Chapter 15

Bloomie

@bloomie

Part 15 [MEMBERSONLY][NOCOPY]

Kalki Devi’s house-

Shree and Riya were together, discussing softly.

Shree: waise Ri, lagta hai tera ek aur aashiq bana diya tere husn ne

Riya raises her eyebrow: zyaada line mat maaro Shree

Shree: are main apni baat nahi kar raha, tere peeche ek banda, 20 minute se bas tujhe hi ghure jaa raha hai (Riya rolls her eyes) aur waise bhi aaj toh tu swarg ki apsara ki tarah dikh rahi hai

Riya: compliment ke liye shukriya aur (looking at the guy from the corner of her eyes) use ghurne de, ye bata ki ghar ke logon mein se kisi ka bhi cell phone, ghar ke baahar gaya tha kya?

Shree: Ri shaadi ka mahol hai, obviously sab idhar-udhar jaayenge taiyaari ke liye

Riya: ha baba, par koi ajeeb jagah?

Shree: uh, waise toh nazar nahi aayi, tum kehti ho to main andar jaakar firse ek baar system mein check kar sakta hun

Riya: ha ek baar dekh lo

Shree: ha, par Arjun sir aate toh acha hota na, I’m sure yaha bhi koi na koi ajeeb harkat karke Kalki Devi ko dhundh hi lete

Riya: ab unka man nahi hai toh kya kar sakte hai?

Someone taps her shoulder. She turns to see the same guy with a lady beside him.

Man: hi, main Karan aur ye meri maa, Sharda

Feeling weird, Riya greets them politely.

Sharda: tum?

Riya: ji main Riya

Sharda: mere bete ko tum pasand aayi ho (making a face) pata nahi kyun, tumhara toh rang bhi saavla hai (Shree and Riya get angry) waise toh iske peeche ladkiyon ki line lagi rehti hai

Riya fakes a smile: toh aap unhi mein se kisi ke paas chale jaayiye

Karan: nahi mummy! Mujhe yahi ladki pasand hai, aap isi se meri shaadi karwao

Shree and Riya look at each other in shock.

Shree: are nahi!!

Karan(sternly): kyun nahi?!

Shree: woh… ye, ye toh already shaadi-shuda haina

Riya is taken aback. She glares at Shree. He looks back apologetically.

Sharda: shaadi-shuda? Kaunse angle se shaadi- shuda hai ye? Mangalsutra bhi nahi hai

Riya smiles: are aunty shaadi toh do dilon ka bandhan hai, mangalsutra kya cheez hai?

Sharda: acha toh tumhara pati kaha hai?

Riya mv “ye aunty ko itni panchaat kyun hai?”: woh uh… kya haina ki unhe…

Shree’s eyes widen seeing Arjun enter the premises: shaitaan ka naam liya aur shaitaan haazir

The other three turn to look in the direction. Noticing them among the crowd, Arjun walks upto Riya and Shree. His gaze was fixed on her. How did she manage to look even more beautiful than she already was? Mv “kya soch rahe ho Arjun? Get a grip!”

Riya: aap toh nahi aane waale the na?

Arjun: ab aa gaya

Sharda: ye hai tumhara pati?

The officers turn to her in shock.

Sharda(haughtily): mere bete jitna handsome toh nahi hai, khair jiski jaisi kismat, chalo beta

The duo leave and Arjun glares at Riya.

Riya gulps in fear: maine kuch nahi kiya

Arjun scowls: had hoti hai!!

Riya: par…

Arjun beckons Shree away: kya chal raha hai?

Riya curses her luck mv “ye Shree bhi na! faaltu mein band baja kar chala gaya, pehle shaadi, fir Arjun sir pati, upar se sir ko shaitaan kaha, iski toh…us din bhi chudail se compare kiya tha, ek baar case khatam hone do fir dekhti hu ise!!”

Arjun interrogates the family members again alongside Rathore but they find no other clue.

She catches Arjun observing the crowd after some time. Riya goes to him. He glares at her again.

Riya: main sach keh rahi hun, maine kuch nahi kiya

Arjun looks away.

Riya: are woh ladka mere peeche tha toh Shree ne bol diya ki meri shaadi ho gayi hai

Arjun(angrily): of course, kabhi main tum par line maarta hun, kabhi main tumhara pati ban jaata hun

Riya: maine unke aage aapka naam nahi liya aur main aapka naam kyun lungi? Mujhe use bhagana hi toh tha, aur agar naam lena bhi padta toh aap toh nahi aane waale the, main Chotu ka naam nahi leti? Uski body dekh kar hi woh bhaag jaata (he doesn’t respond, she sighs sadly) aapko mujhse zyaada, us random aurat par vishwas hai?

Arjun glares at her.

Riya lowers her gaze and turns to leave. A voice inside of him screams at Arjun seeing her droopy shoulders. He grumbles mentally.

Arjun: Riya

She stops. He takes a deep breath to calm himself.

Arjun: tumhe kuch aur pata chala?

Riya: nahi abhi tak toh nahi, soch rahi hun rooms mein ek baar checking karu

Arjun looked upstairs: itne saare?

Riya: karna toh padega

She leaves without saying anything further. Arjun mv “ye upset hai ya normal ho gayi? Par normal thi toh muskurayi kyun nahi? main firse iske baare mein kyun soch raha hun? Case par dhyaan de Arjun!”

Riya starts searching from Kalki Devi’s room itself. However, she finds nothing. As she is leaving, her eye falls on a ring that is near a decorative curtain. She picks it up.

Shree and Chotu meet her on the way down.

Chotu: hey! Rathore sir waapis aaye?

Riya: kyun? kaha gaye hai?

