21 years later....

Ishita was consumed by the chaos of morning preparations the start of the new dawn had brought upon her. She was completely engrossed in the kitchen, switching quickly in between small tasks like flipping chapattis, packing tiffins and filling water bottles. 

She was about to walk outside from the kitchen, towards the fridge placed on the right a few steps away, when dushyant appeared in front of her and handed her over the packet of milk. 

"sorry, kal shaam khatam hogaya kheer mein, aur main batana bhool gayi!" exclaimed ishita, as she hurried with the packet to the kitchen, making dushyant chuckle. 

"mujhe tumhara bhulna yaad rehta hai ab..." remarked dushyant, as ishita chuckled, while he was grabbing loaves of bread quickly, applying butter one by one and she poured milk over to the vessel kept on the flame of the stove, ready with the brewing tea that only required milk. 

"disha! assignment rakhna mat bhul jaana phirse!" yelled dushyant from the kitchen to the room nearby, to which the door was left open. 

A nineteen year old girl appeared suddenly from the open room in haggard condition with her seemingly crinkled and old night suit, paired with a messy bun.

"papa yaar ek baar hi toh bhuli hoon!" grumbled disha, as ishita was just left amused from witnessing the scene from afar. 

"beta tabse itni baar maine yaad dilaya haina isliye! warna phir papa ko toh tumne apna personal assistant samjha...kabhi bhi office phone karke boldo main bhul gayi...de jao..." retorted dushyant, as he placed four slices of bread in a plate and handed it over to disha, who just rolled her eyes. 

Ishita tried to withhold her laughter, as she handed over a cup of tea to disha, who just left making a face at dushyant, after grabbing it. 

"aap suna usse rahe ho personal assistant ka taana par apne bhi toh apne personal assistant ko hi bheja tha ghar, phir wahi bechara dekar aaya uske college..." stated ishita, as dushyant just glared at her. 

"arre toh kaam thodi chodke aaunga iske assignment ke liye...aur isne bhi mazak hi samajh liya hai ki mera office college ke paas hai...pata kabhi classes ke beech mein jab lamba gap hota hai mere naam se office mein ghuske canteen jaake pav bhaji khaaye aati hai! phir bill bhi mere naam!" recounted dushyant, as ishita was left completely amused by the father-daughter. 

"aur abhi nikli nahi na kamre se aadhe ghante mein, toh auto se hi jaana, main wait nahi karunga chodne ke liye!" yelled dushyant again to disha's room, as ishita just handed him over the cup of tea. 

"chaye peeyo, BP mat badhao subha-subha.." advised ishita jokingly, as dushyant glared at her again, before grabbing the cup, shaking his head in disbelief as he sipped from the cup, ishita could only feel slight pity for the poor guy as she glanced at him. 

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Purvi quickly sprayed slight amounts of perfume on her collarbone, before she got a quick glimpse of her appearance in her dressing table mirror, and quickly composed herself and left the room in a hurry. 

"chalo purav!" exclaimed purvi, as she grabbed her purse and two more bags lying on the dinning table adjacent to the living room. 

An twenty year old young man lazed out of his room casually, a light bag hanging from only his right shoulder as the rest of it was left loose. He was just scrolling through his phone before he made quick eye contact with purvi. 

"papa kahan hai?" asked purav, confused, as even purvi looked around, before slamming her forehead. 

"ek toh kavin pata nahi kab gaadi mein jaakar pehle baithna band karega! aur tum, chalo jaldi!" instructed purvi, as purav just shook his head in disbelief. 

"yaar mummy kabhi toh chill hojaya karo...hamesha hyper..." grumbled purav, as purvi glared at him, stopping from locking the apartment door. 

"tumhare jaisi aulaad na zindagi se chill udhake le jaati hai paida hoti hi!" exclaimed purvi angrily, as purav was just left perplexed. 

"internal ki padhai kari aaj ke liye tumne, batao?" interrogated purvi, as purav just sighed. 

"usse pehle do period free, library mein padh lunga aryan se..." replied purav casually, scrolling through his phone again, making purvi place her hand on her hips. 

"aryan bechara roz padhayi karta hai library mein 4 baje tak baithke...aur ek tum, roz lehrate hue 2 baje ghar aate ho, sojate ho, phir 5 baje tak hosh aata hai aur awaragardi karne nikal jaate ho! koi sharam hai! abhi bhi test ke do ghanta pehle padhai shuru karenge bhaisahab!" rebuked purvi, as purav was just done at this point. 

"mummy, main toh nalayak hoon hi, aapko bhi pata hai 20 saalon se hi hoon! abhi dekho aap hi late ho rahi hai school mein honhaar bachon ko padhane ke liye! ab chale?" responded purav, as purvi could only glare, somehow resisting the urge to argue further, locking the door and getting inside the elevator with him. 

"phir sochti hai papa pehle hi neeche jaake gaadi mein kyun baith jaate hai..." remarked purvi, as purvi was beyond furious and was about to begin another round of berate, as the elevator doors shut on them. 

                                                                ***

Disha quickly got outside of the car at the college gate, managing the project file and mobile in her hands as she somehow managed to wave dushyant bye and was quick to rush inside, as dushyant drove away for work. 

She placed the project file inside her bag and finally managed to close the zip properly and grab hold of her phone and looked at the time. 

"arre, main toh jaldi aa gayi...abhi toh priya bhi nahi aati...phir ab kya karoon....chalo, canteen mein chaye hi peeleti hoon...timepass toh karna hai..." muttered disha to herself, going about her way, with her glance on her phone. 

                                                                        ***

Disha entered the canteen and was left to sigh in disappointment at the entrance itself  owing to the visibly large queue around the counter. She took a deep breath and somehow managed to get inside the queue and barely was trying to make it in the crowd where she was constantly getting pushed. 

"Uncle, ek chaye!" she yelled at the man at managing the counter, even trying to show the amount of money required for the tea in her hands to get it faster, but it seemed to be in vain. 

She kept on repeating for about 4 times, until finally, she just gave up and got away from the queue. 

"uncle sunte hi nahi!" exclaimed disha, as purav who was standing nearby, witnessed all of this. 

"uncle, do chaye!" ordered purav confidently, in one quick stern call, which was easily audible but his clear advantage in a bigger stature relative to the crowd, made it easier for him to flash his phone that indicated he had paid already with the payment notification being visible. This made it easier for him to grab the two cups quickly and get out of the queue. 

Disha just looked on, standing with her arms crossed, waiting for the crowd to lessen, only for a cup of tea to be presented in front of her, making her look up to purav. 

"toh, ab main aapke liye chaye le hi aaya hoon, toh saath baithke peelete hai, if you are interested?" offered purav, as disha took one glance of him before presenting her response.....

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