She looked at the men inside the old house who were painting it with white on the walls and cream on the ceilings. The house looked bright and more beautiful than the time before 5 months. The old wooden door frames were plucked out and new ones were framed. Floors were polished and old furniture was renewed. The walls and ceilings of the ground floor were painted a few days back and now the first floor was being painted. 

The old and gruesome house now looked brand-new and marvellous. The tenants would be arriving within a week and they had to finish setting up the house as soon as possible. She was sure the new tenants would love the house. 

With a long tray of cups, Ashika got inside the room and the working men halted their work. She waited for all of them to take their cups and then turned to Ayush who was sitting near the windows with a book. 

He was exasperated, and his exams were going on and he kept himself busy with looking after the house renovation. He wasn't much bothered about the exams, nor was he about the tenants arriving next week or about Jaggu's exams. 

His eyes were red and strained. She couldn't find anything from him even if she asked. He barely replied that he was alright but she knew he wasn't. His temper and ignorance grew imperiously day by day. She had to make him concentrate on his studies and take up all the charges even if it meant taking leave from her job.

She walked closer to him and held out the tray which had three extra cups left. He looked up from his book and smiled while taking a cup of tea. He was studying while taking up the charge by keeping an eye on the workers and helping them whenever needed. It would've been hard for him, she mused.

"Ayush, why don't you go back and study? I'll take care of everything," she assured him by keeping a hand on his shoulders.

Looking up from his book, he had an annoyed face. "I've been denying that for the fifth time today," he mumbled and turned his gaze back to the book.

He was right. She had asked him about this an hour ago and he had given the reason that he wanted her to simply look after Dadi and Jaggu and let him handle this. She had tried to argue with him and let him take a rest, but he was settled in his decision. She sat down near him and glanced around the brightly painted room.

"It looks different from the old one," she mumbled lightly.

"Yes. I love it now," he said as he looked around the room nonchalantly. 

The room was almost huge and replicated the architecture of Ayush's room. Both their houses had the same structure as they both were built together many years ago. 

They had found their father's many books and photographs which were missing for years. They had been searching for them since his demise in the residing house, but they forgot that they had another house too. All those books and photographs had brought her feelings pouring out in tears as it was after a long time she had thought of him. 

With a sigh, she stood up and walked out of the room with a swift bye.

***************************

He stood up from the table and headed to the kitchen to wash his grandmother's plate. Jaggan hadn't returned yet and would be efficient if hadn't returned so early. As of today being Saturday, Jaggan had to attend classes only till the afternoon and he would be playing for the rest of the day. 

The kid didn't have any worries about his final exams in a month and only bothered about reading comics and playing football or cricket with the kids. 

He scoffed thinking how easy-going that kid's life was.

He turned towards the plate holders and set his washed plate on one of them. He took a cup and poured some hot water from the jug; his only meal in the past few days. The warm water was enough to soothe him from the fatigue created by the exhausting day. 

Studying for the exams, supervising the workers at the other house, and also making food for everyone was too much for him to manage. These tenants were already driving him frantic with all the tensions and financial problems they were facing now just for them. When they come, all the money would be paid as the rent. 

Since the day Sankar uncle had informed him about the new tenants, everything was going off-road but he knew everything would be fine later. He pondered with a sigh.

Five months that passed were 50 years for his heart. 

It still ached, desiring to meet her, Kriti. 

His entire life was falling apart with the desperation to meet her. It ruined his demeanour- making him ignorant and rude, and mainly gloomy. He tried to smile, but something just didn't let him. The sight of her being dragged by a man was killing him even now. 

Exhaling deeply, he held the counter strongly, holding back his tears. His legs were faltering in strength. He felt everything around him blur. He suddenly stumbled to the floor, letting his tears roll down. His eyes died as he saw the image of Kriti smiling at him. 

He smiled back and suddenly everything went black.

He felt a soft caress on his cheek and he burst his eyes open, awed at the sight he saw. A vast ocean that looked so beautiful under the setting sun. Standing up, he moved his eyes around and felt somebody behind him. 

As he turned, there was no one. 

He peered back at the ocean and his heart skipped a beat. His lips lifted into a smile as his hands moved towards her.

"Kriti..." he whispered and ran to her and she suddenly floated into the sky, laughing. 

He gaped at her with wide eyes as she came to him and held her hand out. He gripped it and he was soaring in the sky with her. The sky was getting dark every moment and their hands stay entwined as they stared at each other. 

A strong gust flew in and she dissolved into the wind as it went past. He began panting and tried to find the hand he was holding onto dearly. He called out to her and there was no response. His body suddenly felt gravity and fell into the dashing waters of the ocean.

"AYUSH!" he suddenly woke up with a startle. 

It was a dream, he realised. 

