Sometimes she would miss New Kumar after he left. He was not given a single applaud in this whole span. She was angry on him, so they tried showing solidarity with her by punishing him. She tried to talk to him several times about it, but then Aquarius minds can’t be told anything.

They were born on the same day in different months, so did he say once.

She wanted to tell him, she was not the cause. She wanted to wield a friendship but they divided them and build castles on their graves. She found him quite friendly who could not dare. She wanted to tell him that what he was being told, whatever he was hearing was all staged, a drama, a show.

But, then even his behaviour towards her was not rational. He should not have participated even if it meant being just a carrier of their propaganda. Enemies are built very fast in multi nationals based on everything, every small thing.

The benefit of such enmities were immense. People showed him that Shrum was reaping the benefits while he suffered and felt tortured. People of his clan were now another group angry on Shrum. So, the karma wheel turned when such people neglected her, played with her, gave her no recognition or dubiously took it from her, or wanted to make her feel like she was a disposable material.

She felt nothing since deep within we four knew the whole truth. She was a horse in the game of chess being played by the bosses to dismantle one person from a team compulsorily, that was to be done. She was shown a different battle, she fought a different one, people fought another and against her.

So, Mr. New Kumar became a pimp in their hands, losing her respect. Why?

One simple reason, a heart to heart talk could have solved it all. But, then she was not her clan, did not accept his initial flirting, the mildest of all, confronted him, called an Aquarian wrong and wanted to tell him the truth. It worked against him. It worked against her. She one day shouted, on the phone when I told her that New Kumar was talking about you to that girl and it was this, this, this.

“I would see New Kumar, what does he think of himself?” She was angry, she was bruised, she was hurt so long. She shared with no one. Now, she burst open on the man she thought could be her friend all this while. His immaturity and his lack of trust hurt her. She had always been angry on her own people. His heart was not bad she knew, he worked without any accolades all these years. When he had resigned, he had been awarded once and the last time. He stood in the crowd, hid behind one guy, yet did not go ahead and collect it.

She saw through his pain, we all did. But since he never communicated in depth to Shrum like he did with many other, we remained mum.

She saw him slowly fade away and then one day he left.

She left almost four years after he left.

Struggles were there for both after they quit the job.

Shrum’s mother suffered for a prank, we considered it a weapon to scare her.

Her sister did not do well in her exams. She could not study for her finals. It was tough on the family. One small action killed so many. One shot and many died.

Grand plans.

New Kumar would sometimes talk on her behalf for free cautiously though that no one should think he liked her or so, since they had already proved him she was not liking him nor going to entertain him in any which ways. He had also taken it.

Now, from 2015 life changed again.