Abbu looks around the elaborately decorated gardens. String lights adorn the lush green, perfectly pruned shrubs. Oil lanterns — some lined up on the grass, some hanging from the branches of high trees give it a cosy vibe.

Ek aur jashn, thinks Abbu. He looks sideways at Eijaz who has guided him here. "What's the need for another jashn, Eijaz? At this hour too?"

Abbu checks his watch with a light chuckle. 12 am. It's perhaps too early for youngsters.

Eijaz pats his arm with a laugh, "Mamujaan, every day has been a party of sorts ever since word spread around about bhaijaan's marriage. Our men are ecstatic. With the conflicts lessening, they are finding every excuse to party."

Eijaz sits on a blue, floral-patterned straw mat on the grass. Abbu joins him with a slight smile, watching the men move about in the garden. Only select Zohra men have stayed back after Ash's decision that fateful night when they began chasing Badshah. Men with families returned to their loved ones, starting new lives away from the chaos and darkness.

Convincing them to leave was a task Abbu had seriously taken to heart. It wasn't an easy feat, but he accomplished it. Though few other men, loyal and stubborn to boot, had only agreed when promised to stay in touch.

Singh Saab, the elderly mob doctor, lights the bonfire. Though it's not a cold night, it certainly lifts everyone's spirits. Some men, now settled on large chadar, begin singing a mellifluous qawwali.

Abbu can't help but look around everyone with a fond smile. Eijaz, witnessing this, thinks to himself that his mission is accomplished. Now all that's left is for Zain Bhai to bring Ash Bhaijaan here.

"Where's Zain?" Abbu asks, "Has he told you anything about Ash's whereabouts?"

Eijaz feigns surprise at the sudden question. "Nahin, Maamujaan, I've been with you. You know Zain Bhai didn't call me."

"Huh? Mujhe laga message to aaya hoga. Didn't he message you at least, bete?"

"Nope. Did you find me checking my phone, Mamujaan?"

Abbu sighs. Eijaz holds back a smile. The little banter was what he missed greatly while away with the enemy base as a spy for Zohra. But it was a great sacrifice worth its cause.

"Oh!" he exclaims.

The men around fall silent for a second at the arrival of two new men. and commotion renews with vigour. Shrieks of "Bhaijaan is here with Zain Bhai," fill the air.

Even without Eijaz uttering a word, Abbu notices Zain has arrived with Ash. Before he can stop, he approaches the two young men.

"Ash! Where were you, bete? I was worried when you weren't reachable after our talk."

"Abbu..." Ash's eyes reflect guilt, also profound sadness. He smiles through it. "I'm sorry. I just went for a drive to clear my head."

"He was at the darga as usual," Zain says with a laugh. "We should all visit together soon again."

"Ash, bete..." Abbu says. Everyone recognises the mood between him and Ash. The men just observe quietly. The word about Abbu's exchange with Ash already spread. After all, one can't hide anything in a close-knit group.

"Abbajaan..." Ash begins. He wants to say he tried to leave the mob behind. It was an impulsive decision. He went on a drive and wished he could drive to Mumbai and never turn back. Yet he was on the highway when Abbu, Zain, Singh Saab, Eijaz and everyone's faces from Zohra popped into his mind. His resolve weakened. Besides, leaving over an argument with Abbu was a stupid move. But what was he supposed to do? Convince Abbu yes. That's why he returned.

"Abbu, I tried to think of what you said..."

Abbu pats Ash's arm. The brief silence between them speaks volumes. In the short time Abbu couldn't find Ash, the old man's heart had found its answer. And judging by the way Ash returned and his guilty demeanour, he also had arrived at the same conclusion. Now the matter is settled.

"Ash. Forgive me, bete. I was scared. Scared your happiness will once again be ruined."

"Abbu. Please don't seek forgiveness. But seriously, how can anything be ruined when we all are together?" Ash pops this question and looks at Zain, Eijaz and Singh Saab, who nod. Behind them, the Zohra men assembled in small rows also bob their heads, showing their support.

