"So he heard you?"

Anya bowed her head down. "I really didn't see him."

"How many times has he called?"

"I lost count. He keeps calling."

"He isn't believing you?"

"No. But some times it seems like he did. He is just unpredictable." Dia nodded her head.  "I am sorry. I will be careful. And I will make sure he never finds out. I really promise." Dia nodded her head again. "I am so sorry."

"It's OK. But." She paused for a moment. "How did you find out that Nisha is his cousin? What are you doing? Are you"

"I am doing nothing. I just met her in the park."

"The Park you go every day!?"

Anya closed her eyes and cursed herself. "Yeah. I mean she comes there. There are many people who come there. That doesn't mean something will happen." Anya hit her head this time.

"I knew she lived somewhere near."

"Oh."

"Did she say anything?"

"Ah?"

"About him. His family?"

Anya looked at her with guilt. Dia raised her eyebrows questioningly. "I am not sure if I should tell you."

"Just tell me. I want to know. It's related to me so I should know."

Anya hesitated to speak. She wished to ask Samar if it was a good idea but she was not going to call him. Not after what his brother said. "OK. But please don't be too upset about it. She said no one is making an effort to find you." She paused for Dia's reaction which she didn't give so Anya continued," Aman is trying but not giving his hundred per cent. He isn't a problem. His father is. He is using you for elections to gain sympathy. He ordered the police not to work on your case and said the same to Aman." Dia looked down at her fingers which brought a lump in Anya's throat.  "I am sorry that you have such in-laws. I wish I could hurt them. I really wish that."

"I don't want you to do that."

"I really, really want to hurt your father-in-law. At this moment more than I want to hurt his son."

"He." She paused. "Is better than everyone else in that family. He actually is the best out of them."

Anya frowned instantly. "If that is the best then what is the worst?" It made Dia look down again. Anya shook her head before standing up. "Dia, how did you end up with them? I mean how?" Anya did not know how to channel her worries other than being angry. Dia did not move which caused Anya to start walking back and forth. She was lost in her thoughts and her anger kept her engine going. She had so much in her mind that she didn't know what was in her mind. After some time, she stopped abruptly.  "Dia. Do you want to go back to him?" Dia looked up at her. Anya sat down again on the sofa. "My mind keeps thinking and getting worried about stuff. So I want a clear answer this time. I don't want to keep thinking and thinking. So, be honest, do you want to go back to him? He keeps calling. It looks like he wants to find you. Maybe he really wants you back. But will you go back?"

Everything around her started spinning. She was numb and all she could see at that moment was Anya's face. Her throat went dry and her eyes got moist. For a moment she thought she would faint. "I don't know. I. Don't. Know."

Samar curled his lips feeling sad for Dia. "I really don't know. I don't know how to answer that. I don't know what I want or what I feel. I don't know."

"And that is fine. You don't have to know. Not for now."

"I want to know. Actually, I want to see what I am willing to do." She looked up at him. "I want to see what I choose. I want the answer."

"Then look for it. When you look for something you definitely find it. Sooner or later."

"How?"

"The question here is, Dia, what are your feeling towards him. Do you love him? Or are you scared of him? Going back is not wrong. But your reason should be clear. So tell me, do you love him? Can you start a new life with him? Do you want to start a new life with him? Is he that important to you that you can do this?" Dia was ready to start yelling in annoyance when Samar said, "You don't have to answer me now. Think about it. Take your time. Answer me after as long as you want. But find the answer. Because that's what will help you find out what will happen next."

"But what"

"Wait," Samar stopped her. "You must not think about others. What others will say or think isn't your problem. It's their problem. So while looking for an answer don't think about anyone. Not about your parents, or relatives, not about Aman, not even about Anya. Think just about yourself.  Just about Dia."

Dia was quietly listening to him. She liked what he said and it made her feel better. But suddenly, she felt tears forming in her eyes. She frowned before they became visible to Samar. She looked down and a tear escaped her eye. Samar did not disturb her. He passed her a tissue and then sat back quietly. She was trying to push her tears back but it was useless. She wanted to hold those tears in but Samar wanted her to get rid of them. Though he did not say anything. He allowed her to be herself at that moment.

"I cry a lot," Dia said after a long period of silence. Samar shook his head and was about to speak when Dia continued, "When I sit alone. When I am alone at home. No one is around. My eyes are always moist. I don't even know what makes me cry. I just cry. It happens suddenly. One moment I am fine and then in other, I am crying. I thought. I really thought I was improving. And then I went back to square one." Her eyes filled with more tears. "That makes me sadder."

"You didn't go back to square one." Dia shook her head in disagreement. "You remember what square one was? All those months ago. You were a small, tiny ball that used to sit so quietly that no one could make out that you were in the room. You were so scared. You hesitated to share. You didn't leave the house without Anya. And even with her, you felt like you will die because of how your heart rate was increasing." Dia looked up when Samar explained her condition accurately. "Your eyes said it all. Fear was all it held. You were terrified of the world. Now." He paused to breathe. "You leave the house alone. You stay at home all alone without any fear. You are expressing yourself. You are talking. Do you remember I had to force you to say one word? You didn't use many words. You actually said only what was required and not more than two words at a time. Look at you now. You are making sentences. You are making sense. Back then I had to work on your words to understand what you said." Dia frowned. "You smiled a couple of times and tell me if I am wrong but you feel much better than you did on your day one. You are not back to square one. You have long left that place. You have moved forward. You came so far. I am proud of you. I am so proud of your journey." Tears started flowing again to which Samar replied by tilting his head.  "You are doing well, Dia. So well." He passed her another tissue which she took quickly. Wiping her tears and her nose she took a deep breath. "I am sorry."

