It was a Sunday morning. The warm sunrays were filling every corner of the house with bright light but my room was dim, the curtains still drawn over the windows. The only source of light was the faint glow slipping through the fabric, casting a soft haze across the room.

Suddenly, the door of my room opened and a shadow stepped into the room.

"Hey bhagwan, this girl is still sleeping when the world has already spent half of their day!" my mother said while slapping her own forehead and looking at me, who was sleeping like a log. My one arm and leg were dangling from the bed, while the blanket that was supposed to be on me was instead crumpled beneath me.

"Kriti...Kriti..." I heard her calling my name a few times, but I didn't respond. I looked at her for a second with squinting eyes before turning to the other side. With a sigh, she walked over to me and gave a light but firm slap on my butt to wake me up.

"Oww, mumma what are you doing? Let me sleep." I murmured, my voice groggy from sleep.

"It's already 12 pm. How much more do you want to sleep?" she scolded, her tone filled with sarcasm.

"What!!! It's already 12 pm? Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" I jumped out of the bed, stumbling over the blanket and looked at the clock. But then I squinted my eyes and my brows frowned when I saw the clock pointing to 9 am. I looked at my mother in disbelief.

"Why do you always lie? It's still early in the morning. Let me have my beauty sleep peacefully."

She glared at me. "It's already late for me. Now freshen up and come downstairs or you won't get any breakfast."

I stomped my feet in irritation and was about to crawl back into the bed, but one sharp glare from her made me freeze. With a small huff, I hurried towards the bathroom, mumbling something incoherent under my breath.

After freshening up, I hurried down the stairs and sat on the chair at the dining table beside her, who was already serving poha on my plate.

"How many times have I told you to start exercising daily?" she sighed. "You are becoming lazier day by day. Look at Adi, he goes to the gym daily and he is so fit and fine unlike you who can sleep anywhere at anytime."

I rolled my eyes so hard at the mention of my best friend, who is her favourite. Sometimes I think she loves him more than me, as she always finds a chance to praise him. I scoffed. He is lazier than me.

"Mumma, you know how much I love to sleep."

The warm aroma of the poha was making my stomach rumble. If anything I love even more than my sleep, is the food cooked by my mother. For me, nothing could match the comfort and warmth of a meal made by her with love and care.

She shook her head at my antics. "You and your sleep. One day it's going to drive me crazy."

We did our breakfast while talking to each other. After we finished the breakfast, both of us sat in the living room. She was talking to masi on call while I was sprawled on the sofa, placing my head on her lap, when the sound of the doorbell echoed through the house. She was about to stand up from her place when I stopped her quickly and said, "I'll see who it is."

I went towards the door and pulled it open only to find Surbhi and Aditya, my best friends, standing there and glaring at me. What have I done now? Before I could even say something, they walked past me and stepped inside the house to meet mumma.

"Namaste aunty." they greeted her in unison and sat on each side of her on the couch.

"Namaste bacho, how are you both?" she asked warmly while patting their cheeks.

"Aunty we are fine but please aap iska phone cheen lo pata nahi kisse baat karti rehti hai pure din." Surbhi complaint to mumma, who looked at me in amusement before asking, "Aakriti, have you finally made a boyfriend?"

(Aunty, we're fine, but please take her phone away. No one knows with whom she keeps talking to the whole day.)

I looked bewildered at her words. "What? Why will I make any boyfriend. You know I am not interested in all of this."

"Me to faaltu me hi khush ho gayi thi ye sochke ki finally meri bachi ne koi boyfriend bana liya par...khair!"she muttered under her breath dramatically, which was of course audible to me. Aditya and Surbhi chuckled beside her.

(I had become happy for no reason, thinking that my daughter had finally found herself a boyfriend... but well, never mind.)

"Acha..to jab ham phone karte hai to kya ringtone pe naachti hai tu jo phone uthaya nahi jaata." Aditya mocked me.

(Oh really? Then when we call you, do you dance on the ringtone or something? That's why you never pick up our call.)

I stared at the two of them in confusion before I slipped my hand into the pocket of my trousers and pulled out my phone. The screen lit up, revealing a string of missed calls from both of them.

I looked at them sheepishly. "Oh actually, my phone was on silent."

Surbhi stood up, placed a hand on her hip and tilted her head slightly. "So madam," she said with mock sweetness. "Do you remember what our plan was for today?"

I gulped and glanced from Surbhi to Aditya, both of them were glaring at me. I tried to recall, when suddenly it clicked that we had made a plan the night before for a dayout.

I gave them an awkward smile. "S-orry, sorry...2 minutes wait karo, me 5 minutes me aati hu."

(Wait for two minutes, I'll be back in five minutes.)

"Ek din ye ladki hame bhi bhool jaayegi." Aditya shook his head in disbelief.

(One day, this girl will forget us too.)

I turned around and hurried upstairs towards my room, ignoring Aditya's comment.

"Kriti, don't run or you will fall." mumma yelled but by then, I had already disappeared into my room.

A few minutes later, I came downstairs wearing a beautiful white kurti paired with jeans and a scarf. I had a few silver bangles on one wrist and a watch on the other. I glanced at Surbhi, who was dressed in a t-shirt with baggy jeans and Aditya stood there in a dark blue shirt with the sleeves folded up to his elbows, paired with white pants.

He watched the two of us while casually rotating his bike keys around his fingers, noticing how we were whispering something to each other. "What are you both doing now?" he asked.

"Adi yaar, ek nayi gossip mili hai?" Surbhi said enthusiastically, while I nodded beside her.

(Adi, we got some new gossip?)

