"Why are you still up? " Anya unlocked the door of her house thinking everyone was asleep. But in the living room, Dia was waiting for her. She was a little startled when in the dark she saw someone sitting on the sofa. It took her a few seconds to recognise who it was.

"You were not home," Dia answered.

Anya closed the door and switched on the light before saying, "I called Nani and informed her that I will be late."

"You also informed her that you will meet Aman."

Anya looked up at her. She had instructed her Nani not to let Dia know about that. She was surprised her Nani told Dia. That was unlike her. "She didn't tell me. She just didn't see me."

"You are handling it well. " Anya sat on the sofa and dropped her bag on the floor. "I thought that would scare you."

"I could not breathe for an hour."

Anya looked up at her in alarm. "Are you fine?"

"Yes."

"How did you calm down?"

"Nani helped me."

"Where is she?" Dia pointed towards a room. "Are you sure you are fine?"

"Did he trouble you in any way? "

"First tell about yourself. You are fine?"

"Yes. Now, you answer."

"He didn't." She looked away. " His ego did."

"He has a lot of that."

"I know that now."

"I'm sorry if he insulted you."

"Why are you sorry? You don't represent him. Then why will you say sorry for him?"

"You met him for me, and you got insulted because of me. That's why."

"Don't say sorry. It has nothing to do with you. Also, when he tried to insult me I shut him up. He cannot insult me. I do not allow that. "

"People often allow him to insult them."

Anya frowned. "Why? "

"I don't know. It is like he is the boss of everyone. "

"How powerful is he? "

"Very. He is rich and has many connections."

Anya frowned as it made her realise it won't be easy to deal with him. She did not see him as a big obstacle. She thought their biggest obstacle was Dia's fear. But she did not think that the cause and source of that fear was bigger than any other problem. Anya closed her eyes when her mind did not stop thinking about the difficulties that they will have to face.

"Let's talk about something else. " Anya suggested.

"Hm."

They were quiet for a few minutes. Anya was still thinking about Dia's husband, but Dia's mind was blank. Her brain was exhausted due to over thinking and was now, for a change, resting.

"Ashwini is coming back to India!" Anya found a topic to discuss. "She is coming this summer. I am so excited to meet her."

"That's good," Dia said.

Dia's lack of interest made Anya upset for the first time. Anya always tried to talk to Dia, and she knew that was not in a bad way, but Dia seemed uninterested in whatever Anya had to say. But Anya was not going to give up. She smiled before saying, "You know what Ali did today?"

"Di." Dia's voice changed. "What did he say? Does he think I am here? "

"No. He asked for my help. Someone told him I was close to you as a kid, so he thought I can guess where you are. "

"What is he doing to find me? "

"Probably contacting as many people as possible."

"You think he can find me?" Dia immediately looked down after asking the question. She was scared of the answer. 

"I don't know, Dia. I really want to say no, but giving you false hope is not going to help. I don't know what he can do but." Dia looked up at her. "I know what I can do. I promise to protect you no matter what. I will not let you go back there in that hell. Trust me. I will fix Everything. Also." Anya's voiced relaxed. "He and the police think you are kidnapped."

"Kidnapped? "

"Yeah. By his last client or maybe the other party's lawyer, I am not sure. They had some kind of disagreement so he guessed maybe they did that.  I don't understand why he has such people in his life."

"He has many kinds of people in his life."

"Jerk! "

Dia looked up at her cousin. Without realising she said, "Please don't leave me alone. Please."

"Of course I won't." Anya instantly replied. Dia looked down at her fingers again. They were quiet for a minute. Both of them were lost in their own thoughts. They didn't want to disturb or get disturbed by each other. It was comfortable and peaceful to be quiet for some time, but when Anya's worries started taking over her thoughts she broke the silence." Dia, what do you think about meeting Samar? " Dia did not understand what Anya was talking about so she added, "The psychologist."

"NO!" Anya's eyes became wide when Dia snapped at her. "I will not go. I told you last time. Why did you ask again? I DO NOT WANT TO GO!"

"OK. We won't go." Anya was startled by her reaction. "We will not go if you don't want to. Don't worry. I will not force you." Dia looked away, trying to hide her tears. For the last few weeks, Dia had been crying for no reason. She could not understand what was making her cry, but she could not control her tears. She was trying very hard to keep her tears to herself. And she succeeded as Anya and her Nani did not catch her once.

It was not easy for Anya to sleep that night. She kept thinking about their future. She could not imagine their future any more. Dia was restless the whole night, too. They both slept very late that night. The morning was the same for Dia as she was still in the same room, same mood and same thoughts. But for Anya, it was different as she woke up, got ready and left for work. Her mind was occasionally thinking about the issue, but she also got many opportunities to forget it and think about something else. Also after work, she went out with her friends, but Dia, on the other hand, was stuck in the same house for weeks.

