Anya had a busy day. She reached the station after visiting Sushant’s place, just in time for lunch.Before she could settle down for her meal Eknath, her constable knocked at her cabin door and walked in.“Sorry Anya, I know you haven’t had lunch yet but we need to go to KEM hospital urgently,” he said.“What happened?” Anya pushed the plate of food aside, picked her baton and cap. They headed out in a rush.“A 14 year old junkie is battling for life. He was found in a gutter in the Janata Vasahat (name of the slum) slums,” said Eknath as they drove towards the hospital.“What else did

A 12 year old Anya was looking for her brother. Sana stood smiling in an alley next to her shanty. “You are my best friend”“And you are mine!” Anya hugged Sana. The hug brought warmth into her body. Separating herself from Sana, she continued, “Have you seen dada? I haven’t seen him since I returned from school.”“He will be back soon.” Sana fiddled with her hair. “I needed to tell you something.”“What?” she saw Sana shift uneasily, checking the surroundings for any eavesdroppers. “I have a crush on dada.” She blurted out as if trying to finish speaking before her courage left her and then looked at Anya with scared eyes.

He reached his apartment, kicked off his shoes in anger and plopped on the couch in his living room. He was still seething with anger. All the while his mind pulled up sexy images of Anya and made him feel hornier and madder. He felt like going over to Dr Rahul’s and punching him until his smiling smug face was unrecognisable. But he wasn’t a brute. He knew it wasn’t Dr Rahul’s fault. If Anya wanted to move on, she could. They hadn’t committed to each other. It was just a night of passion and amazing sex. It was his own fault. For him, it was more than the sex. He was the one who believed in a spiritual connection with his partner. He scowled at nobody in particular. His thoughts must be too old-fashioned for a cop who has seen almost every vice in this world! He hated the fact that she had dressed up for someone else. He hated that she would be going back with someone else and hated that she might end up having sex with someone else.

Rahul looked at Anya’s worried expression as she punched in the number again to call. “He isn’t attending right?”"Do you know who I am calling?""Yup! The guy glaring at you in Night N Gale? Andy, right?" he asked.She looked at Rahul and shook her head. She didn’t know what she was supposed to do. Why was she getting worked up by Andy’s behaviour? It wasn’t like he was her boyfriend. But he was special to her. The only person who she had been able to connect with, at an emotional level!“Do you want me to drop you over at his place?” said Rahul, frowning.“I don’t know his address,” she disconnected the call and put her cell phone in her clutch purse.“Are you a cop or what? Oh, God!! Don’t tell me that you are too drunk to remember!” Rahul teased.“Oh yeah! No… Not drunk, just tired. Suddenly off the adrenaline from the evening ru

Rose released Andy’s hand, held the bottle of water with both hands and drank it in quick gulps. When she rested the bottle on the table, her dilated eyes spoke about the turmoil she was living again, while sharing this story. Anya was watching Andy. His face looked impassive and his jaw was clenched. A typical ‘angry Andy’ sign. “Thank you, madam,” Rose's soft voice brought Anya’s attention back to her. Anya waved her hand. “That’s alright. Will you be able to talk?” Rose nodded and continued, “The man Abbas, was handsome. About 30 years old at that time. He had seen me in the fields. Although I wore my hijab, today I wonder how he had seen me. But at that time I was young and naive. Full of dreams. I wanted to do something for myself and my family. Abbas was working in Mumbai. He wore expensive clothes. He had style! His sparkling watch and stylish sunglasses reeked of money. He gave 25000 takas (Bangladesh currency) to my parents for marrying