It was two weeks since Anya completely severed her ties with Ajay. Of course, he made way in every wakeful minute and sometimes on lonely nights. It was absolutely insane. She often wondered why Ajay barged into her thoughts more than Karthik ever did. She could claim she almost forgot about Karthik in these nine months in all.

After a long time, she made plans to meet Sanjay, her close friend and genius hacker who helped her dig about Ajay during her initial obsession phase. The meeting was long overdue.

Sanjay was a tall, pale and a lanky guy with close to zero social skills, awkward laugh but compassionate eyes and a tired smile. He was the perfect example for the saying, "appearances could be deceptive".

Though he was just an average everyday guy, he was very talkative with friends, had a good sense of humour and was trustworthy. The unknown matter was that he had a decent bank balance with all the underground ethical hacking jobs that he always took up. Despite that, he could never openly discuss his wealth with anyone.

He still lived in a single-bedroom apartment with his ailing father, mother and little brother. He knew he could move them to a larger location but decided to keep his profession a secret from his folks, just for the peace of mind.

Anya never felt out of place with him and somehow poured out all her feelings in his presence. He somehow made her do it.

He was her senior, by three years, in college. She met him at a student mentoring program for internships, during her second semester—computer science engineering. Their friendship was instantaneous, and many were shocked to find him give the time of the day for her. He was a nervous, blubbering mess of a chap who was a computer wizard and spared no time for girls. His classmates either ignored him or were in awe of him but never befriended him.

He needed Anya's optimistic presence for his otherwise dreary life. They often met outside campus, and the bond quickly developed to close friendship and trust. They were friends in a real sense. There was no sibling bond connecting them.

Though many speculated something more between them, she was happy in a steady relationship to think of anybody else, and Sanjay was too tied up conquering the hacking world to think of relationships. His ever dependent parents did not give him any spare time at all. He was her go-to person for all her academic problems. He knew Karthik and had warned her a few times of Karthik's roving eyes, but she was quick to defend his actions.

"So how are things at your end?" Anya asked Sanjay without much preamble as soon as they placed their order and sat down at a very convenient spot. Their friendship was just that, no formalities and no barriers and most importantly, no lies.

They were at Dyu Art Café at Koramangala, Bangalore. It served European style breakfast options and was jam-packed. But by lunch, it was relatively empty. The crowd again picked up at dinner. It was impossible to locate decent chairs during weekends. Since they knew in-and-around this place, they made plans to meet just after lunch and before dinner on a Thursday when Anya had a morning shift.

"It's the same. After much persuasion, dad is trying out chemo. But he is drained out. You've heard of how chemo works right. It's been difficult, and this is like the final stage of his prostate cancer. Either way, Amma and I have accepted that he is not going to stay with us for long. We are looking for a ray of hope. The side effects are brutal," he finished matter-of-factly that reminded Anya of how practical and sensible Sanjay was.

His father's cancer and subsequent responsibilities of the family have matured him beyond his age. It was close to eight years now since their battle with cancer began. She held Sanjay in the highest regard for his perseverance and patience to keep the family together.

"How is Vijay taking it?"

"He is a cool chap. Vijay understood what is happening and goes about doing his stuff. He has very few demands, you know, he is getting good grades. But I feel he's doing well in Badminton. Watched him in few of his matches."

"Maybe you should talk to Vijay. He is only fourteen now. There is still time for him to do something professionally. What if he chooses Badminton?"

"I'll support him. He should not miss out on the things I missed. But I'm just glad I had my programming with me to keep me sane."

"Only you would claim programming to be the sanest thing on the planet. I get a migraine if I code for long hours. I'm happy to be on the data interpretation side."

Sanjay gave her an incredulous look but shrugged. As their food arrived, they switched from topic to topic, and things turned to her well-being. Sanjay listened to what Anya had to say about Ajay, and from what little he had learnt of him, he could surmise Ajay was a respectable man, much, much better than Karthik by all means.

