They heard a loud knocking on the door. Mayank and Bhargavi stood stiff in their positions. The knock sounded weird, it was unusual for someone to knock and not press the doorbell.
Prabir started to walk towards the door, Bhargavi held his arm and whispered," Careful! Don't open up the door wide."

The knocks got louder and sooner someone started banging hard on the door. Bhargavi slowly trailed Prabir. Prabir opened up the door to find a man of strong build glaring at him fiercely. The next thing he saw was Bhargavi throwing up her stole, she had used to cover herself and place a sharp knife on the man's throat.

"What should I call you Meghna or Bhargavi?

You think, a little kitten like you can threaten me with that knife, when you ...backstabbed me?" He furiously roared.

"Oh! Don't make that smug face. It will be hard for you to swallow your pride but you are making a tragic error my sinful friend.

Yes! For whatever reason that maybe, I felt the need to go behind your back, while you even saved my life,

DO NOT HURT HIM, or anyone present here, else I'll slit your throat and make you bleed to death," She yelled. "Now, I know you're not here for a flimsy apology, then why are you here?" She added sharply.

Mayank was shell-shocked, he had never imagined someone would be still alive, having held a blade to Ziko's throat.

"Megh...Bhargavi. I am not here to harm anyone," Ziko admitted.

"Bhargu, let him in please," Prabir pleaded.

"Wait! You can't trust him. You don't even know him," Bhargavi snapped.

"He saved your life Bhargu, at least let him in. Please," Prabir requested.

Bhargavi jerked her head to face Prabir and said in a serious tone," I take no favors. I saved his ass numerous times. Yet, he didn't find it necessary to at least inform me, forget about a discussion before hiring a new person on the team."

"We have kids in here, we can't let him in," Bhargavi mouthed at Prabir, still guarding Ziko's way.

"You have kids?" Ziko asked alarmed.

Parul stood perplexed looking from one face to the other. Then as an immediate response she rushed to the TV and pressed the volume button to raise the volume, as the remote was broken to pieces. Then she slowly crawled back and stood behind Prabir.

"I wouldn't have showed up, had you received my phone calls or replied back to my texts and informed me how you're doing," Ziko sighed.

"She's right Prabir. She saved me a couple number of times.
I remember my team was in grave danger, the very first time I asked her to flee along with the others and save her life, but she refused to listen.

I insisted," For God's sake, leave me. Go."

She replied back smoothly,"Firstly, I am not a God fearing person and secondly, I am not leaving you to die here.

She's the best in my team," Ziko admitted.

"Okay! Enough of that. I am doing very well and now that you know it, you may leave. Your presence is not required here," Bhargavi hissed.

"What happened to your arms?" Ziko quizzed concerned. " Tell me who did this to you?" He thundered.

Prabir held Bhargavi's hips gently, pushing her a little aside. He offered his hand for a handshake. "I can't thank you enough for saving her life and beating up that moron," Prabir said shaking hands with Ziko.

Bhargavi swiftly folded the knife and placed it inside her trousers pocket.

"How did you know that?" Ziko enquired and Prabir pointed at Mayank," He told me," he mumbled.

"Sir! What are you doing here? You three know each other?" Ziko quizzed looking at Mayank.

"Yes! Ziko. I know them well enough to leave someone very special in their care," Mayank replied coldly.

"Who did this to her Prabir?" Ziko inquired Prabir, pointing at her arms.

"Sorry! It's not my place to tell you that," Prabir murmured.

"You checked on my phone," Bhargavi asked enraged.

"When you were stabbed, I only had one thing in mind...to...to save you, but when you were being treated, I asked Aman to hand me your bag. I wanted to drop you home observing your condition.

I was searching for your purse in your bag, for it might contain your id or something ...to know your address. I found nothing in your purse, other than some cash. However, I found the other phone you use, not the one you have switched off," he elucidated.

"It's true that I never wanted you to do this job but agreed only because you insisted.
What is going on kitty? Who did that to you? Just give me the name," Ziko pleaded.

"You dare call me a kitty one more time and I swear...I will boil you alive," Bhargavi yelled. "I am capable of handling this okay. I don't need your help," she added spitefully.

"Yeah! I get it. Why will you need a gangster's help? Still if you ever need anything just call me up," Ziko mumbled and left.

