'sit down' Arjit said to Shahrukh when they were in the study

'no uncle, I am fine like this; I will be leaving any minute anyway. I don't want to be late for work' he said and just stood there in front of the desk

'I know you are mad at me and you have the right to be. I am sorry I let you down' Arjit said apologizing

'I know you had no other choice' Shahrukh said calmly

'I know you aren't happy with all what is happening' Arjit said sadly

'yes I am, but I will postpone any decisions or any discussions with you or your wife until you feel better. We don't want your blood pressure to be high again' Shahrukh said coldly then looked at his wrist watch 'I need to be at work uncle... I don't want to let you down' he said confidently and walked out of the study

'auntie, I know it is none of my business but I can't keep quiet. Why don't you want Kajol to be with Shahrukh? What is wrong with him?' Rani asked when she was at the living room with Poja

Poja surprisingly smiled putting the magazine away 'Rani! I thought that you are the wisest girl in the house, but I was wrong. You are just following your emotions just like a teenager' she said coldly

'Shahrukh is a great guy, he is smart, funny, hard working, kind and responsible. And the most important thing that Kajol loves him and he loves her'

'please be practical. What does he have to offer my daughter? Love! What about his family reputation?'

'no one chooses his family'

'but I choose who marries my daughter'

'auntie this is so unfair, you are looking at the situation from one side' Rani said angrily

Poja burst out laughing 'believe me, I have seen the whole story an in an excellent quality and from all angles' she said

'what do you mean?'

'you want to know! So here is the truth. Shahrukh's father was a drug addict, his mother just came out of nowhere and some people back then said that she ran away from her family and came to Mumbai. They got married and he tried for years to be a good man but no one accepted him. My husband has always helped him and he is doing the same again with Shahrukh'

'this has nothing to do with Shahrukh or Amira at all! They shouldn't be punished for things they didn't commit. Why do you hate them so much?'

'I don't hate them. I brought them to live with me at the same house for god's sake Rani, but I don't love anyone more than my daughter'

'you think you are helping her but you are destroying her life!'

'trust me, you will do the same thing with Meera in the future'

'Meera would be lucky if she met someone like Shahrukh. He is loving, hard-working, and he would give her a perfect life'

Poja scoffed 'trust me. If his uncle wasn't the owner of the company he would never reach this position even in his dreams'

'this is unbelievable' Rani rolled her eyes, stood up and walked away

'is it a boy or a girl?' Poja stopped Rani with that question

'what?'

'Preity's baby' Poja replied rolling her eyes 'that's your problem my sweetheart, you all think that you can hide anything from me like you do with your uncle' she added and Rani walked away silently

'I thought you preferred hearing the truth!' Poja said sarcastically shrugging and continued reading the magazine

'Welcome back Shahrukh sahb' Anarkali said sweetly when Shahrukh came into the house

'thanks Anarkali. Is everyone at the table?'

'everyone except Kajol ma'am'

'why?'

'she doesn't feel like eating'

'okay thanks' Shahrukh said and went towards the stairs to go to see Kajol

Kajol was in her bed, she sat up and kept staring at the ceiling for god knows how long. She wasn't thinking about anything, her brain felt numb; unable to realize anything since that day at the Bachchans house. Kajol herself had no energy to meet anyone or talk about anything, she wished it was just a bad dream and she could wake up but unfortunately it wasn't. Everything was complicated and when she tried to fix things up she made it much worse.

Kajol heard a knocking on her door but she sat still that whoever is knocking might think that she is asleep and go away, while she has already told them a thousand times that she isn't hungry but who listens? She heard the knocking again but she didn't react, then the door opened.

'Kajol' Shahrukh said gently and Kajol looked at him giving him a pale smile. Shahrukh came in, closed the door then headed towards her bed and sat at the edge of it opposite to her.

'how are you doing today?' Shahrukh asked kindly. Kajol shushed him and responded with a hug and he patted over her back 'I know what you are going through. What I will say may sound strange but trust me everything will be okay' he added reassuring

Kajol smirked then pulled back 'I am done Shahrukh, I lost you and I am losing the rest of my life' she said then rested her back to the pillow behind her 'I need a miracle' she said with no hope in her voice

Shahrukh squeezed her hands 'everyone now knows that I love you, I got my uncle's place in the company. I am sure that I will find a way so we become together forever, I can't live without you' he said searching her eyes

Kajol gave a half smile 'if you said that few months earlier I would be dancing out of happiness but I feel that you are talking about something that isn't real'

'I don't understand. Don't you trust me?' Shahrukh asked staring at her

'this is not the point at all, but what you saying is impossible even with all what you have now' she said in a depressed tone and Shahrukh closed his eyes in pain looking down. She placed her palm over his cheek 'I didn't mean to hurt you' she said sadly with her eyes glittering with tears. Shahrukh opened his eyes slowly and looked up to her, they looked silently at each other then they suddenly kissed.

