I had literally ran to the café, with tears running down my cheeks. I had had enough of these for my life.

For once, I wished to go back to the days where we were a family. When my day started with laughter as my mother tickled me to wake me up, and my Dad's tasty sandwiches. Not to forget their love for me.

Losing my mother was the hardest hit that my Dad and I had endured. The days were nightmares and the nights were the worst. Dad, who used to come home by supper, hardly seemed to make it home. He had immersed himself in his races that I thought he had forgotten anything that seemed like home.

There were times when he had forgotten to reach back to me for days together. Dan was the only source of information to know if Dad was doing well. I was six back then and I can't seem to remember for how long I had cried myself to sleep.

I could tell Dad was doing well in his race. We had moved into a slightly bigger place, the one we are now, only for me to stay alone.

But one day, he had turned up with a pizza in hand and dedicated his whole precious day for me. We had watched a movie together and had gone out for dinner too. It was one of the best days I can remember since my mum passed away.

Since then, it had become better. I saw Dad at home almost every day and we sometimes talked like how we once used to. I thought everything was coming back to normal, only to go back in a loop.

A circular path that I dreaded to walk.

Now, as I sat on the floor with tears dropping down every now and then, I wondered what had I ever done wrong to face these problems. I envied all the kids who were out there with their parents living a happy life while I was stuck here in this hell hole.

"Oh, my God!" Someone shrieked and turned the lights on.

I quickly wiped my tears dry and turned to see the visitor. It was still dark and I had not bothered to switch the lights of the café on. The café normally opened at eight and it was still seven thirty so I had decided to sulk in the dark only to be interrupted by this someone.

The person was none other than Mira's daughter, who still looked terrified and stood with a frying pan on her hands which were held high, for my sudden attack.

It took her forever to recognize me and she finally heaved a sigh, putting the pan down. I didn't blame her though. We hardly met and with the face I carried now, I doubted if I could recognize myself if I stood in front of the mirror.

"You," She accused, wiping her forehead. "You gave me a heart attack."

I shrugged sheepishly and dumped the mop into the water. I dried the cloth and started to mop again, not wanting her to question me.

I had a feeling that she would do the same thing she did with me—ignore, for her own good. But this time, she heaved a sigh and crossed her arms facing me. "What are you doing?"

I bent a little forward in a feeble attempt to hide my face with my fringes that had come out from my messy bun so as to avoid eye contact. I put my hand towards the far end of the corner trying to get the stain off.

"The floors were dirty, so I thought I would clean it up." I said, not looking at her.

"How did you get the keys?" She asked. When she answered it herself, I realized that it was a question to her. "Ma gave you, didn't she?"

"Yeah." I said, putting the mop back to the water.

"But why are you in the dark?" She asked again and I thought she was a CBI police worker who was in disguise. She was not the friendliest person you would meet on the park with a cheese sandwich ready to share. She was like a policeman always on the lookout.

We had hardly spoken during my work here. I mean, she was never around to make a conversation. But then again, she had never liked me working here with her mother in the first place and I never knew why.

Mira had mentioned her daughter once telling that she never liked Mira to work at this age of hers when she could sit at home in leisure. And when Mira hired me for help, it was like going against her will. Other than that, I had no other information about her.

"Um..." I stuttered. "I thought of saving the energy?"

I felt like face palming myself. Even a five year old kid would not believe my bullshit. Besides, I should be a better liar. At least that's what Rob tells me to be.

"Come on, um..." She wondered. "What was your name again?"

"Scarlet." I said, raising my head to look at her. "Scarlet Stone."

"Well Scarlet, I don't believe that." She said with a smile on her face. I was now confused. Why was the CBI lady giving me her smile? It was something that I thought I would never see.

Her smile was so much similar to that of Mira's and she looked so beautiful when she smiled. I wondered if she ever smiled, it actually suited her.

