Wiping off the sweat forming on her temple and neck, Shreya quickly made to the dining hall. On the way, the thought struck like a cannon bolt. Abhimanyu knew about her telling Dev tales of Krishna's pastimes. How did he know that? That- that meant... he- he actually listened to her when she was telling them. She was now sweating more profusely. He listened to her last night as well. Tiyasha saw him outside Dev's room. That must mean he spent some time there listening.

She couldn't process this bit of information. He was AR! The infamous industrialist AR! He stopped to listen to her telling stories to a kid! Okay, she was definitely losing her mind.

Dev was able to eat the rice with dal. Although, she had to help in the end, but overall, it was a good progress. When she was still feeding him, Dona returned from market.

"Oh my God, Shreya di, you wouldn't believe the crowd I had to face in order to but just paneer! I'm telling you, all these people just wait for this time of Durga Puja to break into various kinds of foods."

Shreya smiled mildly while Dona continued, "I had to fight a woman you know? She was going out of line." She huffed audibly and went inside the kitchen. Moments later she ran out with the bowl of excess poha that Shreya made earlier.

"Who made this?" She shrieked.

Shreya looked at her then her gaze dropped on the bowl she was holding. "Oh, that! Yeah, I made that," Shreya answered. "Actually, Abhimanyu came to kitchen soon after you left and asked for you to make him..." But she couldn't finish her sentence as Dona squealed, "WHAT!! Manyu dadababu? And you cooked this with ghee (clarified butter)? OHMYGOD! Shreya di! He likes his food cooked with olive oil only! What have you done?"

"Oh!" is all Shreya could let out. She stared at Dona who looked panicked.

"I don't want him to stop eating my food again! Oh no-no-no! That'd the end of my days here!"

"Is it that bad?" Shreya blinked, unable to understand what was the big deal.

"Of course! Once I served him korma and it was a little too oily. So, he stopped eating food cooked by others altogether, and it went on for two months before Ginnimaa (Bengali native word for the head woman of the house, Madam) had to intervene and convince him. He's very particular with foods. He doesn't eat outside. He doesn't eat too much spicy and oily food... oh!" She halted from blabbering, then looked at Shreya with her lower lips upturned.

Shreya observed her dramatic act before sighing. "Okay. I'll apologize to him. Would that be enough?"

