After I told Jazz about Lila's return, messages from her flooded my screen and as I sifted through the rubbish, I chanced upon more rubbish like-

"Lila vs Dev

Lila- pretty (you think so), funny (you think so), rich (in future as a French teacher? Let's see!)

Dev- handsome, intelligent, good family, brighter future, every girl's dream, a hottie who I'll take if you don't want" - Jazz.

Before I could text her that there wasn't a competition between them, to begin with since Dev was my boyfriend now, she texted-

"Dev wins!"

And before I could ask her to stop comparing, another text popped up-

"And I'm not being homophobic!"

She announced that a lot these days after she had "accidentally" called Dev's relationship with mine more "real" than what Lila and I had. One day of ignoring her made her admit her mistake and add a rainbow flag on her social media profiles. I was on the verge of uninstalling Whatsapp due to all her messages that played relay among themselves when a message from Dev popped up-

"You're busy these days. Are you reading something?"

"Rubbish texts of Jazz," I typed, finishing with an eye-roll emoji. "Don't ask what they are."

"Hmm. So it's her who has been taking away your time from me?"

"She's what CA exams are to you. Annoying, time-consuming, but necessary---," I was about to send it when my phone was hijacked by a call from Lila, ringing and buzzing as if the phone itself was in agony. If her call had come a few days ago, I would have stared at it, mentally casting spells for it to go away on its own. But now curiosity weighing with concern inched over me, slowly, but presently and itched my fingers to pick up.

"Hello! Good evening ma'am! Now hear please, this is a very important call. There is an emergency in the hospital---" I could hear her muffled giggles here, then her voice adopted a graver tone "---a patient is very, very, veryyyyyyyy sick from not seeing you and needs an urgent CPR. You need to come right now!"

"And which hospital is this?"

"Lila hospital near Star Plaza. You need to hurry or else she'll die! 10, 9, 8---"

"So you're waiting near Star Plaza? Why?" Before she could respond, I continued, "Wait right there. I'll come. But no CPR." To which she cooed "awwwwwww" and began with her kissy noises that felt so close to my ears that I had to cut the call. As much as I hated surrendering to her words and jokes, I had to be there for her. For old friendship's sake. It was hard to see beyond her smiles, her cheery voice and her twinkling eyes that could spark similar responses in others who came in touch with her. Her infectious happiness could blind someone from seeing what was there, right in front of their eyes, a girl who struggled to salvage the little happiness left in her. And when one by some miracle saw that, it was harder to ignore and pretend like she did every day.

I quickly changed into jeans and the first decent t-shirt that I came across, afraid that she would follow me home and blurt something dangerous to my mother again. I spotted her from a distance, her wild hair and her wilder outfit, a mismatched orange tank top with bright pink track pants. That made me halt in the middle of the road, assess her and confirm, she was not okay. 

"Hey, so where are we going---" Words stopped short as Lila threw her arms around me, her relief resembling that of someone's who found something they had lost.

"I was waiting forever! You saved a life today, now you'll get a kiss as a reward---" It was my time to push her away in shock and she stuck her bottom lip out in mock hurt. "I wasn't going to kiss you if you didn't want the reward."

"Where are we going?"

"One a drive," she said, slapping the bonnet of a white Audi that was in front of her. "She's sexy, isn't she? She'll give us the greatest ride of our life."

I ignored her sexual innuendo, trying to erase her winking face from my mind was hard enough because of how sexy she looked doing that. No, I wasn't going to fall for that. I was aware of her charms now and only a person unaware could be hypnotised.

Maybe I was too scared to say anything after that suggestive remark or I was too tired to talk to her about anything trivial that I silently slumped in the car without a second thought about her driving skills. Whatever that maybe was, I regretted it soon. She began confidently and smoothly, putting on the radio and even singing to one of the pop songs on top of her voice that the car glided on the road like it was butter. How cool she looked with her hand carelessly flung over that steering wheel- suddenly, she swerved the car then, almost hitting an aunty waddling with two bags of groceries, one of them spilling and vegetables rolling on the road.

