Evening had settled over Begumpet, painting the streets in the amber haze of streetlights. Aditi's tired footsteps echoed faintly along the old corridor before she unlocked the heavy wooden door of her apartment. The hinges gave their familiar creak—a sound she'd grown to find oddly comforting.
This wasn't a modern flat with polished tiles and glossy furniture. It was a small, weathered home tucked inside one of Begumpet's older lanes, part of a crumbling ancestral property passed down through hands that had long since faded from memory. The walls bore the quiet dignity of age, their pale paint slightly peeling, and the stone floor held a coolness that remained even on the warmest days. It wasn't fully furnished, nor perfectly compatible with the lifestyle she'd once imagined for herself, but it gave her something far more valuable—peace.
Inside, the smell of detergent mingled with freshly brewed coffee. The low wooden table in the living room was cluttered—two mugs, today's folded newspaper, and a laundry basket spilling clothes. On the faded blue rug, Nivi Sharma sat cross-legged, methodically folding shirts.
Nivi wasn't just Aditi's flatmate—she was her anchor. A journalist herself, she had the sharp instincts and cautious mind that came from years of chasing dangerous leads. Protective to a fault, she had made it her unspoken mission to keep Aditi out of trouble. But Nivi, too, had her share of secrets—shadowed corners in her life she never allowed anyone to explore.
"You're late," Nivi said without looking up, her hands smoothing out a shirt before folding it into a neat square.
Aditi kicked off her sandals and dropped her bag onto the sofa. "Had a few things to finish at college," she said, making her way to the small kitchen corner where the kettle sat hissing.
"Things," Nivi repeated, glancing at her. "Things that involve chasing trouble, I'm guessing?"
"Not trouble," Aditi said lightly, pouring water into the French press. "Just… leads."
"Uh-huh." Nivi didn't sound convinced.
Aditi brought two steaming mugs back and set one in front of her friend before sinking onto the floor beside her. For a while, the two women shared a comfortable silence—Aditi sipping coffee, Nivi folding clothes, the faint hum of the ceiling fan filling the gaps between their breaths.
But the peace didn't last long.
"So," Nivi began, eyes fixed on the shirt in her hands, "I heard you were asking questions again. About Aariz."
Aditi's fingers tightened around her mug. "I was."
Nivi stopped folding, her eyes finally meeting Aditi's. "I told you before—stay away from that name."
"I can't," Aditi said simply.
Her friend's jaw tensed. "You can. You just won't. Aariz isn't someone you casually investigate over coffee. He's the kind of man who swallows people whole, Aditi. Journalists disappear for less."
"I know the risks," Aditi replied.
"No, you don't," Nivi shot back. "You've read whispers, rumours, maybe even seen his shadow in the places you dig. But that's not knowing him. If you did, you'd be smart enough to stop."
Aditi sighed, setting her mug on the table. "I can't stop. You don't know what's at stake for me."
"Then tell me."
Aditi hesitated, her gaze dropping to her hands. "The principal called me in today. He knows I got the BBC offer letter."
Nivi straightened, sensing the weight behind her words. "And?"
"And he told me if I don't… complete a task for him, the offer will disappear." Aditi's voice hardened. "His exact words—'You walk away from this, and BBC walks away from you.'"
Nivi's eyes widened. "What kind of task?"
Aditi met her gaze. "The Aariz case."
For a moment, the only sound was the ceiling fan spinning lazily above them.
Nivi was the first to break the silence. "That's blackmail. Plain and simple. And you're seriously thinking about doing it?"
"I don't have a choice," Aditi said. "BBC was my dream. I've worked for years for this chance. I'm not throwing it away because some arrogant principal wants to play power games."
"You do have a choice," Nivi countered, her voice rising. "Walk away. There will be other opportunities—"
"No." Aditi cut her off, her tone firm. "There won't be another BBC offer. This is it."
Nivi exhaled sharply, frustration flashing in her eyes. "You're walking into a lion's den, Aditi. No—worse. You're walking into a den where the lion already knows you're coming."
"Then I'll have to be smarter than the lion," Aditi said quietly.
Nivi shook her head, picking up another shirt and folding it with more force than necessary. "You're impossible."
"Stubborn," Aditi corrected with a small smile.
"This isn't something to smile about," Nivi muttered. "I can't stop you, can I?"
"No."
For a long moment, they didn't speak. The steam from their coffee drifted up and dissolved into the air. Outside, the streetlight glow filtered through the window, throwing faint gold patterns across the floor.
Finally, Nivi sighed, setting the last folded shirt onto the stack. "Fine. I can't change your mind. But if you're going to do this, at least don't be reckless. Promise me you'll keep me in the loop. No solo stunts."
Aditi's lips curved faintly. "I'll think about it."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one I can give you right now."
Nivi gave her a long, searching look before shaking her head. "One day, your stubbornness is going to get you in serious trouble."
"Maybe," Aditi said, lifting her mug again. "But maybe it will also get me the truth."
The air between them was heavy with unspoken worries. They returned to their quiet rituals—coffee cooling on the table, laundry stacked neatly into piles—but neither woman's mind was at peace.
Nivi kept glancing at Aditi, the urge to push her away from this path warring with the knowledge that her friend had already chosen it. Aditi, meanwhile, was already thinking ahead, her mind turning over possibilities, names, and leads, piecing together the first steps into the darkness she was about to walk into.
The old apartment walls, silent witnesses to decades of stories, now stood watch over another—one that had barely begun.
And somewhere beyond Begumpet's quiet streets, the name Aariz stirred like a shadow, waiting for the day it would step into Aditi's world.