'Kajol beti are you still...' Poja suddenly stormed at Kajol's room without even knocking at the door and was struck by the view of Shahrukh and Kajol kissing 'seriously?' Poja asked in disgust raising an eyebrow and crossed her arms before her chest when both separated.

Kajol bit her lower lip in anger 'what about knocking over the door?' she asked

Poja ignored Kajol's question 'besharam! How dare you?' Poja yelled at Shahrukh

Shahrukh stood up smiling coldly and headed towards Poja 'that's a small proof of how hard it is to separate us' he said then looked back at Kajol 'we will talk later' he said and walked away

'I can't believe you let him kiss you' Poja said going towards Kajol

'and I can't believe that you came in without knocking' Kajol said coldly crossing her arms before her chest and not looking at Poja

'where do you two think you are? how disgusting!' Poja snapped

'what is really disgusting is what you have been doing these days!' Kajol got off bed, stood up and said

'I won't discuss this again. You will have to do exactly what I say' Poja said firmly

'so this is my reaction to what you do and say' Kajol threw her hands in the air and said

'what is so special about him?' Poja asked in a confused tone

'you never fell in love, so you will never know. You say that you really love dad but actually you don't' Kajol said rolling her eyes then asked 'why did you come to my room in the first place?'

'I wanted to see if you are awake, you haven't eaten anything' Poja said kindly trying to hold Kajol hand but she put her hand away

'I am not hungry and I won't eat'

'I can't see you like this' Poja pleaded

'oh, so you now know how it feels. It hurts isn't it?' Kajol said with victorious cold tone

'what is it?'

'blackmailing' Kajol said through her teeth then she took a deep breath 'mom, please get out of my room' Kajol said calmly

Shahrukh knocked over Amira's door trying his luck and she really opened the door. She was drying her long curly hair with a towel, smiled when she saw Shahrukh and let him in. He heard a woman singing with a very strong voice on Amira's laptop, he didn't understand what she was saying but he liked the song.

'I am surprised to see you here, Anarkali told me that you were having lunch' Shahrukh asked still distracted by the song being played in the background

'I did but I finished quickly as much as I could. It has been a very cringy lunch. I finished quickly then left the table and no one stopped me' Amira replied smilingly 'did you eat?'

'yes at work. Is this Arabic?'

'yup'

'I am curious to know what she is saying'

Amira cleared her throat and listened then started translating 'I want to tell you about how your love let a fire in my heart... I want to tell you what my heart says... to tell you about what kept me up at night, what made me cry and I want to show you how my soul is being tortured because of you being away from me... but my dignity stops/forbids me to do so' "the song's name is Hayart alby ma'ak حيرت قلبي معاك"

'oh wow, what is her name?'

'the singer's name is Umm Kulthum, she is Egyptian'

'the words are really strong' Shahrukh looked at her suspiciously

Amira suddenly smiled 'why don't we all sit together, go to Kajol and convince her and I will tell Rani'

Shahrukh bit his lower lip 'you go bring Kajol' he said uneasily

'why?' Amira frowned

'Poja caught us kissing. I acted confidently but trust me I don't want to confront her again'

'what!' Amira covered her mouth with her palms then laughed hysterically 'oh my gosh' she said in surprise 'okay fine I will go bring her out of her cocoon, you bring Rani and let's stay together in my room'

All were in her room sitting over the floor; even Kajol. Kajol sat on Amira's left, Shahrukh next to her and Rani on his left opposite to Amira who suddenly broke the silence 'I am breaking up with Abhishik' she announced

'what!' Shahrukh, Rani and Kajol said at once in a surprise

'is it because of me?' Kajol asked sadly

'what is this nonsense? Of course not' Amira said shrugging her shoulders

'but Amira you really love him. I have never seen you so happy like when you are with Abhishik' Shahrukh said defending

'I agree with Shahrukh. Don't just take sudden decisions' Rani added

'being just happy with someone isn't enough for a relationship, maybe we are just close friends' Amira explained calmly

'that's not true' Shahrukh said

'you were right when you wondered why I am so calm, maybe I haven't reacted yet because that I really don't love Abhishik. Maybe I like him, fond of him, but not love guys' Amira said

Kajol blinked many times 'that's really stupid'

