"You are always late, Cameron." Anuradha grumbled as soon as he reached their waiting spot.

"I know" Cameron concurred.

"What took you so long, Cam?" Shika asked as they headed to the restaurant.

"Caught up with my boss. That man refused to let me go"

"Your shift is over, right?" Anuradha checked her watch if they had called him out too early before his shift over.

"Yeah but as usual." Cameron opened the restaurant door for the ladies.

"Thank you... Christopher?" Anuradha exclaimed. Manoj and Karthik were also present at the front house of the restaurant.

"Butterfly!" Christopher reciprocated Anuradha as they both hugged.

"Where have you been? You were missing since Monday," Anuradha asked. 

"Mom wasn't feeling well so, I had to rush back home."

"What? What happened to Jessica? How is she?" Anuradha took out her phone and was about to dial a series of number but Christopher stopped her.

"She is fine. She had breathing difficulties but mom is fine now and needs more rest."

While these two were indulged in a serious conversation, the other four were confused. They simply ignored the host who were calling them for seating and stare at them two.

Something contradicts just happen as they stood blankly unable to process the scene in front of them.

"Excuse me, sir" the host was louder this time.

"I'm sorry. Table for six please, thank you" Christopher informed the host and moments later the host ushered them to their table.

With orders all done, the host left the table. Anuradha looked around and noticed all four were staring at her and Christopher.

"Care to explain what just happened?" Cameron slammed the table causing her to jerk a little, she covered her mouth to control her laugh.

"That isn't funny Radha" Karthik said drawing their attention to him now.

"Radha?!" they said in unison as Anuradha slapped her forehead to their reaction.

Karthik, Anuradha and Christopher sat in a row like an accused opposite Manoj, Cameron and Shika respectively. The table was extremely silent for a very long time until Manoj squealed as soon as the food were set on the table.

Quietly devouring their lunch, Cameron started off again. "Anuradha? You have not answered me yet."

Gulping her lemon beverage, "Christopher and I were friends since high school." She paused, all eyes were set on her, slack-jawed. "We were quite good friends that I befriend with his mother as well. I became close to Jessica in a very short period of time. And then_"

"After graduating high school, we lost contact for four months till we met again in college on the first day" Christopher interrupted.

"Christopher! I am supposed to tell them not you"

"I think I should continue from here" Christopher insisted.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Shut up both of you" Shika intervened, "Anuradha will speak first, you will be given a chance." For a moment, they felt as though they were not in a restaurant rather in a court hearing.

"Okay so, after four months we met again. Like any other long-lost friend, I too was happy to see this idiot but he started to behave strangely. Things started to get really awkward when every time we met, he would ask me to go out, on a date. So, I started shooing him away because I was getting irritated with that behaviour." Anuradha grumbled as she side-eyed him.

"Okay, your turn" Shika pointed her fork to Christopher.

"Honestly mate, what would you do when you see a beautiful girl, you like her and she is someone you know? Ask her out, right? Is that wrong?"

"You are not explaining rather questioning us, Chris" Shika commented with her mouthful.

"Fine, when you see your old friend who used look like any other normal girl four months ago suddenly turn to be a super gorgeous lady, what would you do?" Christopher questioned again.

"Ask her out" Manoj voice broke everyone's concentration from Christopher to him.

"Exactly, that's what I did. Wrong?"

"Yes! It's wrong. I told you that I don't like you insisting in bringing me out. And that never going to happen." Anuradha dared.

"We will see, butterfly"

"And you did not tell me about him?" Cameron asked.

"What do you expect me to tell you, 'Hey Cameron, Christopher is my close friend from school, he is behaving strange suddenly and is coming after me now, help me punch his face?'" Anuradha almost sang it like a song.

Anuradha preferred to handle her own problem no matter how serious it is and in Christopher's case it wasn't a problem at all because it was Christopher and not anyone else. Probably if it was someone else, Cameron would be the first to know.

And Anuradha values friendship more than anything, Christopher a good friend and a support system to her during school. Tarnishing his name in such way isn't something nice to do to a friend.

"What about you breaking his head?" Manoj blurted that top-secret mission of hers made Anuradha facepalm.

"What?! It was you?" Christopher almost stood up from his seat while Cameron and Shika remained quiet.

A smile of mischief spread across her face with no hint of guilt. Sticking her tongue out at him, "That's call REVENGE, Chris." Anuradha batted her lashes.

"Revenge for what?"

"You pushed me from the staircase three years ago in school, remember?"

"That was unintentional"

"I don't care. That was for both pushing me from the staircase and pushing my limit of patience."

"Well, then I don't care either." Christopher retorted.

"Good! We are settled now. Christopher and I are still friends and I don't hate him as rumors says." Anuradha closed her case. "Alright, next case!"

"But you made us thought Christopher was a mean guy." Karthik said out of the blue

"Mean?" Anuradha repeated the word with a short laugh. "Christopher can be anything but mean, Manohar. And I wasn't the one going around telling Christopher is after me, it was the people around who spread the word. I did not tell anyone about Christopher expect that day when I wanted to break his head." Poking the chips with her fork, Anuradha shoved it in her mouth.

"Alright, Karthik? Why are you calling her Radha and not Anuradha like any of us and you called him Manohar? Please clear that doubt as well otherwise my tiny brain will burst" Cameron asked with Manoj nodding his head in agreement.

"Because it's nice" both said in unison.

"Is that even a doubt Cam? Let's clear this, its just like how I call you handsome and Christopher, Romeo" Anuradha replied in a faint tone. "Don't we give each other names? It's the same in this case too."

"Fine, you win I'm tired too with this Q&A section. Let's go home" Cameron looked extremely exhausted.

"Okay, the court is dismissed" Shika behaved more like a judge with minimal words.

"What's the judgement, my lord?" Christopher mimicked as a lawyer.

"The judgment is that Anuradha, Karthik and Christopher are found not guilty"

They left out of the restaurant bursting into laughter, bonding their friendship stronger.

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

Drop your comments and vote :) Thanks!!!

(little Shark)