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AAINA WAS CERTAIN that life will always be clouded in uncertainties. Before today, she was hurting her head over just one step towards this imperious makaan, longing to go inside, and now that she was there, another question had rendered her mind in shambles.

She decided to veil the confusion. It is better to don a brave face in precarious times than to reveal all your doubts to those who might take advantage. And would he be one of those? So far, the sword did not edge in that direction, yet the one who apparently got her into trouble and then saved her from it.

"Why did that man co-"

He knew what to expect, and he answered. "It is quite normal around here. It was not the first time someone came here with the same intentions. "

Aaina physically recoiled. "Normal? And you've known this? Why don't you report it?"

"It's not my place to do so. The woods have seen too much to correct anything. It can never go back to what it was. Besides, I can not even if I want to"

"Don't you care about the place? It's your home, isn't it?"

"It is not," he snapped.

Her brows raised, seeing which he composed himself.

"It's a rented house," he added.

"Still a home if you live here,"

He glanced at her in inquisitiveness. "A home is not made by property. It's the people that make it"

She gave a sarcastic scoff. "And here I am, finding home in a half-abandoned property, roaming like a nomad, begging for clues from a stranger that does not mind murders in his backyard. My luck tips towards neither people nor place, I guess. "

Milan, who was sitting quietly until now, couldn't help but express his curiosity. "I'm sure there must be someone who you confide in, Aaina behen. Everyone has at least one who they trust"

"Two in my case. Shashi and Jaswanti. We've been sahelis since we were little girls and went to pathshala together. I trust them the most. Well, kaki too, she wasn't all bad in these years. She raised me, taught me about vyapaar, but lately, she's been. . .different"

"The whole town knows what a slave of capitalism she is. I don't know what delusion you live under, " said Amar.

"Hey, stranger, you're not allowed to speak ill of her in front of me,"

Amar proceeded to fill wood in the fireplace as an excuse to ignore her remark.

"Haa, I've seen her traveling with loads of briefcases and large boxes around the town. I don't know what she does, but the old lady seems quite rich." spoke Milan.

"She has her own vyapaar of sculptures, paintings, and different karigaris. And a lot of her wealth was inherited, I've heard. Shashi and I help her out with vyapaar. " Aaina patted his arm in subtle excitement. "You should come by some time, I'll show you all the sculptures and idols that I've made. "

"You can sculpt? I do not have the patience to sit for hours and focus on one thing, " Milan replied, fascinated by this new person that he got the chance to converse with.

"It's a skill I had to practice since a young age,"

"I wish I could learn some skill like you and Amar bhaiyaa."

Her eyes slid towards the so-called Amar bhaiyaa. "Oh, his skills of scaring people off in the first meeting is indeed admirable,"

He gave her a casually vexed look. "I'm surprised you have patience to sculpt. All my encounters with you have only made me see you as restless. "

"That was momentary. And you were the reason I was restless in the first place. With your twisted words and mysterious countenance, how else do you expect me to react?"

Milan intervened with his palm raised like a child. "I agree. Sometimes, even I have a hard time figuring out if he is mad at me, happy or just hungry,"

Amar frowned at both, noticing how his cousin had left his side now and joined forces with a woman he met minutes ago. Their laughs filled the eerie room as he kept the fire in check. The storm was persistent, water slashing against the ice blue windows.

Aaina did not realise the magnitude of what she had found. Maybe it was not everything, but it was a start. Milan was a sweet boy and Amar, strange but generous. The night proved she could rely on someone in the scandalous property.

After an hour, she got up from the floor, sated, seeing how her ghagra had dried and warmed up.

"Can I come back tomorrow? I need to find the answers as soon as possible. "

That had him in a surprise. She was quite determined in her search even after this terrifying night. And also the fact that she was willing to go back home at this hour. He was nobody to stop her. But, for the sake of magnaminity, maybe he could suggest something else. Not that she'd change her decision; she was resolute and driven.

"You don't want to withdraw after what you saw?" Amar inquired.

She shrugged her shawl-clad shoulders, cold brushing her skin, and she got a subtle flashback of what she saw today. "I want to take back something with me. Anything that I can find. I just have a month. " She hitched the shawl closer. " And anyways, once I'm inside the gates of makaan, it's all safe." she finished the sentence in a way that hit him with the same softness.

Safe.

She couldn't lie. It was safe, and time went by quickly as she was talking to them, even momentarily forgetting about the incident. The tempestous storm had faded away, but one could hear the gentle tapping of the rain in the pitch black of the night.

She looked up at him, and he blinked away his daze.

"You don't have to ask. That was the deal. "

Should I say thank you? She thought.

By the time she contemplated what to say, her legs had reached outside the corridor.

She heard whispers behind her, and Milan came forward. "Aaina behen, It's the middle of the night. I'll accompany you to your home. "

Aaina's eyes darted towards the receding back of Amar, who had now disappeared behind another tall, maroon door opposite to where she stood. Amar. The name reminded her of other priorities that she had overlooked. The potli and Pujari Jaidev's words. She'd have to figure out the real possessor who has to be given his belongings.

Nodding, she turned her back and continued outside.

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I hope yall are doing well!

how's the story going?

what do you think about amar and aaina?