"'Cause a princess doesn't cry (no-oh)
A princess doesn't cry (no-oh, oh)
Over monsters in the night
Don't waste our precious time
On boys with pretty eyes
A princess doesn't cry (no-oh)
A princess doesn't cry (no-oh, oh)
Burning like a fire
You feel it all inside
But wipe your teary eyes"

Nimrat was continously crying and sobbing. The girls did everything to stop her from crying. Nimrat eventually calm down.

"Why the fuck are you crying, Nimmi?" Aashita asked.

"Uss behenchod ke liye ro rahi hai tu?" Srijani asked.

"Didi, he is such a jerk. Please don't cry because of him." Saina said.

"Tum ruko Nimmi. Iss Abhay ko toh main thik karti hu. Tum rona band karo. Let's have a sleepover at my house. Waise bhi hum logo ko aadhe kapde ek dusre ke ghar pe hi pade rehte hai." Shambhavi said.

Nimrat nodded and all of them went to Shambhavi's house. Sakshi welcomed them all.

"Aisa dekh ke lag nahi raha tum log club gaye the." Sakshi said.

"Kyu, bhabhi?" Shambhavi asked.

"Daaru ki smell hi nahi aa rahi." Sakshi replied.

"Bhabhi, you know hum me se koi nahi peeta. We had some non alcoholic drinks." Shambhavi said.

Sakshi shook her head and sent them upstairs.

"Losers. Club jaake kon daaru nahi peeta." Sakshi said under her breath.

The girls had a FRIEND marathon and eventually everyone slept except Nimrat. Nimrat was sitting on the bay window, looking out at it was raining with thunder and lightening. The weather outside was a metaphor for the feelings Nimrat was going through.

Nimrat reflected on her past. She was quite happy when Abhishek became her friend. They used to go to have ice cream together. They used to write their assignments together and watch movies together. Then he joined the "popular group" and started bullying her. She was so hurt. After they passed their 12th, Abhishek did apologised but band-aid don't fix bullet holes. Nimrat never accepted his apologises and he continued being an asshole and passing snarky comments. Nimrat decided that she will tell everything to Yuvi bhaiya. Nimrat sighed and lied down to next Shambhavi. Shambhavi who was awake all along instantly wrapped her arms around Nimrat bringing her comfort.

Next Day,

Shambhavi got ready for office. They had a very important meeting today and she sent all the players details about the meeting and all of them replied with a thumbs up.

Shambhavi was preparing for the meeting when she felt presence behind her. She turned and saw Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly looking at her with adoration in their eyes.

"Arey Dada, aap kab aaye?" Shambhavi asked and hugged Sourav tightly.

"Bas abhi aaya. Kaisi ho tum?" Sourav asked.

"Main thik hu, Dada." Shambhavi replied.

"Saara pyaar Dada ke liye bas." Rahul Dravid teased.

Shambhavi smiled and hugged him.

"Aap dono ke liye mere paas dene ko bahut pyaar hai." Shambhavi replied.

Shambhavi held a conversation with them regarding the meeting. Eventually every board members arrived. The meeting was about to start at 12 PM but there still was no trace of any player. When the clock showed 1.30 PM, Sanjay Manjrekar stood up.

"Is this how to manage your team, Ms. Dhoni? There's no trace of the players." Sanjay Manjrekar said.

"Enough, Mr. Majrekar." Sourav warned.

"Why don't you guys just remover her from this position? She can't even manage the team." Sanjay Manjrekar tried again.

Shambhavi felt humiliated. She felt betrayed. They all told her they will be present for the meeting. Tears of humiliation, shame and frustration filled up in her eyes.

"We are not going to remove her. After she became the manager, many things started running smoothly. Her job is to inform the players to be on time and it's the players responsibility to reach the meeting on the time. She will stay as the manager." One of the board member defended her and other agreed.

"Ms. Dhoni, please reschedule this meeting." Jay Shah said and left along with the other board members.

