Chapter 40

Bloomie

@bloomie

Part 40 [MEMBERSONLY][NOCOPY]

Chotu: but sir, is case ka kya?

The seniors exchanged glances amongst themselves……………………………

Ayesha: ha sir, already bahot delay ho gaya hai. Arjun sir woh list de dijiye na, hum atleast information nikalne ke liye khabriyon ko bol dete hai

Shree: main sabke contact details nikaalta hu, aur victim ke aaspaas waalon mein se match karne ki koshish karta hun

Riya: nahi!

They looked at her in confusion.

Liza: kyun?

Riya: uh woh darasal…

Arjun: case solve ho chuka hai

Chorus: KYAAAA?!?!

Sakshi: kab?

Rathore: kal hi ho gaya tha, we arrested the guy

Ayesha glared at Arjun: aur aapne hume batana tak zaroori nahi samjha? I don’t believe this! You just enjoy…

Riya pipes in not wanting things to escalate between them.

Riya: Woah! Hold on, hold on! Ayesha shaant ho jao Arjun sir…

Rathore: ha sach mein Rawte ne toh mujhe bhi batana zaroori nahi samjha

Riya almost glared at Sameer while Arjun stood with his usual poker face, ready to ignore Ayesha as he had been after Riya suggested him to. Ayesha and Arjun glared at each other.

Riya: Rathore sir bataya aapne bhi nahi aur na batana hi point tha.

The others mellowed down after hearing that. Ayesha included. She sighed.

Sakshi: ek second! matlab ye bhi tumne jaan buchkar kiya?

Riya: ha, maine hi kiya

Shree: main ghar jaakar apne laptop ka wallpaper change karne waala hu

The others looked at him in confusion.

Shree: ha aur likhunga, Riya ko kabhi gussa mat dilana

Riya shook her head while Rathore, Liza and Ayesha chuckled.

Chotu: ab ghar chale? Mujhe bhook lagi hai!!!

Laughter erupted in the room barring Arjun who just walked back to his desk. The rest of the team quickly wrapped up their belongings and started to leave. Since Riya was the only one apart from the ACP’s who was in office only she took a while to get her things in order.

Parking lot-

Ayesha: jaana nahi?

Shree: tum log chalo, main aur Chotu Ri ke saath dinner karke jaayenge

Liza: ye plan kab bana

Shree chuckled: abhi-abhi

Liza: ok see you tomorrow

Shree: ya

Sakshi: tum log itna casual kaise ho? un logon ne case solve kar liya fir bhi humse itni mehnat karwayi aur tum log ho ki….

Ayesha: oho Sakshi, woh toh obvious haina? Tum kyun itni hyper ho rahi ho?

Sakshi: are lekin usne itna sab kuch kiya, fir bhi Sameer aur Arjun uska saath de rahe hai? aur woh Arjun ke cabin mein kyun hai?

Chotu: abe yaar, teri sui wahi ke wahi atki padi hai, tum reporter log na, dimag ka dahi kiye bagair chain nahi lete

Liza: aur nahi toh kya, chill maar yaar

Sakshi grumbled and cursed under her breath: fine! Lekin woh Arjun ke cabin mein kya kar rahi hai? uska desk kyun waha hai? aisa toh nahi hai ki office mein jagah nahi

Ayesha and Liza too were curious on that point.

Ayesha: ha? ya fir? Is sab ki wajah se temporarily woh waha thi?

Chotu: ji nahi, woh permanently hi wahi hai

Liza: kyun?

Chotu raised his eyebrow and looked at the three of them as if they were dumb.

Chotu: kyunki woh Arjun sir ke baad chain of command mein hai

Chorus: KYA!?

Ayesha(horrified): matlab?

Shree: matlab kya?

Ayesha: matlab woh humari senior hai?!

Shree(casually): ha

Sakshi: kaise?

Chotu: kaise matlab? Woh senior inspector hai

Liza and Ayesha felt like banging their heads on the nearest pillar.

Liza: you idiots! Tum logon ne hume pehle kyun nahi bataya?

Chotu: hume laga pata hoga

Ayesha: paagal ho tum? Pata Hota Toh Kya Senior Se Is Tarah Baat Karte?!!?

Shree: uh, tu Arjun sir se toh..

Ayesha: are woh alag hai, woh toh bas, mere mission ki wajah se, mujhe unse chid hoti hai… oh god! Woh hume suspend kar sakti thi! Aur tum dono! Tum Dono Gadhe Ho!

