For some reason, 3 am is the perfect time for the most imperfect thoughts and memories to come gushing back. Whether it be all the cringey moments I enacted throughout high school or all the mistakes that I've made in my three decades in my life, it all comes to drown me.

This time, it's not something cringey or embarrassing. It's something I forgot, and when I realize I left my jacket at Manish's place, my eyes pop open and I immediately think, "Oh shit." I turn my head to check the time, and the clock reads, "3:33."

After I giggle a little bit about the digits, I flop back on my pillow. I try to bring together a cohesive thought from all the incomplete ones buzzing around in my head like little bees. Eventually, they come together in a cohesive swarm and I'm able to piece it together. "Okay, just text him in the morning. No biggie."

    Surprisingly, I almost immediately fall asleep afterwards. Usually, I spend at least 5 minutes thinking, "God, Jaya, how stupid could you have been?" but I'm able to fall back asleep. Maybe because a girl needs her sleep, but partially because it was a new excuse for me to go back to Manish's house and chat with him a little bit more.

    Thankfully, when the screechy sound of my alarm nearly deafens my eardrums in the morning, the dreading worry of my slight lapse of judgment doesn't cloud my stomach. Maybe my sleepiness sucked out any of the negativity and disintegrated it, but the reminder still rings in my mind. The second I turn off my alarm, my fingers groggily fumble across my phone screen to type out a text that probably has several typos in it.

Partially because my brain doesn't actually start functioning until at least 15 minutes after I wake up.

I throw my phone to the side and try to rub whatever sleep I have leftover in my eyes away. After sitting up and taking a few deep breaths, only one other thing is on my mind. "Coffee," I think to myself.

    I can feel whatever sleep was leftover in my eyes being eviscerated with each sip. I bask in the slight caramel and chocolate notes, as I gently drum my fingers against the coffee table. This is one of the peaceful parts of my day, as the rest are filled with mounds of paperwork and frantic questions.

As I'm enjoying the warm liquid flow down my throat, I feel my phone buzz underneath my fingertips. My eyes dart towards my phone and see that it's a message from Manish. My heart immediately jumps a thousand feet to skip a beat, as my hand immediately shoots for the phone, and the message reads, "Hey, I kept your jacket safe. You can come pick it up after work today!"

A little smile curls at my lips, as my now warmed fingers type back, "Sounds good!" At least now I have one thing to look forward to after work.

    The soles of my feet slightly burn. The stress throughout the day makes me feel like my brain is about to explode. I take deep breaths in and out so that I can really process what the hell is going on. Today was definitely not one of the easier days. But all I'm glad about is that I'm finally done with it. After I pick up my jacket and go home, I can finally kick back, watch a movie, and relax for once.

As I'm going through the streets and making sure I'm not running down any people, I can't help but wonder how the rest of the night is going to play out. Will I spend three hours at his apartment sipping on some coffee and talking about life, or will I just grab his jacket and get out? A deep part of me has a hunch that it will be the former, but that thought is put on hold as I knock on the door of his apartment.

Now, at that point, I just want to enter Manish's apartment and be engulfed in its cozy aura and calming incense. As I'm tapping my foot and just humming a random tune underneath my breath, I see the door swing open in front of me. Instead of being greeted by Manish's warm brown eyes and gigantic smile, I'm greeted by Isha's sharp gaze resting on top of boulder sized eye bags. The sharp gaze that can pierce through a cement wall dulls a bit when she realizes it's me. "Hey, come on in, Ashwini," she calmly greets.

Normally, before this, a little bit of fear would always whir in my stomach. It was like the calm before the storm of insults and degradation. But now that we've made peace, that's all I can feel floating in my stomach.

As Isha closes the door behind me, I hear her turn swiftly on her heel and head towards the couch. "Manish told me you forgot your jacket," she announces, as I follow her path towards the couch. There, my red leather jacket is resting, without one sign of damage or disarray to it. "Manish kept it safe. He knew you forgot it and he was going to text you, but you remembered first."

I can't help but smile a little bit, because Manish could've absolutely not realized it was my jacket. He could have thrown it out somewhere without realizing it was mine, but he remembered and kept it safe for me. Just that thought causes a small, warm feeling of fuzziness to prickle at my chest. "Thanks, Isha," I mumble a little bit, as I take the jacket and drape it over my forearm. Isha gives me a little smile, and I see her fingers twitch and fiddle with each other in their palms.

After fiddling with her fingers for a bit, she just lets out a little sigh. Her jaw falls open, and in one breath, she goes, "Jaya, I think you and Manish would be perfect together."

At that moment, I consider pinching myself because I'm absolutely sure this is a dream. I blink a few times out of pure surprise and to make sure that Isha is the one saying this. "Wait, what?"

Isha realizes the sharp note of her words, and her eyes soften with the intent of delivering something a little gentler. She takes in a small breath once more, and goes, "That may be shocking, I know. I kind of said it in a... less than desirable way. But I really mean it. I've seen how you guys look at each other. There's so much chemistry between you two. If you have feelings for Manish, go for it. You guys are perfect for each other."

Okay, is this a fever dream? Will I wake back up to reality, buried in my sheets and wondering if I'm late to work again? I clear my throat again, trying to dissolve the mass of thoughts that has solidified into a solid blob in my mind. I can't seem to find the appropriate response to Isha's support. All my life, she has convinced me that Manish and I as a couple is like locking Tom and Jerry together in a room and expecting them not to kill each other in 10 minutes.

But now that she's offering her genuine support for Manish and I is both a little surprising and more comforting than I thought it would be. But I can't keep my head in the clouds like this. I have to keep them out of there and remain down to earth in order to face reality properly. "Isha, believe me, I appreciate the support. I just need some time. I can't just jump to conclusions like that."

Isha nods her head a little bit, as her eyes wilt with sympathy. "I totally get it. This stuff doesn't happen suddenly. I just want you to know that if you guys were to ever get together, I completely support it. I don't want to hold you guys back in any way. Not that my opinions influence Manish in any way now, but I thought that I should let you know that I'm not who I was in the past and that you have my support."

I can't help but allow my smile to completely engulf my face. Just the fact that she's willing to abandon her old self just to see her brother happy and grow as a person makes me feel all warm and content. "Well, thanks for the support, Isha. I'm glad you're supporting us."

Isha herself lights up a little bit with another smile, and nods. "Anytime." At that point, our conversation comes to a screeching halt. The tension is layering in the room, and my eyes can't help but awkwardly shift around, hoping that something will materialize out of thin air and cease the awkwardness between us.

Eventually, it gets to the point where I think it's best to leave. "Okay, I'm gonna head out, Isha. But it was nice seeing you."

Once more, her lips curl into a cordial smile and she nods. "You too." Without wasting another minute, I turn swiftly on my heel and half strut, half sprint out of the apartment. But, while I'm doing it, I can't deny the immense smile that has exploded on my face and not wilted one bit.

I guess it shows how far one person's support can go.

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In my opinion, I think this is like Isha's redemption moment. In Blooming Flower, we saw that Isha was always like, "You and Manish are like a match made in hell," but it's heartwarming that she has come around to give her support. Do you think this moment will be a key player regarding Jaya's feelings for Manish? Let me know.

I hope you guys liked this chapter! In the least spoiler-y way possible, I think you guys will really like the upcoming chapters. *wink wink*

As always, please vote/comment/share/follow/message (both on here and on Instagram [svts.writes]). See you in the next chapter!

Love you guys,

Shree