'arre aap baithiye na, toh kya lenge chai , coffee?' she asked as she was already on the halfway to kitchen.

While purvi came out of her room as she had calmed herself down after the fight with her mother.

'di!' she said as she rushed to her sister.

'arre, purvi, kya hogaya..' asked ishita, seeing purvi did indeed miss her more.

'mujhe yaad aa rahi thi aapki...mummy ke saath nahi rehna mujhe!' she complained, as their mother was completely red with embarrassment in front of her son-in-law.

'le jaaye tum hi bhi, phir?' asked dushyant jokingly.

'nahi di ko yahan chod jao na...'

'purvi!'

'kya? jiju toh apne ghar pe hain aaram se, yahan aapko jaana pad raha hai, yeh kya baat hui! Kavin ko apna bhai pasand bhi nahi hai...'

'purvi! Beta, ab hain na ishu do-teen din ke liye, ab chalo, mummy ki help kardo chai banane mein..aap chai piyenge, na?' said their mother with an exaggerated affection you could so tell.

While dushyant nodded in amusement, and purvi said while getting up,

'dekho, ab chai bhi banana padta hai...'

While ishita turned to dushyant as soon purvi left and said,

'i'm so sorry...woh..'

'arre koi baat nahi, kavin bhi aisa hi tha jab main Bangalore gaya tha padhne ke liye...aap log toh phir bhi zyada close ho..' said dushyant with a light chuckle.

'main aur purvi toh kabhi alag rahe hi nahi..' said ishita.

'pata chal raha tha...bharat milaav bhi kya hi hoga iske aage...' remarked dushyant as ishita got up,

'main zara help kara deti hoon, kitchen mein..' she said as dushyant nodded.

He too got up and started to look around, the other times he came, he never really paid that close attention as there was always a job at hand. Suddenly, he got a call.

'kya hua kavin, itni jaldi zaroorat pad gayi...' said dushyant as he received the call.

'arre aisa kuch nahi hai, woh Rajeev ne second quarter ka forecast mail kar diya hai toh dekh lena jab fursat ho.' Informed kavin

'haan woh main dekhlunga, aur baat sun, woh singhania aayega kal parson construction site check karne, aaj jaa kar dekh aayio ki sab time pe ho raha hai ki nahi. I don't want any complaints from singhania..'

'yaar waise singhania ke saath partnership mein karna zaroori tha kya?'

'yaar bada project hai, aur developers humse zyada well-connected hain yeh..'

'hmm, i know..'

'lekin saala khoon bahaut chusta hai!' remarked dushyant and kavin in a union.

'acha, don't worry, bas ek din ki baat hai, baaki toh saath mein torture jhelenge...'

'ok, bye!'

'bye!' dushyant hung up as ishita came with tea and biscuits.

'yeh lijiye, aapki chai.' She said as she served them on the coffee table by the couch.

'thanks, uhm, woh wi-fi connect karna tha zara..' said dushyant as purvi came from back.

'haan lao na, main kardeti hoon!' she said as she put in the password for wi-fi,

'password save kardena..' said dushyant as purvi handed him his phone,

'done!' she said.

'thanks..' said dushyant with a smile which faded away soon as he saw the notification on his phone and ishita knew what it was..

'shocked?' asked ishita

'it says connected to chudail ki beti daayan..' replied dushyant.

'purvi ne rakha hai...' remarked ishita

'par, kyun?' asked a confused dushyant

'good question, woh maa na purvi ke guitar se bahaut pareshan thi, toh unhone woh phenk diya...ab uss hi din wi-fi lag raha tha, toh purvi ne badle ke liye yeh naam rakhwaya...uske baad maa was joke of the year for the whole week in every kitty party...' narrated ishita.

'par woh toh abhi bhi guitar baajati hai na..' said dushyant.

'woh papa ne laake diya tha ki yeh wi-fi ka naam badal jaayein..but purvi said mom will do the time for this crime..'

'and what was the time?' asked dushyant.

'yeh baat 5 saal purani hai...' stated ishita.

