It has been a month after Sanyukta's tantrum... After she cut me off for a long time... After she got to know that I used to look at her through my window... After I broke into her room and forced her to talk to me.

Now things have changed a lot. She is approachable, she likes to talk and she is open to conversation.

I still haven't told her that I like her... Maybe I will never have the guts to tell her this or maybe I do but it's not going to be anytime soon. Maybe she knows or maybe she doesn't.

She has started going to old age home again with me where everybody was full of complaints as to her being missing in action for weeks. Yet everybody is happy now that she is back to her normal self maybe even better than that. Mr. Sharma has finally allowed me to refer to him as uncle and not Sir. Phew!

Phantom is officially back in service. Till the time, Sanyukta was sulking Phantom was ignored. But today Sanyukta took it out from the garage and is washing it right now. I was standing next to her talking about random things.

That is when Aryan, the official child, sat on it and made weird biking noises. And then he got what he deserved. Sanyukta turned on the tap and hosed him in his face.

"Are... You... Trying... To... Water... Board... Me?" He asked in between being hosed.

"Get off Phantom, only two people are allowed on it." She continued her water attack.

"Ok... Ok stop." Aryan jumped off the bike and I turned off the tap. He started panting like a dog... Well he looked like one too right now.

"You, Ms Sanyukta Aggarwal, you owe me new phone, new earphones, new clothes and a play station." He looked at Sanyukta pointedly.

"I will buy the first two. As of clothes, do you really buy new clothes as soon as they get wet. Damn, your father must be so worried about you." She chuckled and he pointed his tongue at her, "Also, why will I buy you a play station? How did I ruin it?"

"Oh no, you didn't. I did it. But now that you are taking care of everything why not buy this too for me? Pwease Sanyukta..." He pouted and gave his best puppy eyes to her as she rolled her eyes.

"Stop those puppy eyes or I may be tempted to..."

"Tempted to buy me a play station?" Aryan asked a huge grin on his face.

"No... To water board you again." She said keeping a hand on the tap.

"All right, I am leaving. No need to be so violent." With this, he ran off to our apartment as Sanyukta shook her head and chuckled.

She is a lot more comfortable with us now than she used to be. Yes, she is still reserved but her walls are slowly breaking.

I still stalk her... Old habits die hard. But it's not exactly stalking, she knows about it. And sometimes when she is in the balcony, she waved at me too.

I sound like such a kid right now.

After she was done with taking care of Phantom, she joined me to my house where Vidushi and Sanaya were also sitting.

It had been half an hour since we came back, Parth was in the kitchen and Aryan and I were playing Call of Duty on XBOX and as always I lost.

"You stink, Randhir." Aryan shouted as he won.

"Call of Duty... Let me try." Sanyukta chimed in and I looked at her in disbelief. Though she likes a lot of things that girls don't but I never took her for being a video gamer.

"You will play? Do you even know the rules?" Aryan looked at her with doubt.

"I can always try." She said and took one controller, "Let's play in teams."

"Ok then, me and you and Parth and Randhir." Aryan declared as Parth came out of the kitchen.

"Umm... No I will be with Randhir." This surprised me as I knew that she hated losing and I was really bad in this game.

"If you will be with Ran then you will surely loose, because he stinks." Parth said and I glared at him. Thanks Parth.

"It's ok. We will stink together." She said and looked at me.

"Suit yourself. But don't cry after you loose." Aryan gave a weird look to us and turned to the screen.

"I promise I won't." She smirked as Parth started giving instructions.

"I am on Sanyu's side." Vidushi declared and Parth looked at her with sadness in his eyes.

"What about you, Sanaya?" Aryan half turned to her and she suppressed her smile.

"My good wishes are with you but I want Sanyu to win." She gave a very diplomatic answer. Being a legal counsellor has its own perks.

"Why?" Both the guys whined.

"Sis code." All three girls said at the same time and the match started.

*Half an hour, 50 cuss words, one pack of wafers later.*

Sanyukta was biting her lips and I would have been lost in how sexy she looked, if I hadn't been focussing on the game. I didn't want her to loose because of me. "Give me one. Just one more.", She chanted like a mantra and as if listening to her a zombie made appearance and she started firing without a second thought.

Game ended and me and Sanyukta were winners.

"Yes." I shot up from the couch and gave a high five to her.

"Losers." I teased the guys who sat with their ashen faces.

