Abhijeet, took a huge sigh of distress, as he pulled up the sleeves of his white kurta, matching with his white pyjama, sitting down on the chair of the dinning table, he grabbed the remote of the tv to switch it on. 

"kriti ji! khaana le aayengi zara!" exclaimed abhijeet, as the loud and eye sore inducing news flashes started to hit the screen. 

'a serial killer in town?' read the news flash, as abhijeet just covered his head in disbelief, when kriti came out of the kitchen with a plate of food. abhijeet shook his head in disbelief, as he started to tear the chapatti, when kriti's glance fell on the tv. 

"mathur ji waise sach kahein, ab humein bhi bahaut darr lagne lag gaya hai...main toh kehti hoon ab aap sanya ko subha chod diya kariye school, aur main le aaya karungi usse...aajkal kahan bhej sakte hain bachi ko akele school?" expressed kriti her concern, as abhijeet just frowned at her. 

"yaar aapko kitni baar bola hai humne, itna bhi seriously lene ki zaroorat nahi hai inn news channels ko! kuch bhi bechte hain..." rebuked abhijeet. 

"dekho mathurji aag ke bina koi dhua nahi udta, aur kya wajah ho sakti hai ki do ladkiyan mushkil se 3 din ke andar gayab ho gayi! aur aapko zara si bhi chinta nahi hai apni beti ki! woh bhi inki umar ki hi hai! kya pata koi jaan buchkar aise choti ladkiyon ko gayab kar raha hoon..." argued kriti, as abhijeet just dropped the one piece of chapatti he had in his hand, dipped in the vegetable's gravy. 

"aap toh aisi baatein mat kijiye...aap jaanti hai aise hi investigation nahi hota hai...bina kisi sabhooth, kuch bhi bolte hain yeh log!" exclaimed abhijeet, as kriti just looked away in defeat. 

"acha, waise, aap jaanti hai yeh ishita khanna ko?" questioned abhijeet, as kriti  raised her brow at him. 

"nahi, woh, shaadi se pehle humne suna tha woh aap ki hi design agency mein kaam karti thi.." stated abhijeet, as kriti sighed in distress. 

"humari toh dost ishita dutta thi...shaadi ke baad toh ab kuch aur hi ban gayi hai....pata hai, jab hum usse jaante the, woh ek suljhi hui, ghar-parivaar se jodi hui, thehri ladki thi...usne shaadi ke baad toh kaam chod hi diya tha, seedha usse tab mile jab woh apne maike aayi thi, apne  bete ki pregnancy ke waqt...mathur ji kya bataye, humne usse abortion pills khaate hue pakda!" revealed kriti, as abhijeet was shocked. 

"ek second, usse nihaal nahi chahiye tha?" interrupted abhijeet with a question, as kriti shook her head in no. 

"usmein dur-dur tak koi khushi nahi thi mathur ji, aisa lag raha tha, jaise uska bass na chalein woh toh dushyant ko bhi maar de! humari toh aap se shaadi tay ho gayi thi tab, humne toh phir bhi purani dosti ke naate usse bulaya, par wahan bhi humne dekha, na bacha, na pati, bas aise hi aa gayi! aur mathur ji, aap toh itna busy rehte hain, tab bhi hum agar kahin akele jayein do baar toh phone karte hain ki hum ghar pahaunche ki nahi, par yahan, aisa lagein na isse apne pati ki parvah na usse iski! arre bachon ke liye tak ghar phone nahi kiya! batao, main toh sanya ko bazaar jaane ke liye ghar chodti hoon, 3-4 baar toh aise hi phone kardeti hoon aur tab toh iske bache itne chote the! maine phir socha iss aurat se door hi raho, pata nahi kya hogaya hai isko!" narrated kriti, as abhijeet couldn't help but wonder, if he had found a real pathway to solving the case. 

                                                             ***

Dushyant unlocked his phone again, sighed looking at the time, as he kept it away. He looked hopelessly around, what appeared to be nothing but a deserted road leading to nowhere, when suddenly a smile crept up on his face, maybe he found the one he was waiting for. he unlocked the car doors, as the car door opened to the passenger seat. a woman, who could fool you into believing she was not a day above 26, despite of being in her 40s. she turned to dushyant, a big smile on her face too, as she was revealed to be rashmi singhania(gautam singhania ki wife guys, in case you don't remember..). 

"hey...i'm so sorry, hamari baat hi nahi ho payi pichle do din se....i'm sure tum kaafi stressed hoge jasmine ko lekar..." stated rashmi, as dushyant just reclined back on the driver's seat, taking a deep sigh. 

