I am really tired so I can not promise you a well edited chapter. But I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Goodnightttt. Sweet dreammssss. Take careeeee

Enjoy:)

"Sit."

Anya nodded her head and sat down on the chair across from her uncle. She was nervous and was not sure how long she would be able to lie. She was afraid of spelling the beans not because he was her uncle but because he was angry. Though he was calm and talking softly to her, his face said another story. A story she was terrified to read.

"Will you eat something?" She shook her head in a no. He nodded his head before resting his arms on the table. "I am sorry for what happened. I warned him not to come."

"It is not your fault."

"He said he heard you say something about Dia."

"We were talking about what to buy for dinner. I said Dia likes paneer so I will buy that and he has not stopped asking questions since."

"Why did you say that?"

Her heart started beating faster. "I have been thinking about her a lot. She has not left my mind." She looked down before pressing her lips together.

"Oh. I told him you know nothing. But that man listens to no one. I will make sure he does not bother you again."

"Thank you. How are you?"

He nodded his head. "Fine."

"How's Chachi?"

"Worried. She still cries but less."

"Tell her everything will be fine. I am sure Dia will be back soon and I am sure she is fine wherever she is."

"I pray for that."

Anya smiled. "Would you like to have something?"

"No, I am fine."

"But we came to a cafe. You should have something. Don't worry. I make enough money for two coffees."

He smiled. "I am glad you do. But I must go home. I come here directly from my office. I am tired."

"He came to your office to talk about me?"

"No, he called me. I sensed he would do something stupid so I came to check."

"Oh. Why is he acting like that? Suddenly he is worried about her?"

"He has been acting like that since Dia went missing."

"Really? I saw him at a mall couple of weeks ago and he seemed fine to me."

"He is unpredictable. Could not predict him back then cannot do that now ." Anya looked down. She did not like that she was the reason for his sadness. "I will leave now."

"I should leave too. Even I am getting late for home."

"How do you travel?"

"I take the train. Then I take a bus."

"Oh."

"How will you go home?" She asked her uncle.

"I got my car. I will drop you at the station."

"Thank you."

Dia tried to talk to her uncle to make him feel better. She was feeling guilty for making him sad. She felt like she did something wrong. The journey from the cafe to the station was just ten minutes long but it felt longer. She soon said bye to her uncle. For the whole journey, her mind was not at peace. Her uncle's face kept appearing in her mind.

She was angry and resentful towards him. She did not believe he allowed Dia to go back to that house. He should have done something, She always though. She blamed him for Dia's condition. But today when she met him her mind and heart did not agree on the same thing. Her mind said it was his fault and he should have seen that coming. While her heart said to sympathise him.

"What happened?" Dia asked when she saw Anya's long face.

"Nothing," She said before dropping herself on the sofa. Dia knew she was lying but she also knew Anya was not going to tell her what happened. So she went to the kitchen and brought some water for her.

"Thank you," Anya said. She kept the bottle on her stomach and sighed. Dia sat next to her. "Did something happen?"

"Something."

Dia nodded her head but didn't ask her what happened. The events of the day started playing in Anya's mind. She was quietly watching it until her uncle's face appeared again. She closed her eyes.

"What happened?" Dia asked again.

"Dia." Anya looked at her. "Did you ever think about meeting your parents?"

Dia frowned. "Why? Something happened?"

"No, nothing happened. But I was thinking maybe you can get in contact with them. Just them. I am sure they won't tell him."

"No!"

"Dia they won't "

"No!"

"Why?"

"I don't want to meet them."

"They will feel relieved Dia. They are really worried."

"No! I don't want to see them."

"Why?" Anya was annoyed now.

"Because I don't want to." Dia stood up and left the room.

Anya frowned. "Dia?"

