"So, Sneha, what is your department doing for the charity?" Ananya asked to break the silence in the car.

"We haven't actually received any notification, yet." Sneha answered while looking to her left.

"Where to?" Viraj asked as he entered the traffic.

"We can go to the market near the central marine drive." Sneha answered when Ananya gave her the questioning look.

He only nodded as he took the required turn.

"My department is going with the same theme as last year." Ananya said with a sigh.

"Yeah, I saw the notification. But, it's a good thing, right? It will be fun to go to houses to collect for charity." She said to boost her morale.

Ananya only sighed further.

"Bhai won't let me. He'd just give me the total sum and ruin the fun out of it." She said while glaring at her brother.

Sneha looked at Viraj for a second who seemed unfazed by his sister's remark.

"Why do you need his permission?" Sneha whispered so that he won't hear her.

"I need his permission for everything." Ananya answered in the same tone.

Strange! Sneha thought.

After twenty minutes of drive and their futile conversation which obviously excluded Viraj, they reached the market entrance.

"Uhh...I don't think you can drive in the streets of the market. You'll have to park outside...in front of some shop or something. It will be crowded in there." Sneha suggested when she saw Viraj trying to drive in the street.

"You want us to walk in the streets?" He asked as he gave her a look through the inner rear-view mirror.

She became confused again and tried to give him a reasonable response.

"Umm...Yes?" She answered slowly.

He thought for a while before sighing. Taking a sharp right, he spotted the perfect spot to park his car.

When they all came out, Sneha expected Viraj to go and talk to the shop owner to ask him to keep an eye on the car. When he didn't, she reminded him. It would be wrong if his car gets stolen because she chose the market for shopping.

"Viraj?" She called for his attention when he began walking in the direction of the first street. He turned around to look at her.

"Hmm?"

"Shouldn't you go and ask the shopkeeper to keep an eye on your car?" She reminded him and he gave her a quizzical look.

"Why should I?" He asked. Ananya looked at Sneha curiously too.

"...for safety reasons." She explained.

"I am very well capable of taking care of the things that belong to me." He stated.

She only raised her brows in surprise.

Very well, arrogant prince! Why would I care if your car gets stolen? She thought.

"Oh, okay!" She mumbled as she started walking with Ananya. But before she could take a few steps ahead, she stopped. The insecurity crept into her mind and she couldn't help but feel anxious.

"Ananya, I'll just go and ask the shopkeeper myself, okay?" She whispered near her so that he wouldn't hear.

"But, bhai said..." She was about to complain but Sneha had already sprinted off.

"Where is she going?" Viraj asked when he heard Ananya.

"Uhh...I...don't know!" She answered, fearing he would get angry at Sneha when she comes back for not obeying him.

When Sneha returned after requesting the shopkeeper, she was as expected met with an annoyed Viraj.

"I have heard many stories of how car thieves steal cars from the market." She explained her intention when she saw his expression.

Ananya got ready to hear his tantrum but got surprised when he just gave Sneha a strict look and turned around to lead the way, without scolding her.

"I am surprised he didn't get angry at you for going against his direct order!" She said lowly to Sneha.

"Why is he always so edgy?" Sneha couldn't help but complain.

"That's my brother. Always angry...about god knows what!"

"He should really change his behaviour!" Sneha couldn't help but whisper back.

"By the way, you know, this is my first time shopping in an actual market market!" Ananya expressed her curiosity.

"Seriously?" Sneha chuckled.

"Yup. I either get things online or go to the stores in the mall. I have only seen these markets in movies. It's actually exciting! I will have those roadside pani puris and cotton candy. I always wanted to have them." She said with a smile while Viraj only rolled his eyes at the comment.

"Well, in that case, you will really enjoy it here. It's cheap with thousands of choices! And, you will get to have all the street food that you can imagine." Sneha added with a smile.

.

.

.

They finally spotted a stationary shop and entered it. Sneha gave the list of items to the shopkeeper while Ananya scanned the shop as a kid and Viraj stood in front of the billing area.

"Anything else, beta (means 'child')?" The elderly shopkeeper asked Sneha who was busy analyzing the quality of the items.

"No, uncle. I got everything. Thank you!" She said with a smile.

Viraj stared at her face when she smiled like that. However, his staring got interrupted when his sister called for him.

"Bhai, I want this and this too, please!" Ananya said as she pointed at a sparkling pouch and a cute set of pens with animal figures on top of them.

Sneha looked at what she was pointing at and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Those are for kids, Ananya." She said with a chuckle as she saw her beamy eyes.

"And they are so cute!" Ananya replied with a smile and nudged her brother to agree.

"Get whatever you want, Ananya." He said lazily as he took out his phone to distract himself.

"Awesome!" Ananya said and soon she had piled up a hell of a lot of things on the counter.

"You are seriously getting all these?" Sneha asked, a little surprised when she saw her picking up little cute items.

"Yes! I don't know if I will ever come back to this place. Better make the best of it." She chirruped.

"Okay!" Sneha chuckled again and asked the shopkeeper to bill the things up.

"Uncle, bill these and these things separately." Sneha added pointing at the items of the project and the items that Ananya gathered.

"It will be easy to split the bill later, this way." She explained to Ananya while Viraj took out his credit card from his pocket.

"These items total to Rs 980 and these items are for Rs 850." The shopkeeper finally summed up.

Viraj forwarded his credit card and at the same time, Sneha took out a Rs 500 note from her bag.

"What are you doing?" Viraj asked Sneha.

"What?" She asked in confusion.

Now, what did I do? She wondered.

