Hi guys! Monali  here! Hope you all like my work!

Pairings - Ragini-Laksh, Swara-Sanskar, Pragya-Abhi, Maya-Arjun, Tanuja-Rishi

(I bet you guys already knew the pairs anyway :-p )

"Words in double quotes" - Talking

'Words in single quotes' - Thoughts

(Words in braces) - Telephone conversations

Chapter 1 - Our Own Little Worlds

#8am, Gagodia Residence#

A girl is seen coming out of the front door of her house and unlocking the gate. It was Tanuja, the eldest of the Gagodia sisters.

She crosses the road to the cafe opposite her house. She held the keys to the cafe as she is the owner. Its been five years since she opened the cafe. Never could she have thought that her cafe would run this long. She loved cooking and that is why she had opened the cafe for her own enjoyment. But now, it was one of the most popular cafes in Delhi.

"Flowers, fresh flowers to brighten your day!"

She turned around to find a woman passing with a flower cart.

"Excuse me! Wait please. I want to buy some flowers"

She went near the cart and picked up some daisies.

"Nice choice young lady. Daisies are some of the prettiest flowers. They also mean 'hidden love' in some languages."

"Daisies are my favourite flowers. But I didn't know they meant hidden love."

The woman nodded.

"I'll take a some of the daisy flowers then."

Tanuja paid the woman and took the flowers inside. She placed them at the counter and looked at the clock. 'Where are Tina and Dia. They should have been here by now.' Tina and Dia are two girls who help Tanuja in running the cafe. She sighed and got busy in dusting the cafe.

A few minutes later, another girl entered the cafe wearing glasses.

"Tanuja di, good morning!"

"Good morning Pragya. Wait, let me make your morning tea."

"Its ok di. I don't have work today. The college is closed because of the strike."

"O...I see"

"I'm free today. I can help you in the cafe today"

"I'll help too!" shouted a young girl as she came running into the cafe.

"Ragini... don't you have to go study for the Preliminary exams of the UPSC?"

"Di, there's still a month left for the exam. Chill! Can you make me a cup of coffee?"

"Sure." Tanuja went to the counter to make tea and coffee for them, followed by Ragini and Pragya.

"Aa-a-achoo!" Pragya sneezed. "achoo!"

"What happened Pragya di?"

"I don't know I-I-*sneeze* I was fine til-l-l *sneeze* now"

Tanuja remembered the daisies. "Oops! I forgot you are allergic to daisies. It would be best if you step away from the counter Pragya."

"Now you're-e-e *sneeze* telling me!?*sneeze*"

"Hehe..sorry"

"Pragya di, Tanu di. We'll have loads of fun together today!"

Swara arrived just then to hear Ragini say that.

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"Pragya di's college is closed, and I'm taking a break from studies today. So we both decided to help Tanu di."

"Whaaaa. You guys will work together, gossip, have fun, while I would be stuck in the school teaching the kids to dance!? Not fair!"

"Swara work comes first. You can spend time with us after you get back home" said Tanuja.

"Poor Swara. You'll lose all the fun we'll be having" teased Ragini.

(Ragini doesn't call Swara - 'di' . It felt odd to make her call Swara as 'di' or 'didi'. Bear with me :-P )

"I'm not going for work!" Swara took out her phone and dialed someone's number.

"Aree... Swara how cou-"

"Shh Tanu di, the Principal may pick up his phone anytime n- Hello, hello Sir, good morning. Sir, I wanted to inform you that...that I may not be able to take the dance classes of the students today."

(May I know why Miss Swara?)

"You see Sir, my elder sister Pragya is really ill." Pragya looked at her with wide eyes "And my other sisters are busy with work. Someone needs to take care of her" Swara said with the most convincing tone.

(I see.... You didn't speak of any of your sister being ill yesterday. Did she really become so ill overnight?) asked the Principal with doubt.

Swara didn't know what to say. She looked at the other three for support. She covered the speaker with her hands and held the phone away from her.

"What do I say? What do I say!?"Swara whispered, so that the Principal doesn't hear on the other end.

"You lied about me. Now reap the consequences." Pragya said dismissively.

"Ragu! Help me!"

Ragini looked around and saw the daisies.

She quickly went and picked up one, and put it under Pragya's nose. Immediately Pragya started sneezing and coughing.

Swara held the phone near Pragya so that the Principal could hear her.

(O my. She really seems unwell. Take good care of your sister Swara. Hopes she recovers soon) with that the Principal cut the call.

Swara put the phone down and hugged Ragini.

"Raguuuuu! You're the best, you're the best, you're the best!"

Ragini put her hands on her hips and held her chin high "Hah! I know. I'm awesome. Mwahaha- Ouch!" Pragya smacked her in the head.

"How could you *sneeze* do that *sneeze* Ragini!" Pragya rasped out.

"You don't know? Let me get another daisy then" teased Ragini

"Ragu!" Pragya started hitting her playfully.

"Alright, alright you two. Stop fighting" Tanuja said with a smile.

"When will you ever be mature?" said a voice from the door.

"Maya, good morning."

"Good morning, Tanuja." Maya looked ready to head out for office.

"Here. Your morning coffee." Tanuja said.

"Let me pass it to her." said Pragya, taking the paper cup from Tanuja. Everyone knew that Maya was Pragya's idol. Pragya got into most troubles as she was introverted and shy, but Maya had always defended her. Even the other sisters have showed moments of weakness, but Maya had always oozed of power. For Pragya, Maya was the epitome of confidence and power.

"Maya di, we all have decided to stay at the cafe and help Tanu di today. Why don't you stay back to?" asked Swara with a smile.

