Ehan took slow steps, his teary eyes fixed on his mother. He had been dying to meet her once and now that she was right in front of him, he found it difficult to believe. His baby steps came to a halt as he realised another person's presence in the house, sitting on the sofa in front of his Mom. His face lit up, and he hoped it to be his Dad or brother.

As he walked near, he realised it wasn't his father or brother. It was his mom's manager. He stopped at the door, hearing a lady speak over the phone.

"No, that's not the problem.... Yeah! Our flight was delayed. So Ma'am thought of meeting her son who lives here. We are at junior Sinha's place" probably his Mom's secretary said.

All his happiness and hopes came crashing down in a nanosecond. He looked at his mother's back for a few seconds, sucking some air to control himself from breaking down. He took a few steps backwards, not making his presence known. He turned his head and left the place, ignoring the guard who tried to stop him.

He walked away from home, too much occupied in his own thoughts that he didn't even have any idea where he was heading. His eyes threatening to flow any moment. He felt stupid, too stupid to believe that his parents would ever take him back home. When they didn't take him with them when he was just a kid, why would they do that now, when he could take care of himself?

What hurt the most was the hope which came alive just in a second, despite him telling himself that he was never gonna go back home. He'll never get to live with his family, he'll never be playing with his brother.

They don't need you.

He told himself, dropping his bag on a bench and sitting on that with a thud. He was fighting the urge to cry, to scream, to go back to his Mom and ask her, what was his fault.

He sat there, burying himself in the ocean of painful thoughts. When the chilly wind caressed his skin, accompanied by some cold droplets, he realised he had been sitting there way too long, since the sun had already set and it was dark. Everyone was moving here and there, seeking shelter from the rain. He stood up quickly, grabbed his bag and ran to a small restaurant nearby, to avoid getting wet in the rain.

He ruffled his hair and took an empty seat. The place was warm, soothing his cold, shivering body. He looked outside, as the rain picked its pace.

"What would you like to have, sir?" A girl of his age approached him, smiling. Ehan shifted his attention from the glass doors to the girl. She was wearing an apron and holding a notepad.

"One hot chocolate, please," he said, looking at his surroundings.

"Anything else?" She wrote down and asked, to which he shook his head as no. The girl left taking his order.

He looked back to the rain, wondering if his mother had left already or still waiting for him.

"Hi," an excited voice interrupted his thoughts, making him almost jump on his place. He looked at the source of the voice and found Ira standing in front of him, with a wide smile like always.

He sighed looking elsewhere.

"Here is your hot chocolate" She placed the cup in front of him, making him look back at her. She was wearing a similar apron, like the previous girl.

"She works here?" He frowned but didn't ask.

As if she read his thoughts, she said, "I work here; part-time".

He looked at her, who was smiling at him holding the tray close to her chest.

"Ira" someone called her, making him avert his eyes from her.

"Enjoy your hot chocolate," she said and walked to other tables.

"I pity that poor soul. She's all alone here, away from home. It must be difficult for her to cope with everything" he reminisced Lily's words, as he took a sip of his hot chocolate. Not from a single angle does Ira look unhappy, struggling or alone. She looked happy, carelessly enjoying every moment of her life.

He kept his eyes fixed on her as she moved from table to table, serving people. There was not even a frown on her face as she ran all around. She was maintaining her precious smile, despite being tired and worn out.

After completing the hot chocolate, he looked out. Rain was still pouring and the whole street looked deprived of people. He groaned inwardly. He wanted to go back home. A part of him was wishing his Mom to stay still, though another part knew very well that she might be on the way back home.

"What if her flight was cancelled due to rain?" His heart rate sped up at the thought.

He checked the time and it was a quarter past 8 already. With the hope of meeting his mother and convincing her to take him home, he stood up to leave when his mind screamed,

"Don't be crazy, Ehan. Stop hurting yourself again and again. She's never gonna take you back. She came to meet you, consider yourself lucky. It was more than enough. You shouldn't be expecting more"

He sat back, holding both his hands together. It was hurting him.

"Excuse me, sir, would you like to have anything else?" Another girl approached him. Now that the rain was pouring heavily and he couldn't go home, he ordered dinner, though he wasn't hungry a bit. He couldn't be sitting there having nothing.