"Why are you paying him?" He asked her and the shopkeeper looked between the two to confirm who is paying for what.

"Oh! I am paying for the project items...half of it. So, uncle will give me Rs 10 back. You can pay for the remaining half of the project things and what Ananya is buying for herself." She explained.

Viraj took a deep breath since she didn't understand his statement.

"I am paying for all of this." He said with finality in his tone and passed the card to the shopkeeper.

Ananya looked at her brother in surprise. Viraj never paid for her other friends...ever.

"Why would you? It is a team project. So, the expenses will be split equally too." Sneha explained gently and cautiously.

He looked at her again with raised brows for defying him...again.

"Do I need to repeat myself?" He asked in a pissed off tone. And, it shut her up.

Ananya held Sneha's wrist gently to silently tell her to keep quiet.

"I'll pay you later." Sneha whispered to Ananya when Viraj's attention shifted to the billing machine from her.

"It's okay!" Ananya mumbled back.

"Beta, this card is not working!" The shopkeeper said after giving the card three trials.

"Not what?" Viraj asked, not believing it.

"It's not working. I think there is some problem with the machine. The card of the last customer also didn't work. You will have to pay via cash." He stated.

"I am not carrying any cash right now." Viraj said as he remembered intentionally leaving his wallet behind and bringing only his phone and card along with him.

And, somehow the situation appeared amusing to Sneha.

"It's okay. I will pay for all of this." She said with a smile and dug in her bag to take out the required cash.

"It's not needed. There must be an ATM machine here, right?" He asked the shopkeeper.

"Yes. It is at the end of the third street from here." The shopkeeper informed.

"I'll go get it." He said as he prepared to leave but Sneha interrupted him, yet again.

"It will be time-consuming, Viraj. If you want, you can pay me back later." She added and gave the required cash to the shopkeeper.

"Yes, bhai. It's getting late already!" Ananya added.

Viraj sighed and kept his card in his pocket again. It was the first time that a girl had to pay for Ananya in his presence...and he didn't like it.

Taking the balance from the shopkeeper, she took the two bags and gave the one belonging to Ananya to her who was already holding two of air-puffed unicorns. Taking the other bag in her hand, she expected Viraj to help them out by carrying the two glass boxes, but he didn't and came out of the shop. So, she picked them up as well and stepped out too behind Ananya.

He could at least help! Sneha thought but didn't let the emotion appear on her face.

Walking for a while with Viraj walking ahead of them, as usual, Sneha saw a cotton candy seller walking towards them. She recalled Ananya expressing her desire to have it. Looking at Ananya, she saw her eyeing the thing but couldn't ask Viraj since he didn't have cash. When the seller passed by her, Sneha sighed.

"Bhaiya!" Sneha called for the attention of the candy seller.

Viraj closed his eyes in frustration as he thought she was referring to him as 'bhaiya' again.

"Didn't I..." He began speaking as he turned around, but then kept quiet when he realized she was not calling him.

"Give me two of these, bhaiya." Sneha asked politely when the seller came near her.

She tried to balance the boxes in her hand to take out the money, but it wasn't easy. Ananya had her hands occupied as well so she wasn't of much help too. Just when she was about to keep the boxes on the ground, she felt his hands on hers as he took the boxes from her grasp.

"You could have asked me to hold these for you." He said in his straight tone, devoid of any emotion.

And get scolded? No thanks! She thought but let him take the boxes away for a while.

She paid twenty rupees to the candy seller and passed one cotton candy to Ananya.

"Oh! You got one for me!" Ananya exclaimed.

"Yup. You wanted to have one, right?" Sneha answered with a smile.

"Oh, Sneha! You didn't have to! But, thanks a lot. I will pay you back tomorrow." Ananya smiled back.

"It's alright. My treat! My sister loves it too. So, I am getting one for her as well." Sneha chuckled as she tucked the other candy in her handbag safely.

"Thank you, Sneha!" Ananya repeated to which she only smiled.

She looked at Viraj so that he would return the boxes to her, but instead, she saw a questioning look on her face. So, she returned one too.

"You ignored me because I am cashless?" He asked in a serious tone.

It took a while for her to understand his statement.

"Oh no! I didn't get you one because you have a cold and it is not healthy for you to eat sugary food." She lied. The truth was she didn't expect him to desire cotton candy!

"Bhai, you don't like sweet food! Why do you want cotton candy?" Ananya commented as she continued her walk.

Viraj however didn't reply to that and resumed his walk while holding the boxes carefully.

He is so weird! Sneha thought again and followed him quietly.

.

.

.

"Bhai, you took the wrong turn." Ananya informed her brother when he drove in the direction of their college. Sneha looked at him in confusion too.

"I am dropping Sneha at her house." He replied.

"Oh!" Ananya mumbled as Sneha looked at him in surprise. However, she didn't complain since it would save her father time and effort in picking her up from Ananya's house.

She took out her phone and called her father to inform him about the same.

After about thirty minutes, they reached her home and Viraj patiently waited for her to gather her stuff.

"You can keep these things in your home, right? Because we will be working at your home only..." Sneha asked pointing at the project items.

"Of course, Sneha!" Ananya replied with a smile.

"Okay, then! I will see you tomorrow. Bye." Sneha said and closed the door behind her.

"Bye." Ananya replied and looked at her brother who was patiently looking at Sneha's back. It irritated him how she didn't even look at him as she left, let alone a simple goodbye!

When Sneha safely entered her house, he resumed driving.

"Why are you staring at me, Ananya?" Viraj asked as he felt his sister's gaze on him.

"You like her, don't you?" She asked, taking him by surprise.