Chapter 5

Part 5

Arjun: baat mat ghumao, meri meeting mein tumhe koi interest nahi hai, seedhe-seedhe batao ki kya keh rahi thi……………………………

Riya: are main kuch nahi keh rahi, bas aise hi puch rahi thi kyunki

Arjun: ha Riya bolo, main sun raha hun, kyunki kya?

Riya: kyunki, tumhe kitna kaam hoga na…toh, toh uh…

Arjun: toh kya?

Riya: toh tumhe is tarah apni duty neglect nahi karni chahiye

Arjun: acha toh isliye puch rahi thi?

Riya: h…ha bas isliye

Arjun: mujhe toh lag raha tha ki main tumhe pareshaan karta hun

Riya forced a smiled and looked away mv “kya admi hai? isse peecha chudana toh namumkin hai. pata nahi kis mitti ka bana hai? kaise samjhau ise ki mujh mein itna interest na le? Ajeeb ka ajeeb hi rahega! Jab dekho tab ulti-pulti cheezon mein naak ghuasata rahega!”

Arjun was finding it hard to control his laughter. He knew what she must be thinking. He could easily make out from the irritated expression from her face mv “ajeeb ho tum bhi Riya, naraaz karne ki koshish karti ho aur fir karti bhi nahi ho. kaise samjhau tumhe ki humara saath nahi chutega. Koi nahi tod sakta hume, tumhari insecurities bhi nahi!”

Arjun: by the way meeting bahot boring thi

Riya: mujhe tumhari meeting mein koi interest nahi hai

Arjun chuckled: jaanta hun

Riya: tum kyun aise karte ho?

Arjun: oho, ab maine kya kiya?

Riya: Arjun…

Arjun: tum na yu aadhi adhuri…

They walked through the gate of the NGO and a sharp voice reprimanded them.

Lady: Arjun!!!

Startled, they turned in the direction to see Savita Manjrekar, who everybody called Savita Tai, the owner and in-charge of the NGO. Arjun groaned internally seeing the 50 something year old woman glaring at him.

Savita: maine tumse kitni baar kaha hai ki 10 baje ke baad mard andar allowed nahi hai! get out!

Arjun: are Tai main toh Riya ko chodne aaya tha

Savita: andar tak chodne ki koi zaroorat nahi hai, Riya ko gate ke baahar se andar tak ka rasta ache se pata hai

Riya giggled. Arjun glared at her.

Arjun: par main toh…

Savita: par war kuch nahi, gate ke baahar!!!

Arjun sighed: jaa raha hun, good night toh bolne do

Savita glared at him: baahar!!!

Arjun rolled his eyes. He grabbed Riya’s wrist and stepped outside the gate.

Riya: Arjun tum…

Arjun directed his question towards Savita: ab theek hai?

Savita: ha

He shook his head in disbelief and turned to Riya. She was still trying to control her laughter.

Arjun: tumhe itni hasi kyun aa rahi hai?

Riya: tumhe pata hai allowed nahi hai toh fir kyun baar-baar daant sunte ho?

Arjun stepped closer to her. Her eyes widened but her back was to the boundary wall.

Arjun : woh isliye madam kyunki jab bhi main tumhare saath hota hun, mujhe waqt ka pata hi nahi chalta (Conscious, she averted her gaze from his) aur waise bhi tumhe chod kar main ghadi ko kyun dekhu?

Riya’s breath caught in her throat: uh…woh…late ho gaya hai, main chalti hu

She quickly slipped aside and almost ran in. Arjun smiled and crossed his arms on the wall looking over it.

Savita: ab yaha raat bhar khade rahoge kya?

Arjun: Tai gate ke baahar hun na?

Savita: ha toh tumhare yaha khade hone se woh baahar nahi aayegi

Arjun let out a sigh: are wahi toh problem haina, woh kabhi aati hi nahi (Savita Tai giggled) aur ek aap hai jo humesha mujhe baahar nikalti rehti hai

Savita: rules are rules ACP Rawte

Arjun: yea right! Waise aap itni takleef kyun leti hai? ek watchman rakh lijiye na…sorry, sorry ek watch woman rakh lijiye fir aapko aise raat ko yaha chowkidaari nahi karni padegi

Savita pretended to be angry: ab agar tum yaha se nahi gaye toh main tumhe yaha se blacklist kar dungi

Arjun looked at her, horrified at the mere thought of it.

