Second Chance at Falling in Love

Second Chance at Falling in Love

Ahir got out of the police van and rubbed his face. The May heat was horrible, and he just wanted to sleep. But there was a serial killer on the loose, and though Ahir didn’t believe in exaggeration, it all did fell to him to solve the case. 

He stepped into the saree shop he was supposed to question and knocked on the counter.

“Yes?” A soft voice resonated from the storage area, and a woman dressed in a simple saree came into view. She looked at him and his uniform curiously for a second until he spoke. 

“I am Inspector Ahir. I have a few questions about a murder case reported in Madhapur.”

“Of course,” she nodded and sat down. Ahir took out his mini pad and phone.

“May I know your name, please?”

“Pallavi Deshmukh.”

“Are you the owner of this shop?”

“Yes.”

“A murder incident took place two days ago. The victim’s name is Shefali Boini. We found this bill in her bag. She was reportedly shopping at your shop a few hours before the murder.” He showed her an image of the bill on his phone, which she studied, and then nodded. He then showed her a picture of the victim.

“Did you see anything suspicious, or did you see anyone follow her or something? Can you tell me what happened that day?” 

“I cannot say if I saw someone follow her or anything. But, there is something weird about this bill. You will notice that all the ‘i’s are cancelled in the header, unlike any of my bills,” she said. 

Ahir almost pulled the phone out of her reach to see the image. He studied the bill as he thought of the other two murders. How had he missed it? 

He cleared his throat and tried to think of something smart to say, even though he was feeling stupid.

“Ms. Deshmukh, may I see a copy of your other bills?”

Pallavi complied, and Ahir noted the marks the killer had left on the bill.

“Ok, thank you for that. Anything else you would like to add?”

“Sorry, Inspector. But that’s all I can remember. She visited during peak business hours, so I don’t think I can be of any more help.”

Ahir nodded. He fanned himself as another heatwave washed over him. Feeling dizzy, he clutched the wooden counter to stabilize himself.

“Are you ok, Inspector?” Pallavi asked with concern.

“Sorry, the heat,” Ahir shrugged.

Pallavi looked at him and pulled out a bottle of fresh juice from the cabinet behind her. He looked at her in surprise and took a few slow sips from the bottle. He sighed in relief.

“Thank you,” he said.

She smiled gently.

“If my team or I have any more questions, we will visit you. Thank you for your time.”

“Ok.” she nodded, and he left.

~*~

Ahir looked at the ceiling of his rented car. Three weeks had passed since he had solved the case and put the serial killer behind bars. Three months since Anokhi and Shaurya had announced their engagement, and three months since Ahir had shifted to Hyderabad after accepting his promotion. Ahir was running away from himself for the last three months. 

He stepped out of the car and looked at the bakery café. Something gnawed at his heart. He missed Chandigarh. Hyderabad was beautiful, but Chandigarh was his heart. He missed having tea with Anokhi and debating how tea was better than coffee. He missed making Anokhi laugh, and he missed his mother’s homemade cookies.

Ahir's stomach growled. He pushed himself into the crowded bakery and looked around. There was no free table in sight. It seemed as if everyone in the city had decided to enjoy their morning in the café with their loved ones. He sighed and turned to leave when he found a familiar pair of eyes beaming at him. Pallavi smiled and waved. She then signed him to join her. After their first meeting, Pallavi and he hadn't spoken much. They had an awkward small talk when Pallavi had come down to the station to identify the suspect. The other time they had met was when he had visited the shop to check the CCTV footage.

He waved back, grateful to see a familiar face in the pool of unknown faces. But he stood there contemplating for a few moments. But the second grumbling in his stomach pushed him to Pallavi's table.

“Hello, Ms. Deshmukh.”

“Please call me Pallavi.” She waved, brushing off the formalities, and pointed at the table.

“I don't wish to intrude.”

“Well then, you aren’t intruding. Please join me. There is a creepy guy behind me who is staring at me, and I would really like some company before I snap his neck in half,” she whispered, and he looked at her in horror. He then glared at the man, whose eyes were on Pallavi. The man looked away, and Ahir sat opposite her and threw his sunglasses on the table.

“So, what would you like to have?” she asked, her voice now calmer.

He shrugged.

“I am visiting the bakery for the first time, so I am not sure.”

She looked at him in surprise.

“Oh, I am a newbie in the town. I shifted from Chandigarh three months ago. Now that I have some time on my hand, I decided to familiarize myself with the city. I have a theory that you should try the food that the city has to offer to know the city better. It makes people warm up to you and living in a new city becomes easy.” He explained and then blushed. “But of course, you don’t care about me or my theories. I’ll just order some tea and a bun.”

“Since you are new in the town, you should try the Meva bun with Irani chai, and no, your theory is actually fascinating. Food is an integral part of the culture, and it binds people, so I agree: try a city’s food to know its roots,” she said with a twinkle in her eyes, and Ahir felt warm in his heart. It was a small act of kindness. But Ahir was homesick, and at this moment, even a small smile of appreciation could make him weep.

“I am something of a genius myself,” he laughed as he tweaked a dialogue from the Spiderman series, and Pallavi rolled her eyes.

“So you are a superhero nerd too,” 

The policeman in Ahir had noticed how she had recognized a dialogue from the Spiderman movie and he noddded.

“I love romcoms too,” he said, “but superhero movies are more fun. But I love action thrillers the most.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me? An inspector liking thriller movies, how original!” she dead-panned.

