Dia frowned before crossing her arms. She was sitting on a sofa resting her back on the armrest. Her new phone was resting on the sofa in front of her. Anya entered the living room after a few minutes. Dia was ready to strike. "I." She said loudly.  Anya looked at her which made her nervous. "Your sim! I totally forgot about it." Dia shook her head but before she could say a word Anya left the room. In less than a minute, she returned with a sim card in her hand.

"Di," Dia said when Anya picked up the phone. "I don't need a phone. Nani will come back in a few days."

"Yeah, but this isn't just for that. We all have phones. I felt it was not fair that you don't have it. I felt guilty."

Dia shook her head. "No."

"Having a phone has many advantages. This will be your source of entertainment while I am not home. You get bored, don't you?" Dia shook her head again. "And it's done. I will save everyone's number for you."

"I don't want it."

"But I want you to have it. You will love it I am sure."

"But."

"Which all apps do you want?"

"I do not want any apps. I do not want this phone. I am content the way my life is. I do not want you to do anything more for me. You have already done a lot. More than I could have asked for. And you are feeling guilty. For what!? You should be the one who should feel anything but guilty. Feel proud of yourself. This is suffocating me. Your constant love and care. I feel pathetic. I am twenty-seven and my cousin is paying for everything. Do you know how that makes me feel? It makes me feel like a very small person. It makes me feel like I am a loser. A stupid loser who cannot do anything for herself." Samar was frowning by the time. "I really wanted to tell her that. But I could not. I don't know what was holding me back. I felt someone was covering my face. As if someone was controlling me. And what's more annoying is that I said everything here at the wrong place to the wrong person! I am such an idiot!" She rested her head on the table. 

"It is good that you said it somewhere."

"What is the point in that?"

"The point is you got it out of your system.  That is a good thing."

"But why did I say everything here and not to her? I do not understand that."

"Because you needed it to get out of your mind. And talking to Anya is difficult."

She frowned. "How? I have known her all my life. She is my sister and I cannot talk to her. But I can talk to you. That is so frustrating."

"I can understand that it is. But the silver lining here is that you talked. You said what you felt. Even if to the wrong person."

"What is the point?"

"The point is, you and I we both realised that you can talk. That you can express. You started expressing yourself again." Samar smiled. "That is something to celebrate."

Dia leaned back in her chair. "I don't know."

"You don't have to know." Dia sighed. "Anything else you would like to get out of your mind?" Dia shook her head. "Then ready to leave?" She bobbed her head.  "OK. I have some news for you then. Anya left for work."

She leaned forward again. "What?"

"Yeah. She had an urgent meeting so she left."

"Leaving me all alone?"

"She said she is sorry. She left you the keys and some money to go back home."

"I will stay here. When she comebacks from the office we will go together."

"She won't be here until nine. That is almost twelve hours."

"It is OK."

"It is not. I didn't want to tell you but I have another appointment and his name is Aman." Dia looked up at him instantly. "And he said he was a lawyer. I am not sure if he is your husband but we cannot take a risk, can we?"

Dia stood up. "What will I do now?"

"Book a taxi and go home. That's the safest place to be, isn't it."

"Alone? How will I go?"

"It is not that difficult. You install the app and book a taxi. When it arrives you tell them a number that is on your app and get in. Then you say nothing and in no time you will reach home. Pay him and run home. Simple." Dia looked at him in disbelief.

"It is not that simple! Can you please come with me?"

"I am at work, Dia."

"It won't take a lot of time."

"I cannot cancel my appointments. Those people make time to meet me. And it is their time to express and feel better.  We cannot take that away."

"How will I go then?"

"I will say the procedure again. Install the app." Dia turned around and left the room. She did not want to hear that again. She was in the waiting area when she sensed some moment outside the main door. She quickly went back in. "Is it Aman?" She asked as soon as she closed the door.

"No, his appointment still has some time."