Arjun: main jaa raha hu!!

He ran away towards the vendor where his car was parked leaving a chuckling Savita behind.

A month flew by. Arjun kept visiting her as before. However, he didn’t attempt to come closer to her again. Riya continued to teach the children that were a part of the NGO’s orphanage wing. She had taken a month’s break from it for writing her exams and was now anxiously awaiting the results.

Rathore was having an argument over the phone when Arjun entered his cabin. Taking the opportunity he made an excuse.

Rathore: acha mein baad main baat karta hun, Arjun ko lead mili hai, bye maasa!

Arjun: abe case khatam hone ke baad kaunsi lead chahiye tujhe?

He put his phone on the side and sat: are yaar! Woh maasa peeche pad gayi hai, in fact sab peeche pad gaye hai, kisi se bhi baat karo toh sab ke sab wahi rat laga kar baithe hai

Arjun: kya hua ye toh bata?

Rathore: are shaadi yaar

Arjun: kiski?

Rathore: meri shaadi aur kiski?

Arjun looked at him mischievously: ha toh kar le na agar shaadi kar lega toh record room use karne ki zaroorat nahi padegi

Rathore squinted and threw a pen at him. Arjun ducked sending the pen to another corner of the room.

Rathore: tu chup kar! Mujhe nahi karni itni jaldi shaadi sirf 24 ka hun

Arjun: ha toh wahi toh bhai soch le, tere gharwaalon ko lag raha hai ki tu budha ho raha hai

Rathore: saale! Humari umar ek hi hai, agar main budha hu toh tu bhi budha hai samjhe!! (Arjun giggled) aur waise bhi meri chod, hum toh sirf date kar rahe hai, tera bata

Arjun: sirf date kar rahe ho? oh isliye record room use kiya? bedroom ke stage par nahi pahunche?

Rathore: Arjun!!!!

Arjun laughed as he glared at him. Realising something, he smiled.

Rathore: atleast mera record room toh hai, tera kya hai?

Arjun turned serious: dekh tu faaltu ki baat mat kar

Rathore: kyun, kyun? Khud ki baat aayi toh baat mat karo? tere paas toh use kuch bolne ki bhi himmat nahi hai

Arjun: oh please, baat himmat ki nahi hai, main chahu toh abhi jaa kar use bol sakta hu…

Rathore: toh fir bol ke dikha

Arjun: main abhi nahi bolna chahta isliye nahi kaha aur waise bhi tu meri chodkar apni fikar kar kyunki mere maa-baap meri shaadi nahi karwaane waale agar tune jaldi tere ghar ko bahu nahi di toh woh teri shaadi kisi chui-mui se kar denge

Rathore let go of the jokes: ha yaar, ye toh hai lekin inter caste? Kaise manau unhe? Aur Ayesha se bhi is baare mein koi direct baat nahi ki

Arjun: atleast use toh bol, gharwaalon ki baad mein sochna aur agar na bole toh

Rathore: toh?

Arjun: toh main hu, Shree hai, Chotu hai, Liza hai, Sakshi hai

Rathore(confused): toh?

Arjun: toh 5 witness kaafi hote hai register marriage ke liye

Rathore laughed: aur agar woh fir bhi nahi maane aur humari honor killing ho gayi toh?

Arjun: are toh main huna? Majal hai kisi ki mere hote hue tujh par aankh utha kar dekhe?

Rathore(mischievously) : how sweet! Riya ke saath bahot ice cream kha raha hai aaj kal?

Arjun glared at him: shut up!!

They stared at each other for a second and then burst into laughter. Just then, Arjun’s phone rang. He was a little surprised to Savita Tai’s name flashing across.

Arjun: ha Tai?

Savita: Arjun agar tum free ho toh yaha aakar Riya se baat kar sakte ho?

Arjun straightened: kya hua Tai sab theek toh hai? uski tabiyat….