"It's true," Abbu says with a watery smile. "I felt weak for a moment and asked you to leave, and said we should disband the group. The bonds we formed are too strong to break. That gives me strength, bete. I was foolish, so let me seek forgiveness. Inshaallah, no matter what happens, we will all stick together until the end."

Ash smiles ear to ear like a little kid. In Abbu's eyes, the image coincides with the image of a grumpy kid he rescued from the church years ago. The kid who smiled for the first time when Abbu arrived at a parent-teacher meeting and even won a competition as his adoptive father.

How time flies. That boy is grown up now. And is everyone's bhaijaan. And he has a lovely woman in his life and even found his biological family.

Abbu shakes his head of various thoughts and images swirling in his head and opens his arms. Ash is already hugging him by then. The two hold each other to their hearts' content.

Pulling away, they wipe their happy tears, laugh and join others. The jashn begins again. Ash rejoices, exchanging quick hugs with Zain, Abbu Singh Saab, and Eijaz. The late evening Kashmiri Kawah he sips later tastes perfect. Everything is perfect. The men singing qawwali again, the garden ambience and the full moon above, the unobstructed view of the sky in the countryside. Now, the mahaul would have been a tad bit more than perfect had his mohtarma been here.

He messaged her before driving away, just indicating his fall out with Abbu vaguely. Putting his porcelain cup filled with tea aside, he sighs.

"Oops, she messaged me and even called me. My phone was on silent." He murmurs while checking his phone.

"Who is it? Naina?" Zain never forgets to tease. "Karlo baat. Talk to her, my friend. Call her. Pyar kiya toh darna kya."

Zain's loud words cause everyone around to laugh. Ash laughs along as he agrees. There's no need to hide things from his dear ones.

He calls Naina to tell everything is settled. The heart to heart is brief, owing to Naina's hectic workday. The exhaustion propels her to sleep mid-call with a yawn.

Ash cuts the call and returns to sit next to Abbu on the mat. Abbu pats his back. "Ho gayi baat? Your talk ended so soon, bete."

"Because the silly girl fell asleep, Abbu. Ah, maybe not so silly. She works twice as hard. She works to compensate for lost time outside of our wedding plans."

"So do you," Abbu laughs, a jaunty, airy laugh full of mirth. "She's so like you. Why don't you bring her here? We should all enjoy the evening together. That should help her unwind. And she needs to be a part of our jashn."

"Oh, yes, Abbu."

***

In the cosy confines of her bedroom, Naina wakes up to the buzzing of her phone. She fishes around the comforter and picks the phone lying on the edge of the mattress. Her bleary eyes adjust to the daylight streaming through the windows. The name on her phone screen reads "Beloved."

"Hehe, Ash calling me this early," she murmurs with a smile and then redials. She fell asleep during his call last night. Their talk ended prematurely. What was he saying again? He had a fallout with Abbu? This isn't the time to smile.

"Hello, Ash! How is everything? How are you? Your Abbu—"

"Nain, how is it you beat me every time to speak first? It's fine, sweetheart. Everything is fine. I told you yesterday but you fell asleep and must have forgotten. Abbu wanted me to leave the mob, but it's okay now. And we all decided to stick together to preserve each other. Strength lies in unity."

"Oh."

Naina smiles out of relief. A faint blush still colours her cheeks. Ash occasionally calls her "Nain" these days, which always causes her heart to skip a beat. She shakes her head and focuses on other topics. It's strange indeed. Zohra is such a strange group. This group prioritizes kindness, resembling a family rather than a criminal organisation. If only everyone gets to know this truth... At least Ruhana,Samrat should know this! But Boss forbade her from speaking. Also, could she reveal Ash's truth at the moment? And what if revealing makes her friends hate Ash, and that affects their marriage?

Maybe I can tell them the whole truth after the marriage...

