R&B was home two hours after she was, she had no idea if he was even scheduled to return, she was home at 11 ish, Dhyan spotted her walking along the side walk on Naraina bridge. She had walked 4 miles afraid to stop
Trucks whizzed past, in a cloudy haze of fumes and fog, honking noisily finding a fashionable young woman wearing jeans and a long winter coat, with her red scarf trailing, some honked twice or thrice, It seemed to her like Delhi never slept any more
The exhaust fumes were enough to choke a newborn
Nivi slid sideways every time a truck honked
I HATE IT TOO AMMA LOST HER CAR
MM turned into a war zone, the Chanakyapuri SHO, ACP, South and Gurgaon ACP all of them showed up one after the other
Ranjan spoke with her and relayed information to all the cops over and over again
Manya returned from a quick trip to Shanti Niketan, bringing with her chicken and lamb, Sam had cooked for dinner Finding an array of Delhi Police cars outside the front gates, and panicking
Running inside to find Ranjan in conversation, smiling, offering drinks, Mahavir fretting over serving them
II was in the 2nd floor crying about her car Looking up pictures of her new car on the phone, from two years ago
She didnt know how she would tell Appa it was lost
She didnt need this tension, in the 5th month of her pregnancy, but then who needs a lost car
Akka would tease her often asking her what she wud name her car "Liam? (Helmsworth)" or"Jake" (Gylenhaal)
"Its a name I will only shout in throes of passion so I cant say" II chuckled laughing uncontrollably She started referring to the car as "he" from then
"Nee iruke paar... romba kozhuppu dee onakku" (Look at u, u are so out of control)
"It cant be someone lame no?" II teased
Akka had hugged her tight. She had bought it a month after Subbu had dumped her during Pongal of 2014 (Author hopes it adds up, when she started writing it last November, the car was almost a year old)
She wondered, what it was worth now, and how much instalments she had to still pay on it
She ate up the last bite of her roti, the bharta was fantastic, the kheer? it was divine She called as many card companies as she could, placed a hold on her debit card Cudnt recall if D II address was written anywhere in her purse
She lay back dozing, not paying attention to the Sun News
Ranjan came up wondering if she could sign some papers
Found her asleep turned off the TV and went down Manya was on the phone with Sam telling her everything
"She is not new to Delhi raat ke 10 baje Naraina?" Manya convulsed in fear
"shhh... she is fine no"Sam whispered
"I cant even stand the mention of the place'
Her car had broken down once as a teenager returning from a Rajouri Garden party, the driver had gone off to get help near Loha Mandi, and Manya had to endure a tense 20 minute creepy encounter with a bunch of spoiled rich Delhi brats
She had called R&B at CMU in panic... he had called Ranjan That night had turned out to be "Dress down Manya" night
"Shravu was home I thot" Sam said confused
"ghoomti rehti hai usko lekar, the kid has been here many times this week" Manya said accusingly
"Manya!!!" Sam scolded
"Dimpal's not in town, not sure if he even knows she lost her car" Manya shrugged
"He MUST" sam said worried
"U shud come talk with her" Manya invited the hawaldaar
"Bechaari" "she is cho chweet" Sam gushed
Manya was miffed
"Half of Delhi Police is here" Manya reminded her sis
"Arey, u know Dad no?" Sam said with pride
"Its just a car, SHE WENT THERE" manya was jealous
"So he shudnt help her?" Sam asked shocked
"Umm... nahi to... mera matlab... its lost... its lost u know... itna tamasha kyon karne ka" Manya whispered
"She is R&B's WIFE" Manya said stunned
"Huh" Manya grunted
"Tu chid kyon rahi hai?" Sam asked
"Oh nothing" Manya shrugged nonchalantly
"Maine baat karoon, kidhar hai?" Sam asked
"shes upstairs, Dad's playing her secretary" Manya mocked
"manya...why are u being a bitch" Sam asked angrily
"Gotta go" Manya hung up
R&B arrived around 1 AM
One cop car stood outside, since II's purse was lost, they didnt want thecrooks to show up armed Ranjan had deployed extra security around the periphery, D II was getting protection tonight as well, without Appa's knowledge ofcourse
He changed into his Alex Wang sweats and a tee, and wandered to where she slept on the couch
Kneeling down, kissed her forehead
the whiskers woke her
"Do u think I will get my car back?" she whispered, lucid and wide awake
"I dont know" he said softly, cringing, rubbing her cheek with the back of his hand softly She didnt like the answer
"I must have been gone 20 minutes" she began to cry "BEES minute mein car kaise chori ho sakti hai?"
"I am sorry" he gathered her and held her warmly
"He was my first ever nice car" she moaned
"He?" he asked
"I named him Jake" she said, sniffling
"Huh" he grunted
"I dont know how much more I owe on it, the Loan Center webiste is down" she informed him
He sighed, hugging her
He admired her courage, how feisty she was, the attitude of never giving up, trying to do everything on her own, she was a handful
"Will u let me name the next one?" he asked cleverly, instead of asking "Will u let me pay for the next one"as they cuddled
Awww...such a cute update!!! Lovely to see most of the Bhallas (except Meanie Manny) band together for II...
Our very first car received a gender...it was a she...after I grew older-that stopped. Thanks for bringing back fond memories Nisha!
R&B and Ranjan-so cutely protective of their gudiya!
Manny, seriously!!!-she wasn't returning from a party, she was trying to help out her sister's family. Why don't you do something rather than take vacation all the bloody time lady... An idle mind is the devil's workshop---Manny, vettiya time waste pannathe
Owww so so cute the way she described to him how she lost her JAKE...him offering to get her another was uber cute...
I dont know who i want to bask Akka or Manny...In all this what is surfacing is also Manny's realisation what II means to MM...her worry how her brother would deal with it had he lost her...
why she has to behave like this with her pregnant sister. 
Thanks for bringing back fond memories Nisha!
An idle mind is the devil's workshop---Manny, vettiya time waste pannathe
Aaj II ki kheir nahi! RnB, don't b harsh pretty plss!
