“What are you talking Anya? “ Kabir was the first one to speak.  Anya ignored him and quickly dialed her mother’s number.  After two rings her mother picked up the call.  “Ma what do you mean!?" She frowned. "What is that suppose to mean?" She frowned deeper. "How? " Her eyeballs moved from left to right couple of times. "Mummy! Hello?  Ma! “ Before anya could say anything further her mother disconnected the call.  She kept looking at the screen,fear evident in her eyes. 

“What happened? “ Himani enquired.

"She is not at home. She did not return home.  The last time someone saw her was in the afternoon. Yesterday."

"Maybe she went to a friend's house? "

" She said they checked everywhere. "

“She must be somewhere safe." Kabir stood up from his chair." We should go now and check everywhere." Anya did not reply to anyone and left the room abruptly.  They all watched her go. They stayed glued to their seats.  Ali looked at Kabir and then at Himani and then back to Kabir. “You look sick." Ali said to Kabir.

"Are you blaming yourself?" Himani asked.

"Why will he blame himself? Ali was confuse.

“She would have not gone missing if Anya had gone to meet her. “ Kabir said.

“You wanted best for Anya. It is not like you did not let her go because you wanted Dia to go missing. “ Himani tried to help her friend.

“Who knows that message was from Dia or someone else? I am sure Anya is not blaming you. “ Ali said.

“But I will. “ Kabir said before he left the cafeteria.

Once he was gone Himani looked at Ali and said, “I will go and check on Anya. You do the same with him. “

“Sure.”

As decided they both went different ways to two different friends.  But they could not find their friends. Anya had already taken permission to leave and was out of the office even before Himani could reach her desk.  Kabir on the other hand was no where near his desk, or in men’s room,  terrace or anywhere else on their floor. But his stuff was still on his desk. Ali tried calling but there was no response.   Ali looked for him for an hour before giving up. Kabir was quietly sitting on the stairs of  twentieth floor.  It was a huge building so no one used stairs. It was mostly empty. Ali did not think he could be there so he missed him.  Anya on the other hand went straight to her parent’s house, but it was lock. She found out they were at her uncle’s house so she went there.  But she regretted going there as soon as she reached there.

Anya frowned,  trying to control her anger. Her whole dad’s side of the family was present.  Her aunt was crying continuously and her uncle was talking to someone on the phone.  Everyone was trying to consoling them, but Anya wasn’t.  She did not feel sorry for them.  She was angry at them. Her aunts tears did not make her feel bad or sympathise her. More tears were resulting in more anger.

“Where would be my Dia?  Where is Dia? “ Her aunt cried. 

“She will be fine.  I’m sure she is safe.” Anya raised her eyebrows when her mother said that before taking her aunt’s hand in hers. Anya did not understand what happened to them suddenly.  All their lives they had issues with each other. She thought of how her mother always had something to complain about her aunt. How her mother always reminded her of how her aunt made her cry and how she never respected her.  It was equal on both the sides.  Even her aunt wasn’t a big fan of her mother.  They both had their own reasons to dislike each other and Anya always thought they both were justified in their own way. Now when they were being so nice to each other, Anya wanted to laugh.  It did not suit them. 

“Where is that bastard? “ Anya’s father asked. He looked very angry, just like her uncle.  In fact they both looked very similar.  She never realised they looked so similar to each other before. Anya was the only one who was thinking how similar her father looked to his brother.  All the others were either crying or cursing that evil demon. Her dad’s sister keep calling him that. She liked the word and she was going to use it. Often.

“What did the police say? “ Her dad’s sister asked.  Those words brought her back to their world.  Police?  She had completely forgotten about the police. She was impatiently waiting for her uncle to answer.  He was broken and scared.  His only daughter was missing for more than twenty four hours and he could not get himself to focus on anything or listen to others. It was only after Anya's father asked the question again when he answered.

“Right now they are checking her house.”

“They will arrest him? “ Anya sounded more excited than upset.  Her mom widened her eyes at her, telling her to behave.  Anya frowned before looking down at her fingers.

