dupatta on the chair

woke up at 8:47 and my life split into before and after. DM from a name i don't save. thirty-eight seconds of me laughing at the bandra mehfil. dupatta half a centimetre down. a man in the gap i cannot place.

dhruv khanna. fixer. lonavala farmhouse eid weekend. or jaipur whatsapp by sunrise.

stood in the kitchen barefoot. alarm still on my wrist. heena got three voice notes before i read twice. she said one word. kabir.

i did not delete the dm. i did not call back.

why did i not delete it. maybe because deleting feels like agreeing. maybe because i want to see what kabir does. maybe because i keep replaying it and stopping at his shoulder. i do not know who he is. i think i should know who he is.

mum called at noon. i smiled. sab thik. she is making dal baati this week i think. jaipur smells right now i am sure.

college girls post engagement rings. i am negotiating with a stranger about a farmhouse.

if the clip lands in the family group, papa won't shout. papa will go quiet. that is worse.

haven't eaten. the dupatta is on the chair.