It was a Wednesday afternoon in a busy city. There were not many people on the road and the street was calm. The weather was pleasant that day, appealing to everyone. Dia smiled as a cool breeze touched her face. It was an amiable start that increased her enthusiasm.

She looked to her right and then to her left to avoid any craziness before crossing the road. Despite being a working afternoon the roads were busy, just how it was in the city all the time. She smiled when she caught a familiar face. She walked faster to catch up with her.

"Hi!" She could not hide her happiness.

"Hello, Dia," Himani said with a smile." How are you? When did you come back?"

"A week ago. Is this the restaurant?"

"It looks like that. Let's go and sit, if we are wrong then they will inform. Come."

As their table was reserved they did not have to wait, like some people, to get their table. They were the first ones to come and the rest where in transit.

"Are you going to move back to Mumbai or you plan to stay in Panchgani?" Himani asked, starting a conversation.

"I am coming back definitely, but for now I am there."

"How many months has it been?"

"Ten months. I went there in January. It is such a beautiful place." 

"I have been there once. It is beautiful. You are staying with your aunt, right?"

"Dad's cousin. So yeah, aunt."

"I never understood why you left the city suddenly. Everything was going fine, right?"

"It was, technically. I was having a smooth divorce and I had my family with me. But the way people saw, questioned, advised me, I will be honest, I was freaked out. Many also suggest suitable husbands for me. My mother was keen to get me married again. After she made me meet someone for the second time, I knew I had to get out of there. I was with Anya di and she still made me do all that. It had to be far from her, where she could not reach me on a daily basis. So, I went five hours away. But that wasn't much effective. She often comes to visit."

"Aw. I hope she is easy on you."

"She is not. But it's fine. I like it there. I get time to cook and experiment with food, also I help my aunt who has a small cafe there. She pays me and I get to do what I like, so it all worked out well."

"If it's working well then you should stay there. It's not that far from Mumbai, the weather is nice and you seem to have a good time there. If something is making you happy keep doing it. I would say from my own experience. I left a job I loved and even after ten years, I am regretting. Life just gets busier with time so better do something you like."

Dia nodded her head. "I will keep that in mind. How are your kids? How is Leena? Why didn't you bring her?"

They talked for ten minutes before slowly everyone else started to arrive. The first one was Anya to arrive, then came Ali and his sister, Khadijah and the last were Samar and his brother. It was chaotic at first with everyone's high spirit and enthusiasm. It was only after eighteen minutes and after ordering their food that they became a group.

"You guys are really loud," Anya said covering her ears.

"You are the loudest, Anya," Kabir said narrowing his eyes.

"I am not loud now."

"You are always loud."

"Why are we here? I mean, why are we meeting today?" Ali interrupted them.

"Because Anya thinks she is the Queen of the world." Kabir taunted.

"Keep quiet."

"You forced us to come."

"Oh, as if you didn't want to meet them."

"Answer him," Himani said but failed to catch their attention.

"We all wanted to meet each other, so everyone agreed to come, " Anya continued.

"No, you forced everyone so we agreed to come."

"Shut up. What were we talking about?" She looked at others, ignoring Kabir.

"Still waiting for the answer, " Ali said, "why are we here?"

"Because we don't get time to meet each other. You quit the job and started your own business. You hardly get time these days. You are busy on Sundays too. Dia moved out of Mumbai. Himani is always running home to her children. Khadijah got into college and with Dia being gone I hardly hear about her, let alone see her. All I am left with is Kabir, who is boring!" Samar slowly turned his face in her direction with a frown on his forehead. Observing him for a moment Anya could not stop herself from laughing hysterically.

"And my brother, " Kabir said when he saw his brother roll his eyes but with a smile, "You will have to live with that ungrateful girl all your life. You will see her daily. How sad is that? "

"The joke is on you Kabir," said Samar, "you will see her daily at the office, often at home and at all the family functions. I at least work somewhere else."

Whilst other chuckled Kabir sighed and said, "I knew encouraging you two to get married was going to hit me one day."

"When exactly is the wedding?" Ali said taking the glass of juice from the waiter.

"In five and a half weeks. You better be available that week or I am going to kill you!" Anya replied in no time.

"Someone is counting days," Himani teased.

"Yes, I am. I lose my freedom in five and a half weeks.  I got only five and a half weeks to live."

"He should be the one saying that," Dia said which made Anya roll her eyes.

"I might not be here that week," Ali said looking at Anya. "I need to go to Bangalore for some work."

"Ali! That's not done. I don't get married daily!"

"Daily." Kabir chuckled. "It is a miracle you are getting married once."

"Ali!"

"I will be here for the wedding but I cannot be there for the whole week. I will come two days or at least a day before the wedding. So I will attend some functions."

"OK. You don't come to the wedding and you die that day."

"She will come." He motioned towards his sister. "You got one representative from the house."

"She won't come without you."

"She will. She has a best friend, don't forget that."

Khadijah and Dia exchanged glances and smiled fondly. Kabir was looking at them when his eyes met Dia's eyes. She smiled at him to which he replied with a smile. The conversation was put on a hold when the food was served. It was a lunch filled with laughter, arguments, smiles and taunts. The enchantment of the upcoming event kept everyone alive and in high spirit. It was an hour stolen from paradise.

