Ishita slided the door open quietly, as she got inside the house by tip-toeing, not making any noise. Her glance fell on savita, who had already fallen asleep on the floor, where she must have sat waiting for her. Ishita carefully closed the door shut, trying not to make any noise. But the best of her efforts failed to accomplish her goal, as a loud thud of the door upon closing, had awakened savita.

"ishita?" called savita, as ishita sighed in disbelief.

"sorry maa, woh auto hi nahi mila kaafi der..." informed ishita.

"arre par tu gayi kahan thi? didi toh keh rahi thi tu toh time pe nikli thi." questioned savita.

"khaana khaane gayi thi, ab tu toh aane nahi waali thi, aur phir mera man bhi nahi tha kuch banane ka.." replied ishita.

"haan, theek hi kiya, mujhe bhi aaj itni sabji nahi mili kisi ghar se...mera hi ho paya.." stated savita.

"chalo, tune toh khaaliya na, ab so jaate hain.. bahaut thak gayi hoon." Said ishita, as she kept her purse aside.

"hmm..." responded savita, who was ready to go to bed too.

***

Purvi glanced at kavin's contact, trying to make her mind to just call him. she looked at the time and realised it had been ten minutes already. She took a deep breath, and dialled the number.

She could hear the ring, but as each one passed, she was starting to regret this already. But the ringing stopped, and a voice came from the other end of the call.

"hello." Received kavin, the call.

"hi..." responded purvi immediately.

"purvi?"confirmed kavin, as if he couldn't really believe it was her.

***

Kavin, immediately sat up on his bed. He checked to see the contact name, and still couldn't believe it was purvi.

"iss samay, sab thik hai?" asked kavin, still confused.

"haan, uhh, woh, so rahe the...disturb kardiya maine?" responded purvi.

"nahi, nahi, uhh, kya hua?" assured kavin.

"kavin, i miss you.." confessed purvi.

Kavin, shocked, felt like he couldn't catch hold of his breath at the moment.

"kavin?" called purvi, to see if he was still there.

"haan, uhh, purvi, yeh sab.." flustered kavin.

"i know, main bas, itne saalon se tumse yeh kehna chahti thi...pata nahi kabhi kaha kyun nahi, par, aaj tumhe dekha aur humari baat hui, main, main nahi rok paayi apne aapko.." replied purvi.

"purvi, i miss you too..." stated kavin.

"but, purvi, hum jinn reasons ke kaaran saath nahi hai, woh badle nahi hai..." reasoned kavin.

"badal sakte hain, main taiyaar hoon mere maa-baap se ladne ko...uss waqt main choti thi, mujhe laga ki mere maa-baap joh mere liye keh rahe hain wahi sahi hoga, par, kavin, tumse baat karke ek baat saaf ho gayi...woh galat the. Aaj tumhe dekh ke mujhe samajh aaya, that, i am not as happy as i could be with you.." protested purvi.

"purvi, baat itni simple nahi hai.." declined kavin.

"kavin, ismein itna complicated kya hai!" exclaimed purvi.

"purvi, meri majbooriyan hai, main, main chahke bhi nahi saath ho sakta tumhare.." insisted kavin.

"par kyun?" questioned purvi.

"purvi, tumhare papa, hai kuch unke paas mere baarein mein...aur agar unhe iss baar pata chal gaya, toh woh do second nahi sochenge, usse use karne se pehle..." stated kavin.

"kavin.." called purvi.

"meri maa ki zindagi, meri zindagi, khatre mein pad jayegi purvi...i am sorry, but i can't.." hung up kavin on the call.

Teary-eyed, for the second chance he couldn't take.

***

Purvi kept her phone aside, as she quietly stared into the dark. There were no tears today, just pure fury in her eyes. Her fingers had formed a fist, as her fingernails sunk deep into her skin. She glanced at the family photo on the nightstand by her bed, she smashed it on the floor with a single blow. The glass from the frame, shattered into pieces. Her gaze was fixed on her father, god, will he have to pay!

***

Ishita and dushyant, seated on dushyant's bike, far away from the line around a van, as people one by one, received their plate. (guys, joh bhi delhi se hain, aapne kabhi dekhi hai aaj kal aisi vans jahan se tikki, chicken, vagera milta tha? Kyunki maine bhi aakhri baar aise bachpan mein khaaaya tha..)

"mujhe laga nahi tha abhi bhi aisi vans hoti hongi.." said ishita, as she took a bite from her plate.

"haan, ab bahaut kam hai..woh meri birthday ki treat yahi deta tha purvi aur kavin ko.." informed dushyant.

"hmm, phir woh bhi band kardi...." remarked ishita.

"haan, kavin aur purvi saath aane ko taiyaar kahan hote the...kavin ko toh mess mein hi party de deta hoon phir..." responded dushyant.

"usse food poisoning kehte hai, party nahi..." retorted ishita.

"arre, tum bhi kitna underestimate karti ho humein, itne saalon se wahan khaa rahe hain,ab toh zehar se bhi body pe koi asar nahi padega.." quipped dushyant.

"waise, purvi ne bataya tha mujhe, kavin aur uske saath jo hua..i just couldn't believe uncle-aunty aise honge.." stated ishita.

"mera maa-baap ko toh rehne hi do, i am happy tumhari aur purvi ki dosti ho gayi...i was always worried for her, uske kabhi itni friends bhi nahi the..atleast tumse toh baat karti hai." Expressed dushyant his concern.

"woh itni achi hai, stupid honge, unse dosti nahi karna chahte honge." Remarked ishita, as dushyant chuckled.

"dushyant?" asked ishita, in a relatively serious tone, as he paid close attention.

"yeh bas ek thank-you hi haina?" confirmed ishita, as dushyant nodded in agreement.

"bura mat manna, but, main kaam karti hoon, aapke parents ke liye. Ek line hai humare beech, joh cross nahi honi chahiye." Clarified ishita.

"i know..." replied dushyant reluctantly.

If only their words could match the gazes they had fixed on each other.

Dushyant still could hear her words echoing in his head, but they were nothing, compared to how strongly his heart was racing when he was around her.

It was inevitable, that these words would be forgotten.

***