The file fell on the floor with a thud followed by a rough slip, reaching his polished boot.

"This is what I can do most for him. If this passes, he is safe. If not, I don't care anymore. You would be deserving it anyway."

"Rishabh," shrieked his mother while looking worriedly at Shrey who couldn't meet anyone's eyes.

His eyes themselves were swollen and heavy with last night's drinking. Still the perfume mixed with bear could be smelled from him and that was what making Rishabh more angry.

"What, mom? What?" He glared at her and then his Uncle and Aunt who were sitting quietly on the sofa. "This guy. This j-jerk. I did so much for him. I-- fuck. I meant him as my real brother."

Shrey didn't move. His eyes stuck on the dark brown file that their lawyer had just given them for approval. He could hear his mother's cries, his father's silence, his uncle's slow breathing in the nearby room, his Aunt's excuses to save him from Rishabh's anger. But more than that, the loudest sound was of the judge.

He could imagine his future. He could see it all. The man with his specs on, eyes focused on the file that would mention the crime committed by him. The witnesses would laugh, the girl would celebrate, the friend he helped with his full heart would gulp down the bear in thrill.

In thrill of watching him suffer behind the bars.

His whole body shuddered at the mere picture. His whole life of twenty five years revolved around him. What happened to his luck? Who cursed his life? Whom did he hurt so much that this happened to him?

The last he could remember, he was getting great at his career. He had friends, he had family, a life he enjoyed so much, a revolution that happened when he brought the real him out to the world. Turning mature and serious from the careless boy that he was.

He had felt that things were turning right. That awakening would bring some freshness to him. Some new light in his life.

Instead, it had ended up in the darkness.

He was scared. Very scared. To be behind the bars. To stand in front of the judge. To watch his lawyer fighting for him. The worst fear was to feel the disgust growing in his family towards him.

"Malhotra enterprises is falling because of him. My father is sick because of him. My fiancee is on the verge of breaking up engagement with me because of him. I can't walk with my shoulders' straight and head high because of him." Rishabh shook his head while clenching his jaws.

"I spared him when he took bikes, going to the rides, drinking and driving. I have been the one to save him from unwanted attention from police all the time. I have saved him from the riot he cause at the college by troubling that innocent guy. And he did this to me," Rishabh couldn't control his breaths anymore.

His eyes searched for any shame on his cousin's face and when didn't find, his anger risen up beyond the limits.

"I can't believe when everything was going right, I was about to have a life. Peace finally and he came up with this tragedy. I can't believe, he did- he raped that girl. His own friend's wife. I can't believe it."

Shrey chuckled humorlessly. "You do. You do, Rishabh. That is why, you are disgusted with me. If you all have believed me, you wouldn't see my fault. Maybe, you all don't know me. Never really knew me."

His heart squeezed in hurt at the realisation. Rishabh wasn't believing him but whatever he said was true. His uncle was sick because of him. If he hadn't just helped that so-called friend of his, this all wouldn't have happened.

It was true, how God tested him.

When he was evil, God wanted him decent. Now, he had turned decent, God turned evil.

"I am telling you all," gulped Rishabh. His eyes falling on his uncle, "If he has really done this, I am ashamed that I have the same blood in me as his. If he hasn't, Alisha is keen on re-considering her decision on our marriage."

Shrey's eyes moved up at his cousin who's anger turned into the sudden fear. "If something happens to Dad, I won't leave him. Shrey, do you hear that? Whether you come out of the jail, years later, whether you die or rot anywhere, I won't let you breathe properly."

Shrey's ears turned stunned when his mother let out a heart wrenching sob. His own eyes filled with pain as he lowered them to hide himself. Footsteps echoed as his brother left the room angrily.

His head throbbed with the utmost tension. He hadn't just spoiled his own life but his own family. He loved his Uncle and he could swear, he would kill himself if he died because of him.

But of course, the accusation was such a stab to his heart. It could easily affect anyone who loved him so much. His uncle was also worried about their family business. Already drowning business.

Life had turned into hell.

He didn't know what demon he befriended. But he could feel him roaming all around him.

A sudden urge to drink till death came to him. That was easy.

Drinking. Sleeping. Sleeping for longer. Longer that you might even forget how to wake up. Lost in some beautiful dreams.

Away from this case. Away from such accusation.

Drinking was easy. Easier than the life that had drunk all his dreams.

_______

"Push her."

"Guys, no." Staggering back, Sakshi shook her head hurriedly. "I can't. That is too casual for me. I can't meet someone like this, that even who already looks so good from behind. I can't. He must have tons of girlfriend much beautiful than me. I can't."