His eyes adjusted to the light and people surrounding him. His face felt wet. His entire body did. He sat up on the sodden kitchen floor, rubbing his face exhausted. He still was panting, but then it felt normal to him now. Someone shook him and he looked up at the person with dead eyes.

"Ayush, how do you feel?" he heard his sister's voice behind the blur.

"I'm alright. Just... leave me," he mouthed the words with drained energy. 

Nobody said anything against him because they knew it was useless. He was growing too reluctant and strong against others' opinions and choices. They bothered about him mostly, just locking himself in his room and growing unapproachable recently. 

Her stern hand held his arm.

"Come on, get up," she mumbled, letting weariness lurk the words. "Eat something," she added dryly.

"No, just leave me, Ashu," he jerked her hand away but the grasp was back again. "Ashu, leave me," he commanded this time, his rage rising. 

She was reluctant. 

"Leave me," he said under his heavy breath.

"Not until you eat something. I'm not going to endure another of my siblings dying out of starvation," she harshly whispered into his ears. 

"Stop this wrenching play of yours, Ayush. It's disgusting and painful. What is up with you, huh? Ignoring us and thrashing us about like trash for no real reason. Jaggu is scared of you now. You seem so suicidal and I don't know what it is. You remind me of Didi," her voice trailed off with that. 

Her eyes were pouring tears down his chest. "Please, Ayush. We want you back," she said through her sobs.

An image of his eldest sister came to his mind. Anshita. A crumpled corpse, that's what came to his mind. He didn't think more of her. Ashika was right- he was being miserable, but he couldn't control it. He never understood why. For the first time in the last 6 months, he looked at his sister thoughtfully.

"I'm s-sorry, Ashu," he mouthed the words with a stutter. 

His breath was tight but it got even tighter when she patted his head. They didn't have the right to receive the wrath and melancholy of his heart.

"Eat and think upon your deeds. You still have time, Ayush," she stroked his shoulders and moved out of the kitchen.

He was miserable.

************

Closing the book, he stood up from the chair with a sigh. It had been a long time since he sat to study and it was making him drowsy. Slowly, he walked towards the door and stopped when he heard the honking of a car. He turned to the windows and peeked outside.

The new tenants had arrived!

Without waiting, he ran downstairs with Jaggan following him closely as if he knew why Ayush was running. "Why are you running with me?" he asked Jaggan by standing at the door.

"I don't know. You ran so I ran," Jaggan shrugged.

Ayush nodded with a sigh and looked outside, "The new tenants have arrived. Inform Dadi about it when I welcome them," he rejoiced and advanced to the gate. 

The car was parked right in front of his house's gates and two long trucks started from the entrance of the tenants' and ended at the gates of his neighbours'. He gently stepped towards it and found no one inside. He looked around and found two figures on the veranda of the house. The young one was sitting and the elder one was standing, wiping the sweat off her face. They looked rich as Ayush thought about the number of items inside the two long trucks.

With a smile on his face, he paced towards them. The elderly woman caught his presence and turned her face to him. She grinned and began to speak.

"Hi, Ayush! It's nice to meet you. I'm Madhavi, the new tenant, you must know. This is Aditi, my niece. I would love to get the keys to the house so we can..." She gestured her hand to the house.

His eyes fell on the girl sitting on the wall with her eyes fixed on a far-away object. He couldn't see her face, but he knew she looked beautiful. She was fairer than anyone he had ever met.

 Even fairer than Kriti. 

Kriti was almost black and she would never reach the fairness of Aditi. But, to him, Kriti was much more beautiful than her.

"Yes, I will. But, how do you know me?" he asked, perplexed.

"Dear, I have been with your family for ages and I met you when you were this tiny," she showed her hand in a gesture of holding a tiny piece in between her fingers.

"You already know me? That's weird... Nobody ever told me of myself having a connection with you," he replied, looking bewildered. 

Suddenly the girl mumbled something and turned to face them. Her eyes were drawn with kajal and it looked pretty. Her smooth black tresses longed till her waist as it flew in the air softly. She looked more beautiful than any girl he had ever met. He felt kind of astounded, but he brushed that thought away from his mind.

"Hi, I'm Aditi," she beamed with her hand held out for a shake. 

Her smile was totally enticing as if any boy would fall for her. He was sure for her to have many people behind her like how he has at his college. Feeling a bit shaken by her response, he gave his hand for the shake.

"I'm Ayush. Glad to have you here," he replied with a smile but annoyance brewed inside him as their hands met. 

He retrieved his hand after a second and excused himself to get the key from the house. He turned, and his face went to a hint of perplex as his eyes fell on a man outside their neighbour's empty house.

"Who is he?" Madhavi asked him.

"Er- I don't know. I thought it'd be one of your men. Maybe someone of Mr Prakash, our neighbour," he stuttered. 

