The Midnight Moon

Chapter XIX

I am so happy that I could update today! I hope you all like it.

Enjoy:)

“Nani, you are amazing!” Ali exclaimed cheerfully. Soon after everyone had arrived Nani insisted them to have the lunch first and talk later which Ali had instantly approved of. Ali had never been more grateful. And after they had started eating, every now and then he kept praising Nani for the food she made.  “How come Anya knows nothing about cooking?”Anya narrowed her eyes. She was sitting on the chair where as all others were sitting on the floor, having lunch the traditional way. She was in charge of filling the bowls once they were empty and to make sure everyone was eating properly. Dia was sitting next to her as she refused to eat without Anya. 

“Rice.” Nani gave the bowl to Anya for her to refill it.  Anya quickly stood up and went to the kitchen. 

“It’s a shame that Anya is related to you.”

“I will come back, you know. I am not going to stay here forever. “ Anya warned Ali making everyone else laugh.

A doorbell make everyone stop laughing and it was quiet for a few seconds. Ali quickly stood up to open the door as he was closet to it.  Dia squeezed her left hand with her right hand turning it completely red.  Anya realised that Dia was sitting in the living room, and it could be anyone at the door, her husband, her parents, Anya’s parents. Anya quickly left the bowl on the kitchen counter and ran out.

“Am I too late?” Samar said with a pleasant smile on his face. 

“No! Come in!” Ali welcomed Samar. 

Samar smiled before entering there house.  Anya released a deep breath which even she did not know she was holding.  Dia looked down, trying to calm herself down. 

“I thought you won’t come,” Kabir said to his

“I thought the same,” He replied with a smile.

“Nani, this is my brother, Samar.” Kabir introduced.

“Of course I remember him. How are you son?”

“I am fine. How is Anya treating you?”

“Let’s not talk about that,” Nani joked.

Samar smiled before his eyes landed on Anya.  She narrowed her eyes as she was angry. Not because of what he said, but because of scarring her. He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

“I don’t remember inviting you.” Anya crossed her arms as she said that.

“Do you remember inviting any of us?” Ali asked. 

Anya raised her eyebrows. “That is a very interesting question.”

“Come Samar.  Anya bring one more plate for him and rice!” Anya quickly went back in the kitchen before her Nani starts scolding her again. 

“Anya bring one plate for yourself and for Dia too.  Come and sit with us now.” Himani said. 

“Eat before Ali eats everything.” Kabir said with a chuckle. 

“He got a point. I can not guarantee when it comes to food.” Ali made everyone laugh. 

Anya came back in the room with a bowl and two plates.  “Let’s eat Dia.”

Anya sat next to her grandmother and Dia sat next to her.  Dia had not said a word ever since she last whispered to Anya.  She was quietly listening to what other were saying. She wasn’t attentive as she had her own thoughts to wander. But everyone else wanted her attention. Once they were done eating, Ali, Kabir and Samar sat on the sofa whereas Himani and Nani sat on the chairs. Dia was trying to escape, but Anya dragged her out of her room. They both sat on the floor next to the chairs.

“ Dia, did you work before coming here?” Himani tried to include Dia in their conversation. Dia shook her head in a no.  “You were working before you got married, right?” Anya asked to which Dia replied with a nod. “Then why did you leave?”

Dia parted her lips in order to answer but stopped. Her face was blank and she was lost in her thoughts again.  After a long pause, she whispered, “I don’t know.” This made everyone look at her. An awkward silence took over. 

“It’s always good to take a break. I wish It was possible for me too.” Samar changed the focus of the group.

“Me too!” Himani said smiling.

“Those words have totally different meaning now.” Ali said, but after that no one spoke a word. None of them could think of a topic until Nani said, “Anya bring the dessert.”

“Anya, how can you forget that!” Ali made an attempt to change the mood. It worked as everyone smiled. Anya went back in the kitchen and Himani sat next to Dia. She tried to talk to her while the guys were talking to Nani. Dia did not want to be rude so she replied to what she was asked, but did not say more than a word. When Anya returned they all started talking about their childhood dream and Ali's dream become the new topic.

