8th October

The cool breeze wafted over her cheeks and neck, ruffling her free hair. Since her hair was down as Naveen liked them that way, it was getting difficult for her to manage the unruly hair. She was about to tuck the loose strands behind her ear when Naveen reached forward and did it for her.

They were currently sitting at the riverside park and due to the dusk time; the weather was nice and cool. Since they couldn't spend time together during the puja, Naveen asked her out.

He took her hand in his and said, "If your parents move to Guwahati, will you move in with me?"

Shreya turned her head towards him. She wasn't particularly surprised, but definitely confused. What did he want from her? First, he asked her to keep quiet about their relationship so that his family wouldn't find out. Now he wanted her to move in with him. Why the fuck were his words so contradictory?

She needed a closer for their relationship. Or at least an assurance. What were they? Where exactly were they going with their relationship? What did he really want from this connection? And most importantly, what did she want?

She'd ask him today. She couldn't let this continue. It was like she was stuck in a movie and one particular scene was playing over and over. Moreover, after what happened at the Isha Mansion, she couldn't let it go on. She had been feeling burdened for some reason. Gyan had been filling her mind since she left the Isha mansion four days ago.

She had tried innumerable times to contact Gyan after that. But every time she just ended up in disappointment. He'd just not answer her call. Every time it'd just go unanswered. Although she had thought to drop him a text message or two, she had refrained herself from doing so for some unknown reason. It was like there was a need to understand his reaction after she talked to him. What did he want? He wanted to say something that was impermissible. What if had she let him? What if the kiss was just not a game?

The combining sensation of the gentle breeze and Naveen's question broke her trance, as she tore her gaze from Naveen and looked at the water. He was smoking. From her peripheral vision, she saw him throwing away the cigarette butt when she suddenly blurted out the words that were riling inside her for so long now. "Am I your girlfriend?"

He exhaled audibly while she watched the now almost gone sunset before turning towards him. One of the corners of his mouth was raised up and it looked so annoying at this point. She wanted to wipe it away from his face.

"Are you asking to be my girlfriend?" He asked gently and raised her hand to his mouth intending to place a kiss on her skin. She wouldn't let him do that anymore.

Perhaps, she had let him manipulate her for so long. Now it was enough. It was not like no one would notice her worth except him.

Someone already did.

She snatched her hand away from his hold. "I want to know whether our relationship has a closer. I want to know whether you have any plan that will ultimately make us fall in a marriage."

There was a sharp twitch in his eyebrows as he raised them for a fraction of a second before a smile broke out on his face. "You have a voice."

It was more like a question than a statement.

She frowned. "Whatever you mean. I just want an answer. I cannot just move in with you. Your family doesn't even like me. What do you want me to do? Live together for the rest of our lives?"

He reached forward to hold her hand again which she moved further away from his reach.

"Relax. I didn't bring up this question just to mess with your mood. In fact, there's something in my mind I've wanted to ask you since we got here."

She scrunched her eyebrows together, doubting him. She didn't trust him anymore. She didn't understand what changed, but there was this huge urge to defy him.

But he didn't wait for her response and continued, "Come on a date with me. An official date... not these kinds of little rendezvous," he paused momentarily before adding, "Please."

She stared at him incredulously. What was going on in his mind? "Why?"

His lips tilted up. "I have a surprise for you."

After that, it didn't take long for the darkness to cover up. Naveen left before her and told her that he'd pick her up at 6 on the next day. Although Shreya couldn't understand his intention, she certainly was curious. So, she agreed. Perhaps, he wanted to make their relationship official.

When she was leaving the ghat (the passage beside a river) area, her phone went off. It was Ashwin.

"Hey Ashwin, after a long time."

"Are you at Princep Ghat?"

"Oh-" His sudden inquiry surprised her. "How do you know?"

"I can see you idiot."

He was here. Shreya eyed the place and located Ashwin coming towards her from across the street.

She hung up the call and waved at him. "How come you're here?" she called out.

He ran up to her while answering her question. "I came to break up with my boyfriend." She didn't know how to react. Whether she should be shocked that he just came out to her or should she be shocked that even before meeting his boyfriend, she got to learn they just broke up.

Ashwin came and stood in front of her, slightly panting.

Before she could close her hanging mouth and say something, Ashwin reached forward and closed her mouth by raising her chin. "Close your mouth." She wasn't aware it looked that bad. Ashwin added, "Let's go to a restaurant. I'm hungry." He took a few steps ahead towards the right.

"Hey wait..." she ran to catch up with him. "Are you... what? I-" She reached and grabbed his arm to match with his pace.

"Yes. Suck it up. I'm bi and single."

"Oh-" She was still processing. "How come you never mentioned that before and that you have a boyfriend? As far as I remember, you legit told me you were single not even a month ago."

