"An argument dance doesn't sound bad, does it?"
She pulls back to look at my face and her eyes roam all over my face before she smiles. "Let's just stop arguing."
I frown as I put her hair strand behind her ear. "Stop arguing?"
"Yes." She keeps her hand on my shoulder and we entwine our fingers. "I don't want us to argue."
"I know," I say as we move our bodies. "But I am still mad at you for what you did."
She sighs. "I am just trying to do business, why can't you understand this?"
"He isn't the only businessman here," I say feeling a little frustrated by her.
"The more you ask me to not work with him it only makes me want to do it." She says as I twirl her around and pull her back to me.
"You are so stubborn." I look into her eyes.
"Even you are." She rolls her eyes. "I am telling you no matter what you can't change my mind."
I look at her and I know that it's wrong for me to involve in her decisions but I also feel bad that she doesn't care about my likes and dislikes.
"Then I am going to stay mad at you," I say as I lean down to press my lips against hers.
"Really?" She asks against my lips. "For how long?"
I look down at her and I consider telling her till this party ends but I realize if she is being stubborn I might as well be.
"As long as I want." I grip her waist, she catches her breath as she purses her lips.
"Maybe it should be as long as you can." She smiles slowly. "You wouldn't be mad at me for a long time."
I know she is right but since I plan on being stubborn I refuse to agree with it. "You don't know that as I have never been so mad at you before."
"Let's see." She rolls her eyes.
The music comes to an end and we pull away.
"Are you serious?" She asks me slowly. "About being mad?"
"I am," I say trying to keep a poker face.
"Hello, Bhabi." Kunal approaches us wearing his black suit.
"Hello, Kunal." She smiles at him. "Shreya would be so happy to see you like this."
She glances at me and her smile widens. I frown as she pulls out her phone and looks at Kunal.
"Let's take a selfie." She smiles. "Shreya would love to see looking so handsome in your suit."
"Uh, okay." He shrugs with a grin.
I watch as they take selfies and I am waiting for either of them to call me but they don't. I look away from them not wanting to show that I am interested.
"Come on, bro." I turn to look at Kunal and I am too eager to say yes but I shake my head at him.
"No?" He asks and I wait for him to insist but he shrugs.
"Forget him," Mishti tells as she smiles at the screen and I realize she is just trying to piss me off.
I let out an exasperated breath and walk away from them. I get tensed when I see Rayan approaching me and I quickly look back at Mishti and Kunal.
I haven't said to him I don't want Mishti to see us together because I didn't want him to know he can still be a reason for our argument.
"What is it?" I ask as he stands in front of me.
"What was Mishti's mother's name?" He asks with a frown.
"Rajshree Maheshwari," I say as I look at him curiously.
"I mean, her real mother." He says and I look at the seriousness on his face.
"I don't know." I shrug, I have never asked her. "Why?"
"You know I was friends with Mishti in college days." He begins to say. "She said to me her parents didn't have a good relationship with their parents."
"Yeah. I know that." I say remembering what Mishti once said to me. She had said her parents did love marriage and their parents weren't happy with it so they had to leave them.
"If this isn't any of your friends or exes or any business enmity I think it would be someone from her mother's side or father's side."
I look at him and I remember my conversation with Foziah. She made a point when she said it wouldn't be any crime scene it would be someone we know but the thing is why would they want to kill me and Mishti?
She was adopted after her parents met with an accident so it wouldn't be easy for them to find her.
"She has never met any of them," I say slowly.
"I know. It's just a guess." He nods. "If we know her parent's surname we could relate something when this girl I meet tells her name to me."
"I'll try figuring it out." I nod and he excuses himself.
I turn around and I get a little tense when I see Mishti looking at me in disbelief.
"Mishti." I shake my head but she is already walking away.
"Fuck!" I curse as I follow her. She walks to Mr. Arora and tells him something.
"I'll drop you." He says but I quickly step in.
"I think, I can take my wife home now." I glance at Mishti who doesn't even glance at me. "Thank you."
She doesn't argue there and I know it's because she will burst out if she says something and she doesn't want to make a scene here.
She walks away and I follow her.
"Don't." She pulls her arm away when I try to reach for it.
"Come on, you need to listen," I say as I stand in front of her.
People are leaving the party so I drag her to my car to avoid people's attention.
"Mishti," I say as I stand in front of her.
"Why would you talk to him?" She looks up at me. "You expect me to not do any business deals with someone you don't like but can have a friendly relation with someone I hate?"
"I don't have a friendly relation with him." I frown. "I would never want to be friends with someone who hurts you."
"Listen, Abir." She glares at me. "I know it's your wish whom you meet or not but please do not involve Rayan in our lives. I hate him." She clenches her jaw.
I look at her for a moment and I almost hate myself when I see tears in her eyes.
"Everything just flashes back." She says slowly. "He forced me but it doesn't bother you. What bothers you is me working with Vidhyut when he is far better than Rayan."
"Mishti, I wasn't going to let him anywhere near you." I hold her face in my hands. "I needed some help from him that's all."
"So this all you have been hiding?" She asks. "He is helping you to find someone?"
"Yes." I sigh.
"It's unbelievable you involved him when he was the one who began all of this." She shakes her head.