“I don't think so. We did not talk about domestic violence. It's just a missing complaint.” Her aunt replied.

“What!?  Why not!” Anya was very angry now.

“Because Dia did not want to go to the police.  She said she was scared of that.”

“She was scared of him! Chachu. “ She looked at her uncle. “Why didn’t you tell the police about that? “

“We told the police about that. Not everything but a hint." Her uncle tried to calm her down."We just told them to find Dia first.”

“Is he that powerful? Is he blackmailing you? “ Anya could not stop herself from asking. Her uncle did not reply which made her eyes big “ I don’t believe this!  How can you all let him do this?  How? “

“Anya we can talk about that later. “ Her mother stopped her. 

Anya rolled her eyes, still finding it difficult to believe what was happening. She turned around as she did not want to look at her family. 

“I should go and look for her. “ He uncle said before standing up

“I will come with you. “ Anya’s father said.

“I am going home.” Anya announced.

“Anya! “Her mother scolded her.

“What?  You all should go home too. We were supposed to take action when she was in the hospital.  I don’t believe everyone was quiet then!  She ran away because she didn’t have any other choice. But we had a choice.  We could have helped her.  Chachu you could have helped her.  Why did you do that to her? “

“Anya enough now.” Her father warned her. 

“I’m going. “ She declared before leaving the house.  She wanted everyone to know that she was angry.  But could not stop thinking that maybe that outburst made her family, especially her uncle feel more upset and guilty.  But he should feel that,  she thought.  She was blaming him and her aunt for everything.  She was also blaming her cousin.  And she was angry at all of them.  But she was still biased towards her cousin and was not mean to her like she was to her uncle and aunt.

About an hour ago Himani had called Anya to ask how things were and she told her that Kabir was missing.  They did see him after some time in office, but that was it.  When he left the Office and where he went was uncertain. Anya called Ali few minutes ago to ask about Kabir, but Ali had no idea where he was. Anya was not in a mood to go home so she thought of looking for Kabir for some time.  She took an auto and went to Mini seashore.  Like the name suggested it was a small seashore. Around it was a jogging track and it had a big old playground in front of it.  It was a crowded place and although Anya never liked being in a crowded place she could not hate this place. It had too many childhood memories to be hated.

Anya paid the auto driver and started walking.  She had not decided where to go so she kept walking where her legs took her.  She climbed the stairs and started walking on the jogging track.  She looked at the Arabian ocean on her right.  She could hardly see anything as it was past sunset. But the street lights were doing their work.  She kept walking slowly. There were many people there.  Families having a good evening together,  friends laughing at each other, senior citizens walking with friends they had known for their whole life and kids running with the friends they just met.  It was a lively place.  Anya on the other hand was dead and did not fit in that place.  But anya was not the only dull thing there.  Kabir was more dull than Anya that night. He was sitting alone, facing the water.  He wasn’t looking at it. He was lost in his thoughts.  Without disturbing him she sat next to him but far away. Two people could easily fit between them. Anya looked at Kabir. He looked upset but he also looked calm. She did not want to disturb him.  She sat there quietly without making her presence known. It was only after twenty minutes that Kabir looked up and saw her.

“What are you doing here? “ He asked at once.

“I thought you will never notice me. “

“How long have you been here? “

“Ten -fifteen minutes. “

“why didn’t you say something? “

“Because I wanted some time to think.“

“Think what? “

“That maybe I should have kept quiet. I lashed out at my uncle and aunt. I mean I surely think that was something someone should have told them, but maybe it wasn’t the right time.  Or maybe it was.  I don’t know.”

“They already knew what you said. They know you are right. Pointing out will only make you bad in front of everyone.  Also when a person is suffering you don’t remind them why they are suffering. “

Anya raised her eyebrows.“I did not think like that. “

“Hmm.”

Anya looked at him. “ Don’t hmm me.  Here is where you will start scolding me. “

“Hmm.”