"Damn her reflexes. I... I practically live in my Xbox and how can she?" Aryan whined. He still couldn't believe that he lost. He was the undisputed champion among the three of us.

"I know when to reveal my winning cards." Sanyukta smiled enjoying their frustration.

"Is there anything you aren't good at?" Parth asked and before Sanyukta could reply, Vidushi chimed in, "Yes, cooking."

"Yes and for that I have you." Sanyukta wiggled her eyebrows at Vidushi which made me smile. She looked so cute doing that.

"Ok anyway, we have to plan something for Sanaya's birthday." Parth interrupted us and we sat at the couch to discuss everything.

"How about we take a trip?" Sanyukta proposed.

"Sounds good. It has been a long time since I actually went somewhere." Sanaya said and we all agreed in response.

"But where?" I asked.

"Pondicherry?"

"Nah too humid right now."

"Manali?"

"Been there."

"Gulmarg?"

"Too cold."

"Goa?"

"Never again."

"Kasol?" This was Aryan.

"Hmm... Sounds good. What do you think Sanyu?" Everybody looked at her and her face had whitened.

"Can we explore other options too?" She asked meekly.

"But... You like mountains right?" Sanaya tried to reason.

"Please guys... Not Kasol. We can go to Sikkim or maybe Leh but not Kasol." Sanyukta said.

"Sure thing." Sanaya nodded and Sanyukta smiled at her gratefully.

"You know my parents went on honeymoon to Kasol." Aryan indulged in a story as Sanyukta excused herself and came to my room. I followed her.

She was standing near the infamous window when I entered the room.

"Hey!"

"Hi."

"You okay?"

"Yes, I am good."

"But the truth is?"

"I am not okay. Anything but okay." With this she sat on the floor, her back to the wall.

"What is it?"

"Kasol... I don't want to go there because..."

"Because?"

"My mom is there."

"What? Your... who?" I asked her, shock evident on her face and she looked at me.

"Sonam Jain..." I said remembering about that diary and she shrugged.

Now everything made sense. Her diary of information on this woman, Sonam Jain... she is her mother. Sanyukta has been keeping tabs on her from a long time. God... this girl has turned to a stalker.

"I hate myself for not letting Sanaya enjoy on her birthday but... Randhir I can't... I just can't..." She turned her eyes away from me, not letting me see her vulnerable side.

"It's okay Sanyukta it really is. Although in my opinion, you should meet your mom once and for all and clear everything with her. Once and for all. I think it is time to let this heavy baggage go. I think now you need to have a new beginning. You need a closure, you need answers. You deserve them." She looked at me and I stopped thinking I went out of my limits again, "I... uhh I am sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I just meant... I..."

"I think you are right, Randhir. I... I am just scared... what if she has another family?"

"Then she has another family. And anyway you aren't there to destroy her family. You are there to know why she left you. I know it will be painful and hard and you will want to give up at every step... but the answers will free you for always. You will be free from the anxiety of what to ask her if you meet her randomly."

She didn't speak for a minute but I knew she wasn't angry at me. She was just thinking.

"Let's do it. Let's go to Kasol." She took a deep breath and rested her head on the wall. "Why is it so hard Randhir?"

"Because it's life, Sanyukta!"

We sat still, not speaking to each other, Listening to the conversations outside.

The topic had changed from the trip to something else.

"You guys are very patient with her." Parth said, obviously talking about Sanyukta.

"We are just returning the favour, Parth. There are things she had done for us, nobody does for anyone else and in return if she wants some emotional support and loyalty, why shouldn't we give it? And this may sound dramatic, but she is the only angel I know and I worship. And nobody hates a broken angel, do they?" Vidushi replied.

I glanced at Sanyukta who was sitting with a serious look on her face. She stood up with a determination, "Let's go outside."

"So ladies, gentlemen and Aryan..." At this, Aryan stuck his tongue out at Sanyukta and she smirked, "Let's get our tickets to Kasol."

"What? Kasol? But?" Everybody had an equally shocked look on their face, even me. I didn't know she was going to do this so soon.

"Yeah, Kasol no ifs and buts. So plane or train?" She announced and everybody started planning about the trip enthusiastically.

*****

"Let's go or we will be late. There can be lot of problems. Plane can be cancelled, our cab can be late... lot of air traffic. Let's go." Parth aka The Monica of our group shouted at the top of his lungs.

"God... shut up Parth. Help me with the bags." Vidushi glared at him making him shut up.