"He wasn't the one who began it. You know there is someone else who started it." I say hoping she understands.
"I don't care." She says. "I don't care who began it but he was the fucking reason I went away from you. Kabir tried to save me, didn't he? If Rayan wasn't involved I would have been with you and whoever is behind all this would have been caught."
"Okay. Calm down." I put my arms around her.
"Whoever the fuck it is I am going to kill them." I hear her say and the warning in her voice makes me a little startled.
"I have been trying to contain myself all this while. Trying to be patient and folding my arms waiting for everyone to help us but now I know what to do." She pulls back as she wipes her tears away.
"What are you going to do?" I ask curiously.
"I am going to meet Roy and Shreya tomorrow and I think Shreya has been in touch with Roy. They doubt someone, we are going to meet tomorrow." She says as she looks at me. "Then I am going to go find them myself and deal with them."
"Be careful of what you do," I say getting a bit worried but I also know she is smart.
"Don't worry about it." She says determinedly. "I am going to make sure they pay for it."
"Please get inside," I say after a moment.
"Yeah, and I am still mad at you for involving Rayan." She narrows her eyes at me.
"And I am still mad at your for dealing with Vidhyut." I look down at her as I keep my hands on either side of her on the car's bonnet.
"Good." She rolls her eyes. "Stay mad."
I chuckle as she pushes me away and gets in the car. I drive through the busy streets it's almost 8 at the night.
"You are going to stop talking to him now." She looks at me and I glance at her.
"Yeah if you stop meeting Vidhyut."
"How many times should I tell you I am just doing business?" She asks irritated. "You know what?"
"What?" I ask as I stop in the traffic.
"Just do whatever you want but I will work with him." I look at her and I know she is serious about it.
"Okay." I shrug. "Who am I to stop you?"
"Don't say like that." She frowns. "Now don't tell me you want a divorce because of this."
"What?" I frown. "No. Nothing would make me want a divorce from you. I love you and everything is aside."
"Then why are you arguing over such a small thing?" She sighs.
"It's not a small thing to me," I say honestly. "And I do feel sad you don't care about what I feel."
"I do." She interrupts. "But you should also understand this is my business and I want to do this my way."
"You could work with me. We can do amazing together, I know. You don't have to go work with him."
"No, I don't want to work with you first." She shakes her head.
I look at her feeling a little hurtful and I am about to ask her why when we hear screams.
There are a lot of cars and bikes around us and I frown getting out of the car.
"The signal is green," Mishti says as she gets out. "Why is it so jammed here?"
"I think there is a problem there," I say as I start walking through bikes and cars.
"That's so sad. She's a child." People whisper around. Mishti and I share a glance.
"Please, call an ambulance." I hear someone shouting but I also frown looking around at people who grab their phones and take photos and videos instead of calling an ambulance.
I quickly search for the phone in my pocket but I realize it's in the car. I turn to ask for Mishti's phone but she is already calling the ambulance.
As she finishes the call we walk to the crowd. There is a car that looks like it was met with a crash. A woman is shouting and a man is on the floor sitting on his knees. I gulp when I see a small girl maybe around 5-6 years lying in a puddle of blood.
"Baby, no!" The man shakes his head, he is also injured as he holds her body against his chest but she seems to have no control. I look away as she closes her eyes and struggles with breathing.
"Priya! No! Open your eyes." The woman shouts as she sits down on the floor.
The ambulance arrives in no time but it's too late anyway. The girl was small, she couldn't survive the accident.
I look at the man and I feel the pain. I can't even stand the thought of having anything happening to my kids. I feel extremely sad as they keep the girl in the ambulance.
People start clearing the way as police arrive there and I turn to look at Mishti.
She looks... numb. I reach for her hand and she walks with me silently. I drive us home and she looks lost.
"Mishti," I call her softly as I park the car.
She looks up at me. "Yeah?" She asks a bit lost.
"We have reached home," I say as I try to understand what is going through her head.
She nods and gets out of the car. I follow her with my eyes as she walks toward the porch steps. I sigh and get out of the car.
I stop with a frown when she suddenly turns around and half-runs towards me. She puts her arms around me and cries. I tighten my arms around her and I realize part of her fear comes from the fact that her parents were dead in an accident.
"Hey, it's okay," I say softly as I run my hand through her hair trying to console her.
"It's not okay." She sobs. "That's how I lost my parents... in an accident."
"I can't even imagine what the girl's parents are going through." I hold her as she cries wanting to be there for her and listen to her.
I think it's something we all have to deal with. One day everyone in your life will die or you'll die and leave them. It's so strange that one single day can be so different for everyone.
Someone is born, and someone is dead.
Someone is getting married, someone is getting divorced.
Someone is laughing, someone is crying.
Someone is celebrating their victory, someone is crying over their failure.
Someone is falling in love, someone is breaking up.
Someone is trying to forget everything and start a new life, someone is letting everyone go and attempting suicide.
Someone is planning a surprise, someone is planning a kidnap.
Someone is doing sins, someone is doing good deeds.
One single day and so many events.
Yeah, that's life.
❊❊❊
How was it?
Tell me who is on Mishti's side and who is on Abir's? 😂
Probably most of them on Abir's side.
One of the chapters I enjoyed writing.
Do vote, comment, and share your views.