"Yaar Sumo voh.. Uhmm-"

"Kya baat hai Pushkar?" She asked interrupting him. She was upset from the time Kamini revealed the truth behind the PCT fiasco. She badly wanted to go and apologise to him, shout him for listening to her taunts without a complain, hug him and confess her love to him.

But that would only be possible if Shravan hadn't gone abruptly without saying a word to anyone. And mind you, he didn't inform them where he went as well.

"Voh Maine Bhaiya ke London wale firm mein phone Kiya, unke ek bohot acche dost, Rishi se baat ki. He was shocked when I asked about Shravan Bhaiya. Usne kaha Bhaiya toh waha aaye hi nai." Pushkar informed while Suman, who was busy in chopping the vegetables for the curry, stopped midway.

Fear started creeping in. What if something had happened to Shravan? What if... what if he took her seriously and really went far away never to be found. What if they will never meet again? All these what if's made her head spin and she held the counter for support.

'Nai. Yeh nai ho sakta. Shravan itna irresponsible nahi hai. Voh bas aise hi kahi nai jaa sakta.' Suman reassured herself trying to evade each and every bad thought about Shravan's situation.

"Sumo." Preeta called out. They were back at the place where PCT previously was. It did take time to settle back in, but it was all worth it.

"Haan?" Suman answered breaking from her chain of thoughts.

"Voh Mr Mehra ka phone aaya. Unhe tujse kaam ke silsile mein kuch baat karni hai." Preeta said while Suman nodded her head.

"Okay, tu ek kaam kar, Mr mehra ko abhi message bhej ki main shaam ki meeting fix kar rahi hoon. Unhe aana hain toh aaye, varna. Tu samajti hai." Suman said.

Mr Mehra was one of her clients whose company she catered for daily, but he once offered her a deal where she works for him as a chef, in his business overseas. Suman, at first, wasn't too keen on going ahead with the plan but with her family soon leaving for America and the fact that her Nanu is happy with this, she gave it a thought. They just had to communicate about the deal, get the designated area and sign the contract.

Simple

"Okay main jaa raha hoon." Pushkar said just after finishing his cup of coffee. He had made it a tradition to come by every now and then to cheer her up.

"Aur Sumo? Don't worry Bhaiya jahan kaha bhi hai, safe hai. Tere prayers joh hai Bhai ke saath." Pushkar said as Suman gave him a surprised look at his last remark.

'What does he mean to say?' She thought.

"Aisa hairan hoke look mat de haan. Main tujhse ek saal chota hoon, lekin dimaag aur aankhen dono hai. Aur lawyer bhi hoon. Tu Bhaiya se pyaar karti hain na?" Pushkar asked, more said as a matter of a fact and Suman widened her eyes at the fact that he knew.

"Don't worry yaar. Tu meri best friend hain, I would be more than happy having you as my Bhabi. Aur upar se I know Shravan Bhaiya bhi tujse pyaar karte hai, unki aankhon mein saaf dikhta hain. Aur unki harkaton se bhi pata chalta hai. Jaise reunion party ke baad, unhe toh khush hona chahiye tha, magar unki aankhon mein wahi dard tha tumhe insult karne ki. Kehte the, Tiwari Killa bacha rahe hai kyuki unki yaadein uss ghar mein hai, sach toh yeh hain, woh sab unhone tere liye kiye. Aur toh aur, jab tera accident hua, sabse dukhi aur dare huye Bhaiya hi the. Maine hi dekha unhe roz ghar aate huye, unke mooh ki hasi kho gayi thi. Aur jab tu completely theek huyi thi, pehli baar kitne dinon baad unki chere pe woh asli hasi dekhi thi." He said while Suman couldn't help but smile and blush at the way Pushkar put it.

"Toh my Sumo darling, I may be younger than you, lekin mera dimaag tujhse bhi zyaada tez hai." He said as he winked and left the place.

Shravan Bhaiya bhi tujse pyaar karte hai.

It felt good. Chuck it. It felt amazing hearing that Shravan loves her too. But at the same time she wanted a real confirmation and only one person could give that. Shravan.

'Pata nai iss lambu ki Kya problem hai. Woh bhi toh ek lawyer hai. Usse samaj nai aata ki main usse pagalon jaisi pyaar karti hoon? Pata nai kaise lawyer bana, woh bhi Oxford Grad.' Suman thought to herself before immersing herself in more work.

》》•••••••••••《《

"Why did you do this? Why did you make me do this?"

"Rishi stop this nonsense, I have work."

"Yeah, I can very well see what work you're doing." Rishi scoffed pointing to him who was currently sitting back on the recliner kept in his office with his eyes closed.

"Tell me before I phone your brother and tell him the truth." Rishi threatened after receiving a silent reply.

"You won't even dare to do so."

"Oh try me." Rishi replied with a smirk.

"What do you want to know?" He asked exasperated at his friend not leaving him and pestering him regarding that one task he told him to do.

"Why? Just why did you lie to your family that you're not in London. Or rather, why did you leave all of a sudden and make me lie to your brother about your whereabouts?" Rishi asked.

"I'm trying to run away dammit!" Shravan exclaimed as he banged the coffee table kept in front of the recliner and stood up immediately.

"I'm running away. From everyone. From my friends. From myself. And from" he stopped as he took a breath, "From her." He whispered it but the whisper echoed in the huge office.

"Who is the girl?" Rishi asked, a little shock that there was actually a girl in Shravan Malhotra's life. All those ten years he knew him, he knew one thing, the people Shravan hardly interacted with, were women. All type of women expect Riya, who turned out to be Rishi's lady love and girlfriend.

"My best friend." Shravan said looking out the glass wall that overlooked the city of London. It was 9 in the night, and the lights outside added to the glow and glamour of the city. It lighted up that dark corner of his room, unfortunately it was unable to light up his life. As it is only one had the power to light up his life, and he distanced himself from her, so there was no one to be blamed here but himself.

"Just best friend?" Rishi asked as he raised his eyebrow.

"Yeah." He replied nonchalantly.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." He scoffed. His friend, the one who despised the opposite gender was on the brink of crying for a girl who he claimed was just his best friend. It surely didn't sound right.

"What do you mean?" Shravan asked, even though he knew exactly what Rishi was talking about.

"I mean to say, I didn't fall from the sky yesterday, okay?"

"Uhh well good for you?" Shravan said scrubbing his eyebrows making him groan.

"I mean, I'm not as dumb as I look. I-"

"So you do admit you look dumb." Shravan interrupted with a smirk.

"Don't change the topic." Rishi narrowed his eyebrows, "Yeah so-" and he was once again interrupted by the phone call.

"Where are you two!?" A voice boomed through the phone's loudspeaker.

"We're coming now Riya, was just caught up." Rishi answered.

"Well Come quick. I've made dinner." Riya said.

"You could've eaten Riya." Rishi said.

"Yeah I know, but I didn't want to eat without you Rishi. And Eric's coming over for dinner as well, with Camilla." Riya said as Shravan zoned out.

"Come let's go." Rishi's voice broke him out of his reverie and he nodded before grabbing his coat and phone and the two head out of the cabin.

"Don't think, I've let you off the hook. We'll talk about this tomorrow." Rishi said.

"Well I'm not exactly a fish to be hung on a hook." He said being the ever practical guy he is while Rishi gave him a mock look.

"And wow, I'm so excited." He said dryly.

He just didn't like having conversations where she was concerned. It just made him yearn more for her, and he hoped Rishi would forget out it by the next day.