"Main apni duniya mein ghum thi
Aur woh apni duniya se kahi door tha
Lekin agar kismat mein he likha hai
Toh hamara na milna taaron ko kahan manzoor tha?"

~ Author ~

Mumbai, India

Meher felt absolutely refreshed and cheerful after she had a handful of the lick lollies that were quickly arranged for her. Being back home with her own people felt great.

After three long years, she was back with her own people. That strong urge she had to go away from everyone had simmered and she could walk with her head held high. Three years in Boston was a therapeutic phase for her.

Meher folded her legs and comfortably sat on the sofa. She licked the raspberry flavoured ice candy, savouring the taste of it which constantly reminded her that she was finally home.

"This is so good," she moaned as she took another bite of the candy. "Oww," she winced as she felt tremors going down her teeth.

"This is what happens when you eat in a hurry," her mother taunted her as she finally took a seat beside her. "Aren't you brushing your teeth properly? You need to visit a dentist."

Meher chuckled at her mother's tips. "I have gotten it checked, Maa. It's just a sensitivity issue," She shrugged.

"Then use Sensodyne!" Mothers were the best advertisers of any place, any brand. Meher yawned, knowing that it was her mother's usual dialogue. "Stop watching TV, Maa. It's not good for your eyes," She deadpanned.

The funny thing was, that she actually used Sensodyne when her teeth feel sensitive. But, bickering with her mother was another thing.

Shikha rolled her eyes at her daughter but smiled again. She couldn't stop looking at her, checking on her. Meher had inexplicably changed over the years. She became more confident, more talkative but something was still amiss. That light in her eyes when she smiled or her laugh that made her cry, it just wasn't there.

Though she looked stronger, that strange feeling of your daughter not feeling it bugged her. And it bugged her even more when she had left the house three years ago, leaving a little note behind.

Meher wasn't the type to hide and go in the shadows. Yet, she still did. Those twenty four hours of not getting in touch with your daughter had made Shikha and Vikas almost forget the catastrophe that had fallen upon their family that day.

Everybody was in grief but the fear of losing another daughter had itched them for the day.

Shikha watched Meher chatting lively with Divya. Something had changed within her. The sadness she felt whenever she was around her was almost gone, it was a new version of Meher Mathur.

Maybe staying in the US wasn't bad after all.

"What is in those suitcases?" Divya asked as her eyes constantly widened over the six suitcases Meher had brought along with her. She had known Meher for a long time which was why it was shocking that she would bring so much stuff from somewhere.

Meher bit back a chuckle. "Got a credit card to spend. Did my best."

"Meher?" The loud bass voice of Vikas Mathur rang through the room as he literally ran across the hall to where the three women were present. Of course, he was followed by his best friend Akash, who held a few bags and ran behind him. Meher laughed at the scene and ran to her father and engulfed him in a bone crushing hug.

"Papa!" She jumped into his arms like she always did, bringing relief to Vikas's heart. "God, you gave me a run for my life," Vikas sighed as he pulled his daughter close, hugging her tightly.

"Sorry," a muffled voice of Meher came out and after getting his heart content, Vikas finally left her.

"Uncle A!" Meher ran to Akash, who was surprised and happy at her cheerfulness. "You surprise me every time, bean," He ruffled her hair as he left her.

"Boo bitch!" Arya stomped into the hall holding her bag followed by her twin. Dropping their bags on the floor, the twins hugged Meher with the latter jovially returning the gesture.

"I could have died today," Aryan smacked her head. "Do you know we literally ran out of our offices because Mom called us urgently? We thought something serious had happened."

Meher pressed her lips and gave an innocent smile. The twins shook their heads but internally smiled as the trio was finally complete.

They hugged her again, this time it was full of longing. "You stayed out for too long," Arya whispered and Meher understood the meaning lying under it.

"Don't worry about it," she said, "I am not going anywhere, not anymore."

Looping her arms around her best friends, they joined the rest of the family, engaging in a fun talk.

*   *   *

If someone would say that Kabir was pissed, it would be an understatement. He was livid. He stomped back into his penthouse and threw himself on one of the couches in the living room.

Plopping his legs on the armrest, he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. A sharp pain tugged the back of his head, making him wince momentarily. Meher Mathur was back. His worst nightmare.

His thoughts pulled him back to that night when Radhika died and he saw Meher quietly leaving the house. That memory always angered him and it always managed to overpower the emotional turmoil he had been through all that day.

