"Why didn't she come home yet Shivaay?" Omkara asked his brother on the phone.

"Om, she messaged me that her teacher came late so, she got delayed. Instead of coming all the way here, she said she will stay with Himani and go early to her college tomorrow. There is nothing wrong in it," the big brother explained.

"But why isn't she answering my calls? I was worried," the other one asked, his voice laced with irritation.

"That is because her phone got switched off. Arjun called me and informed me that he dropped her to the college hostel. You can call Himani."

"You should have told me Shivaay. It is late in the night and they must have slept. I cannot sleep peacefully now without talking to Gauri," the younger one rebuked.

"I am sorry Om. I was stuck in a meeting today."

Omkara closed his eyes and sighed heavily.

"Om, you can call Himani first thing in the morning. Or I will msg her to call you whenever she gets up. Why are you getting so worked up?" Shivaay asked the question.

His brother did not reply for a long minute making him ask, "Is everything alright? Is Mr. Vinod not coping well or did anything go wrong that you want to talk to Gauri about it? You can talk to me for tonight."

"Nothing went wrong here. It is just that it is first time after we married that I am miles away from her. I am getting restless for some reason. I do not know what..."

"You are a goner and it is well established by now Om. Get yourself together, rest for the night and you can talk to her tomorrow. Gauri is safe and she must be sleeping. Do not worry," Shivaay assured and his brother nodded.

"The next time I am to go out of Mumbai for work and my wife makes excuses, I am going to kidnap her," Omkara said with determination making his elder brother laugh.

"Sure thing, I and Rudy will help you then. For now, go get some sleep," said Shivaay and ended the call with a smile.

Omkara looked at his phone which had his wife's picture as the lock screen.

"Couldn't you call me once," he mumbled tracing her smile.

The conversation he had with Mrs. Vinod earlier that day came back to him.

"What a newly wed bride expects from a marriage is romance," Haritha said when she heard form Omkara that he was married a few months ago.

"If you love her, you should not only make her feel it but also say it out loud at least for hundred times a day," she said with a dreamy smile.

He had widened his eyes at the statement making her frown at him.

"Don't you do that young man?" she asked him.

"Uh...." He gave her a fake smile and she raised an eyebrow.

"Kids these days do not know the meaning of romance at all," she said with a shake of head.

"It is not necessary that everybody should openly confess their love, isn't it?" Omkara tried to put forth his view.

"Nonsense. What in the open? You are confessing it to your wife, not some outsider."

"Yeah, but she knows that I..."

"Not enough," she cut his statement.

"You seemed to be a good boy till now but I think I judged you too soon," she said.

"I... its not.."

"To the world you may be one person but for one person you might mean the world. When you know the one, you should tell her how much she means to you. Trust me, your life will turn more beautiful than before," she said with such conviction that he sat speechless and lost in thoughts for the rest of the meal.

"I think Mrs. Vinod is right," he talked to the image on his phone screen.

"It is time you know how much you mean to me," he said and mouthing a small kiss to her smiling face, he walked towards the bed in his hotel room.

Laying down on the bed, he hugged one cushioned pillow to his chest.

"I miss you Gauri," he whispered into the night and stared at the rotating fan which hung from the ceiling.

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

"How is she, did she eat anything?" a worried Arjun asked his wife who came out of their guest bedroom.

"How can she be alright Arjun? After what she went through,..." Gauri Shastri sighed shaking her head in a no.

"Those bas*****," he cursed out loud and kicked the sofa in the living room.

"I think I should call Om and ..." Arjun started but his wife shook her head.

"She doesn't want him to know Arjun."

"But Gauri, how can I lie about such a thing to him? He would kill me if he got to know of it."

"It is her choice Arjun. We cannot do anything which she doesn't want us to do."

Arjun Shastri tiredly rubbed his face, his mind and heart at a constant war since the past few hours. Every time his hand took out his phone to dial his friend's number, his student's pleas rang in his ears.

"He will kill them sir, please don't tell this to him," she cried hard hugging him and he couldn't help but promise her of the same.

It is already too much for him to get over the guilt of not being there with Gauri and protecting her from the day's ugly happenings. What if his friend got to know that he withheld such a big issue from him? Something which is absolutely his right to know.

He will never forgive him... he thought gravely.

"Arjun, did you call Gauri's brother in law? Her family must be worried right?" the wife asked her husband.

"Yeah, I called him but it seems Gauri messaged him that she will stay at Himani's place tonight," he informed.

"Oh, that is new."

Arjun looked at his wife in question.

"She always insists that she should go home no matter how late it is. You said that to me yourself."