"I would like to, but there's an important meeting I need to attend Swara. Bye" Maya said, as she took the coffee from Pragya and was about to head out.

"Maya di, at least have coffee with us. You own Glam Town industry. No one would tell you anything if you're a bit late." Ragini told her.

"I'm Maya Malhotra. I don't do late. Everything should be perfect." said Maya, putting her glasses on. The doorbell jingled as she moved out.

"Why can't she relax a bit!? It won't kill her to spend time with us." Swara said, frustrated.

"Swara, you know why she is like that. She had a really tough childhood. We all know that she cares for us deeply, but she won't express it. She feels that she would lose all of us if she shows her emotions to us."

"But Tanu di, we would never do that to her! Her father beat her if she smiled or cried. That's because he was a bastard! Our parents saved her from her evil parents and we love her as family. Why doesn't she understand that she is safe now?"

"Pragya di is right. We love her like family. Its been so many years since she became a part of our family, but she still has the insecurity that we would leave her" Ragini said sadly.

"Girls....you need to understand. What Maya experienced in her childhood... It was too much for even an adult to handle, and she was just a 9 year old. She has put walls around her heart so that she doesn't suffer. But she has opened up to all of us more than anyone. I was able to get her to open up to me. She also talks, and even laughs with all of you. Its a big improvement. And I'm sure, one day, she will learn to let go of her insecurity and realize that we will always be there for her." Tanuja told them.

"I hope so too. I hate seeing Maya sad" said Pragya with a sad face.

(Maya is only a year older than Pragya. So Pragya doesn't call her di. She calls her Maya.)

"Everything will be okay Pragya di." Swara put a hand on her shoulder.

"You're right. Maybe something good will happen today. Maybe Maya would meet someone special today! He would be a handsome guy, who would fall in love at first sight with Maya, then they woul-"

"Pragya!" shouted the others.

"What?"

"You're starting to day-dream again!"

"Hehe...sorry" Pragya said sheepishly.

"Tanu di, where's my coffee?" whined Ragini.

"Its ready, here. Pragya, your tea. Swara, here's your green tea."

They all thanked Tanuja and started chatting.

#Sometime later#

"Good morning! We're here!" said Tina, as she and Dia as they entered the cafe.

"Swara, Ragini, Pragya....what are you three doing here?" asked Dia

"We decided to help Tanu di today."

"Tina, Dia, you two can take a day off today if you like. I already have three helpers for the day"

"Thank you Tanuja!" said Tina and Dia as they rushed out of the cafe, happy to get a holiday.

"Ok girls! Lets get to work!"

"Right Ragu. Tanu di tell us what to do"

"Hmm...ok. Ragini, Swara fix the tables and put one daisy in each of the vases on the  tables. Pragya, since you are allergic to them, you can help me make the cookies and cake in the kitchen."

A chorus of "Got it!" could be heard from the girls.

#Sunshine Orphanage, 5 pm#

"And.... Rishi is about to hit a goal. He's almost near the net anddddd....ooooh no! Sanskar steals the ball. Bad luck for Rishi. Sanskar passes the ball to Abhi ,but Arjun interrupts and steals the ball. He's going for the goal and...o! Laksh swiftly steals the ball from him. Rishi tries to take the ball anddd.......ooo..nice save Laksh! And he's close to the net....he's getting closer..closer....and he kicks the ball..annnddd...its a Goal!!! Team A-3 Team B-2. And with this Laksh leads his team to victory!" spoke a boy. He had a rolled up newspaper in front of his mouth and was speaking like a real commentator in a big football match.

Abhi, the rockstar, always visited the Sunshine orphanage on Monday evenings. He came with Rishi to spend time with the kids. That's how they met Laksh, a national level football player, who came to play football with the kids. Laksh spend his childhood playing football with the orphanage kids. Now, he works at St. Peter's College as a coach, but comes in the evenings to the orphanage to teach them how to play. Rishi had always loved football, and when Laksh asked him to play, he couldn't resist. Soon, they developed the routine of holding a football match each evening. Abhi, although he has little knowledge of football, joins them along with Sanskar, a famous model. Turns out, Sanskar and Laksh knew each other since middle school, but they had been too busy in their lives that they had grown unaware of what the other was doing in their life. But this proved to be their reunion.

Arjun is Laksh's elder brother. He used to visit the orphanage with Laksh rarely, but after playing some matches with the other four, he too started coming daily. These five boys had become best friends overtime, even like brothers.

"Beat you again bhai!" boasted Laksh.

"Rishi you made us lose" Arjun accused.

"Hey! Don't blame me. Besides, it was an unfair match. It was Me and Arjun against you, Sanskar and Abhi."

"Oi! Rishi. It was you and Arjun who said that you two could beat us all." Laksh pointed out.

"We could! But we spared you. After all, I didn't want to overshadow my brother's talent." said Arjun, giving Laksh a pat on the back.

"Overshadow me? Dude, I could beat you with my little finger"

"Yea, in your dreams."

"Just admit we are better than you two" Sanskar said with a smirk.

"Even my dead body won't say that" Arjun flipped his hair.

"Guys... I dont know about you all, but I'm hungry."

"When are you not hungry Abhi?" Rishi said with a laugh "Lets go to the cafe down the street. The food is delicious there."

Sanskar and Abhi looked at each other and laughed.

"Eh? Why are you two laughing?" Laksh asked confused.

"Lucky, Rishi doesn't want to go there because of the food, but rather because of the one serving the food. Right Rishi?" Abhi said, wriggling his eyebrows at Rishi.

Rishi blushed "Whatever. I'll pay for whatever you all want to eat. Are you coming or not!?"

All of them rushed to their bikes since Rishi would be the one paying. Who would refuse free food?

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To be continued...