The brown haired girl sighed irritatedly as she felt the gush of wind, she knew the wind definitely had messed up her hair.

"Diya" She heard someone calling her, she looked behind and saw her best friend and her boyfriend getting out of the restaurant.

"So what happened? Is this restaurant also full? " The brown haired girl asked anxiously while crossing her fingers, hoping they got any luck here.

"No luck babe. They are also full." Her best friend Pritha said, running her hand through her hair in frustration.

"What the hell? All we wanted was to go to a nice restaurant and relax with friends on Vijaya Dashami, is it too much to ask?We have been searching for a restaurant for 2 hours. " Diya said, losing her temper. She's always been the one with a short temper.

"I guess we are not the only ones who wanted something like this. '' Pritha said with a tint of smile. Diya also smiled slightly hearing her best friend's reply.

"Is there any other restaurant that we can visit? " Diya asked Goutam, Pritha's boyfriend who was looking at his phone , searching for a restaurant.

"Well, there is a new restaurant, it's called "The lounge". It has good ratings and it's quite new so maybe it isn't this much crowded. I think we should go there" Goutam suggested.

"There's no problem in trying, so let's go "

Pritha said, looking at Diya, waiting for her response.

"Okay. Let's go. " Diya said, shrugging.

"But where is it anyways? " She asked curiously.

"Well the map shows that it's in Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Rd, near the Kalighat. "

He answered and started walking towards the parking lot.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go " Pritha said while Diya just nodded her head. Both of them started walking behind Goutam

Three of them headed towards the parking lot where Goutam's bike was parked . They reached the parking lot. Goutam started the bike, Pritha sat behind him and Diya sat behind her.

After twenty minutes of driving, Goutam stopped the bike in front of a classy looking restaurant. It looked even beautiful at night with all those lights. It wasn't really big but it wasn't small either.

They walked through the entrance and reached the reception. They saw a middle aged man sitting in the reception. The man was looking rather tired .

"Are there any seats available? " Diya asked the receptionist.

"How many people? " The man asked with the same tired expression .

"3"

"It may take some time, maybe 10-20 minutes. You guys can wait outside if you want. " The man suggested.

"I think we should wait... " Diya said to her friends, who also agreed.

Three of them went outside of the restaurant, there were many chairs, maybe for the people who's waiting. But right now there isn't anyone excluding them.

"So now that we've got 20 minutes, why don't you take my picture Diya , I didn't click many pictures in this puja anyways. " Pritha said to her best friend.

"But why don't you ask your boyfriend to do that? Diya said, pointing toward Goutam who is busy on his phone playing a game. He's always been the PUBG lover.

"You know when he starts playing games he doesn't listen to me and he's a horrible photographer. Please, my dear best friend, help me." Pritha said while giving her puppy dog eyes, and as always Diya couldn't say no to this face.

"Fine, I'll do it. " She sighed and Pritha grinned.

After 10 minutes when diya has taken at least 100 pictures of her best friend but her best friend wasn't satisfied,

"Get a little down, hold the phone like this, well even better if you sit on the stairs and take my picture. " Pritha said, showing the entrance stairs.

"Seriously!!! You want me to sit on the stairs and take your picture. God knows how many people have used these stairs and how dirty they are. " Diya replied irritatedly.

She had taken so many pictures yet her best friend wasn't satisfied and now she wants diya to sit on these dirty stairs.

"please please please.... .you're my best friend right? Can't you do me one favor. "

Pritha said showing her puppy dog eyes and Diya groaned out loud but nonetheless she agreed.

She sat on the stairs and clicked a picture of Pritha. She showed the picture to Pritha and finally she's satisfied with this picture.

"This one is nice. Why don't you take some more pictures from there. " Pritha said grinning.

Diya just rolled her eyes. She knew her friend wasn't going to be satisfied with just one picture. She started taking her pictures.

They were so busy with their photoshoot that they didn't notice the man that was about to go outside but he stopped when he saw them. He didn't see Diya's face as her back was turned toward his front.

