The past few days had been like a steady breeze. After a long while, she was catching a break. No drama, no nonsense,just plain sukoon.

Mr. Shah had been recuperating nicely owing to the nurse, and Kavya who seemed to have come around seeing her husband in suffering, as Samar had told her. He always kept her up to date with the happenings of Shah house, mostly because he was aware of her habit, of worrying.

And she couldn't be blamed for that. Living alone didn't come easy to her, who had spent a good part of her life in a house where silence barely prevailed, and yet the silence that surrounded her now, felt more welcome than queasy.

Perched on the sofa in the living room, with her knees crossed, she idly surfed through the channels,taking bits and pieces of every show in the stride.

She had happened across this pastime only after moving out, because earlier, she never had time to spare to herself. Office still kept her occupied for a good 8 hours while one to three would easily pass in the dance academy. Samar, taking its reins meant more time to spare and yet, she wasn't complaining.

She had found herself a routine which she appreciated thoroughly. Back from office, she would catchnews and she truly did enjoy getting information, that in turn allowed her to pitch in a few words here and there in the office, while other employees would discuss some hot topics. It not only made her feel more included, but confident too.

And she wasn't necessarily lonely. Samar always made it a point to call her at the end of day where they would both share their bits. Sometimes he would drop by too, along with Nandini. Other times, Baapuji would come, accompanied by Kinjal and Sweety.

And the rest, she laughed recalling the mayhem in the car today. Devika and Anuj had thoroughly,at length debated a weekend getaway for the trio, butting heads because Anuj wanted a relaxing weekend while Devika wanted to go adventurous. And when the two couldn't come to consensus, she found herself dragged in the debate, and she concurred with him. She already had adventures of a lifetime, didn't need them anymore.

Devika had cried foul then, accusing her of favoritism towards Anuj and once her words had the desired effect of embarrassing them, she had a good laugh at their expense when Anuj had finally dropped her off.

'Anuj'

She smiled then. These days, more often than not, she found him wandering in her thoughts. And whose fault was that? His, of course! Post her refusal of returning back to Shah house, he had become rather conspicuous. Beaming,every time he saw her, and he didn't even bother to hide it now. He loved playing her pick up and despite her vehement protest, wouldn't budge an inch on the issue. And wasn't that because, his puppy eyed look would disarm her every time.

"If I ever make you even remotely uncomfortable with my actions, don't hesitate in telling me off".

'Uncomfortable?'

Because of him?! Never! Rather, she was so comfortable in her own skin, that she would easily pull his legs these days. And wasn't that because,she loved it when he would flash his characteristic smile at her, the one that she couldn't quite forget.

It was a loud bang sound resonating from the television, that broke her reverie and Anupama snapped out to realize, that once again,she had been lost in her musings of him.

Hitting her head lightly, she shook her head and decided to retire for the day. And the first thing tomorrow, she was going to meet Baapuji and check on Pakhi, who had her exams coming up.

"And I'll have to inform Anuj too, that I won't be going with him tomorrow".

*************

He had whined quite a bit but to no avail. He had practically become immune to the melodrama of shah house but Anu insisted otherwise. And she wanted him miles away from the place where he wasn't warmly welcomed.

As heart melting, her concern for him was, he had to go and pick her up, not because he was pushing his luck, but because he had an uneasy feeling going in his chest since early morning.

Getting out of his car, Anuj pushed open the doors to shah house and stepped inside. A thick silence hung in the air making the atmosphere dreary. It felt akin to calm before the storm.

Gingerly, he walked through the doorway and stepped into the empty hall.

"Weird. Where is everyone?"

It was then he overheard muffled voices and following it, turned the corner of hall. Spotting,a number of heads at the door at the distant end of corridor, he advanced towards them and the noises intensified.

Screaming. Accusing. Crying.Threatening.Placating.

"Anupama", Confirmed of her presence in the commotion,Anuj finally came to pause at the door by Samar's side and watched, as Vanraj smashed a vase right at Kavya's feet. The woman cowered, her cheeks stained with tears while the man went for another glass piece and this time, Anupama intervened.

The indifference of Anuj's eyes was replaced with horror soon, as Vanraj in his fit of fury, pushed Anupama off as she stumbled to the opposite cabinet and hit her forehead against its corner. Eyes closing, as she flinched in pain, Anuj saw red and his adrenaline spiked.

"Vanrajj!!!" Shouting at the top of his lungs, Anuj stepped past the crowd at the door and before he could think anything else, his fist was swung as it hit Vanraj square in the jaw, making him fall down from surprise, and the impact of blow.

While Vanraj turned to glare at Anuj, the man had already spun away from him as he rushed to Anupama who was holding her head.

"Anu...are you fi..." Anuj trailed, as he saw a fine stream of blood trickle across the side of her face and murmured, " k-khoon!".

He paid no heed to his surroundings anymore, as he retrieved his handkerchief and with shivering hands pressed it to her bleeding forehead, his heart thumping loudly.

**********

She had been enjoying her tea with Baapuji and Kinjal, when shouting ensued out of the blue and everyone rushed to the source to find Kavya clinging to Mr. Shah while he tried to pry her off.

Papers were littered across the room, and as Anupama bent down to pick them, her eyes widened on inspecting its contents.

'Divorce!'

She stepped forward then;worried that kavya was going to hurt herself but was instead accused of driving the wedge in her relationship, out of spite.

The back and forth game of accusations carried on for a few minutes before Mr. Shah finally lost his patience as he swiped a vase off the side table and thrashed it besides Kavya.Spell of silence descended as everyone shielded their ears, and as he went for yet another piece to break, she held his hand trying to stop him.

But he was so far gone in his rage that he jerked her hand off abruptly as she went stumbling over to the cabinet on other side.

Wincing, she clamped her fingers over the stinging part and had barely blinked when a familiar voice boomed across the silence, and she looked up in time to see Anuj put his fist into Vanraj's face.

She had barely gaped in shock as she straightened up when Anuj strode up to her, panic written all over his face.

And then gently, he pried her fingers off and pressed his handkerchief against her wound, blowing against it ever so slightly.

She found herself gazing into his eyes as he looked back, his eyes red with tears."Chalo,Anu. Let's go to hospital" Anuj remarked, withdrawing his hands to inspect her wound and found that bleeding had not stopped yet.

Anupama held the offered cloth against her forehead and nodded her head in negative. "Main theek hu...bas kharoch aayi ha--

"Anu, we are going!" Anuj cut her off, his eyes steely.

"But mai--

"Tumhe meri kasam!" Anuj fixed her with a look and her resistance died. Seeing that he had her consent, Anuj forwarded his hand and clasped hers in his.

As he pulled her with him, he whipped his head around at once to glare at vanraj who was now spotting a red bruise on his cheek.

Anuj was far more inflamed than Vanraj, in that moment. "Touch her again, and you are history".

And they were out.

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