All you need to do is click on the star below to Vote !!! And type a few words to comment! I would really appreciate that!

~ S A A R A ~

Saying I was mad and angry and frustrated and irritated and everything bad at the same time is an understatement because for a moment I felt worse than that.

I don't know what was I mad for. Was it because he shouldn't have said something that he did or because I didn't have the guts to announce it openly that I'm an orphan?

Yes, I'm an orphan.

I have never seen my parents. Hell, I don't even know who my parents are or how exactly I'm not with them. I don't know if any of my family members is alive in this world or if I have someone I can call my relative. I don't know anything about me.

I don't know if the name I live by is my own, if it was given by my parents to me or is it something someone randomly chose just so they could have something to call me with. I don't know what living in a family is like, what getting loved by your parents feel like, what having siblings to fight to and for is like.

I have no clue who I am, what my last name is, how I ended up here in this place that is offered to the ones with no homes or family. I don't know what my life would have been if I wasn't raised up in an orphanage and was given a normal life like any other normal child with a normal, happy family.

But I know my reality and I've never felt ashamed of it. I have met the best and worst of people in my whole life till now and that's what have given me whatever I needed to stand stronger on my own and fight for my way.

I got carried away by emotions in the way and I felt overwhelmed by the love I got from people whom I don't share any bloodline or DNA with.

No one to call mine and yet so many to make me feel wanted with.

This has never truly affected me but today I felt corrosion of my heart when someone mentioned them after years.

Now that its been hours and I've had enough time to think about it, I think I acted too much. He just wanted to know about my family and there's nothing wrong in it infact he trusted me to tell me about his. I listened to his family drama in front of his family members.

I am a big mature girl now and no matter how sensitive the topic is for me, I shouldn't let it get to my head and spoil other's day because of it which I believe wasn't that bad for him as I saw him having the best time there with the small kids.

I admit that I got carried away by the emotions suddenly but this is something that isn't my mistake and it can't be changed so I need to act mature and let go of things that aren't in my control as—

"I am sorry," says the person sitting on the passanger seat next to me. "I shouldn't have asked that."

After a moment when he doesn't say anything else, I proceed, "I acted immaturely. Its not you who's at mistake here." I don't know how to say the three words that will be counted as my apology.

"That day when I got to know you are on bad terms with your family, I couldn't comprehend what was worse. Having a family you can't call home or having no family at all. I don't know anything about my family, I don't know if any of my relative is alive or not." I see him looking at me from my peripheral vision but I keep my eyes on the road.

"When I was old enough to know the truth, Mama told me that I got saved in an accident that took my parents with it." I somehow know I'm telling him a lot but the fact that he's listening to me silently, with his eyes on me that hold anything but pity on me is what's making me to keep on going. I don't want pity if I'm believing him enough to open a part of myself to him.

"I was eight months old at that time, when I lost my parents. After staying in the hospital for a few days when nobody came to claim me as their own, I was put up in this orphanage. I grew up there for the eighteen years of my life and studied on scholarships. Mama is the only person I got to call mine all these years and the people at the orphanage were the only family I got to know of.  Then I met Aarya and Veer and they became the closest to what having siblings felt like.

"I had wanted to become an architect ever since I got to know what an architect was. Just the dream of building a house that one day I could call a home is what made me choose this career. I am not sad or ungrateful for whatever I have had in my life but I do sometimes feel angry about whatever was snatched away from me. An eight months old did not deserve that but then I see others at the orphanage who have somewhat similar stories to mine and all of them smiling and living through life is what gives me hope."

He doesn't say anything for a beat and I realise I spoke a lot. "Why am I telling all this to you, god? You can pretend I never said anything," I say with a humorless chuckle.

He again doesn't say anything but his hard stare on my side makes me glance at him only to catch his deep blue eyes piercing through my soul.

"You don't need to feel pity on me. I am fully alright and capable of living a life myself so don't —"

"I am not pitting you. Infact, at the moment I think you are the strongest woman I've ever met." I look forward not able to hold his stare. "Yes, you are right. There's a difference between having a shitty family and no family at all and I myself don't know what's worse. Honestly, I don't feel any bad for you having to deal with all that, that's the type of person I am, but I do feel proud of you just because you survived. You are living, you are fully capable of living your life by yourself and you don't need no one else and I think that's enough."

His words do something to me. He's proud of me. Someone is proud of me because I survived. I remember cursing myself in the past about having survived alone when my parents died and even though I was grateful to have given this life, I've never felt whole,

"Stop the car here," he suddenly says and I hit the break. "My hotel is on the other side, I'll go from here."

Why did he travel with me this far when his hotel was on the other side? We are almost at Aarya's place now plus it is quite dark outside.

He opens the door and slides out of he car but before shutting back the door, he leans down and mutters, "Good night Sherni" making his stupid dimple pop out with his achingly charming smile and disappears like that.

***

"I think I lost my duppata," shouts Aarya while striding through all the mess in her room.

Both of us are packing up our stuff, me for shifting into my apartment after the reception that is tonight and her because she's going to Mumbai for her fashion show.

