Navya's words were the last that rang in Malhotra Mansion. The revelation angered Fab 5. Manik was doubtful of the news but, somewhere he found an unsettling feeling inside him. He felt it was true, yet he wanted to disagree and deny. 

Looking at the blank reaction that Navya reviewed from Manik, she tensed up and spoke, "Manik, dekho. Yeh khabar- it could be a total lie and Harshad might just be playing with us since Nyonika is not hear anymore, he is free and so, he is just taking advantage of Nandini's absence and the mess you all are in."

"Tumhari use baat kab hui thi?"Manik grimly questioned. 

"Woh! Talent Hunt ke baad humne last usse sirf kahai bhagte dekha tha. After that, I haven't been able to contact her. Every call of mine just went aloof to her, it seems." Navya nervously replied. 

"Dekh Manik. Knowing Harshad, he is just playing with our minds. I think we should call it a day and hum, kal ja kar college mein dekhte hi na?" Mukti suggested to avoid flare ups. She knew time was important to let the facts settle in and think through the situation. It wasn't that she was trying to avoid Nandini's search or any meetings with her, but, she was trying to lay-off a disaster that bloomed from an emotional wreck. 

Soon all of them retired on the bed that Kaka had set in the hallway while Manik moved to the roof. In a matter of an hour, Fab 5 had dozed off but sleep hadn't blessed Navya. She was lost in her thoughts and reminisced the fleeting moments she and Abir had spent.  She got up and made her way to the kitchen for a glass of water.

She navigated her way to kitchen in the darkness and successfully found the refrigerator with the help of her phone's flashlight. She creaked open the door and pulled a cold water bottle out when she felt a cold hand on hers. She slightly turned to gaze towards the fridge door where her hand was kept and shrieked at the sight of a big messy person wrapped in a big dangling cloth. The figure soon wrapped his hands around her mouth and hit her head with something cold- something that felt like a spoon to Navya. 

"Madhubala! Madhubala! Chup" Cabir turned her towards himself and held her phone's flashlight facing him. 

Navya continued to blabber in his hold, "Matarani! Matarani! In fact, jonse department ki bhgwan free ho, please baksho, es bhoot ko bhago aur Harshad ka bhoot banao!" Cabir let out a small giggle at her drama and prayers. 

"Madhubala! Chup! It's me-Dhramendra." Cabir  added amidst his laugh. 

"Tum! Dhanya ho Matarani, barde fast nikle! Cabir, yahan na- 'm telling you jitna bhayanka Manik hi na utna bhayank ek bhoot bhi. Usne abhi ....."

"Madhubala! Woh mein tha. Tum Matarani, in fact saare God's se jab baat rokogi na, then you will know!" Cabir imitated her voice. 

The realization dawned upon Navya and she looked carefully at Cabir, who stood infront of her with messy hair, a dragging blanket and well, a spoon and an ice-cream bucket. 

"Tum kar kya rahe ho, yahan par?" she questioned bossily while crossing her hands around herself. 

"Tumhara intezaar, janeman." Cabir winked and suggestively signaled her to sit on the dining table with his spoon. Navya nodded her head at his joker-ness and sighed. 

"So, what is running in you mind?" Cabir asked while adjusting himself besides Navya on the table who facing the window through which the moonlight embellished the dark kitchen.  

"Kuch nahi, bas uski yaad aa rahi hi!"Navya broke down in front of Cabir and rested her head on his shoulder. Cabir kept the ice-cream bucket on the counter-top and gently stroked Navya's head. 

"Navya" Cabir cajoled, " you did it for Abir's betterment. I understand it's natural to miss him. We all miss him in the few hours he spent with us. Abir was a little bundle of joy, after all he was one of us. But, Navya you have to accept it Abir is now adopted for his good, so that he doesn't grow up with a broken childhood. So that he has parent whose priority is him and not managing with soup of career, rents, and parenthood. Woh ja chuka hi, par Navya- Abir was like a joker in a card deck. Kab aur kese aya and kab gaya kuch pata hi nahi laga, but jab aaya and he stuck to us- it was bliss." Navya let out a giggle at Cabir's crazy and his long-fetched analogy. Cabir smiled seeing her laugh but continued in his serious tonality, "Navya, tum usse kabhi bhi milne ja sakte ho. No body ever stopped you. In fact, we all can go to him and as his uncle and aunts, direct bhua-bhai and whatever toh nahi but, angrezi medium mein they are still almost uncle and aunts. Toh, the relationship is the same!" 

Navya slightly nodded and looking at her dull face, Cabir handed her the ice-cream bucket- "Chocolate hi! Sunna hi non-alcoholics ke liye, it works best." Navya looked upto him with a raised eyebrow and rolled her eyes. She took the spoon from his hand and dug into the chocolate ice-cream bucket. 

Seeing his lost war at the spoon-front, Cabir shrieked, "Get your own spoon, Madhubala!" and snatched his spoon back. Navya pouted at the disappearance of the spoon as Cabir devoured the chocolate ice-cream. 

"Tum itni der se yahan kha rahe ho. Just like donkeys. Your time is over. Dukh mera hi aur sharbh tumhari- kya kalyug hi!" she dramatically said and frantically moved her hands. She was about to continue with her drama when Cabir popped a spoonful of ice-cream in her mouth. She was startled by his action and eyed him a bit angrily. Cabir showed her his tongue and made a funny face when Navya's mind gave her an idea. She scooped up a ball of ice-cream and threw it towards him. 

Covered in ice-cream, Cabir shamefully licked it off himself and hummed at the taste. Navya enraged further and threw some more towards him while in response, Cabir devoured the ice-cream. Navya's ice-cream bombarding slowly aimed towards his clothes as his enjoying irked her. Cabir realized her tactic and turned the tables and shouted a low whisper to her.

"Taste your own chocolate, Madhubala!"  

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Hey, 

Hope that was a reasonable compensation for the last update. 

I seriously need some ideas, so any leads (happy, sad, interesting) all are accepted. Let me know in the comments. 

Happy Reading! 

Love, 

HF