Chapter 10

Part 10 

[NOCOPY]

An old couple had been murdered at their house. Their children were prime suspects. The team was looking around for clues while interrogating the neighbours.

Arjun: aisa lagta toh nahi hai ki inke bachon ne, kuch kiya hai

Rathore: aansu toh sab bahate hai Rawte

Arjun: they look genuine…. tijori bhi toh khaali hai ho sakta hai chori ke liye kiya ho

Rathore: zabardasti ghusne ke koi nishaan nahi hai

Arjun: oh come on ye 21vi sadi hai aur agar maid wagera ho toh sabun par chaap lene mein kitna time lagega?

Rathore: hmm ho sakta hai

Arjun: aur ek baat ki….

His phone rang. Arjun was about to cut it when the caller ID caught his eyes. His face lit up. Rathore rolled his eyes.

Arjun: hi Riya! kaisi ho? tumhara interview kaisa tha? pichli do jagah se better tha? did you like the place? Kuch ulta-seedha toh nahi pucha na unhone? Aur jawab kab tak….

Rathore: use jawab toh dene de

Arjun glared at him: shut up! Main usse baat kar raha hu na, tu kyun tapak raha hai beech mein?.....ha Riya kya keh rahi thi tum?

Riya chuckled on hearing his excitement: interview acha tha, ye jagah mujhe zyaada behtar lagi aur unhone kaha ki woh aksar out-sourced projects lete hai toh woh zaroorat ke hissab se mujhe hire karenge aur payment denge and they also said ki since mein NGO mein work karti hun, woh mujhe apne annual CSR mein bhi kaam denge

Arjun jumped up: THAT IS GREAT!!!

Everyone in the flat stared at him including the deceased’s family.

Sakshi reprimands him for his insensitivity: Arjun!!

Rathore somehow managed to contain his laughter and gave him a stern look. Arjun looked back apologetically.

Arjun: uh…main, aata hun

He slipped outside to continue his conversation.

Riya: kya hua?

Arjun: are woh main crime scene par tha aur aise chillaya toh sab ghurne lage

Riya: oh god Arjun tum bhi na! main phone rakhti…

Arjun: NAHI!!!

Riya(taken aback): par…

Arjun: are do minute baat karo na, main baahar aa gaya

Riya: Arjun tum duty par hona?

Arjun(sadly): par maine break liya tumse baat karne ke liye…tum mujh se baat nahi karogi?

Riya felt dumbfounded: woh….uh…karungi

He grinned childishly: ha toh ye batao ki tum shaam ko free hi hona

Riya: kyun?

Arjun: are ha ya na

Riya: ha main toh free hi hoti hu

Arjun: great! Toh hum party karenge

Riya: firse?

Arjun: firse ka kya matlab hai? tumhe finally apni dream job mili, itna toh banta hai, 7 baje ready rehna, main tumhe lene aaunga, hum na (thinking) hum Vintage Deccan jayenge

Riya: woh kaha hai?

Arjun: Fort par, abhi pichle mahine hi khula hai, main kabse jaana chahta hun lekin time hi nahi milta. Sam se bhi 3-4 baar bola lekin woh ghadi-ghadi bahana bana deta hai, meri toh kisi ko fikar hi nahi

Riya giggled: par tum apni maa ke saath kyun nahi jaate baahar? Agar tum unse baahar milo toh tumhare papa ko tumhe bhagane ka mauka bhi nahi milega

Arjun: are nahi yaar, maine try kiya, pata nahi har baar unhe kaise pata chal gaya toh unhone zabardasti koi aur plan bana kar maa ko unke saath le gaye, ghar par milu toh zyaada se zyaada aadhe ghante mein unka lecture shuru ho jaata hai….itna khadoos baap hai mera ki pucho mat…Sam se kuch bolo toh kehta hai ki tu aisa hai toh tera baap toh tera baap hi hoga na

Riya burst out laughing

Arjun: main tumhe apna dukhda suna raha hun aur tum has rahi ho?

Riya: main…

Arjun(complaining): tum bhi Sam ki tarah dhokebaaz ho! mujhe tumse baat hi nahi karni!

Riya: Are Arjun..

He disconnects the call and storms back into the crime scene. Riya stares at the phone while giggling to herself.

Riya: oho ye Arjun bhi na…(thinking) hmm, mujhe bhi tumhe manana aata hai ACP

She goes to her room and takes out a paper and pencil.

Here at the crime scene-

Arjun: Liza!

Liza almost dropped the fingerprint sample she was collecting.

Arjun: Mujhe ek ghante mein maut ka exact time chahiye samjhi ya samjhau!

Liza: lekin sir post-mortem…

Arjun: I SAID ONE HOUR!!!

Liza(tensed): yes sir

She quickly directed her crew to take the body away and instructed two of them to collect other relevant samples while she worked on the autopsy.

Rathore mv “ise kya ho gaya? Riya se baat karne ke baad mood kharab kaise hua?”

Arjun remained in an irritable mood for the rest of the day. Even Sameer got a scolding when he tried asking. Shaking his head, he let him be. However, his over the usual aggressive approach did help to solve the case soon. The husband had a habit of playing the violin every evening albeit loudly. Sick of the noise every day, the next door neighbour had an heated argument and struck him on the head in anger. The wife was killed as a witness. Then they had staged the robbery to put the blame off themselves.

Chotu: kaise-kaise log hai is duniya mein, itni si baat ke liye koi kisi ko maar kaise sakta hai?

