"Shall I quit my job?" Shiva asked me as we were lying on my bed.

"Quit?" I asked. He loved his job. "You should not do it for me..."

"No. It is not just that. I was thinking of quitting... I want to start something of my own."

"Bussiness?" I asked. "Isn't that risky?"

"I know. But I feel like this is the right time for me to start a venture. If I fail, I fail... This is the right time to make mistakes. If I do fail, I can get back into a corporate job. And I am not doing this on a whim. I wanted to start something on my own for a long time. Ever since I was in school..."

"What business are you thinking?" I asked.

"I am thinking of starting a café." He said. "That can later grow into chains."

"Like CCD?" I asked.

"Yeah... But something this is affordable yet with standard things." He said.

He looked pretty excited about the idea. "Do you have money to start the venture?" I asked.

"I have some savings, but they won't nearly be enough. So I am trying to get a loan or an investor."

"I can give you money," I told him.

"No." his expression changed at once.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to rely on your or your dad's money. The whole point is to impress your dad. So I want to do it on my own without his help. I want to prove to him that I am self-sufficient and good enough for his daughter."

Fair enough, I guess.

"Okay. Go for it then," I said.

"I am thinking of moving out of the house as well." He added. "I am eyeing this property for a while, which has a café space and a studio apartment on top of the café space. In Navi Mumbai..."

"That is too far from here." I pouted.

"It's not." He said. "You have a car. You can come to visit me any time. And stay over if you want to..." he taunted.

"Oh..." I considered that. If he gets an apartment, I can stay over at his place. That would be nice... "Okay then," I said. "Hope everything works out."

"Hm..." he tucked my hair back. "Can I ask you something?" He asked me.

"Yeah..."

He looked nervous. "I remember that I showed you the booking of the trip to North-East, right?" He asked... "So... will you...come with me for it?"

"Of course," I told him. "It's my birthday gift, right? Then why not..."

"Oh... Okay." He said. "Then we would have to leave in three days..."

"Sure."

"Are you sure you are up for it?" He asked, nervously. "You don't have to if you don't feel like it."

I thought about it. I had been burying myself in work so that I do not have to think about that incident. A trip felt like too much leisure and my mind will have time to wander. But then again, I am going with Shiva. Shiva will keep my mind calm.

"Yeah..." I said.

Three days we left for Assam. We landed in Guwahati and travelled to Shillong via car. It was a pretty cool and nice climate. I kept myself cuddled close to Shiva. We talked about how beautiful the place is.

After sightseeing and all, we were so tired that we cuddled and slept. On the second day, we went sightseeing and returned pretty late to the hotel. I went for a bath and took some time to soak myself in the water and feel free.

When I stepped back into the room, Shiva was not in the room. "Shiva..." I called in vain and he was not there. So I sat on the bed and tried his number on my phone. He did not pick up. I felt annoyed that he left me alone here.

I was prepared to be angry with him when he came into the room, with a cake in his hand. "Happy birthday to you..." He sung. I looked at the time. It was 12 am. That means it was my birthday. My annoyance vanished and I covered my mouth with my hands. "What is this?" I asked.

"Happy Birthday, Mia." He said.

He set the cake down on the table in the room. I jumped up and hugged him. He laughed.

"Where did you get a cake?"

"I told the hotel staff to prepare for it." He said. And his hand securely held me close to him, and he kissed my head. "Happy birthday..." he said again. "I do not want to spend any of your birthdays away from you."

"Promise?" I asked.

"Promise." He said.

I drew back and looked into his eyes. He smiled at me. "Cut the cake." He said. "But wait... Let's call your dad as well."

I let go of him and called we video called dad and showed him the cake and told him how the trip was going. I was actually surprised that dad was not being so negative about the fact that Shiva and I went for a trip by ourselves. Dad seemed just happy that I am happy.

I blew out the candles and cut the cake, and Shiva and I fed each other. Dad said he has a surprise gift for me when I returned home.

After the call, Shiva took out a small box from his pocket. "I have something more for you."

"What?" I was surprised.

"You surely did not think that the trip was the only gift, did you? I will give you something to keep." He said. He opened the box. It was a chain and pendant that looked exactly like the one he gifted me on my birthday three years back. I looked at him puzzled.

"That one was cheap. It's all faded now, right?" Yes. So I don't wear it every day. I have kept it in a box in my cupboard. "This one is gold. So you can wear it every day." He said.

"Gold? As in real gold?"

"Yes," he said.

"Shiva... You should not have spent so much. I am sure the trip was expensive too."

"I was trying to compensate for not spending enough time with you. And it's okay. I do make enough to manage this."

"But what about the café idea. You need all the money to invest in that."

"I'll manage. I can spare enough to buy my girlfriend a gift." He grinned. "Now..." he took the chain and put it on me. "Keep it on." He said.