'have you told him?' Rani asked

'not yet' Amira replied

'you are lying to yourself and to us, you love him' Shahrukh said kindly

'no, I don't' Amira took a deep breath then talked again 'I haven't done anything to keep our relationship so did Abhishik. So it is obvious, we don't love each other. It is over'

'I know that you are angry at him, but he is helpless' Shahrukh said

'I am not angry at all, I am just thinking out loud and being practical' Amira explained

'that's sad. I wish your story never ended like this' Kajol said sadly

'there was no story anyway. Don't be sad' Amira said to Kajol

'I feel pity for the guy' Rani commented while Shahrukh crossed his arms before his chest and blew in anger looking away

'guys, come on. Stop blaming me; I think that this is the right decision. I am just telling you so you don't feel surprised later'

'you will regret this later' Shahrukh said furiously and stood up

'calm down Shahrukh. It is my life and I am not young anymore, I have the right to take decisions that I want'

'you are just being selfish' Shahrukh said coldly

'yes, you didn't give Abhishik a chance to react' Kajol said

'you mean I didn't give him the chance to show me that he doesn't deserve me and he won't fight for me' Amira said coldly

Shahrukh frowned 'hey. Did Poja talk to you again?' he asked

'Poja!' Kajol and Rani said at once

Amira giggled, as she and her brother considered saying her name out loud their small stupid victory, it was the same feeling when someone mentions Voldemort's name in Harry Potter's serial 'this isn't the point girls' Amira said 'and no she didn't'

'I don't understand' Kajol said

Amira rolled her eyes and gestured to Shahrukh to tell them 'your mother once has asked her to stay away from Abhishik because he is going to be your fiancé not only that but she reminded her of what she and uncle has did to us since our parents died' he said and Kajol nearly dropped her jaw then tears started rolling down her cheek, she was shocked of the second part of the sentence because she has already knew about her mother's idea to separate Abhishik and Amira and she was surprised of what her mother is doing to them while Rani was speechless because she heard it all for the first time.

'I don't know why mom is doing this to all of us!' Kajol said through her tears

'she told me this morning that she knows about Preity' Rani added

'oh my god!' Kajol said in a surprise and Rani nodded

'do you think she will tell uncle?' Amira asked

'I don't know' Rani said and looked down sadly

'she won't' Shahrukh said in confidence

'what makes you so sure?' Kajol asked furrowing her eyebrows

'my uncle's health is what makes me so sure, she won't tell him anything and she won't take any steps in Kajol engagement until uncle's medical situation is stable' Shahrukh explained calmly

'or maybe uncle trusts that you may come up with a solution and he will let auntie just go on the preparations' Rani said

'you aren't helping at all' Amira said to Rani blaming 'and auntie threatened if they got married her marriage to uncle will be over'

'will you both please shut up?' Shahrukh said coldly to Rani and Amira when Kajol started crying loudly

'why is mom doing that to me? Is she enjoying seeing me suffering?' Kajol cried when Shahrukh kneeled and hugged her then she pulled back and stood up 'I want to be alone'

'no Kajol, I can't leave you like this' Shahrukh stood up and said holding her hands then he took her out of the room

Kajol leaned her head to Shahrukh's shoulder when they were at the roof and continued crying while he passed his hand over her hair 'why have I done to deserve such punishment?' Kajol asked through her tears 'I can't believe what is going on! My problem in the past was that you didn't show your love to me and never talked about marriage, and now when everything is okay and you are ready for it; it is me that I can't say yes to you or feel happy when you express your love'

'I know that I don't have any solution now, but I assure you that no one would separate us'

'there is one solution' Kajol said suddenly and sat up

'what is it?'

'Abhishik, he has to say no'

'he already did, but who listened?'

'he just said but did no action, he retreated because of the stupid act we did to save time and because how his father is treating him'

'I still don't see your point'

'I suggested the stupid idea of the act because of my parents manipulating me, but if Abhishik is the one who said no it won't be my problem'

'Abhishik's father is manipulating him too and it is not about Abhishik only, other guys would propose to you'

'okay I agree with you, but mom wants me to specifically marry Abhishik to hit two birds with one rock. We need to talk to him'

'no, I won't beg him to fight for my sister. He has to do it himself if he really loves her'

'let's pray that your sister doesn't break up with him first, we can't expect what he will do if she pushed him away. But what if he gave up?'