Savita: ha sab theek, waise tension ki koi baat nahi hai par agar tum aa…

Arjun: ha main aata hun, aadhe ghante mein pahunch jaunga

Savita: theek hai

Call disconnect

Rathore: kya hua Arjun? Riya theek hai?

Arjun: ha …pata nahi, mere kuch samaj mein nahi aaya, (standing up) main dekhta hun

Rathore nodded: tu jaa, agar kuch ho toh hume phone karna

Arjun: ha!

He left the office and started driving straight towards Jeevan Nirmal. His head was going through endless possibilities. Though he knew she was a tough nut, he was worried for her. She was never one to crack in dire situations and that just made him worry more.

Flashback

Pydhoonie-

A man was arguing with madam ji in her quarters. A few of his men were standing at a side in the room.

Man: Tumhe Kaise Kuch Pata Nahi Hai? Koi Toh Hai Jo Humari Khabrein Leak Kar Raha Hai, Warna Aisa Ho Hi Nahi Sakta Ki ETF Ko Humari Saari Deals Or Addon Ke Baare Mein Pata Chal Jaaye!!!

Madam ji: Pathan yaha se khabar kaise leak ho sakti hai? zaroor tumhara hi koi admi hoga! ya fir kisi aur jagah ya kothe se!!

Unknown to them, a girl was discreetly listening to their talks from the slightly open window.

Pathan: mere saare admi bharosemand hai samjhi tu? Khabar isi kothe se leak ho rahi hai kyunki yahi ek jagah hai jaha par sabse zyaada deals hoti hai aur sabse zyaada planning hoti hai

Madam ji (angrily): mujhe woh sab nahi pata!! Mujhe bas itna pata hai ki maine kuch nahi kiya aur yaha ke admi bhi tumhare hi hai!

Pathan sighed: dekh, Sikandar bhai gussa ho rahe hai, saara business thap ho raha hai lekin ek bahot zaroori deal hai Dubai ki (he removed a paper from his pocket) isme uski details hai (he opened a drawer and kept it inside) dhyaan se dekh lena aur bahot hoshiyaar rehna, agar ye deal nahi hui toh bahot problem ho jaayegi

Madam ji nodded. Pathan gestured to his men and they turned to leave. Seeing them come outside, the girl sneaked away from there and turned round the other end of the corner. The door opened and madam ji came out with Pathan. They walked in the opposite direction towards the stairs.

She knew Madam ji won’t come easily out of her room. It was now or never. Taking the opportunity, she cautiously stepped forward. As they started climbing down, she slipped inside the room and straight away opened the drawer.

It was empty, mv “paper kaha gaya?” she quickly opened the next to it but there were bunch of random items inside. She was still searching through them when…

Pathan: kya dhundh rahi ho?

She froze. Her face went white as she slowly turned. Pathan was standing there with his men and madam ji who was equally shocked to see her.

Madam ji: Lailla tu? Tu ye sab kar rahi hai?

She didn’t answer. Furious, madam ji stepped forward and slapped her. She fell to the ground. Before she could recover, her hair were pulled sharply.

Lailla: AAAHHH!!!

Madam ji put a gun to her forehead: bahot shaukh hai police ki khabri banne ka? (she pulled her hair making her wince) ha?!!? Ab Khabar Pahuncha!

She was about to squeeze the trigger when Pathan stopped her.  

Pathan: ruk! Goli chalane ki zaroorat nahi hai (madam ji was confused but the look in his eyes was making Lailla tremble) saza sirf ise kyun? Un police waalon ko bhi toh milni chahiye?

Lailla’s eye widened in horror: nahi please!! Meri galti hai….mujhe maaf kar dijiye (holding Madam ji’s legs) dobara aisa kabhi nahi hoga, reham kijiye!!

Pathan went forwards and grabbed her arm: tune galti nahi ki…. Tune gunaah kiya hai! aur iski saza tum sabko milegi!!!

He threw her to his men: lekar chalo ise!!!

Lailla pleaded: NAHI PLEASE….Please Mujhe Maaf Kar Do!!!

But her screams fell on deaf ears. The men dragged her away with them……………………

[NOCOPY]