Sakshi: hota hai Chotu, aaj kal senior citizens ke khilaaf crime bahot badh gaye hai, robbery ke liye toh bahot aam baat ho gayi hai

Ayesha: nahi Sakshi, just because common ho gaya hai iska matlab ye toh nahi ki woh sahi hai, kisi ki jaan lene ka haq kisi ko bhi nahi hai, ha legal procedure ki baat alag hai crime kiya hai toh saza bhugatni padegi but aise raah chalte agar sab ek dusre ka khoon karte rahe toh…

Shree answered without looking up from his laptop: population control mein aa jaayega

They all stared at him.

He looked up: kya?

Ayesha rolled her eyes: tum apni us video game mein hi ghus jao!

She left the room much to the confusion of Shree. He shrugged and continued to play.

Jeevan Nirmal-

Riya opened her cupboard for selecting a dress. Though Arjun was angry, she knew he would still come for his treat. She picked a blue laced sheer top and white jeans to get ready.

Sharp at 7, the intercom of her room rang. She smiled and picked up.

Riya: hello?

Kinjal: hey, Arjun aaya hai

Riya: aati hu

Kinjal: acha sun!

Riya: ha?

Kinjal looked at Arjun walking out the gate: chal kya raha hai? woh toh humesha tere room tak aata hai, aaj mujhse kyun phone karwaya?

Riya rolled her eyes: Kinjal, tu apna kaam kar!

Kinjal: are par..

Riya disconnected the call. She picked up a paper wrapped like a scroll from her desk and carefully placed it in her purse as she closed the room.

Arjun was leaning against the car. His gaze was fixed on the path that she would come from. Soon, he saw her walking out. All his anger seemed to vanish in the moment he saw her face mv “yaar ye ladki itni khubsurat kyun hai? kyun pyaar hua mujhe isse? Naraaz bhi nahi reh sakta, ajeeb side-effect hai”

Riya: hi

Arjun came out of his trance but maintained as if he was still annoyed with her. He went to the driver’s seat.

Arjun: baitho

Riya suppressed her smile as she sat in. Arjun started the ignition and drove off. He broke the silence after sometime.

Arjun: zabaan di thi isliye aaya warna nahi aanewaala tha

Riya: oh…ok

He gripped the wheel mv “ajeeb ladki hai, ise toh kabhi koi farak hi nahi padta!....kaha se padega? Woh toh khud mujhe bhagane ke bahane dhundhti hai, mera gussa mere nahi usi ke kaam aa raha hai. ugh!!! Kaha fas gaya main? Kya karu ab, baat bhi nahi kar sakta….koi toh bahana hoga?”

Arjun: jo bacha lekar aaye the us din, woh wahi hai ya kisi ne use adopt kiya?

Riya: kaunsa?

Arjun: main aur Ayesha jab aaye the, uske maa ko uske sasural waalon ne maar diya tha?

Riya: acha Harsh? Nahi toh

Arjun: kyun?

Riya: 3 din hi toh hue hai

Arjun: toh?

Riya: toh kya? Itni jaldi kaise adopt hoga? aur abhi tak toh humari jo formalities hai woh bhi puri nahi hui hogi

Arjun: tum logon ko kaunsi formalities puri karni hai?

Riya: health check-up aur adoption eligibility ki legal maamle

Arjun: hmm

She turned to look out the window as they drove across Marine Lines. She smiled seeing the streetlights fly by. She always loved travelling by that road.

Vintage Deccan-

They got out and Arjun went ahead. True to its name, the interiors had been designed like a palace from centuries ago. Wooden furniture, brass utensils, paintings and a huge chandelier in an otherwise dim light all added flavour. The waiter led them to a table.

Waiter: would you like a candle?

Riya/ Arjun: no/ yes

They turned to each other as the waiter looked at them in confusion. Riya averted her gaze from Arjun.

Arjun: uh…no thanks

He nodded and left after giving them the menu. Riya admired the carvings on the wall as Arjun exchanged glances between her and the food choices. He cleared his throat to catch her attention.

Arjun: kya logi?

Riya: tumhari treat hai, tum decide karo

Arjun raised his eyebrow. She smiled. He shook his head and ordered keeping both their preferences in mind. Riya ate comfortably in the silence but Arjun was squirming from the inside. He cursed himself for throwing the tantrum. He should have broken it when they met but now he was stuck in a mess he created that he didn’t even want to be in. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Riya was observing him. She felt like laughing. His conflicts were easily reflecting in his eyes and also in the way he was handling his cutlery. For a moment she thought that even the brass spoon would break in his grip. She decided to ease him a little hearing him sigh.

Riya: kya hua Arjun? Sar dard ho raha hai?

Arjun: huh? Uh….woh nahi toh

Riya: to fir tum aise kyun pakad rahe ho? agar tumhari tabiyat theek nahi hai toh please ghar jaa kar aaram karo

Arjun(alarmed): nahi! nahi! main bilcul theek hun woh…woh toh bas mujhe achanak yaad aa gaya…yaad aaya ki uh…ha woh yaad aaya ki mujhe zaroori file par sign karni thi…Sam commissioner sir ke paas le jaane waala tha aaj but main bhul gaya ab sign nahi hogi toh…sir use daantenge aur fir woh mujhe daantega toh, bas isliye

Riya: oh

He forced a smile and concentrated on his food mv “chalo isi bahane madam ki awaaz toh sunne mili….kitni meethi awaaz hai.”

Riya hid her smile mv “bahane banane ke liye toh tumhe Oscar milna chahiye, kitna drama karte ho? kam se kam ye toh soch liya hota ki Sameer tumhe nahi, tum Sameer ko torture karte ho…paagal.”

After they finished, Arjun dropped her at the NGO purposely skipping their usual ice cream. She still didn’t say a word. His jaw dropped to the ground as she bade him good night. Scowling, he got down after her……………………….