Anamika's home

It's Friday and she wakes up Ansh ruffling his hair. Ansh opens his eyes and looks at his mother.

"Utho Ansh. School ke liye late ho jaoge nahi toh." She says softly.

"Ansh ko school nahi jana." he says sleepily.

"Jana hai beta. Dekho already chutti leliyae na... Aaj toh jayenge aap school. Fir school nahi jaoge toh Saransh ko kaise invite karoge party ke liye?" she says while looking at the boy.

"Hum party karenge?" the boy's eyes widens.

Anamika smiles. "Yes!" she says.

Ansh hugs her... " Aur gift?" he asks.

Anamika smiles.. "Wo bhi milega. Mumma leke aayegi Ansh ke liye gift." she says and kisses his head.

Ansh jumps on the bed and kisses his mother on the cheek. Anamika ruffles his hair and makes him bath ready while she prepares breakfast. As she was setting breakfast, Ansh came to her holding tie in hand. Anamika smiles and makes him sit on the chair before setting his tie.

"Be a good boy. Aaj koi complaint nahi aani chahiye." She says.

Ansh nods positively. "Ansh good boy hi hai. Us din wo Mohit ne push kiya tha isliye chot lag gayi." he says.

Anamika smiles at his explanation.

"Acha acha.. Chalo ab nashta karo. School bus aati hogi." she says putting his lunch box in the bag.

He quickly finishes his food and almost drags Anamika out of the house. She knows he is excited since she agreed to do a party and invite his friends. They reach the society entrance where Ansh boards his school bus. Anamika kisses his head and watches until he enters the bus. Waving bye to him, she walks back home, gets ready and leaves for office.

V. K. Enterprises

The office is unusually silent. All her colleagues are working on their desks silently. Some of them are yet to come. She settles on her desk and asks her colleague about the silence. She told her that Vineet has come to the office early and also tells her that these days are always silent. She is shocked to learn that Vineet doesn't talk to anyone much and stays on leave on 3rd of the month. Meanwhile, the peon tells her that Vineet is calling her with the file she has been working on. She nods, checks the file and moves to his cabin.

She knocks on the door of the cabin and he allows her inside. She put the file on the table.

"It's almost complete. You can check it." she says softly.

"okay! Can you please check this file as well. Aaj sham tak ye project finish karna hai." Vineet says while looking at her.

Anamika glances at him and agrees to do the desired task. She takes the file and turns to leave his cabin when her eyes fell on a photograph of a girl . It seems like she is posing for a photograph.

Her hand is on her chin and her face is lifted upwards. She's laughing, a serene laugh, one can say. The picture is beautifully framed and is placed on his office table. She assumes it to be his late wife. She even noticed him staring at the photograph. She whispers meekly.

"Aap khush rahiye. Sab thik ho jayega." she says and moves out of the cabin.

Anamika is thinking about him. She knows he has lost an important part of his life like her. But she has a reason to live in Ansh's face, while Vineet has no other reason. She has seen him happy with Saransh. A smile makes way on her lips as a thought struck her mind and she set to work.

St. Xavier's school

It's lunch break and Ansh and Saransh are sitting together. Ansh looked at Saransh..

"Kal mera birthday hai. Mumma ne bola hai ki hum party karenge. Tum aana." he says.

"yay! Maza aayega. Hum bahut sare games khelenge." Saransh chuckles .

"Haan mumma ne Ansh se promise kiya hai. Hum maze karenge. " Ansh says.

"Main mama ke sath aaunga. Kal toh unka bhi birthday hai. " Saransh says happily.

Ansh smiles.. "Yay! Maza aayega. Main unke sath celebrate karunga apna birthday. " he says jumping at his place.

With that they rushed to the playground.