Chotu: unhone bola tha woh peeche khaana banane ki jagah par check karne jaa rahe hai, aadha ghanta hone ko hai, dikhayi nahi de rahe isliye

Riya: acha? Main dekhti hun… Shree phone location?

Shree: ajeeb kuch bhi nahi hai

Riya: ok thanks!

She goes to the backyard. A maharaj and his workers were cooking food in large quantities mv “Rathore sir toh yaha nahi hai, kaha chale gaye?”

She goes back in and catches Arjun’s eye. He looked at her questioningly. She signals him to a quiet corner.

Arjun: kya hua?

Riya: Rathore sir gayab hai

Arjun: what?

Riya: woh peeche kitchen mein jaane waale the, aadha ghanta ho gaya, he is nowhere aur…(showing him the ring) ye mujhe Kalki Devi ke room ke baahar mili

Arjun takes the ring from her.

Riya: aurat ki hai par kisi random insaan ki bhi giri hui ho sakti hai

Arjun: hm, Rathore ko maharaj ne dekha kya?

Riya: maine pucha nahi, socha kahi shak na ho jaaye

Arjun: main jaa kar dekhta hun, Shree se kaho ki uska phone trace kare

Riya nods and leaves. Arjun goes to the backyard to check. He asks the cook but he gives an incomplete rude answer. He glares at him as he continues stirring. Arjun balls his fist pondering over the consequences of punching him. Just then, a message beeps on his phone. Rathore’s phone had been traced to a dhobi-ghat nearby. Leaving the cook, Arjun rushes to the location.

He finds Rathore caught by a bunch of goons. His blood boils on seeing him in danger. One of them advances towards Sameer with a knife. Arjun jumps in, catching his hand and punching with such a force that his nose bled. The others rush to try and contain him. Rathore too gets free because of this. The duo beat them all up within minutes.

Arjun grabs hold of a man’s corner: Kiske Log Ho Tum?!!? Bolo!!

Man: hume, hume nahi pata saab, bas phone aaya tha

Arjun snatches his phone and throws it away.

Rathore clears his throat: thanks

Arjun nods. They return to the house and the team gathers in a room.

Shree: lekin gharwaalon ke ilawa toh kisi ko nahi pata ki hum hai

Rathore: exactly! Matlab jo bhi koi hai woh gharwaalon mein se hi hai

Arjun holds up the ring: aur ek aurat hai

Chotu: matlab Kinjal ya fir teen bahu

Rathore: ye ring unki bhi ho sakti hai

Chotu: sir, har ek ke haath mein fit karke dekhe toh?

Riya: Chotu, size ka kya hai? same ho sakti hai, aise pata nahi chalega aur ho sakta hai ki humare direct puchne par woh alert ho jaaye aur waise bhi woh sach kyun bolega?

Rathore: Riya sahi keh rahi hai, Shree! Us number ke baare mein kya pata chala?

Shree: fake ID sir, baat karne ke baad se switch off hai lekin last location yahi ghar hai

Arjun: ghar waalon ko bulao, Chotu! Har ek ke liye paani ke bowls lekar aao !

Riya and Chotu leave the room. She was walking ahead of him. He bends down to tie his shoelace. Just as he looked back up, a hand caught hers and pulled her into a room. Horrified, Chotu rushed back to inform the others.

Riya was shocked at the audacity. Karan smirks at her.

Riya: Tum?!

Karan: ha darling main… mujhe sab pata chal gaya hai, tum log police waale hona? Undercover? Woh admi tumhara koi pati wati nahi hai (advancing towards her) ab agar tumne na bola na toh main sabko bata dunga

Riya: dekho, hum yaha tumhari hi family ki help karne aaye hai, isliye behtar hoga agar tum apna muh band rakho!

Karan: help? Mujhe tumhari help nahi, tum chahiye

A seed bursts inside her. He grabs her hand and then what? Her fist breaks his nose. Her leg meets his gut. She bangs his head against her knee and kicks him again. He falls to the floor unconscious.

She glares at him. Exhaling deeply, she looks up to find the four boys at the door. Rathore smirks and leaves. Arjun shakes his head and follows. Shree and Chotu still had their jaws dropped to the floor.

She shrugs and arranges her hair before leaving to call the family.

In the room-

Arjun: sab apni-apni anghoothiyaan nikal kar apne aage paani mein daalo

Jignesh(elder son): kyun?

Arjun: jitna kehta hun utna karo, samjhe ya samjhau?

Sumit glances at Rathore. He nods. They do as told. Arjun observes the bowls of water.

Arjun: kuch nahi, aap log jaa sakte hai

His statement shocks everyone in the room. The family gets angry for them wasting their time and accusing them instead of finding Kalki Devi and whoever the actual culprit is. They take the case back and ask the ETF to stay in the function as guests before storming out.

Rathore: Sumit, meri baat….

Sumit(disheartened): bhai ke aage main nahi bol sakta Sameer but thank you, ab acha hoga agar tum log ise jaane do

He leaves as well. Rathore balls his fists in anger. He turns to Arjun to give him a piece of his mind but he leisurely walks out. Gritting his teeth, Rathore follows him.

Shree: ab kya? Case khatam?

Riya: I doubt, pakka Arjun sir ke dimag mein kuch chal raha hai

Shree: lekin kya?

Riya: ab ye toh wahi bata sakte hai

Chotu: toh hum kya kare?

Riya smiles: guest bante hai

They giggle and the trio move down to the hall. Riya is pulled among the ladies doing garba. Shree and Chotu keep an eye out on the happenings.

Just then Arjun arrives. He looks around and sees Janvi standing at a side and watching everyone dance. His eyes fall on Riya dancing with them. He tries calling out to her when she is on his side but it doesn’t reach her mv “Dammit!”

He waits for her to circle again. Taking the chance, he grabs her hand and pulls her to himself. Shree and Chotu look at each other in shock………………………..