"Its here here, take it." I hand her the duppata in question.

"Why is everything so stressful? Oh god! I need a break."

"Me too," we both sigh simultaneously at the mess in the room and in our lives lately.

I feel so proud to have gotten my first project in my country that is going to start from in two weeks but the tension has already eaten up my mind for me to relax a bit. Shifting into the new apartment, getting along in the neighbourhood and all is not new stress for me but it is still stressful enough to give me a headache.

Aarya also has her fashion show for which she need to leave for Mumbai the next morning and here we are not done with any packing yet.

"Should we go on a long drive?" She suggests. "We can go party at the club and then have some drinks and forget about the world for some time and totally live our lives as we want to without any problems and unwanted stress. What say?"

Only she can come up with chilling ideas in the middle of a streas breakdown.

"No!" I deny. "Have you glanced at the amount of things that are yet left to be packed? And there's a reception at the hotel at night of your own brother and then you need to catch a flight in the morning."

"Sounds stressful."

"It is stressful."

"Please come with me. It will be fun I promise."

"No, Aarya."

"I'll go alone then. Yeah, guess I'll have to do that," she says, pretending to be upset.

"The only time you went to a party without me, you ended up getting almost arrested. Remember?" I remind her of her fun time in Goa, two years ago.

"Ayyee! Don't make me remember that night. Its all so embarassing."

She hasn't elaborated in detail about whatever happened that night but I believe she ended up doing something she didn't want to.

"Let's finish packing and everything fast and then call Veer and get sorted with everything he's sulking about and take him with us on a cool party where we're gonna do everything but think about our current life situations," she suggests, making dramatic hand actions to make her words sink in my head but I'm tired as hell.

And yes, Veer has been sulking a lot these days. After the rude talking on my part that day in the car, he has not called or talked to me again. I tried calling but he ignored and to my surprise he was avoiding Aarya's calls too. Something is up with him but we don't know a shit because the idiot won't tell us.

"He was talking about some girl the other day when I talked rudely to him. Something about— should he tell her about his feelings and all," I say.

"I think he's heartbroken at the moment and we need to console our friend. So let's go," she concludes, already hurrying up in packing her stuff up.

"What party takes place at noon?" I ask as her plans seem nothing but nonsense to me.

I don't like parties and I don't like socialising. Hell, I don't even like people so I don't know what I'm supposed to do if we end up being in a party.

"Leave that to me and get ready fast. We have an hour to pack and leave the house," she announces, working like a machine right now contrary to what she had been doing since last two days of packing. "We'll be back before the evening, then get ready and leave for the hotel for the reception party. Everyone is already there anyways so we don't need to worry about anything. Perfect plan."

Just like that, we finish packing at robotic speed and get dolled up in our fancy party wear dresses. Me in a fully black mini dress that reaches my thighs and Aarya in a glittery silver top and a skirt.

We get in her car and speed out of the neighborhood, having no idea of where we are going. I call Veer once but he doesn't answer so I call from Aarya phone and same response. After repetiting the action for a few times, he finally answers.

"Where the hell have you been, Veer Arora?" I shout into the phone.

"Bro, you zinda?" Aarya speaks as the phone is on speaker.

(You alive?)

"Sorry for not answering your calls," he says and there it makes me and Aarya glance at each other. He's not mad at us, he's sad. Really really sad. His voice tells us that.

"Are you okay, Veer?" I ask.

"I don't know. I will be, I guess." Oh no! Bad news. This is not our Veer.

"Whom do we need to kill?" Asks Aarya, in her style.

"No one. I just... wasn't feeling like talking to anyone."

"What happened?" I ask softly.

"Its about...Aashna," he finally opens up after hesitating. "We both love each other from the past few months but none of us was ready to confess but then I decided to do it because the silent treatment wasn't bearable anymore and now the distance between us has grown even more."

"Explain in detail, Veere," I ask. Calling him Veere feels good.

"We dated for a few months. I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys I was in a relationship when we met at the wedding but its just that Aashna didn't want me to reveal it to anyone yet. Her parents are strict and they want her to marry some potential CEO of some company. She broke up with me last week and that's why I called you to ask what should I do about it. I want to tell her how much she means to me but she won't listen to me now. I don't know what's wrong."

"Marry a potential CEO? What in the tv drama is this going on?" Aarya speaks out my thoughts.

"You can be the CEO," I suggest because his father is a businessman and his company will be handed down to Veer eventually.

"I am a lawyer guys," he remind us. "And I have an elder brother who is going to handle the company for my father which I'm grateful for because I never wanted to get involved with the business. Though, I'm in a way as I handle the company affairs but I am not the same potential CEO that her father wants to marry her off to."

Okay. This is serious. I feel like I'm watching a family drama here.

"We can talk to her whatever her name is—"

"Aashna." He supplies.

"Yeah. Aashna," Aarya press on her name. "We can talk to her if you want us to, as in girl talk you know. Plus she won't marry anyone else if she loves you so chill."

"Anyways, do you want to come with us for a party?" I change the topic.

