Naushad sees her lying with eyes shut. he knows she is not asleep because he too is not. after being with her then pushing her away than seeing her broken and then a crack in between them, there has been too much. and this is too much to sleep soundly. not even a nap. and she has not moved an inch the moment she had laid on the bed. he knows how messy kind of sleeper she is! she used to roll on the whole bed in sleep. and here she doesn't even try to sneak a peak. he feels so miserable. this is the first time he has felt all distance and silence in this room. and look at the misery he can't even ask her anything. he wants but can't. an invisible tie is there. his feet are shackled. his lips are sealed. the reason....he is Naushad Rizvi...

he stares at her face. he tries to learn what she is thinking. what she is trying to decipher in her mind. what she is trying to decode. all of sudden he wants to be close to her. all of sudden he wants her back. all of sudden there is something inside him that stirs and calls for her. wants to see her awake and flash that stupid grin she always did before that night. he wants her to try to intimidate him as she used to do. she pulled those stupid stunts. Naushad wants her to try those insane acts. he wants old Naina back....desperately.

'Naina...' he calls her out. he is hoping perhaps she would try to at least look at him. he doesn't know how this happened or what changed but suddenly he wants her to intrude. he wants her to poke him. all of sudden when she is here and silent he wants her to speak and create a mess instead. he wants her to be nosy. and why he wants so he doesn't know...he is looking at her....waiting for her to speak.

'naina.....so Gayi kya?'

this time she moves but without looking at him or doing anything she turns her side. her back faces Naushad. it breaks something inside him. he knows it. something inside him has just cried out seeing her such bland reaction. he knows that something has changed these days but he also knows that this change though inevitable is just a start. there is a huge storm awaiting....for him. he knows it. he is sure....he has been a man since his birth. and men when feel uneasy its just initiation...

the whole night is spent looking at naina...he has not got a wink of sleep but suddenly he is relieved. seeing his bed full after so many days he feels he has gotten a good night's sleep. he leaves bed before she can get up. and suddenly his files have nothing to engage him. they are lying on the table and he doesn't spare them a second glance.

_________________________________________

'naina....naina..' saira is shaking her.

'haan. baccha..kya huya?' she is up but suddenly she is cautious. she remembers what she had promised herself before entering these premises. this home is now a house. she has told herself not to forget this. not at all. she pecks saira' cheek and gives her a warming smile.

'abbu ne coffee banayi. ye dekho.. saira ke liye bhi. isme na abbu ne ye smiley banayi...dekho..ye dekho.' she shows her tiny cup which contains nothing but pure milk and small choco chips spread in form of smiley. and surely the smiley has turned into a frown the way it has been shaken up. little saira has moved her cup from New York to Melbourne just to show naina how good it looked. naina laughs.. this girl is surely life. nothing but happiness she spreads..

'tumhari coffee.' naushad offers her a mug. she refuses to meet his eyes.

'naina..piyo piyo. abbu ne kaha ki isko peene se neend nahi aati. piyo isko piyo.'

she has no other option but accepting it. she has no way out. she accepts coffee. saira is drinking her milk while sitting on her lap. naina stares at her toe and decided to think of her schedule.

she finds this whole situation completely awkward. her plan was to escape this man. she had decided to ignore him. but the way he has been sitting just in front of her and staring at her so openly she sees all her plans going through window of this bedroom. perhaps she should not have slept in this bedroom with him. but look at saira! she would not let her escape. she'd ask questions. moreover she had pulled a stunt before which caused nothing but pain to her little girl. she silently accepts all this. his coffee, his stare, his attempts of getting a closure. but she knows there is now a line that'd not let her fall weak and let bygones be bygones...

unknowingly her heart has been hurt badly. and this time she doesn't see any suitable medicine.

she sips her cofffee silently without looking at him. and soon she is rushing to kitchen where a vivacious khala is in her full form.

before she can leave for hospital, naushad is all set with his jeep. waiting for her. for a moment she is about to cry then run to him and hug him and then at the same time slap him multiple times. but....she remembers how bad his cold shoulder once hit her she cant risk one more bound when earlier ones are not even healed.

she silently sits in jeep...

she hears his pleading questions, broken voice..

naina ahaluwalia gives in...but Naina Rizvi doesnt. cause the pieces of Naina Rizvi were not picked up by Naina ahaluwalia...she herself had done that. hands and palms so wounded to hold naushad, she goes with denial. she has to.....

________________________________

naushad has no idea what us taking place with him. she has come back. she has started to live with him. but what is hurting him is her walls. earlier she was a meadow. so alive, so fresh. but today morning she was all but desert. nothing in her. nothing to give..nothing to take.

he is in his office but what he has been doing since past few days is pondering over naina. naina..naina' temper, naina' problems, naina's this and that...naina. this one word has occupied his territory. he is not able to pass her. it seems he cant.

ealier he hated her advances. todays he craved for them. earlier he wanted her to be quiet. today he missed her indulgence. it was all messy.

'i'll go mad...Ya Allah...me kya karu! kuch samajh nahi aa raha. its all so tangled up. i cant even think straight. i really really want a way out. jindagi me pahli dafa hume nahi pata ki kya sahi he aur kya galat. sab kuch wahi he jo hume chahiye tha...lekin ye wo nahi he jo hume ab chabhiye! kya ho gaya he hume.......kuch samajh nahi aa raha..'

he has gone over same paragraph multiple times but nothing gets in. same file he has read thrice. but he has no idea why he was asked to read this report on ammunition shortage.

this is messed up. this is strange. naushad prays this mess to be shorten out. he prays for a solution, a way out....but why he wants a way out of the situation created by him and somewhere much awaited by him also is inexplicit.