, and you accepted it?", I posed a prompt. "I declined, but he made a heartfelt request; I couldn't turn my face away from him. He lives alone, anyways, so if we stay with him, he'll have a family, even if it's a matter of ten days", mom shrugged her shoulders, and hopped out of the car. I trailed behind her, hurriedly, and followed her all the way to the car's boot, with anger almost charging through my veins.

"You never told me about this", I said, struggling to stay calm, and mom simply did not bother to answer me. "Mom, I'm talking to you!", I snapped, and banged the car's boot shut, forcing her to wildly turn in my direction. "Dityaa!", she shouted, angrily, with a raging glare. "Dityaa, what's this? Stop it", Pops uttered in sheer disdain. "What 'Stop it', Papa? What are we doing over here? I asked you to book a hotel in Mumbai, and if it was that troublesome for you to book a goddamn hotel, you could have told me. I would have taken care of it", I pointed my index finger at myself. "But what's wrong with this? That kid has been asking us to visit him, whenever we visit Mumbai, again. So, your mom and I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to spend some time with him", Pops explained. "No. Papa, no!", I breathed out, and ran my fingers through my hair, when I ran out of arguments to state in my defense. "And where will all of us stay? On top of his head? We're four people. I'm certain he has arranged everything for you, but not us!", I stated, looking at Kavin, who stood still to his ground, with a horrendous expression on his face, as though he ran into a ghost. "I said that you'll join us, too. He did not have a problem", Pops told me, and I exhaled, shakily, keeping my hands on my hip. "Moreover, the atmosphere in his house will change if we spend time with him. He'll come out of his shell and feel better. Dityaa, he has asked us to come over, and I think seeking for company is one way of reaching out for help; we cannot turn away from him", Pops justified, and deep down, I wanted my parents to be with him, but I didn't want to exist under the same roof as him, at any cost. Although I didn't hold anything against him, I couldn't face him. At all. "You don't have to be parents for everyone and I'm not coming", I muttered, under my breath, and crossed my arms against my chest, standing stubbornly. "Shut up! When you lose me, you'll know how it feels!", mom snarled. "You don't have to emotionally blackmail me every time, mom!", I scoffed. "If you're not coming, don't come. Stand over here. If you're this adamant, I'm your mother!", mom spat on my face, and turned around. "So manner-less and insolent", I heard her mumble, and I felt a pinch in my heart, but I brushed it off. "Listen to me, calm down", Pops told mom. "If you're taking her side, rot with her. Just leave me alone!", she folded her hands in front of Pops, and stormed away. Pops sighed, loudly, and darted a disappointed look in my direction, making me look away.

"Hello, Chennai-boy!", Pops called out for Kavin, throwing the car-key in his direction, which Kavin caught after a brief moment of fumble. "I cannot lock horns with the mother-daughter duo. An army-man can do everything, but this. She's stubborn, but bring her upstairs. With the luggage", Pops ordered, and left us alone, amidst a cold breeze under the starless night sky. "Dityaa", Kavin called, slowly. "Kavin, don't. I'm not going to listen to anyone. Don't waste your energy", I told him, at once, and leaned back on the car, staring at the bricked ground beneath my eyes, upsettingly.