Bani, after climbing a floor of stairs, rushed into her room, shutting the door, as she took a huge sigh of relief. she still couldn't help but feel suffocated, as she opened her window, and inhaled all the air she could in one deep breath. she placed her hand on her chest, her heartbeat, not overwhelming her anymore, she just went ahead and lay on her bed and shut her eyes closed, trying to find some peace. 

She was disturbed though, sprang up to sit straight on her bed,  as the door opened. It was kavin, a tray in his hand, a plate of freshly made, flavorsome biryani, as he shut the door close, a warm smile on his face. He walked up to sit near bani, placing the tray in front of her, when she noticed there was a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. 

"woh mujhe shyam bhaiya ne bataya, tumne breakfast bhi nahi dhang se kiya aaj, toh phir maine socha, ki bhai bade dinon se bani keh rahi thi, ki uska biryani khaane ka mann hai mere haath ki, maine kaha mauka hai aaj, ghar par hoon, bana deta hoon, hmm?" offered kavin, as bani forced a smile. 

"kya hua? abhi nahi khaana, baad mein laon?" asked kavin, sensing her discomfort, as bani immediately shook her head in no, fumbling in an attempt to utter her next sentence. 

"nahi, woh, bas...surprised, hoon...." attempted bani to cover up her real agitations, as kavin brushed his hands across her hair. 

"you did the right thing today, bache...yeh baat sabko maalom honi chahiye thi...you turned out so much better than jasmine, you are honest, responsible, strong...ab iske liye koi marksheet ya trophy nahi hai, iska matlab yeh toh nahi hai ki these aren't things that make me so proud of you..." assured kavin, as bani gave him a light smile, and a tiny nod. 

"chalo, ab itna tension mat lo...abhi khaalo...baaki, beta kuch din padhai mat karo, school mat jao, it's completely fine...apne aapko thoda time do, aaram karo....haan, bas, news mat dekhna...baaki tv dekho aaram se pure din..." advised kavin, as bani just literally seemed to have no idea how to receive her father's affection, that is to say, we cannot even assume, she could comprehend that he was displaying affection and concern here. 

                                                                  ***

Purvi took out a pill from a tiny red bottle, enclosing it with the cap on top afterwards, as she gulped it down with an entire glass of water in one breath. she took a huge and long sigh, before keeping it back in her purse, and moving it aside on the table, which she was sitting behind, in her spacious and well-furnished office. 

she reclined back on her chair, the kind you'd imagine your boss to have. she turned to the huge, rectangular window behind her, displaying the view of the entire area, she tried to find anything, that would give some sense of relief, when the door opened to her office. 

"so, mam, abhi next program ke graphics ke liye..." a youngwoman, not a day above 26, went on to explain purvi what all was being done, with all the designs juggling in her hand, with paperwork and files. 

Purvi, having zero patience for her today, just got up and grabbed her purse to walk away. 

"we have the interview of the police, experts bulalo discuss karne ko...9 baje se pehle ke liye saara drama ismein ho jayega...8 baje baat karna mujhse ab..." commanded purvi, and left, leaving the youngwoman, completely confused. 

                                                                ***

there was a knock on the door, as nihaal immediately hid his hand on which equm was wrapping the band-aid around, as he too hid it under the bed. the door opened, and ishita came inside the room. 

"everything okay?" asked ishita, looking around the room, noticing the books and notebooks scattered around nihaal's macbook on his study table. 

"oh right, absentee work kar rahe hoge, uhmm, beta, i really have to go somewhere...it's urgent, but kavin chachu ghar pe hai, unki biryani tumhe bahaut pasand haina, unhone wahi banayi hai...uhh, toh, lunch karlo, neeche jaake, unhi ke saath..ok?" instructed ishita, as nihaal nodded, and ishita passed a gentle smile to both of them, and shut the door behind her before leaving. 

"you know, jasmine ke kamre se ek..butcher knife mila hai...woh bhi khoon laga hua..." informed equm awkwardly, as nihaal was utterly astonished at the discovery. 