Dona slowly shrugged and rolled her free hand as an act of uncertainty.

~~~

No one was home, so the house was silent, until Ritu came back around 8 in the evening. Shreya was playing words game with Dev in the hall, when Ritu rushed into the house and halted when her eyes landed on Shreya and Dev. At the same time Shreya looked up and made eye contact with her. As soon as she did, her brows furrowed in concern. The girl was crying.

"Ritu? What happened?"

She wiped her eyes and shook her head. But her action didn't match the language of her eyes. Streams of tears ran out of them freely and rolled down her fair cheeks. "Nothing."

Shreya hurriedly got up and took long strides towards her. "Oh," she reached forward and held her while trying to see her face which she was hanging low trying to avoid eye contact. "What happened? Tell me."

She shook her head again.

Unable to think of anything else, Shreya pulled her close and hugged her. "Okay, calm down. It's fine, it's fine." She cooed in her ears as she broke down into a complete sob.

Shreya took her to the couch and made her seat before giving her water to drink.

A few minutes later she calmed down and wiped her eyes roughly.

"It's all my fault," she mumbled bitterly.

Shreya looked at her with concern then asked softly, "Would you like to tell me what happened?"

She looked away.

"You can trust me."

Ritu shook her head. "It's not that. I just-" she paused momentarily, then added in an undertone, "I think I can't do anything right. I always mess things up, and bad things always happens to me."

Shreya didn't intercept and let her continue on her own.

Ritu inhaled shakily and continued, "We had an intra college competition, and there was this new girl. She looked lost while designing her dress. I was at the counter next to her. So, I offered her my help, and there were these annoying bunch of people, who like to make fun of like everything, they called out to us and passed mocking statements, which were- uh- well, they weren't very entertaining. Then," she sounded so dejected while telling her story. "when they announced the winner's name, it was her design. I was genuinely happy for her. But-" her voice broke, "when she came down the stage after receiving her prize, instead of coming to me, she went past me and the same people who were passing us bad comments before. Turned out, they planned it, so that I wouldn't receive the prize as my design was the best out of all. If I hadn't wasted my time on her and assembled my dress, I'd have been the winner. They started mocking and laughing at me again, and the worse part, this new girl joined them. She was in fact, their friends. I felt so humiliated and used. I'll never again help anyone. Never!" She shook her head furiously as her eyes filled with unshed tears again.

Shreya placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and squeezed it softly. "No. That's not how you should behave, Ritu. You must help others..."

"But..." Ritu started but stopped short at Shreya's next advice.

"But you mustn't overlook your needs and be a people pleaser."

Ritu stared at her as Shreya assuringly blinked. "You have to be sure that you're not sabotaging your happiness and needs while trying to please others. People always seek pleasure in other's discomfort. It's in their psychology. Unless you draw your line and tell them you're not going to tolerate their bs, they will keep tormenting you. Your misery might become their happiness unless you stand up for your own happiness."

Shreya noticed Ritu listening to her with a serious expression.

"Oh- did I say more than I should?"

Ritu shook her head. "You talk just like Maa. She'll like you, and wait- you might actually like to talk to Dadabhai as well!"

Shreya flinched at that. Well, that was unexpected.

"Anyway, are you okay now?"

She nodded.

"Would you like some snacks now or dinner directly?" Shreya asked with a smile.

Ritu returned her smile. "No thanks. I'll change and come back for dinner. Give me half an hour."

"Of course."

Ritu smiled once more then she went upstairs, to her room.

Shreya watched her go as her mind raced back to her own past.

Sometime in past

"Oh, you must try that pose Deepika Padukone did at red carpet," Deepti, one of Shreya's cousins exclaimed at Medha, Shreya's another cousin at whose birthday party they had gathered.

Since Shreya's Uncle had a transferable job, his latest posting was here. So, they just moved in here two days ago and their new apartment was still not ready to live in. But it was Medha's birthday, Trishna asked them to celebrate it at their house. They have invited all of their neighbours and even a video recorder to record everything. It was really fun. Since, Medha and her parent lived mostly outside, all the cousins met each other after three years. Govind, Satya, Medha, Deepti, Deepali (Deepti's sibling) and her. All of them were having so much fun.

Until something happened which scarred her for the rest of her life.

Medha scrunched her nose. "Don't be filmy Deepti. I can't pose like that. She is The Deepika Padukone!"

"So what you can at least try. Here, Deepali will show you. She's a pro, all credit to TikTok." At the mention of Deepali's TikTok obsession they all started laughing. The camera man came forward and asked them for a group video. Since Shreya was the oldest among her siblings and Medha the youngest, she reached forward and placed a kiss on her cheek. She thought it'd be a nice moment if she did that to her little sister. But the result turned out as the most gruesome and humiliating experience of her life. And she was hurt. She was hurt severely...by her own family.

Satya exclaimed, "Now watch the fool! She thinks she'd look cool and extra loving by doing that."

Deepti giggled. "Oh, c'mon di. Don't embarrass yourself like that. We all know, you want to look different and feel superior in the video, that's why you're acting like that."

Deepali and Medha tried to hold their giggle, and failed miserably.

Govind added, "You must grow up, Di. You can't do that just because everything is being recorded. We're no children to do those childish things. You always try to stand out among us by doing something embarrassing like this. Don't do these things Di."

Shreya blinked and dropped her gaze. She could feel her ears are on fire, and her cheeks too. She stepped back as the cameraman recorded them in a group then snapped some still photos. By the time it was over, Shreya's inside was a burning mess of humiliation. She excused herself by lying that she forgot to switch on the décor-lights they hang outside the house.

Then she left the house and ran straight to the end of their alley where no one supposed to find her because of the darkness. She leaned on the wall of the last house in the row and broke down. Her heart seemed to shatter into million pieces and she felt suffocated. She couldn't hold herself. She never felt so humiliated in a room full of people, and it came from her own family. Her heart ached bitterly as she sobbed covering her face with her hands.

It was her fault. She was selfish to think she would look good while kissing her little cousin. It was her fault to always trying to stand out among others. It was her fault to think different and try to be different. She only thought of herself. Why was she so self-centred?

[Gaslighting mostly and often is done by closed ones, and that too intentionally. It is a kind of mental abuse where the abuser deliberately messes with the victim's thought process and make them question their own reality.]

She jumped back startled at the sudden touch on her arms.

"Shreya"

She hurriedly dropped her hands and looked at the person standing before her in panic. Naveen.

"Wh-what are you do-doing here?" She stuttered, obviously scared.

"I saw you leaving the party. So, I followed you. Is anything wrong?" He asked, genuinely concerned.

"I-I am fi-fine!" She hiccupped.

"It's clearly visible." He reached forward and wiped the tears off her cheeks. She flinched at his touch but didn't pull back. The touch was foreign but for a heartbroken fifteen years old girl, it felt like a comforting string to hold on. "If you want, I can take your mind off of what's bothering you," he whispered after a few moments.

She looked up at him. Their eyes met and she saw him licking his lower lip, and just like that he forward and pressed his wet lips on hers. At that moment, she couldn't understand for a moment what was happening, but when she did, her eyes went wide and she pushed on him. He stepped back and looked at her expectantly.

As the incident settled in her mind, she collapsed against the wall.

"Did you like it?" He whispered.

Did she? She didn't know but it definitely took her mind off from ache in heart for a few seconds, and she realized she wanted to escape those demeaning memories, even if it meant doing this again. So, she did the only thing she could think of. She nodded her consent.

And that's how her first kiss was stolen.

[EOF]

"Aunty, I'm hungry. Let's eat dinner." She broke out of her trance at the voice of Dev.

"Oh- okay. Let's go. Would you like luchi - aalur dum or rice and paneer butter masala?"

"Mm... luchi!"