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Dia was sipping her coffee slowly. Anya, on the other hand, was working on a report which was due the next morning. She was calling her colleagues constantly and running from one room to another to collect the required materials. Dia was sitting quietly observing her.

"No, I don't want that. Can you check your email? I think I have sent you an email a few weeks ago. Yeah. Check it and call me back. Bye." Anya gently threw her phone on the sofa where Dia was sitting and sat on the floor. Taking the laptop in her hand she started editing her report.

"What are you doing?" Dia asked Anya.

"Working. What are you doing?"

"Coffee. You want some?"

"No, thank you."

"Di."

"Hmm."

"What should I call your." She raised her eyebrows. "Friend?"

"Which friend?"

"Samar?" She whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, he is so much older than me. I cannot call him by his name."

"Hmm. That is right."

"So what should I call him?"

"Whatever you like."

"Sir?"

"No! He is not a sir. He is Samar. A Joker."

"So no sir?"

"No! He isn't a sir. I am sure he won't like it either."

"Bhai?"

"That would work. He is that."

Dia narrowed her eyes. "You like it?"

"Yeah."

"Of course." Dia bobbed her head. "But what if I call him Samar instead?"

"But you didn't want to call him that."

"Yeah, but what do you think?"

"Whatever is fine with you. I don't think he will mind anything."

"You know him well."

"Known him for many years."

"Yeah. Cute."

Anya looked at her. "What's cute?"

"Nothing," She said before standing up and leaving the room.

Anya frowned but soon got distracted by her work. Dia went to their room, trying her best not to smile. She took her phone in her hand and saw Khadijah's message. She smiled and sat down on the bed.

No.
I am very nervous.
Exams are scary.

Dia frowned for a moment.

I am sure you will go great.
Do you know something?

Dia bit her lips. She sent that message out of excitement but she wasn't sure if she was liable to tell anyone about it. She quickly went offline before Khadijah could reply. She looked in the living room and saw Anya who looked worried and tensed, but Dia smiled. Nothing in a long time had made Dia happy. No news was satisfying, not even the news of her unfortunate child. She did not wish to bring a child in a marriage where she was suffocating. Which was why she refrained from telling her husband and before she could tell him the baby was gone. That news didn't make her happy either. It made her more depressed. But now, after many years something made her happy.

"Dia! Are you fine?" Anya asked when the house blacked out suddenly.

"Yeah." She moved the curtains. "It's dark everywhere."

"It's raining. How can electricity stay?" Anya shook her head. "When will this improve? Ah!"

"What happened?" Dia went to her cousin.

"My laptop is about to die." 

"Oh." Dia sat next to her. "Work faster."

"Yeah." Anya started working furiously as she did not want to delay her work. Dia kept herself busy with Instagram. She was stalking a fashion blogger as usual. She did not remember how she landed on that account but she was enjoying it. "What are you doing?" Anya asked.

"Nothing. I like her style." She showed Anya her picture.

"She is so beautiful."

"Yeah."

"I love what she is wearing," Anya said. "If only I had a face like her."

"I had a dress just like that," Dia whispered.

"Really? It looks costly."

"It was."

Anya shook her head when she remembered that Aman was financially better than her and could afford anything. "He gave you money?" Anya could not be quiet.

Dia nodded her head. "He thought giving me money washed away his doing. He once asked me what was making me unhappy. I had all the things I needed. Which was true."

"Humans need care and love more than things." Anya looked up. "Wow, did I just say that?"

Dia smiled awkwardly before her eyebrows raised. "Samar effect."

"Huh?" Anya said but ignored her while Dia smiled. Her smiled started despairing when she saw a name in the comment section. The account owner had replied to her comment which was why her name was highlighted. Dia was well aware of who she was. Without thinking much she clicked on her account while she bit her tongue.

In the first picture, she was sitting on a sofa with a cat in her arms. The second picture was of a window with rain drops on it. The third one was.

"Who is she?"

"Her?" Anya nodded her head. "My sister-in-law."

"Aman's sister?" Dia nodded her head this time. "Wow, she went to Paris."

"Married to an extremely rich doctor."

"Woah. Everyone is rich in the family."

"Yeah."

"Why are you looking at her pictures?"

"Curious."

"She is having a great life?"

"She is always having a great life. She cares about no one."

"No one?"

"Not even her husband."

"Wow."

"She has a good heart."

"I find it difficult to believe."

"No, honestly."

"If you say so. Wait ha, I am almost done." Anya focused on her work and Dia stalked her in-laws. She was afraid of getting caught but she didn't stop. She wanted to know what they were up to.

