It was way past Rudra's usual time and yet there was no sign of him coming. He knows Mom is coming today yet he decided to come late. My eyes kept switching from the wall clock to the main door continuously.

Think positively Sia, think positively.
He is just late, he might be coming anytime soon and he is definitely not going to ditch me. And by any chance he actually doesn't come today then I am going to strangle him and no one will be able to save him from me.

The door burst open and in came the awaited man. "Sorry, sorry, I slept in, didn't realize the time", he said breathlessly, probably a result of running to reach here.

"Stop with the excuses, I don't care why you are late. The fact that you came is enough", I said rolling my eyes.

"You were waiting for me? That's a surprise. Is there anything important today or you were just feeling hungry?", he asked raising his eyebrows.

I looked at him dumbfounded and asked him, "The hell is wrong with you? You do realize that my Mom is coming today and you have to act in front of her. How can you forget something so important?".

"I think you are forgetting that we are real friends now, so there's no reason for me to act in front of your Mom", he said cheekily.

'This man is going to be end of me', I thought sighing.

"Listen this might be fun for you but it is really serious for me, so act accordingly", I said in a stern tone.

He hummed and asked me,"What about me being your employee? Won't your Mother have problem with it".

I pondered about the question but when I couldn't find any solution, I just told him in an questioning tone, "We won't tell her?".

He looked at me incredulously and questioned,"Right we won't tell her and what about the time I would need to cook? What will you say? That your friend is cooking for you. Come on Sia, we need something that seems legit".

I nodded at him and continued to think about what should I tell Mom. Before we could come up with any solution, the doorbell rang.

We both glanced at each other warily, knowing that we are doomed.

After taking few deep breathes, I went to open the door and in came my Mom with Rishi and his 5 year old son Jay. I hugged my Mom and later smiled at Rishi while waving hi at Jay.

"Hello Raghav Sir, I didn't know you were coming here today", Rudra said formally.

While Rishi raised his eyebrows, I face palmed mentally.

"Sir?", Mom asked curiously and at the sane time Rishi asked, "Raghav?".

"Ah I am... Ouch", before Rudra could reveal that he was an employee, I elbowed him.

"He is my friend and everyone here respects Raghav so he was talking formally, right Rudra?", I made an excuse and glared at Rudra.

"Yea...yeah", he managed to spit out after seeing my glare.

"Hello there, but I am not Raghav. I am Rishi. Surely you would have heard about Raghav's identical twin brother", Rishi said addressing Rudra after we were done talking to Mom.

After hearing what Rishi said, Rudra looked at me guiltily as he had almost blown our cover. Before he could react or say something to Rishi, Mom interjected.

"Well dear, nice to meet you but what were doing at my daughter's house so early in the morning?", Mom asked sweetly yet everyone could see in her eyes that the question was anything but sweet.

Of course she has questions. Stupid stupid Sia. Finding a guy in her daughter's house, so early in the morning would make any mother angry. I need to defuse the tension before it blasts but before that I need to take them inside and close the door otherwise our neighbours are going to get free entertainment.

"You all had a long journey, atleast come inside and sit first. We have all the time to clear out the confusions", I said ushering all of them towards the living room.