||Shubman||

I received a call from Anya this morning asking if I'm free and can visit her place today and I gave my nod to it.

I rang the doorbell and Aryan opened it.

"Hey Aryan" I greeted him.

"Hi bhaiya" he greeted back. "Andar aiye" he added and lead me inside.

"You're on time" Anya descended from the stairs.

"Cricketers are always on time" I smirked.

"Are you going somewhere?" I asked looking at her outfit. It seemed she had a meeting to attend.

"Yes I've a very important meeting today" she replied.

"Why did you call me here then?" I asked in confusion.

"To take care of him" she said pointing at Aryan.

"What?!" Aryan and I reacted together.

"You called me to babysit a seventeen year old boy?" I asked in disbelief.

"What the hell di" Aryan said in annoyance. "I can take care of myself" he added in his defense.

"You better keep quiet. I hope you remember what happened the last time I left you alone. Just be grateful that I didn't tell mom anything" Anya eyed him and Aryan rolled his eyes.

"But why me?" I asked Anya.

"Shubman please, I can't trust anyone else apart from you. It's just a matter of three hours" Anya requested.

"Mom has gone to visit my aunt and she won't be back until tomorrow morning. I promise I'll come back just after the meeting is over" she added.

"Fine" I rolled my eyes.

"Thank you so much" she said in exaltation.

"Have great time together" she said to us and left.

I sat on the sofa and Aryan sat beside me.

"What was Anya talking about? What did you do last time?" I asked him.

"She saw me with my girlfriend on the couch. She was on top of me" he replied embarrassingly.

"What?" I laughed. "Were you making out with her?" I asked.

"No but I was about to" he replied sheepishly.

"You got guts bro" I laughed at him.

"Don't tease me" Aryan laughed.

"Alright" I laughed back.

"So what should we do for the next three hours?" I asked him.

"I had to clean my room today and arrange everything" he said getting up from the sofa.

"I'll help" I followed him to his room.

"Let's clean the shelves first" Aryan said.

"As you say" I agreed.

I helped Aryan in emptying all the shelves and also stuff from the box of his bed.

"What are these?" I asked pointing at the cardboard boxes.

"My childhood memories" he smiled looking at them.

"I mean my childhood pictures" he added after a few seconds.

"Let's see them" I said excitedly, hoping to see Anya's pictures.

"Okay" Aryan smiled and opened the boxes.

There were many pictures of Aryan with Raj uncle and Shivani aunty. They looked extremely happy.

I turned through the pictures in the albums and all I could see was Aryan alone with his parents. Why isn't Anya in any of these?

I finally found a picture of Anya but it wasn't of her childhood. It was from her teen days where she looked around 18 years old.

"Why isn't Anya in any of your childhood pictures?" I finally decided to ask Aryan.

"She wasn't with us then" he replied casually.

"What does that mean?" I asked in confusion.

"Don't you know about her past yet?" Aryan asked in a perplexed tone.

"What past?" I asked.

"I thought she told you. Or at least mom and dad did" he said.

"I don't know anything" I said shaking my head.

"She isn't my biological sister. My parents adopted her when she was 18" he said and I was shook.

Adopted? Anya never told me that she is adopted. Also I never felt like she could be.

"What happened to her parents?" I asked him.

"They died in a plane crash" Aryan replied sadly.

"Aryan, tell me everything" I said curiously.

"Dad started a partnership business with his best friend, Arav Mehra. He was a great man, he always supports us when we needed him. Even the business they started together was for Dad because he was in crisis and no bank was lending him any money so he gave the capital for the business. The Mehras had a daughter, Anya" he said.

"What happened next?" I asked.

"My parents treated Anya di just like their own child because they loved her a lot. Once Arav uncle and Mahira aunty, Anya di's biological mother had to travel to Spain for some business deal. They left Anya di with us because she was having her boards and couldn't travel with them. On the day they were returning, the plane crashed and none of the passengers or crew members survived"

"Wha-" I couldn't believe what he said.

"Anya di was devastated. She turned numb and didn't talk to anyone for a week and after that she decided to move to an orphanage but Dad didn't let her. Mehra uncle had done a lot for him and this is the least Dad could do for him. Dad adopted Anya di, I was ten years old then. This is the reason why she isn't in any of my childhood pictures" Aryan finished.

"Life has been so harsh on her" I said in pain.

"She lost three of her parents yet she's strong and managing mom and me. I couldn't have asked for a better sister honestly" he said.

"I never realised she has been through so much" I said.

"She never expresses her pain. She deals with everything alone" Aryan said.

"Or maybe she never had anyone to express to" I said.

"Maybe, she never shared anything with me" he said.

"Can you promise me something?" He added asking.

"What?" I asked.

"I don't know if you love my sister or she loves you. But can you please promise me to keep her happy and hold her hand the entire life?" Aryan asked.

"We don't love each other, but we are best friends and I promise I won't leave her ever. I'll give her the happiness she deserves and craved for in her life" I promised.

"Thank you" Aryan smiled at me.

"You don't have to thank me. You're my little brother too" I giggled ruffling his hair.

I was reminded of my conversation with Anya yesterday. I feel so guilty now for telling her everything. She has always longed for love and happiness but look at her fate, she has to marry someone who can never love her. She wanted to marry someone she loves but she can't.

I wish I could give her my love and end all her miseries. I wish I had met Anya before and fell for her instead of Siya. Life would have been perfect for both of us that way.

"Hey guys" I heard Anya's voice.

"Di? How are you back so early?" Aryan asked her.

"Boss left the meeting midway because of some urgent company matter so he postponed the meeting" Anya replied.

"Anyway what are you guys doing?" Anya asked us.

"Arranging Aryan's room" I replied.

"I can help him with it. You can go if you want to" she told me.

"Yeah I think I should leave" I said.

Anya accompanied me till the gate where I parked my car.

I wonder if should ask about her biological parents. There must a behind her not concealing it so it's better if I don't.

"So all set for the engagement?" I asked her.

"I think so. I'm a little nervous though" she let out a sigh.

"It's going to be fine" I cupped her cheeks.

"Hopefully" she let out a nervous giggle.

"When are we meeting next?" I asked her.

"Whenever you want us to" she smiled.

"Then I'm coming here everyday" I chuckled.

"You're always welcome here" she giggled.

"I was just kidding. I haven't sent the invitations to my friends and teammates yet and I've to make a lot of arrangements too. So I don't think we can meet before the engagement" I said.

"Same here. I've to invite my colleagues, neighbours and all my relatives personally even though they know about the engagement" she said.

"It's tiring" I groaned.

"Agreed" she rolled her eyes.

"I'll see you on the day of engagement then" I said.

"Yeah fine" she replied.

"Bye" I held her face and kissed her forehead.

"Bye" she smiled at me.