"Ha Sidharth, abhi land huyi Amritsar me." Shehnaaz walked towards the exit with her luggage while talking over the phone.

"Okay, tera bhai aaya hai pick karne?" Sidharth asked.

"Dhund rahi hu usko, dikh nahi raha." she replied, looking around for Shehbaz.

"Dikh gaya!" she squealed when she found a medium height guy with a small pot belly dressed in a shirt-pant.

"Good." he chuckled, hanging up.

"Oye Shehbaz!" she called out loud across the waiting area, catching her brother's attention.

"Sana!" Shehbaz got excited, walking towards his sister and hugging her.

"Kutte, shirt-pant me toh pehchaan hi nahi payi mai tujhe! Smart dikh raha hai." she laughed, hugging him tight. Her brother was pursuing an internship in a corporate office lately.

"Office se seedha airport aaya na!" he replied and parted away to carry her backpack for her.

"Chal." They made their way home.

She was nervous about returning back home after around 6 months and it was a big deal because this wasn't how she had expected it to be. Homecoming was supposed to be heartwarming but she wasn't exactly feeling like it, she was happy but more jumpy on the inside regarding her father's reaction. She still had to sort it out him, that stuff had been pending for a long time.

She recalled her conversation with Sidharth at the airport and smiled.

"Yaar, meko tension ho rahi hai!" she had addressed while she was waiting in the hall with him before boarding.

"Kyu tension le rahi baba! He's going to be fine!" he replied, thinking she might be talking about her father's health.

"Vo nahi! Papa ji ne rukne bol diya toh!?" she asked, afraid of the uncertainty.

"Toh? Ruk jayegi? You've made your decision no!" he asked back.

"Ha lekin- tabhi mai unke samne nahi thi na. It's just- when he's actually in front of me. Mai unko mana nahi kar pati. Vo toh aake seedha faisla suna dete hai." she elaborated.

"Meko yahi soch ke kal raat neend bhi nahi aayi. Mai-" she was blabbering again when he interjected.

"Shehnaaz! Nothing like that's gonna happen. Zyada dimag mat chala apna." he chided, getting a little afraid inside too. Because he had seen how her father's words worked.

"Ya phir, mat ja." he suggested. It made her shoot her head up at him, perplexed.

"Kya bol raha hai tu!" she accused.

"Kyu ja rahi tu apne ghar?" he asked her.

"Papa se milne, unki tabiyat kharab hai." she replied.

"Aur?" he raised his brows.

"Mujhe Mummy ki yaad aati hai." she answered, pouting.

"That's it!" he shrugged.

"Ahaan!" she pouted, hugging him.

"I'll miss you!" she whispered, pressing her cheek against his shirt.

"Hmm.." he hummed, embracing her tight.

"Kya hmm? Tu miss nahi karega mujhe?" she asked, resting her chin on his shirt to look at him.

"Aisa nahi bola maine." he clarified.

"Toh karega na?" she smiled.

"Aisa bhi nahi bola maine." he chuckled.

"Kutta!" she shrugged her hands away from him and looked away, hurt.

He'd have laughed if he wouldn't have seen her teary eyes. "Abey pagal! Are you kidding me?" he gasped, pulling her against him. She really had tears in her eyes!

"I'll really miss you!" she repeated.

"You're literally coming back this sunday! Poore 5 din bhi nahi rukegi vaha!" he stated, cupping her face to make her look at him.

"Isshh! Idiot!" he hissed, wiping out her tears. Was she for real?

"Ofcourse I'll miss you! Why you crying baby!" he cooed, pushing her against himself further, it tensed him. Her tears made his insides churn with doubts, something was going inside her head that scared her.

"I dunno, rona aa gaya ekdum se." she replied with her childlike face.

"Aise Punjab me royegi toh tere ghar valo ko shaq ho jayega!" he tried to joke. "Kuch bhi!" she chuckled, wiping her eyes again and composing herself. 

"Kaisi hai tu? Thik se rehti hai na?" Shehbaz asked, bringing her out of her reverie.

"Ha! Thik hu pehle se, kaam me busy rehti hu." she replied.

"Tu bata? Internship kaisi chal rahi hai?" she asked him.

"Shuru shuru me subha uthne me dikkat huyi. Yaar, maine zindagi me aaj tak alarm nahi lagaya tha! Ab lagane laga hu! Paise ke liye kya kya karna padta hai admi ko." he sighed.

"Sahi bola!" she commented, laughing.

Her mother opened the door with her biggest smile, welcoming her daughter. "Meri Sana!" Parminder Ji hugged her daughter.

