'oh no..' remarked ishita as her sight caught the person who was behind him.

'kavin!' exclaimed purvi as she saw him leave.

'kavin! Kavin, meri baat toh suno!' pleaded purvi as she ran towards him, trying to make him not leave.

'purvi, i don't think humein abhi baat karni chahiye, i might say something i regret.' Said kavin as he turned to her for one second, but his gaze was completely away from her.

'kavin, tumhein jo kehna kehdo mujhe, tumhara gussa bilkul jaayas hai, lekin, ab humara baat karna zaroori hai...' said purvi earnestly as kavin couldn't look away when he saw the earnestness in her eyes.

He nodded in agreement as he suggested, 'yahan paas mein hi ek cafe hai, wahan baat karein.'

Purvi nodded to his suggestion gladly as he now looked away from her and turned to leave, still a little mad, but less than how much he was before.

Ishita, who was glad to see kavi leave to patch things up, got a call from dushyant, which became another missed call with the other nine. She wasn't in the mood to talk to him right now.

                                                                ***

'well, ab ghar toh jaane waali hoon nahi, ab jaake inhi dono pe nazar rakh leti hoon, atleast kisika toh rishta suljhe...' she thought as she walked out to the follow them to the nearby cafe.

Ishita walked into the cafe sneakily, her gaze fixed on kavi, trying to make sure that she was unnoticed by them, until she bumped into someone.

'oh, i'm so sorry!' she exclaimed as when her sight caught the person in front of her, a feeling of excitement kicked in.

'naina!' exclaimed ishita in exicitement as she hugged the girl.

'ishu, yaar, i'm so glad to see you, i'm so sorry shaadi pe nahi aa paayi..' replied naina after they separated.

'arre koi baat nahi...aunty ki tabiyat kaisi hai?'

'actually unka abhi chemo chal raha hai hospital mein...ab mahine jaise beet rahe hain, uss room ke bahar baithna mushkil ho raha hai without thinking the worst case scenarios...isiliye aa jaati hoon yahan thodi der ke liye jab zyada mushkil hoti hai...' replied naina with a sigh.

'i'm so sorry...' said ishita, as she affectionately brushed her arm.

'arre tumhare sorry bolne se kya hoga, ab itne time baad mili ho, aao baithke baat karte hain.' Suggested naina as she signalled towards an empty table where they both seated themselves.

                                                                ***

'kavin, yeh sab itni jaldi hua, mujhe samajh hi nahi aaya main kya karoon...' concluded purvi after explaining kavin her situation.

'lekin purvi tum ek point pe humara bacha abort karane waali thi, don't you think i should have known that!' replied kavin, still mad at her.

'haan, lekin, main nahi kara paayi abort...mujhe laga ki mujhe nahi chahiye yeh bacha...mujhe laga ki yeh toh mere plan mein kahi bhi nahi tha, but...woh ek possibility, ki tum, main aur yeh bacha ek choti si family hoon, i didn't realise ki woh possibility kuch aisa ho sakti hai joh mujhe chahiye, and uss possibility ko main nahi maar paayi kavin..' said purvi as a tear shedded from her eyes, which she wiped off quickly, as kavin found himself unable to be angry at her.

'kavin, mujhe nahi pata ki main ek shaadi ke liye ready hoon ya nahi, and i have no clue how the hell i will be as a mother, and i know it will be messy and complicated, but i really love you, and even a mess with you, is fine by me...' continued purvi, as she found tears coming out like fireworks and kavin just couldn't bear the sight of it, as he rushed in to hug his love.

'hey, stop crying...' he said as she cupped her face and wiped her tears.

'even a mess is beautiful with you...' said kavin as they both just smiled at each other.

'i love you...' said purvi

'i love you too...' said kavin as he kissed her.

                                                                        ***

'toh, yeh shaadi bhi tumhari maa ke yeh kehne pe ki ya sach mein tumhari marzi thi...' remarked naina as ishita knew exactly what she was talking about.

Flashback One:

It was those days when ishita used to work as a waitress on weekdays at a cafe. When she wasn't taking orders, she would be busy doodling in her notepad, but for the past few days, she had been practicing making logos by making one for the cafe. She never found them to be any good.

'seriously, is this one of those too which you say are not good enough!' said naina as she paid yet another one of her visits at the cafe.

'and then you'll say how i'm too stupid to think that!' replied ishita.

'because you are, they are actually good!' she too protested but stopped when she saw ishita's boss behind her, and the old lady's gaze was fixed on ishita's pad.

'you made this?' asked the old lady as ishita just nodded.

'well, this would look much better than the logo we do have..' said the old lady as she took the sheet off the pad.

'really?' asked ishita.

'yeah, i'm keeping this, and don't you dare ask me for more money!' commanded the old lady as she exited.

'please tell me ki main ek sapna dekh rahi thi...' said ishita, still shocked from what just happened, so to help her, neha slapped her the arm, playfully.

'hey!' exclaimed ishita in revolt.

'see, it wasn't a dream..' replied naina casually.

'ish, manna meri baat, we should do this professionally! Heck, even you said you have some savings from this job, mere paas bhi thode paise hain, apna kaam shuru karte haina!' continued naina, as ishita did get dreamy for a second, but her brain stopped her as she remembered what happened the last time she did so.

                                                                 ***

Flashback Two

Ishita took one last look at her paintings, these were it. She still wasn't convinced inside that they were good enough, but she found some courage to take a chance as she finally applied for California Institute of Arts. She didn't know how to describe this overwhelming mix of emotions where she was excited and scared at the same time.

                                                                        ***

Flashback Three:

Ishita was secretly crying in her room, devastated to find out about her parent's divorce. She was so worried for her mother who needed her support not only financially but emotionally as she was broken by the fact that the man she was so devoted to, could fall in love with someone else, and so easily...

Her tear dropped onto the California Institute of Arts acceptance letter, luck wouldn't let her have it after all.

                                                ***

Flashback Four:

Ishita came home that day, as she opened that tiny box where she kept all the money she saved from her salary, as naina's words echoed in her head, 'apna kaam shuru kartein haina!'

She suddenly found herself with hope again, she let herself take a plunge and do something for herself, after all, she had done her time.

                                                  ***

Flashback Five:

'yaar hadd hi ho gayi!' screamed purvi, as their mother just slapped her forehead in worry.

Their father had announced that he was getting married to that woman, he would be sending in less money as he pocket would be tighter because of the wedding expenses.

'there goes another dream...' thought ishita, as she realised she would have to get a real job now. Luck wouldn't let her have it even this time...

                                                         ***

Today, ishita had gotten an eye-opener, as she was forced to think what she really wanted, and what she might have thought she wanted all along, might just not be it...