'Ye omelette he ya Ubla huya aalu? Tumhe kuch aata bhi he?' Karan mocks Mona who picks spatula to beat him.

'Tumhara muh todna aata he. Todu kya?'

'Aao. Kar lo do do hath. Maine bhi aise hi eight pack abs nahi banaye..'

'Main pagalo ke muh nahi lagti. Khana he to khao..nahi khana he to mat khao..Mujhe office ke liye der ho rahi he. Mujhe jana he.'

'Ha to maine kaun sa yaha baith kar bhangda karna he. Mujhe bhi HQ jana he. Kuch kaam se.'

Mona mocks him but goes to her bedroom to change. Karan follows her.

'Kya he? Ab sath hi kapde badalne he kya?'

'Mujhe horror show dekhne ka koi shauk nahi he. Main pahle kapde badalunga. Tum bahar change kar lo.'

'Ye tumhate pitaji ki haweli nahi he.mera flat he. Sidhe se bahar nikalo.'

'Dekho..Mere pitaji ki haweli hoti tab bhi tum hi bahar jati. Ab bhi chale jaao.'

'Main nahi jaaungi.'

'Theek he. Phir Maina bhi nahi jaa rha. Tum bhi yahi..main bhi yahi. Karte he sath sath change...'

Mona fumbles for words but not ready to give up.

'Tum...tumhe sharam nahi aayegi mujhe aise dekh kar. Kitne besharam ho!'

'Tumhe sharam nahi aayegi kya mujhe naked dekh kar!'

'Ha to jaao na bahar.'

'Nahi ja raha..'

'Kitne jiddi ho! Maan nahi sakte. Respect nahi karni aati Women ki?'

'Tumhe nahi aati respect karna...hum mardo ki!'

'Dekho...Mera khoon khaul rha he. Bahar nikal is se pahle ki main tera khoon kar du....sale nikal.'

'Ab to bilkul nahi jaaunga..'

'Ha to mar jao yahi. Kabhi bahar nahi nikalna ok? Kutta kahi ka.' Mona picks her clothes and goes oit stomping her feet.

After some time Karan comes out. Mona is buckling her belt. Karan coughs.

'Vics le lo. Lekin ye whooping cough band karo.'

'tumhe kabhi kisi ne bola ki tum pagal ho?'

'tumhe kabhi kisi ne bola ki tumhara dimag sad gya he? hold on. tum to army me ho. waha tumhare jaise logo ko rakhte bhi he?'

'dekho. mera dimag kharab ho gya to bahar fenk dunga tumko.'

mona glares at him. trying to gauge the situation. when karan doesnt move back and she gets that he can throw her out because he is a serious george of the jungle..mowgli of jungle book...she turns to mirror. its not good to pick on someone who is not your size.

she gets ready and is about to leave when karan interrupts her.

'i need key.'

'then buy one.'

'bakwas mat karo. flat ki key do. main jaldi wapas aa jaunga. mujhe bahar nahi sadna.'

'mere pas sirf ek key he.' she makes excuses. the more time she gets alone the happier she will be. 

'to wahi do. jaldi aakar neend poori karunga. so nahi paya tha dhang se.'

'ha to dharmshala nahi he ye. main key nahi...' she is unable to complete her sentence as karan snatches the key out of her pocket.

'bilkul ghatiya aadmi ho tum!'

'ha. kyunki tumhara pati hu na isliye.'

'I HATE YOU!'

'me too babe. me too.' karan leaves whistling happily and mona is literally enraged. if not for his size she'd have killed him. why the hell he is so larze! she goes to her office with a fowl mood.

_____________________________

its evening. mona comes out of her office and dials for ashi.

'kya haal bahan?'

'mar rahi hu yaar.'

'kitne baje free hogi?'

'ek ghanta aur lagega.'

'theek he. to wahi miliyo..apne adde par. i really need a break.'

'me too bahan me too.'

after two hours both girls are at their third friend' house. liquor flowing and they crying for their loss.

loss of singlehood.

'i had no idea...ki aaditya sala aise cheat karega. 15 lakh ki dhamki dekar sab gud gobar kar gya. 15 lakh chale jate to kam gam hota.' hearing this mona sits up straight.

'nahi. 15 lakh chale jate to heart attack aa jata. mujhe.'