"Kaisa hai baccha? Chehra itna utra hua kyu hai tera? Itni had- badi me kyu aayi tu? Tere Papa thik hai, tension valo baat thodi na thi!" her mother let out a series of questions.

"Arey, aane de meri beti ko. Isi bahane toh ghar aayi hai." Sukhwinder Ji showed up, looking weaker than the last time she had seen him.

"Papa ji!" she smiled, moving forward to greet her father.

"Aap kamzor dikh rahe ho." she mentioned.

"Umar hi aisi hai. Aaja andar aa." he replied, gesturing to her to have a seat.

"Kaisa hai sab Mumbai me?" he asked.

"Acha hai Papa ji." she replied, noticing how her father had acknowledged her small backpack and understood that she was here to pay a visit.

His face clearly showed signs of disappointment that his daughter hadn't returned back to him completely.

"Ajaao sare, mai khana laga deti hu. Putt, tu fresh hoke aa." Parmindar ji broke the silence.

A heavy meal was prepared to mark the special day, Shehnaaz's favourite dishes awaited her.

"Amma! Itna time baad aapke hath ka kha rahi hu na! Aur bhi zyada tasty lag raha hai!" she gasped, taking in a bite of Lamb Korma mixed with rice and red chili pickle.

The soft meat melted into her mouth so well that she could live with its taste all her life, it tasted so good with lots of onion and tomatoes in it.

"Iski recipe leke ja rahi hu mai!" she announced.

"Thik hai, sikha dungi!" her mother replied.

Later in the evening, Shehnaaz inquired about her father's blood test reports and doctor's prescriptions. "Cholesterol bahut badha hua hai." she read the papers.

"Ha, oily kam khane bola hai doctor ne aur do tablets likhi hai." Shehbaz replied, pointing at the prescriptions and discussing further about the suggestions the doctor gave.

On the other hand, Sidharth was working on the Roses and Gardens Hotel's project with his team, almost everything was done from their part and the interior was nearing its end.

"I'm really excited about it. It looks so marvelous already!" Ananya gushed, looking around the empty yet designed place while the Elite team was at a site visit.

"Yeah, we've been working on it for months!" Vardhan agreed, signing a couple of shipment papers. They inspected around the newly prepared rooms, mentally making notes about the finishing needed.

"Sid!" Vardhan walked out with his friend.

"Ha?" Sidharth turned back.

"Anything serious at Shehnaaz's place? Maine uska mail baad me dekha tha." he asked.

"Uh, her father has some BP issues. Nothing serious though." Sidharth briefly answered.

"Okay, tu free hai phir? I had something to discuss regarding the wedding and its venue." his friend said.

"Yeah I'm free! Chal." Sidharth replied, walking towards their cars. They made their way towards his apartment and freshened up before getting started with the before exploring the internet.

"Beer hai na?" Vardhan asked, opening the refrigerator door.

"Nahi, order karle." came Sidharth's reply.

"Kya yaar?" his friend made a face.

"I don't live here all by myself!" Sidharth reasoned, he had got rid of alcohol when his female roommate had moved in, so that she wouldn't get uncomfortable around it.

"Ye teri jagah nahi lagti yaar, this place looks settled!" his friend commented, looking around.

The kitchen was clean, its counter had a small plant, even the fridge had fresh fruits and vegetables stocked up and most of all, the drawing room had cushions arranged diagonally. A guy could never keep his place 'this' tidy!

"Yeah, not my place. Shehnaaz poora time idhar udhar karti hai. Ye succulent laya mai, lekin uske liye chota sa pot lake vo rakhti hai usko counter pe." Sidharth said, genuinely missing her by now.

This place reeked of her, it felt like she'd walk out of her bedroom anytime, sit next to him and would start the TV before moving to the kitchen to cook.

"So smitten by her." Vardhan mumbled.

"Huh?" Sidharth pardoned.

"Beer and snacks order kardu phir?" his friend asked.

"Hmm." Sidharth replied, taking a seat next to him and switching on the TV.

As soon as he did that, a Hindi cooking channel popped up with Sanjeev Kapoor's show being telecasted. A chuckle left his mouth, reminiscing it was one of Shehnaaz's favourite things on television.

"Kya hua?" Vardhan noticed.

"Nothing." he shrugged, changing the channels.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here we go! One's in Punjab and one's in Mumbai..

The mere thought of her father is getting Shehnaaz worried.. Let's see what Papa ji is going to do..

Sidharth was worried too but managed not to show it to her.. And the boy misses her.. 😏