Chotu: are humne kya kiya?

Ayesha: are bol nahi sakte the kya?

Liza: ha kam se kam hint toh dena chahiye tha

Shree: bola toh tha ki maafi maang lete hai

Liza: shut up! Saath mein ye nahi bol sakte the ki senior se panga nahi lena chahiye

Shree: are hume kya pata ki tum logon ko pata nahi aur waise kuch dhyaan mein bhi nahi aaya

Ayesha: dhyaan mein nahi aaya? Seriously?! Aur tum log use naam se kaise bulaate ho? aur name se chodo, Shree tu! I love you? Ri? Kiss? SERIOUSLY?!!?

Shree(defensively): excuse me, woh humari dost bhi hai aur usine hume use naam se bulane ke liye kaha tha jab woh aayi toh waise hi aadat hai hume

Chotu: ha hum humesha se use naam se hi bulaate hai

The girls looked at them in exasperation.

The elevator reached the ground floor and Rathore, Arjun and Riya walked out.

Shree lit up on seeing her: Riii! Dinner par chale?

Riya: ha chalo na

Chotu: aur fir gola

Riya: ha mera kaala khata!

Shree: are kaala khata kyun? Chotu haina? Sabke daant khatte karne ke liye

Riya and Chotu looked at him.

Shree: kya?

Riya: bahot hi bekar joke tha

Shree pouted.

Arjun: Shree!

Shree: yes sir?

Arjun: kal subah 6 baje office pahunch jaana warna samjhe ye samjhau?

Shree(horrified): 6 baje? Ky…kyun sir?

Arjun glares at him.

Shree cowered in fear: ok sir

Arjun gave him another hard look. Shree grabbed Riya and Chotu’s hand and dragged them away before he would get killed.

Next day, Police Headquarters-

Arjun and Shree were already present when the others showed up sharp at 7:50. Shree was sitting on the bench outside Vikram’s cabin while Arjun was busy staring out into the city. Shree tried to stand up and run to his friends but stumbled immediately. Riya and Chotu rush to him.

Riya: kya hua Shree?

Shree whined: mere pair tut gaye

Chotu: tut gaye?

Liza: Specky!! Kya hua tumhe? (kneeling down) mujhe batao

Shree: Lizard mere pair!!

Liza: oh Specky!

She hugged him while he pretended to cry.

The others raised an eyebrow at the interaction. Riya’s gaze fell on Arjun but he was conveniently ignoring all of them.

Chotu: abe draamebaaz, ab batayega bhi?

Liza: Chotu! Use itna dard ho raha hai aur tum use draamebaaz bol rahe ho? kaise dost ho tum?

Ayesha stifled her laughter while he gave her an exasperated look. It was going to take time for them to adjust to this new friendship.

Riya: are Shree batao toh sahi

Shree sniffed and separated from Liza: 600… 600 sit-ups

Riya: WHAT?

Chotu chuckled in surprise: tune 600 sit-ups kiye? Kis khushi mein?

Ayesha: tumhari body toh ek bhi handle nahi kar sakti

Rathore(suspiciously): Rawte ne karwaaye?

Shree sniffed and nodded his head.

Riya: isliye tumhe subah 6 baje bulaya tha?

He nodded his head vigorously.

Rathore mv “saza… lekin kal toh Shree office mein tha hi nahi sab shaam ko hi aaye the aur us time toh kuch kiya nahi Shree ne toh fir… kyun?”

Ayesha shook her head in disbelief mv “Hitler! kuch nahi ho sakta inka.”

Before anyone could react to that, the P.A. called them.

P.A. : sir ne aapko andar bulaya hai

Rathore nodded as he slipped back into the Chief mode.

Vikram’s cabin-

The team entered and saluted. Vikram greeted them cheerfully and gestured Rathore and Arjun to sit of which only the chief accepted the proposal. Vikram noticed Arjun and Riya had somehow ended up standing together on a side. He pursed his lips to contain his smile mv “Ooohh Progress! This will be fun.”

Vikram: ok! so here’s the deal. We have a local gang jo thoda sa pareshaan kar rahi hai. Drug peddling, they are started operating in Santa Cruz and spread to Khar, Vile Parle and waha ke kuch local markets extortion ki complaints bhi kar rahe hai. Iska head koi Jagdish Channa hai (passing Rathore a file) uski photo hai, thodi blurred hai but you guys will manage.