'paise paise hi karti rahiyo umar bhar.'

'tu nahi samjhegi. wese aaditya ka kuch pata chala ki ye sab kyu kiya usne?'

'nahi. he is so suspicious. but abhi tak aisa kuch ulta pulta kiya nahi he. subah aaya tha phir breakfast banaya phir chala gya. abhi sham me text kiya tha ki ghar pahuch gya he. shayad se ek text aur aaya tha ki he has made dinner for two of us.'

'lo bhai. aur ek wo mushtanda mere gale bandha he. haramkhor aate hi lad pada. mujhse breakfast banwaya aur i can guarantee abhi bhi so rha hoga. dinner bhi mujhse hi banwayega. ye mere sath hi kyu hota he?'

'lat bhi tune mari thi'

'ha to? lat hi mari thi..top se udaya to nahi tha.'

'tujhe sahi banda mila he beta. jo tune ye fokat ke dishes banwa banwa ke khaye he na....sab hisab poora hoga ab.' listening aashi mona gets scared.

'bahan. tu hi saccha pyar he. talaq dila de. please..us aadmi ke sath 1 ghanta bhi nahi rah paau main..aur jis tarah se mujhe apni taqatwar jawani dikha ke darata he..kamina ha ek no ka.'

ashi rolls on floor hearing her. 

'has mat.' Mona gets irritated.

'accha ek bat bta...how does he look? like abs and all?'

'gobar. aree....nuisance he nuisance. usne abs hi isliye banaye he taki mujh jaisi gareeb ladkiyo ko dara sake. main bhi gym jaungi. main bhi 8 packs abs banaungi. aise nahi darne wali main us se.'

'Tu gym jayegi? Hila to jata nahi tere se.
Aur ek min. to tu uske abs dekh kar fisali nahi?'

'pagal he? uski shakl se chid he mujhe. Aur kya wahi bacha he fisalne ke liye? Nagphani jaisa insan. But ek minute....do you like aaditya?'

'ha. bachpan ka pyar he mera. bas yahi wo pap tha jiski saja mujhe mil rahi he..' she lazily tells her.

'mujhe talaq lena he....uhhhhhuuuu.' mona' recorder starts.

'yar tani. ise pila. iska muh band kar. god. i dont wanna go home.'

'mujhe talaq lena he...' mona goes on while ashi shuts her ears and gulps one more drink.

it is pretty late so both decide to crash at their friend' place. but mona' phone goes off. 

'aapne jis vyakti ko phone kiya he abhi wo vyast he. kripya phone na kare.'

'rat ke 11 baje kaun si duniya me ho?' karan' voice looms over speker.

'fuck! no kaha se mila mera tumko? aur main kahi bhi ho tumhe kya? phone rakho.'

'mujhe koi issue nahi he but ye koi file aayi he tumhare office se. koi jatin nam ka banda de gya he. kya karna he iska?'

'ohhh damn! sab utar gayi. file wahi rakho. main aayi 10 min me.' she at once books a cab and informs both girls what kind of emergency had arrived. ashi nods and sends her home.

its not even ten minutes to mona' departure when aaditya arrives to take her home.

'god! ek ye aadmi he. iska gentleman pana khatm nahi hota. why the hell is he so sweet?' she murmurs. she with a rotten mood enters into car. aaditya however offers her help which she denies. but she stumbles and aaditya picks her up in his arms and settles her nicely in car. 

ashi still looks at him with suspicious eyes and not before long she sleeps. however she can sense it when aaditya puts her shoes off and lies her down on her bed and shuts the door. she very well feels all this but doesnt react at all. 

its been three days and she thinks may be aaditya is not so bad after all. but a lingering thought is still there...why he did so!

meanwhile when mona comes home she finds all her clothes in cupboard and floor visible. too much space in room and her apartment doesnt look like hers. 

she is extremely happy but scared what if karan sold some of her precious items! she is about to look for her valuables when karan speaks up..

'kuch bhi phenka ya becha nahi he. i am not as chindi as you are!'

'chindi hoga te.... 

khair chhoro. thank you for all the cleaning.'

'thank you nahi. i am hungry. khana chahiye. make someting for me.' it makes her angry. hell angry.

''mujhse nahi hoga. mujhe file dekhni he. important he.'

'nahi. important nahi he.'