"Right now?"

"Yeah, right now."

"No, I don't feel like. You guys have fun."

"Okay Veere," we don't stress more on it as his voice is visibly exhausted and I think all he needs right now is rest.

"Agar ghar wale nahi maane uske to kidnap kar lenge, don't worry," I say to lighten up the mood.

(If her family don't agree, we can kidnap her.)

"Agar ladki bhagaane mei help chahiye ho to batana. Hum usi ke liye bethe hain." Aarya adds.

(If you need help in eloping the girl then let us know. We are here for that only.)

He replies with a, "zaroor" and hangs up the call.

(Sure.)

"We need to see this Aashna," Aarya says as soon as the call hangs up. "I have never seen Veer being sad over a girl."

"This love of his sounds serious," I say.

"It does."

***

Only if I had known, this is what is going to be the party we're coming to, I would have rather stayed up in my bed doing netflix and chill.

Neon Nights, that is the club on the outskirts of the city, an hour and a half away from our place is nothing but a fancy, expensive looking, money wasting place for people who can't keep the same in their pockets. Its an indoor club which shocked me at the first place and then the amount of people here was another shocker that too in the broad daylight. This is an 24/7 club and is available for those wanting to party in daylight.

Aarya who has put on a cap on her head as she always does when she's in a public place, is on her seventh drink or maybe that's what I think because I myself lost the count of mine after the fourth. I am not a drink kinda person but who says no to drinks when you are in a such a fancy looking club that just shouts richness from every corner. And I'm reciting the words written on the neon board in front of the drinks counter that say, you only live once.

So yeah, we're wasted for the night.

Forgotten is the packing and shifting and all other life shits but that's what we came here for at the first place. So that's a win.

"I feel dizzy," says Aarya from my side.

Both of us are gone but if you ask who's the sober one among the two wasted, it would be me.

"Let's go?" I ask her. We lost the track of time the moment we gulped down the first drink and even when I feel its been just five minutes since we are here, I'm certain we have been playing this for hours.

She nods and we stand up only for her to stumble on her feet. I quickly take a hold of her, make her stand on her feet and put my arm around hers so we both get support from each other.

"Mam, this is for you," says the bartender  handing over some envelope to us. Knowing we have paid for the drinks, there's no way we are gonna pay more. Before I can take it, Aarya snatches it from him and says in her drunk voice, "It is from my fan, he loves me so much you know."

"Are you sure?" I ask because she said this before even opening the envelope. Giving her celebrity career, she has a lot of fans and that makes it difficult for her to roam around in public places like this but has that stopped Aarya from enjoying her life? No. I am proud of her for that.

"He has given many of these before too," she reasons.

I nod and we start walking out of the place, lowkey getting irritated at the crowd that makes it difficult for us to move out. They all start cheering but it more of sound like screaming and fighting. My height throws me the disadvantage as I can't see a thing happening in here. Suddenly a big body knocks us out and both of us end up landing on the floor on our butts.

"Aye! Are you blind?" Aarya shouts, looking up from her cap that thankfully is still in place.

The guy ignores us like there's a better thing to focus on right now than two girls landing on their asses on the floor. We both stand up with struggle and for a moment try to figure out what just happened but give up anyways.

"Saara! Its 6pm," Aarya shouts to me, looking at someone's phone that landed with us on the floor as ours we had left in the car itself, but her shout makes the knowledge available to more people around us. "The reception."

Oh no! The reception.

"Shit! Let's get out fast."

The reception starts at 8 but the guests will start arriving early and we also yet have to get ready at home and then head to the hotel for the function. Its gonna be a hell of a ride, this night, I feel like.

We push past people, the reality drawing some soberness into her heads while mine start to throb badly now. How am I gonna stay up for the night?

As we reach the parking lot, many others rush out of the entrance and in a hurry, all the cars starts running. After a struggle of a few minutes, we finally find our car and get in the driver's seat as Aarya settle on the passanger side.

None of us is sober yet but I still have the knowledge of starting the car, while Aarya almost bumps head on the roof the car, twice.

"What is the rush going on here?" She asks from the passenger side.

"No idea but we need to rush out too. Shit, two missed calls from Vinay Bhaiya," I gasp looking at my phone screen. "Three missed calls from Veer."

"Vinay Bhai, Veer, Mumma and some unknown number," she blurts out looking at her phone screen. "We are doomed and oh god my head is gonna burst out. We should have drunk less. How are we gonna reach the house now."

"Lets go," I speed up the car, finding an exit soon enough in an almost drunk state as Aarya keeps on blabbering about how we shouldn't have left our phones and how do we call them back knowing ourselves we aren't in the condition to talk sobberly.

"Stop stop stop!" Comes a loud voice from the back like someone said it in a speaker. The voice startles the shit out of me, making me bump into some black car in front of me that I'm not able to make the model of. The dizzy haze due to the drunkness blurs out my vission even more to see the damage I just did to someone.

"Stop!" Shouts the person on the speaker again along with some number that I presume is some Car's number plate.

"Why is