Chapter 37

Bloomie

@bloomie

Part 37 [MEMBERSONLY][NOCOPY]

He lets go of her hand: uh… woh, sorry

She looks away…………………………..

Arjun: sorry yaar, mujhe gussa aa gaya tha

Riya: aap sabka gussa mere upar kyun nikalte hai?

Arjun: sabka kaha? Woh toh bas, us aurat ka aur iska (she glares at him) sorry… par main kya karu? woh useless hai hi aisa

Riya: kya?

Arjun: ha! tumhe pata hai hum, humare batches ek saath hi the training academy mein… aur woh, saari ladkiyon ko fasaane ke liye famous tha, ek saath teen-teen, chaar-chaar ladkiyan lekar ghumta tha toh… bas isliye

Riya: really? Rathore sir?

Arjun: ha

Riya: aap sach keh rahe hai?

Arjun: main tumse kyun jhoot bolunga?

Riya: par aisa lagta toh nahi hai

Arjun: are woh us time waise hi tha, ab kaisa hai mujhe nahi pata

Riya: I don’t think woh abhi bhi waise hai

Arjun: woh ho ya na ho, mujhe koi farak nahi padta, mujhe tumse farak padta hai

She smiles: itna insecure hone ki zaroorat nahi hai

Arjun fumbles: main… main insecure nahi hu!

Riya: chalo maan liya

He looks at her in confusion. She winks at him.

Arjun: Riya! kaam karo! ye office hai!

He starts walking away.

Riya: are aap waha kaha jaa rahe hai? aapki seat is taraf hai

Arjun stops short mv “Shit man!”

Arjun: main chai lene jaa raha hun, samjhi ya samjhau?

Riya giggles as he leaves: samaj gayi

She had just started to arrange things on her desk when a knock resounded on her door.

Riya: come in

Shree and Chotu enter. Seeing them, she flattens her face. They walk upto her desk with their heads hung in guilt.

Chotu: woh Riya, hum…

Shree: darasal hume…

Chotu: hume tumse…

Riya: jo bhi bolna hai seedhe-seedhe bolo, mere paas tumhare peeche waste karne ke liye time nahi hai!

Her words hurt them further.

Shree looks up: Riya hum toh bas maafi maangne aaye the

Chotu: ha, please hume maaf kar do, tumhe gussa karna hai toh karo lekin aise humse, muh mat fero please

Riya: aur kuch?

They look at each other and then at Riya. The nods their heads in a no.

Riya: dismissed!

Shree: Riya hum..

She glares at him, effectively quieting him. They walk out with heavy hearts. Arjun returns after a few minutes sipping his all-time favourite cutting chai.

The day progresses but the case does not. Even though the officers were aware of a few famous hit-men, they could not do anything without information. The girls fussed and fumed while Shree and Chotu tried their level best to work around the situation.

They were angry at the girls for talking to Riya in such a manner, sad because she wasn’t talking to them and frustrated as Arjun and Rathore both kept pressurizing the lot for finding clues, who randomly turned up in the conference room and left after scolding them.

Sakshi: are yaar had hai! Sameer us Riya ko kuch nahi keh raha aur humare upar barse jaa raha hai

Ayesha: aur nahi toh kya? Maine subah bhi unse baat karne ki koshish ki lekin woh usiki side le rahe hai…. mujhe unse ye umeed nahi thi!!!

Chotu(angrily): aur hume bhi tum logon se ye umeed nahi thi!!

Shree piped in: tum logon ki wajah se Riya humse bhi naraaz ho gayi hai!

Liza: oh Specky please! Ye ETF hai uska ghar nahi! aur aisa hai kya uske andar jo tum sab bas uski tarafdaari kar rahe ho?! use koi haq nahi banta ki is tarah investigation ko block kare!

Shree: kyun lizard? Tumne hi kaha tha na ki tumhe investigation ke liye sirf saboot chahiye? dhundh liya?

Lizard: Specky Ke Bache Main Tujhe Chodungi Nahi!!

Shree: mujhe pakadne ke bajay criminal ko pakadne ki koshish kar!

The boys stormed off frustrating the girls further. Ayesha punched the table in anger mv “ugh!!! Information toh nikal ni hi padegi ab!” She furiously messages a few of her informers and leaves the office.

And just like that, the eventful day ends. And then another. The juniors continued to flog for contract killers. How many ever names they could find through memory or outside contacts, they took them under radar. However, none had clicked so far.

