Three Hours Later…
Everyone walked out of the theatre.
Rudra and Aniket were chatting, Rahul was walking with Ruhi, and our Aditya was with his Anamika.
Anamika tried calling Saaniya, but she wasn’t picking up. With a deep sigh, she slipped her phone back into her tiny bag.
Seeing this, Aditya felt bad. He glanced at Rudra and muttered in his head, “Blood-sucking boss! Did he really have to give her work today of all days?”
Rahul and Aditya went to get their car from the parking lot. Ten minutes passed, and they still hadn’t returned, so Rudra and Aniket went too. Now only Ruhi and Anamika were left.
Another ten minutes passed, but still no car appeared. Keeping her eyes fixed on the parking lot, Ruhi muttered, “Why are they taking so long? Don’t tell me the car broke down!”
When Anamika didn’t reply, Ruhi turned to look at her — only to find her staring intently at something in the distance. Following her gaze, Ruhi saw a cotton candy stall, crowded with kids.
Anamika had never eaten cotton candy before. Seeing the children giggling and enjoying it, a tiny sparkle appeared in her eyes. She wanted to taste it too — but she hesitated to go alone.
Ruhi smiled at that innocent look in Anamika’s eyes. Without a word, she grabbed her hand, walked her to the stall, and bought her a stick of cotton candy.
The smile that spread across Anamika’s face was absolutely heart-melting. After that, the two of them headed toward the parking area.
But the moment they reached there, they froze.
Aditya was doing squats while holding his ears in front of his car. On top of the car, Ira sat cross-legged, sipping a cold drink and counting aloud, “Fifty-five… fifty-six… fifty-seven… come on, bhai, faster!”
Meanwhile
Ruhi and Anamika hurried toward them.
Ruhi went straight to Rahul, who was standing calmly near the car.
“Bhai… what on earth is going on here?” she asked.
Rudra immediately jumped in, acting like a news reporter. Holding his arm like a mic, he announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to the loyal secretary of our convicted criminal — Mr. Aditya! Let’s ask her how she feels seeing her perfect boss being punished in the court of his little sister!”
Stolen novel; please report.
He held his phone toward Ruhi as if it were a real mic.
“So, Miss Ruhi, what do you have to say? Didn’t you once claim your boss would never have to do sit-ups as punishment?”
Ruhi shot him a deadly glare and took a step forward.
“You—!”
She stopped, took a deep breath, shook her head, and then gave a sarcastic smile.
“Mr. Rudra, please… stop imitating those cheap, sold-out news anchors. Or else… who knows what will happen to you? You do know what happens to such chamcha anchors when they stand in front of an angry mob, right?”
Rudra looked at Aniket, and Aniket just grinned, pulling him to a different angle.
“Better shot from here! Come on, let’s continue the commentary. But be careful — don’t let the public catch you!”
Ruhi turned to Aniket, annoyed.
“Aniket sir… you too? I didn’t expect this from you!”
Aniket smirked.
“Why not? This is your boss’s punishment — he has to face it! Right, Adi? What do you say?”
Aditya rolled his eyes and kept focusing on his squats.
Finally, Ira’s counting reached the end.
“Ninety-nine… and one hundred! That’s it, bhai. Done!”
Aditya stopped, took a deep breath, and said, “Can’t believe you’re twenty now. You never behaved like this, even when you were a kid!”
Ira pouted.
“That’s because back then you kept your promises — you didn’t run away! You tricked your own sister this time. Admit your mistake, or I’ll make you do another hundred squats!”
Aditya sighed.
“Why are you so childish?”
And suddenly, everything went quiet.
Ira jumped off the car. The playfulness in her eyes was gone.
She walked up to her brother and said softly, “Bhai… right now, all I have left is you… and my childishness and I will never loos it!”
She tossed her soda can into the dustbin, then took Anamika and Ruhi’s hands. “Bhai, I’m taking them shopping with me. Don’t worry — the driver is with us. We’ll be back on time.”
Aditya simply looked at her as she left.
Ruhi still couldn’t understand why Ira seemed upset with Aditya, but Anamika’s eyes stayed fixed on him. She could read the sadness on his face — the way his lips had lost their smile — but she didn’t know how to make him feel better.
Inside the car“So… today I’m going to show my delicate flower so many things — and buy her lots of gifts. It’s going to be fun, right, Anamika?”
But Anamika’s gaze was still on Aditya, through the window. Her eyes seemed to say she wanted to stay with him a little longer.
Aditya watched the car drive away. When he saw Anamika still looking at him from the window, he smiled and waved.
Anamika smiled back and waved too. But deep inside, both of them were left tangled in their thoughts.
Anamika wanted to know the reason behind Aditya’s silence.
And Aditya… he just wanted to find a way to give his silence a voice.
After the car disappeared, Rahul asked, “So… what was that ‘condition’ your sister was talking about?”
Aditya sighed.
“It was a condition my uncle had given me. She’s angry because I didn’t fulfill it honestly.”
Rahul put a hand on his shoulder.
“See, I believe in keeping promises and fulfilling conditions sincerely, especially the promise made to the sister. But I also believe — if you broke it, there must’ve been a very strong reason. Something that made it impossible for you to do it the right way.”
Aditya thought for a moment, then smiled.
“Forget it. My wild little sister is happy now — that’s enough for me. Anyway… shall we go shopping too?”
Rudra grinned.
“Absolutely. Let’s go! I am really ready for every fun adventure!”
Aniket, heading toward the car, added, “Yes! Finally, some real fun. This day was starting to feel boring. I hope this will be really fun!”
And so, everyone left for their next adventure.
Meanwhile
At the gate, the guard smiled at her.
“So… when is the little doll coming? It’s been so many years since we saw her. She used to come with her mother, right?”
Saaniya’s face turned cold.
“She’s never coming here if I can help it.”
“Why, beta?” the guard asked, surprised.
“Her father’s surgery went well, and he’s recovering now. She will come to meet him, won’t she? She must be grown up by now.”
Saaniya’s eyes darkened. Her fists clenched.
How could she say it out loud?
She wanted to burn every memory Anamika had of this place — and of that man. But she was chained by destiny.
Looking away, she said only one thing:
“Some places and some memories are better left behind forever. If Anamika ever comes here… that would mean destiny has won.”
With that, she got into her car and drove away, leaving the guard standing there, puzzled.
To be continued…