Aarush curled his lip in annoyance and sighed. "She is such a loser."

Aditi agreed completely. "Big one. Let me go in your place. If not for you, I will not regret having a chance on him."

Sakshi bit her lip while again looking back at the boy whose back was facing them. He was continuously checking the clock in his phone.

"Guys, I already made a wrong impression by being ten minutes late. It's better if I just skip this thing. It's not like tai ji will know-"

"Oh! She will," smiled Aditi while flashing the number on the screen. "I will even send her a photo of him sitting alone there, telling her how you ditched that guy."

Sakshi gulped while feeling her heart sinking. Her friends didn't know how it wasn't about her meeting the guy. It was about her heart's promise to herself that it only belonged to one. Even meeting someone else felt like a sin, a fraud to herself.

It felt as if she was breaking all her protest against God for snatching her first love from her. But then for whom she was saddening herself?

For a guy who raped his own friend's wife. For a guy who had called her an immature-spoilt brat. Not just that, Sakshi could remember each and every word, he had said in that street in the Chandigarh when he broke up the relationship.

He didn't just end the trust, he ended the belief of her in goodness. In goodness of guys. He proved how boys couldn't think more than just the figure and money, the girl held.

"Look, just go and talk. We won't show up until you both end your conversation. What if he turns out to be the good guy? After all, your Aunt has met him. Alright?"

Sakshi lowered her eyes at Aarush's words. "What if he doesn't like my figure or my face? Or what if he rejects me for being my rich brother's sister?"

Aditi's eyebrows raised at her. "Whoa! Wait! You haven't met him yet. These questions should come when you have started liking him. Alright? For you, it should be you to be the judge."

"Go now," Aarush turned her around and squeezed her shoulder. "Don't worry. Matches are made in heaven. He might be the one, Sakshi. Be positive."

Aditi smiled cheekily at his adorableness. "Go, Sakshi. Until then, let me give Aarush a long long smooch."

"Not before you switch your face with Miss Khanna."

"Suck it up, knucklehead."

A light smile came on her face as she walked slowly while leaving both of them casually flirting with each other. Her heart picked it's pace just as she reached the table not before running fingers through her hair, pressing her lips to revise the gloss on them.

She cleared her throat and almost flushed already when he turned his head with raised eyebrows. Instead, his eyes immediately squeezed as he smiled charmingly.

Her jaw dropped when she finally recognised that face. All that nervousness she was feeling had turned into a casual entertainment.

"Mihir?"

Mihir Bhatia smirked lightly and gestured for her to sit which she did with a small smile. "You look beautiful."

Rolling her eyes, Sakshi leaned ahead to observe him. "Are you kidding me? Have I gotten here by mistake? Who were you waiting for-"

Mihir laughed lightly. "Don't worry. I am the Mama's boy which your tai ji was talking about."

Sakshi couldn't believe her ears. Her face flushed at realising, that the boy she had gotten touch in last year during a magazine's editing work, would turn out to be the guy, she might get married to.

"That's unbelievable." She swallowed with a nervous smile.

Mihir laughed again at her expressions. "You never really thought of me as the guy-"

"As the stranger guy," completed Sakshi while looking away, feeling utterly awkward as she clearly hadn't imagined him to be the one, here. Not that she wasn't liking him.

Mihir had been the only guy, she kept being in contact after the little camp. He would greet her whenever they would bump in library or any where in campus. He was popular, even sincere. He liked studying. Of higher level, much higher than Sakshi that she herself felt dumb in front of him.

"You are clearly not liking this. Are you?"

Sakshi gulped and immediately let out a nervous chuckle. "Not like that. It's just awkward. I didn't know you would be of those going for arrange things."

Mihir narrowed his eyes in amusement. "Well, this is not at all arranged if you would think about it. I like you. You too don't hate me. You are rich and I am smart-"

Sakshi chuckled and shook her head. "I still am shocked, though."

Mihir smiled and soon the waiter came to take their orders. He ordered a cold drink for himself while Sakshi asked for a cold coffee. The continuous smile Mihir was giving her, Sakshi couldn't help but feel that it was all too rushed up.

Moreover, now saying no would even turn more difficult. She shouldn't have even said yes for this meeting. Who knew, it won't be a stranger but someone that she already knew?

Mihir was nice, a great thinker, almost a counselor who is good at giving good advices. He was a great material for a best friend just like Aarush. Though for Mihir, she would have to minus the stupidity and flirtatious thoughts for Miss Khanna.

But having Mihir as a life partner, was something Sakshi couldn't get a picture of. In those very moments with him, she had gotten the idea that he could keep his girl very well. He was sweet and genuine with the way he ordered deserts later. The way he smiled and asked small things she didn't even know, he still remembered.

