Purvi sighed after finishing her story.

"yakeen nahi hota aunty ne aisi baatein ki thi..." commented ishita.

"hairaani toh mujhe bhi hui thi, woh hamesha, kavin ko waisi hi treat karte the jaisi bhaiya ko...agar kabhi late ho jata unhe aur bhai ko padhte hue, toh woh humare saath dinner bhi karte the. Phir yeh sab baatein sunna, unke moh se.." elaborated purvi.

"woh, toilet use karte ho, aap log? Woh jo kitchen ke paas hai.." asked ishita.

"nahi, sab apne kamre ka hi use karte hain...aur wahan toh..." responded purvi only to bit her tongue upon realising the end of the sentence.

"main jaati hoon, mujhe kaha tha aunty ne ki main use kar sakti hoon usse. Dhona meri maa ko hi padega har Saturday...but you know why my mother is still grateful?" posed ishita a question, as purvi shook her head in no.

"kyunki woh, society ki har maid ki tarah, neeche jaati hai uske liye. Even jab woh unn gharon mein washrooms saaf karti hai." Stated ishita.

"bitha aunty mujhe bhi lengi kabhi, khaana khaate hue, par apni zindagi ka hissa nahi banayegi. Kavin ke saath bhi wahi hua. Humari duniya alag hai aap logon se, aur society bahaut mehnat karti hai, usse alag rakhne mein." Explained ishita.

"maine kabhi kavin aur tumhe kisi dusri duniya ka nahi dekha..." informed purvi.

"jaanti hoon, aaj subha aap uss hi mug se chaye pee rahi thi, jiss mug mein mujhe pilayi thi uss din. Aunty ne toh mera pani ka glass bhi alag rakha hai. Aap jaise kuch logon se duniya nahi badlegi...aakhir mein, main rahungi toh ek naukrani ki beti." Concluded ishita.

"naukrani ki beti hone mein koi buri baat nahi hai, tumhe uss wajah se galat treat karna hai..." commented purvi.

"achi soch hai aapki, bas sab ki nahi hai." Considered ishita.

"khaash hoti.." wished purvi.

***

Purvi served the tea for sameer and neelu, in their room.

"ab tabiyat kaisi hai?" asked sameer, as purvi nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, ishita popped up in the room.

"acha, aunty main chalti hoon..." informed ishita.

"haan, beta jao." Responded neelu with a smile.

"Namaste." Greeted ishita, to her as she waved a bye to purvi, and walked to the main door to leave.

"main darwaza band kar aati hoon..." said purvi, as she too left the room.

***

Ishita opened the door, when suddenly dushyant came in front of her.

"oh, hi." Said dushyant, as ishita just acknowledged it with a smile.

She waited for him to get aside, so that she could move out.

Purvi, who had come to close the door, noticed both of them. She hid and looked from behind.

"uhh, woh, aap se kuch puchna tha.." stated dushyant, as ishita raised her brow.

"pehle toh, aapne, purvi ka khayal rakha kal...phir, aunty ne bhi humare liye khaana bana diya..uske baad shaam ko wahan dhabhe aapko mila, tabhi aapne...you were so nice. Uhhm, so as a thank you, aap mere saath, aaj please, dinner pe chalengi?" popped dushyant a question, which left ishita flabbergasted.

Purvi, who was lurking from behind, just shot her eyes with a wide glare.

"uh...uhmm.." attempted ishita to respond, as she scoffed.

"i'm surprised, to say the least. Uhmm, kal raat waale dhabe pe lekar jaayenge?" questioned ishita.

"nahi..." responded dushyant, as he raised his brow.

"woh, actually, roti banate hue, naak mein ungli kar rahe the wahan..." informed ishita,as dushyant's mouth formed an 'oh'.

"i didn't know that.." responded dushyant, as they both shared a chuckle.

"nahi, it's fine, woh maa ka phone aaya tha, unko kuch kaam tha, toh late ho jayega, basically, i have no reason to go home early.." replied ishita.

"timing achi nikli..." remarked dushyant, as ishita nodded in agreement.

"after you.." dushyant made his way for her.