"Excuse me." Diya heard a husky voice, Her own pairs of russet brown eyes met a pair of chocolate brown eyes as she turned around. The owner of the eyes is a man in his late twenties. He's 6′1 tall. He has honey colored skin, a sharp jawline that could easily cut a paper and jet black hair that suits perfectly with his skin tone, he's the perfect example of a tall, dark, handsome man.

"Yes?" Diya heard her best friend say then the reality struck her that the man said something but rather than answering him, she just stared at him like an idiot. Now he definitely thinks that she's a weirdo who stares at people. She groaned internally thinking this.

She's brought back to reality once again when she heard

"Are you guys waiting for seats in this restaurant? " The man asked in the same husky voice while pointing toward the restaurant.

"Yes. We're" Diya said after getting back her voice. The man nodded his head.

"Come on. Your seats are ready. " He said while walking back to the way he came from inside the restaurant.

The trio followed him.

"I think he's a worker at this restaurant. " Pritha whispered to diya. Diya just nodded.

They reached the reception and saw the man, he was whispering something in the receptionist's ear, who was nodding his head rapidly after hearing whatever the man said to him. The receptionist suddenly looked very energetic after seeing the mysterious man.

The mysterious man went without sparing them a glance, after whispering to the receptionist. The receptionist quickly hit the bell kept on the counter. After a few seconds a waiter appeared.

"Show them their table. " He said to the waiter who nodded his head and said

"This way please... " showing the way.

Goutam, Pritha and Diya followed him.

He showed them their table and went from there. Goutam and Pritha sat together and Diya sat facing them.

"So what do you guys wanna eat?" Diya asked while looking at the menu.

"Order something for us na" Goutam said bored.

"Okay but what type of food bengali, chinese or something else"

"I wanna eat chinese, but what about you baby?" Pritha asked her boyfriend

"I'm okay with everything. Order whatever you want. But do it fast, I'm hungry. " Goutam answered with the same bored tone.

"Okay, then it's settled then. " Diya said, clapping her hands together.

The waiter came to take their orders.

"Is that all ma'am, do you want anything else? " The waiter asked after writing down their order.

"No, we don't want anything else. " Diya said and the waiter went from there.

"So diya, when are you planning to go home? Are you gonna spend the Diwali in Kolkata too? " Pritha asked curiously.

"No, I'm gonna spend it in my hometown with my parents. They are already very pissed about the fact that I didn't go home during durga puja. " Diya answered.

She's not from Kolkata, she's only living in Kolkata because of her studies.

"Oh, yeah. You're saying that a friend of your dad and his family had visited them during durga puja and your dad wanted you to meet them" Pritha said just then the waiter came with their food.

"Why don't we stop all of these things and eat because I'm way too hungry. " Goutam said irritatedly.

Pritha leaned over the table toward diya and whispered

"Today his mood swings are totally like a girl on her period."

Both of them started to laugh while Goutam just looked at them puzzled.

"What's so funny guys? " He asked. Diya and Pritha exchanged a glance at each other and shook their heads. Goutam looked at them suspiciously but nonetheless he started to eat his food.

After 40 minutes when they were exiting from the restaurant, suddenly Pritha's phone started ringing.She picked it up, it was her mother.

"Hi maa."

*cough* "Don't hi me! Tell me where have you kept my inhaler, I couldn't find it!! "*cough*

"Mom, I had kept it in the living room, are you okay?" Pritha started to panic, Diya and Goutam also looked at each other's face trying to figure out why Pritha was panicking.

"I can't *cough* find it, can you please *cough* come home right now!! "*cough*

"Of course maa. Don't worry I'm coming right now, don't worry. " Pritha said and ended the call, she quickly turned toward Goutam and said -

"I have to go home right now!! Mom couldn't find her inhaler. "

"We should go there immediately. " Diya said worriedly.