"Done!" Anya exclaimed and just then her laptop switched off. "And this one is done too." She looked at her cousin. "How are you?"

"Hm."

"Stop going through her account."

"Yeah." Dia locked the phone and dropped it on the sofa.

"You want to sleep?" Dia shook her head. "You find it difficult to sleep without a fan?" Dia nodded her head. "Sad. I can sleep in any condition."

"Go and sleep," Dia whispered.

"Naah. I will stay up for a while."

Dia nodded her head. Anya was quiet for some time thinking about nothing. Darkness was peaceful. She smiled and looked at Dia after few minutes. "You remember we played hide and seek every time this used to happen?"

"You used to hide behind the curtain all the time."

"I don't know why I cannot do anything new."

"You wore the same shirt again and again."

"Same happens now."

"You don't do that now."

"Because I have many clothes. But I can wear the same two dresses all week. And I feel comfortable in that."

Dia looked at her. She could not see her face clearly but she still observed her for a long time.

"Good. I said good," Dia said before crossing her arms.

"What is the problem?" Samar asked.

"Nothing. I just like how carefree she is. She does not care about anyone. How great is that?"

He smiled. " That is great."

"I wish I was like you."

"And there was a time Anya wished she was like you. She wished for your life."

"My life? Why will anyone wish that? I have a horrible life."

"It wasn't six-seven years ago." Did frowned. "Back then, you were in your prime. Correct me if I am wrong, you had a great childhood, you were a good student, your parents and teachers were always happy with you, you had many friends, you were following your dream, you went wherever you wished for with the people you like and enjoyed a lot with your friends, did I say you had many friends? You had cool parents as Anya liked to point out. In all, you had a fun life. Am I wrong?" Dia blinked in disbelief making Samar smile. "You didn't always have a horrible life. You just had a few horrible years. Well, I won't say horrible years but you got me." A sense of guilt and realisation made it's way to Dia. Her eyes were enough to say she was sad. Samar changed the topic to make her feel better.  "Did you do the homework I gave you?" she shook her head softly. " why?"

"I forgot," She whispered.

"OK. Do it now." He opened a drawer and pulled out a paper. "Where is the pen?" He asked himself. Dia pointed to the left of the table. Samar gave her the pen and paper. "Now write five things you are grateful for today."

Dia nodded her head. She quickly wrote the heading.

Things I am grateful for

1.

Then she lifted her pen up in the air. Samar pulled his phone out when it started ringing. "Sorry." He said to Dia before answering it.

"Yeah, Kabir?"

"Where are you?"

"Where will I be at this hour?"

"Ah. No one is at home. I don't have the keys. Where is ma?"

"I don't know. She was talking about meeting her friends in the morning. Maybe there."

"Why is she never at home?"

"Why are you at home?"

"I need something. When will she come back? She is not answering her phone."

"I don't know, Kabir."

"What will I do now!?"

"Reduce your volume maybe."

"I really want to get inside."

"There is one key on the fourth floor with"

"Ok, bye." Kabir didn't let him complete the sentence and disconnected the call.

Samar frowned to show his anger. Kabir had been acting differently and his brother didn't know what was happening which was the cause of the uneasy feeling. His eyes landed on Dia so he kept the phone aside and smiled. "Done?" Dia looked at her paper which made Samar follow her gaze. "Not even one?"

"I don't know what to write."

"OK." He looked up for a moment. "How about this niqab?" Dia's eyebrows raised. She nodded her head before writing it. "Think about today. What helped you?"

"OK." Dia got busy in her thoughts. Samar waited for some time before taking his phone in his hand. He called his mother but it was out of reach. Then he called his brother which he missed. Then he kept the phone on the table and looked at Dia.

"Done?"

"Just a second," Dia said excitedly.

He smiled and shook his head. Just then Kabir called him to which he answered unwillingly. "Got the keys?"

"Yeah."

"Got what you wanted?"

"Yes."

"Good. Where are you?"

"On my way. I will talk to you later. Bye."

"Yeah." Samar disconnected the call before he could and kept the phone aside.

"Done," Dia said as she extended the paper towards him.

"Good. Let's see what you wrote. Burkha, water, sam, taxi driver and Anya di." He smiled when he saw her name. He was worried that Dia would miss her name which was not what he wanted. "Now, explain why you wrote each of them."

Dia nodded her head."Burkha because you know. You pointed it out. Water because I was very thirsty when I came here and you gave me water. It is a blessing."

"It really is. What is sam?" Dia pointed at him. At first, he did not understand but then he started laughing. "Me?" He laughed again. "You call me Sam?"