A smile came on purvi's face, it's happy as long as it can last, after all.

***

Kavin came home, as he closed the door behind him. His gaze fell on his mother, cooking in the kitchen as he remembered that day.

Meghna closed the door, as she wiped the sweat off her forehead. Kavin appeared in front of her, as meghna rushed to him.

"kyun kiya tune aisa!" screamed meghna.

"maa, pyaar karte hain hum ek dusre se..." responded kavin.

"pyaar ki keemat tujhe hi chukani padegi..." warned meghna.

"koi kuch nahi kahega usse, sab tujhe galat samjhenge. Tune aur kuch kiya hota, rape ka illzam bhi laga dete.." scolded meghna.

"maa, main aisa.." attempted kavin to defend.

"beta, gaon waalon ne bhi maan liya tha ek second mein ki tune mardiya uss ladke ko. Yahan bhi ek second mein maan lenge, jab tujhpe koi aisa illzam lagayega. Bade hain humse, unki baatein maani jaati hai." Warned meghna, as kavin put his head down.

"kavin, main dobara shayad na bhaag paon..." confessed meghna, with teary eyes.

"maa.." attempted kavin to comfort her.

"tere papa ko kho diya hai, tujhe khone waali thi, sach mein kho diya toh pata nahi beta main kya kar baithungi.." admitted meghna.

Kavin hugged his mother, as she teared up in his arms.

"naubat nahi aayegi, maa." Stated kavin.

He remembered that he had to keep his word, there's so much his mother had it in her to take.

***

Purvi, happy to see love blossoming between ishyant, but even at her most optimist side, she couldn't ignore her past and the fact that history could very much repeat itself.

Neelu opened the room to purvi's door.

"purvi, bhaiya do baar bulane aaye, khaane kyun nahi aa rahi ho?" questioned neelu.

"bhook nahi hai mujhe.." responded purvi.

Neelu sighed in disbelief, as she closed the door behind her, walked to purvi, and sat beside her on the bed.

"toh, kya plan the tumhare aur kavin ke? School ke baad ek hi college, phir woh graduation ke baad job dhondega, aur tumhari graduation tak shaadi.." questioned neelu, as purvi looked at her as if her mind was being read.

"plan bura nahi tha, but ek baat tumne sochi nahi hogi. Pata hai, kavin apne school mein pehla SC ladka hai jisne board mei highest score kiya pure school mein. Uske baad bhi, kai baar teachers just assumed woh koi reservation pe aaya hai, teen-chaar teachers ne usse jaan-buchke fail kiya..aur baaki name-calling uske liye roz ki baat hai. Yeh sab, jab woh itna talented hai." Recounted neelu, as purvi looked down.

"beta, jitna yeh log kehte hain ki kaise reservations ke kaaran, inke "merit" waale bachon ko admission nahi milta, inn logon se yeh bhi bardasht nahi hua, ki woh hi ladka, inke bachon se zayda marks le aaya. Aur yeh sab woh puri zindagi jhelega, log aage badhne hi nahi denge usse. Aisi hi uski community gareeb nahi hai, society nahi gareeb rakha unhe." Explained neelu.

"tum ek achi society mein rehti ho, ac kamra mila hai bachpan se, kahi jaane ke liye gadi hai...bahaut mehnat ki hai tumhare papa aur maine tumhe aisa lifestyle dene ke liye. Kavin ke saath, yeh life kabhi nahi milegi tumhe. Trust me, tumhare bhale ke liye hi hai." Assured neelu, as she got up.

"tumhare bhaiya toh le hi aayenge tumhare liye khaana baad mein, khaa lena." Stated neelu, as she closed the door and left.

Meanwhile, a tear rolled down purvi's eye.

                                                                  ***

 author's note: well, the mystery of why kavin and meghna had to run from moga remains, but you all can still judge whether neelu and sameer were right, with what we know for now. so, tell me what do you think. also, the chapter raises a lot of questions, will kavi correct the mistakes of their past by fighting for their love, this time?  will ishyant suffer the same fate? will there be new problems this time? what do you think is going to happen?