"I don't know what to say, Anya. Getting away from Karthik was the greatest good that has happened to you. No use losing sleep over him. He is not worth it. Maybe he stayed faithful to you initially, but I doubt it later. I feel, this guy Ajay is a better deal except for his unusual reluctance."

Anya nodded her head in understanding, "For now, I'm happy to spend time with myself. I don't want any man in my life. I enjoy my own company than stupid males surrounding me," she finished, which made Sanjay chuckle and to shake his head.

"Way to go Anya! That's the best decision of your life."

"Enough about me. Now tell me about you? Any girls I should know of?"

"You know me. I'm not in that mind frame at all. "

"Of course, you are not. What did I think? You'll only get a chance to meet them when you make time for them. See you took time to meet me? It's similar."

"Who's got the time for all that crap? Please, don't ever compare yourself with the others. You are my one genuine friend, and I have all the time for you."

She rolled her eyes but smiled at him. When Sanjay was checking his phone for new messages, Anya saw a familiar figure enter the café and saunter to an empty table. She followed the movement, surprised to find that person here. She didn't know if she had to duck her head and act as if she had not seen, or go ahead and greet that person.

Before she could decide, the said person made eye contact in that very instant, and a genuine smile broke out on their face. She had no other choice than to gesture for them to join her table.

Anu, though was reluctant at first, decided against sitting alone to have her coffee and went ahead to sit with Anya. She was surprised to find Anya with a man and felt dejected. She wanted to knock some sense into her nincompoop brother to make his move before Anya got attached to someone else.

She liked Anya from the moment they met and knew she was the perfect fit for her brother. She did not know what the deal was with him. But her primary concern, for now, was their mother's health and her jumbled thoughts of Rajendra.

Once Anu reached the table, Anya stood up and switched places beside Sanjay and invited her to sit across from her.

"Hey Anu, long time no see. How are you?"

"Hey. I'm fine. How are you, Anya?"

"I'm fine too. Meet Sanjay Jandhyala, my best friend. And Sanjay, this is Anu, Ajay's sister."

At the mention of Ajay's name, Sanjay looked at Anya quizzically, but she gave a slight shrug. He took the cue and went on to greet Anu with a hello and proceeded to browse through his phone. He was not comfortable with strangers, especially women.

"I'm sorry if I've interrupted you two."

"Psst. Nothing of that sort, we were here for more than an hour. It has been ages since we caught up with each other. We've been friends from college. He was my senior and was my mentor there," Anya explained wincing slightly at her strange need to justify things to Ajay's big sister. She, briefly, closed her eyes to stop her monologue. Anu gave her an amused look.

Sanjay internally groaned and took a subtle note of Anu who was sitting right across from him.

"So how come you are all by yourself?" Anya asked.

"Ah, just completed a meeting at the client's location and was getting back to the office."

"Oh ok, so how is your mother?"

"She is fine. Definitely, better than the last time you saw her. She is staying in Ajay's apartment. That's pretty close to the hospital. We are kind of juggling between shifts to just be there for her. It's taking a toll on Ajay though. Amma wants to marry him off and has been persistent ever since. That fellow is avoiding his apartment like the plague."

Anya held her breath at the mention of Ajay's name mixed with marriage but very soon recovered and looked away. Though this piece of news brought a strange tightening in her chest, it was not her place to comment about Ajay's life. She perceived it to be a done chapter in her life.

Sanjay looked at Anu with narrowed eyes and realised that she was matchmaking and scoffed internally. He was enjoying Anya's discomfort too much.

Anya shrugged, "Good luck with that. I hope he comes around soon to marry someone."

Anu raised her brows but agreed with her after a moment, "Tell me about it."

They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Forget about my idiot brother, and let's talk about something else."

They proceeded to talk on various things under the sun, completely disregarding Sanjay there. Nevertheless, Sanjay had no complaints. After all, he felt that he took fancy to someone way beyond his league.

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