Sanyukta breathed a sigh of relief, the last paper of her end of term exam was written, and she had done brilliantly in all subjects. There would be a brief Diwali break before the next semester commenced so she had some free time for herself. She had managed her finances equally well; her 'corpus fund' was untouched while she still had money to spare. On working days she would rush through her lunch in the mess and then take a brief catnap in one the classrooms before the afternoon session. Not today though, there were no more classes to attend and she had other plans. She had made a list of things she needed to buy for the festival and she briskly walked to the nearest ATM to make her withdrawal.

Yasmeen was loaded with shopping bags as she climbed the stairs to get to the barsati. The house was rather quiet; she knew the landlady had decided to take a short outstation trip to visit her sister in Pune. Soon she would be occupied with decorating the apartment and the adjoining terrace, she wanted everything ready before Randhir and Parth got back in the evening, while they had promised to put up fairy lights when they returned. As she struggled to open her own door she cast a casual glance at his door and was surprised to see the door unlocked but bolted shut, moreover there was a sock hanging on the door knob. She remembered having read about this somewhere, did this not indicate that the person inside does not want to be disturbed because they were busy in there, with company?

Yasmeen's heart sank as she realised what she was looking at, it meant that Randhir was in there with someone, he was obviously not expecting Yasmeen to be back so early. Her feet turned to lead as she forced them indoors along with her shopping. She noticed that their interconnecting door was closed. The sounds that followed made her dissolve into tears, it was a girl groaning and whimpering in the throes of passion and a man's laboured grunting suggesting he was giving her a pleasure ride.

Yasmeen recalled the time she had spent together with Randhir, especially the endearing kiss they had shared, she was sure she had felt something genuine in his affection then. However the reality behind the wall was too stark to be in denial; she had been replaced by another as his object of desire, probably because the girl with him was less inhibited and much more brazen.

She wanted to die rather than live to see this moment. Of course he was not committed to her, at the most attracted to her finding her so mysterious and unattainable. On the other hand she had fallen for him completely in the past few months that they had been neighbours. How was she going to deal with this, she asked her mind, and it did not have an answer or any explanation for why she felt so vulnerable! Her shaking hands tried to reach for the bottle of water on her bedside table but a weak grip sent the plastic bottle tumbling across the floor instead. Abruptly the sounds next door halted, she could hear someone whispering and presently a familiar voice called out her name asking if she was in the room.

Her heart began beating rapidly, that voice belonged to Parth, not Randhir. In about ten minutes there was a soft knock on her door and she opened it to see Parth standing there with a girl. Yasmeen forgot to breathe under her veil as Parth introduced her as Vidushi, Randhir's sister. In her confusion Yasmeen asked him where Randhir was and she was told that he was out shopping for the fairy lights that they were supposed to put up when he was back. As he introduced the girls to each other Yasmeen cordially invited Vidushi inside just as Parth said goodbye to them. He had to leave with the car to pick up Randhir from the market.

Vidushi looked a little uncomfortable; Parth must have told her the nature of the equation between her brother and his neighbour. Their mother had advised Vidushi to fly over to Mumbai to spend Diwali with her brother, in other words on a scouting mission to assess what the boy was up to. Yasmeen offered to make her some tea and her guest consented, still unsure of her. Suddenly Yasmeen went to the door, bolted it shut, and as she turned around to face Vidushi she unveiled herself with a smile, drawing a high-pitched squeal from her.

"Mhari Marwaadan, tu athey?" The two best friends flew into each other's arms; soon there were tears of joy and relief, as Vidushi recovered from her shock. "I cannot believe you have been living with him under the same roof and he has not recognised you! So, have you guys done it yet?" she asked the blushing girl, who simply nodded covering her face with her palms, overcome with a cocktail of emotions!