'toh, pasand aayi na tujhe, haan samjho?' asked his mother excitedly as dushyant came home.

'mom, ab hi bas ek baar baat ki, kaise kisike baarein mein bas isse hi opinion form karlo.' Said dushyant as he had just kept his bag on the dinning table.

'kya maa, bhai ko aaye 5 second nahi hue, paani ki jagah ladki ka puch rahi ho..' remarked kavin, who had returned just a few minutes ago.

'acha, tum main baat karo uski maa se?' asked their mother in frustration.

'arre, maine ishita se baat karli hai maa.'

'dekhlo, bhai ne toh date bhi set karli, tum bhi maa, shyam ko ram samjha hua tha.' Remarked kavin as he got a weirded out look from shyam bhaiya again, who was serving dushyant water.

'arre, sorry woh matlab nahi tha mera, mazaak kar raha tha!' kavin defended himself as shyam bhaiya just shook his head.

'toh chalo, kuch had tak toh pasand aayi, huh?' teased their mother.

'arre kaha na abhi ruk jao.' Said dushyant as kavin thought in his head,

'arre bhai, bahaut ache se jaanta hoon aapko, koi pasand nahi hoga toh zara sa bhi time waste nahi karoge batane mein, lekin koi pasand ho bas, manne mein kitna time lagate ho.'

                                                               ***

'arre yaar darwaaza khuldo, main bathroom mein hoon!' yelled purvi as her mother replied,

'oh ho, ab bahane bhi advance ho gaye. Blatantly lazy hi achi thi tum' she remarked as she went to open the door.

'arre, ishu, tu aa gayi?'

'nahi, shareer ne hi prasthan kiya hai, aatma abhi traffic mein hai.' Reamarked purvi as she had just came out from the bathroom.

'tum toh rehene hi do, ishu, bataona, ladka kaisa laga?'

'ache the woh...ek baar aur milna chah rahe the...'

'arre zaroor, puri zindagi ka sawaal hai, koi baat nahi, main toh kehti hun 10 baar mil lo!'

'nahi, abhi ek hi baar milna hai...' replied ishita, calming down her extremely excited mother.

'tum haan kardo unhe, milne ke liye.'

'maine keh diya, isiliye bata rahi thi...' replied ishita in awkwardness.

'arre ofc, acha kiya mana nahi kiya! Toh kab mil rahe ho?'

'parso, woh kal mujhe kaam hai.'

'arre aisa kaisa kaam hai? Dekh le na, zaroori hai kya?'

'sahi kaha, warna kya pata ek din aapko na dekh kar woh decide karle ki aise biwi ka kya karunga jiski life hai! Nahi, nahi, bilkul sahi!' remarked purvi mockingly.

'tumhara darwaaza na Khulna aur mera mazaak udane ke alawaa kya koi kaam nahi hai?'

'arre kaha toh bathroom mein thi!'

'toh? Aalas, aalas hota hai!'

'mom?' said ishita, at her mother's logical fallacies.

'arre, kya! Acha woh chodo, maine socha tha tujhe der hojayein by chance, toh maine khaana bana liya.'

'der kisliye hogi mujhe?'

'arre di, aap bhi kitni bholi ho, dushyant bhai milne ke baad aapko ghane jungle lekar jaate, jahan sirf aap dono ho aur tanhai...ab aapko dekh lete toh chodne ka man kahan karta unka...' said purvi dramatically, as ishita just chuckled as their mother left upset,

'tum dono toh bas!'

'arre maa..' said ishita as she tried to stop her, but was interrupted by purvi,

'arre unhe chodo, do minute mein thik ho jayengi. Ab batao sachi, kaise lage woh?'

'he was nice..' said ishita as purvi knew what this meant,

'arre pata hai kab kehti ho nice, jab dil kholke taarif karna chahti ho kisike lekin karti nahi ho...di, tum bhi kambal ho sach-much!' she thought.

                                                                         ***

'arre tum manoge nahi, di jaane se pehle do-teen baar check karke ke gayi ki kaise lag rahi hai..aakhri baar yeh reaction tab aaya tha jab inhe school mein ek ladke pe crush tha..' said purvi as kavi had again seated themselves around ishyant during their date.

'arre main toh file sign karane ke liye gaya subah, i found bhai singing, and he had some file opened on his computer, bhai distracted, i can assure you, yeh toh definitely kabhi nahi hua tha isse pehle.' Said kavin as they waited for ishyant.

'hum jaldi aa gaye kya?' asked kavin

'zyada weird yeh nahi hai ki humari dates humare bhai behen ki date pe nazar rakhte hue hoti hai!' remarked purvi to which kavin agreed as he said,

'yaar main isse zyada fun activity ek date ke liye kahan dhundon, itna free ka entertainment kahan milega, batao?'

'arre, aa gaye dono!' said purvi as kavi ducked.

'inko saath mein aana aata tha?' asked purvi.

'pata nahi, ohhh wait, bhai nikle toh the badi jaldi...' said kavin

'pick and drop ke liye!' said kavi in a union, while they chuckled at their timing. When their attention turned to ishyant, who seemed to enter only with laughing together,

'arre, i'm serious yaar, hasao mat mujhe!'commanded dushyant

'arre,main kahan hasa rahi ho, aap hasa rahe ho!' revolted ishita.

'arre, i'm laughing because you are laughing!' exclaimed dushyant.

'i'm laughing because you are making me laugh!' remarked ishita, as they were still smiling from that chuckle, as their gaze met and just fixed into each other's.

                                                 ***

'bhai is funny...' said kavin as he tried to comprehend the situation.

'that's why di is laughing, i guess...' said purvi too

'par joke kya tha!' said kavi in a union as their gaze met and they roared in laughter.

                                                             ***

As ishyant seated themselves, after separating from the gaze.

'so, now please explain, waise acha hoga agar aap keh do mere vehem tha, ki aapki friend aise kyun dekh rahi thi mujhe jaise urmila matodkar dekhti hai in the last scene of kaun?'

'urmila matodkar in kaun, seriously?' remarked ishita as she chuckled again,

'arre seriously, mujhe neend nahi aayi uss raat woh movie dekhne ke baad, mujhe toh lagta hai iss baar atleast do raatein toh neend nahi aane waali mujhe!'

'arre usko toh aap...' ishita bit her tongue as she was about to say, 'hot lagte ho.'

'usko toh main...'

'uhhh, handsome-,handsome lagte ho!' said ishita as she sighed in relief.

While dushyant raised his brow at her as he remarked, 'really?'

'yep.' Said ishita as she nodded in agreement

'toh yeh toh complement hai, itna darr kyun rahi thi batane se pehle?' asked dushyant casually, knowing still that wasn't the whole truth.

'i have no idea.' Ishita replied with her usual smile.

                                                               ***

'aaj na tum puchna dushyant bhai se, pakka di ne hi it's so nice to see you, bolne ke baad tab tak muskura rahi honge, jab tak inka pura reply naa aaye!' said purvi

'bada hi detailed baat nahi puchne ke liye?' remarked kavin

'arre itne saalon se dekh rahi hoon inhe har kisiko yahi kehte hue, toh difference spot karne ke liye, bahaut dhyaan dena padta hai. Di is toh smitten, pakka aisa hua hoga!'

'acha, bhai ka toh pata lagana padega phir..' remarked kavin.