It's been a week since Anuradha came back to her so-called home and found herself living in that big house all alone. She was glad that she asked Mark to bring Shark along when he picked her up at the college, at least Shark was there to accompany her.

Both Kamlesh and Kavitha had gone back to India to attend a wedding event of their relative.

Ajay wasn't to be seen at all either, that worried her even more. Mark couldn't get any details about Ajay nor about his man who was sent to follow Ajay's activities.

"Have they both joined hands, Mark?" Anuradha asked, handing him a cup of hot coffee.

"No, John is trustable. I'm sure there must be something that is keeping him away from giving us any information" Mark said confidently.

"So... what's that thing showing?" Anuradha pointed to the screen that had a red dot flashing at one point.

"hmm... that's the last location I was able to trace of John through GPS"

"What about Ajay's? They should be there, right?"

"I have been checking the tracker for the past three days, it's still showing the same place. I have even went to the location. But found nothing."

"Did you tell dad about this?"

"I did."

"and"

"He told me just as what you asked me to do" Mark smirked, shaking his head "Like father like daughter"

*-*-*-*-*-*

The shattering sound woke Anuradha from her deep sleep. Wide awake she took a while in getting into sense what was the sound and where it came from.

"HOW DARE YOU KAMLESH! YOU SPOILT AJAY'S NAME IN FRONT OF YOUR RELATIVES!" Kavitha yelled.

"TONE DOWN KAVITHA. ANURADHA IS BACK HOME"

"DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE! ANSWER ME NOW KAMLESH"

"CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS TOMORROW, WE JUST GOT BACK KAVITHA" 

Kavitha stood there still not moving an inch, she demanded an answer from Kamlesh.

"Kavitha, I'm tired and I don't want to argue on unnecessary stuffs"

"UNNECESSARY?! YOU HAVE BEEN GOING AROUND PRAISING ABOUT YOUR BELOVED DAUGHTER BUT AJAY" Kavitha fumed.

"Kavitha, tone down"

"Why should I?! Why does Anuradha gets all the attention and praises but Ajay don't"

"First he needs to be a good son before I can go around and talk about him" Kamlesh tried to maintain his calm.

"What do you mean he isn't a good son? What makes you think she is a good daug_"

"KAVITHA!" Kamlesh raised his hand but stopped mid-way.

"DAD!" Anuradha stood horrified.

Kamlesh dropped his hand as he glared Kavitha for creating nuisance in the middle of the night.

"Mom, dad please don't fight because of me" Anuradha pleaded and left the hall wiping of her tears.

She dashed into her room and locked herself in, she knew this is just the beginning and it's going to be an everyday drama in the house. This is the only reason why she abhors to be at home especially during her semester breaks.

*-*-*-*-*

The house was filled with aromatic smell as Uday and Digvijay stepped in after a hectic day in the office. Aromatic smell all the way from the kitchen has been the only thing that's greeting them in the evening ever since the return of the youngest son.

Roopa had been indulging herself in cooking Karthik's favourite food every day with an excuse "Look how weak and thin you are. Do you even eat proper food back there?"

Karthik who would die for his mother's cooking never says no to her for making his favourite dishes.

"Just because your son is back from college that doesn't mean you have to forget us, Roopa" Digvijay teased his wife as he and Uday entered the kitchen.

Uday snatched an apple in mid-air that Karthik was juggling while Digvijay took a seat at the kitchen counter.

"Of course not, I have cooked enough for all four of us" Roopa replied as she drizzled some oil on the grill.

"Ma, when will you cook our favourites?" Uday asked pointing to him and Digvijay.

"You will never get your favourites while I'm here bhai" Karthik snatched the apple back from Uday and pushed him lightly.

"Uday, if we don't get our favourites don't worry. I will do the cooking for us," Digvijay emphasised the last word.

"So, Karthik did you receive any calls from the company you requested for industrial training?" Digvijay asked as he got himself a glass of water.

"Yes, I did. Received two calls but both are London based company, I'm waiting for the one in Scotland. Chimp Limited. The nearer the better. I don't want to stay away from amma again" Karthik walked to his mother and hugged her from behind.

"I too don't want my son to go far for internship" Roopa said, caressing Karthik's cheek.

"Ma! I'm hungry will you serve me food" Uday was already seated in the dining area.

"Coming, Uday!" she yelled from the kitchen and shooed both father and son out of the kitchen so she could finish her cooking.

This is what Karthik missed the most, the happy time he gets to spend with his family, the talks, the lame jokes and mostly to irk Uday. In just one more month his internship period would start and he mostly wants to spend those time left with his family.  

*-*-*-*

Eight months flew in a blink of an eye for Karthik as he stood in front of his house with a gloomy look. The thought of going back to the hostel was just distressing for him.

On the other part of England, Anuradha felt completely opposite to what Karthik was going through. Finally, she was going to leave the building they call home and head to bliss. The campus.

*-*-*-*

Semester six had started and the workloads weren't any less. With Anuradha been selected as the President for the second time considering the annual Theatre Play Intercollegiate Competition is to be held in the mid of the semester.

Karthik and Manoj opt to join back the music club with Cameron as the girls aren't there any more to fear for. While Christopher remained in the drama club along with Anuradha and Shika.

The first thing Anuradha, Cameron, Christopher and Karthik did was to know what happened in detail the day they sent Shika and Manoj off. Though they knew that Shika had said yes to Manoj, talking about it in-person always has an advantage of teasing.

Little did Anuradha and Manohar knew what and all have been going on in the last semester when the whole batch had gone for their industrial training.

Mrs. Gracie had been going boosting around the entire new batch of Drama and Dance Club that Anuradha and Manohar are the new generation's Alfred & Lynn, America's famous Broadway paired actors.

It was almost unexpected that some started calling them Alfred and Lynn. Which they were felt extremely unfit for the name, the great Alfred-Lynn and them. They are incomparable with the amazing pair, no matter how many times they deny to every person who calls them, it went unsuccessful.

It became part of their daily college routine that they begin to ignore it totally diverting their concentration on the heavy load assignments they were given. Both barely met each other  during the first half of their semester. 

*-*-*-*

Just like any other time, Manohar was in need of help. Anuradha's help to be precise but it wasn't to chase off girls who are after him. It was a help for his year-end project.

After a long search for Anuradha, he finally found her in the library alone with books and papers scattered on the entire table and she working on her laptop.

"Hey! Busy?" he asked.

"No, I'm super free" she replied with sarcasm without averting her gaze from the screen.

"Alright, I need your help ... but I'll wait till you finish your work" he took a seat opposite her.

She looked at her notes and to him, "You sure you can wait, I think I will take almost the entire day to finish typing this report"

"Nah, I too have some work to do" he showed his laptop, "I'll finish off mine while I wait for you"

For some reason, a familiar sense started forming in him as he looked at Anuradha who was engrossed in her assignment.

The forgotten tune came back like it had been tied to her all these while, but this time it wasn't just the tune that was playing in his mind.

Words were doing its artwork in his mind as well. Jolting down everything that was coming in the flow, Manohar dashed out to the music studio to bring it alive.

**********************