"At this time of a day, with light out and the eyes full of tears, I don't think you are okay," Like I told you, she was the police in disguise. Her smile was intact and she looked at me as if I was her sister. "What happened, Scarlet?"

"N-nothing." I tried smiling back, but it came like a sob.

"I see," She said turning around. I left the breath I didn't know I was holding. "The floor looks clean enough, come with me."

I looked at her with wide eyes. Where was this going? I was happy with my sad deep hole alone and I didn't want any company, especially with someone who hated me.

"Come on." She insisted as she pulled out two chairs up front and motioned me to follow.

She actually seemed nice and I for once, didn't want to give her a reason to not like me. I nodded and did as I was told.

"You like hot chocolate, right?" She asked and before I could answer her, she shook her head smiling to herself. "Who doesn't?"

She then left me to sit alone at the front chair as she went ahead to make two cups of hot chocolate. She had a firm grip and she seemed to know her way about the things. Her measurements were precise, as if she was calculating each crystal of sugar she was pouring into the liquid. Once a while, she took out her phone typed something quick and then got back to her job at hand.

She was a multitasker. I could tell. And it also made my feelings of her being an undercover spy stronger.

She put a spoon and twirled it twice before pushing the cup filled with hot chocolate to its brim near me. She took one herself and pulled a chair next to me. "Hope you like it. It's the best thing I can do."

I smiled at her. It was the first time I had smiled all morning. It felt nice to have someone around to cheer me up even when they didn't know what was actually wrong with me. It reminded me of Lily who was always there for me since I had lost my mum.

Perhaps all we need is that support of just being there, even when we don't have the right words to put it out in the air. Perhaps, that was the only hope all have to keep it going in the same loop. Perhaps that was what I needed—a cup of hot chocolate with the lady who had hardly spoken to me.

I reached out for the cup and took a sip careful not to spill the chocolate. Just as the hot liquid ran down my throat, I knew it was the best hot chocolate I had ever tasted. An approved moan escaped my lips, just to make her laugh.

"So you like it, huh?" She asked giving a big grin. "My brother used to like it just like this."

"You have a brother?" I asked. Mira had only mentioned it once and the topic had never come up. It seemed as if it was a taboo.

"Used to." She shrugged, taking another sip. "He died in a crash and we never found the body."

I gasped. She had been narrating it as if it was from a movie she had seen—no emotions, no sentiments. It was like a fact. "I'm sorry." I said, not able to digest the news.

I was sure I was going into a mini heart attack. I had seen three deaths just yesterday and listening to some more was not helping at all. What in the world had I ever done to see so many deaths in my life? I want to see something that lived, for once!

"That's okay, Scar." She said concerned. "Are you okay?" She put her hand around my shoulders comfortingly. "You look so odd. It was a long time ago, okay? It's alright now."

I nodded, trying to breath. I rubbed my forehead to get rid of the sweat beads that had formed.

"Drink this up, you will feel better." She said, giving me the cup again. I took another sip and I actually felt better. "I'm sorry though, you said you Dad was a racer, right?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "But still not used to hearing deaths, that's all."

"I get it." She nodded. "Your head's healed now. Mom was telling something about it."

"I ran into a pole." I seemed like a recorded parakeet lying my way out. "Mira's medicine worked pretty well."

She nodded, and I was pretty sure that she didn't buy anything I was telling her. "So how come you are so early here today? You usually don't turn up here till eight thirty, right?"

I pushed the strands of hair behind my ear, feeling a little better. There was something about this girl that put me at ease. She was still smiling at me with wonder and curiosity.

"I just had a bad dream." I replied honestly. "Couldn't sleep after that." I shrugged, taking another sip from her hot chocolate.

She gave out a light chuckle, holding her hands over her mouth. Her curly hair fell back as she closed her eyes to have her amused moment. She quickly recovered, clearing her throat and crossing her right leg over her left.

"You know what, Scar?" She asked and didn't wait for me to reply to her. "We two are so similar that it almost seems as if we are sisters."

