||Anya||

When I woke up I realised it's evening time which means I've been sleeping for quite long. I looked around my room and found no one standing so I decided to go downstairs.

I couldn't find anyone in the living room and also, mom's room was empty. Where would she go without informing me?

I heard some sounds from the kitchen so I went there.

"Abhay you're a terrible cook" I heard Riya scolding Abhay when I reached the kitchen's door.

"Baby I'm trying to help you" he said innocently.

"Help? Tum mera kaam badha rahe ho" she scolded him again and he rolled his eyes.

"Guys tum dono yahan kya kar rahe ho?" I asked them. That's when they realised I was in the kitchen.

"Oh Anya tum kab aayi?" Abhay asked looking at me.

"Bas two minutes pehle" I replied.

"Actually I was cooking dinner and Abhay was getting bored so he decided to help me" Riya told me.

"And where are the others? I couldn't find mom and Aryan" I asked them.

"Shub took them to his house. Shivani aunty was feeling quite alone so Keart aunty asked Shub to bring her there to distract her from Raj uncle's thoughts and give her some company" Abhay said.

"And Aryan wanted to be with Shivani aunty so he went there too" Riya said.

"When did they go?" I asked.

"Kaafi der ho gayi hai. Shub aata hi hoga" Riya replied.

"Oh okay. Riya I can help you in cooking if Abhay is troubling you" I extended help.

"Aisa kuch nhi hai. Tum bahar rest karo aaj ke liye, hum dono dinner bana lenge" Abhay assured me.

"Excuse me?" Riya glared him. "Tum bahar jao. Kitchen ka satyanash kar chuke ho tum. Who's gonna clean up this mess you created? It's better if she helps me or else we are sleeping with an empty stomach" she said to Abhay and I giggled hearing her words.

"Fine" Abhay rolled his eyes and left.

"Sorry about your kitchen. Abhay doesn't know how to cook" Riya apologised on his behalf.

"It's okay" I giggled. "You guys look really cute when you fight for such small things" I told her.

"Thanks" Riya giggled.

Riya asked me to chop some vegetables while she was preparing dough.

"Did you talk to Shub?" Riya asked me after sometime.

"We did but not much" I replied.

"You know Keart aunty was really mad at him today because he didn't pick up any of our calls last night" she told me.

"Oh. Did he tell you where he was?" I asked her.

"No, I was about to ask you this. Didn't he tell you?" She asked back.

"I asked him but he said he'll tell me later" I replied.

"Oh" Riya sighed.

"Hey guys" Shubman said entering in.

"What took you so much time?" Riya asked him.

"Too much traffic" he replied.

"Anyway Shivani aunty and Aryan are staying at my place tonight. Mom and dad requested her so she couldn't refuse" Shubman informed us.

"Which means you're staying here tonight?" Riya asked him.

"I was anyway going to stay here  tonight. You need to stay here too, along​ with Abhay. Shivani aunty doesn't want Anya to stay alone. I hope you don't mind" he said to her.

"Of course not. Anything for you guys" Riya smiled.

"I should go clean the guest room then" I said and was about to leave when Shubman stopped me.

"I wanted to talk to you" he said. "Alone" he added looking at Riya and she nodded.

"I'm in the living room with Abhay" she said and left.

"What happened Shub?" I asked him.

"I want to apologise" he said.

"For?" I asked.

"For being such a jerk. I wasn't there when you needed me. I'm really sorry Anya" he apologised with guilt in his eyes.

"It's okay Shub. You're here now and that's what matters" I told him.

"I need to tell you something. About why I wasn't there yesterday" he said.

"Alright" I said and asked him to continue.

He told me everything about how he saw me with Prithvi in the restaurant while returning from the mall and how heartbroken he felt when I lied to him and then how he got drunk and couldn't receive any of our calls. He also told me that his mother slapped him because she didn't expect such behaviour from him.

I felt more guilty than he was feeling already. He can't be blamed, it was my fault. No matter what I shouldn't have lied to him.

"I'm sorry Shub, I should have told you" I apologised to him.

"Don't say sorry. It was me who misunderstood everything" he said.

"I'll never hide anything from you today onwards. I promise" I said to him. He just smiled.

"Are we sorted now?" He asked. "Of course" I replied with a smile.

"Thanks" he smiled.

"By the way, you had your flight to Kolkata today. Don't you?" I asked him.

"I cancelled it. Cricket is not above family" he replied.

"Thanks for staying" I smiled at him.

"Anytime" he smiled back.