Anya frowned. “what is wrong with you? “

“Nothing.”

She shook her head.“Ali said you are blaming yourself. “

“Who else can you blame? “

“Her good for nothing husband! “

“That is another story.  If I had not convinced you to ignore it you would have gone there and maybe things would have been better.  How come you are not mad at me? “

“Because I know your intentions were pure.  I won’t lie. I was angry ,but it is not your fault.  You did try to convince me, but it was my decision after all.  It was my decision to get influenced by you.  Water is always in the sea.  You sink when it gets in the boat. “Kabir looked up at her which made her shake her head.  “I am not saying you are evil or something. That was just an example. “

“Okay.”

“We cannot change anything now. It’s not worth blaming anyone.  At least not the people who you know are always there for you. “

“But it’s not about you or me. It’s about Dia. Where she is and how she is? That is what I am worried about. I don't mind if you blame me or being yourself, kill me.  But it is driving me crazy that an innocent person is suffering. “

“What is done is done."

“You are surprisingly calm. “

“I am as surprised as you are. " She paused to take a breath." Forget about what we did. Let’s think how we can control the damage. “

“Yeah, let’s think that. “ His voice suddenly had some enthusiasm.  “Let’s go and look for her.  I will do whatever it takes to bring her back.  I am sure there is a way.  We can still help her! “

Anya nodded her head. “I am sure there is a way.  Let’s look for that way. “

“Yeah!!  Let’s go and look for her! “ he stood up instantly. “Come.”

“Do you know where to start?”

“No.”

“Then are we just going to look for her at random places? “

“Ah.”

“We need a plan. “

“Plan!” He sat down again.  “let’s plan. What is the plan? “

“Calm down.  We cannot plan like this.  We need a plan just like how business makes a plan.  Planning, organising,  controlling. Let’s not forget that. “

“You are right. We know how to make a plan.  We can do this. “

“We can. But not today. “

“It has been more than twenty four hours.  She must be starving. “

“She must also have a plan Kabir or she would have been home by now.  She is still missing that means she planned well. “

“But what if she is in trouble.  We cannot sit here quietly.”

“We cannot start working without proper knowledge and a plan. That will just lead to wastage of resources.  Optimum utilisation of resources is one of the core ingredients of a business plan,  remember? “

He frowned. “She is not a business. She is a person.”

“Do you know where to start from?  You think you can find her? “

“I can definitely find her!  I just don’t know where to start from. “

“Then go home and sleep.“ He opened his mouth to protest.  “I will work the whole night to find a way.  I know her, so I guess I should do the thinking job.  You do the manual job. Okay? “

He thought about it for some time.  He was frowning and trying his best to find a better way, but he could not think of anything. “Fine.”

“Good. Let’s go home now.  We will start early in the morning tomorrow.“

“Deal.”

“Kabir.” He looked up at her.  “Don’t be too harsh on yourself.  You did not do anything.”

“I will try. “

Anya and Kabir headed home separately.  They could have gone together, but they both needed some time to think and be alone.  Their topic of thoughts were same, but their thoughts were different. Anya's thoughts were jumbled and mazed. She could not decide anything.  It was making her angry. She decided to give her brain some break. Over the years Anya had achieved quite a few things,but the ability to shut her brain and to forget things for a while was something she was proud of.

 Around an hour later she was opening the door of her flat. She came in the living room and closed the door behind her.  Switching on the light she started to walk towards the sofa.  She was keeping her bag on it when she heard some noise. She felt as if someone was walking in her room. She looked at the door which was close.  “Nani? “ she called her grandmother, but there was no response.  She remembered that her Nani went to her uncle’s house.  She kept the bag on the sofa and went to the kitchen.  She was drinking water when she realised that she was all alone.  That noise did not make sense. She head something falling this time.  She kept the bottle on the kitchen counter and went to her room.  She slowly opened the door. It was dark, but she could see something unusual.  She switched on the light and what she saw made her gasp loudly.