The moment Kailash stepped out of his house, fully dressed in his crisp police uniform, his focus was already on the day ahead. The insignia on his shoulders sat perfectly in place, boots polished, mind switching into work mode as he moved toward his jeep parked by the gate.

He barely had time to register movement before someone stomped right into his path.

Gauri.

Blocking him like a badly timed roadblock, arms crossed, eyes blazing.

“I can arrest you for---” he began automatically, irritation flaring on reflex.

“What did you do with those dogs?” she hissed, cutting him off. “I went looking for them this morning. They weren’t there.”

He didn’t bother answering. Didn’t slow down either. With one efficient flick of his hand, he moved her aside and climbed into the jeep.

“Start,” he told the driver, already reaching for his phone.

“I’ll make sure you pay for this!”

By the time Gauri's words hit the air, the jeep was already rolling forward. Kailash didn’t look back.

His thoughts had shifted elsewhere - case files, pending reports, an interrogation scheduled before noon. Every day was packed, layered with responsibility and pressure. Compared to that, an angry neighbour didn’t even register on his priority list.

She was the least of his concerns.

What he failed to remember - what he conveniently dismissed - was that Gauri Singh wasn’t just a funky-haired nuisance from next door.

She was a junior editor at a national newspaper and held a lot of power in her hand.

And luck, for Kailash Mathur, was officially on very thin ice.

---

“Sir, the number of strays in that area was unusually high,” Kailash replied evenly, his voice steady despite the exhaustion gnawing at the back of his skull. He had already explained this thrice today, and he was beyond tired of hearing his own justification. “Removing them was an effective preventive measure to ensure public safety.”

SP Inderjeet Kalra leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled, unimpressed. “If that were truly the case, Mathur,” he said coolly, “why do I have a formal complaint on my desk, from residents of the same area?” He tapped the file pointedly. “Did the circle inspector forward any official request for stray removal? Was there even a single registered complaint citing threat, injury, or disturbance?”

Kailash swallowed.

No. There hadn’t been any such complaints. And even if there had been, it would’ve been a minor civic issue - something a local inspector or municipal officer should’ve handled. Certainly not something warranting the personal involvement of an ACP. Yet here he was, having personally ordered the removal of every stray dog in the locality.

All because he wanted his morning routine uninterrupted by one particular woman and her unofficial canine army.

“But sir,” he tried again, carefully choosing his words, “we shouldn’t wait for animals to act before taking steps. Better to be safe than---”

“---than sorry?” Kalra cut in sharply, seeing straight through his bullshit excuse. He let out a dry scoff and flicked the complaint file onto the desk. “Go and resolve this off record.”

He shook his head, disappointment clear in his eyes. “You’re one of our best officers, Mathur. I don’t want an enquiry hanging over you for something this stupid. Krishna has enquiries for encounters on his file - and here you are, landing yourself in trouble for rounding up strays. He’d be ashamed to see how his favourite junior is being discussed these days.”

The words hit harder than Kailash expected.

He felt small - ridiculously so. He had always cared about his seniors’ opinions, especially Singh Sir’s. Making them proud had been one of the few personal ambitions he’d allowed himself. And now? Now he was being roasted by locals for “catching dogs,” while Kalra Sir practically barked at him to clean up his mess quietly.

It was surreal.

He walked out of the office with his shoulders heavier than when he’d walked in and a stupid file in his hand. His bad days weren’t just bad anymore - they were bordering on absurd.

He’d always laughed off his sister’s astrological warnings, her dramatic claims about planetary alignments and Shani’s wrath. But today, standing there with a complaint against his name for something so embarrassingly avoidable, he wondered--+

Maybe Shani really was angry with him.

And that Shani in reality was Gauri Singh.

---

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