I laughed at that. It was hardly possible. Her family was from India where as I was from around here my whole life. Besides, I knew my parents well to even think of it.

"We could be, but you have curly hair whereas mine is straight," I said pulling my hair into the light to show her that I was right. "Almost." I added, as some of the ends were curled up as it looked similar to that of hers.

She laughed at my lame excuse. "We could be, but my mother is from India." She played along.

"What about your Dad?" I asked, taking the final sip from the mug, relishing the last drop. As soon as it was empty, I started to crave more of it. "Isn't he from India too?"

I could see her stiffen and push her imaginary strands of hair behind her ear. That was when I knew I had hit the soft spot just when I was making friends with her. I felt like punching my guts out for the situation alone.

"I'm sorry." I apologized as soon as I realized. "You don't have to say anything about it."

Her warm smile was back again. She shook her head slightly. "It's okay, Scar. My Dad was from around here."

She giggled when I had zoned out into solving that puzzle of how her parents would have met. "My mother had come here for her higher studies and fell for this handsome guy."

"Awe," I cooed, as she started telling about her parents.

"No," She said, looking at the far window before she turned back to me. "Well, it was until he left us."

I gasped, not expecting this twist to Mira's love story.

"You see, India believes in arrange marriage, right?" She continued, not making eye contact. "Her parents obviously opposed her marriage, so she ran away from home, to Dad whom she believed to be her one."

She was clearly uncomfortable and I could feel it. The confident girl, who was lurking around like the CBI police was now replaced by the lost child who had seen her home shatter into two pieces. "Hey, you don't have to."

"No." She laughed, wiping the corner of her eye. "It's been so long since I've spoken about it. So anyway, soon, my brother and I were born, and everything seemed well for a few years."

She crossed her left leg over her right. "He had met another woman in his work place and fell for her. He parted soon, leaving my mother alone to deal with the kids. He never made efforts to keep in touch with us after their divorce. Of course my mother couldn't go back to India, her family had already declared her dead when she left."

"That's..." I couldn't help but feel sad. A young woman with two kids having nowhere to go, is not an everyday scene.

"That's when she started this coffee shop and it became a huge hit." She continued, ignoring me. "Everything went well, until my brother was taken away from us. Mom had lost herself in order to find her son, eventually losing the shop. I had only just started working then, so I had somehow balanced, but it was never the same you know?"

I nodded, not able to say anything.

"Now, with her age, she still wants to run it." She laughed. "She's one tough old bird."

"I'm sorry." I said.

"So, what I mean is, everyone has a problem of their own." She placed her hand on top of mine and smiled brightly. "You only need that self-confidence to raise against it."

I nodded my head in understanding.

"I'm Monica, by the way." She stood and pulled the chairs back to their original place. "I should get going though, it was good talking to you, Scarlet."

There was some noise from the other side of room and soon Mira came stiffing a yawn. "What are you girls doing here?" She wondered out loud.

"We were just sharing some secrets." Monica smiled as she made her way out giving out her warming smile at me. She kissed Mira's head as she headed out.

"Why are your eyes so red, dear?" Mira came to examine me. "I've some medicine for that somewhere here."

I laughed, hugging Mira in response.

---

Lily put her hand around my shoulders as we walked past the school corridors getting ahead of the final hour crowd. The student body were chirping happily planning their weekends with party and beaches while we went ahead not giving any heed to what to do for the weekend.

We both knew weekends were packed, especially for me. With the full time working in café and the racing sessions, I also had to make time for Lily's tuitions. Having this scheduled, there was no space for a small party to go.

Besides, I was done partying.

It had changed my love life and I was not surviving to go to another to see what it held in store for me.

Lily lightly whistled making me smile and suddenly, another pair of hands pushed us in front, making us halt abruptly. We were both shocked to decipher what was happening.