Bhargavi took up her stole from the floor and covered herself. Mayank was left pondering with the same question that Ziko had enquired Bhargavi. However, he knew he wouldn't be given an answer to that particular question, so he asked instead," Do you always keep that knife with you Bhargavi?"

"No! Not always. One needs to be extremely careful with people like you around," she snapped disgusted and walked upstairs, leaving Mayank scratch his head.

'Am I that untrustworthy?' he thought to himself.

Prabir reflected that Bhargavi didn't have her soup and had left it behind downstairs.
Noticing Parul standing stiff in a corner, he rapidly approached her and inquired," Are you okay Paru?"

"Bhaiya. That man looked so scary but I don't know who was scarier, Bhargu Di held a blade to his throat. Is she a gangsta girl?" She quizzed thoughtfully.

Mayank had a dead serious expression on his face. He wondered if Prabir would tell her the truth.

"Sometimes Paru, a Queen needs to hold up a weapon to protect herself, her people as well as her kingdom.

Now, if you are going to ask me if she is a real queen of some sort, no she isn't.

It is not the gold, silver or diamond embellishments or the crown but it is the way you treat people,so that they start treating you like a real queen.

Bhargu held the weapon to scare him off Paru so that you, me...no one gets hurt," Prabir said genuinely.

"Was he here to hurt us Bhaiya? He looked concerned about Di," Paru quizzed.

"No. He wasn't here to hurt anyone. It was a misunderstanding Paru," Prabir explained.

Prabir was about to shut the doors, when he happened to glance on Mr. Ghosh and Mrs. Naira walking up to him.

Mrs. Naira was stunned to see, there was no siblings rivalry rather, both the kids sat close to each other watching TV.

"Naira Di. I am extremely sorry, I was working in the kitchen when these two picked up a fight," Prabir apologized sincerely.

"No.No.No. It's okay I understand. I am glad you could deal with the kids for so long," Mrs. Naira said gleefully.

"What did the doctor say?" Prabir enquired concerned.

"I am fine Prabir. There's nothing to worry. The doctor only prescribed some more medicines," Mr. Ghosh informed joyfully.

The kids bid Prabir goodbye and he hugged them again before they departed with their mother.

As soon as they left, Prabir instructed Paru to go back to her room and quietly took Bhargavi's soup upstairs, which was still mild warm.

He gently knocked on the door and Bhargavi screamed," What is it?"

" I will leave immediately after you have finished having this soup," Prabir said politely and shut the door.

"I am sorry. I...I don't have any excuse to take it out on you," Bhargavi expressed deep regret.

"It's okay Bhargu," Prabir said softly and placed the bowl on the bed before her.

"Can you please sit here for a while?" Bhargavi enquired uncertainly.

"Yes! Of course I can Bhargu," Prabir mumbled and sat down on the bed. Bhargavi quickly finished the soup and placed the bowl aside.

"I feel like I don't know what to do anymore.

I loathed Ziko on sight. I hated every damn thing about him - his body language, his voice...looks everything. He is unable to speak a sentence without using a slang. I never felt bad that...I was fooling him. He always used to get on my nerves.

How in the world am I responsible for his feelings for me? I am clearly not, still why do I feel so bad for him?" Bhargavi concluded agitated.

"You feel bad because he's your partner, a friend...you have worked together for so long and you also know that he is not that bad a person, you imagined him to be.

You made it crystal clear that you won't be able to return his feelings without giving him false hopes.

You can't help it Bhargu. We cannot force ourselves to feel something we don't.

Yes! I know that Keya humiliated me but it was all an emotional outburst Bhargu...all because she knew that I couldn't love her back the way she did. I too felt guilty at that time, I wondered if I was responsible for her heartache and if there was anything, I could do to fix her broken heart. However, with time I realized that I don't have the solution to all problems.

I am certain that Ziko will be alright, even if it stings and hurts him. I really hope and pray that he finds someone who truly loves and cherishes him.

You duped him, yes! I agree but that was for a greater good," Prabir said seriously.

"Things didn't end well with Keya. She ended her own life. How do I trust in the power of prayers Prabir ?" Bhargavi enquired sadly. " Though, I never asked but I am pretty sure that Ziko might have had a very rough past.

