I closed my eyes and sighed, hoping whoever had pressed the bell had by now realised they were at the wrong address but the bell rang again making me get up in frustration. I threw the phone on the bed, straightening my white shirt I went to the hall and unlocked the door, "I brought cookies!" I heard the familiar chirpy voice exclaim before I could see her face. I opened the door further and the younger female who was an inch taller than my 5'4" frame, entered with a big basket in her hand and an even bigger smile on her face. Ishika Singhania. I have known her for six years and she has not changed even a bit.

I crooked my eyebrows at her as she entered and dropped the basket on the dining table, "Ishika?" I was surprised by her sudden arrival, "who told you that I'm here?" I questioned as I walked towards her and watched her sitting on one of the chairs. The basket was surprisingly more decorated that she would have liked, in blueish Rose's and a dark blue velvet cloth under the cookies and chocolates. Chocolate chip cookies.

She didn't let her smile go away for even a second but I could see the hesitation in her small brown eyes, "well, a friend told me," she said, shrugging and taking her attention back to the basket, "have it na!" She said, taking one herself and eating it, and at this exact moment I knew the answer to my question. Ishika wasn't the one to lie, and much less dodge the question but for one person she would do anything. I reached towards the basket, taking a biscuit which felt warm against my skin and was as round as it could have been. And as soon as I took a bite out of, the chocolate melted in my mouth and all my doubts were clear.

That night, I had looked at Oleander with wide eyes which gave away the horror I'd felt at the moment the knock was heard. He took in a deep breath, maybe calming himself down, and walked towards the closet without me saying anything and opened it, stepping in and closing it after him. It was as if he'd done it before too and it made me think if he'd been to someone else's place like this too. I was pulled out of my thoughts with another knock on the door and I reached towards the door knob, rotating it and opening the door only to be met by Betty's half-asleep, half-irritated face.

Her brown eyebrows were crooked and her dirty blonde hairs were tied in a messy bun. Her golden eyes stared down at me for a second before handing me a piece of paper, a card, and turning around to leave. "What's this?" I asked before she could start walking and heard a sound of groaning from her.

She rubbed her left eye and yawned, "I heard a knock at my door and saw this card on the ground," she said, "it read your name so I decided to give it to you," she explained turning towards her door but then spinning around on her heels again, "someone," she said in a bitter tone, "needs to know the difference between 608 and 609," and with that she disappeared into her room without giving me a chance to reply. With a sigh, I went to sit on my bed and started to read the card.

Hey! How are you? I hope the answer is positive. I just wanted to inform you that this halloween I'm not gonna be at home, I'm going over to your Mum's to celebrate it. So just wanted to inform you that I won't be able to celebrate it with you. Sorryyyyy.

With love
Your Dad

P.S. if you'd like, you can come over your Mum's too and we can all celebrate it together like old times.

I read the note and tears brimmed in my eyes in no time. It wasn't just Halloween but also my birthday for which he ditched me. And he didn't even mention it in the card. I could feel the fluid, flowing from my eyes onto my cheeks while I tore away the card. "Hey!" Said a soft voice from my left side and I quickly reached to wipe my tears away, "here," he said, extending a packet of tissue towards me. This time, I didn't hesitate to take and use it.

I looked at Ishika, who was enjoying her own cookie, "so he told you?" I raised my eyebrows at her, and she looked at me too. The smile on her face had by now turned into a small frown and her gaze fell down at the tabletop. She didn't say anything but gave me a small nod, confirming I was right. First the dal makhani and now chocolate chip cookies, obviously it had to be him. "Tell him to come meet me," I said, it sounded more like an order, and she nodded again before indulging herself in heaven like cookies again.

She smiled once she had satisfied herself with the cookies and looked at me, "how are you?" She asked in a tone that couldn't be identified as anything but cheerful as ever. It was Ishika after all, the girl who doesn't care about what the world would think or do for anything and loves it regardless.

I nodded, my gaze still not meeting hers, "I'm good," I replied, unable to tell her how much I wanted to see him right now or how bad I wanted to hear his words. I made sure my voice didn't sound as emotional as I was, "what about you? How's the cafe?" I inquired, taking another cookie from the basket and letting it melt in my mouth too.

Even though I wasn't looking at her directly, I could feel her shrugging and heard her sighing, "well I'm good but the cafe," she took a pause, dragging the word and then humming with tight lips, "it's like everyone prefers coffee at work nowadays," she explained, and I looked up at her, my mouth stuffed with the cookie, her thin lips not in a huge smile anymore.

I gave her a small assuring smile, "it'll be good, Ishu." I held her hand in mine in an assuring way, "it'll be back like it was months ago." I saw her smile return and so did her cheerful self as she started to ask me random questions about her favourite TV shows and movies. After about half an hour of chatting, or more like ranting, she remembered the important work she had to do and left.

That night, we'd stayed there in silence, both of us not holding our tears back. We weren't sure about the others problem, and neither were we doing anything to console the other but just his presence gave me a lot more assurance than nothing and I guess to him I was also better than nothing. And that was for the first time, I had seen the boy being sad. I had seen his tears rolling down his cheeks and his eyes reddened after he'd rubbed them for the fifth time or so. It was, like all his other looks, was a look that I would never forget but unlike others it didn't make me smile.