Shambhavi stood up and ran towards ladies washroom. Shambhavi cried her eyes out.

"Sham di, you okay?" Aliyah asked.

"Aliyah?" Shambhavi asked.

"Yeah."

"They didn't show up Aliyah. Even when they promised me, they didn't. I even called them. They did not even pick up. I lost my trust in them." Shambhavi said and cried while hugging Aliyah.

Aliyah was feeling bad for her. She's the Assistant Manager of the team. She's really close to Shambhavi. The previous manager was a creep. He used to touch her inappropriately and never gave her the important job. Under Shambhavi, she realised her true potential. Shambhavi trusts her a lot.

"I think you should head home. Take some rest. Don't cry anymore." Aliyah said.

Shambhavi eventually calm down and went home. Seeing her sad face and teary eyes, Sakshi got concerned.

"Kya hua, baccha?" Sakshi asked.

Shambhavi told them everything. Sakshi was shocked as this never happened before.

"Do you think I should quit?" Shambhavi asked.

"Paagal ho kya? Iss job ke liye kitni mehnat ki hai tumne. Usko aise hi jaane dogi? Nahi. Bilkul bhi nahi. You deserve to be where you are right now. Ignore them. They will realise their mistake then." Sakshi said.

Shambhavi nodded and hugged Sakshi tightly.

"Bua, come play with me, please." Ziva requested.

Shambhavi smiled and nodded and went with Ziva in the backyard to play.

BCCI OFFICE,

Rahul Dravid rarely gets angry. He was an epitome of calmness but right now, a very angry Rahul Dravid was spped walking towards the players room. Behind him was Sourav Ganguly, the hot headed one but today he was trying to calm down an angry Rahul Dravid. He opened the door of the players room and saw all of them chilling.

"SILENCE!" Rahul Dravid shouted.

The players were startled and stood up in their place, looking at him with wide eyes.

"We had a meeting at 12 PM. Where were you guys?" Rahul Dravid asked.

Rohit and Virat's looked at each other in panic and immediately checked their phone. They had around 25 missed calls and 50 texts. They informed other and they also rushed to check their phones and saw many calls and texts from Shambhavi.

"We are sorry, Bhai. We forgot." Rohit said, gulitily.

"All of you forgot?" Sourav asked.

"Dada? Aap yahan?" Virat asked.

"Answer my question." Sourav said.

Everyone hung their heads.

"Because of your carelessness, Shambhavi went home crying and sobbing. You have no idea how much you have hurt her." Rahul Dravid said and left the room.

"You disappointed us, boys." Sourav said and went outside.

(Saina's POV)

Saina came from her karate class. She directly went to her room and slammed the door. She was breathing heavily. She felt helpless in the moment. Saina was undefeated in her Karate classes. She was a third degree black belt. But now comes a guy named Atharv in their class. Saina often noticed him staring at her. She felt annoyed by his attention on her. Whenever he defeats an opponent he looks at her.

Today, Saina was practicing with one of her friends. She felt someone hit her bum. She turned around and saw Atharv smirking at her. Saina was frustrated that for the first time she got the feeling for fear instead of fighting back. Tears were continously flowing from her eyes. No matter how many times she tried to stop it, they were not stopping. She got a call from Dhruv. She eventually calm herself down and picked up.

(Normal:- Saina
Italics:- Dhruv)

"Hello?"

"Kya hua hai? Phone uthane me late kyu kiya?"

"Kuch bhi toh nahi. Aisa kyu puch raha hai?"

"Tu shaayad bhul gayi hai ki main tera bestfriend hu kuch saalo se. Ab bata kya hua?"

Saina sighed and hesitantly told him everything.

"Iss madarchod ko toh main zinda gaad dunga. Sun meri baat kal main bhi chalunga tere saath tere Karate class. Phir dekhta hu usse."