"Woah!" That exhilarating "Woah" of Lila was her admiring her own driving skills, fleeing us before that aunty could lecture. How could she say that after nearly getting us killed? Woah?! As if we had witnessed one of the wonders of the world?

"What the hell, Lila?!"

A big grin played on her lips. "She's going to have baingan ka bharta for dinner. I saw."

"Seriously? That's what you have to say? That you saw what she's going to make for dinner after nearly killing her? Baingan ka bharta," the repetition of that dish made me break into a peal of incredulous laughter. "I was a fool to think you have changed. You're still the same, Lila."

From then onwards, she drove in my directions, my focused eyes paved the way ahead and she followed them, dodging aunties and uncles and bicycles. Finally, we arrived at Marine Drive and she hopped out, stretching her body downwards like a cat. It was a low tide today and the water receded to such an extent that it exposed its black bottom. The sun was setting, but without hurling its vibrancy and warmth and I was relieved at finding the place to be the least romantic today. All I had to do was get to the black bottom where the decaying truth lay.

The moment we sat on the embankment and Lila was gushing about how in the past we used to come here, I cut through her words and asked, "Do you know about your father and my sister?" If she wasn't going, to be honest with me, at least I was going to be.
At my question, I expected her eyes to become round with surprise, but they were droopy, heavy with knowledge as she momentarily stared at the desolate sea. "So you did know. Since when?"

Now her eyes turned round, not with surprise, but pretence. "When did I know? What are you talking about? I thought you knew too!"

"Don't you feel weird then hanging out with me?" I asked and now her eyes were full of genuine surprise. "I mean it's natural if you do."

"Why are we talking about them?" She giggled, then linked our arms together as if assuring me. "None of them will come between us anymore. I'm not leaving you ever!"

"Anymore? So they did- before?"

"I want to play detective-detective too---"

"Just answer my question please," My voice was frustrated and to my surprise, she unlinked our arms.

"I don't know why you want to talk about them," she said in a small voice, sticking her bottom lip out and swaying her legs in boredom.

"I don't want to talk about them. I just want to know why you didn't text me or call me. You posted pictures with Raul on your stupid Instagram stories---" I paused, checking my tone that veered towards anger. "---yet you didn't tell me a word about it since we met. You come here and act like you never ghosted me for three years. As if you were just on some vacation. Do you know how I felt---" I had to pause again. "---Do you know I was waiting for your text every day? For your call? I tried so hard to reach out to you and then you."

"I couldn't do that!" she burst out, tears brimming her eyes that blazed in anger. My own anger dissolved at that, replaced with silence at seeing her as I had never seen her before. But that anger lasted only an instant, it burned so fiercely that it consumed itself, leaving her confused and broken. "She told me that she'll tell your mother if I call you. . ." She was fighting herself, I could see that in her struggle for words and I placed my hand over her clumsy, fiddling ones. In between her words, she sniffed, "She. . .was. . . afraid that everyone-everyone will not talk to me because we. . . we were together. She said that she sent-sent me to protect me and you. . . It hurt her when I didn't talk to her. . . I. . . I liked hurting her. . ."

"Your mother?"

She nodded, her sniffles wet and noisy, "She said she. . . she loves me."

"I'm sorry," I whispered, feeling a lump form in my throat as I reached out softly, but unable to wipe her tears. She had not called me for my sake, so I could be together with my family while she was cast away by her own- the person she loved more than anyone else- her mother. Her mother was ostracised because of marrying a man from another religion and I was sure she was trying to protect her daughter from a similar fate. I remembered her sad eyes in the supermarket, her plea to get her daughter back. "She does love you, Lila. I know."

She shook her head, still crying and not caring if anyone looked at her. The night that fell upon us without our knowledge concealed her tears, but to me, they shone like lonely stars. Her cries never ceased and when they intensified into helpless chokes, I miserably pulled her into a hug, no longer able to hold myself.

In the darkness, I never knew when our mouths sought each other's and my lips captured her salty sadness that lingered on my tongue for days to come like a guilty sweet.

* * *

Glossary:

Baingan ka bharta- eggplant curry (feels too silly to describe this after this chapter lmao)

(Tap on the little lonely star if you're liking this story :))