10:00 AM…Aditya’s office…
Saaniya’s car stopped in front of the company. Anamika stepped out.
Just as she turned to leave, Saaniya asked, “You could’ve taken a day off, you know!”
Anamika smiled softly.
“No! I still have a lot of work left. And besides… I actually like coming to the office now.”
Saaniya sighed. “Alright then. As you wish. Take your medicines on time!”
Saying that, she drove away.
After she left, Anamika looked at the building, took a deep breath, and walked inside.
She wanted to meet Aditya before going to her cabin, so she stepped off on his floor.
But as she reached Aditya’s cabin, she heard someone crying.
It was Ira.
Anamika immediately quickened her steps and entered the cabin.
Inside, Ira was sitting on Aditya’s chair, tears in her eyes.
In front of her stood a short-haired girl—her back facing Anamika—so Anamika couldn’t see her face.
And Aditya was kneeling next to Ira, saying, “Oh come on, you silly little sister… your hair isn’t even cut, so why are you crying so much!?”
Anamika hesitantly knocked on the door.
Everyone turned to look at her.
And the moment Anamika’s eyes fell on Ruhi—who had cut her hair just yesterday—she said, “Woah… this haircut really suits you!”
Ruhi smiled.
“Really?! I know that!"
“Hm… what cut is it?” Anamika asked.
Ruhi replied cheerfully, “It’s a wolf cut! Someone suggested it to me!”
They were still talking when Ira suddenly complained, “Delicate flower…! Ruhi cut her beautiful long hair!”
Anamika walked inside.
Aditya gently held Ira’s hands and said, “Doesn’t Ruhi look good?”
Ira sniffed. “She does… she looks very good…”
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“Then what’s the problem?” Aditya asked.
Ira sniffled again.
“Hair hold memories! Ruhi cut all my memories!”
Everyone in the cabin exchanged confused looks, unsure how to respond to her logic.
Anamika came and knelt beside Ira. Holding her hand, she said softly, “Writers like us say that hair carries memories… It’s just a poetic way to move a character forward.
But in real life—who knows if it’s even true?
And even if old memories were cut away… isn’t this a chance to create new ones?”
Ira fell silent.
Aditya looked at Anamika with eyes full of affection.
After a few moments, Ira declared, “Ruhi… we’re going out this weekend!
And brother… you’re taking a leave. I want all of us to go out together. Understood!?”
Aditya stood up dramatically.
“Yes, Your Highness! How dare I disobey your command! Never!”
A little while later, Ira left to meet her friends, and Ruhi got back to work.
But Anamika was still inside the cabin.
Aditya sat a little distance away from her and asked, “How’s your work going? How far along is your manga?”
Anamika smiled.
“It’s going well! I’ll try my best to finish it in three months.”
“Hmmm… our contract is only for this manga—till it's completed and published,” Aditya said.
The moment she heard it, Anamika quickly replied, “Then we’ll make a new contract!
I’ll create a new story! We… we’ll always work together… right?”
Her eyes were full of hope, making her look adorably innocent.
A smile tugged at Aditya’s lips. Rolling up his sleeves, he asked, “Do you… want to keep working with me?”
Anamika’s eyes shifted away.
She looked nervous, and Aditya found it amusing.
After a pause, she said quietly, “Aditya… about what happened yesterday…
I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you only half of it. You supported me and—”
“I don’t want your apology,” he cut her off.
Anamika instantly looked up.
His eyes were serious. Sadness flickered in hers.
Inside her mind, she whispered, "Of course. You must think I used you… how can you even forgive me?"
But Aditya said, “Why would you apologize for something that wasn’t even your fault, Anamika?”
She looked at him—stunned.
Aditya leaned forward slightly and smiled.
“When you get upset, you look exactly like a scared little rabbit.”
“Why… why do you never get angry?” Anamika lowered her gaze.
Her voice was trembling.
“Don’t you ever want to ask me anything? Don’t you ever feel… you should complain about something?”
Aditya stood up, walked to her, and knelt on the floor beside her.
He said softly, “Do you want me to get angry?
I do want to know you… to understand you… but do you want to tell me about yourself?
I’ve never complained because… I don’t know if I even have that right. Will you give me that right?”
Anamika lowered her eyes and whispered, “I can tell you about myself… and after that, if you want, you can complain too. I give you that right.
Papa… he loved me and my mom very much. But he lived in another world—his world of dreams.
He was a wildlife photographer… always travelling.
When I turned five, he gifted me a cat…because I didn’t have any friends. A few months later… I found that cat dead in the garden.
I cried a lot… and I missed my father… but he wasn’t there. He was somewhere far away taking pictures.
When he returned, he took me to the garden… and bought me ice-cream because I insisted. But I fell sick… and my parents had a huge fight over it.
After that… Papa stayed home for a few days.
And then… out of nowhere… he sent me to Grandma’s house.
I lived there for five years. One day I woke up, went to her room… and found her lying on the floor. Cold. Just like my cat had been.
I was alone again.
Neither Mom nor Dad was with me.
I sat beside Grandma’s dead body for half a day… and that’s when I realized— a body without a soul is just a doll. A doll that cannot move.
After that… I went back to my parents. I was scared Dad would leave again… but he didn’t.
He changed.
He stopped smiling. Stopped looking at me. Locked himself in his room.
One day… I gathered courage and went inside. He saw me… and grabbed me.
He tried to hurt me… because in his eyes… I was a curse. A devil’s curse.
After that he was sent to a mental hospital. Till Mom was alive… she told me about him.
Mom has been gone for six years now… and I don’t know anything about my father anymore.
I thought time had passed… enough for him to forget me.
But he didn’t. He remembered me… and he still wants to kill me.”
Aditya just listened—silently, completely.
Anamika looked at him and said,“I’m… not a book whose every page can be read.
But the pages I did read out to you… after hearing them, do you want to complain about me?
Aditya… you’re my friend… and I—”
Before she could finish, Aditya pulled her into a hug.
“I’m with you,” he whispered.
“Always. In every darkness, I’ll be right beside you.
If you push me away… that will be my biggest complaint from you.”
Anamika held onto his sleeve like a child.
“I’ll never give you a reason to complain.”