"I'll send Riya" he told me and I nodded. He left the kitchen and after a minute Riya came.

"All good?" She asked.

"Yeah everything is fine" I assured her.

We cooked dinner for the four of us and served it on the dining table. Shubman and Abhay were watching highlights of some old match they played on the television.

Dinner was pretty good. Abhay and Riya were trying to cheer me up by saying funny things so that I don't miss dad. Like I said earlier, I'm blessed to have them with me.

After dinner I went to the guest room to clean it so that Abhay and Riya can sleep there. I also cleaned up Aryan's room for Shubman to sleep. Well Shubman and I aren't in love yet and I doubt if we'll ever be, so it's going to be very awkward if we sleep together in one room. Meanwhile, Abhay and Shubman helped Riya in cleaning the table and dishes.

After finishing our work we sat together on the sofa in the living room.

"I'm tired" he said placing his head on Riya's lap.

"Tum kal raat se nhi soye ho toh tired feel karoge hi" Riya said caressing his forehead.

"Maine room set kar diya hai. Tumlog chaho toh jaakr so sakte ho" I told him.

"Thanks Anya" Abhay said getting up from the sofa.

"Goodnight guys" Abhay wished and went to the guest room.

"Goodnight" Riya said and went behind Abhay.

"Hum bhi chalein?" Shubman asked after Riya left.

"Theek hai" I said and we went upstairs.

"Aryan ka room saaf kar diya hai. You can sleep there" I told Shubman and he gave me a confused look.

"I'm sleeping in his room?" He asked in an interrogative tone.

"Aur kahin sona tha?" I asked him.

"Nhi I mean.." he paused. "Okay I'll sleep there" he completed after few seconds.

"Kuch chahiye ho toh mere room ke darwaze par knock kar dena" I told him before leaving.

"Okay. Goodnight" he said to me.

"Goodnight" I replied him with a smile after which he went to Aryan's room which was just opposite to mine.

I went inside my room and locked it from inside before going to my bed. I laid on my bed covering myself with a blanket. It's hardly been two minutes since I said goodnight to Shubman but I'm already missing dad.

The moment I'm left alone I start missing dad. All the memories I had with dad started flooding my brain and the next moment I was crying clutching my pillow.

You need to stop thinking about him. He won't come back. I told myself. But I still couldn't control my tears.

The next moment I heard a knock on my door. I immediately wiped away my tears with a tissue and went to open the door.

"I'm sorry if-" Shubman was saying but he stopped suddenly.

"Are you crying?" He asked in concern after looking at my puffed eyes.

I shook my head in negation but he knew I was crying. He immediately hugged me and I started crying on his chest.

"Don't cry Anya" he hushed me.

"I can't stop thinking about him Shub" I told him amidst my tears.

"It's hard but we gotta live with this" he said caressing my back. He's right.

We pulled apart after few minutes and he wiped my tears with his handkerchief. I completely forgot to ask him the reason he came here for.

"Do you want something Shub?" I asked him. "I'm sorry I forgot to ask you"

"Nothing" he replied hesitantly.

"Are you sure?" I asked him, unsatisfied of his answer.

"Actually I'm​ unable to sleep. A thought is not letting me sleep" he confessed.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"I don't know if it's the right time to ask" he asked scratching the back of his neck.

"What is it about?" I asked him.

"It's about us" he replied. Us? I'm definitely interested in knowing about it now then.

"Tell me Shub" I insisted.

He deeply sighed before speaking.

"Are you leaving me?" He asked out of the blues.

"What?!" I reacted. What kind of question is this?

"Why would I do that?" I asked him.

"You never wanted to marry me and you were doing only for Raj uncle but he's no more now" he said.

"So? How does this change anything?" I asked.

"This changes everything. It was his wish, not yours. You can choose to leave me now" he said in a low voice.

"But I don't want to" I replied. His face lit up hearing me.

"Really?" He asked in disbelief. "I can't believe this" he said.

"What's so shocking in this? I never said I want to leave you or that I don't like you" I explained him.

"Yeah I'm sorry" he apologised.

"Did you really think I would refuse to marry you?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. I was scared you'll leave me" he confessed.

"But why?" I asked perplexed.

"Maybe because we didn't start off well" he revealed.

"What happened was past Shub, we're living in the present and I would never want to leave you after the memories you've given me and the care you've shown towards me" I said keeping my hand on his. His lips formed an upward curve hearing me.

"Are we still getting engaged next month or you want to postpone?" He asked me.

"I'll still go with dad's wish" I said with a smile.