The next day, everyone is standing at the reception of the hotel. Darshan glances at Jaimi. Her phone rings and she quickly excuses herself from them. She returns after a few minutes. Darshan can see that she is tensed.

Jaimi: Cars bahar ready hain, so we should make our way out!

Lalit: Hum abhi ghumne jaaenge?

Jaimi: Nahi! Ek meet and greet hain in the cafe, so wahi jaa rahe hain.

Darshan: Woh dupeher ke 3 baje hain.

Jaimi: 1 baj raha hain thanks to your movie night last night aur waha jaake I'm sure aap sab ko set up karna hoga.

They all sense the thick tension in the air.

Hardik: Chale warna late ho jaaenge!

Darshan: Haan. Agar kisika blame game khatam ho jaae toh kahi pe pahoch paaenge.

Jaimi grits her teeth and walks towards the entrance where the cars are waiting for them. She is followed by the rest. They load into the car. Darshan is sandwiched between Jaimi and Hardik in the passenger seat of the car.

Jaimi unlocks her phone. Darshan throws his head back like he's sleeping. He opens his right eye and keeps it trained on her phone screen. She opens a contact saved as, AM. Her fingers swiftly hit the screen typing a message, "Investiture on the 30th of August. We will end the process there as well. Please, be there for me! I cannot do this without you." She clicks the send button. She puts her phone away and rests her head against the window.

Darshan: What the hell does investiture mean? Aur, yeh kis process ki baat kar rahi thi? August 30 pe kya ho sakhta hain? Be there for me? I can't do this with you? Yeh kis ko text kar rahi thi? AM? Aisa bhi koi naam hota hain? Ayesha? Uska last name kya hain? Malvani? Nahi, Mehta! Par, confirm kaise karu? Contact maangata hoon. Par kaise? Darshan, dimmag dauda apna!

His trance is broken once the car comes to a stop in front of a cafe. They go in with the help of security keeping the crowd at a little distance from them. The boys set up everything for the concert. The crowd starts pouring in around 2:45. Jaimi is surprised to see that everyone in the audience is female. Darshan makes eye contact with her and indicates towards the crowd to show the female following. Jaimi rolls her eyes.

The mini-concert lasts about 2 hours. Darshan sings the last song requested, Kya Hua Tera Wada. He looks in Jaimi's direction. Their eyes meet, but she instantly looks away. He noticed that her eyes were very glossy. Jaimi runs towards the back of the cafe. He quickly finishes up the song and excuses himself. He goes in the direction of Jaimi to see two washrooms, one gents and one woman.

He grips the handle of the women's restroom. He debates if you should enter or not, but pushes past the door hearing muffled cries. He locks the door behind him. He sees Jaimi leaning over the counter. Tears are flowing down her cheeks. One of her hands is clasped around her mouth silencing any noise that escapes.

He stands behind her. She sees him in the mirror and instantly turns.

Darshan: Jaimi?

She quickly wipes her tears but avoids looking into his eyes.

Darshan: Tum thik ho?

She nods her head.

Jaimi: Tum yaha kya kar rahe ho?

Darshan: Dekhne aaya tha ki tum thik ho ya nahi. Woh meine tumhe waha se achanak jaate hue dekha iss liye.

Jaimi: Mein thik hoon. Thank you!

Darshan examines her face once again. He tucks in a loose strand behind her ear.

Darshan: Bahar aa jao phir chalte hain!

Jaimi nods. He leaves the washroom and returns to the crowd. Jaimi fixes her appearance and steps out of the bathroom. She sees him surrounded by girls. He looks around and catches her gaze. He raises both his eyebrows in a questioning manner to which she nods. They leave around 6 in the evening once the meet and greet has ended.

They go back to the hotel in the same car. Jaimi is extraordinarily quiet. She keeps her gaze trained outside the window like the other bodies in the car don't exist.

