Author's Pov

“Yeah, I settled well. How many times are you going to ask? But hey, did you watch the last episode? Did she really die? I have so many issues. Lord, I really needed sleep but why did they do that? Why?” Payal couldn’t help but rant to her sister. She planned on watching two episodes but then ended up staying up only to finish it with more cravings.

“Slow down, will you? And I didn’t get to watch it yesterday. Why are you spoiling it for me?” Her voice raised from the other end. 

Payal pursued her lips and her eyes glimmered with some thought. “Do you know who went to jail then? You will be shocked to know who killed her.”

“Shut up, you little—” She paused before speaking again, “Don’t tell me!”

“Okay, but our main character is in jail for that." 

"What the — Hey, I will rip you off." The phone rang on the other end as Anvita was left, cursing out under her breath. 

"Why are you sulking?" Neeraj came behind her, suddenly as if out of the shadows, scaring the shit out of her.

"Shit!" She gasped before gaining her composure. "You are like a ghost really." She shakes her head as Neeraj stands blinking at her, not knowing how to react back to her statement. He started wondering if she meant it by compliment or a diss.

"I will take that as a good thing. You know I wanted to be a ghost in my childhood. I wanted to scare people out." 

Anvita couldn't help but melt away in laughter. His sense of humour came in the weirdest situations. Maybe that was another reason she said yes to him for marriage. 

"You know, I am just worried about Payal. Do you think she will be okay there?” Anvita expresses her concern at the thought of leaving her sister to deal with such a weird situation. 

Neeraj looks at her and says, “Let’s talk to that guy, Siddharth before we leave, okay?”

“Right! I wanted to do that as well. I will get his number from Shruti.” Her eyes glowed as she clasped her hands together in determination while she turned to look at Neeraj. “Don’t tell Payal about this.”

He nodded while his phone buzzed by his side. He picks up and chimes in, “Haa maa bolo. Shunte parcho? Haa amra thikache. Tomra kemon acho?” (Yes Mom. Can you hear me? Yes, we are fine. What about you all?) 

As he walks away, Anvita washes her hands and wipes them dry on her dress before dialling the number of Shruti. 

★★★

Siddharth 

I chugged down my umpteenth glass of water as they stared down at me. 

Honestly, I don't know how to feel about this. I felt in a highly disadvantageous position as I sat hunched over, letting my hand hold the cold glass as I looked up to feel their constant stare, as they were nearly glaring at me like a lion looking at its little prey. 

At least, I could count my options. 

A. To blow their minds off with a sharp mind, sensitive attitude and giving off an educated boy and out-of-book groom vibes. Am I trying to impress them? Yes.

B. To make them regret every second of why they even trusted him in the first place. Jerk alert? Right.

C. Run away. Another jerk alert.

I knew I must go with option A. But the history of my fate told me otherwise. The only thing you will blow is their jerk alert system, my mind was back to making snarky remarks.

"I think you probably know why we called you." Payal's sister, Anvita's eyebrows rose in a way of question and though I had no freaking idea about what this was about, I nodded most stupidly. 

Shruti had literally called me to rush over here to meet Payal's sister and brother-in-law without giving me any context. All I knew was their names and that they were leaving soon. 

"Siddharth, we will not talk in circles and waste time. We are leaving for Kolkata the day after tomorrow and we wanted to meet you in person. We heard about you from Payal and see, she was just worried." Neeraj held Anvita's hand while looking at her.

She took a breath to explain to Siddharth further, "We know about the whole market thing and your fake marriage stuff. I want to tell you, don't hurt her because she relies on you. She is trusting you too much at this point. I believe in her decisions but…", she pauses and looks up at me. 

Her eyes turn into a passionate vengeful look as she looks straight into my eyes, putting daggers in me. "If you dare to do anything wrong to her, I swear I will chop off your manhood." 

My eyes went wide as I turned to see Neeraj sigh under his breath as if he kind of anticipated this. 

"Don't mind her. She can get a little unhinged at times. Just make sure to not hurt her or else you will see the wrath of death. Really." He looked over at his wife who was looking at me up and down. Feeling super-conscious of the lower half of the body, I clasped my hand over it, in a pathetic attempt as if save myself. 

"Haha, that won't happen. I will never hurt her at all. Trust me." I laughed nervously before bidding them goodbye and a promise to visit them before they left for Kolkata. But they rejected my kind gesture as they didn't want me to get any hassle. Kind people, I will say.

I respectfully made my way out, still, her warning blaring at the back of my head like a police siren. I had failed to make a very good impression because of the lack of interaction and it feels like any amount of conversation will not relieve their doubts on me. 