"Sweetheart, you're frowning." Ash's voice jostles her out of her thoughts. "What's on your mind, baby?"

"Nothing, just thinking how glad I am and also a little something about Zohra. I will explain later. Oh wait! Why did you call me? Also, when did you switch from voice call to video call?"

"Haha. Just now. And somehow you even pressed your cheek against your device lost in thoughts and... Here we are, connected. Also, I called you to beckon you here. Everyone wants to celebrate another party with you."

"Haha, that's sweet. I hadn't had a party at the HQ in ages, it feels."

"Hm. Just two weeks, mohtarma, but I agree, they do feel like eternity."

"Oh, Ash.. do you know how poetic you are? I love you! You're aggravating, you always pull a number on me, like how you switched to video call just now. And you read my mind, then say the sweetest yet strangest things to me... I... love you!"

Naina's grin is contagious. Ash is primly dressed as usual, but she knows he's such a guy who would love her for who she is and in any avatar. Yep, that boosts her self-confidence furthermore.

"You're staring, Ash! Give me a warning next time, okay?"

Ash laughs. "Sudden surprise attacks are my thing, mohtarma. Afraid I can't change my ways. But I did want to see your face. So I welcome you complying. And... I love you too."

Ash's smile is bright as the full moon. Naina thinks, or probably the sun, because it's summer. She squints and gets a good look at Ash's background. The ornate, open-air hallway...

"Ash? You're in the mess hall with Zain?"

Just as she squeaks, Zain peeks into the screen with a smile and waves.

"Hey, behna. How are you? Come over and make me some pancakes, won't you?"

"Huh. Why would she exclusively bake those for you?" Ash nudges Zain away so he's the only one filling the phone screen. "She would make for me, uh, Abbu, and... everyone else, of course. She loves everyone."

Naina laughs because Ash says these words with a dramatic sigh. Ash shakes his head. With a wide grin, he faces his phone's camera again, "she has such a huge heart. It's why I love her..."

"Awww... you were thinking out loud, Ash?" Zain, cooing in the background, makes Naina chuckle. Just a few words and Ash puts her over the moon.

"Allright. I will pick you up, Naina," Ash signals to ending the call. He points to his left where Zain is. "We are about to leave for Gigabit. I should be free by morning."

"Oh yeah," Naina nods, imagining two handsome men boarding their private chopper to the office, making everyday trips from Bombay to Goa, and vice versa. How cinematic and grand. Always: It's the same every time she thinks about it.

"Oh wait! Ash! Let me visit you in your office. It feels like eons..."

Ash is surprised but nods. He blows her a kiss and the call ends before Zain, who is in the background, can catcall or whistle sappy hit Bollywood romantic numbers.

"Haha. Zain humesha itne ache gaane gaata hai. Thanks to him, I have had my playlist updated. I missed it today. Dang. I wonder what song he would have hummed? And Ash... he must be vexed by his best friend's teasing and ended the call. But he owes me a kiss. He didn't let me blow a kiss in return. Oh well, I will kiss him anyway when we meet!"

Naina talks aloud, then realises she's thinking aloud and smacks her head. Then pulling the covers aside humps out of bed. It's time to freshen up and head to the office!

***

Zain wraps an arm around Ash as the two walk to a car. Today, someone from the mob is driving them to the helipad.

During the brief ride, Ash can't help but grin, reminiscing his call with Naina. His eyes narrow fondly. Hehe, she had a bedhead. Just as I thought, my call was her alarm.

He checks his watch. It's 8 am. Naina will hurry to the metro in the next forty minutes and he will reach his office. She's sometimes a klutz despite that talent, and oh so girly, which makes her charming. Nonetheless. He loves her for who she is — ambitious, bright, loveable, and unfiltered. Like most men (and women) in the world, mohtarma isn't two faced. Who's he kidding? He is the two faced one here with a hidden mafia life.

He recalls Ruhana's words. Ruhana, Naina's best friend, made some valid points and showed the same amount of scepticism that probably Naina's parents would have shown had they been alive.