"I want to eat fries or burger, maybe a wrap." Anya was trying to decide what she wanted to eat while all her friends had already decided and placed an order.

"What's up with you today? " Ali asked while eating his fries which he had ordered as soon as he entered McDonald's.

"I don't know. I want to eat everything, so it's hard to decide."

"Eat everything. How much weight will you gain in just one day? " Ali asked.

"I don't give a damn about my weight. Who am I going to impress? But I do give a lot of damn to my wallet."

"You want three to four things so it won't be that big of a hit on the wallet," Himani said who was smiling while looking at her mobile screen.

"Naah, That's just not me."

"Then who told you to be you? You should do whatever you feel like and not according to who you are! If you want to eat, you eat! If you want to go diving, you go diving. If you want to take a new career you take it, sister! Do whatever you want! " Ali got enthusiastic.

"I often want to bang your head in a wall."

"Well, you cannot do that. You got to keep the law in your mind."

Anya narrowed her eyes before looking at Kabir who was sitting next to Ali. "What's up with this saddy bean?"

"He has been in this mood ever since he came to the office. He is lost and doesn't talk much." Ali informed them.

"Why?" She looked at Kabir. " Kabir?"

"Hmm." He said absentmindedly

"What is wrong with you "

"Nothing." He was still lost in his world.

Himani narrowed her eyes. "Did your girlfriend leave you? "

"He had a girlfriend!" Ali sounded hurt. "You did not tell me! "

"No. It was a joke." Himani clarified.

"Oh. Why will you joke like that!?"

"Because I did not know you will overreact."

Anya ignored them and said, "Kabir"

"Hmm."

"Look up. "

"Hmm."

"NOW! " Kabir looked at her giving her all his attention. "What are you thinking? What have you been thinking the whole day? Why are you lost? "

He looked around at all his friends. He felt awkward and hesitated before saying, "Nothing."

"It does not look like nothing," Ali said.

"Dia keeps saying that too. Say something else," Anya said with a frown.

"How is Dia?" Himani asked.

"Same."

"Why exactly is Dia hiding?" Kabir asked. " I mean she can file a case against him. She can file for divorce. Why is she hiding? "

"I have the same question. She can always take help of the law and police then why to hide? " Ali asked.

"Two reasons- one, he is very powerful. Two, Because she lacks courage. If her husband finds her and asks her to come home, out of fear she will go home. If he takes her back and treats her like crap again she will let him. She is hiding because she does not want to go back."

"Why is she scared? You are there for her. She is not alone. You are supporting her right now, emotionally and financially. Looking at your income and your way of spending you can easily finance her your whole life. Then why not? " Ali said everything in one breath.

"It's not that easy Ali," Himani said. "Doing something out of your comfort zone is scary. And her husband. Who knows what he wants. Or what he will do when he finds her? I think she is scared of him more than anything else."

"She cannot be scared her whole life," Kabir said. "She cannot live like that."

"Of course she cannot. But at this moment I do not think there is another way," Anya said.

"But there should be another way," Kabir said.

"I am sure there is another way," Ali said. "We just need to find that."

"How will we find that?" Anya asked Ali.

"We will figure it out," Himani said with a smile.

"We will help you," Ali said instantly.

"Thank you. Even Samar said he will help me in any way possible." 

"When did he say that? I was with you the whole time. Did you guys have a secret chat at night? " Ali narrowed his eyes.

Anya rolled eyes before saying, "it was when you went to get that shawarma and took ages to come back. Why the hell did it take you so long? "

"They were out of Mayonnaise and they were making a fresh batch so I waited there patiently. " He said proudly.

Himani chuckled. "You are a joker. "

Ali narrowed his eyes making Anya smile this time. Himani giggled and Kabir was still lost in his thoughts.  "They said my order will take some time. " Bhaskar said as he came closer to them.

"Sir, you can sit. I will get it for you," Ali said.

"No. I have to call my wife, so I will go out and talk. while coming back I will bring it. " Saying that he went out to call his wife.

"His daughter is getting married, right? " Himani asked.

"Yes," Ali and Kabir said together. Anya narrowed her eyes at them which made them frown.

"Then how come he is always with us and not running around? "

"Because the wedding is still a few months away. And his daughter is deciding anything so there is nothing much for him." Anya replied.

"Father of the bride still have a lot of work." Himani reminded.

"He comes late to work daily because he is running around. He also is always on phone during breaks and often leaves office early, too. But few days he decides to stay back and just breathe." Kabir defended his boss.