They retire to their rooms and freshen up. They have their dinner by 8 and go back to their room to rest.

Around 9:30 at night, Darshan knocks on Jaimi's door. She lets him in the room and he closes the door after him as he walks in.

Darshan: Kal ke schedule ke baare mein puchne aaya tha?

Jaimi: Kal subah ek radio interview hain. Uske baad soundcheck aur phir raat ko concert hain. We'll be leaving at night for Delhi. 25th ko Delhi mein concert hain.

Darshan: Thik hain.

Silence engulfs the room. Jaimi avoids looking into Darshan's eyes as much as possible.

Darshan: Tum thik ho?

Jaimi: Haan.

Darshan: Waha cafe pe kya hua tha?

Jaimi: Kuch nahi! Woh mere aankh mein kuch chala gaya tha aur usko nikalte waqt aankh mein lag gae thi toh burn ho raha tha.

Darshan: Sure?

Jaimi nods not meeting his eyes. Darshan looks at her for a second before looking away.

Darshan: Good night.

Jaimi: Good night.

Darshan leaves the room and Jaimi closes the door behind him. She leans against the door and sighs mentally thanking god that Darshan didn't question her too much.

Darshan returns to his room to find Hardik scrolling through Instagram on his phone. He sits on the edge of the bed thinking. Hardik scoots over to the edge and snaps his fingers in front of his face to draw his attention. Darshan shakes his head and looks at him.

Hardik: Kis soch mein dooba hua hain?

Darshan: Kuch nahi.

Hardik: Jaimi?

Darshan: Kaha hain?

Hardik: Tu abhi uske room se aaya toh kya hua? Dono ne phirse arugue kiya?

Darshan: Nahi.

Hardik: Toh?

Darshan: Usne mujhse jhooth bola!

Hardik: Kaisa jhooth?

Darshan: Aaj cafe mein jab performance khatam ho gae tab mein waha se gaya tha woh yaad hain?

Hardik: Haan.

Darshan: Mein uske piche gaya tha.

Hardik: Tune phirse uski jasoosi ki?

Darshan: Nahi! Mein usko piche ki taraf jaate hue dekha tha aur woh bahot sad dikh rahi thi toh uske piche gaya tha. Mein usko abhi waha sad kyu thi uski wajah puchi toh usne koi bahana bana liye. Usne mujhse jhoot bola!

Hardik: Tujhe kaise pata ki usne jhooth bola? Usne jo kaha woh sach bhi ho sakhta haina?

Darshan: Mein nahi maanta! She's very confident. Humari kae baar ladaai hoti hain aur usko jo kehna ho woh meri aankho mein aankhe daal ke bol deti hain without a hesitation. Aaj usne nahi meri aankho mein dekha aur uski awaaj mein woh hesitation thi. Pichle kuch dino se meine usko notice kiya hain ki jab woh topic divert kar rahi ho ya phir sach nahi bolna chahti ho tab woh eye contact nahi banati kisi ke saath.

Hardik: Tu kuch zyada hi nahi soch raha? I mean tune usko kisi book ki tarah padh liya hain. Itni shiddat se toh tune life mein kuch nahi padha hoga jaise tu Jaimi ko padh raha hain.

Darshan: Hardik.

Hardik: On a serious note, usko tum thoda waqt do! Woh tere saath woh comfort level pe nahi pahochi hain especially after that first meeting incident. Woh probably tumhe trust nahi karti hogi aur tumhari saath apni problem share karne mein comfortable nahi hogi. You can't blame her for that or neither force her to tell you!

Darshan nods his head. They to go to bed after some time.

The next goes as planned. Jaimi is keeping a distance from Darshan not wanting him to doubt her regarding anything.

They reach Delhi on the 25th of July at sunrise. They check into the hotel and sleep till the afternoon. They have lunch then, are off to soundcheck. They have the concert at night. They return to the hotel and freshen up. They pack their belongings and leave the hotel.

**********