Dear Sir: Our Risky Business

two

Avyanna got out of her tiny little bed, she was still tired from the the day. She worked as a tutor for children from 5-7 in the evening. And then later at night, she did her part time job, writing for a company's blog. She was driven, and her drive was to do more with life, to give meaning to it. She pulled the dabba of the little biryani that was left over in her bag, Binoy's mother was the reason that she hadn't died of hunger. She would often save up half of the meals and eat them later at night. She heated it up while calling her mother's number.

"Hello amma?" She spoke, pulling the curd out of the fridge.

"Avi! It's Friday night. Rush hour. I'll call later." Her mother said quickly and hung up.

"Your mother has a life on a Friday night but you don't." Avi muttered to herself, pouting. She slid down onto the floor and sat criss cross. A few cans of cold beer sat next to the little amount of biryani. She shifted through all the shows on the screen, settling on Friends, as always and began eating.

Anay stood in the balcony, drinking his glass of immunity booster. He listened to his music and looked at the hoarding that was so clearly visible from where he stood. He thought back to the morning from the day before, when he had signed the last approval for that billboard to go up. He let out a breath and took another sip. He heard the front door open, and he let out another breath, this time it was a sigh of relief.

"Akriti?" He called out loudly.

"Haan? Mai hi hoon!" She yelled back, throwing her bag on the couch.

"How was work?" He asked, walking inside.

"First day tha... Kuch zyada nahi kiya. Labs dekhe yaha waha... Bas." Akriti muttered, pulling the fridge open and grabbing a bottle of cold water.

"Aapne khaana khaaliya?" She asked.

"Not yet... Log acche hai?" He nodded, putting the pan on the stove.

"Hmm." She hummed. He looked at her, sighing softly and putting the cold rotis onto the pan.

"Akriti..." He said again as she took off her sandals.

"Haan?" She turned to him.

"Is that for me?" She asked, eyeing the pan. He nodded .

"Both of us." He said.

"Maine khaa liya. Aap kha lijiye. I'll just go to bed." She said.

"Oh..." He nodded, turning off the stove.

"Whose is this?" She asked, looking at the bag on the couch.

"Sahil." Anay replied curtly, putting the curry he had made into a container.

"He's here?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Mhm."

"Why?"

"It's the weekend. I thought he could use a break from the dorm." Anay said. He was busily cleaning up the kitchen.

"I need a break too. No one asked me if he could stay at our house." She frowned.

"Your house?" Anay snickered.

"What's that tone?"

"Nothing... I'll drop him off in the morning. Tum jaake soh jau." He said, putting the dishes in the sink and rolling his sleeves up to wash them.

"Yaha... Uh.... Kaamwali milna mushkil ho raha hai... Aap chod dijiye, mai kal subah kardeti hoon." She said.

"That's all right. Go to bed." He didn't even bother to look at her as he spoke.