I still can't forget the way he was starting at me, while taking me to the nursing home, when I was bleeding... after being stabbed," she added.

"You know what Bhargu. When Maa left us, we stopped praying. We didn't have faith anymore.
Losing a loved one makes you feel an excruciating and unbearable pain.

It took time to have faith restored back in Baba and me. Sometimes, horrible things happen in life and all we can do is accept the reality and move on.
The scale of problems Baba had troubling him when we lost Maa...was huge,he had two kids to raise on his own single handedly and he was also deep in a financial trouble, having spent lots of money on Maa's treatment. He didn't even have the time to grieve and mourn.

We started to trust in the supernatural abilities of God, as slowly Paru grew up. She started to look more and more similar to Maa, till she became almost her doppelganger. It made us feel like Maa never left us, Paru reminds me of her every single day.

Yes! I beg God sometimes honestly...but get no response, no answers. It's impossible to comprehend how the Almighty works miracles.
Learning to trust God has never been easy for me.

Yet, I believe that Ziko will understand that indecision and unwillingness to walk away from you despite having the clarity that you won't love him back will make him feel void, empty. And at the same time he'll realize that he's putting up a fantasy against his own reality.

He wouldn't get caught up in the heady and romantic brew of romantic love, that would take him down a dark road to become someone he himself wouldn't recognize.

The only thing that we can do now is be in touch with him, as he might walk on the path of self destruction, collecting his remnants," Prabir suggested thoughtfully. "Had I done that, maybe Keya would be alive today.

I stayed indifferent towards her, knowing that she was a wreckage and trusted in my prayers and asked God to scoop her out of her own ashes and help her rebuild herself and move on," Prabir added mournfully.

"I did not want her feelings for me to get any deeper or stronger.

Yes! I cared for her...only as a friend but her unrequited obsession would leave her haunting for clues and signals.

I thought severing all ties with her will be the right thing to do.

It doesn't have to be all doom and gloom when you love someone and that person is in love with someone else," Prabir sighed.

"You are so adorable Prabu, especially when you are with kids, with Winky or KitKat," Bhargavi said gladly not willing to have any more of that discussion.

"Am I not adorable when I am with you?" Prabir smirked.

"No. Not at all," Bhargavi stated bluntly, not wanting to let him know what he made her feel each time he looked into her eyes,
"Because all the time you keep thinking...about me recovering as fast as possible, so that you can send me off to some paying guest (PG)."

"You still have that knife, right?" Prabir enquired seriously.

"Yeah! Why?" Bhargavi snapped.

"Then I shouldn't be mentioning that I can't wait anymore to send you away," Prabir grinned.

"You...Prabu," Bhargavi said huskily and threw cushions at him, laughing.

Prabir dodged easily, picked up the cushions, placed them on the bed and approached Bhargavi, "Please Bhargu, recover fast. I am dying to hold you close in my arms," He said softly intertwining their fingers.

"Yes! I know you are a big fan of giving bear hugs," she chortled. He caressed her lower lip with his right thumb while brooding,

It's so embarrassing Bhargu,
Firstly, it wasn't me but you, who proposed me first and
secondly, I proposed you without even thinking...forget about a ring, I didn't even have a flower.
I absolutely had to resist the urge to embrace you after you said a 'Yes'.

"Prabu?" Bhargavi enquired uncertainly, noticing him lost.

"You shouldn't look so tempting Bhargu. It's not fair," Prabir smirked before tilting his head to claim her lips. Her hands were limp on his chest. She felt lightheaded, unable to think. She gently ran her fingers under his t-shirt, on his bare skin feeling an euphoric bliss envelop her . A smile grew on Prabir's face as it tickled, parting his lips gasping for breath,he drew away.

He began nuzzling her neck with delicate kisses. She gazed up at him, thrilled beyond words to be the recipient of this affection. He drew back and stood studying her face for a while. She blushed deep red under his intense scrutiny.

"Bhaiya!" They could hear Parul's call as she knocked on the door.

Author's note :

I hope you enjoyed reading this update.

I apologise for not updating sooner and for not being able to inform about the next updates either, though I'll try my best to keep updating.

Please let me know if you are enjoying, through your comments and also your views and opinions.

A vote will surely be quite encouraging.

Thank you all!!

I also wish a very Happy and safe Diwali to all the Indians.