She frowned and looked away."What should I do?"

"Download the app." Dia looked up at him in surprise. When he smiled she knew he was not going to help. She felt tears forming in her eyes. "You can do this Dia. It is not difficult. You have done this before. You can do it again. Sit down." She obediently followed.  "Let's do one thing at a time. Take out your phone." She frowned. "Come on. Give me your phone." Dia slowly pulled out her phone from the pocket of her burkha and extended it to Samar. "Do you know how to download apps?" She slowly nodded her head. "Great. Download the app then. Do you know which app to download?" She nodded softly. "Great! Go ahead and do it." Dia could not escape it and had to download the app. Then she booked a taxi for herself. It arrives in ten minutes much to Dia dismay. She did not want to leave.

"Aman's appointment is not too far. You do not have time." Samar said which made Dia stand up. "I will walk you out." Dia was walking very slowly. She wanted to stay with Samar for as long as possible but she also wanted to be home safely. Once she was in the taxi Samar closed the door and smiled when she looked at him. When the taxi started moving Dia wanted to stop it. She did not want to be all alone. But she could not gather the courage to do that. Samar smiled again when the taxi disappeared. "She will be fine," He said.

"If anything happens to her I will kill you," Anya threatened before crossing her arms.

"She will be fine. She needs to learn how to be alone."

"But it is too early," Anya argued.

"No, I think she is ready."

"She must be terrified."

"That she is. But she needs to face her fears."

Anya sighed. She looked at him when she remembered something. "Aman really has an appointment with you?"

"No. But I wish he had." She looked at him. "He needs help, too."

Anya frowned. "No, he does not! I am sure he is having the time of his life."

"Come on Anya. He lost his wife."

"As if he cared about her."

"Maybe he didn't. But he lived with her for five years. It cannot be easy to live without her."

"Why are you taking his side?"

"I am not talking anyone's side. I am just saying what I think."

"Well, then stop thinking!" She exclaimed before she started walking.

"I need to talk to you about something. Call me later."

"I will never call you again."

"As if that ever happened."

"It will happen this time," Anya whispered while getting in an auto rickshaw.  Samar watched her leave and then shook his head. Once Anya's auto rickshaw was out of his sight he went back to work. He decided to call and check on Dia in half an hour. Dia was fine, except for her heart that was beating very fast. She felt lonely and unsafe. She thought something would harm her. Tears were in her eyes but did not flow. She was praying it doesn't. A sudden buzz of her phone caught her attention. She unlocked it and saw a message from an unknown number on WhatsApp. She opened the chat box to read what was written.

Hello!
How are you?
Khadijah here.

A tear escaped Dia's eyes. She quickly wiped it and started replying.

Thank God you are here.
I am all alone.

Why?
Where are you?
Where is Anya di?

I am in a cab. She is in the office.

Where are you going?

Home.

How far are you from home?

I don't know. Fifteen minutes maybe.

That's very less.
Fifteen minutes will pass in no time.
You keep talking to me.

OK

Dia was anxiously waiting for Khadijah to reply but for almost a minute there was no message.

Tell me, what did you have for breakfast?

We left very early. Did not have any time to eat or cook.

Aw!
Go home and eat something.
Who cooks at home?

Nani

And now that she is not there?

Once we had left over and once we ordered.

And today?

Dia thought for a moment.

I don't know.

You cook!
Anya di will be home late. You have to cook lunch so cook dinner as well.

I think.

Do one thing, go home and go through your kitchen. Then decide what you are making.

Ok.

How long before you reach home?

Dia looked up and observed her surroundings for a moment. Then she looked back at her phone and typed five minutes.

OK.
Almost there.
Where did you go?

Therapy.

Ohh.
We are on our way. I am so excited. I have never been on a vacation.

Never?

Never. As a family without a father, it was difficult to do normal things.

