chapter 22

Arif is worried as Fiza is avoiding speaking over the phone. She messages but doesn't pick up the phone. Fiza's mother has also complained the same to Arif.Arif calls Shalini. Shalini picks up the call, 'Hello!''Sorry to call you on the weekend.' Arif says.'Why?''Aarav must be at home, and I am disturbing you. It's not good. Right?''He is busy with Fiza now.''Has Fiza come to your house now?''Yes, she came yesterday. She has taken one week off from her office and come to stay with us.''Strange?'  Arif says in a low voice, but Shalini hears.Arif wonders why Fiza took leave.Shalini also feels strange that Fiza has taken leave to stay with her as she has not visited Shalini even once since she shifted to her flat. Whenever they met, either Shalini visited her place, or they met at any shopping complex.'What is strange about it?' Shalini asks, hiding the questions in her mind.'No, nothing. How is Fiza?' Arif tries to change the topic.'Yeah, she seems to be fine. Doesn’t she talk to you?''Fiza is a busy person. She doesn't have time to talk on the phone. We talk through messages.''Would you like to talk to her now? Should I give the phone to Fiza?''No, no, I will talk to her later.''Since when didn't she talk to you on the phone?''Around fifteen days.'Shalini calculates that Fiza has not even spoken to her in the last fifteen days. Something has happened in the last fortnight, which Fiza is hiding from me. Should I tell Arif? Shalina thought. She later changes her mind. She decides not to tell anyone without confirming.After Arif hangs up the call, Shalini serves lunch.'Arif called a while ago to inquire about you.' Shalini says to Fiza while having lunch.Fiza gets angry on hearing Arif's name. She says, 'Are you still working as a spy for Arif? You should ask for remuneration from him.' After hearing Fiza's words, Shalini gets angry, but she controls her anger and says, 'You don't value anyone's love, but don't insult those who love you.'Fiza realizes her mistake. 'Sorry. But why do you talk to Arif?' She says.Aarav fears another tiff between two friends but can't understand how to stop it.'If you don't like him, you don't talk to him. But why won't I talk to him? And I don't know anything about you that I can tell him.' Shalini says to Fiza. 'What you don't know about me? I tell you everything.' Fiza says with a smile.Shalini gets the opportunity she was looking for.She says, 'What happened in the last fifteen days, I don't know.'Fiza's face turns pale when she hears Shalini's question. Fiza can't tell anyone what she has faced in the last fortnight.Seeing Fiza's pale face, Shalini becomes sure that something has happened to her in the last fifteen days.Aarav realizes that if he doesn't intervene, the situation might get worse. He says,' Can't we change the topic?'Aarav's reaction confirms Shalini's doubt that maybe Aarav knows what has happened in Fiza's life in the past fifteen days. But why did Aarav hide it from Shalini? Another question rises in Shalini's mind.Shalini remains silent to avoid any tiff with Fiza. Arif couldn't understand why Fiza took leave to go to Shalini's house. According to Shalini, Fiza is not sick. So did something happen at the office? Questions are flooding into Arif's mind. He thought a lot but couldn't find the answer. Arif feels restless.Many questions arise in Shalini's mind too. Her suspicions get heightened when she finds Aarav and Fiza changing the subject or stopping talking whenever she joins them.What are they talking about that they can't tell me? Shalini thought.Since Fiza and Aarav are not telling Shalini anything, Shalini does not bother them anymore. She notices them from a distance.Shabana hears from Arif that Fiza has come to Shalini's house. So, she calls Fiza.Fiza, Aarav and Shalini were having dinner, when Shabana called Fiza.The phone rings. Fiza doesn't pick up the phone. She mutes it and keeps it aside.Shalini noticed that the call was from Fiza's mother. She gets surprised and asks, 'Why didn't you pick up the call?''Oh, not an important call.' Fiza replies casually.'Mother's phone is not important to you?' Shalini asks surprisingly.Fiza didn't expect that Shalini might have noticed the caller's name. To stop the discussion, she says hurriedly, ' I will call her later.'Shalini notices that Fiza is behaving a little differently this time. Probably, she is upset about something. Shalini has seen Fiza crying and Aarav consoling her. Fiza was never so vulnerable. When Fiza's relationship with Aman was exposed, and her father locked her in the house, she was still not broken like this. Shalini is confused about whether something has happened with her parents or at the office.After dinner, when Fiza sits alone on the balcony and gazes at the stars, Shalini comes and says, ' Have you called Aunty?''No, I have messaged her.''Are you avoiding Aunty for some reason?''No, why should I avoid her?''You didn't pick up her call and even didn't call her back. Why?'Fiza couldn't find any answer that could satisfy Shalini. So, she kept mum. But Shalini could not hide the questions that came to her mind. She says,' I know you and Aarav are hiding something from me. Since you didn't tell me, I won't ask you about it. I would only tell you that I am your childhood friend. You could have trusted me.'Shalini tries to emotionally blackmail Fiza so that she speaks up about what she is hiding. But Fiza keeps quiet and keeps gazing at the stars.The next day, Fiza decides to leave Shalini's house on the pretext of some urgent work at the office.Aarav realizes that Fiza is leaving because of Shalini's interrogation, but he doesn't say anything. He knows Fiza won't be able to relax with Shalini. So, she should spend some time with herself.'Okay, I will drop you at your office.' Aarav says.'No, I can go by cab.''I think you should keep your baggage at home and then go to the office. So, it'd be better if I drop you.'As Fiza and Aarav leave, Shalini picks up her phone to call Arif.(Continued .... )