Chapter 43

Bloomie

@bloomie

Part 43 [MEMBERSONLY][NOCOPY]

Arjun: are suno toh…

But she slammed the door shut. Arjun cursed under his breath and went to the living room. He settled comfortably on the couch and ordered the Manchurian for them……………………….

She returned after 15 minutes with damp hair and he followed her to the kitchen to help.

Arjun: are ruko aise nahi

Riya: matlab?

Arjun: are ye pav bhaji hai, tadka pehle nahi, pehle vegetables

Riya shook her head: nahi tadka pehle

Arjun: are bhaji waise nahi banti, ruko main batata hun

Much to her amusement, he took control. She watched as he made the dish in the most authentic way possible. He held out the ladle for Riya to taste.

Riya: hmm… that’s amazing, no wonder main kabhi itni achi bhaji nahi bana paayi

He gave an informal bow: thank you!

Riya: by the way isme koi drug nahi milaya na?

Arjun squints at her. She wiggles her eyebrows mischievously.

Arjun: abhi batata hu

He lunges towards her. She squeals and starts running away. Arjun runs after her. Their laughter resonates through the house as he chases her. She attempts to run into her room and close the door but he enters swiftly. She sprints away to protect herself. He finally manages to grab hold of her when she stumbles on the mattress on the floor. Arjun starts tickling her mercilessly even as she crouches to the mattress.

Riya laughs: Arjun sir!! stop!!

Arjun chuckled: kyun? drug khaana tha na tumhe?

Riya(laughing): sir please… main, mere… pet mein dard ho raha hai

He chuckles and lets go of her. She wriggles away from him still trying to catch her breath from all the laughing. He pushes himself against the wall, smirking at her.

Riya: aap kabhi nahi sudhrenge

Arjun: well, main apne aapko bigda hua nahi maanta

Riya(sarcastically): of course aap nahi maante (she shook her head in disbelief) chaliye ab, khaana thanda ho jaayega

Arjun: I’m starving!

They head to the living room and sit on the floor with their food. Thinking something, Riya holds out a Manchurian ball for him. He frowns and scowls at it. Then, he dips the pav in his gravy plus bhaji and holds it out to her. She giggles and they eat from each other’s hand before continuing with their own food.

Arjun: it’s not that bad actually par mujhe apna interest change nahi karna

Riya: I still can’t believe aap Chinese aur pav bhaji kaise mix kar sakte hai?

Arjun: excuse me, I am a Chef, bhul gayi?

She laughs: roadside chef

Arjun(sarcastically): ha, ha, ha!

As they start preparing to leave, Arjun hides his face in a cushion.

Arjun: Yaar, tumhara ghar kitna acha hai, tumhe yaha se baahar jaane ka man kaise hota hai? (she laughs) by any chance, tumhe PG chahiye kya?

Riya: Nahi aur chahiye bhi hota toh males not allowed

Arjun: Damn yaar, ye crimes against women ne toh zindgi barbaad kar di meri

Riya: Well agar aap khud ke ghar mein rehte toh shayad aapko PG ke liye jaane ki zaroorat nahi padti

Arjun: Ouch! That’s rude

Riya raised her eyebrow: Is it?

He continues to tease her: ha aur ab jaldi chalo!

Riya frowns: aaj office bunk nahi kar sakte kya?

Arjun: bilcul nahi, mujhe Rathore se ek aur gaali nahi sunni aur waise bhi I want to see that other drug gang

Riya(wearing her boots): kyun?

Arjun: pata nahi, I have a gut feeling about it

Riya: ok (stuffing the keys into her purse) let’s go!

ETF office-

The juniors were for once, diligently doing paperwork. They had learnt their lesson big time and had no intentions of going through all of it ever again. The door of the conference room opened, making Rathore look up from his file. It was Arjun and Riya.

Rathore: bahot jaldi aa gaye

Arjun ignores him and takes his seat.

Riya: sir block ki wajah se traffic zyaada tha isliye time lag gaya

Rathore nods.

Riya(taking her seat): sir waise toh Gokhale Manik ko subah hi bhejne waala tha lekin block ki wajah se delay ho gaya. woh log raaste mein hai, raat tak pahunch jaayenge

Rathore: hm, theek hai

Arjun: Jagdish ke ilawa koi aur pakda gaya?