On the mention of father Dia could not stop herself from thinking about her father. She had never spent a day without talking to him. But since she went to the hospital, daily changed to a few days, then weeks and now it had been months. She was angry, she was upset but talking to him made her feel better. She wished she could do that again, but this time her anger was bigger than her love.

Did you reach home?

Khadijah's message brought her back. She looked up.

Entering the building.

Yay. Now, quickly pay and go home. Message me once you reach home.

Dia nodded as a reply. Soon the car stopped in front of her building. She paid the driver and quickly ran up to their flat. There were no watchmen which made it easy for her to reach home without any questions. Once she was inside the house she closed the door and locked it. She stood at the same place for a long time. She felt emotional and lonely. She had not felt like that since her day one in the hours when Anya went to work without telling her. She wiped her tears as she walked to the bedroom. She laid down on the bed. Her eyes were wide open and her mind was lost. Occasionally tears made their appearance. She did not know when she fell asleep. She woke up after three hours. Her phone was ringing which was in her pocket. She sat up straight and removed the niqab. Then she pulled her phone out. For convenience, Anya had saved everyone's number so Dia knew it was Samar calling. She answered the call but said nothing.

"Hello. Dia?"

"Hm."

"When did you reach home? I called you twice before but you never answered. Are you fine?"

"Yeah."

"What were you doing?"

"Sleeping." She said before yawning.

"OK. Call Anya. She is worried too."

"Hm."

"Bye. Take care."

Dia disconnected the call. She found out she had nine missed calls. Two from Samar and seven from Anya. She quickly called her without delay. She knew Anya was about to burst and she did. After a very long session of scolding and apologising she said bye to her cousin.  She slowly dragged herself out of the room to the kitchen. She was hungry by then. There was nothing on the kitchen counter. She checked the fridge but found nothing much. She took a deep breath and sat on the floor as she went through all the containers and made a mental note of what was there and what was about to get finished. She again checked the fridge. Then she typed everything that she wanted and sent it to her cousin. There were not many things available. Dia took it as a challenge. In less than an hour, her lunch was ready. She sat for a while, then ate her lunch and next talked to Khadijah for a long time. Khadijah kept sending her videos and pictures.  Around seven in the evening she decided to start preparing for dinner. For the next hour, she worked on their dinner. She did not get distracted and enjoyed every bit of it. When Anya came home around nine, Dia did not notice her. But Anya did. She came into the kitchen and could not stop herself from raising her eyebrows.

"Wow." She lifted the carry bag that she was holding. "I got everything you asked me to bring."

"Thank you."

" What are you doing?"

"Cooking."

"That's very sweet of you. Thank you."

Dia frowned as that made her angry. She let it go and kept working. Anya went to her room and got fresh. By the time she came back dinner was on the table. Anya did not waste a second and sat to eat. "Yum. This is so good." Dia sat next to her. "You know I always wondered why you decided to become a chef. Now, I know. Because you are just too good at it. That was a very wise choice."

"You never had my food before?"

"Never! How many times did we meet after you went to college? We never got a chance."

"Oh."

"It's so good!" Anya could not stop praising her cousin. Even after the meal and until she fell asleep she was praising her cousin. Dia did not take her seriously because she did not believe her. Anya always praised her and never said anything that would upset her. Dia could not say when she was being honest when she was being nice.

"You made me tiffin?" Was the first thing Anya said the next morning. Dia nodded her head.  "Aw. You are the greatest."

"You are getting late." Dia reminded her.

"Yeah, bye!"

Anya was happy that day. What Dia did was nothing big for others. But for Anya, it was a massive change. Since Dia came to her house, she did whatever she was told to. When asked to stand she stood up. When asked to eat she ate. When asked to sleep she slept. She did nothing on her own. She followed the orders given to her. So when Dia did something on her own Anya could not stop beaming with pride and happiness. She thought everything would be fine soon. Just some food made Anya think that things were about to change for good. But when do things change without a hurricane?