Eraya's POV:

"I'm her boyfriend," he said, giving Jignesh a really hard punch on his face. I was shocked by both his actions and his voice. His voice seemed similar, the one I have heard over years and still felt new everytime, when I was in third grade his voice was like a soft baby boy, when I was in my college his voice was like a boy transforming into man, and now when I'm in my mid 20s his voice felt deeper, more like a man, a voice that will leave imprints in your mind, I can recognise him, the man I have seen throughout my childhood and now adulthood, but never tried to be friendly with, Medhansh Roy, ishikas elder brother, who's just 2 years older than us but the gap between us feels like two decades, as a brother to her he is the most protective and one of the best brothers in the world but as a human other than being brother his image has thousand other names, playboy, flirt, and what not.

Hearing these things about him while growing up, I always tried to keep a safe distance between us. Just a hello with a simple smile is the only way we greet each other, and that's our whole conversation after all these years. And right now Medhansh Roy is standing in front of me, protecting me from my worst blind date. I don't know from where he appeared, but his presence has already made me relieved that I don't have to face the psychopath alone. The third punch landed on Jignesh's face; his right eye was gaining the deep blue-black color, and his face was red. I could see fear in his eyes, and even though everything about this, the violence part, is a big red flag for me, I'm feeling a little satisfaction that he is getting what he deserved.

He was trying hard to get out of Medhansh's grip as he had gripped his collar tightly, his other hand again raised for a punch, but I need to stop this as soon as possible before this fight is considered a case of violence, and I don't want to visit police stations and give justifications. "Medhansh, stop," I said as I held back his hand, which was about to land on Jignesh's face. His fingers were tightly wrapped in a punch. "Please...stop," I said pleadingly. His eyes were red, raging with anger. In this moment of me trying to convince him, Jignesh slipped away from his grip and ran away. Medhansh was about to go behind him, but I stopped him again. "Let him go, please; let's not take this any further," I said, and he nodded, still seeing in the direction where Jignesh ran.

"Thank you for today; I'll take my leave now." Saying this, I turned around to leave because, even though he helped me, I can't expect him to give me a lift. "Hop into my car; I'll drop you." I froze. Did he just—did he just ask me to sit in his car? Like, seriously? "No, no, it's fine; already you have helped me a lot today. I'll go by myself now." "Get into the car, or do you want some other psychopath to again trap you in the middle of the road, and you can't even do anything to escape?" he said. "Fine," I said, and we walked towards his car. I opened the door to a seat at the back. "I'm not your driver," he said, opening the front door for me. "Fine," I mumbled again and sat in the front. He pushed the door closed and came to take his seat.

The car ride went silent; neither did he ask anything nor did I say anything. I just sat there tapping my fingers on my thighs and waiting to reach home. "Do you want to have something before I drop you home?" "Uh, no... Thank you, I'm fine; I'll have something after I reach home," "Are you sure?" "Yes," I said, cutting the conversation short. I don't think in my lifetime of 24 years and being friends with Ishika for more than fifteen years I have ever had this much time spent by his side. He drove me near my home, and after thanking him for the one last time, I walked into my building.

Taking the lift i walked near my apartment thinking about everything I'll tell my mother once I reach home, I rang the bell and maa opened the door within minutes, I expected her to be angry because once again I ran away the blind date she had set up for me but this time with extra injuries, Instead she welcomed me with her wide smile which she usually never shows to anyone, "areh beta, you came, come inside, take a seat, I'll bring water for you", she said and went inside the kitchen, I sat on the couch, she handed me water and sat beside me, I drank the water but with my peripheral I can see her staring at me, her eyes were sparkling with something I was unaware about, I kept the glass aside,

"maa actually about today's date, I'm so...", "why didn't you told me before you have a boyfriend, i wouldn't have sent you on the date itself na", "boyfriend?" "Yes, Jignesh told me everything about today." "Jignesh, what did he tell you?" "He said you weren't interested in the date and your boyfriend came to meet you." Seriously, Jignesh told her this? Oh, how could I expect him to speak the truth? "Maa, it's not like that...let me explain." "I don't want any explanations. I'm happy you finally have a boyfriend. What's his name, and when will you bring him home? Since when have you both been in a relationship?" She asked the endless questions, "Maa, will you give me some time? I really need some time; I'll tell you everything soon," I said as my mood was spoiled completely, and a call with Ishika can only fix it.

I got up before Maa would start with another set of questions and went to my room. "Yaar, Ishika, what should I do now? I really can't think of anything. I would have told her everything, but she wasn't even listening to me, and how can I tell her that your brother helped me because she's thinking that the man who helped me is my boyfriend? Everything is messed up; it's suffocating me." Sharing everything with her helps me a lot because her perspective is way much different than mine. We both are best friends with polar opposite personalities, but this quality has helped us a lot.

"Come to my home tomorrow; we will figure it out," she said. "Yeah, good night," I said, and then, keeping the phone aside, I went to change. I couldn't stop thinking about what I'll tell Maa. How can I tell her that it was him and he is not my boyfriend, but her sparkling eyes, glowing face, and that smile I can't let that fall now, I have seen her sad over the years and when I can finally see her smile just because I got a boyfriend i can't just again make her sad, I can't be the reason for her sadness, that's what I have been trying over the years, after my father left us, I have been trying to do everything which will make maa happy and think less about him, he isn't a great father, I have been trying to reach out to him for years and sometimes he picks the call but then his words makes me realise why his absence provides peace instead of the grief, but for maa he is still her husband who did wrong to her.

I don't want to think about him now, and after what all had happened today I don't want to keep remembering anything not my father not that jignesh, I want peace I want calmness the one I felt when medhansh stood for me, when he protected me, medhansh, why am I suddenly thinking about him, ahhhhh I'm so so so messed up and now only sleep can fix me but I know I can't sleep when these things are running in my mind, so instead I opened my laptop and started watching the series I left half complete, my eyes felt heavy within five minutes into the series and I slept closing the laptop without even keeping it to its place.

To be continued...

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