Rathore: koi aur se tumhara kya matlab hai? tumhe laga humne sirf use pakda aur gang waalon ko chod diya?

Arjun: ye rule tumne banaya?

Rathore gritted his teeth. Not wanting to argue after the tiring day, he picked up his file and left.

Arjun turned to the others: mujhe summary report chahiye, aadhe ghante mein!

They nodded and he retreated to his cabin as well. The rest heaved a sigh of relief.

Ayesha: aate hi shuru ho gaye, ugh!

Shree: chod re, Ri!! (he hugs her) tu zinda hai?

Riya: kya matlab?

Chotu: matlab kya? Saari raat Hitler ke saath?

Ayesha: ha, hume toh lag raha tha ki aapki laash hi milegi

Shree: despite the fact ki woh tujhe exactly daant te nahi lekin unke saath rehna matlab toh, baap re

Riya: chill guys! Tum logon ki raid kaisi rahi?

Ayesha: achi thi ma’am, dusre gang ke bhi teen chaar log pakda gaye. Aur humne Jagdish ke dusre addon par bhi paise aur local party drugs mile hai, woh log extortion mein bhi involved the

Riya: oh, waise ye Liza kaha hai?

Shree: woh post-mortems mein busy hai, tu bata, raat kaisi gayi

Riya giggled: bekar yaar, itna sada hua lodge tha na par kya kare rukna pada

Chotu: Ri tu rehne de, tere standard ke hissab se bekar bahot uncha hai humare liye

Riya: tum saare mard ek jaise hote ho na? hygiene naam ki toh koi cheez hi nahi

Chotu: Ri!

Riya: ha?

Chotu: ye sab tumhari wajah se ho raha hai

Riya: kya?

Chotu(standing up): mujhe bhook lag gayi! Main naashta order karke aata hu

He marches out much to the amusement of others.

Sakshi: ye kya tha? achanak kyun?

Shree: are Ri ne cheez bola na toh use cheese ki yaad aa gayi hogi

Sakshi giggles: seriously?

Shree: yup!

Ayesha: ab chalo yaar, ye summary jaldi puri karo warna woh khadoos hume kha jaayega

Sakshi: Ayesha! Itna bhi bura nahi hai woh

Ayesha: yea right!

Riya starts working on Manik’s report while Shree quickly prepares a summary. Chotu joins them with a burger in his hand.

Riya (skimming through): summary theek hai, kuch aur miss nahi kar rahe na?

Shree: nah! That’s all

Sakshi: lao, main use dekar aati hu

Riya narrows her eyes a little but forwards the paper. Sakshi happily goes to Arjun’s cabin. As usual, she enters without knocking.

Sakshi: hi! Tumne report mangwayi thi na?

Arjun grabbed the file from her hand.

Sakshi: itne utavle kyun ho tum? Tum toh the bhi nahi yaha. Waise mujhe pata tha tum aaram se Manik ko lekar aa jaate after all…

Arjun: tum jaa sakti ho

Sakshi frowns: lekin mujhe nahi jaana

Arjun looks up to glare at her. She smiles.

Arjun: fine! Yahi baitho

Sakshi(happily): sach?

Arjun: ha!

She had barely reeled in from the sentence when Arjun stood up with the file and walked out, shocking her.

Sakshi: what the hell! Kya admi hai?

On the other hand, Arjun made his way to the peaceful confines of the record room. As he read through, a name clicked in his head. His gut was right.

Arjun mv “agar ye deal karne baahar aaya hai, iska matlab gang firse active hone ki koshish kar rahi hai. aakhri baar Pathan pakda gaya tha. Sirf 30 ladkiyon ke liye woh khud operation handle kar raha tha…. Ye log abhi tak apne pairon par firse khade nahi hue, isiliye unhe local gangs ka sahara chahiye.”

His chain of thoughts are broken by the sound of the door opening. He turns to see Riya heading in.

Riya: aap yaha?

Arjun: woh chodo, ek research karni hai, meri help karogi?

Riya: research aur main mana karu? not a chance, bataiye

Arjun: unofficially

Riya raises her eyebrow: kahi aap mujhe contract killer waale role mein toh nahi bhej rahe?

Arjun: bas research

She eyes him suspiciously but nevertheless nods her head.

Arjun: woh jo dusri gang thi, usme ek admi pakda gaya hai Birju. Pichle teen saal ki history chahiye mujhe uski

Riya: ok main jitni ho sake utni information nikalti hu but aapko ye admi kyun chahiye?