'she really knows how to hold a grudge.' Remarked dushyant to which ishita could just nod in agreement.

                                                                    ***

Dushyant had seen something on his phone that made him well not outwardly mad, but, he was not happy, as he dialled a number on his phone, as he excused himself to another room.

'ji, sir?' said the receiver on the other end.

'rajeev, you have two minutes to convince me not to fire you.'

'sir?'

'go on..'

'par, par, maine—kya kiya hai, sir?'

'ok, 30 seconds have passed, that gives you how many seconds?'

'sir...'

'how many seconds are left?'

'90...'

'are you sure?'

'uhh...i-don't-know..'

'you don't know?'

'i know...i know!'

'good, now would you mistake that 90 for a 40?'

'no..'

'well how did that happen in the second quarter forecast?'

'sir, i...'

'there should be no second time.' Said dushyant as he hung up.

'sorry about that.' Said dushyant as he sat down and casually sipped his tea, while ishita and purvi who overheard the conversation, were still in shock.

'uss bechare ko heart attack dena zaroori tha?' asked purvi as she couldn't resisit herself.

'don't worry, woh thik hai, aur rahega, jab tak woh aisi glati dobara nahi karega.' He replied as he sipped from his cup of tea.

'baaki aap bataiye..' he said casually, as the room was filled with silence.

                                                          ***

It was night and after dinner, dushyant finally saw ishita's room.

'toh yeh hai apka karma...' said dushyant as he looked around.

'mera aur purvi ka...' corrected ishita.

'acha hai.' He said as his gaze fell on the nightstand he remembered ishita was telling him about.

'zayada different nahi hai yeh mere waale se.' He said as he looked at it.

'haan par, yeh woh nahi hai aur woh yeh nahi...' she remarked as he nodded and replied,

'shayad aapko woh bhi jald hi pasand aa jayein..'

But the elephant in the room, the big bookshelf by the study table, was addressed too.

'yeh pakka aapka hi hoga!'

'kyun?'

'aap lagti ho, ki school mein studious type ki hogi...books would be your best friends..'

'acha? Aur kaisi lagti hoon main?'

'aap zyada baat bhi nahi karti hogi, chup-chap kone wali rows mein bethti hogi, mostly padh rahi hoti hogi, but aas-paas jo honge woh kabhi initiate karein toh ki hogi kuch baat, aur har kisine kaha hoga zyada baat nahi karti, par sweet hai..' finished dushyant with his gaze fixed on ishita's and hers fixed on him.

'yeh sab aapko bookshelf se pata chal gaya?'

'arre nahi, bookshelf se toh laga studious type hogi, par baaki ka raaz toh isne khola..' he said as he moved towards the bookshelf and picked out the copy of jane austen's sense and sensibility. (yeah, i referenced the inspiration for this story, get it, move on!)

'your life story very well could have been this.' Said dushyant, as he noticed something in between those pages, he flipped the book as a sheet that was kept folded in the middle of the book, came up.

'ek second, yeh..' dushyant who was about to take out the sheet was stopped by ishita, who snatched it.

'kuch nahi hai...' she said.

'kuch nahi hai toh chupa kyun rahi hai?' asked dushyant as he raised a brow.

'kuch hai bhi, aapko dekhni ki zaroorat nahi hai...' she said as she clenched the book hard to her chest.

'that's not fair, ab mera aur maan karega dekhne ka...' he said as he leaned closer to her, as she got a bit nervous.

'yeh, kaisi baat, hui?' she said nervously.

'arre, baat toh baat hoti hai, uska type thodi hota hai..' he said as he rested his arm on the bookshelf, as ishita was pinned to the bookshelf and there was very little space in between them.

'arre par, mujhe nahi dekhana...' she said sternly, as her nervousness faded away and she looked him right in the eye.

'ok.' He said as he leaned back, although his arm was still fixed there and so was his sight, fixed on her. While as she looked more into his eyes, she found the discomfort, slightly fading away.

'ok.' She said with a smile on her face, not the usual or the forced one, but the genuine one.