She closed the door with a bang. Anya widened her eyes. She did not see that coming. She didn't know how Dia would react but she did not think she would be that angry. Dia did not leave the room after that. Anya tried her best to bring her out and make her eat something but failed. Before she could force Dia to eat, Dia fell asleep. Anya sat alone for a long time and thought about their situation. She understood Dia's outburst. She knew what made her angry. And Anya did not want to upset her. Her mind played a seesaw between Dia and her father. They both were upset because of her. Anya hated that. She was afraid that Dia would be angry the next morning. But the next morning Dia was normal and she also said she wanted to meet Samar. Anya said she would ask Samar if he was available to which she replied that she had already asked Samar. Dia managed to surprise Anya twice in less than twelve hours. But the second surprise shocked Anya.

Samar laughed. "You closed the door at her face?"

"No, she was sitting in the living room."

He laughed again. "Still funny."

Dia frowned. "What is funny?"

"Anya is someone who would do something like that. So when someone did that to her, I enjoyed it." She frowned deeper. He smiled once again before saying, "You feel bad?"

"Of course. It is something to be sad about."

"It is. What upset you the most?"

"Everything. That my parents left me alone. That I am running from them. That I am so angry at them. And that Anya di didn't understand me."

Samar raised his eyebrows. "Out of everyone out there, I don't think anyone else can understand you as Anya can. She has been the mayor of parental issue committee all her life."

"No, she doesn't understand me. That's why she asked me to meet them."

"Just because she asked you to do something doesn't mean she does not understand you. She was probably just thinking about them. Your parent must be worried."

"They should have been worried earlier."

Samar observed her for a moment. "You are very angry with your parents."

"How can I not? They left me all alone."

"They didn't send you there at the gunpoint."

"They didn't even tell me to go home with them. They advise me to give him another chance and go home with him. You know what happened that night. Do you?"

He looked down and blinked a couple of times. It was quiet for some time before he asked, "Do you hate them?"

"I am angry. Very angry."

"I guess that's justified." She crossed her arms. "Tell me." She looked at him. "How did you meet at Aman?" She exhaled deeply. "You don't want to talk?"

She shook her head. "My mother found him. She seems to know everyone. She met his mom through a common friend. When she visited their house and met him she thought he was the one."

"So she initiated it?"

"No, she just thought. It was his mother who sent a proposal."

"She had seen you before?"

"Yeah. Once or twice."

"OK. Then what happened?"

"Our parents arranged our meeting. We met a couple of times. Liked each other. Before something big could happen we were married."

"By something big you mean" Before Samar could complete the sentence she said., "Do something that would make me see his real face."

"Right." He shook his head. "You agreed to marry him with your own free will?"

She nodded her head. "I really liked him." She paused for some time. She didn't know where the conversation was heading, but for the first time, she felt like talking. "He was a nice man back then. A gentleman. But." She paused again. "Now that I think about those days I realise he wasn't really a gentleman. It was just me who thought he was."

"A lot of times things are just our illusion. We see them through a glass of lies made up by our own brain."

Dia was quiet for some time. She was absorbing everything in her." That is true. So true."

"Unfortunately. But that is fine because that glass breaks one day and you can see everything clearly."

"By then you have ruined your life."

"You don't ruin your life. You learn a lesson. You will ruin it only if you don't take the valuable aspects of that experience and move forward."

"It's not easy."

"It's not impossible either." Dia looked up at him.  "It may be very difficult. It may take some time. But that is fine. A couple of years from now you will think of all this with a smile on your face. These days will turn into the days of growth and improvement. Have some patience while you keep working on yourself. Remember I can only talk, it is you who can help you."

"How can I help myself? I know nothing."

"By believing in yourself. There is nothing that you cannot do if you will. You have great power in you. It can change everything. All you have to do is believe in that power." Dia looked down at her fingers. She didn't say anything and quietly listened. She did not completely understand what he meant but she felt at ease. Samar observed her for some time before saying, "Think about what I said. But at home. Now let's go back to our usuals. What are we going to talk about today? Stars? Rains? Do you like the rain?"

She nodded her head. "That's good. But I absolutely hate them."

She instantly looked up surprising Samar a little. "You hate something?"

"Yeah. Why are you so surprised?"

"You do not look like you hate things "

Samar smiled."I am a human being. I cannot like everything and everyone. Also, my childhood was mostly spent with Anya, the Goddess of hate. I have to have a big list of hated items." Dia smiled surprising both of them. Samar smiled in response. "So what are we talking about?"