"As if we talk enough to reveal that to you. Shreya we barely talk."

He was telling the truth though.

"And you didn't even call me after you joined your new job. How is it? Are you on leave now?" He asked as they entered the small restaurant. "Because as per my understanding, you should be at your work right now."

He was talking too fast. "Slow down." She complained and pulled a chair to sit down. He sat opposite to her.

"You never told me you are bisexual."

"Is that a crime to not come out to everyone?"

She shook her head in annoyance. "Be serious. We are friends."

"Are we?" He retorted and pulled the menu card towards him. "Do you consider me as friends?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you did, you would've called me at least once."

Shreya didn't respond verbally but her gaze wavered as she blinked and looked away. Ashwin hummed for a few seconds while deciding what to order before summoning the waiter and giving him the order.

When it was done, he focused his full attention on her and wiggled his eyebrows at her. "So? What's going on? Why are you here?"

She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and answered truthfully. "Naveen was here."

Ashwin fake gasped. "Don't tell me you broke up too? But you know what? You did right. I never liked that bitch!"

Shreya shook her head and warned, "Ashwin!"

"What?"

"Perhaps, he wants to make things official."

He scoffed then waved a dismissive hand. "I don't trust him a little bit. He's a selfish bitch!"

"But he was there for me when no one else was. I cannot forget those days. He helped me..."

Ashwin interrupted, "In what actually? To get you distracted rather than confronting the real issues? It did more harm than it did good to you. You became more reserved and incapable of addressing your real feelings."

"Stop!" Her eyes widened in shock as her friend showed her the truth she wanted to avoid acknowledging.

"You can't hide from the truth. I asked you many times what's going on. You could've shared with me, but all you chose was the bad decisions. Rather you attracted all kinds of wrong decisions in your life. Naveen certainly is one of them. I can bet my whole meal on that!"

"What? Meal?" She stared at him skeptically.

"Yeah, so? Meal is important to me. For me to be alive, I need to feed myself."

"Okay understandable. Now calm down. I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Fine. You never tell me anything anyway."

"As if you do. What about your boyfriend. You never mentioned about him."

Ashwin waved a dismissive hand and rolled his eyes. "He's an ass. We barely started dating two months ago and he said he was gay. I was fine with it. Turns out, bitch was a cheater and a liar. He has a girlfriend for two years, and next month he's getting married to her."

"Oh wow! He's really an ass."

"Tell me more. When I confronted him, he said he was doing this just for his family. He didn't want to disappoint his family for society's sake! Then what was I? Huh? His secret boyfriend or something? Did he ever plan to introduce me as his boyfriend to his family?"

Ashwin's voice rose at the end. So, Shreya had to shush him by placing her hand over his.

But he continued, "Bitch was even begging me to trust him. He even shed his crocodile-tears. Can you imagine the drama?" He paused for a moment, then added in a low tone, "Life is so fucked up, no?"

Shreya scoffed. He was asking her? What a good pick.

They fell silent as the food was served. After the waiter left, Ashwin asked, "Nevermind. Tell me about yours. How's work at the Roys? I heard they are very particular with everything."

At the sudden mention of Roys, her eyes flickered as she broke eye contact with Ashwin and looked down on her plate.

"No wait!" Ashwin hurried and paused from eating the bite from his fork. "Did something happen?"

The brothers flashed through her mind while she shook her head, avoiding eye contact. "No. What would've happened? I- I just took a few days off. The day after tomorrow, I'm going to resume my work."

"But why aren't you looking at me? Don't forget, besides being a nurse, I'm a love guru too. I can tell it just by sniffing."

Shreya snorted. "Please. A love guru who just has his own break up. I am well aware of your abilities."

"Don't underestimate me." They had resumed eating. Ashwin said with a mouthful, "I can tell something happened just by looking at you. Tell me what happened? Which one of the brothers?"

Miraculously, this time, she decided to go with the truth without avoiding it. She told Ashwin what was bugging her inside.

"So you're telling me, Abhigyan likes you, and you're falling for both of them?"

She flinched in her seat. "What? When did I say that?"

"It's evident from your words Shreya. Stop dis-acknowledging this."

She shook her head. "You're mistaken. That'd be just my fantasy and nothing else. Besides, Naveen is..."

Ashwin interrupted before she could finish her words, "Why do you always defend Naveen?"

"Because he was there for me when no one else was."

"And for that you've paid him back I'm sure."

She didn't respond but exhaled heavily.

Ashwin shook his head. "You'll never know unless you try and be sure of it. With Naveen it's always been on and off according to your words." He air-quoted. "Then why are you pretending to be ignorant and blind?"