"Huh..." Ash whispers to himself, albeit sullenly, before boarding his chopper. "Maybe it's true that I don't deserve her."

Zain doesn't hear that whisper, and rather fills the silence with wild tales of the western Goan mafia. Ash directs his entire attention to this and pretends he just didn't experience a wave of self-loathing and doubt regarding him and Naina.

***

A few minutes after her call with Ash, Naina is dressed in an elegant orange co-ord set with a floral jacket when her phone rings from an unknown number.

Assuming it is spam, she refrains from picking it up. She's all set to visit her office after a week. After Bhiwandi's water supply coverage, she was travelling around the backend of Mumbai with Yudi and hadn't set foot in the office. She sent a quick message to Samrat and Ruhana regarding this, only to realise that it ended up in the outbox and never reached them.

"I hope they are not worried and not assuming that I am slacking off..."

Every morning, she would join Yudi. They would ride a taxi and get to work. At the end of the day, she would return to her home. The same apartment she once lived in with her father. And then though Samrat's flat is below and he's being a good lad staying with his parents than in his private studio home, she hasn't even run into him at the entrance. How strange. But that's simply the nature of their work.

"I ought to visit Samrat soon... also hang out with Ruu."

She sweeps her gaze around the living room. She mentally ticks off the quick morning task list in her mind that she ought to do. Cat feeder, water dispenser, toys, cat tree, clean up and vacuuming all done. Pet cam is up and working fine. Wi-Fi connection is stable.

Her morning routine is hectic, as Elizabeth lives with her now. Her rescued Singapore kitten matured into a delightful black cat. She entrusted her kitten to Zohra's care for many months, visiting often. But her loneliness got the best of her and she brought it back.

"I still work away from home, so I should get her company. But Elizabeth is all happy by herself. Dunno if she would want a feline friend..."

Just as Naina thinks out loud again, her phone rings again from the same unknown number. She answers and finds it's from Yudi who is calling her through a public phone.

"Huh? Yudi? What is it? I'm about to leave for the office. Our assignment ended, right? I thought we'd meet in the editor's office."

"Naina, listen...." Yudi's voice breaks owing to the noise of the traffic and Mumbai's chaotic yet charming city life. But he persists and lets his message go through. Naina feels numb after hearing it.

"Naina..." Yudi said before hanging up. "Don't come to the office. I say don't even leave home. If you must, then wear a disguise. I'm being tailed by some strange goons. They had been waiting for me outside my house. They are still at it. It's only time before they try to attack me. I think it has something to do with the land mafia in the slums who we covered during our touring. Be careful."

"Yudi..." Naina tries calling Yudi on his number but fails. Yudi turned off his phone. "Ugh, Yudi. You stay safe too. I trust you, but I am worried. What should I do?"

Naina shakes herself out of shock and disbelief and calls Ash. Part of her also wants to reach out to Ruhana and Samrat but she doesn't want to worry them or disrupt their assignments.

"Ash..."

She explains what happened. Ash asks her to stay indoors and promises he will pick her up.

"Will you send someone to help Yudi, too? Yudi, my colleague? The lollipop guy, remember? He must be around his house. I would have called the police but... since I came to know you, I just... call you first."

"It's fine, sweetheart. You can rely on me. Also, I think Mr Lollipop can take care of himself. He must have called the police if he has already called you, don't you think? Anyway, don't worry. Just sit tight and leave the matter to me."

Sitting around is one thing Naina Parker hates. But having no choice, she now sits at home pampering her dear cat Elizabeth. Being with Elizabeth means no time to be anxious, lots of playing and cuddles. Naina spends the afternoon this way.

💛💫 tbc 💫💛

💛an: please vote and comment if you are reading this story. That will encourage me to keep up with weekly updates💛

💛up next : ash picks naina, the two leave from Gigabit. ruhana Samrat observe them. what happens next......?💛