He thought on it and answered.

"Om is not at home so, she might have..."

"Yes maybe," Gauri Shastri replied unconvinced.

"Who was that girl that you said had called you?"

"Sonia."

"Why did she call you out of everybody? Why didn't she not go and help Gauri?"

"She was alone my dear. What if they took her too? She must have called me because I live nearby and Gauri is close to me."

"Mr. Fernandes stays two lanes away from the college. She could have called the hostel warden too if she wanted to help," his wife replied.

Arjun contemplated her words and looked at the possibilities. He was too shaken that his mind did not look at the logical side but he was thankful that his wife could find the faults.

"You said there were four of the gang and you bet them single handedly. Arjun, I think there is something amiss," she put in her strongest point.

"I think you are right. There is something wrong," Arjun had to agree.

"We will talk to Gauri but let her come out of the trauma first. In the meanwhile I will try to find out if Sonia has got something to do with this," he assured.

"Okay, I will stay with Gauri tonight. You go and sleep in the bedroom. It has been a taxing day for you," Mrs. Shastri said.

Kissing her husband a good night, she walked back into the guest bedroom which lodged the frightened victim.

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

The next morning,

"Sir, it is me Farhaan," Shivaay heard him through the phone.

"Yes, tell me. Is there any progress?"

"Karan's father recovered from coma sir," Farhaan communicated making Shivaay widen his eyes.

"Really? Is he fine now? Can he talk?"

"I do not know of the details sir. Karan sir is to come back from Delhi by tonight. I heard the doctor convey the news to him."

"You got me some excellent news today Farhaan. I will take a flight to Lucknow. I will talk to Siddharth Shukla even before his son meets him," said Shivaay with determination.

"But sir, Karan sir will not allow it."

"You do not worry about him. Just keep a close watch and keep the patient safe because I strongly feel he has people watching him. Bhavya too said the same last time."

"Okay sir. Just ask Bhavya mam to send me some extra back up," Farhaan asked and Shivaay agreed.

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

"Mithila, did Gauri come to your house last night?" Himani asked her in the college.

"No, why did you ask?"

"Omkara called me this morning and told me that she sent a message to her brother in law last night that she is staying with me."

"What?" Mithila asked stopping their walk to the classroom.

"What did you tell him then?" she asked in worry.

"I managed to lie that she is using the washroom and she has to leave for an early class today. I told him that I will make her call him after the class," came the reply.

"Did he believe?"

"I guess so. He asked me not to forget to inform her that he had called."

"Why did she lie? Did they fight and she went somewhere to..." Mithila began to think aloud.

"Where will she go if not to me or you?"

Mithila thought for a second and said, "Arjun sir. He might know something."

"Okay, call him and ask. In the meanwhile I will go and check if she is already in the classroom," said Himani and her friend nodded before dialing their professor's number.

"Hello, Arjun sir. Do you have any information about Gauri?" Mithila asked once her call was answered.

"I was about to call you myself. Please come home Mithila ji. If possible get Himani with you."

If she was surprised at Gauri's lie before, she was shocked to hear her professor ask to bring Himani to their house.

"Is everything alright? Is Gauri..."

"I will tell you everything once you come here," he said and ended the call after hearing an okay.

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

"What the hell," Himani screamed and got up from the chair.

"Shh, Himani sit down," Mithila tried to pull her back.

They reached Arjun's home some time back and were greeted by the woman of the house. Later, they were ushered into the living room where Arjun sat in the couch contemplating on how to break the news to them.

The wife and husband struggled a bit but they finally conveyed the scaring incident to Gauri's friends.

"Where is she?" Himani asked again.

Gauri Shastri showed her the guest bedroom and the former rushed inside to meet her friend.

"This is something.... I don't know what to say," Mithila mumbled weakly.

"Just be there with her Mithila ji. I asked you to come because she needs to divert her mind," Arjun said.

"True, she didn't sleep a wink last night. The few hours she tried to rest, she woke up screaming out of a nightmare," Arjun's wife told them.

"Oh my God. Why didn't you tell her husband? He called Himani in the morning and she lied to him."

"Gauri didn't want Om to know," Arjun explained.

"She is afraid that in his anger he might kill the people behind. I told her that we should complain to the police but she said that she doesn't want her family name to be dragged into this," the wife told her.

"How can we let them go sir? Also, how long can we hide this secret from Omkara?"

"I don't know Mithila ji. Om is to come to Mumbai by tomorrow. Until then we have to try our best to make Gauri understand things or at least calm her down to look normal to him," said Arjun in a grave tone.

"Yes, that is all we can do for now," Mithila agreed.

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