The man didn't look that great to him, he had large tattoos and extremely long hair. Piercings made him look even more dangerous. His breath got short, sensing the man's appearance.

It was the man who had dragged Kriti out of the road. His mouth dropped open at his sight.

"Hope he doesn't get near our stuff," he heard the sweet voice of Aditi right behind him, almost jump-scaring him. 

She smelt of something strangely divine. It was a strong perfume that never felt familiar to him. 

He nodded to her in response.

"I'll get the keys," he mumbled with his eyes on the man who was walking into the neighbour's empty house. 

He returned with the keys and his grandma followed him with crawling steps. He held the key out to Madhavi, but she inclined her head to Aditi. With a hesitant nod, he gave it to Aditi.

"Namaste! I didn't know you were arriving today! You should've called me, Madhavi. I would've arranged something for you!" his grandmother's voice said from behind him. He turned as the other two females swivelled to meet the source of the greeting.

"Oh, Padma maa, why do you need that all to happen? Let's just keep it simple!" Madhavi rushed to the old woman and hugged her like they were friends.

"Ayush, don't you remember her? She is Vedika Sharangupt's elder sister! She used to visit us when you were a baby. And where is Aditi? Let me see her!" Padma exclaimed by turning to the girl.

Vedika Sharangupt was the dancer who left them a lot many years ago. No wonder why there were two huge trucks. He snorted.

Ayush nodded unsurely with a smile. Aditi bent down to touch Padma's feet with respect and smiled widely as the elderly kept her hand on Aditi's head as a blessing.

"No, I don't," he mumbled by nodding. 

A daughter of Vedika Sharangupt was not something that he remembered from his childhood. There were no female friends for him other than an unknown chocolate girl. He was sure Aditi wasn't that girl because her appearance didn't match that kid.

"You both used to play with each other, didn't you?" his grandmother again spoke.

"No, Aditi and Ayush have never met before. She always stayed with her father whenever Vedika visited you," Madhavi said casually.

"So, who was that girl whom you used to play with? I'm forgetting beautiful moments and people nowadays," Padma said by rubbing her forehead.

"Which girl? You know that there were no female friends for me in childhood," he replied by looking away.

"But... Leave it! Come in, dear. Come in," Padma welcomed by pulling the arms of Aditi. Without any hesitation, Aditi went with the elderly with a huge grin.

"Ayush, come on!" Aditi called him as she saw that he was staring at the road and not joining them. 

He turned abruptly and nodded by walking along with them. A plump boy ran towards her with a smile.

"Hi! I'm Jaggan, the clever," he introduced himself.

"No, Jaggu, the monkey," Ayush corrected him. 

The boy puffed his cheeks and hit Ayush's arms with fury followed by a playful punch on Jaggu's stomach. Aditi giggled by viewing the funny reactions given by both of them.

"Do you like chocolates?" Jaggan asked her by growing closer to her, almost holding her hands.

"No, I hate them. They're bad for both your teeth and health," she whispered by scrunching her nose. 

His face turned away and began walking ahead recklessly like he didn't like the response she gave to his adorable and stupid question. Both the elder women left her and Ayush together by walking into the house hurriedly by whispering.

"So, will you show me around the village?" she asked Ayush gleefully but disappointingly, he didn't respond. 

His eyes were fixed on the neighbour's house where that strange man got in. She cleared her throat and he shifted his glance to her. He looked kind of in deep thought.

"Yes?" he asked by looking at her.

"Can you show me around?" she asked politely with a grin. His eyes roamed around the place and he nodded.

"Sure, why not?" he beamed. "This is our house as you know," he chuckled while gesturing towards the almost old house. "This is our neighbour's house that is out for buying. It's Jaggu's best friend's house," he grinned by pointing at Pinky's house.

His smile was so perfect and attractive that she wished to see it all the time. Looking away, they walked ahead more as he said about different places. She spotted a temple with a priest making arrangements for ceremonial worship of the deity.

"Is that your temple?" she asked inquisitively. 

He nodded in response and walked ahead to the priest and began talking to him. Gazing around, Aditi's eyes caught the glimpse of a bus reaching them.

"That's the second bus stop. It is not much used because it only goes to faraway places. Like the cities and other districts," he said and he kept staring over there. 

His eyes sparkled as they began to get moist. She couldn't understand if he was crying or if his eyes were simply a crystal.

Ayush kept on walking mindlessly as she followed and suddenly he stopped at a banyan tree near the bus stop. He caressed the tree and stared at it like it was his love. A smile adorned his lips as his eyes embraced the tree.

"And this is... a special tree. My grandfather planted it when he was my age. And..." his voice trailed off as if he couldn't speak anymore, his eyes glistening with a tear rolling down his beautiful smile.