She shook her head. "I haven't decided what to call you. I cannot take your name. You are senior and also now I know." She looked at him. He blushed slightly before chuckling. "So I cannot call you by your name. And I don't know what to say. Bhai, sir or?"

"Remove sir."

"What do you want me to call you?"

"Anything Will work."

"Bhai for now?"

He chuckled. "Sure."

She smiled. "Done."

He shook his head and looked at the paper again. "So I make you feel grateful?" She nodded her head to which he replied with a wide smile. "Thank you. Can you make your sister say that." Dia covered her lips and giggled. "OK, next. Taxi driver?"

"He smiled at me. It was an old Sardar Ji. He looked sweet."

"That's sweet. A smile can make you feel so much better." She nodded her head again. "Lastly, Anya. So I come before Anya?"

"You just came first in my mind."

"Make sure you tell that to Anya."

"Thinking a lot about her?" Dia bit her tongue. It made her realise that unlike her she was talking a lot. It made her nervous.

"I am always talking about her. It isn't new." She shook her head trying not to smile. "Shh. Why did you write her name?"

"When I said I wanted to meet you she arranged it. And I cannot forget what she has done for me."

"Yeah, we cannot forget her."

"We?" Dia whispered.

"What?" Dia shook her head. "Good list. You have to do this every day and they bring it to me. You will have to explain why you wrote what you wrote." Dia shook her head again. "Now, " before Samar could continue his phone started ringing. It was Kabir again. He knew it would not end on a good note so he left the room.

Dia sat quietly in her thoughts. She was smiling inside thinking about Samar and Anya. They both had been with her when no one else was and she could not think of anything more delightful than their union. She could not wait for that day.

Soon he thought drifted to what Samar told her earlier. For a long period, Dia kept saying and thinking that she had a bad life, an unfortunate and unpleasant one. Samar reminded her of the days she had long forgotten. It made her realise that she did not have an unfortunate life forever. Her days before she met Aman, were not the greatest in the conventional sense, but they were the best she ever had. This realisation made her see to which she was blind earlier.

After five minutes, Dia turned around to see what was keeping Samar engaged. He was having a heated conversation with someone on the phone and it did not escape Dia's notice. She slowly stood up and came out of the room.

"Can I go?" She whispered.

"Yeah. We will talk later. Message me when you reach home." He smiled despite being angry inside.

Dia nodded her head and walked out. Climbing down the stairs brought some memories back. She liked climbing the stairs. While walking up and down she would always count. It was a habit she inherited from Anya. Anya's mother used stairs as the way of teaching her numbers. Anya developed a habit of doing that every time she climbed the stairs. Dia, being the next girl in the family spent more time with her than anyone else. She caught the habit from her. Unlike Anya, she enjoyed being on the stairs. Usually, her father would always stand at the end of it waiting for her. She would slowly climb down while counting the numbers loudly. Once she reached the end, her father would lift her up and spin her. It was the moment Dia loved the most. She had forgotten it but with her family reminding it, again and again, she created a new memory in her mind and cherished it. This memory reminded her that she was once happy. Her life was not the same. She just forgot the good days.

"Hi!" A high pitch voice caught Dia's attention. She looked up and saw Khadijah standing in front of her.

"What are you doing here?"

"That should be my question. You are standing in front of my college." Dia looked around and found herself in a totally new surrounding. She had been lost in her thoughts and did not realise when and where she started walking. "What are you doing here?" Khadija asked.

"Walking?"

"OK. Are you going home?" Dia nodded her head. "Great. We both can take the same bus."

Dia was not sure of that yet nodded her head. "This is your college?"

"Yeah. It's a school plus junior college. I was in the same school and now in the same College."

"Oh."

Khadijah led the way and Dia followed. Her eyes become blurry with tears. She turned her face in the other direction before rubbing her eyes. Her fingers brushed against her Niqab which made her look at her friend. "How did you recognise me?"

"Years of practice. What are you doing here?"

"Nothing."

"Would you like to eat something."

"No. Let's go home."

"Sure. I am sleepy. I want to go home and sleep."

"Even I am sleepy."

"Woke up early?" Dia nodded her head. "Me too. Let's quickly go home and sleep."

Dia nodded her head. They walked to the bus stop talking about their new favourite blogger. "I love her posts. She makes me want to become a chef."

"You like cooking?"

"I am not sure. If I compare it with other house chores then yes. But in general, I think no. I can do it but I am not passionate. It makes me excited just for a while." Dia nodded her head. "I some times think how can someone love cooking? It is too much work. And the mess it creates. Uff."

Dia exhaled deeply. "If only I could show you how magically cooking is." Her eyes widened suddenly. "I will show you how magically cooking is!"