"what!" exclaimed nihaal, as equm nodded, taking the first-aid- box out from under the bed, and got up to keep it in the drawer nearby. 

"mom-dad ko pata hai?" interrogated nihaal, as equm turned to him, after closing the drawer shut. 

"uhh, tayiji ko....woh toh wahi thi...tayaji...i don't know kahaan hai....nobody knows, really..." stated equm bluntly, as nihaal just lied down on his bed, just exhausted, from today, and all the days that came before. 

"yahi hoti hai family?" questioned nihaal, as equm scoffed, lying next to him. 

"pata nahi, hamari toh aisi hi hai..." replied equm, as a moment of silence crept up between them, but it was clear, that they didn't need unnecessary words to fill in the air. 

"lagta hai main bhi thode dinon mein teri tarah nashedi ban jaunga bilkul...." remarked nihaal, as they both bursted out in a fit of laughter. 

"nahi....tum pakka sharaabi banoge!" exclaimed equm, as nihaal slapped his arm, and equm reciprocated, but rather than breaking out into a fight, they just chuckled along, finding the rare lightheartedness, in what appeared to be a dismal world in front of them, with moments of despair constantly surrounding them. 

                                                                       ***

Gautam, who was just working on his laptop, with all his focus on the screen, was interrupted, when the door opened and ishita entered. he didn't respond, or even look up, she came and reclined on the couch, five steps away from the chairs in front of his desk, he was working behind. 

"so, i'm assuming you have all the information by now." stated gautam, as ishita nodded, on the verge of literally falling asleep there and then, gautam kept his laptop aside, his hands clasped together on his desk. 

"well, how may i help you then?" questioned gautam, as ishita, after taking a long sigh, walked over to his desk, literally sitting on it, such that she was facing his office's right wall.  

she passed him a piece of paper, as gautam took a look, and raised his brow immediately. 

"jasmine, abortion?" scoffed singhania, in utter disbelief, but total amusement. 

"it's your son's..." informed ishita, as gautam, with a smirk on his face, just reclined back on his chair. 

"funny...they have never even met each other..." stated gautam, completely assured in the accuracy of his words, as ishita had a smug smile on her face, good to know she was right in thinking he would react exactly like that. 

"dushyant would react the same way, if someone mentioned that i came here to see you, now won't he?" remarked ishita, getting up from his desk, walking over to the behind of the chairs in front of desk, as gautam now didn't seem so aloof about it. 

"kya jasmine kaha tha kisise yeh?" cross-examined singhania, as ishita placed her phone on his desk, an audio recording started to play. 

'arjun, i need to tell you something....' a voice crept up of a scared and nervous jasmine, a lot of background noise in between, the kind call recordings usually have. 

'sure...why not...' an aloof reply came from the receiver on the other end of the call, as mentioned to be arjun singhania. 

'i, it's really urgent....tumne joh clinic suggest kiya tha abortion ke liye...it's...i don't have the full amount they are asking for...' informed jasmine, pretty concerned, not that arjun would reciprocate. 

'borrow then...' replied arjun casually, as a silence that crept up in between them, was enough to signal jasmine's shock. 

'arjun...do you understand! main bacha gira rahi hoon hamara! you need to fucking give me your share, ok?' argued jasmine, sick of his indifference. 

'listen, pregnant main nahi hoon, tum ho..operation tumhare upar hoga, by what logic do i have any responsibility to pay? i used a condom...you didn't do your part..so, you might as well sell a kidney for this....i don't really care..' a beep accompanied to his response, signaling that he had hung up on the call. 

the audio recording paused, and ishita took her phone back, and singhania just glared at ishita, at this point. 

"what do you want?" questioned gautam, as ishita pretended to be confused. 

"why would you think i did?" questioned ishita back, smiling snarkily, as gautam glared at her more. 

"how about you play the good, nice wife for dushyant? i know you too well, just drop the act..." replied gautam, a slight irritation popping up in his voice, ishita smiled with the utmost of joy, this was the best part of the conversation. 

                                                                ***