Rathore skimmed through the first page: ye log operate kaha se karte hai iski koi information hai sir?

Vikram: iski toh information nahi hai but we have confirmed intel ki aaj raat woh mangrove creek ki ek meeting point par deal karne waali hai, location file mein hai. Jagdish will be there. They are hoping to expand business.

Rathore: that’s great then, woh gang bhi pakdi jaayegi aur ye dusri waali ke bhi kuch log mil jaayenge

Vikram: yes but, ek baat aur hai, one of his main guys, Manik is waqt gang mein nahi hai. kuch leads kehti hai ki woh us dusri gang ke saath hai deal negotiate karne gaya hai aur kuch kehti hai woh Pune apne ghar gaya hai kuch personal kaam se

Ayesha: sir, itni badi deal chodkar woh ghar kyun jaayega? woh dusre gang ke saath hi hoga

Vikram: maybe, but we are not sure. Jo bhi ho hume dono ko saath hi pakadna hoga warna dusra underground ho jaayega, gang chalti rahegi so main chahta hun ki tum log Pune ki lead bhi check karo.

Rathore: sure sir, I think koi ek jaa kar waha check kar sakta hai

Vikram: I would prefer two, better be safe. Arjun, jaoge?

Arjun agrees wordlessly.

Rathore: ok then, uh Ay… nahi Shree, tum chale jao

Shree smiled half-heartedly remembering what Arjun did to him in the morning.

Vikram: Shree ke zaroorat nahi padegi tum logon ko?

Rathore: we’ll manage sir, technical work toh kahi se bhi ho sakta hai

Vikram: no don’t take such a risk, kisi aur ko bhejo

Rathore glanced at his team: sir Sakshi ko bhej kar koi matlab nahi (she frowns), Ayesha aur Rawte toh… Shree should be fine sir, we’ll need Chotu maybe Liza, yes, tum jaa sakti ho. Hume post-mortems toh karne nahi hai

Vikram: come on Rathore, Liza defend kar sakti hai but utni bhi trained nahi hai. woh sirf support kar sakti hai

Rathore(confused): support hi toh karna hai sir, she will be perfect

Vikram mv “Ye Rathore bhi na! huh sab kuch mujhe hi karna padega.”

Arjun mv “ye log decide toh aise kar rahe hai jaise mujhe uske saath ghar basana hai, ugh! Just decide already! Mujhe nahi chahiye koi! Main akela hi theek hu.”

Vikram: nahi, I am not convinced (glancing at the team, he pretends to think) are hum…

Arjun: sir! I am fine on my own

Vikram mv “no you’re not!”

Vikram ignored his comment: ek kaam karte hai tum aur Riya chale jao, tum dono pehle bhi saath mein work kar chuke ho. Rene was good.

Rathore: but sir Riya…

Vikram: it will be good, they are experienced, equipped and balance each other out

Riya whispered to Arjun: balance each other? Are we fire and water?

Arjun whispered back in amusement: so tum keh rahi ho main hot hu aur tum paani?

She gave him a smug smile: nahi I mean main hot hu aur aap paani

Arjun was about to taunt her again when Vikram spoke up.

Vikram: see! They are already discussing plans

The duo almost jumped while all other eyes turned to them. Sakshi looked at them sternly. Arjun grumbled and cursed under his breath.

Vikram: kyun Riya tumhe toh koi problem nahi haina jaane mein?

He picked up a glass of water to drink.

Riya: nahi sir, jab tak aap mujhe research desk nahi bhejte (Vikram choked on his water) tab tak main bilcul theek hu

The four boys looked away controlling their laughs.

Vikram squinted at her mv “mujhe bhi abhi paani peena tha ye ladki kabhi nahi sudhregi.” His gaze faltered to Arjun. Smirking, he looked back at her.

Vikram: ab toh tumhe galti se bhi waha nahi bhej sakta (She raises her eyebrow) ha warna next time tum seedhe court hi pahunch jaogi

Riya rolled her eyes. He clapped his hands and addressed the team.

Vikram: That's all, go bust them!!!

Rathore: uh thank you sir, we will keep you posted.

Vikram nods. They give a collective salute and leave. Rathore cursed the commissioner under his breath for sending Arjun and Riya together……………………………