He pursed his lips 'back to the starting point. We are stuck'

'damn it' she said slapping her forehead

'what you are saying is a complete waste of time! I won't even wait for three minutes not three months' Amira said furiously when Shahrukh and Kajol came back to her room

'we will all wait already, let's wait for a reason' Shahrukh said

'you mean stressed for a reason' Amira said explaining coldly giving a fake smile

'please don't break up with Abhishik' Kajol pleaded

Amira nodded 'fine, I will give him a chance'

'I am breaking up with Abhishik' Amira said when she was at the table with Arjit, Poja and Rani. Poja gave a big smile while Rani just stared at Amira.

'that's my good girl' Poja said sweetly

'and uncle I don't want you to think I am doing it against my desire. I have figured out that it was something childish anyway' Amira said smilingly 'and you know I can't do something against my auntie's will'

'are you sure of what you are doing?' Rani asked

'Rani!' Poja said blaming

'don't worry Rani, I know what I am doing' Amira said and looked at her plate 'decision taken' then she sighed 'I am full' she said and left the table

'I don't understand why you are trying to change her mind!' Poja asked angrily

Rani rolled her eyes 'excuse me' she said and left the table

'I wish your daughter had heard Amira. The girl is being practical and that's what I like about her, not just following some empty belief' Poja said looking at Arjit who just kept silent 'I can't believe that you are still angry at me Arjit!' Poja said in boredom

'angry? You threatened to end our marriage just so easily, why would I be angry?' Arjit said sarcastically

'you did the right thing darling. How can't you trust me after all what we had gone through?'

'would you really do it?'

'would you risk our life together for that boy? That's the right question Arjit!' Poja said through her teeth, Arjit gave her a silent look and Poja suddenly smiled and held his hand 'as I expected' she sighed then continued 'Kajol will later realize that I am doing her a favor. All what we need to focus on now is your health' she said sweetly and he gave her a short smile.

'you need to eat' Shahrukh said to Kajol when he was at her room

'are you going to waste your whole day off trying to convince me to eat?' Kajol asked in boredom and rest her head to the pillow

'yes' he said then heard a knock over the door 'is it your mom catching us together again?' Shahrukh whispered jokingly and winked

Kajol smiled 'mom won't knock' she answered 'come in' she yelled

'I knew I would find you here when I didn't find you at your room' Amira said when she came in 'am I interrupting something?'

'no, not at all' Shahrukh replied sarcastically while Amira just narrowed her eyes furiously 'okay what do you want?' Shahrukh asked

'I just came to tell you that I did what you asked me to do, Rani too acted so well' Amira announced

'Great. Now it is our turn, which is the easy part as we won't be doing anything' Kajol said sarcastically in anger

'wasn't she the one asking me to wait optimistically as if she could see the future yesterday?' Amira asked Shahrukh coldly

'I wasn't optimistic. I just said that Abhishik can fix this' Kajol blew in anger

'has he called you?' Shahrukh asked Amira calmly

'no. What do you expect him to say for god's sake?' Amira asked him back placing her palms over her hips 'do you think he will give up the cars, the money and the warm house with his parents for me?'

'why are you so angry?' Kajol asked in wonder trying to understand the sudden twist in Amira's attitude who was acting calm all the time

'because we are now wasting time. I agreed for the stupid act because I knew back then that we had no choice and we were just saving time and making "the parents" think that everything is under their control. I was a little bit relieved at that time because I thought Abhishik loved... me'

'come on, you don't have to act in front of us too... you really love him' Kajol said sweetly getting off the bed and going towards her, she was feeling sympathy towards her cousin. Amira looked silently at her and Shahrukh then she walked away

'she is so in pain, but I don't blame her' Shahrukh said sadly and Kajol sat back at the edge of the bed next to him

'doesn't she remind you of someone?' Kajol asked raising an eyebrow 'hmm? Someone who always tries to hide his pain and act like everything is normal' she said playfully

He gave her a short smile 'I am actually happy that she started finally to react and face the problem, her calmness was scaring me'

'she isn't giving Abhishik a chance, the guy hasn't reacted yet, we all were very busy and everything happened quickly. Actually it happened two or three days... well I lost count but it feels like months'

Shahrukh smirked 'Everything was so quick that none of us had the time to grieve' he said calmly

Kajol looked at him shockingly 'oh my god!' she said covering her lips whith her palms then she passed her palms through her hair

'what!'

'I am so stupid Shahrukh! How could I forget that' she said as she suddenly realized the whole issue and what she was really missing 'I got so busy whining about my own issues but I forgot that it is you that we should be talking about. I know it that what happened at the Bachchans wasn't easy at all, what happened at home, what I did to you and my stupid idea. Shahrukh I am extremely sorry, all of this is unbearable' she said squeezing his hand apologizing

Kajol's words to Shahrukh were like daggers in his heart, they should have been consoling yet they made the feeling of numbness disappear. He thought that all his feelings were released when he whined, got drunk and shouted that day at the bar but he was wrong.

