My return trip back to Mysore was uneventful.

I reached back in the evening. Once back, I decided to follow the Inspector’s advice and to rest a bit.

After some, I started to feel lonely. So I called up Mary.

"Hey, Jacob. How are you? Where have you been? I came to your flat a couple of times. But I couldn't find you.”

"Sorry, I wanted some time alone. I wanted to clear my head.”

"Ok. I hoped that helped you.”

"It did to a certain extent. But now I feel I could use some company. If you are free, that is.”

I found myself waiting for her reply.

"I would love to. How about we meet to have dinner at Anand’s Cafe. You used to love that place. I'll text you the address.”

"Ok. Sounds good.”

I was happy to have some company. For the time being, I decided not to tell Mary about my trip to Trivandrum and what I found about Rahul. I didn’t want her to worry too much. I had been taking her for granted for some time now. I needed to fix that.

When I reached the restaurant, I could see she was already there and waiting for me. I joined her at the table.

"So, what's the special here?”

"Chicken burger with fries.”

"Sounds good.”

I added with a smile.

"It should. You are the one who introduced me to this place.”

"Really? I guess there are still pieces of my memory I have yet to get back.”

"It's ok. That’s what friends are for.”

She smiled at that.

"Thanks. Mary, can I ask you a question?”

"Sure. Go ahead.”

"I kind of remember that we used to be very close. But we kind of drifted apart over the last couple of years, or is it just my imagination?”

"Well, you are correct. We were very close during our time in the orphanage. The reason I selected this college was that you were joining here. I thought a familiar face around would be reassuring for me. But once Priya came along you kind of lost focus. You only had time for her and your studies.”

She continued before I could say anything.

"Don't get me wrong. I know that if I had gotten into any trouble. You would definitely have come to my help and all. But you just didn't have time for me. You were so unavailable. I'm sure a lot of your friends might have felt the same way. But then again, we all understood that you were in love. And it does that to people.”

I could feel the genuine sorrow in her voice.

"I’m sorry if I made you feel that way.”

"It’s ok. You don't have to apologize. You have helped me a lot over the years. I’m not sure I would have gotten through the medical college exam if not for your help. You have always been someone I have looked up to since a young age.”

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I felt embarrassed at that. I didn't know how to react to that. Sensing this, Mary changed the subject.

"Let's have our dinner first and then plan out what to do next. Frankly, I feel you need more rest.”

I couldn’t help but smile at that. Everyone was saying the same thing to me.

"Sure. I have been told the same by a lot of people. And I plan to do that now”.

We had a nice dinner and spent a lot of talking about old times. It made me realize that maybe I have been ignoring all my friends, which may not have been the right thing to do.

We finished our dinner and went back to our places. While driving back, I couldn't stop thinking about Mary. We have both been together for a long time. I knew she had some feelings for me. While growing up, there was a time when I thought we might end up together. As we had similar backgrounds and had known each other for so long.

But I was not interested in pursuing her at that moment, as I didn’t afford any distraction from my studies. I think she also knew that. I guess she was waiting for me to make up my mind.

Then everything changed with the arrival of Priya. I had lost track of everyone else. I lost myself completely in love. But that does not justify my behaviour towards Mary. I should have found a proper balance.

I decided that I would take a break and relax a bit. I have been putting too much stress on myself thinking.

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

The next day I got up late. I had no plans for the day. After thinking for a while, I decided to meet Priya’s parents again.

I got fresh and went over to her house.

When I arrived, Aunty received me at the door and welcomed me for tea.

"Hi Aunty, I wanted to see how you and Uncle were doing. I was hoping he might be feeling better.”

"I'm still the same, and Uncle seems a bit different. He seems a lot sadder since yesterday. Seems like he has finally accepted that Priya has passed away. In a way, it feels normal. I just hope he finds peace with it soon.”

"Can I go talk to him?”

"Sure. I think the company would be good for him.”

"Ok.”

I went inside. Uncle was still in his study, lost in thought like last time. But there was a lot of change in him compared to the last time I was here. The tension on his face was no longer there. But at the same his eyes were red. I could see that he had cried a lot recently.

"Hi, Uncle. How are you?”

He only noticed me then.

"Hi, Jacob. When did you get here?”

"I got here some time ago. I was talking with Aunty. How are you feeling now?”

"I'm ok.”

"Just so you know, I heard about the report. I hope you are a bit relaxed now.”

"Yeah, I'm ok. But being worried about the pregnancy had somehow made me forget about Priya’s loss. I have just come to accept I have lost my daughter forever.”

We both sat in silence for some time.

"I have talked to some of my friends in the police department. They will make sure they take this case on priority and find the person responsible for this. I'll make sure the culprit suffers for this.”

"I hope the same.”

Again we didn't have much to talk about. I thought to change the topic a bit.

"So, did you ever wonder what Priya’s good news might have been?”

"I did think for a bit. But couldn't come up with anything. Maybe you both had come up with a wedding date, and she wanted to talk about it.”

"Yeah, could be.”

"I mean, I don't think it matters anymore now. Maybe Priya was going to tell me you both had split up. That would certainly have cheered me up.”

I could see a faint smile on his face when he said that. I could see he was trying to lighten up the mood with a joke. At least his sense of humour was not completely gone.

"Whatever thought that makes you happy. Can I ask you a question?”

"Sure, go ahead.”

"I know you never approved of me. But why did you finally agree? I thought maybe you accepted our relationship. But I don't think that's completely the case.”

"You are right. I was never fully on board with the idea. But Priya can be really stubborn when she decides on something. It can be tough to change her mind. She sometimes does not realize how much her decisions might affect others. Initially, when I agreed, I thought maybe be your relationship might not last long. But I was proven wrong. After that, I just gave up. I realized I couldn't win with her, and I didn’t want to ruin my relationship with my daughter.”

I felt sorry for him. And felt bad for causing him all the worry.

"It was never our intention to hurt you, you know. We just fell in love.”

"I know that. Anyways no point talking about all that. If I can have my daughter back, I wouldn't mind agreeing to any of her requests.”

We both sat in silence again, lost in our own thoughts.

After some time, I said goodbye and left Uncle. I went to the college to walk around a bit. It was the weekend, and thus it was deserted. I spent the rest of the day walking around, remembering old times.

I couldn’t agree more with what Uncle said. I would be happy to give up anything to be with Priya again.

But thinking about Priya made me think about the culprit and Rahul.

I was sure he had something to do with what happened. And I felt that we were getting really close to finding out the truth.