Shreya's gaze wavered as she glanced down and played with the fork. He was spitting nothing but the truth.

"You gotta try to seduce the brothers."

Shreya flinched and snapped her eyes at her friend's direction, horror-stricken. "Have you lost it?"

He went on nonetheless. "Seduce them separately and you'll know which one has feelings for you. Then hook up with them. Ah Shreya, you don't even realize how lucky you'll be if you can make one of the Roys fall in love with you."

"Okay, that's enough. Just stop." She could feel the heat rising up on her cheeks and ears.

"Trust me. The only solution is - 'The Art of Seduction'. I can lend you the book. You want?"

~~~

"I didn't know you'd take me here." She'd been feeling super self-conscious since they entered the expensive dining place. Naveen never once mentioned where he'd be taking her until they reached the place. It was a premium fine restaurant near the Ballygaunge park. The luxurious decors alone made her mouth fall open out of sheer astonishment.

Naveen smiled. "Since it's a special occasion, how could've I compromised?"

She shifted in her seat uncomfortably. Everyone looked so sophisticated and expensive. She exclusively felt out of place. Although they didn't book a private cabin, it certainly felt like sitting in one. The place was so hushed, it was hard to believe that they were sitting openly. The place was spacious and due to covid-19 protocol, the restaurant only allowed 50% occupancy. So, among thirty tables only thirteen were occupied.

"What is the special occasion?"

He looked down and played with his food for a moment, before glancing up and staring into her eyes. "I have something to tell you."

"Which is?"

"I've got a promotion and two options." He paused. She waited for him to continue, which he did after eating a spoonful. "They offered me to move to Noida or I can work as I've been doing from here."

She looked at him questioningly. She couldn't comprehend his words. Did he take her here only to tell he was moving to Noida? But she didn't interrupt him and let him continue.

"So, I was thinking, if I move to Noida and you come along with me, we can take a step forward with our relationship. Our families don't have to know about this arrangement. What do you think?"

She closed her eyes for a second as soon as he said that. She was really expecting more than she should have. He wanted to start a secret relationship by moving in together. Did she want that too?

She opened her eyes and asked quietly, "And what about my work here?"

"What about your work? The caretaker one?" He pushed the bowl of ice cream towards her and added, "I can provide for both of us. You don't have to worry about that."

"Basically, you are telling me to quit my job to go with you."

He hummed in affirmative and ate a spoonful of ice cream from his bowl.

She needed a moment alone. "I need to go to the restroom."

"Okay." He shrugged and concentrated on the ice cream.

She got up and traversed the long passage that led to the end of the hall where the restrooms were.

Confusion and frustration. These two were the only emotions she was feeling. Her mind seemed to be in a haze. What was she expecting anyway? She had let herself be taken advantage of all her life.

She had always been on the giving side.

Her reflection on the mirror stared back at her.

She chose the white indo-western two-piece gown with a pink full-sleeve ankle-length sheer shrug. She slowly adjusted the shrug, which did nothing to hide her exposed navel.

She chose the dress like a fool. For whom she dressed up like this? For once, the thought of leaving the place uninformed crossed her mind. She could call Ashwin and ask him to pick her up. Although, she wasn't sure if he'd be available at this time.

Then she shook the thought away. She had to put an end to this.

After a quick job, she exited the restroom and took some hurried strides towards their table.

However, she couldn't reach there on time as the whole place suddenly blew up with simultaneous gunshots.

Almost at the same time, the serene ambience inside the dining place turned into a frenzy as the crowd started screaming in fear and running to fInd a safe place for hiding. Some people had hidden beneath the tables while the rest were crowded behind the two huge pillars inside that separated the two halves of the restaurant.

Instinctively, Shreya had also shrieked in horror and tried to cover her ears and head from the attacks. The sudden brouhaha didn't give anyone time to think before there was another round of counter attack. For a quick second, Shreya glanced up and tried to register the events happening around and found herself crouching down on the floor behind a chair. She didn't realize when tears had started streaming down her cheeks as her heart was beating wildly. The violence rightfully traumatized everyone present. The spontaneous shots of those fire arms kept terrorizing the space until she heard an ear-splitting cry. Panicked, she suddenly rose to her feet and felt directionless.

Right in front of herself, was a masked man pointing a gun at her. She screamed and quickly staggered backwards until her back hit a solid surface. Turning around swiftly, she hit her damp face into a man's chest before hearing several consecutive gunshots and then the police van's siren.

She raised her head and eyes landed on the bloody arm of her rescuer. Her eyes went wide as she winced in alarm and faltered back. Before understanding what was happening, the whole room spun and she tripped on the chair behind her back.

Losing her balance and consciousness at the same time, she heard a familiar voice telling her it was over.