To make matters worse, on the third day, a college student is found dead. Forensic investigation reveals it to be a drug overdose. And they slip into another loop of finding people in the area who supplied drugs. Thankfully, due to the confinement of the region, outside contacts helped the team nab the dealers who regularly sold drugs to the students of the particular college within the next two days. After that, it was just a matter of time before interrogation revealed the culprit.

Sameer and Arjun continued to give the lot a hard time for not finding leads in the previous case.

Ayesha: sir hum log koshish kar rahe hai!!

Arjun: Toh Fir Abhi Tak Kuch Pata Kyun Nahi Chala?!!?

She clenched her fists and turned to Rathore, knowing that Arjun was not going to be of any help.

Ayesha: sir agar record room locked nahi hota toh hum saari information thodi hi der mein nikal sakte

Rathore sighs: Riya, tumhare paas koi alternative hai?

Riya addresses everyone: ayiye mere saath

Confused, they follow as she leads to the record room. She turns the knob and pushes open the door.

Riya(entering): Le lijiye sir aapko jo file chahiye

The team has the ground beneath them swept away. All the files were lying in 3 mountainous piles on the floor.

Liza: ye… ye… ye kya…. Isme se kaise dhundhenge hum?

Riya shrugs.

Sakshi: Tumne Abhi Tak Inhe Theek Nahi Kiya?!!?

Riya crosses her arms: kya haina Miss Anand, ki mere paas articles likhne ke ilawa aur bhi bahot kaam hai

She glares at her but Riya turns a blind eye.

Shree: uh, kitna, time lagega Riya?

Riya: ek do mahine mein saari file apni jagah par pahunch jaayegi

He stared at her, and then the pile, exchanged a glance with Chotu and gulped.

Ayesha felt her head spinning: uh… thanks, hum kuch aur dhundh lenge

And runs away. The others follow, disheartened.

Shree’s station-

Ayesha: oh god! Ab kya karenge?

Liza: ek-do mahine mein na jaane kitne aise cases aayenge? Woh solve nahi honge, Rathore sir aur Arjun sir hume kacha chaba jaayenge aur upar se humara kaam kitna badh jaayega

Chotu: aur Riya humari bilcul bhi help nahi karegi, system bhi puri information enter hone se pehle nahi khulega, use akele sab kuch karte-karte, na jaane aur kitna time lagega

Shree: is sab ka sirf ek hi solution hai

Ayesha: kya?

Shree: yahi jo hume pehle din kar dena chahiye, Riya se maafi! Agar humne records sambhal kar rakhe hote toh ye naubat hi nahi aati. Main ye nahi keh raha hun ki sab kuch theek hona chahiye tha, lekin itna bura bhi nahi hona chahiye tha, hum jaante hai use, uske saath kaam bhi kar chuke hai aur woh bhi itna toh samajti

Ayesha and Liza ponder over his words.

Sakshi: Kyun?! Hume kyun usse maafi maange? Woh kahi ki maharani hai kya?

Chotu: Sakshi chup raho! Galti hum logon ki hai, uski nahi!! aur kya ukhaad liya hum logon ne records ke bagair? Mushkil se baahar se information milti hai, aisi choti-choti information ke liye bhi hume informers wagera par bharosa karna pad raha hai jab ki humare paas database hai, unke paise jaa raha hai woh alag! Fir ho gaya ETF ka budget ka kalyan! Kya likhenge hum monthly report mein? Kyun itne saare paise sirf khabriyon par kharch ho rahe hai? aur upar se cases lag honge woh alag! Woh toh is baar humare paas roz case nahi aaya, aage thodi aise chalega?

Liza sighed and sat on a chair: ye bhi hai, maybe we all over reacted

Sakshi: oh come on Liza tum bhi!

Liza(irritated): Sakshi for god’s sake! practically socho! (turning to Ayesha) tum toh kuch bolo, Specky aur Chotu sahi keh rahe hai

Shree: oh Shit! Main paagal ho raha hun

They looked at him weirdly.

Shree: are maine suna ki Lizard ne bola ki Specky sahi bol raha hai! main pakka paagal ho raha hun, ya fir shayad main sapna dekh raha hun (he pinched himself) Oww!