"Please, Dhruv. Let it be. Main kal waise bhi maar dungi usse." Saina said.

"I'm coming with you, Saina and that's final."

Dhuvi cut the call even before Saina could answer.

Saina turned around and saw Ritika standing at her doorstep.

"Bhabhi woh-" Saina started.

"It's okay, Saina. Sometimes having a feeling of fear is completely justified. It's okay to experience it. Sometimes we just stopped working, like your bhaiya after World Cup. You can cry out, Sai. I won't judge you." Ritika said and hugged her.

Saina started crying in her bhabhi's arms. Ritika let her cry. Saina eventually calm down.

"Bhaiya ko mat bataiyega." Saina said.

"It's a secret between us." Ritika said.

(Aashita's POV)

Aashita was very happy since the morning. Her date with Dev went amazing. He was such a gentleman. He picked her up, pulled out chair for her on their date and dropped her home as well. He asked her out on another date and she agreed.

When Aashita entered her home she saw a tensed Athiya sitting on the sofa.

"Bhabhi, you okay?" Aashita asked.

Athiya sighed in relief.

"You results are out. Your mom and dad were continuously calling me because you were not picking up your phone." Athiya said.

Here she was now, sitting on her bed, the print out of her result in her hand, a phone to her ear, her gaze blank and tears continuously running down her cheeks. Her parents were not happy that she got only 9.84 CGPA. Despite being the topper of her college, her parents were scolding her. Athiya was standing near her door, giving her strength bear it all.

When Aashita's parents decided they bashed their daughter enough, they cut the call. Aashita was hugged by Athiya.

"I am proud of you baby. You topped the college. Aaj to party karenge." Athiya tried to uplift Aashita's mood.

Aashita gave her a small smile. Athiya sighed.

"Don't listen to them, baccha. Parents toh aise hi hote hai. They have high expectations because they think that you deserve the best. I know their expectation becomes burden sometimes. I'll bring chai for you, okay?" Athiya said and kissed Aashita's forehead and left the room.

Aashita couldn't understand what went wrong. She was a happy child, living with her parents and elder brother who received so much love from them. She grew up and now all she receive from her parents is taunts that she'll never be enough. Aashita let the tears flow.

(Srijani's POV)

Srijani came out of the hospital with her reports tightly clutched in her hands. She was on the verge of having a panic attack. The doctor gave her a bad news.

Flashback

"Doctor, is everything alright?" Srijani asked.

"Yes, Ms. Kohli. Everything is fine but there's an issue I need to discuss with you." Doctor said.

Srijani tightly shut her eyes. Tears of despair were coming out of her eyes. She hailed a cab and went home.

Anushka was waiting for Srijani. Srijani entered and sat beside Anushka.

"Hi baby. What did the doctor said?" Anushka asked.

Srijani put her head on Anushka's lap and finally cried her eyes out. Anushka was concerned. She held Srijani tightly and shushed her.

"He told me due to the trauma I received on my vagina, there's only 5% chance of me being pregnant." Srijani told her.

Anushka who knows everything that Srijani went through in her past, wanted nothing more than to hide her from this cruel world.

"Bhabhi, main hi kyu? Hum ladkiyan hi kyu?" Srijani asked.

Anushka had no answer for her question. She just held a broken Srijani in her arms and whispered sweet nothing in her ears. Srijani eventually slept in her arms.

"You asked me, why only women? I have only one answer. Some men in this world are not humans. They are animal. They prey who they think can't fight them. Be it a woman or a man." Anushka said and a lone tear travlled down her cheek.

Thank you so much for reading.

What do you think happened to Srijani? Will Shambhavi forgive her brothers? Will Dhruv beat up Atharv or Saina would be the one to beat his sorry ass? Will Nimrat finally tells her brother what happened between her and Abhay? Will Aashita ever confront her parents about their expectations and taunts??

Please don't be a silent reader. Kindly vote and comment 🙏🙏.

I'll try to update soon.