'tumhe kaise pata? tumhara kam nahi he ye..mera kam he. nak mat ghusao.'

'jatin khud bol kar gya he. sirf statements check karna he. not a big deal.'

'to bc jhooth bol kar kyu bulaya mujhe?'

'bola na bhookh lag rahi thi. isliye bulaya.'

she picks her sandal up. karan does nothing but flexes his arms at her.

'khuda kare tumhe dojakh naseeb ho. khabbes ki aulad!' mona curses him.

'ha ha. Tum bhi sath hi hogi. Saat janmo ka sath jo he. Abhi ke liye filhal khana banao pahle.' he sits on couch. waiting for his dinner to arrive...meanwhile mona thinks of spiking his food but gives up the idea. its night..the more commotion there is more late she will be to her good night sleep. she simply boils some maggie for him and retires to her bed. thank god karan doesnt share that with her. the only good thing in past two days..

************

Ashi wakes up hearing shuffling in her kitchen....once again. this was going overboard. somehow all the goodness aditya has shown didnt sit right. instead it made her more angry and irritated. the more he tries to act friendly and helping more irritated she gets. not that she feels bad for him for sharing her house with her and doing chores but....the invasion of privacy without a clear explaining hurts her. it literally plays with her mental peace everyday. the lies she has told to keep her marriage secret...the awkwardness...the guilt...the suspicion all those emotions just play with her mind. she knows she might be thinking it too much but she cant help. for a second she wonders how mona would be putting up with all this. but again that nutcase is busy fighting with karan every moment. moreover the amount of craziness she has there is no way karan and she would be living in peace itself. she herself creates bigger mess daily to worry less about smaller mess. so she worries less about her marriage than karan being a jerk to her or wrestling with him. but in her case it is not so. aditya spends a lot of time in front of her eyes even if she doesnt like it. it is not under her control. she can not control the way her and his schedule sometimes match. and when they face each other in court. or when they accidentally end up at same mall. for past one week there has been numerous encounters which were innocent but messed up her solace. 

sometimes she wonders what exactly is worrying her. aditya' lies or her own insecurity and trust issues. or it might be the bond they shared in childhood. those not so friendly memories when aaditya teased her and made her cry. may be she could never forget that aaditya or may be aaditya never changed. 

"are you alright?'' aaditya' sudden question startles her. his eyes shows genuine worry but again why he would marry someone just for the sake of some shares and all. there could be tens and hundreds other options to solve this issues. mariage was not always feasibel one. it is not some kind of drama or movie of cliche fiction. so she just gets irritated.

"how can i be alright when you are always over my shoulder? ek pal bhi sukoon ka jeene nahi dete ho tum mujhe!''

'what ......what are you talking about, ashi?'

'what am i talking about? 

i am talking about your every damn stunt you have been pulling up with me for the last one week. what exactly is your issue? why the hell you keep a tab on me? do i ever ask you to take care of me? no. in fact i just want you to stay the hell away from me. but no...aapko wo bhi nahi karna he. aapko to mahan ban na he. aapko ek gentleman ban na he. thats why you ahve to be this sweet. but lemme tell you...i hate sweets. and i hate you as well...'

her outburst doesnt calm her when she sees the guilt ridden face of aaditya. instead it just fires up more.

' i....i am sorry yaar. i never meant to hurt you this way. and i know i did commit a crime by tricking you in a marriage bu-'

marriage just ticks her off.

'see...you know you did wrong. matlab aisi kaun si wajah thi ki you ticked  us..not just me but mona as well. and dont start with your share bullshit. it is not some kjo movie or k drama or nonsense going on that i'd marry you for some lame reasons. man! you literally committed a fraud. i can sue you. but i am not. meri insaniyat he ye...uske bad bhi tum mujhe sukoon se rahne nahi dete. what do you want to prove by being so sweet? main tumhare aane se pahle bhi khana kha rahi thi. tumhare aane se pahle bhi main mere ghar ka kam kar rahi thi. i dont need you to survve. why the hell you do all the chores? i dont need your apology. i dont need anything from you. i just want to stay away from you! so...just do this and let me live in peace.'

aaditya tries to speak something but aashi just turns and leaves. 

the anger is flowing in her veins. her heart racing and  she sees red. till the time aaditya is here she wouldnt return. her mental peace is important...

more important than anything else in the world.