“You wanted to become a doctor? “ Himani asked in disbelief.

“Yeah.” Ali nodded.  “But I could not afford the exam fees that time so I stated working.”

“Don’t you have a degree now? “ Kabir asked. 

“Few years after I started working I had saved quite some money and my mother had started working again, so she told me to complete my education.”

“But you didn’t become a doctor.” Anya said matter of factly.

“Yeah, why didn’t you go to medical school then?” Samar asked.

“Let’s just say I wasn’t passionate about becoming a doctor.”

“Thank you so much for that, ” Anya said making everyone chuckle.

“To be honest, I am glad about that too.  My attention span is truly less.”

“That is true. He forgets everything when someone starts to talk about food,” Kabir joked. 

“Technically I should get offended, but that sounds like me,” Ali said making everyone laugh again. 

“Where is Basker sir? “ Samar asked.  “He wasn’t invited? “

“Well, I just realised no one was invited, so.” Anya shrugged her shoulders.

“Then whose idea was it?” Himani asked Anya.

“ I have no idea.”

“I am sure it has to do something with Ali.” Kabir said with a chuckle.

“Again, sounds like me. “

“We should have asked sir to come with us? “ Himani asked to no one in particular.

“Isn’t being around your boss troublesome and uncomfortable?” Samar asked them.

“It’s troublesome for him to be around us,” Ali said before picking up the newspaper.


“He is more like a friend.”“ Kabir said.

Himani laughed before saying, “He is more like a child.”

“That is true.” Anya said shaking her hear. 

“Let’s call him!” Ali exclaimed before pulling his phone out from his pocket. Everyone waited patiently as the phone was ringing.  Ali put it on speaker when Baskar answered the call. 

“Helllloooo.” Baskar replied like a sleepy child. Anya and Himani laughed upon hearing Baskar’s voice. 

“Hello, sir. We,  I mean Kabir, Anya, himani and Kabir’s brother, we are all here at Anya's house.”

“Hello!” Baskar got excited.

“We were missing you so we thought of calling you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you all were going?  I would have tagged along as well.”

“We were afraid of that,” Ali whispered.

“We thought you were busy with the wedding preparations.” Himani said this time.

“Wedding stuff keeps me busy all the time,  but it should not stop me from having fun.”

“That’s a very good though.”  Anya praised her boss.

“I know! I was totally impressed when my wife told me this in the morning.”

Himani giggled before asking, “where is she now? “

“At a movie with her friends and then she will have lunch with them.”

Anya and Himani laughed before Anya said,”thought so.”

“His wife is who we should make our mentor. “ Ali said. “No, no, our God.”

“We are fine without her too. We fool him all the time. “ Anya reminded him. 

“Point.”

“Sir, if possible come now.  You know Anya’s place, right?” Samar asked.

“He knows? “ Anya whisper asked. 

“No, I can’t.  I have to make few payments and see how the preparations are going.  My wife wants everything to be done by tonight. “

“Didn’t I say. “ Ali whispered. “God!”

Kabir giggled.“I hope you get all that done in time.”

“I hope that too.  I don’t want to make my wife upset.  She get. “Himani pressed her lips together and Anya smiled.  “She is.”

“Angry? “ Samar helped him.

“Sure.”

Anya laughed. They all talked on the phone for another ten minutes before disconnecting.  Dia observed each and everyone of them whilst they were talking to Baskar.  Their calm faces, their laughter, their silliness, their cheerful voices, their dancing eyes, their everything made Dia jealous.  She did not want to take away their happiness,  she wanted to be a part of it. She wanted to be able to smile and laugh without the care of the world like them.  She wanted to be like them.  She kept thinking about them for hours after they left.  She wanted to know what they all did to be happy and calm.  She wanted to know their secret. 

“It was a fun day, wasn’t it? “ Anya said who was very cheerful and full of light.  Light, that Dia wished she had. 

“Yeah.”

“I love spending time with my friends.”

“I can see that.”

“Did you feel better today?”

