Four is the new two

Chapter 35

Jay came outside. Alia & Sejal were sitting in outside porch with tensed faces.

"Is everything okay?" - Jay

"We called you so many times.." - Sejal

"Sorry my phone was in jeans pocket since I came here. What happened?" - Jay

Alia took few seconds before she spoke..

"So two things. Firstly, Shyam caught hold of Sejal's diary in that hotel, and it has some entries that indicate the nature of our relationship.. that you, me and Sejal share. Today, he sent few pictures of those entries, and he's blackmailing us for 2 lakhs." - Alia

Jay didn't know what to say. None of them knew what to say.

"And.. the second thing?" - Jay

Alia & Sejal exchanged looks. Alia took a small pause again and composed words.

"Ridima had shared her father's number with me. Today I tried calling him because we couldn't reach you both, and I needed her second number. I called him, and disconnected immediately because, it turned out to be Lalu uncle's number." - Alia

Jay froze in his chair. Sejal held his hand. Alia kept staring at the floor.

"This is not happening." - Jay

"It's true Jay. I have talked to him once. Once I found out, I could connect all the dots. When I left Lalu uncle's house that morning, no one was at home. The living room door was open. I didn't wonder why because it looked like a perfect opportunity to steal the vibrator and leave. I left them a note. What I'm realising now is, Ridima must have left some note too, which got Lalu uncle and aunty worried, they left the house, looking around for her.. And I woke up. By that time she had reached the highway, and her cab ditched her, and we gave her lift." - Alia

"Ridima is our cousin." - Sejal whispered to herself once again, still not able to believe this fact.

Jay couldn't look up from the floor. Not after what he had done. He had slept with his cousin.. who had no idea about who he was. They had spilled so many secrets in front of someone from their own family.. and although they tried to hide their ultimate secret, that secret itself came to reality in a bizarre manner.

"I can't tell what's worse. Our secret exploding, or imploding." - Alia

"This is too much to process at once. I don't know what are we going to do." - Sejal

"What happened guys?"

Everyone turned around. Ridima had just walked out from her room. She joined them and sat next to Sejal..

"Is everything okay? Why do you all look so tensed?" - Ridima asked with concern.

"Shyam isn't done with us. He found my diary in my leftover luggage, and it had some personal details.. memories. He is threatening to make it public if we don't pay him 2 lakhs." - Sejal

"What the fuck? Is he here?" - Ridima gasped.

"No.. he sent a picture of those diary entries." - Alia

"Okay.. but.. Alia you posted that video right? It was appreciated by everyone.. It went viral, and so many people agreed with you that you have a right to do what you want with yourself.. Even your parents didn't make any fuss about it.. So how much more damage can he do?" - Ridima.

Alia didn't know what to say.. She looked at Sejal. Sejal took over. 

"Ridima these.. these entries were of a different kind. Something more controversial. Something that can ruin a lot of things for us." - Sejal

"What exactly was it?" - Ridima asked innocently.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you Ridima. Sorry." - Sejal looked down.

Ridima turned silent. She realised she may have overstepped. She looked at Jay.

"Jay.. are you okay? You haven't said anything." - Ridima asked.

Jay didn't move or blink. He couldn't even look her in the eye.

"Jay? Can you think of any solution?" - Ridima touched his arm with concern.

Jay shivered as if a current passed through him. Ridima was taken aback. Alia noticed it.

"Ridima it's alright. Jay usually gets tensed quickly. He is in a shock." - Alia

"Okay.. but Alia.. have you thought of something? How to solve this problem?" - Ridima

Alia sighed.

"First of all, we need some time to process this. We have never been blackmailed this way.. and we have no idea how severe a damage can happen if he leaks those pictures. On other hand, these are pictures of diary entries, not pictures or videos of us. So it can be easily discarded if we say we have nothing to do with those entries. I think it won't even hold much importance in social media because, people know these entries can easily be fake. What I'm worried about is our closed ones who know the context too well, and can figure out that these entries are original. And some of them may even recognise Sejal's handwriting." - Alia.

"Wow.. this is quite complicated." - Ridima said, "I don't wanna push you to share more than you're comfortable to share, but let me know if I can help some way?"

Alia gave a weak smile..

"It's alright Ridima. We will figure out something. For now we will just need some space & time to think about." - Alia

Ridima looked down.

"Okay. I hope everything works out guys. I will- I will get some food for you. Let me talk to Kisho." - Ridima got up, and left from there.

Sejal looked at Alia.

"Di.. I think she got that wrong. She probably thought you want space from her." - Sejal

"I figured. I didn't mean it Sejal but.. I guess it's true. We are dealing with two huge issues and we can't tell her about either of them. If she sits here trying to solve the problem, we can't think straight. Jay can't even -

Alia stopped while talking. Jay stood up from his chair and silently went outside for a walk.

"I can't even imagine what Jay must be going through." - Sejal

"I know, but this is not the solution. Sooner or later, we need to handle this situation. I just told dad today that I'm capable of handling things now.. and within few hours I'm presented with two of the toughest challenges in life." - Alia almost teared up.

Sejal sat next to her and held her close.

"No di.. you're the strongest woman I know. I know you'll beat these odds too. Just give yourself some time and patience." - Sejal 

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