His order arrived in about fifteen minutes. He slowly started eating, checking if the rain stopped.

"Can I sit here?" Ira grabbed his attention, standing in front of him. She had removed the apron and was holding a plate of food.

Before he could reply, she took a seat across from him and started eating.

He looked at her from the corner of his eyes, wondering, "Why is she eating here? Isn't she supposed to be serving customers?"

"My shift ends at 9. so, I eat here before leaving home. Since it's raining today, we'll be closing earlier...." she started talking , chewing on her food. He didn't even nod at her, eating as if he couldn't hear anything at all.

After eating, Ira took her plate as well as Ehan's. He quickly held his plate, "what?" She raised her eyebrows.

"You don't need to...."

"It's my job" she reminded him, making him loosen his hold on the plate. She smiled at him and left.

She came back wearing a jacket and wrapping a scarf around her neck, looking adorably cute.

"Bye guys" she screamed at others working there and turned to Ehan, "Are you going to sleep here?" She asked, looking at him with her shining eyes.

A frown occupied his face as he shook his head no and walked out, paying the bill at the counter. He could sense her walking behind him, extremely slowly. Feeling conscious, he took hasty steps and sensed her doing the same. He stopped and turned back angrily, only to find no one behind him. His eyes searched for Ira, who was jumping on the small pool of water on the road, splashing on herself and giggling like crazy.

For a moment, he thought of asking her to stop her childishness and go back home. But knowing it was none of his business, he went on his way.

"Ehan" Ira called out aloud and he stopped on his track.

He turned to face her. "Bye, bye" she screamed, waving her hand at him. He made an amused as well as confused face, turning back. She took left while he went on the right side, parting their ways from each other, though they weren't walking together.

---

As expected, the house was empty when Ehan reached there. How he wished his Mom to wait for him and take him back with her. He dropped his bag on the floor and walked to the sofa his Mom was seated on, a few hours ago. He sat on the other side, his teary eyes looking at the now empty seat on his left.

"Why do you always do this, Mom?" He mumbled in a broken voice. It wasn't the first time his Mom came to meet him and didn't take him back. She used to come once in 6 months when he was in junior classes, but never took him with her. As years passed and his father built him a mansion, she stopped visiting him. Now he understood, that she never came to meet him, she was always there on business trips.

He bent down, resting his head on the spot his mother was sitting.

He let out a sob, holding himself tight. As the pain grew more and memories started filling his mind, he rushed upstairs to his room and opened a drawer bedside his study table. Taking out some tablets, he gulped them down with water. He wiped his tears and lay on the bed, letting the numbness take over his body and lessen his pain.

---

It was Sunday the next day, so Ehan had no school. He messaged Lily not to disturb him. He stayed at home all day, trying to get over the pain his Mom caused. He spent the day in his gym room, either relieving his frustration on the punching bag or trying to lift weights more than his ability. He continued doing so until he became tired and fell asleep on the floor.

He woke up after a good 6 hours and looked around. Finding himself in the gym room, he rubbed his face with both hands. He lazily walked back to his room and took a shower. Then he went downstairs and made some sandwiches since he didn't have anything all day. After eating in silence, he made his way back to his room.

Having nothing else to do, he opened his bag and took out some books to complete his homework. He completed physics after maths and wrote botany. He grabbed another book. A frown occupied his forehead as he opened it, it was a physics book which he just kept on the table. Then he realised that it was Ira's book. Before he could close it, he read something scribbled at the top of the page.

"Mary will turn to bloody Mary"

He frowned and turned the pages...

"Mary is gonna kill me"

What the... He panicked and turned the page.

"Mary will chop off my head"

He turned another page in a hurry.

"Mary will cut my body into pieces and feed the dogs"

Another page

"Mary will not let me live"

Another page

"I'm gonna die soon... Without even getting married"

He turned one page after another and found similar things written. An unknown worry crept into his heart, her innocent eyes and smiley face flashing in his eyes. He stood up from his place and started pacing back and forth. So many thoughts running in his mind,

"Is she being abused?"

"Is someone torturing her?"

"Is her life in danger?"

"Is that why she was asking for my help?"

"Should I help her?"

---

Assalamualaikum everyone,

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