A/N: So sorry for the late update!!! Ran into some problems with my Wi-Fi this weekend and I just had time to get it fixed. But on a more serious note,  I think I might have to return to my once a week update as my schedule is getting a little bit too hectic for double updates... That being said, I'll do double updates whenever I can...

#ootd in the media section...

And now to the story...

***

Hours flew by and before they knew it, it was a little past 6pm.

Despite constant distractions from Kabir, Ayesha managed to finish teaching them the choreography. All they needed to do was to clean up the moves. Ayesha was confident that they'll rock it tomorrow night.

Ayesha then walked up to Raina, who was engaged in a conversation with Arjun. She wanted to know if Raina had managed to convince Kabir to join them for dinner.

"Raina," she called, interrupting the conversation. "Did you manage to convince Kabir to join us for dinner?"

"Wait," Arjun interrupted, shocked. "You're inviting Kabir for dinner tonight?!"

"Not me," Ayesha told him. "Mom did. She also invited Raina." Ayesha then turned her attention back to Raina. "So, did Kabir say anything?"

Raina shook her head.

"I haven't even told him about dinner yet," she replied. "I don't know how to. But don't worry, even if he refuses, I'll be there to explain his absence."

Explain his absence? Ayesha laughed. This girl is really something.

"How about this?" Ayesha asked. "I ask him and you convince him. At least that way, we could play this 'good cop, bad cop' thing and lure him to dinner."

Arjun scoffed.

"Kabir is seriously pathetic for constantly falling for these tricks," Arjun remarked. "After the amount of times Tara and you pulled this trick... You'd think he'd learn his lesson."

"Ok smarty pants," Ayesha said. "Why won't you do something about it?"

"Why should I?" Arjun refuted. "It's not like I care about what Kabir does."

"Excuse me?" Ayesha asked, annoyed. "He's your brother too."

"Half brother," he replied. "And it's not like he has ever acted like one."

Arjun pushed past the two ladies and stormed off. Just as he opened the meeting room door, he came face to face with Kabir.

Anger begun boiling inside him and Arjun roughly shoved Kabir out of his way.

"Oi!" Kabir cried out.

However, it fell on deaf ears as Arjun ignored him and walked away. Kabir then made his way to Ayesha and Raina. He noticed that they too, had troubled looks plastered across their faces.

"What's got his chaddi twisted in a bunch?" Kabir asked with a chuckle, trying to lighten up the mood.

"Mom invited you and Raina for dinner," Ayesha revealed. "And Arjun's not happy about it."

"What?" Kabir asked in disbelief.

"Yesterday," Ayesha said. "At Tara's Mehndi, she suggested that you and Raina should join us for dinner tonight."

"Tell her we're not coming," Kabir replied, almost instantly.

"No," Raina told him. "I'LL tell her YOU are not coming. I've already agreed."

"What?" Kabir asked, aghast at Raina's statement. "How can you do this to me? You're my therapist, you're supposed to be helping me."

"I am," she replied. "But I have my own rights to make my own personal decisions too."

"You don't understand do you?" Kabir asked. "I can't be there!"

"What is there to understand?" Raina asked in return. "It's just dinner. And no one is forcing you to go. If you're worried that I'll spill your secrets or if anything they say will sway me, don't worry, I won't. My conscience is clear when it comes to my work."

Ayesha stared at Raina, confused. Why is Raina playing the bad cop? Isn't she supposed to be the one that convinces Kabir?

"You know I hate my family, right?" Kabir asked. "Then, why are you as still doing this?"

"You're the one with the problem," Raina pointed out. "Not me. As far as I'm concerned, I'm just a friend who's been invited for dinner. Now excuse me, I have to get ready for dinner tonight and Di's expecting me to help her with tomorrow's costumes."

Raina walked away from the siblings and returned to the room she shared with Di. Ayesha was too floored to say anything, she just watch Raina leave.

Kabir groaned, bringing her attention back to him. She stared at him.

"What?" Kabir asked. "Are you going to lecture me too?"

"I wanted to," Ayesha said, truthfully.

"Then say it, na?!" Kabir half-shouted.

"Rehnde (Leave it)," Ayesha replied. "It makes no difference. Your mind is already made up. I need to go too, will you be alright?"

"Haan (Yes)," he replied, sulkingly. "You don't need to worry about me, I'll be fine."

"Drama king," Ayesha said as she pinched Kabir's right cheek.

"Ow," he yowled. He then tried smacked Ayesha's hand off but missed and slapped himself instead.

