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Glossary:

- maasi - aunty.
- kitchari - a south asian dish.

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MEGHA SIGHS, turning off her phone. Her pen lies on the table and she massages her hand. Only a few minutes ago, she took a break from her essay. Within her five minutes break, Harnaam had called and asked if Megha knew anything about Kabir and why the hell Kabir is in her house at seven in the morning. According to Harnaam, he barely spoke a word to her beside, "Nazia doesn't know I'm here and I don't want her to. Unless you want me to relocate, I'll suggest don't call her."

The words were recalled by Harnaam and Megha knows she said it word for word. Harnaam has the best memory ever, she could always memorize the game rules of any game within a scan of the card as a kid. However, Harnaam spoke in a softer tone and Megha knows that Kabir spoke harshly.

Of course, Harnaam didn't call Nazia but she's tempted to. It took a lot of arguing for Megha to tell her not to and to give Kabir time. If Harnaam calls Nazia, everything will fail and Nazia would spill the truth.

Megha has to call Abeer a genius. How did he even make a flawed plan work so well? It wasn't all Abeer's work though; Megha had handed the phone over and had told Kabir's insecurities. Although she spilled Kabir's fears, she didn't tell him about Kabir's ex. Knowing Abeer, he'll use that knowledge to his advantage and hurt her brother even more.

Finally. Nazia is out of their lives. Her family is safe. How long would Kabir even mope around and cry for? He'll be better within days and it'll take him only a moment to realize he deserves better than Nazia. Then he can settle down with another girl happily - the end.

It doesn't feel like that though. Megha feels cold as if something bad is happening. Apparently, Harnaam smelt a hint of tobbaco in his breath - but only for a moment. After he spoke, he left her to take a long shower and steal one of her spare toothbrushes.

And then, he locked the door. It's past lunch and time is slowly ticking to the afternoon but he hasn't left to eaten anything. Knowing Kabir's tendencies, he's replaced his meals with a ciggerette. But what is he even doing in that room for so long?

Her phone starts to ring again and she picks it up without really checking the contact. "Hey," Abeer says. His tone is light and cheerful. "So has anything drastic happened? Nazia hasn't come for work yet."

"They broke up. Kabir moved out but he's not saying anything. Nazia is probably moping around in her apartment," Megha informs, clicking her pen over and over. "Maybe you should call her and be nice."

"Being nice is the last thing I want. I want her to apologize, to pay for what she's done," Abeer replies. "I'll be gone now."

The phone turns off and Megha sniffles a yawn before turning her gaze to the paper again.

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NAZIA FLIPS OVER, her phone is her hand. Harnaam hasn't replied to any of her calls and neither has Kabir. The very sound of his name brings a twist to her gut and a droplet of a tear drops onto her pillow.

This morning was horrible. She woke up to an empty bed that felt cold and when her hands searched for Kabir's body, it wasn't there. There wasn't any forehead kisses, any good mornings and smiles. It was just Nazia in her too big apartment with silence instead of Kabir's laughing and singing.

The whole break up felt so sudden. It came out of nowhere, in a morning she thought everything will be okay. That Kabir will feel better, they'll have chocolate chip mint ice cream and Kabir would somehow manage to smear it over Nazia's cheek. It won't matter because they'll laugh it off and Kabir would kiss her cheek to get the ice cream off (causing Nazia to upturn her nose).

Everything would have been okay. Nazia wipes away her tears and brings her fists together. She punches her pillow aggressively, trying to get this sadness off her chest but she can't. She gives up punishing herself for not speaking a word against Kabir and hugs the pillow to her chest as she cries.

Her phone rings again and she looks up, her eyes widening with hope. She looks around her sheets, flipping over the blanket to get the phone and she answers without checking who it is. "Kabir?" she asks, her voice soft and delicate with hope that could easily break.

"You wish. Kabir is out of your reach now. Do yourself a favor and leave him alone," the voice replies. Nazia's heart sinks and she suddenly recognizes the voice as Megha. "He's smoking ciggerettes, not speaking to anyone and he hasn't eaten all day long. What did you even do to him - actually, I don't want to her what you did. I want you to leave my brother alone."