Arjun sighs: we have history

Riya: par woh lock up mein hai, aap use jo chahe puch sakte hai. ye research ka raasta kyun? in fact, jo woh bata paayega woh records mein nahi milega

Arjun: jaanta hun lekin humara case Jagdish ko handle karna hai, us gang ko nahi. I need your help

Riya: theek hai, I’ll see what I can do

He nodded and she headed towards the system.

Arjun: Riya?

Riya: ha?

Arjun: dhyaan rakhna

Before she could answer anything else, he left. She stared in his direction for a few seconds before getting back to her work.

Somewhere else-

A man throws away a glass in frustration. It crashes against the floor, breaking into a million pieces, spilling the vodka in it. The man in front of him flinched. He lowered his head.

First man: Police Waha Kaise Pahunch Gayi?

Second man: pata nahi boss lekin

Boss: lekin kya?

Second man: sunne mein hai ki is mein ETF ka haath hai

The boss grabs hold of his collar: Toh Fir Pata Karo Ki Hai Ya Nahi! Samjhe?!

Man: ji boss

He jerks him: dafa ho jao meri nazro se!

Nodding, the man scoots from the place. The boss plops into the arm chair in irritation. He rubs his temple mv “ekto us bevkuf ki wajah se mera saara business barbaad ho gaya aur ab ye police baar-baar humare kaam mein taang adane aa jaati hai. Pathan bhi pakda gaya! Mujhe koi na koi naya paitra aazmana hi padega.”

A week later-

Arjun enters his cabin with his cutting. Riya looks up and smiles. Picking up a file, she goes to his table.

Riya: sir, aapne Birju ke baare mein pata karne ko kaha tha na?

He straightens and takes the file from her.

Arjun: pata chal gaya?

Riya: zyaada nahi actually. Pichle teen saal mein se dedh saal toh woh jail mein tha drug possession ke liye. Woh Goa mein pakda gaya tha.

Arjun(reading): jail se chutne ke baad ye Mumbai aur Goa dono mein teen chaar baar spot hua hai

Riya: yes, mera maanna hai ki shayad ye Jagdish ke saath ki deal mein involved hai isliye woh negotiations ke liye aaya hoga

Arjun: lekin Riya, ye kaafi local deal thi, iske liye itne mahino ki planning?

Her shoulders sag: ha woh toh hai but! Aakdon ke hissab se jab bhi negotiation terms tough ho toh 82% cases mein risk high hota hai. Then again, itna high risk ki ek local gang ke saath negotiation mein itna time lag jaaye? Aisa bhi nahi ki Birju koi kacha khiladi hai, police record mein 8 saal se naam hai uska

Arjun sighs and closes the file: uske boss ki haalat kharab hai Riya

She squints: boss? Kaun boss? Aur aapko pata hai toh aapne pehle kyun nahi kaha? Hume toh lag raha tha ki Birju aur uske do-teen bande aise hi chalu log hai. koi proper gang hai?

Arjun: I think so

Riya: you think? Aapne mujhse kaha tha you have history. Aap kya chupa rahe hai?

Arjun: Riya…

Riya: us ladki se kuch related hai kya?

Arjun: kaunsi ladki?

She opens the file and turns two pages. There was a photograph. It was one of Birju’s Mumbai spotting. The image was a little grainy but one could see another girl with him. She points to it.

Arjun: uh nahi, kaun hai ye?

Riya: pata nahi, maine apne ek admi se kaha hai. woh pata karne ki koshish kar raha hai

Arjun: ok

Riya: sir!

Arjun: kya?

Riya glared at him: aapne mere sawaal ka jawab nahi diya

Arjun sighed: Riya main…

Fortunately, there was a knock on the door. Chotu entered after the ‘come in’.

Chotu: sir post mortem report aa gayi

Arjun gestures for him to leave. Keeping Birju aside for the moment, the two of them get back to the case they had in hand.

That evening Ayesha was driving home. She had tied a scarf around her face to keep the pollution away from her face. She flicked her wrist to increase the speed of her scooty hearing a horn from behind.

Thunder rocked. Her eyes widened as everything in front of her turned yellow and red. Her grip loosened. The scooty went off-balance. She fell on the road with only one thing on her mind. It was not thunder…………………………….