"you know, today i drove past my childhood home...i was just a simple, middle class boy from west delhi with a normal family...wahi middle class sapne, papa ko proud feel karwana hai apne upar, achi si job chahiye, ghar banana hai, apni hi tarah ek seedhi-saadhi middle class ladki se shaadi karni hai...life would have been so much simpler yaar! sab set tha, MBA meri khatam hone waali thi bangalore mein, placement se job bhi lag gaya tha...but nahi! it all had to just...crumble....and so bad!" dushyant just placed his head on the steering wheel, as rashmi rubbed his back soothingly, forming little circles with her hand, as she bent down, to place her chin on his shoulder.

"hey..it's ok..." she whispered softly, separating from him, as he turned his head to her, holding her hand, they exchanged a glance, absorbing all they could of the other at once, but they were interrupted with a loud horn that blared through. dushyant immediately moved his head from the steering wheel, which caused the commotion in the first place. rashmi glared at him, as dushyant couldn't help but break out in a chuckle along with her. 

"gautam soo toh nahi raha tha?" asked dushyant, the chuckle slowly fading out, as rashmi too nodded, no longer laughing. 

"ab jiss bhi din arjun ko dantta hai, uss din kahan sota hai? raat bhar office mein rehta hai bas...." stated rashmi, as dushyant  scoffed. 

"kamse kam woh toh usne sound proof banwaya...." remarked dushyant, as a smile crept up on her face, his glance now fixed on her. 

"tum kabhi yaad aaya main? inn sab saalon mein, hamare phir milne se pehle?" questioned dushyant, as rashmi had a penetrative gaze latched upon him. 

"shayad hum dono ko hi yaad nahi raha, ek dusre ko bhulna..." stated rashmi, melancholy rooted in her voice, their gaze unmovable from each other, the night shall pass this way. 

                                                                   ***

Kavin, impatiently fidgeted his legs, seated on the chair outside the hospital's emergency ward, as he had facepalmed himself, purvi who had been seeing this, sitting right next to kavin, felt the need to comfort him. she picked up her hand to place upon his shoulder, only to stop herself due to a sudden feeling of reluctance. she took back her hand and looked away. her glance fell on bani, who had fallen asleep on nihaal's shoulder, who was yawning himself, as he clicked his fingers in front of his eyes, in order to stay awake. 

suddenly, ishita entered with three cups of coffee, sitting next to nihaal, as he smiled accepting a cup for himself. purvi felt a pinch in her heart seeing this, as her son, who was currently in the emergency room, never looked at her this way. nihaal woke bani up, as he handed her the cup of coffee she asked for, as she too smiled at ishita mumbling a tiny thank you. purvi couldn't help but feel, her family was way more of ishita's than hers. 

"papa ka phone laga?" asked ishita, as nihaal shook his head in no. 

"pata nahi kahan chale gaye, phone shaam se band hai..." informed nihaal, as ishita quitely drank her coffee, her stoic face unmoved, her eyes clearly told she was thinking something. 

"i'm sure unhe koi kaam padd gaya hoga, he never does anything like this...." assured bani, as nihaal just shrugged his shoulders and drank from his coffee. 

suddenly, the doctor came out of the emergency room, as kavin got up immediately to talk to him. 

"equm thik haina doctor? hua kya usse?" fired up kavin those questions immediately at the doctor, as now everyone's eyes were on him. 

"he's stable now, mr khanna. but, there's a serious drug addiction problem with your son..." informed the doctor, as kavin's jaw dropped, and purvi just covered her face in tension. nihaal and bani passed amusing looks to each other at kavin's reaction, as even ishita seemed to look a tiny bit concerned, the word tiny being very important here. 

"but, doctor...." responded kavin, as the doctor placed his hand on his shoulder. 

"dekhiye, mr khanna uski body se high matra mein ek drug mila hai joh cough syrups mein hota hai....he has been taking cough syrups in very high doses for a very long time, uske upar se uski body mein kaafi matra mein cannabis bhi mila hai, jiske kaaran usse drug overdose hua aur phir yeh seizure...philhaal ke liye toh humne uske system se yeh sab flush out kardiya hai, but these are some serious issues mr khanna,  he could have died...ek bacha iss quantity mein drugs le raha hai...he needs help, you should consider rehab." explained the doctor, leaving after giving kavin a light pat on the shoulder. 

nihaal looked over to bani, and you could tell that they had told each through one look, they had gotten themselves into huge trouble. ishita went ahead to console purvi, it was hard to tell if her sympathies were real or not, but what shocked all of them was that kavin literally collapsed in the middle of the hospital floor. 

                                                                ***

author's note: hey guys, i know a little late from when i said i'd update, but i thought ek hi baari mein lamba update dedeti hoon ab itna intezaar karwaya hi hai, toh batana zaroor aapko kaisa laga aaj ka update in the comments below, aur haan acha laga toh vote zaroor karna.