'my words were supposed to fix things up but the opposite is happening' Kajol said sadly when his face changed

'don't blame yourself sweetheart' Shahrukh smiled kindly

Kajol sighed 'you know what, I give up. I am really hungry'

'I will ask Anarkali to make breakfast for you'

'we will eat together' she commanded

'okay, I agree' Shahrukh said smilingly then went downstairs to tell Anarkali

'isn't that strange?' Rani asked Amira when both were in the living room

'kya hai?' Amira asked without taking her eye away from her mobile

Rani made her look at the tablet in her hand 'Preity hasn't uploaded any pictures from her honeymoon'

'so?' Amira shrugged

'I know my sister. Something isn't okay'

'maybe she is just busy with her honeymoon and you are just overreacting. I think we got used to problems going on in our life that we think of everything suspiciously! I am not saying that I trust Saif but why are we predicting just the bad things?'

'shall we call her?'

'of course not, it is inappropriate'

'what are you planning to do after breakfast?' Kajol asked when Shahrukh placed the tray over the bed to ease the atmosphere a bit

'I will let you study a bit; you have wasted many days' he said then took a piece of bread

'ugh' Kajol said in boredom 'we never get the chance to pass time together' she said and sulked

'you know that we have never been on a date before?' Shahrukh asked then took a bite of the bread in his hand

'a date!' Kajol asked surprisingly

'yes, we have never had our special time together. We are always with the family. We never got the chance even to be a boyfriend and a girlfriend like everyone around us'

'any ideas?'

'yes. Every morning we will have breakfast together before you go to college, after college we will have lunch together and in the weekends I will take you to the cinema'

'easy to say but hard to do' Kajol said desperately

'we will take advantage of you being angry at your parents and me not wanting to be around them, bohot aasan hai'

'teek hai, I am convinced' Kajol took a deep breath 'and being, I won't say optimistic, but being hopeful isn't a bad thing. I need just to calm down to be able to think wisely. Also as I said before that mom won't take any serious action for my future except after I finish exams' Kajol said and grabbed the cup of tea which was over the tray

'yes, you are right. I now see your point' Shahrukh said sweetly

'so we have nearly three months to chill' Kajol said with a big smile then started sipping her tea

At the afternoon Kajol finally decided to go out her room, she headed downstairs and went towards her father's study where she knew he would be there reading a book. She found him at the corner on the rocking chair. Arjit smiled when he saw Kajol in front of him, he put the book aside on the table next to him. Kajol smiled back at him and went towards him and hugged him then she kneeled in front of her father.

'I couldn't stay away from you for a long time. I missed you and you know that I can't stay mad at you' Kajol said sweetly looking up at her father

'I am sorry Kajol, you may be thinking that your father now has a weak personality. I let you all down' Arjit said sadly

'not at all dad. Don't say that, it is not your fault at all, you have nothing in your hand and mom is already taking advantage and manipulating you. Actually me, Shahrukh and Amira too are no children, it is time for us to find solutions for our problems ourselves' Kajol replied reassuring 'I don't mean that we don't need your help because we are now grown ups, I just want you to know that you can rest now and feel relieved. I want you to know that we are all okay'

'really? You are not angry with me?'

'it is mom that I am angry with, you have nothing to do with this' Kajol blew

'uncle's mental health is so important, we need to take care of that. Rani talked to me about this issue, I am afraid that he might feel that he is losing control with everything happening' Shahrukh said to Kajol when they were finishing their breakfast

'aren't you angry at him?'

'I am, but I don't hate uncle. We need to behave in a better way with him, I know it is going to take some time to overcome everything happened in the past few days but we need to fix things with uncle now'

Shahrukh's words to her earlier in the room echoed in her ears in the middle of the conversation with her father that she was completely lost in it

'Kajol? Where did you go?' Arjit asked

Kajol shook her head 'what were you reading by the way?' Kajol asked quickly 'that's what I wanted to ask you about'

'oh, the forty rules of love' Arjit held the book in his hand

'I haven't heard about that book before' Kajol said looking at the book 'what about it?'

'it is a lovely book, you can read some of it in your free time. It is an amazing one'

'yeah, why not!' Kajol said sweetly

'are you breaking up with Abhishik before he breaks up with you?' Shahrukh suddenly asked Amira who was sitting silently over the swing. She looked back at him calmly; tears rolling down her cheeks.