We took our bags and went downstairs where Sanyukta was already waiting for us, with her bag in her hand and sunglasses on her eyes.

"Why do you look as if you are going on a mission instead of a fun trip with your friends." Aryan teased her and she smiled.

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up and take my bag too." She threw her bag at him which he caught.

"God damn are you keeping bricks in it? Why the hell is it this heavy?"

"It is not heavy. You are weak." She smirked at him and sat in the cab and I gave him a sympathetic smile.

We reached the airport soon and everybody went through the check in. Once inside, others went either to washroom or to buy something to eat, while Sanyukta just sat there looking at the screen of destinations changing itself every few seconds.

"Sanyukta, do you want something?" Aryan asked her.

No response.

"Sanyukta?"

Still nothing.

"San..." This time he nudged her and she looked at him with a forlorn look.

"Huh?"

"I asked do you want something? Where are you lost, girl?" He frowned at her.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just thinking about the trip. Get me a coffee please." She smiled at him, trying to reassure him but even though, he was a bit silly but he knew when something was wrong. Not being convinced, he turned away with a frown and looked at me as he walked away.

I know it is going to be hard. But she needs it. She deserves it.

The announcement came after half an hour and we boarded the plane after waiting in a long line. Patience isn't really the best virtue of Sanaya, who kept complaining about it to Aryan.

Later the couples sat together and hence I had to sit with Sanyukta. I turned to talk to Sanyukta after zoning out the safety directions given by the air hostess.

Ok, call me rude and ignorant but we all know that if, God forbids, we are to get stuck in some emergency, instead of following the instructions, we are just going to scream our lungs out and then die because of excessive screaming instead of the unfortunate accident.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"Nervous?"

"Abso - freaking - lutely nervous."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah... no." She turned to face the window.

"It will be okay... not now but sooner or later, it will be."

"I hope it does... Gets okay."

After this, she leaned back on her seat, thus ending the conversation. I know, what she was feeling so I didn't mind and gave her some much needed space.

I knew she craved for a cigarette because every once in a while she patted her pockets. It had been three months since she had been sober.

After a tiring journey, we reached our hotel and rested that night.

My room was next to Sanyukta's and I knew she had been tossing and turning on her bed all night though I couldn't hear her... but I just knew.

Next morning, I woke up with a light and hesitant knock on the door of my room. I opened the door to see Sanyukta standing in front of my door.

She was wearing her regular clothes, black jeans, white shirt, black leather jacket and her black boots. But something seems different about her. I looked at her closely and then I realised... she was nervous. Her eyes were filled with fear. She was scared about how today will turn out.

This caught me off guard. I was so used to of seeing her emotionless and stoic that this seemed unnatural. I could never connect Sanyukta to emotions like fear and nervousness... in my mind she was just an emotionless robot and today... as if it gave me a new outlook. I started looking at her like a normal human being, who had her own fears, her own breaking points and her own vulnerability. It just seemed so unreal.

And then I realised that I had just been staring at her, while she was standing at my door. Embarrassed, I cleared my throat and asked her to come in and she entered the room.

I turned to her after deliberating for a while, whether to close the door or not and then I left it unlocked.

She kept looking out of the window and I stood there awkwardly.

"Uhh did you need something Sanyukta?" I asked her very awkwardly as I didn't know what to say.

"Umm... yeah. I mean no. I mean... I just came to tell you that I am going to meet her."

"Right now?"

"Right now."

"Are you sure it's a good idea? To go there right now?"

"Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. But I don't want it to linger anymore. I just want to get it over with because as much as I delay it, I will find a million reasons not to do it." She turned to me.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, thanks. But I think I need to do this by myself. I started this alone... I will end this alone. Thank you for your support though."

"All the best, then." I stepped towards her and offered her my hand to shake.

She looked at it for a second and then at me. Embarrassed I pulled away my hand and looked at the floor, when she suddenly hugged me tightly.

"I am scared, Randhir." She spoke from between my shoulder thus breaking me out of my shock and patted her back.

"It will be okay... and even if it isn't, you should know that I am always there for you."

"I know."

With this, she abruptly broke out of the hug and paced out of the room quickly, without even looking at me.

And I just stood there looking at her fading back, missing the warmth of her body against myself.

*****
AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hey guys,

How was it? Why do you think she just ran out of the room?

Next: Sanyukta goes to meet her mother.

How do you think it will go? Will she be able to tell her mother about everything? What will happen after that?

Until then,
Love Love 💞
A.S.