Radhika considered Meher a friend but the latter didn't even stay back for a day or two more, let alone visit her house. It seemed like Meher Mathur cared more about her career than death. Her selfish and egoistic personality always irked him and now there were chances that it will be amplified now that she's a graduate from a top business school.

And that he had to see her multiple times.

Kabir let out a breath to calm his nerves, to calm himself so as to not think too much about it.

The thought of seeing her every day was a walking nightmare. He was relieved that she was in the US, doing god knows what.

But now she was back.

Something about Meher triggered him, for all the wrong reasons and it wasn't like he was going to shed off the ongoing conflict that had been existing between them for years.

He always felt repulsed by her presence and he knew that she felt the same. At least one thing was common between them— mutual hate.

He already hated the idea of seeing her regularly. But now being a working professional, he couldn't even run away from meeting her.

He had to see what the future had stored in for him.

*   *   *

Meher thought that she should go and hand over the food to the guards at the main entrance. So she along with her two bffs, walked from the main door while chatting incessantly, catching up for all the years they weren't together.

"So what was that about you and William?" Aryan asked her. Meher laughed remembering how William dragged her out of the office in exchange for his credit card. It would be a fond memory.

"Just tabloids speaking shit," she said and whistled random tunes.

When they reached the gate, they found the guards sitting outside.

"Guard uncle," Meher called them aloud, moving towards them holding the bag of food. "Here's some dinner for you all. Go inside the booth and have it. It's hot."

"Madam we'll have it here. Kabir sir has asked to guard the gate properly," one of the guards said.

"When did Bhai tell you all of this?" Arya asked them in surprise.

"He stopped by this evening," the guard answered, "he scolded us for sitting inside the booth during working hours and asked us what was happening inside."

Meher's ears perked up at the mention and her attention shifted to the guard.

"Did he come in?" Aryan asked him.

"No, he went back," Meher's face hardened even though she knew what the answer was going to be.

At least, something hadn't changed all this time.

As the trio started going back to their house, there was silence.

"Kabir Bhai did not—" Arya trailed off when Meher looked at her in deadpan.

"It's me, I know," she said. "I am not surprised that he chose to go back. I would have been surprised if he actually decided otherwise."

"Sorry, on his behalf," Aryan said and she gave him a small smile.

"Don't worry about it," she swatted her hand nonchalantly in the air, not bothered by what happened.

"But," Aryan continued, "what actually happened between you two?"

Meher looked at him, not knowing what to say. She could feel her composure loosen but somehow, she kept her expressions intact. "Sometimes, you should just let things be the way they are. You should never disturb a calm sea."

*   *   *

As Meher finally lay on her bed, jetlagged and tired after a long flight and jumping around in the house. But even in that tiredness, her eyes stayed open, watching the fan slowly rotating.

The silence and the emptiness of her old room reminded her of the times when she was young, when life wasn't that complicated. She pondered over the events that unfolded throughout the day. There wasn't a single person in the house who hadn't commented that she had changed.

They were in awe of the new Meher Mathur.

But then there was that one action of Kabir. A sign of something that had remained the same all these years.

It made her wonder, had she really changed or was it all on the surface?

To divert her attention, she picked up her phone from the bedside table and scrolled through her social media, not the one that was public and verified, the one that was personal and private, which she used for stalking people and also getting some news.

She then scrolled through the latest news, to be up to date with whatever was happening around the world. She rolled her eyes when she came across her dating rumours with William, which she found to be extremely hilarious. She Whatsapped a few tweets and memes to him, laughing over text.

The thoughts in her head were all over the place and despite being tired, they did not let her sleep. Also, the greasy Chinese food reminded her of the chances of indigestion. She threw the covers off herself and strutted out of her room.

She dragged herself down the stairs and walked over to the kitchen, to make herself some chai.

Calling it tea is fancy, calling it chai is desi.

Some people say chai helps you stay awake, but some say otherwise. Meher belonged to the second category. She brought the saucepan out from one of the cabinets and poured some water into it.

Then she crushed some elaichi and ginger and added them to the water to let the things boil. As the water boiled, the aroma of the ginger and elaichi filled the entire kitchen and Meher closed her eyes, feeling the scent of it. She slowly added the milk, the sugar and the tea leaves, letting all of them boil together.