His eyes immediately lit up. "Then tell me quickly." he said.

I and Surbhi exchanged a glance before replying in unison. "And people say boys don't gossip."

We shook our heads when we noticed him staring at us in irritation. Finally, Surbhi sighed and said, "Fine. We'll tell you on the way, otherwise we'll get late for the movie."

He gave a small nod and the three of us walked outside to where his bike was parked. He swung his leg over the seat first, settling comfortably. Surbhi climbed on behind him and I took the last spot at the back.

Even though all three of us owned our own cars now and were earning quite well, we still chose to roam around on the bike most of the time. It reminded us of our college days when we used to bunk classes and roam around on his bike. The spontaneous rides, the careless laughter, and the simple joy of being together. We liked reliving those small and carefree moments.

Aditya and I were still pursuing our PhDs while simultaneously working as assistant professors in different colleges. Surbhi, on the other hand, had completed her MBA and was now working at a respectable position in the Cosmos fashions in Mittal industries.

As soon as Aditya started the bike and pulled it onto the road, Surbhi leaned forward slightly and began the story.

"Do you remember Shanaya and Rohit from our college?" she asked.

Adi frowned slightly in thought but nodded.

"Everyone used to say they would definitely get married because they were so in love with each other," Surbhi continued. "Even we, who used to roast each and every couple, believed that. But yesterday I found out something shocking when I was talking to Priya. Both of them were cheating on each other."

Our brows shot up in surprise, but Surbhi wasn't done yet.

"Rohit was actually getting married to another girl and didn't even bother telling Shanaya. But she found out through one of his ex-girlfriends. So Shanaya showed up at his wedding and created a big scene there."

I shook my head, still half amused by the entire story.

"And you know the best part?" Surbhi added dramatically. "The girl Rohit was marrying had a brother... and that brother turned out to be Shanaya's another boyfriend with whom she had been cheating on Rohit the whole time."

"WHAT?!" Adi and I almost shouted in disbelief. The plot twist was crazy.

His sudden reaction made the bike wobble dangerously as his attention slipped from the road to the story. All three of us stiffened in alarm before Adi quickly steered the bike toward the side of the road and stopped it.

For a moment, none of us spoke. We took a collective deep breath.

Then I smacked his shoulder firmly and said in annoyance, "Adi, we want to reach home safely today, in one single piece, not with broken bones. So please ride properly."

"S-sorry," he muttered, swallowing nervously as he noticed both of us glaring at him.

He restarted the bike, this time keeping his eyes firmly on the road. The tension eased soon enough and the three of us slipped back into easy conversation. Laughing and chatting along the way, we continued our ride.

We walked out after the movie ended. As we stepped onto the lively street outside, I suddenly said, "I'm hungry, yaar."

"Me too." Surbhi agreed immediately.

Just then, my eyes lit up as I spotted a small street cart on the side of the road.

"Golgappe!" I exclaimed excitedly, pointing toward it.

Without wasting another second, the three of us headed straight there. What started with a few golgappe quickly turned into a full street-food session. We stood around the cart laughing, teasing Adi as he can't eat spicy food and devouring golgappe along with some other snacks.

After a while, we walked to a nearby ice-cream parlour and settled at a table.

Surbhi, who was showing some reel on her phone to us, turned to Adi and said, "Go order for us too."

He looked at both of us, noticing how we were completely absorbed in our phones. He rolled his eyes. "Stop ordering me around. Try using your own legs sometimes. God didn't give them to you just for decoration."

"Yeah, yeah, stop complaining and go bring it quickly." I said, shooing him away with a dismissive wave.

Muttering under his breath, he got up and walked to the counter to place the order. A few minutes later, he came back with our ice creams and we devoured it while talking to each other.

"I have resigned from my job." Aditya said while eating the last scoop of his ice cream. I looked at him in confusion.

"Why? Did something happened?" Surbhi asked him while I also looked at him, waiting for his answer.

"I gave an interview at another college which has better reputation and salary and I already got a joining letter." he explained.

"Which college?" I asked him but he just shrugged, "Ye me baad me bataunga."

(I'll tell you later.)

We again started talking about other things and like this we spent our whole day with each other before we returned to our home in the evening.

I stepped into the house and looked around, only to find it empty.

“Maybe she’s gone to the market,” I thought. After locking the door, I started walking towards my room when I suddenly heard a voice.

It was coming from Mumma’s room, and it sounded like she was talking to someone.

I walked closer and saw that the door was slightly open. I peeked inside and found her holding a photo in her hands, talking to it softly. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but the moment I saw tears in her eyes, my chest tightened.

“Mumma…”

She looked at me, startled, as I called her. She quickly wiped her tears and hid the photo before composing herself and asking me to come in.

I walked inside and sat beside her on the bed. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, and it hurts to see her like that. I immediately hugged her and started caressing her back. I didn’t ask her anything as I already knew. She must have been crying after seeing Papa’s photo, like she always does. I’ve seen her many times, talking to his picture and crying. I know she misses him a lot.

I was just twelve years old when he died in an accident. She raised me alone after his death. Her parents were orthodox, so they didn’t support her. In their eyes, a dead daughter was better than a widow and a single mother. But my Maasi supported her a lot.

She started sobbing in my arms and I tried my best to hold back my own tears. The one thing I can never bear is seeing my mother cry. It hurts too much. She has never let me feel like I don't have a father. She fulfilled all my wishes. It hurts to see that I can't do anythino reduce her pain.

After a few minutes, she calmed down. I made dinner for both of us, and after that I slept beside her so she wouldn’t feel lonely.