Virat woke up next morning and Manvi was already gone. He looked for her all over the house worried. There was a text in his phone- I won't be back until late night. Relieved, he called her, she didn't pick up.
He kept calling her all day; no response.
"Whats wrong Virat?" Rahul asked him at the hospital. He told him everything.
"Relax dude, maybe she is stuck in a lab or something."
"Nahi yaar, she was upset last night" Virat said looking at his phone for the hundredth time.
He couldn't focus at work. He left early to meet her at her campus. On his way in, he ran into a friend of hers in the hallway, who informed him that Manvi hasn't come to college that day.
He got really worried now. He called all her friends asking for her whereabouts. Nobody knew anything. He looked in the library, the streets around the college, house, gym and every other place she might have gone to. His heart was sinking thinking about all sorts of things that might have happened to her. He cursed himself for leaving her alone last night.
It was eleven in the night and there was no sign of her. Dejected and lost, he was standing at the entrance of his apartment complex, looking up to see if there is any light in their house. Should he call the cops? Should he let his bhai know? His heart was racing. He had to do something.
Manvi got off a car at the entrance and waved at the driver. As she turned to go into the complex, she saw Virat. There were a hundred different questions in his eyes, but mainly he seemed relieved seeing her. He ran to her and hugged her. "Manvi, where did you go?" He scanned her top to bottom. "Are you ok?" he asked her worriedly. She didn't respond or hug him back.
"I am fine. Why are you outside?" she asked and walked away indifferently without waiting for him to answer.
He followed her upstairs silently. His emotions changed from desperately worried to raging angry in a matter of a few seconds. He stood still in the living room waiting for an explanation. It didn't look like he was getting one. She went into the kitchen and started cooking as if it was any other day.
He tried to control his anger, he wanted to give her a chance to explain herself "Manvi, where were you all day?" he asked taking a deep breath.
"Don't we have any onions?" she asked him rummaging the cupboard.
"I am asking you something, Manvi." He asked her unable to believe her recklessness.
"So am I, do we have onions or not?" she asked, still searching.
'Please leave Virat. Why are you torturing me like this? I cannot talk to you right now. I can't even look at you. It hurts too much.' She was talking to herself.
He became furious at her silence. He pulled her away from the cupboard and pushed her to the wall with both his hands clutching onto her arms. He yelled at her on the top of his voice. "Did you go deaf? WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU? Do you have any idea what I went through this evening? I searched every nook and corner of the city like a mad person. And what happened to your phone?" he asked, snatching it from her. "158 missed calls, 30 messages" He held the display so close to her face that she had to turn away. His eyes were blood red. "Why do you need this stupid phone when you don't use it" he asked her smashing the phone on the ground with all his force. Manvi shuddered unable to believe him."I went to the hospital and looked at the accident cases, dreading to see you on one of those beds, you moron! What the f*&^ is wrong with you?" his screamed at her face.
Manvi stood against the wall frozen to the spot, her whole body was tensed. She was scared of Virat for the first time, she had never seen this side of him. Tears were dripping off her face.