"Water."

"You want to talk about water?"

"No, I want water."

He laughed before passing her a water bottle. "Sorry." She smiled again and took the bottle. "Thank you."

"I want you to do an exercise as homework."

"Exercise? You mean work out?"

"No, but if you can do that it would be great. It will refresh you. It will give you physical pain for sure but trust me it will make you feel better."

"OK."

"But I wasn't talking about that. You have to do something else. But before that do you like ice cream?" Dia nodded her head. "Great! So we will have an ice cream party today. The stop across the street opens early." Samar pulled out his wallet from his pocket. He took a hundred rupee note and extended it to Dia. Absentmindedly she took it from him. "Go and buy any ice creams for us." She instantly dropped the note on the table. "Why me?"

"Because I am tired."

"The day just started."

"It started unexpectedly early for me." Dia frowned. "I woke up early for you. You want me to go and bring ice cream as well." Dia looked at him in disbelief. " No b" She tried to say but Samar was faster. "I really want ice cream. I didn't have my breakfast.'

"Then eat something."

"You will have to go out to bring that too."

"But."

"Put that Niqab on your face again and bring us something. Your face Is all covered. No one can see you. No one will know it's you. You leave your house nowadays to come here. It's the same."

"But I don't talk much."

"But you talk some. Come on go and buy something."

"I don't like you." She murmured while standing up. He heard her and started laughing. "I am fine with that." She felt bad for saying that to him but soon she forgot about it.

How stupid of me. I leave the house alone. I also talk to the taxi driver when necessary. Why did I get scared of this? That was stupid. I get scared of everything.

The last sentence was just a sentence but slowly she realised it was the truth. She got scared often and very easily of anything and everything.

"Ice cream." She said softly.

"Open and take it." The shop owner said.

She took a look at all the ice cream that was there. Her eyes widened in delight. She had not had ice cream in many months and she had just come to the realisation of that. It took her some time to decide. Samar soon started getting worried. He wanted to go out and check but he also wanted her to do it all alone. So he did not let his heart win and followed his brain. After around fifteen minutes Dia came back.

"What took you so long?" He asked calmly.

"I could not decide which one to take." She gave him his ice cream.

"Thank you. You usually take so long to decide?"

She shook her head. "This is my first ice cream this year. I wanted to have it all." She whispered.

Samar chuckled. "That's sweet."

Dia froze for a brief moment. She looked at him and said, "I feel bad. A lot."

"For?" He asked but he didn't look up as he was busy opening the packaging of his ice cream.

"I feel like terrible that someone else is spending money on me. Anya di is spending a lot on me and now you."

Samar looked at her with sympathy. "Sit down," He said softly. She followed him but did not look up. "Anya is helping you for now. Someday you will help her. That's how this world works. We help someone and then they help us when the time comes. So there is no need to feel guilty. Will you do not help her if Anya is in need?"

"Without thinking twice." She looked up before saying that

"That's exactly what she is doing. Feeling guilty will only make her feel bad. She isn't doing all this to make you feel like that. She is doing it to help you. So don't feel guilty. It's just her turn now. Soon it will be your turn to help her."

She nodded her head a couple of times. "I will help her when she needs me. So she can help me now."

"Exactly. Now eat your ice cream without feeling guilty. And it's melting so be quick."

"Thank you. You make me feel good."

"It's melting. Don't ruin my office please." Did laughed before she pulled her ice cream out if it cover. "I still feel bad that you paid for the ice cream."

"Ah. That's nothing to feel bad about. It's not just for anyone. It's for a baby sister I never had."

"Why? You had Anya di."

Samar froze and widened his eyes. He flattened his lips before saying, "I don't think of Anya as my sister."

Dia innocently looked at him. "Then?" Samar raised his eyebrows. He did not know how to explain Dia what he could not explain himself. He pursed his lips this time, thinking what he should say, the truth he knows or the lie Anya was living. Dia suddenly gasped before covering her mouth. Her eyes were wide open almost as if they would come out. Samar shook his head. "Yeah."