"You don't have to."

She wiped her tears with her thumb. "I think you are right."

"I am always right."

He said it in a serious tone and not casually which made Dia chuckle. "Yes." He smiled which made her smile. "I talk a lot," Dia said while wiping her nose again.

"What?"

"Sorry. I said I talk a lot. Feel like talking a lot these days. I do not know why but I just want to keep talking. It surprises me."

"You have held back so many words for so many years. Now that they got a chance they do not want to wait."

Dia raised her eyebrows for a moment. "That can be true."

"It is."

Dia smiled before looking down. She still had tears in her eyes. Samar gave her some time to arrange herself before saying, "you never brought your yummy food for me."

"It's isn't yummy."

"That's for me to decide." Dia looked up and shook her head. "Next time you won't be entertained without it. Remember that." Dia nodded her head. "How is Anya?"

"Fine."

"She is not answering my calls or replying my messages. To be fair, I called her just once and messaged just to inform her about something so it didn't require a reply but I still feel she is missing. Is everything alright?"

"She had a fight and since then she is quite upset."

"With her parents?"

Dia shook her head. "Kabir. She said, Kabir."

"Really?"

She nodded her head again. "Kabir is your brother, right?" He nodded his head this time. "Why will she fight with him?" Dia inquired.

"Anya can fight with anyone. Never doubt her fighting skills. But maybe it's not her this time." He looked at Dia and found her tensed. "I will check what is going on. Do not worry. Now show me your homework. Did you do it every day?"

She took out a few papers from her bag and gave it to him. "I forgot one day but I did it the other day and I did that days too. So yeah.

"Good. Let me see what it is. Number one, cooking." An idea struck him just as he said the last word. He looked up surprising Dia a little. "I got an Idea."

"What?"

"I will tell that to Anya."

Dia did not like the answer but nevertheless nodded her head. "OK."

Samar was very happy with his idea and wanted to discuss it at the earliest which did not happen because of Anya who was determined to ignore him. She had been ignoring him after Kabir accused her of treating him unfairly. It was partly because she was angry at his brother and partly because she knew that was true. Her way of handling the truth was to avoid it as much as possible.

After calling her a couple of times and sending her a message he finally received a call from Anya.

"Hello," She said softly.

"Where are you? Why didn't you answer my call?"

"I was busy. Sorry." Samar frowned immediately. "Why did you call?"

"What's wrong, Anya?"

"Nothing."

"It does not seem like nothing."

"What do you want?"

He did not want to let it go and wanted her to share but he did not want to cause her more trouble than she already had. He took some time to arrange his thoughts and then said, "I was wondering it would be better if Dia can find a way of earning money."

"Why? That would be helpful for her mental health?"

"Yeah, also she wants to do that "

"Really? Why?"

"Everyone wants to earn money, Anya. Who does not like having the freedom of income? And she knows the taste of it."

"Hm."

"Considering she is a chef she must know how to bake cakes."

"As a teenager, she loved baking cakes. I don't know about now."

"At least she knows how to do it."

"I guess."

"My mother's birthday is coming up and I was thinking of giving her the order of the birthday cake. And I was thinking she can do this for a while. You bring her orders and she will bake. Maybe use your name and let her have the money."

"That is actually a good idea! That makes sense. She will do what she likes and also get paid for it. It will keep her distracted."

"Exactly. Tell your friends and everyone but before that talk to Dia. Inform her."

"You didn't tell her?"

"No."

"Why? You met her today."

"I just wanted to talk."

Anya looked up."To me?"

"Yes."

She chuckled, "since when did you like talking to me?"

"I always like talking to you. I like your voice." Anya's heartbeat increased. She felt something which she had never felt before so her reaction was an embarrassing attempt to end the conversation. "I will go and tell everyone. It's lunch break so there are here. Bye."

"Anya!" He startled her by suddenly calling her name. She stayed quiet as she could not say a word. "I want to meet you.

"There is another key you want me to have?" She closed her eyes after she said that.

"Yeah. I want to do that. If only you take the key from me."

"I did not get it."

"You never get it. Go and eat something. Bye."

Anya frowned but soon smiled when she saw her friends. "I have an idea. Samar had an idea. It's his mother's birthday next week."

"When?" Ali asked out of curiosity.

"13th." She looked up. "Wednesday."

"How do you know her birthday?" Himani teased.

"Because." Anya paused for a few seconds. "She is a family friend."

"Sure," Himani said while nodding her head a couple of times. Ali saw that and it made him curious, but he didn't say a word.

"So Samar said he would ask Dia to make a cake for him and he will pay her. So she can start doing that now! I mean I will bring orders for her and she will get the money."

"That is a good idea," Himani said, smiling.

"This is exciting," Anya said with a broad smile on her face.

"You know what, my son's birthday is in two weeks. You have my order, too."

"Sure. What kind of cake? I need to ask Samar that as well."

"Anything that has chocolate in it will work for him." She looked at Ali. "He lives for chocolate."

"That's all kids live for chocolate," He said.

"And you," Anya taunted.

"Can she make other stuff like cookies and all those desserts? It will be an added advantage if she can. Many people, especially ones with children will give you orders."

"She was interested in desserts back then, I think. I will have to ask." Himani nodded her head. "This is exciting. Dia will earn money. I feel so proud."

"Mummy Anya is happy," Ali joked. "Let her at least earn first."

"Shut up I am excited."

Himani smiled. "It is exciting."

"I cannot wait to go home now."

"Just in case you forgot we live in the twenty-first century. We have fully functional phones," Ali said with a silly smile at the end.

"No, no I want to tell her myself. I want to see her reaction. I am sure she will be happy! I am sure it will be exciting!"