"Don't speak to him. You brought double the amount of pain of him than love. Why were you even with him? To make yourself feel better? Was he just a charity case? Or a rebound? I can't believe you let go of him so easily."

"Megha," Nazia says, her voice shaking as tears pool in her eyes. "Megha, I didn't do anything!"

"Sure. Just promise me you'll never see Kabir again. Please. If he sees you again, he'll break," Megha argues, her agreement sounding like a joke. The phone cuts off without Nazia being able to say another word. Nazia drops the phone into the sheets, her hand still placed over her ear as if she didn't realize she didn't drop it yet.

Her heart feels like tiny shards that haven't come out of her body yet. They're in her mind, snipping off every happiness and every hope she had. Her heart isn't the only broken thing today.

Kabir is smoking again?

For some foolish reason, she though he'd actually give up yesterday when he promised her this was an one off thing. That he'll throw out his last pack and and his lighter along with it. Obviously, he lied to her and gave her this horrible idea that everything would be okay again.

He let her listen to the way he laughed at dinner, the way he kissed her forehead, and jokingly asked if Nazia wanted to hop in their bathtub with a wink. She can't believe she laughed along with him and that she didn't focus on how dull and lifeless his eyes were.

She hated this selfdestructive behavior of Kabir. Why does he push everyone away when he needs them the most? Why does he hide away his emotions and hold the peace at home when his heart has been ripped into shreds? Why can't he just talk to her, talk it out?

Nazia stuffed her face in Kabir's pillow, taking a sharp inhale of the peppermint scent before leaning out. "I hate you so much," she whispers, her eyes solely on the pillow. She hates how much time, how much love, and attachment she wasted on him and that he had erased all of that within a day. That's all it took him to get rid of her, goddamit she hates him so much for not leaving her earlier and making her fall so hopelessly in love with him.

Maybe it was just written in her fate to have a broken heart.

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A DAY LATER, Kabir stares in disdain. His last ciggerette is balanced between his fingers, on the brink of finishing off. On a thrill of the moment, he threw three ciggerettes away wanting to stop this habit before it gets too late - but now, he's regretting it. It was a terrible decision.

Now, Kabir has to deal with getting out of the house to get another pack and talk to Harnaam. Maybe he should sit down and eat an apple. His stomach rumbles slightly, agreeing on the idea.

His mind is a cruel thing. It reminds him of Nazia in her purity, her laughter bouncing off the walls, her sweatpants and messy brown hair. It reminds him of him kissing Nazia's forehead before laying down in her lap, watching a movie where he constantly comments on the movie and steal kisses from Nazia. It reminds him of lazy afternoons where Nazia is cooking and he'll pop in the kitchen, sit on the counter while chopping the vegetables and laugh with her.

He misses her.

Oh what a cruel thing his heart is, desiring for something that'll bring his destruction. He wonders what's worse - his ciggerette or Nazia. He takes a long inhale, knowing this ciggerette will destroy his ability to breathe and Nazia will destroy his desire to live.

He can't choose which one is worse. Taking the refuge of a drug that brings temporary relief or of Nazia and the pain of knowing her lies. Perhaps this way he is delaying his destruction, by smoking this instead of kissing her.

Kabir snubs out the ciggerette on his glass. He had previously emptied out the glass of water and used it to place all his used ciggerettes instead. All he did for today was watch terrible tv shows and smoke. That's all he could do besides ache for someone out of his reach.

He leaves his room and he scans the living room room for Harnaam. "Harnaam?" he calls out, his voice hoarse. However, he can't catch any sight of her and he sighs a breathe of relief. When he reaches the kitchen, he finds a meal of kitchari sitting with a note attached to the bowl.

He holds it up, straining to read the words. Out for half a hour to get groceries. I don't think you'd be out of your room by now by if you are, please eat. I made your favourite and I made sure to call Massi, aka your muma, for the recipe.

He notices a pen laying beside the black ink and he clicks it open, flipping over the note. 'I'll be out for a while. I'll make sure to text you,' he writes and he drops the pen afterwards.

