I gulp. "Yeah actually I... I was searching for a place to stay.." I try explaining. He sighs and sits next to the bed I was lying on, "And? Did you find it?" he asks with a judgemental smile.

"No.."

He bends over me, putting his head on mine, which startles me. 

"Your temperature seems normal." He says while filling a glass with water, "Is the A/C cooling enough?"he asks, jerking his neck towards the middle aged man. 

"Yes it is. I just checked." 

"Great."

I slowly get up and take the glass of water from the man's hands. I look around the room. It looks like a 2 BHK apartment with a cracks on the walls here and there. A TV is attached to the wall in front of me. While I was looking around, I notice an open socket and remember my dead phone. "Um.. Froze?" I try retrieving his name  from broken parts of my memory.

"Its Firoz." He corrects, scowling again.

"Yeah. Firoz... do you have a charger for this phone of mine?" I ask, pulling out my phone out of my pocket. 

"Yeah. I do." he walks outside the room and comes back a bit tattered charger. "Here."

I snatch it from his hand and hurriedly connect it to the socket. Both Firoz and Abdul watch,flabbergasted, as I bow towards my phone waiting for it to charge. After chanting a few prayers I remember, my phone finally comes back to life. I switch it on get stormed by thousands of messages and miss calls. I worriedly call my sister.

"ARE YOU OKAY, SHONU?!", "DID YOU EAT?, "WHERE ARE YOU?" and whatnot were shot at me through the phone right after she picked the call. I hear Abdul and Firoz snickering behind me as my sister shoots more questions. "I'm fine, sister. Chill out already." I say that, but I am on the verge of tears, hearing her worries. I thought she forgot me. While I was trying to suck in my tears to properly reply my sister, my phone is snatched from me by Firoz. 

"He is doing fine. You don't have to worry. He is in Krishnanagar right now."

I hear my sister asking if he can tell her the full address so she can pick me up but before he can say anything else, my phone dies again. Firoz pulls the beeping phone away from him and looks at me, "WHY DID YOU NOT LET YOUR PHONE CHARGE COMPLETELY?!" he yells.

"I.. I was worried.."

He sighs, "Now she will think we kidnapped you or something." 

"But you guys don't look like organ sellers..so its fine." I try consoling.

Firoz gives me an 'are you kidding me?' look before putting the phone back on charge. "How did you manage it in the foreign country you came from?" 

"It was a college offer from US so they had an escort there. I had one this time too bu-"

"YOU HAD A COLLEGE OFFER FROM US??!" ask Abdul and Firoz in unison.

"Yes." I reply proudly. Abdul grabs me by the shoulders, "What did you major in?"he asks with starry eyes.

"Uh.. computer science.." 

"PERFECT!" 

I watch them whisper something in each other's ears while giggling like middleschool girls. Before I could ask what are they talking about, they both grab my palm,

"Are you willing to teach for my school?"pleads Abdul.

"HELLO? HELLO?" I yell as the call cuts.

I throw the phone on the table making Vijay flinch. "Why did this have to happen? He must be so worried and scared." I say while trying to dial his number again but he doesn't pick. Vijay tries rubbing my hand in the effort to comfort me but it doesn't help. "They said he is fine but I wonder if they are holding him captive." 

"Why do you have to be so pessimistic? If they said he is fine, he must be." consoles Vijay. 

"But Shaurya doesn't know anything about India. He was such a home-stuck." I glare at his escort,now holding the placard while sweating profusely, "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BRING HIM HOME SAFE AND SOUND!! HOW CAN YOU NOT?!" 

"Calm down Shreya," Vijay pats my back, "Shaurya is an adult now. You don't have to treat him like a kid. I'm sure he will come back to us."

I sigh. "Oh God! Please bring my brother back to me safe and sound." I plead while I stare at my phone, hoping for it to light up again with Shaurya's number. 

                                                                            --------------------

I wake up to the sound of prayers coming from the window beside me. I rub my eyes and  look outside.

I get out of my bed ,following the voices till I reach the drawing room where I find Abdul and Firoz chanting prayers while bowing down on their knees. 

I didn't realise I was continously staring them while I was appreciating their dedication until Firoz rises and asks, "Are you done staring?" I look away impulsively , "S-Sorry I was just appreciating y-" 

"It's fine. I know I am handsome." 

"I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT APPRECIATING YOU!!" 

He starts laughing. Again. 

"Well I am glad you are awake, kid."  says Abdul while heading towards the kitchen, "I will make us some breakfast to prepare for the day. Till then Firoz, please show Shaurya the bathroom."

"Roger." He says while pulling me along to the bathroom.

The bathroom ,which connected to the drawing room, had a small mirror to check your eyebags at every morning, while brushing, a shower set on the left and toilet at the right. Firoz directed me where to keep the brushes and which towel to use for which purpose. 

"Oh you must not be used to all this. You must have been living in a home which had jacuzzi in the bathroom probably." he jokes, that I don't find funny in the slightest, which he realises after looking at me, and stops laughing.  

"I have lived like this too and sorry to disappoint you I wasn't born with a silver spoon." I retort.

"Sorry. You didn't have to get so serious." 

Then arrives the awkward silence. 

"Uh.. have fun brushing and show up to the breakfast I guess." requests Firoz while sprinting out of the bathroom.

After the breakfast, I watch Firoz hesitantly get up and walk towards the room. 

"Thanks for the towel Abdul." I say as I rise from my chair. Abdul looks at me dumbfounded,"My towel is in the laundry, kid." 

I pause. "Then the towel I had?"

"It was Firoz's." 

Shocked by the discovery, I turn to Firoz to thank him but see him covering his face, with his neck turning crimson, "You are welcome." he says while picking a faster pace to go to his room.