Next day everyone was having breakfast. The entire family was present at the dining table. Suhasini, Manish, Swarna, Akhilesh, Surekha, Samarth, Gayu, Kartik, luv, kush and vansh. But, apart from them, one more member was present. Vedika.
A girl whose father had saved his life two years ago but had died. Before his death, Kartik had promised the man to take care of his daughter. He had introduced Vedika to his family after that and she had visited them everyday since then.
As breakfast was almost done Manish spoke.
Manish :- Kartik.
Kartik :- ji papa.
Manish :- kal raat kahan the tum ?
Kartik stopped eating as he looked at Manish.
Kartik :- kuch nahi, vo bas main aur Naksh ek dost se milne gaye the.
Manish looked at kartik suspiciously. He knew Kartik was straight out lying to him. Almost every other week he would go somewhere and would come very late a night, and if questioned, his answer was always the same. And if Manish would ask Naksh, he would only agree with Kartik. He knew both were hiding something from him but he couldn't do anything.
Manish :- hmmm.
Kartik resumed eating.
Manish :- by the way kal raat dinner pe tum nahi the toh tumhe hum good news dena bhool gaye.
Kartik :- kaisi good news papa ?
Manish :- vo jo goa wala hamara project tha, usko approval mil gaya hai.
Kartik smiled.
Kartik :- arey wah, congratulations papa, chachu.
But his smile didn't reach his eyes.
Samarth :- thanks kartik, lekin sabse bada congrats tumhe, kyun ki sabse jyada mehnat iss par tumne ki hai.
Vansh :- congrats big bro.
This time Kartik's smile reached his eyes but not too much.
Kartik :- thanks vansh.
Manish :- aur isliye hum chahte hai ki tum goa jaakar iss project ko handle karo.
Kartik and everyone looked at Manish.
Kartik :- papa par main hi kyun ? Koi aur bhi toh-
Manish :- nahi jaa sakta. Tumhe iss project ki a to z sab chiz pata hai, ab tak tum hi dekhte aaye ho, aur aage bhi tum hi dekhoge.
Akhilesh :- haa kartik, ye project vaise bhi 5-6 mahine tak chalega aur tumhare alava aur koi iss project ko handle nahi kar paega.
Kartik :- par-
Manish :- par var kuch nahi, tum jaoge toh bas jaoge.
For a moment there was pin drop silence, no one dared to speak as Kartik looked at Manish and Akhilesh.
Kartik :- ok. I'll go.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Manish :- toh thik hai, taiyaari kar lena, tumhe parso jaana hai.
Kartik just nodded. He finished his breakfast and left from there.
Suhasini :- Manish, kya Kittu ko bhejna thik rahega ? Tumhe toh pata hai na ki -
Manish :- haa maa, sab pata hai, isliye toh bhej raha hoon. 5 saalo se iss seher mein ghut ghut ke jee raha hai, kam se kam vahan jaakar khuli hawa mein saans toh lega.
Suhasini :- haa, par phir bhi-
Manish :- maa, main jaanta hoon ki aapka mann nahi hai, lekin uske jaane mein hi uski bhalai hai.