V. K enterprises.

Anamika asked her friend to pick Ansh from school as she has finish her work before time. Moreover, Vineet has relied on her so she don't want to put him down. It's almost 7 pm as she finishes her task. Vineet is still in his cabin. She walks to his cabin and asks for his permission which is granted. As she enters the cabin she finds him talking on phone. It seems as if he has something important to talk to.

Vineet gestures Anamika to sit as it will take a few minutes to end the call. Anamika sits on the chair waiting for him to end the call. Her eyes fell on the photograph again and she picks it up eyeing Vineet who is near to the glass wall of his cabin. The lady in the picture looks loving & happy. It's beautifully framed, with Love written on the right corner. Anamika smears the name when his deep voice reaches her ears.

"it's my wife." he says.

"She's pretty!" Anamika says gazing back at Vineet.

He smiles lightly.

" Yeah! But she broke her promise and left me alone." He says in a pained voice.

Anamika looks at him. He's still hurt. He's not mourning now, but he's pained for the loss. Obviously, Noone can forget the scars that life gives them. Neither she could forget what Dev did with her so how can she expect Vineet to forget his wife. After all he loved her with all his heart.

"It's life. We cannot do anything about it." She says softly.

Vineet nods while Anamika passes him the corrected file. He checks it and finds it correct. He looks at Anamika.

"It's all done. Thanks!" he says.

Anamika nods positively. She bites her lips and then looks at him.

"Waise I wanted to request you something." she says.

Vineet looks at her with questioning gazes and Anamika smiles.

"Kal Ansh ka birthday hai. Saransh ko leke aaiyega. Ansh chahta hai ki aap bhi aaye. I'll be happy agar aap aa paye toh." She says.

Vineet tends to think and then agrees to come with Ansh. Soonish Anamika leaves for home. She picks Ansh from her friend's flat and moved to their own home. Ansh is happy and he told her that it's Vineet's birthday too. Anamika smiles. She has done the right thing by inviting him. She did the necessary preparations for the next day . Afterall it's her son's birthday.

Next day, both mother and son get ready and Anamika takes Ansh to the mall and purchase everything that Ansh demanded from her. The boy seems happy and Anamika is happy to see her son happy. The day passed in a blur. It's evening and time for the party. Ansh has invited all his friends and their parents dropped them at their home. The kids are enjoying and playing amongst themselves. Meanwhile, the doorbell rang. Ansh rushes to open the door and is happier to find Saransh and Vineet. He pulls them inside and Vineet puts a packet in Ansh's hand. A gift? Yes! And Ansh is all smiles.

"Mumma let's cut the cake. Uncle ke sath cake katega Ansh." Ansh says cheerfully.

Vineet is surprised as to how Ansh knew its his birthday too. He looks at the kids and finds them happy. A faint smile forms on his lips seeing them. His reverie is broken by Ansh who tugged on his hands.

" It's cake cutting time." He says.

Vineet smiles. "Aap jao beta, cut the cake." he says.

"No! Saransh ne bataya tha aapka bhi birthday hai. Ansh aapke sath hi cake cut karega."the little boy says adamantly.

Vineet didn't know what to say and at the same time both Saransh and Ansh pull him where the cake is placed. It's a small glass table and Vineet is pushed on to the sofa. With Ansh and Saransh by his side, he is smiling by now.

Ansh put a knife in his hand and asks him to cut the cake. Anamika witnessed the very moment and captures it into her camera.

She's smiling, her decision is right. He's happy when he is surrounded by kids, and he is equally nice to her son as well. Her trance is broken as Ansh called her. She looks at them and finds Ansh blowing the candles and Vineet is holding his hand and cutting the cake. The birthday song is echoing in the room. Anamika is kind of lost in the moment seeing both Vineet and Ansh. A smile crept on her lips and Ansh rushes to her to feed the cake. She also feeds him the cake and asks him to call his friends for dinner. Ansh rushes to his friends while Vineet comes up to have some water. Anamika wishes him for his birthday and he replies in a way that leaves her surprised.

To Be Continued.