She leaned herself against the marble cabinet and waited for her tea to get ready.

"Is it my hallucination or am I actually seeing Meher Mathur?" The hair on her neck stood up at the voice and she knew who it was.

And that's the reason why she did not turn around.

Kabir had not hoped to see Meher the moment he entered the villa, but his luck was always pathetic when it came to her.

He did not know what made him get back to his feet and drive back to the AV Villa. And now that he came across the ever shining Meher Mathur, he already started feeling that he had made a wrong decision. Was it the sheer curiosity of seeing what his mortal enemy was now like, or was it something else?

He masked his annoyance with a sly smirk. He slowly walked around the kitchen, his footsteps made noise in that silence, much to Meher's dismay. The slight twitch in her body language made Kabir feel victorious as he knew that his trick was working.

Kabir, after being tired of walking around, came and stood in front of Meher, stepping into her personal space, and making her look up at him. Her short height made her crane her head up to look at him. She looked at him with bored eyes and stepped to the side and went over to look at her tea.

A few minutes more and then all of it is done.

Kabir watched her with careful eyes. If only by physical language, she had grown thinner and paler if not more. Her hair now had grown longer but those beautiful and innocent hazel eyes remained the same.

Kabir scoffed at her nonchalance. "Why did you come back?"

Meher finally turned to look at him, a small smile grazing her lips. When she saw him, her eyes almost widened at how much he had changed over the years. From carrying a clean shaven face to a neatly trimmed light stubble, from being thinly fitted to having an athletic body, Kabir Raizada had come a long way. "Finally, the wretched heart spoke the words, eh?"

The mask slipped off their faces, the tension took over the kitchen. The setting didn't seem 'funny' or 'boring' anymore. Meher and Kabir had shed off their masks of pretence and looked at each other with one emotion— hate.

They looked at each other with the hate they possessed for each other for years. They looked at each other the way someone looked at their enemy, without any emotional attachment.

Kabir hated when Meher managed to take the cake with her words. He hated when she had the final say. He hated when she smiled, he hated when she laughed, he hated the mere existence of her.

Meher hated when she gave too much importance to Kabir's actions. She hated when he was rude to people, she hated him for not respecting people, and she hated him for acting like a stuck up asshole. She hated him for evening breathing on this earth.

"I thought you would be better off with that William," he commented. Meher scoffed but managed to mask it with a laugh.

"If I would go away, who would challenge you, Kabir?" The way his name rolled off her tongue was enough to tick him off, the rage was burning within him. The way she looked at him, challenging him to say anything worse seemed infuriating to him.

Meher Mathur always knew when and what to say. Though she would come off as a person with a shy persona, the ones who have seen the worst versions of her have seen what she's actually like and what she can do.

Her knife like words were her weapon and no matter how much he tried, he had never been able to win from her in a verbal spat.

"Everything was fine when you weren't there in the picture," Meher understood the meaning behind his words and she managed to ignore the jab. "Things get better when I am in the picture," She countered, knowing well that it must have hit him in the right place.

And today seemed like this verbal war was going to end up in her favour only.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself," Kabir sarcastically chided her, "it's dangerous," he whispered.

"Can say the same for you," she whispered back, imitating him.

Kabir wanted to snarl at her but managed to maintain his composure somehow. He hated the effect that she brought along with her, he hated the time that he was giving to her.

Coming home turned out to be a bad decision.

"You've learnt to speak, Meher Mathur," Kabir told her.

"I always knew how to speak Kabir," she said, "I was just sharpening my skills," Kabir ignored her words and went over to close the stove and poured the chai into the cup. He took the mug and blew air over it, trying to cool it down. After a few blows, he took the sip but immediately spat it out. "It's bitter," the tea had boiled for quite a long time.

"Isn't that what you are, Kabir?" Meher asked him, which made him slam the cup on the kitchen island, shattering it into pieces, and spilling the tea all over the marble top.

Meher was glad that his feelings for her hadn't changed, at least, something was normal.

Their first meeting after years was quite pleasant, wasn't it? Meher and Kabir hate each other, but they don't mind getting into a brawl, is it really hate or something else?

Let me know your thoughts about the chapter in the comments below.

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PS: I DROPPED A BONUS CHAPTER OF HIS INCONVENIENT BRIDE EARLIER THIS WEEK. IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT YET, GO AHEAD AND CHECK IT OUT!

With Love,

Akii.