"So, Rian is three at the moment?"

Sakshi nodded with a smile. "Yeah. You just reminded me of him. Now, I will be craving to have a Skype call with him until I reach home."

Mihir smiled and took the bite of chocolate truffle. "So, now getting to serious things. Sakshi, are you really ready for-"

Already shaking her head, Sakshi wiped the corner of her lips as some chocolate collected there. "I just said yes for a change, Mihir. Life is being tough and I thought maybe, I can just befriend my future husband and have some fun already."

Mihir's eyebrows raised, "But what if the boy wants to marry you right now?"

Sakshi looked up from her little bowl to him. "You do?" Bile rising in her throat at the thought of marrying him whom she hadn't really considered more than a friend. She couldn't do it even now.

The smile wiped off Mihir's face and a serious expression covered it. "Look, Sakshi. I am not joking. This is serious. You might be too young and still smart for studies and living here alone away from family. But this is marriage we are talking about. You will have to be practical. You can't risk your future by engaging yourself with a guy and making him your boyfriend until you marry him. What if you get full of him and reject him later?"

Sakshi stared at him keenly. "The boy should be confident enough to steal my heart. I won't be involved with him in the first place if I don't like him. I am disappointed that you consider me as of those girls, Mihir. Since my school days, I haven't really been in a relationship. Because I value my heart and would go for it, only if I feel that it's worth it."

Mihir shook his head. "No, you don't understand. The guy I am talking about can't afford to wait any longer. He wants to settle down. . ." He halted at his words when Sakshi's face turned blank.

She gulped. "You are not the guy. Are you?"

A small smile started lifting the corner of his lips, Mihir gave her an apologetic look. "Don't look at me like that. It was a joke."

Sakshi could feel her ears turning warm. "A joke? Who sent you here? Did he send you to test me?" She looked around with anger in her eyes and back at him. "He is here somewhere, right? Watching me from far like a loser he is."

Mihir chuckled lightly. "Sakshi, calm down. He was nervous. Also that, he is very reserved type of guy. He wanted me to know you and tell him if I like you. Because I know his mother's taste."

She zig-zagged her jaw and breathed calmly. "What is your relation with his mother?"

"Bua- like you are with Riaan. Right?"

Sakshi clenched her jaws and started collecting her bag. "Well, then good. Tell her that I rejected you and her son. A loser who couldn't show up his ass at seeing a girl barely of age near him. Seriously, of what era he is living in?"

Mihir's face held the embarrassment though, he was concerned that he ruined it for his cousin. He held her hand before, she could even get up.

"Sakshi, listen to me once."

Sakshi stared at him and he sighed.

"Actually, my cousin is quite shy. Please don't judge him for this mere mistake. I get it, you were all in feel of meeting him. Even your thoughts about befriending him are nice but you know, this was his way of getting an opinion. When I will tell him I like you which I do, he will be seventy per cent positive about this. His shyness would be gone and he will adjust to get to meet you."

A humorless chuckle escaped her mouth. "You like me. You will tell him that. Right? What of my opinion? He is not some King who is watching his bachelorette. He should have showed up. And it's him I might spend my life with. He needed to know me more. Instead, he sent you. Coward."

Mihir bit his lip nervously. "Hey! Please. Think from his side. He doesn't even know that I have told you that he's shy. He's going to kill me."

Secretly, Sakshi found that adorable and wanted to smile. Yet she was frustrated. What would she answer her friends now? What of the suspense? Who this guy was? She didn't want to get ready for a stranger again.

"So, what now?"

Mihir shrugged. "I will tell him about your cuteness."

"And anger?"

"Yes, and he will then try to woo you."

"I don't get convinced so easily. Moreover, your brother has marked his first impression. So, show him an 'L' for me. Don't even think about this arrangement anymore. A big fat no from my side. Do you hear me? Tell him to paste that rejection on his face and look in the mirror as he's quite shy and no one sees him," Picking up her bag, she smiled sweetly at him. "If he's creepily watching me from anywhere or you two are going to laugh later, I will only thank God for not letting me meet such a creep. Such a dick."

Mihir snickered while nodding in humour. "Will pass the message."

Flipping her hair, Sakshi swung her bag at her shoulder while giving a humorless smirk for the air to watch and for that creep who didn't have the guts to see her right there.

She could only curse him again and again for spoiling this whole scenario of her starting a new life.

"Loser."

_______

"What do you think about this creep? Any thoughts about Malhotras' sufferings?"

Please vote and comment.