And we kissed. And kissed longer. And his hands began to travel from my neck to my boobs and his lips began to travel from my lips to my neck. And strangely, I was feeling uncomfortable. Even though this was Shiva, I could not help but think about Jasper's strong hands pinning me down and his disgusting lips on mine...

I froze for a second, and then I jerked free from Shiva's grasp. He looked puzzled. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing. I am just tired." I said, adjusting my hair.

He was looking at me with suspicion. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah," I lied.

"Mia..."

"I am fine..."

"Is this because of that incident?" he asked. "Did I remind you about that?"

I must have gone pale because Shiva went tender at once. "I'm sorry, I did not mean to." He said. "I should have thought better... Of course, you will be affected."

"Hey... hey... It's okay. I am okay."

"No, you are not.' He said. "God, I could kill that guy. I mean I want to kill that guy." He looked tortured. He moved a hand through his hair. "Hey..." he called me. "Can you tell me in detail what happened that night?"

"Why?" I asked. "Why do you want to know?" I really did not want to talk about it. I was not ready to talk about it to anyone.

"I am sorry," Shiva said. "But not knowing is making me think about the worse. I don't know what all that bastard did to you. It is making me go mad. I know I should not feel like this. This is not the time to feel possessive or jealous. But I am... I know it was you who suffered it. But it is making me feel violated as well. My girl was touched and I... I can't..."

I understood. He was tormented.

"So if you can... do tell me what all happened. Knowing it will make my thoughts not wander into the endless possibilities." He said.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said.

"Not even to me.?" He asked.

"Especially not to you," I said.

He looked pained. "But I want to know though. So much..."

"Like what?"

"Like where all he touched you." He said.

"Shiva, you are being such a jerk. Why does it matter?" I sneered. Is this the time to feel possessive over me?

"I know it does not." He said, "But it is bothering me. I know I am an asshole to be bothered over it. But I just want to know exactly what happened. So that I can stop imagining stuff."

"What exactly are you imagining?"

"I don't know... I am just..." He moved a hand through his hair. "God, I want to punch the guts out of that guy.... Let your dad find him, and I..."

"What are you going to do?" I asked, scared.

He looked up at me, and his tormented eyes told me that he wants to beat up Jasper. I went forward and hugged Shiva. It felt like he needed it. Shiva buried his head in my hair. "Mia..." he whispered. "I am sorry... I am sorry I let you feel lonely."

"Hm..." I said, accepting his apology.

"But... did you...even for a second, actually want that man?" He asked, breathing into my neck. He sounded so pained.

I fell silent. I did not know.

"Did you?" he repeated.

"I don't know..." I said.

He pushed me off him and looked into my eyes.

"I was lonely, hurt, and bored," I said. "I know that is not an excuse. I let the guy flirt with me and enjoyed it because I was bored. But I did not walk into the guy's room wanting him. I just wanted to hurt you..."

"That is stupid..." He said. "So irresponsible."

"I know."

"What made you change your mind?" He asked.

"The moment his lips touched mine, I felt wrong... I could not stop thinking about you. I did not want to destroy us."

"He kissed you?" He asked, with an angry grunt. I realized I had just given him a detail, and seeing the anger and hurt in his eyes, I knew that the more details I give him, the more tormented he would be.

"Do you really want to hear the rest? Isn't it better that you don't know? All I can tell you is that whatever happened was not with my consent. I did not enjoy it. I screamed for help. He slapped me."

"He did what?" He jumped up.

"He slapped me," I said. "And then let me go..."

But Shiva looked as if he could kill Jasper.

"What are you and dad going to do?" I asked. "To Jasper. Once you find him, I mean."

"Well...we have not discussed that. What do 'you' want to do?" He asked. "Because that is what matters. What do you think will make you feel satisfied? What punishment will you give to him?"

I thought about it. I did not want to see him dead. That would be too much. I did not even want to see him castrated... "I wish he goes to prison..." I said. "At least for a few years," I concluded. Prison life would set him straight. It's not easy, the prison life.

"Then we would have to deal with things legally."

"I know dealing with things legally would be a hassle, because of the nationality difference. But is it impossible?" I asked.

"Not impossible. It is a lot of hassle and difficult to prove in court...But nothing is impossible, Mia. And we can try," He said. "We will try our best. Till he gets punished." He said. I nodded.

We stood in silence for a while.

"Are you okay now?" I asked, timidly. "Are we cool?"

He shrugged.

"You really want to know what happened?" I asked. "The details."

"Yeah," he said. "But I won't force you. You can tell me when you feel ready."

I nodded.

"Let's go to sleep." He said. "We have to go sightseeing tomorrow as well. So let's get some rest."

I nodded.

We went to sleep, and we did not cuddle either. It felt strange.