Then disappeared.
Someone was standing outside.
Perhaps checking the flat number.
Sanjay suddenly became acutely aware of everything.
His new shirt.
The smell of Raja’s unnecessarily expensive perfume.
The unopened packet sitting inside the bedroom.
His dry mouth.
Last night’s conversation.
This morning’s decision.
Every stupid joke they had made.
Then she stepped into view.
A young woman.
Twenty-three, perhaps exactly as the agent had said.
Jeans.
A simple top.
A small handbag over one shoulder.
Hair left loose.
Nothing theatrical.
Nothing resembling the fantasy all three men had subconsciously constructed.
She looked nervous.
Very nervous.
For one second she remained outside.
Then she lifted her eyes.
Sanjay saw her face.
And the world stopped.
No metaphor.
No exaggeration.
His mind simply refused to process what his eyes were showing him.
The woman stopped too.
Her handbag slipped slightly down her shoulder.
Her lips parted.
Neither moved.
Raja looked at Sanjay.
Then at her.
Vivek frowned.
“Sanjay?”
Sanjay didn’t answer.
The woman whispered something.
Barely audible.
“Bhaiya?”
Raja’s face changed.
Vivek stood up.
Sanjay felt the blood leave his face.
“Puja?”
Silence.
The name seemed to echo through the empty third-floor corridor.
Puja stared at him.
Her older brother.
Standing inside the apartment she had been given as an address.
Her eyes moved.
Sanjay.
Raja.
Vivek.
Back to Sanjay.
She knew all three.
Of course she did.
These were not strangers.
They were the boys who had grown up around her.
The boys who had come to their house countless times.
The boys Aparna had fed during school holidays.
The boys who had teased her when she was little.
The boys she had once called bhaiya simply because Sanjay did.
Raja whispered, “Oh my God.”
Vivek said nothing at all.
Puja stepped backward.
Sanjay moved instinctively.
“Puja—”
“Don’t.”
The word was sharp.
He stopped instantly.
Puja’s face had become completely pale.
“What are you doing here?”
The question was ridiculous.
They all knew why everyone was there.
Yet nobody could say it.
Sanjay stared at her.
“What are you doing here?”
Puja flinched.
Immediately Sanjay regretted the tone.
But shock had overwhelmed everything else.
Anger.
Fear.
Confusion.
Protectiveness.
Disbelief.
Twenty different emotions collided before he could understand a single one.
Puja looked toward Raja.
Then Vivek.
Neither could meet her eyes.
“Did you know?” Sanjay asked them.
Both reacted instantly.
“No.”
“Absolutely not.”
Raja looked horrified.
“I swear.”
Vivek raised both hands.
“Sanjay, none of us knew.”
Puja hugged her handbag against herself.
Her breathing had changed.
Fast.
Shallow.
She looked toward the stairs.
Sanjay noticed.
“Puja.”
She looked at him.
“I won’t touch you.”
His voice became softer.
“I won’t come closer.”
Her eyes immediately filled.
That broke something inside him.
Not anger.
Something worse.
She was scared.
Of him.
Her own brother.
Sanjay slowly stepped backward.
“Okay.”
He pointed toward the sofa.
“You don’t have to come inside.”
Puja wiped her eyes.
“I need to go.”
“Yes.”
No argument.
No questions.
Not yet.
“Go.”
She turned.
Then stopped.