Dia looked down for the millionth time that day.  Anya wanted to have that lunch with her friends to make Dia feel better,  but it was Anya who felt better. But Dia?  Dia felt worse. She wanted to be alone, in her safety net without anyone being around her. She felt insecure,  she felt jealous,  she felt left out.  Although everyone tried to include Dia in their conversation, Dia did not know them and their stories, which made it difficult for her to understand what they talked about. And even if she was able to understand that, she would have not taken part, as she felt a force stopping her. A strong force was holding her back. She did not know why.
“Dia, what happened?”

“Nothing. How is mom and dad? “

Anya frowned. “Fine I guess.  Why did you suddenly ask about them?”

“Ah.” Dia hesitated. She looked up at Anya and instantly found her mind at ease.  Something on Anya’s face said that she won’t judge Dia and that it would not be harmful to be honest. “It has been more than a month and I did not think about them even for a second. I did not realise it until this morning.”She paused to look up at Anya again. Sincerity on her face encouraged Dia to speak further. “ They are my parents. I should think about them, right?”

“You should think about whatever makes you feel better. Does thinking about them make you feel better?”

“I don’t know.”

“Thinking about what makes you feel good?”

Dia kept staring Anya without blinking.  She was asking a difficult question which she did not wish to answer.  “I don’t know.” Anya looked away. Dia could tell that she was disappointed which made Dia feel bad. She never wished to disappoint Anya, but time and again she did that. Anya smiled. “Did you like today? Do you want me to invite my friends again?”

“No.” Was Dia's instant reply.

It took Anya by surprise. She took a step forward. “Why? Did you not like them?”

“No.”

“No, you did not like them or No, it is not that?” Dia did not reply which made Anya frown. She had tried a lot of things, but nothing seemed to work on Dia. She felt frustrated. She had gone out of her comfort Zone to comfort Dia, but there was no result. “Dia! Answer.” Annoyance was evident in her tone. Dia understood that but did not reply. Her silence made Anya angry. She took a few steps away form her before turning to face her again. “Dia, tell me what to do? I am out of ideas now. I do not understand what to do.” Silence. Anya was working hard not to lose her calm. She closed her eyes but this time she wanted an answer. “Why do you not want to meet my friends again? Did they upset you?” Anya asked calmly, but Dia again chose to stay quiet. “Answer! I am trying to help you, Dia!” Anya could not control herself.

“Why? Who told you to do that?” Anya was taken aback. This was not the reply Anya was expecting. “Why do you want to help me? Why are you so desperate?”

“Desperate?” Anya asked in disbelief. “Sure, I am desperate. I love you and I want to help you. Call it whatever you want.”

“But I don’t want your help!”

“You need my help, Dia.” Anya said calmly.

“Why? Because you think I am so pathetic?”

“You are taking me wrong.”

“Then why? Why are you always trying to help me? If it was not for your Help I would have not left my house and made my life miserable. Why do you always want to help? Why do you always talk? Why are you always smiling?”

“My smile affects you?” Never once Anya thought that would be the case.

“You affect me. So much.” A tear rolled down Dia's face. “I don't want your help. I do not wish to talk. I do not want to meet your friends.”

“Why?”

“Because you all make me feel sick. I hate how you all have each other to talk. I hate that you all have so many people who care for you. I hate everything about your relationship with your friends and yes, your smile affects me.” Anya kept looking at her cousin not knowing what to do or how to feel. “It hurts me when you tell me about your friends. That reminds me that I do not have any. It hurt me when you all laughed together. It hurts me that you all are happy and I am sad. Your happiness hurts me!”  Anya blinked in order to stop her tears. Nani was in the kitchen and was hearing everything, but decided not to get involved. She wanted them to resolve everything themselves.


“I just wanted to help.” Anya finally said something.

“Don’t. I will ask if I need help. So please, stop helping me. Please.” Saying that Dia left the room abruptly. Anya stood in the same position for a long time. All the while she thought she was helping her cousin not knowing that her help was what was hurting her the most. Dia's outburst shook everyone, including Dia. No one thought that volcano would erupt. But it erupted without a warning, burning relationships.