"I'll see you later," Ayesha shouted as she made her way out of the meeting room.

Girls, he will never understand them.

***

Di was helping Raina put on the finishing touches on her outfit when Ayesha arrived.

"Hello girls," Ayesha announced as she entered the room with Sunny in tow.

"Hello," Raina and Di chorused from the bedroom.

"Just give us 5 minutes," Di announced. "We're almost done."

"Like an hour, 5 minutes?" Sunny asked. "Or 5 minutes, 5 minutes?"

"Like we're looking for shoes 5 minutes," Di replied.

"Oh," Sunny muttered and avoided the bedroom. He learnt his lesson very early on not to mess with Di's creative process. Instead, Sunny went over to the couch and turned on the TV. It's going to take awhile.

Ayesha, on the other hand, entered the room and plopped herself on their bed.

Di pulled out a pair of beige heels and passed them to Raina.

"Here," she said. "Try these."

Raina put them on.

"They fit," she replied.

"Ok," Di decided. "Then, we'll just go with this pair."

"How long have you been at it?" Ayesha asked.

"A little over 10 minutes" Raina replied. "I could've worn my own pair of shoes but Di insisted that I should wear different footwear that for different functions."

"Beauty over brains," Di added as Raina rolled her eyes.

Ayesha laughed.

"You know," Ayesha told Raina. "I was shocked at what you pulled back at the meeting room. I know that you're capable of taking care of yourself... Not that I'm judging or anything... But I thought I was going to do all the shouting and be the bad guy."

Raina laughed. What?

"Anyhow," Ayesha continued. "I'm glad you did. It made my life so much easier.

"But I still don't know if he'll be there," Raina sighed.

"If it's Kabir we're talking about," Di interjected. "He'll be there. He'll definitely be there."

"I hope you're right," Raina huffed.

"Di's always right," Sunny said suddenly from the hallway just outside the bedroom. The three women jumped in shocked.

"Did your parents ever teach you that it's bad manners to eavesdrop?" Di admonished.

"Yes," Sunny replied. "But we're going to be late for dinner if I allowed the 'Gossip Girls' to well... Gossip."

"We're at a wedding for goodness sake!" Di exclaimed. "There's nothing much to do except eat, sleep, dance, dress up and gossip."

"You do realize we have a dinner reservation at 7.30 right?" Sunny stated more than asked. "It's now 7.27. We've only got like 3 minutes to get there. And your dad," he motioned to Ayesha. "Is insanely punctual."

"Fine," Di relented. "Let's go."

The four of them then made their way down to the restaurant where the Desai family were waiting for them at the table. Raina could see Arjun, Seema and...

"Kahan thi (Where were you), dad?" Ayesha asked as she embraced her father. Her suspicions were confirmed. The man with them was Ravi Desai, Kabir's stepfather. Raina could vaguely recall seeing him on the cover of one of the business magazines a few days ago, when he won some businessman award. "Mom said you disappeared the whole day."

"I could say the same thing about you and Arjun," Seema chastised.

Arjun raised his hands in defense as Ayesha stuck out her tongue at him.

"But you knew what we were up to, na?" Ayesha retorted. Ayesha let go of her father and took a seat next to him.

"So," Ravi said as soon as his eyes landed on Raina. "Who is this new friend of yours?"

"She's Dr. Raina," Seema introduced. "Kabir's friend and therapist."

Immediately, Raina could see a frown forming on his face. However as soon as it formed, he wiped it away. Raina wondered if he had a problem with her profession or with Kabir. Or both.

"Oh," he said. "It's nice to meet you, Dr. Raina."

"You too, Mr Desai" Raina replied.

"I invited her and Kabir for dinner," Seema added. She gave then gave her husband a look that screamed 'behave!'.

"Is that true?" Ravi asked. 'So, where is Kabir?"

"Umm..." Raina stammered. "Kabir... He..."

"I'm here," A voice resonated throughout the restaurant. Kabir? "Don't worry, I'm not dead yet. Just fahionably late. After all, India mein time se aane waale ki koi value nahi hoti. Der se aane waale ko star samjha jaata hai. (In India there is no value for people who come on time. People who come late are considered a star.)"

Ayesha lets out a groan as Arjun rolled his eyes. Seema's eyes on the other hand, lit up instantly, a huge contrast to Ravi's exasperated expression.

Kabir grabbed a chair and sat at the other end of the table, directly across Ravi and in between Raina and Di.