Liza chuckled: shut up Specky!! Tum abhi toh paagal nahi ho, lekin agar ye sab aise hi chalta raha toh hum sab zaroor ho jaayenge

Shree: oh god! Lizard ne bola ki main paagal nahi hu?!?! Hey bhagwan! Utha le mujhe! Ye main kya sun raha hun? Nahi, nahi! mujhe apni baakhi ki zindgi mental hospital mein nahi guzaarni

Liza rolled her eyes and slapped his arm. Shree laughed. And then, she started too. The others stared at them, wondering how the cat and mouse were suddenly getting along.

Chotu: guys! Kuch socho!

Shree and Liza came back to the present, redirecting their focus to the problem at hand.

Liza: Ayesha, yaar kuch toh bol

Ayesha looks at them, still divided in her mind.

Sakshi: Ayesha dekh! Tune hi kaha tha na ki hum use sabak sikha kar rahenge? Toh fir ab ye second guesses karna chod!

Shree: tum use bhadka kyun rahi ho?

Liza: Sakshi tumhe kyun itni problem ho rahi hai? tumhara toh kisi se koi lena dena nahi hai, tumhara kaam sirf articles likhna hai

Sakshi: tum mujhse..

Liza: Ayesha, ye dono sahi keh rahe hai ab baat ko kheench kar koi faayda nahi

Sakshi: ye baat use samaj ni chahiye! na ki Ayesha ko!

Chotu: Ayesha tu iski baat mat sun, apni sun!

Sakshi: Chotu tumhare kehne ka…

Ayesha: chup ho jao tum sab!!!

She bangs her hand on the table in frustration.

Arjun’s cabin-

The duo were sitting at his table.

Arjun: Riya, tum woh files khud toh waise bilcul bhi nahi rakhogi (she smiles) bolo na

Riya: woh sirf file ke covers the, saare papers maine shelves ke peeche rakhe hue hai, data entries karni baakhi haina

Arjun: aur agar unhone dekh liya hota toh?

Riya: are shock se baahar aate toh dekhte na

Arjun chuckles: par tumhe lagta hai ye log jaldi sudhrenge?

She was about to say something when the door opened and Rathore entered.

Arjun: tum knock karke nahi aa sakte?

Riya: don’t worry sir, aapko mere cabin mein knock karne ke liye zaroorat nahi hai

Rathore chuckles: thank you par Riya thoda zyaada nahi ho raha hai?

Riya: Kya sir?

Rathore: Bano mat, ab jaane bhi do, kitni problem ho rahi hai

Riya: Fir bhi unhe apni galti ke ehsaas nahi hai

Rathore: Par Riya case

Riya picks up a file from the table and passes it to him.

Riya: ye raha aapka case, us restaurant owner ke chachere bhai ne uski supari di thi

Rathore reads through in shock: ye sab kaise?

Riya: sniper chalane waale high profile Mumbai mein 15 hai jis mein se 6 jail ki saza kaat rahe hai, maine aur Arjun sir ne ek-ek ko pakad kar puch-tach ki toh pata chal gaya

Rathore turns to Arjun: Main kabse pareshaan hun, soch-sochkar meri haalat kharab ho rahi thi aur tumne mujhe batana zaroori nahi samjha?

Arjun: bilcul nahi

Rathore glares at him.

Arjun mv “Shukar mana sirf bataya nahi, Chandramukhi ke darshan nahi karaye tumhe. Meri Riya ko darling kehta hai, flirt kahin ka!”

Riya: ye hit man, area ke police station mein pada hai, ab aap ek kaam kijiye, aap un sabse kahiye ki police headquarters jaakar file dhundhe tab tak main aur Arjun sir is bhai ko utha kar lekar aate hai, jab tak woh log file dhundhenge tab tak aap dono ka interrogation bhi khatam ho jaayega aur case bhi

Rathore shook his head: headquarters ka record room?

Riya: ha

Rathore mv “bahot gaaliyaan padne waali hai aaj mujhe!”

Rathore: badle mein mujhe kya milega?

Riya: hey bhagwan, firse rishwat?

He smirks: well pichli baar tumne puri nahi di thi

Arjun balls his fist under the table. Glaring at Rathore, he turns to Riya.

Arjun: tumhari akal thikaane par hai?

Riya: main kuch samjhi nahi sir

Arjun: tumhe lagta hai ki Rathore unse kahega ki woh headquarters ke record room jaa kar information nikale?

Rathore: excuse me? Main yaha ka Chief hun, of course tumne shayad notice nahi kiya hoga..

Arjun: main faaltu cheezein notice nahi karta