"Dia, I hate you so much," Anya said after they were done with their meal. "It is Wednesday and I had to ruin my diet plan for you!"

"Then why did you decide to meet on a Wednesday?" Ali asked whose attention was on a bowl of rice.

"Dia is leaving tomorrow early in the morning and the smart girl, that she is, " Anya said with an eye roll. "Is already done with her shopping. She will come only a week before the wedding. And I wanted us to have a nice time together before the wedding."

"You are not dying, Anya," Kabir said catching everyone attention. "You will see us often."

"It's not that easy," Himani said shaking her head, "You hardly get time for yourself let alone for friends."

"But she should do this often. At least girls outing," Dia said this time, "Samar Bhai needs a break from her."

Samar thanked her by smiling to which Anya narrowed her eyes. "How is Baskar sir?" Ali asked to no one in particular.

"He is good." Anya wrinkled her nose. "I should have invited him, too."

"You should have," Samar said shaking his head. "But he might have not come. He is very busy these days."

"Why? His daughter is getting married again?" Ali said to which Anya rolled her eyes before saying, "Don't remind me of the wedding?"

"Wherefore?"

Anya looked at Khadijah "What did he say?"

She shook her head. " He is reading a new book. A new word is dropped daily. Ignore him."

"What were you saying?" Ali encouraged Anya to speak.

"I wasted so much time deciding the wedding card and flowers for that wedding and they changed both! I didn't spend so much time deciding my own card and flowers. Oh, shoot! I forgot to give him the invitation card!"

"I invited him," Samar said.

"But even I should invite him. He is my boss. Message me tomorrow to give him the card."

"Now, you message her early in the morning. " Dia teased Samar.

"Early morning. Late night. Twenty four seven." Himani started when Kabir and Ali stood up before Ali said. "Let's have ice cream." Rest soon followed them to the ice cream freezer. With just them, it became crowded. Dia waited for some time before releasing it would take time for her ice to reach her. She took a few steps backwards to stay away from the crowded area. It took her some time to notice that she had landed next to Kabir. When she looked at him she smiled to which he replied with a smile, again. "It's too crowded," Kabir said. Dia nodded her head not looking at him. "They are wasting their time. With Ali first in the line, no one else is going to get anything." Dia giggled but said nothing. After another moment of silence, Kabir looked at her. He had a debate inside before he made up his mind."Hi, I am Kabir. I think you know me."

She giggled again and looked at him. "Hi, I am Dia. You look familiar."

"Nice to meet you, again."

She smiled and shook her head, "Nice to meet you, too."

"Come let's take a picture before we leave!" Anya disrupted their conversation. Smiling one last time Dia walked to her cousin while Ali who had noticed their encounter walked towards Kabir."Good going, sir. Make sure you pass this time."

"Shut up," Kabir said before following Dia's steps. They all gathered around Anya. It was chaotic again, to calm everyone down and make them smile at the same time, but Anya managed to do that.

"I am out of the frame." Ali was the first one to complain.

"Then come closer," Anya said as she tried to locate him on her mobile screen.

"Now, I am out," Kabir said.

"Ah! Adjust then."

"Anya you are out now, " Himani said with a chuckle.

Anya looked at Samar. "I don't know how to take a selfie." He took the phone from her and adjusted it to bring everyone in one frame. When he was successful in doing that Anya covered her eyes before groaning "Oh God, My future husband knows how to take a selfie."

"What a bummer," Kabir said. "How will you survive now?" He smiled when he caught Dia laughing at his joke.

"I wish Baskar sir was here with us today. I wanted to meet him," Ali told Himani.

"Come to the office one day. During lunchtime."

"He really said that? What a jerk." Dia said to Khadijah, who nodded her head and whispered, " he is a crack case."

"Samar you are not in the frame," Anya said with a frown.

"The phone slipped out of my hand. Now everyone is. Everyone look here."

"Anya cannot even take a picture."

"Shut up Ali!"

"Quit talking." Himani scolded them.

"This is taking forever," Kabir complained.

"Then leave," Anya said with an eye roll.

"You leave."

"All the best Samar," Himani said shaking her head.

"Next time when you come to the city we will go to Marine Drive," Khadijah said to Dia. "I also want to attend that Kala Ghoda festival."

"OK, everyone now quiet." Samar disciplined them and they all looked at the screen with a smile on their faces. "Smile."

"I am not in the frame!"

***

And the story which was created based on a dream I saw one morning came to an end.

Thank you, everyone, who read this story. The people who commented, the people who voted and the people who read in silence, I love you all. You people are amazing! I hope you all liked it.

I am going to take a break to edit this story before I start a new one. No major editing, just going through the overall story to see if there is room for improvement. If there is something I change I will inform you all or maybe I won't, you guys get to decide what I should do. So let me know what you want.

I have doubts regarding the name of the story suddenly and I would like to know your opinion. So if you can take a minute to do that I would really appreciate it. All kinds of suggestions and views are welcomed regarding the story or its name. Please share what you think.

I will take a leave now as I got an exam at 7:30 in the morning and It is almost 1 here.

I love you all! Thank you very, very, very much! May Allah bless you all💗

Goodnight!

Goodbye!

I will miss you all!