"You don't have to go. Your home is in the opposite direction, and it will be way too late for you to reach home if you went to my home right now. But if Gautam goes with me right now how will you go home? " Pritha asked more to herself than Diya.

"You don't have to worry. The Metro Station is within walking distance, so I can go home by myself. You guys should go home immediately. " Diya said, giving them a reassuring smile.

Pritha and Goutam left and Diya started to walk toward the metro station. The roads were mostly empty, the roads were lit up by the beautiful lights. Because of the durga puja literally the whole kolkata was decorated.

It felt kind of peaceful walking alone in the dead of night, but the peace didn't last long

Suddenly she heard a bark behind her.

She turned around only to come face to face with a street dog. Diya cursed her fate under her breath, maybe she would have been much more happy to see a creep in place of the dog right now. She HATES dogs or it's better to say that dogs hate her. God knows why dogs always became violent when they saw her.

She was pulled back to reality by the sound of the dog baring his teeth. She knew that at this moment if she ran then the dog would definitely chase her, but that doesn't mean she won't run.

She started running as fast as she could, without even turning around, she knew the dog had also started to run after her.

She was never an athletic person, so after running for 20-30 seconds she started painting. She can feel her legs hurting as hell but she can't stop now cause she knows the dog is still running after her as she can still hear his barks.

Suddenly she saw a person who was walking ahead of her, she pushed herself to her limits and started running even faster. When she reached near the person, she extended her hand and kept her hand on the person's shoulder and stopped.

The person turned around and she saw it was the same man from the restaurant, the shock was evident on his face when he saw her. Diya quickly opened her mouth and said -

"Please save me!! The dog is chasing me."

Meanwhile the dog had reached them and started to bark and growl standing in front of them.

The man lowered himself to the dog's level. He calmly said to the dog

"Calm down, it's okay. We don't mean any harm."

By now the dog had stopped growling which seemed to calm Diya as well.

The man started to walk slowly towards the dog while keeping both of his hands in front of him cautiously.

When he reached in front of the dog but he didn't do anything, the man slowly started to pat the dog.

After patting the dog a few more times, the man stood up and the dog also went back to the way he came from, and Diya released a breath of relief.

The man turned toward her and she said-

"Thank you so much! I don't know what would have happened if you weren't here.

I really appreciate your help."

"It's okay but don't you know that you shouldn't run in front of the dog, if you do it, it will only tempt the dog to run behind you. Don't you have any common sense? " The man started to scold her.

"Excuse me. I really appreciate your help but how can you scold me like that!! And how do you expect anyone to not run when a dog is barking and growling at them? " Diya shot back. She was already upset about the dog chasing her and now this mysterious man was scolding her, she's beyond annoyed now.

"Fine, I'm sorry I shouldn't have scolded you like that but you should be careful next time, cause there is no guarantee that there will be anyone else to save you that time. " The man explained calmly.

Diya just nodded.

"Are you going to the metro station? " The man asked to which she replied yes.

"Come then. I'll walk you to the metro station cause I'm sure there will be a lot of dogs out there. " The man smiled a little

"Thank you, I really appreciate it. " Both of them started to walk.

"How many times are you planning to say thank you? You don't have to thank me for everything. "

"Okay....um.. What is your name? " Diya asked, now that she thinks about it, she doesn't know his name.

"Well Diya, I'll tell you my name next time, when we'll meet. " The man answered and Diya's eyes widened, she had never told him her name!!

"How did you know my name? I haven't mentioned it even once!! " She asked, eying him suspiciously.

"Like I said before, I'll answer all of your questions when we meet next time. We've reached the station so bye for now"

Diya turned around to see that they had really reached the station. When she turned around to face the man again. She was greeted by the view of an empty road.

The man wasn't there anymore!!

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Happy Diwali guys.

With light of beautiful diyas and the holy chants, may happiness and prosperity fill your life forever! Wishing you and your Family very happy and prosperous Diwali!

This was the first chapter, I hope you guys liked it. Please vote, comment and share.