"Hey my besties!" The culprit chirped without giving any note to what his outcomes were. "It's been forever since we talked. What are you guys doing for the weekend?"

"Nick, leave us alone." I was the one to recover first. I was just tired of his plays and it really had been forever since he talked to me.

I was sure Lily could feel the tension as well. She tried hiding her face in her hair and looked at the ground.

"I'm never leaving you guys alone." He said, putting his arm behind my shoulders just as Lily had done not so long ago. "You would be sad without me."

I had to roll my eyes at that.

"So how's your new best friend?" I asked, not waiting any longer. "Or did you get tired of her already."

"Oh, is this what it is all about?" He asked with his signature smirk that always made me melt. I had to look away. "It's not what you guys think." He looked at both of us alternately and none of us seemed to care.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Lily asked quietly. It was a question that I wanted to ask, but I never had the guts to do so.

My life was now distorted. There was nothing that was going well for me. There was no peace and if Nick too was taken away, I didn't know what I would do. I kept quite anticipating his answer, holding my breath, crossing my fingers and concentrating my fullest.

"No!" He cried, but then a little later started laughing.

"Don't lie Nick." Lily said not buying his word. "We have seen you with her. I mean... even though you are all grownup to have one," She looked at me slyly before she continued, "It would have meant so much if you had just mentioned it to us."

"Girls," He said, drawing the word. "She's not my girlfriend. But if you guys believed it, then I think I'm better at having one, right?" He wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"That's so... disgusting." I said, relieved. I had to repeat his sentences over and over again, to help my brain grasp it.

"But you were close, right?" Though I had bought everything he was talking about, Lily was not yet confirmed at his news. She wanted more evidence about what the hell had actually happened between them.

"Sandra bats for the other team, girls." He said, smiling at us. The sentence alone knocked the air out of me. It alone made sense and all the questions that hung in the air vaporized telling me that Nicholas Everest was still mine. "She wanted to make her friend jealous and hence the whole thing."

"Is that all?" I asked, confirming that it was it.

"Yes, honey." Nick put his arm around my shoulder and I let him. I couldn't stay away from him no longer than a few days, anyway.

"Then why did you have to ignore us?" Lily accused, pushing him away from me. Nick stepped a step back and looked at her with his stink eye. "You didn't give a shit about us when you were flirting with her for a whole freaking week."

"Lil," Nick rolled his eyes at her taking another step forward. But she glared at him, making him stop at his heels. He just put his hands up in air, a signature move of his surrender. He heaved a sigh before he started his explanation. "She wanted to make her friend jealous so she had asked me to help in that party."

"Oh," Was all I could muster when the things had started to fall back in place.

"I said it was cool, since I wasn't seeing anyone." He continued, nodding his head every now and then. "But I wanted to take it to next level, you know, just for the heck of it."

Lily was the bubble of anger and took a step to push him again. But I held her arm, trying to stop her. I still wanted to hear what he had to say. She just glared at me and stood next to me.

"So, I ignored all of you to make it seem real and guess what?" He raised one eye-brow at Lily and showed her all of his teeth. "The other girl got this news from her friends and was scared that I was serious with Sandra. So, after one week of my blissful acting, I got the couple together."

"Why the hell did you agree to it?" I asked, angry that he had done all that and ignored us just to get some girls together. "Were you expecting some kind of reward from the girls? Some fantasy I suppose?"

Lily, who stood angry next to me, burst out laughing and I could see Nick's red cheeks flaming with his glare directed at me.

"No," He said in a low voice, scared that his reputation in school would go wild. "I wanted to know how it will be if I were a boyfriend."

"What?" Lily blurted. Her face seemed as if she saw a ghost at her favorite comedy scene. "And what did you find out?"

"I think I like it." He smiled, his eyes on me.

---

A/N: A little backdrop on Mira's life. What did you think? Did you expect her to have such a difficult time? Finally, Nick kinda confronted, don't you think? But do you believe him?