They will still probably see me as a hardcore criminal. There is only one way now to win their hearts. To impress Payal. Even if she doesn't love me back, I can show her my love anyway. 

I turned to see them still standing at the gate. I took a deep breath to confess, "I will be the last person to hurt her. I love to see her happy but I can't promise to keep her happy always. I might make mistakes but I promise that I will not let you and her regret trusting me. I will stay there for her. Always." 

I gave them a subtle bow as I felt the increased embarrassment creeping behind me. And I booked it out of there. A rush run followed to get on my bike, speeding out of there. 

In moments, I was free out in the air when my phone whistled out the song, 'Heeriye'. I recently changed into it after learning that this was her favorite song and I loved it as well. The melody was so catchy and lovely. 

"Hey man, are you coming to the party?" Abhiraj asked me, out of nowhere, as soon as I picked up the phone after resting it on the side of the road.

"What party—? What is this sound?" Loud noises came from the other end and I could hear loud music and scream noises as he spoke loudly.

"What the hell bro? You don't know? Today is the reunion. Remember Nandini and her singing club…" Before he could go on and on forever about the singing club, I interrupted him. 

"I am not interested." I pulled off my helmet to make air as my phone was weirdly stuck between my ear and the helmet. I pulled my phone off and stuck it back against my ears.

As I was about to hang up, he shouted, "Payal is also here though. Shruti pulled her along. Are you sure you are not coming?" 

My interest was piqued as I spoke loudly, "Is she really there?" 

"Yeah, man. Come fast." He hung up on the other end and I put my phone back in my pocket as I put on the helmet, riding back onto the bike and off I went to the party location which he sent the second the call ended.

There was no chance of pondering. If Payal is there, I don't care about anything anymore.

★★★

I wished I had thought a little more before coming here. 

I didn't realize that the location was where one of my batch mates lived and this is a boys night plan as most of the batch mates were literally meeting up at someone's place. 

Just a cricket match night with beer and snacks. That's it. 

"I sometimes want to kill you. Did you really call me for just a cricket match show night with all the boys?" I asked, stunned by the minimal set up on TV that displayed the match while all the men stomped up to cheer every time India was doing a four or a six. 

"It's not just a cricket match man. It's the India Pakistan World cup match. Are you kidding me?" Abhiraj shook his head at my utter disinterest. 

It's not that I didn't like cricket. I love it. I would love to watch it any day but not today. I was thinking about Payal the entire way here. All I wanted was to run to Payal and ask if she is doing fine in her new apartment. 

The only problem was — I was only her boss. Why did I care? 

That would be the sentiment of the neighbors, at least those who didn't work in Pegasus Plaza. I turned to face Abhiraj and asked, "Did you go to see Payal?" 

"I had to. Don't worry, I and Shruti bought her the necessities too. Vegetables, fruits and other foodstuff. That will be enough for a week at least." I nodded at that.

"Thanks." 

He shook his hand in a wave while he was busy applauding as India made a century. The whole men gang celebrated as we clink our glasses together. That's when the main door clicked open as our batchmate-host stood up to probably greet the one behind the doors.

"Hey, Siddharth, you are still single or something?" The guy next to me chuckled as he continued, "You must use that body while still young, you know." He has to be drunk as his words slurred at the end of his statement.

"He is forever single, really." Abhiraj screamed, gaining the laughs of the other men. I could smack him square in the face at this point.

Then, a man emerged from the shadows, holding a bag full of packets of fried rice and chilli chicken. "Everyone stop with whatever you are doing and eat first. Here's to India's win for tonight," he said, almost declaring India's win before even letting the match end.

That was the moment when he looked at the men crowd cheering on and then he looked straight at me as my smile descended. Regret, terror and shock took over my blank face as I stared at him blankly.

"Siddharth?" He pauses to look at the one next to me, seemingly half-drunk as Abhiraj now stands tensing up as if the situation dawned on him.

His eyes turn dark with surprise as if he never in his life expected this. I half-knew what to expect.

"If I am not wrong, aren't you married, Siddharth?" Anvish asked me and all I could do was stare at him and rethink my life choices for another whole minute.

~•~

Here is another chapter.

What are the odds of meeting your job co-worker at your batchmate's house during a fun match night?

If you are wondering, Neeraj is Bengali so I wanted to give him a Bengali dialogue. A second reason is because your author is Bengali.

Sobar seshe, Sobai ke bhalobasha janai.
(At the end, Greeting love to everyone.)

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