When she opened her eyes, Sitara could see herself standing middle of an auditorium. She looked down at herself and saw that she's wearing a brown skirt paired with a cream shirt along with a cream and brown stripe tie. This is her old school uniform; when she concentrated a bit more on the surrounding, she realized she is standing in her old school auditorium. Sitara moved towards her right side and stood in front of the glass notice board.
Her photo has been pasted with the following words:
"Dear Zalina, you will be missed and will always keep you in our remembrance."
"No, this can't be true. I was alive. How can the school post like this? And why my name is mentioned as Zalina?" She whispered. Sitara's ears picked up a giggling sound from the dark valley on her left side. Her mind advised her not to walk towards the valley, but her curious heart wants her to follow the giggling sound. Taking slow steps towards the sound, she saw a guy wearing the same uniform saying something to a girl who is way shorter than him in height and younger than him in age. The girl said something back, and the guy started to scratch his right cheek while blushing.
Sitara couldn't see his face clearly, but his antics brought a smile to her lips, and the smile didn't last, as the guy and the girl started to disappear into the valley. She tried to find her way back to the auditorium, but all she could see is darkness around her, and she felt claustrophobic.
The blaring alarm from the phone made Sitara wake up from her dream. Sitara sat up straight, breathing heavily and wiping the sweat from her face. Her eyes have glistened as she could feel the shiver down her spine because of the dream. After her accident, She used to get these types of nightmares. But this. This is getting sick. Her mind is not able to process why does she dream about this exact sequence for the past few days. When she inquired about her old school or if she knew any guy to her mother, she denied it. Sitara tried to brush it off, but it's getting sick now.
Pushing the quilt away, Sitara tied her hair in a messy bun and walked to her wardrobe to select her outfit of the day. After doing her morning business, Sitara turned on the shower and let the lukewarm water wash over the stress and confusion she was feeling. She knows that the answer to her dream is attached to the forgotten part of her life. She tried hard to ask her mother and Dida about the forgotten 5 years, but they brush it off as if it is not of any importance. But now she needs the answers. She can't keep on living with this nightmare haunting her day and night.
Wiping herself dry, Sitara got ready in a pink-long skirt paired with an off white collared blouse. She applied light makeup, highlighting her almond eyes and plump lips with kohl and lipstick. Picking up her bag, Sitara descended the stairs and saw Sonali, Dida, and Aishu from the neighbor's house watching something on the cellphone. As they were sitting on the long couch, she walked behind them and saw that they are watching the video of her hitting Lakshman.
"What the hell?" Sitara's scream made the trio turn back and look at her in horror.
"Shona, you didn't tell us that a guy misbehaved with you yesterday," Dida asked her politely after locking the cell phone.
"Dida, there is nothing that you should be worried about. They were making prank videos, that's all. I thought they wouldn't post it because come on, no guy likes to see a video of him getting bashed by a girl to be seen by the people."
"Di, they were going live on YouTube when you were hitting the guy. This one, I recorded immediately, when it was going live, to show Dida and Aunty."
"Aishu, it's not nice to record something like this," Sitara said, walking towards the dining table to serve herself breakfast.
"Shona, it's not a small issue. It's not a good idea to hit a guy. What if he tries to do something to you?" Sonali said with worry-filled eyes.
"Maa, relax, if someone takes revenge for this petty issue, then he is the most idiotic person I ever met in my life. I am getting late for college, and yeah, I will be late tonight because I have some work in the clinic, Maa. You guys don't wait for me, have dinner, take medicines, and sleep." kissing Sonali and Dida's cheek, Sitara walked out of the house along with Aishu.
Sonali's phone rang, flashing an unknown no. Picking up the phone, Sonali sighed in relief, hearing the person's voice.
"Hello, Bhabhi"
"Yes, Abdulla, tell me,"
"How is Shonu Baby? Now only I received information about the incident. The guards were there, Bhabhi but seeing Shonu Baby handling the situation, they didn't approach her."
"Yeah, she is fine, Abdulla. I don't know why, but I think the guy will not leave this matter here itself and please keep an eye on Shona today. She said she will be late, and yeah, DON'T. TELL. HIM. ABOUT. THIS."
"Bhabhi, How can I?"
"Just do as I say, Abdulla. If HE comes to know about this, HE will create a mole out of nothing."
"OK, Bhabhi. I will take care."
Ending the call, Sonali turned around only to see Dida looking at her with a 'YOU WON'T CHANGE' expression.
"Maa, I am getting late for college. I have kept the lunch in the microwave. Reheat it and eat on time. I will be back around 4 pm," Dida saw Sonali walking out of the house and sighed in disbelief.
"God knows when will everything will be back to normal," She mumbled to herself.
"Her name is Sitara," Sunder said, placing a file on the table. Lakshman, who was working on the laptop, turned his attention towards the file. Currently, they are in Lakshman's Cabin, which is situated on the 10th floor of Maheshwari and Sons' Head Quarters.
"Sitara..."
"Just Sitara, man. She is a South Indian, that's why she doesn't have a surname, but her mother has one. Sonali Ashutosh is her mother's name, and that's what confuses me. I tried to dig some more, but it was difficult. She is a part-time nutritionist at Kavithalaya Nursing Home and pursuing Classical Arts at Music Academy. She lives with her mother and Dida at the Saraswathi Colony. She was born out of wedlock to her mother and her college love. Middle-class family, there is nothing special about them." Sunder looked up from the file with a smirk on his face.
'ILLEGITIMATE CHILD' well, that's good for the starters, Lakshman thought.
"Nothing special? Dude, she is the special one. She is one scandalous woman. Trying hard every single day to survive in this society. I just need one fucking link to tie her with me, and from there, Sitara will only have the regret of ever messing with me."
"Dude, don't you think you are taking this thing a bit too seriously?" Lakshman walked towards the glass window and looked at the skyscraper of Kolkata city.
"Sunder, because of her today, this whole Kolkata is laughing at me. I couldn't even look at my family's face, and the reason is this Sitara. I know about these kinds of girls. One girl like this entered our life and took my Sidhu Bhai away from me, far from us, where no one can reach him. That time I couldn't do anything, but now I will teach a lesson to this Sitara, and looking at her, all the girls who want to mess with a rich boy will think twice before pulling a stunt like this." His voice held some kind of determination which Sunder couldn't decipher.