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"ONE DRINK PLEASE," Kabir says, his voice loud. His eyes trail to Sahibha who sits in a tight minidress beside him. She drinks a clear drink, her fingers leaning over her fires. Her brown eyes uninterestly looks over the room until it lands on Kabir.

She shoots him a warm smile which Kabir returns. "I'm glad you came," Kabir says, taking a seat on the stool. The blue light buzz past his hair, highlight the black strands and his lips in am angle. The club constantly flashes lights everywhere, the only lighting in the dim place.

"I'm only here for the free drinks," Sahibha laughs. She causes Kabir to chuckle.

"Ah," Kabir replies, leaning his elbow on the table. The bartender passes his drink, it landing with a thud on the table. Sahibha scans his face closely, taking in the eyebags and the way his skin looks unhealthly pale. "I'm here for the drinks. Harnaam would kill me if she sees me drinking in her home. And I texted you because drinking alone sounds extremely sad."

"Wait, don't you live with your fiancé?" Sahibha questions, catching onto the her of his sentence.

"We broke up," he speaks quickly, shrugging with his words as if it's a causal thing and she meant nothing to him. However when he runs his fingers through his hair, Sahibha's eyes trail the sliver ring.

Sahibha leans in closer, playing with the straw of her drink. Her mind flies back to her last heartbreak. To be frank, that was her only heartbreak and her biggest regret. She shouldn't have fallen so in love with him even though she knew that he had a girlfriend. The fact he had a  never stopped Sahibha sleeping with him, listening to his lies about leaving his girlfriend soon.

When he broke up with his girlfriend for Sahibha, she immediately realized how much of a mistake he was. He would leave her for the next prettiest thing, no matter how much she loved him. And after a few weeks of unrestlessness, he left her too.

After that, she broke hearts. She liked having people care for her, she liked the feeling of waking up beside someone special, she liked being loved because the person she had loved the most didn't care about her at all.

"I hate break ups," Sahibha mutters. "There's too many tears."

"Unless it's with the right person," Kabir comments, his mind reminding him of his abusive ex. The conversation dies down for a bit and Kabir could hear the drumming of the beats behind him. "Do you want to hit the dance floor?"

"You're a dancer?"

"No. I like to pretend to dance and then lure people into the corner and make out with them," Kabir replies, tilting his head with his words. Sahibha's eyes widen at his straightforwardness before he laughs. "I'm joking! Plus dancing in dance clubs is basically just shaking your drunk hips."

His eyebrows raising, he says, "so?" Kabir brings his drink to his lips, sipping it. Sahibha wonders how someone would leave him. She knows that everyone would love him back. How couldn't they? He's funny, charming with his smiles, damn attractive and from snippets of convos she's heard, he's flirty.

His fiancé must've been so foolish to let him slip through her fingers. How could she not seen how precious he is? Maybe he left her? Who knows?

The song changes to a slightly slower one, the tune slowing down and becoming lower as a hue of purple shines across their faces. Kabir studies her brown eyes and her ruffled hair, an outcome of the fierce wind outside. Sahibha takes another fry out of her box, chewing on it before offering her hand to Kabir.

Kabir smiles at her, a warm smile with dimples. It's nothing too extravagant but it makes Sahibha's heart flip a bit more. They move towards the dance floor, basking in the dim light and the dusky scent of the place.

Kabir turns around, shaking his butt towards Sahibha. The music throbs louder in their ears but Sahibha's laughter can still be heard. Her body loosens up slightly; her shoulders dropping and she moves closer to Kabir.

Kabir places his hands on her hips, making sure he doesn't slip his fingers too low or too high. Sahibha moves in closer and her skinny fingers move his hands higher until he's holding her slim waist rather than her hips. Her breath tickles his cheek, dangerously close to him as the song changes until it's lower.

Kabir could feel everyone around him, the strangers brushing past him, the bodies of the dance floor and the sweaty and drunk dancers but his mind remains on a woman far away from this place. All he can think of his Nazia, even while Sahibha is close to him.

Why does he keep on thinking of Nazia when she's already forgotten him? Why does he feel so guilty for holding Sahibha when he knows whatever he had with Nazia is over? Why can't he just get over her?