"I'm glad you could join us tonight," Seema remarked.

"Me too," he replied.

There was a visibly thick tension in the air and everybody was threading on eggshells. They made small talk with each other but no one dared to address the giant elephant in the room. No one dared to break the 'peace'.

Suddenly, Kabir felt his phone vibrate and he instantly pulled it out.

Thanks for coming.

It was from Raina. Kabir sighed and instead of replying, he typed it out on and showed it to Raina.

I'm doing it for mom. I guess she must really want to have dinner with me if Arjun had to ask.

Raina raised an eyebrow in confusion and instinctively looked over at Arjun's direction.

Arjun? But didn't he say...

Arjun winked and gestured Raina a 'What?'

Raina smiled back and shook her head. She then turned her attention back to Kabir, who had nudged her knee under the table.

"I'm sorry for being an idiot earlier," Kabir whispered. "I shouldn't be making decisions on your behalf."

"It's alright," Raina whispered back. "And I'm sorry too, if you feel like I'm meddling in your family business."

"You're not," Kabir replied in a hushed voice. "Like you said, it's just dinner."

A waiter came, took their orders and left. Everyone was silent and looked at each other.

"Awkward," Kabir mumbled to Raina in a sing song manner. She gave him an irked smile.

"So Dr. Raina," Ravi finally spoke up,  breaking the silence. " How did you get involved in this... metal healthcare?"

"Oh," Raina said in shock. She didn't expect Ravi to have a conversation with her. "I've always wanted to be one."

"And your parents?" Ravi asked. "What do they think about that?"

"I've been very blessed," she replied. "Thankfully, my parents were very supportive of me."

"Hmm," Ravi hummed.

Raina didn't know what to make out of that but when she looked over at Kabir, she could see anger boiling on his eyes. Her "Kabir warning indicators" were all on red alert. Not good!

Raina placed a hand on Kabir's knee to calm him down. Instantly, he snapped out of his anger trance and looked down in surprise at the sudden contact. He then looked at Raina who returned with a concerned look. Are you ok?

Kabir looked away for a moment or two before sliding a hand off the table and placed it on Raina's.

"She's very good at her job," Sunny said out loud. "Kabir's been clean for a month."

"Is that so?" Ravi asked, his voice dripped with sarcasm. "Well, congratulations Kabir."

Kabir was quiet but his death glare said something else all together.

Very soon, their food arrived and dinner went on without a hitch. Except, throughout the whole night, neither Kabir or Ravi exchanged another word with each other.

After dinner, Seema pulled Kabir aside to have a talk.

"I really meant it when I said I'm glad you could join us for dinner," Seema told Kabir.

"I know," Kabir replied, nonchalantly. He then looked around for the others. He looked at everywhere except at her, his mother.

"Kabir?" Seema called out.

"Hmm?" Kabir answered, finally looking at her.

"Bas bohot ho gaya (Enough is enough)," Seema said. "Come home. Kab tak hum par naraz rahenge (How long will you stay mad at us)?"

Kabir laughed.

"Honestly," he replied. "I've never been angry at you or anyone. Upset? Yes. But I was never angry. Maybe just at Ravi Desai."

"Kabir!" Seema scolded. "He's your stepfather. The least you can do is show him some respect."

Kabir smirked.

"He stopped having anything to do with me the moment he told me to leave," Kabir replied. "And this is exactly why I don't want to come home."

He sighed.

"I'm sorry for ruining your fantasy of reuniting the family," he added. "I'll come home when he's willing to make amends. And I don't think he is. His behaviour tonight says everything."

"But will you at least call me?" Seema asked. "Please?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I'll think about it?"

"Ok," Seema said, content with his answer. Seema then hugged Kabir. "I missed you so much."

Kabir didn't move.

"Me too," he muttered.

Seema then let go of Kabir and he suddenly felt as if the hug ended too quickly. He had not seen or spoken to his mother for three years.

"I'll see you around," Kabir said and left. He didn't want his mother to see the tears in his eyes that were threatening to fall. What he didn't know was that the moment he left, a single tear slid down his mother's face.

***

A/N: Awww... Poor Seema and Kabir... I can't imagine what is it like to be separated and not having contact with my mom for three years...

Diwali is just around the corner, is anyone excited for it yet? My friends have already started their turn Mili to Mottu plans last weekend and my gosh the amount of gulab jamuns and murukku I've already had... Can't be good for my health 😂😂😂 So, what plans do you have for Diwali???