"And?" Aditi asked with inquiring eyes.

"And it is precious to my heart," he mumbled by caressing the tree trunk again.

He was acting a bit out of what Madhavi had described to her about him. She said he was extremely cheerful and a loving boy who lets you never bore. Yet all these were his total opposite. He seemed too gloomy and he sounded like he wanted her to leave. 

She felt it was just the things that happened to people when they were around their soulmates. But she was more delighted with what was going to happen later. Her lips curbed into a hearty smile as they began walking back to the house.

Ayush left her alone and advanced towards the blue car getting parked inside the garage of their neighbour's sold house. She turned to him and began walking with him covering the distance between them. Closely examining him, she grew closer to him, almost touching his hand.

Awkwardly he moved away and began racing even faster to the man who was about to get into his car. He stared at her suddenly and then at the man.

"Hey," Ayush called out to the man. 

He grinned widely, which wasn't what anyone would expect him to do. He greeted Ayush back.

"You're our new neighbour it seems," Ayush added by holding his hand out. "Ayush," he mumbled, letting the man introduce himself.

"Siva," his hoarse voice rumbled as their hands met, shaking. "Well, I'm not moving in, my um, uhh, sister is," he added with an uncomfortable nod of his head.

"Ah," Ayush acted as if he was thinking. "Is she moving in today?" he asked suddenly with his eyes large. The man moved back uncomfortably and then stared at the car.

"No, maybe soon. I just came to check if the house is as good as they claim," Siva chuckled and Ayush joined in. "And it seems like it is way better than what we imagined. This place is just too good," he looked around, letting the village's beauty seep into him. 

He exhaled and looked at him again with a soft smile.

He looks intriguing. They both pondered about each other. 

They stared at each other for a while with hatred and intrigue burning in their eyes.

Who is he? They again thought, together. 

Suddenly Ayush smiled and nodded as if giving him a cue that it was a goodbye. 

"So, let's hope to meet soon," he added and turned to leave, seeing Siva nod and laugh. 

Siva turned to his car and revved up the engine. He took a good look at Ayush again and then at his house. Brimming with energy, it resonated with the sounds of laughter and joy as the man standing there, had the solemnest aura.

He moved his car out of the little space left by the large trucks at the entrance of the gate. As he left the tiny village, he took out his phone and dialled a number. The speakerphone blared the ringing of the phone when suddenly a bothered voice popped up.

"Elijah?"

"She lives there. I couldn't get a proper look as she had guests or something and it was chaotic, but she lives there, the place you noted," he replied back, with a defeated tone.

"Aha! I need my 2,000 rupees in my bank account now. That was the bet," she said with an outburst of laughter.

"Ask Ram, he'd give you," he retorted, in a far-away thought. "Krado, are you sure you want to do this?" he almost whispered the words.

"Elijah, you know why I am even doing this. Just let me," she sounded outraged but calm. 

He knew if she was determined on something, she'd do it even if it was her death. He sighed with his conquest.

"Alright. Just- just be safe with this one. I somehow don't feel great about her or her family. It's... gruesome," he uttered the word at last, feeling that it was a bit difficult for him to digest anything about the sweet faces.

"I was too. Her old face and demeanour are so sweet, you can't even imagine she can do it," she chuckled and he heard the crash of glass in the background.

"That might be the 3rd bottle," Elijah counted aloud and scoffed at her.

"Fourth. I should stop it. I better go, have to clean this shit up," she mumbled with a sigh.

"Krado!" Elijah suddenly called her.

"Yeah?" her voice was calm and hopeful, again as if she knew what it was going to be.

"He's alright," he said with a smile on his lips. It felt suddenly like she had dropped the call. "Hey? You there?" he asked, a bit loud.

"Thank you, Elijah," her voice was almost splintered and it felt like she was about to cry. 

Suddenly he heard another woman squeal and curse like a mother on the other end. "Oh my goodness, what is all this? I'm not going to allo-" He rolled his eyes and cut the call. 

Typical Sita bhabhi...

He sighed as the horns blared outside, making it deafening even for his thoughts. Scratching his head, he took a small route and stopped by a dead-end. As he sat in it, he lit a cig and puffed out the smoke slowly. He heard footsteps behind and he kept on puffing the smoke out.

"34,000," a voice muttered by leaning onto his car. 

He held out a large brown cover and before the man could snatch it from his grasp, he held out his hand, asking him something. Grunting, the man gave a larger bag of brown paper to Elijah.

 As Elijah yanked the bag from him, he took his. They didn't speak as Elijah checked the bag he gave and he checked the one Elijah gave. The bag of white powder and crystal seemed good enough to Elijah that he almost had his hands taking a handful. 

The man's eyes glistened seeing the money and Elijah's car went out of the lane in such haste, the man almost tumbled.