"Woah. I was just curious Kabir. No need to fire up."

"I wasn't. I am, I am sorry. I didn't mean that. "

"It's ok. I can see you are upset about something else." Himani said with a smile.

"I am no..." He paused for a second before saying, "I will be fine by tomorrow."

"By the way, did your sister agree to see Kabir's brother? " Ali asked Anya.

"He has a name. "

"I like it this way. So, you were saying? " He encouraged Anya to speak.

"She freaks out every time I mention it."

"That's bad. She is locked in that house. She needs some fresh air," Himani said.

"I did not realise it, but my nani pointed out today that she is always in a room or alone."

"I don't think that is harmful, " Ali said. "It has not been that long."

"I said the same thing! " Anya exclaimed. "But nani said her thoughts are dark. Few days can be dangerous, too. "

"She is right." Himani agreed.

"I'm scared of her becoming suicidal. But the situation is not that bad, is it? " Anya asked her friends hoping for a positive answer.

"I don't think so." Ali was trying to make her feel better.

"She can be," Kabir said. "She wants to escape this situation. She wishes to escape this situation and instead of facing it she wants an easy way out. "

"Dia is not that weak." Anya frowned. "She is not that courageous?" She shook her head. "She is not that desperate."

"It's not about her being weak, " Kabir said. "She, as you said, has a totally different mindset right now. We can think straight because it is not our problem. She cannot. It's easy for us to say she cannot do this or it is not a bad situation, but for her, it is the worst situation of her life."

Anya kept staring him, trying to absorb what he said. It made sense to her, but at the same time, it did not make sense to her. Her brain was running fast in order to get a to a stable point, but she was thinking too much, too fast. She looked down when things started getting little clear. Kabir was also looking at his phone, again lost in his thoughts. Himani and Ali exchanged glances.

"It's so good that we got off early today. I wish we have pest control daily. " Ali changed the topic.

"Ah, I agree. I was so sleepy today. I just wanted to leave the office. " Himani helped him change the topic.

"Even I wanted to get out of the office today," Anya replied honestly.

"It was suffocating in there," Kabir said before taking his coke in his hands.

"I have an idea! " Himani suddenly exclaimed. Anya closed her eyes to recover from the mini attack she got.

"What? " Ali asked.

"We all can help her feel better, right? "

"Who her? " Ali asked.

"Dia. We can help her. "

Ali asked, "How?"

"I don't think she will like to leave the house. " Anya reminded.

"She won't, but who is stopping us? "

"What do you mean? " It was Kabir this time.

"We can go to Anya's house and make her feel better. "

"That is a good idea. " Ali said before smiling widely. "Her nani makes amazing food! "

"We are not going there for food. We are going there to help Dia," Himani reminded.

"Potato, potahto. "

"That's actually a good idea. Maybe that will make her feel better. "Anya agreed with her friends.

"It won't be easy," Kabir said.

"What's with the negativity dude? " Ali said almost immediately.

"What's with the negativity dude? " Anya couldn't stop herself from saying.

"I-I." He frowned as he felt attacked by the two. "I mean, you know." He paused for a second. "She has not met anyone except for you and your nani after that incident. She might feel it's too much crowded. She might feel insecure because of what she had been through. She might feel uncomfortable."

"She might kill you. " Ali said motioning towards Anya who had a blank expression on her face.

He looked at her before he slowly said, "I was just thinking. "

"We have to do something. She will have many problems. We cannot think about all of them. One thing at a time."Anya replied calmly.

"Exactly! So we are going, right? " Ali asked, excitement evident in his eyes.

"We can give it a try, Kabir. Just once. If she does not feel good we won't do it again. " Himani said when she felt that the other two were harsh on him.

"I guess we can do that."

Ali smiled widely ."Then that's final! We are going to Anya's house for lunch! Or Dinner maybe? "

"He is so happy," Himani whispered Anya.

"I am not serving food." Anya busted his bubble.

Ali's smile vanished immediately. "What do you mean? I am helping you. How can you not feed me?"

"You eat my tiffin daily. So I feed you for no reason daily!"

"You are mean, Anya!"

"You are hungry, Ali," Himani said while laughing.

"Let us know when you want us to come," Kabir said Anya.

"Let us decide right now. She might change her mind later!" Ali kept exclaiming.

"Later," Anya said before picking her phone from the table.

"Now."

"Later."

"Now."

"Stop." Himani interrupted.

"Now."

"Later."

"You are mean, Anya."

"You are not invited, Ali."

Ali gasped. "Evil."

Anya smiled. "Proud."

***

I am not sure about this chapter. Be honest, how is it?