The questions swirl in his mind, tightening his throat. He needs a distraction and in that very moment, his eyes trail to Sahibha who watches his eyes. Her long eyelashes flutter in the green light and a strand of hair falls from behind her ear to her lips, bringing his attention to her lips.

He moves his left hand away from her waist, to her strand of hair and he tucks it behind her ear. While the moment is fresh, he kisses her. Although his lips are placed on Sahibha's and it's her hips he brings closer, his mind remains on Nazia. Perhaps he only even closed his eyes so he could imagine Nazia in her place rather than Sahibha.

A few minutes later, his head hits the wall of the club. After their first kiss together, he had taken her hand and moved her closer to the darker ends of the club where he could kiss her without bumping into five dozen people. He leans against the wall, a lazy smile on his lips as Sahibha looks at his beard with distaste.

She brings a finger to his facial hair that's somewhere between a stubble and a beard. Her finger traces the hair. "I swear this thing can give paper cuts," she comments, up turning her nose. Kabir raises an eyebrow, holding her waist so she's close to him.

"Nazia said the same thing," Kabir says, chuckling before he realizes he mentioned her name. His expression sobers up and he turns his smile back to an expressionless face.

"Your fiancé?"

"Ex," Kabir replies before kissing her again. A few seconds later, Sahibha breaks off the kiss. Kabir raises an eyebrow at her and she proceeds to pick his arms off her waist. Her lipstick had managed to rub onto his lips, giving his lips a smudged red look.

"You still love her, don't you?" Sahibha quizzes, looking at him carefully as she scanned his features. Kabir lets out a long sigh, his eyes flipping over her and towards the bar. He didn't want to answer this question at all and he would do anything to get out of it.

Instead of answering, he straightens up his back and yawns until his shirt is lifted to the point Sahibha can see his lower stomach. When Sahibha crosses her arms, he realizes he can't do anything. "Of course I do. I can't just fall out of love within a day," Kabir confesses.

When he reaches for her hips again, Sahibha gently moves his arm away from her. "I don't want to be some rebound or an one night stand," Sahibha says. "And you won't be able to give me the love I want if you're hungover some girl . . ."

Kabir purses his lips, unknowing what to say. "I understand." He nods slowly along with his words. "But as a friend, do you want to hang out at a coffee shop or something?"

He genuinely meant it. Despite her flirty exterior, Sahibha felt nothing short of a poem. Her walking, her soft tone of her voice, the pinks and soft blues she wore on a day to day basis, and her pink phone case highlights her warm behavior. She's the type of person who would know when you're having a bad day and would hand you their coffee.

Kabir has grown to like Sahibha a lot. If it wasn't for his heart being set on Nazia, he would've dated her.

Sahibha thinks about it for a second and finally, she nods.

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A FEW MINUTES LATER, Kabir had wiped off Sahibha's lipstick and started to walk besides her as he looked around the crowd. Sahibha's hold on his arm tightens suddenly and Kabir looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

Sahibha's throat runs dry, her eyes watching a certain man in the crowd with horror. He's with a woman around their age. Their faces are hidden by the dim lighting but the way their bodies center around each other made it obvious they were a couple. Or an one night stand.

From the way her arm snakes around his waist made it seem like it as the latter. The man takes a step away from her and says something inaudible over the loud speakers. He starts to walk away from her, his face finally lit from the change of lighting.

Abeer?

When Abeer sees Kabir, he smiles and send a wave. Kabir swears his smile drops for a second when he sees the way Sahibha's arms enclose around Kabir's as if he was the only one saving her. Abeer shakes his head, making Kabir heavily confused. Sahibha simply shoots a small smile.

"Let's go," she mumbles into Kabir's ear, her lips touching the shell of his ear for a second. They leave the bar, the sound and headaches of the bar gone along with the door that slams behind them. The cold air tugs at their skin, giving them both chills.

Kabir leans against the wall of the club, smiling at Sahiba before pulling her hand closer to him. "How do you know Abeer? He was my ex fiancé's ex," Kabir questions.

Sahibha brings her hand back to herself and she wraps her arms around herself. "We dated," she admits. "But he was a horrible person. It took me awhile to