“Why don’t you tell me what you like, and I’ll try to see if I can get surprised by your choices?” Ahir asked. A waiter approached them. They placed their order and thanked the waiter, who shouted out their table number and order.

“I like romantic movies and angsty movies,”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” he chuckled, and Pallavi snorted at his lame attempt at sarcasm.

"Don't you like superhero movies too? You did get the Spiderman reference." he asked and the smile on Pallavi's face became despondent for moment before returning back.

His phone rang before he could ask if he had said anything wrong.

“Excuse me,” he said, and she nodded. It was his mother calling.

“Hello Maa? Is everything ok? Why did you call early this morning? Is Dad ok? Is Anokhi ok? Is Shaurya ok?”

“Oof! Calm down. Everything is ok. We are going to go saree shopping, and I thought I should check with you before buying one for Anokhi. She is your best friend, after all. You would know what she likes the best.”

Ahir’s heart dropped to his stomach as the realization that the wedding was a few weeks away hit him. He gulped.

“Maa, don’t call for such silly things, yaar,” he tried to push away his pain and hide it behind annoyance.

“Ahir, you won’t be at the wedding. At least be a good friend and choose something for her.”

Ahir tapped his fingers on the table, hoping to distract himself.

“Fine. Buy something in duke blue or colors like that. She likes blue and dark colors look good on her. But I doubt she is going to wear the sarees. I still remember how much she had whined when she had worn one for her graduation.”

“I am gifting her a saree, and that’s it. The shopkeeper had left a few catalogs when he had visited yesterday, and I am sending you the pictures. Choose something and text me, fast.”

“Maa, listen, no...” But his mother had cut the call. Ahir sighed.

“Is everything ok?” Pallavi asked.

“Yes, my friend is getting married, and my maa is guilt-tripping me for missing it. And now I have to choose a saree for her,” he facepalmed.

“I can help you with that, you know, I am something of a saree expert myself,” she winked, and Ahir laughed. He thanked God for sending Pallavi his way, else the thoughts of the wedding would have made him cry there itself. Ahir’s mobile started pinging relentlessly with images of sarees. He passed it to Pallavi, who looked through the pictures, murmuring comments. The waiter placed their orders and left. Ahir drank his tea while Pallavi left hers untouched.

“This one is nice,” Pallavi said and showed him a picture of an ink blue netted saree. The embroidery work on it was heavy, and it looked pretty.

“Yes, it’s nice. Thank you. But please have your tea. It will go cold.”

She pulled the cup to herself and inhaled the smell. Slowly, she sagged into her seat, and Ahir couldn’t help but smile.

“What?” she asked. “Please don’t judge me, but I function on tea. So, even the smell of tea is enough to relax me.”

“Oh no, I am stupid crazy about tea too. My friend, Anokhi, too, is. Her to-be-husband doesn’t like tea. You just reminded me of all the coffee vs tea debates we used to have.”

“Coffee is for snobs,” Pallavi wrinkled her nose.

“The queen has spoken.” Ahir bowed theatrically, and Pallavi imitated the Queen of England’s signature wave.

The two sat in a comfortable silence as they continued with their breakfast, when Pallavi’s eyes fell on the clock hanging on the wall behind him.

“Deva! I missed the bus! Now Baba will have a freakout!”

“Where are you off to?”

“The shop.”

“Can I drop you?” he asked before he could stop himself.

“Please no, I don’t mean to intrude...” Pallavi began but he interrupted her.

“I intruded on your breakfast solo date. You can intrude on my solo car date to work.”

She smiled and looked at her watch.

“Ok, thank you so much,” he nodded, and she asked the waiter for the bill. They paid their share and left the café.

As soon as they got in the car, his mother called him, praising him about the saree and then telling him about the rituals planned for the wedding. Ahir only said “Hmm…”, but he wasn’t paying attention to her because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to handle listening to anything that had to do with Shaurya and Anokhi’s wedding.

They made it through the traffic to Pallavi’s shop. His mother was still telling him about the wedding, the relatives, and other gossips from Chandigarh that he was missing out on. When they reached the shop, Ahir said a hurried goodbye to his mother and cut the call.

“I should file a case against you.”

“Did I do something wrong?” he asked in shock.

“You were on the phone while driving. Imagine being in police and not following the traffic rules,” she laughed. Something told him that she had been planning this joke for a while now.

“That was a very bad joke,” he said smiling.

“What are you doing this evening?”

“Are you asking me on a date, Ms. Deshmukh?” he asked and gasped dramatically, though he knew that wasn’t the case.

“That’s what my dating life has come to, asking out an Inspector who I had tea with! No silly! There is a small tapri that serves some good tea, and since you are exploring the city, it will help you with your theory.”

“Well, my shift ends at 4, so if you are ok with that, I can pick you up at 5?”

“Works,” she smiled.

Ahir looked at her.

“Thank you,” he said. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“Same here. It’s been a long time since I made a friend.”

“So we are friends, then?”

“Get out of here!” she snapped, still smiling.

~*~

Calling them ‘friends’ was jumping the gun, but Ahir didn’t mind it. Now that he had an outing planned, the city felt a little less hollow. The day passed with FIRs, superiors yelling, juniors scowling, and everyone still looking at him like he was the new kid. But Ahir knew he had managed to impress them all by apprehending the serial killer and solving his first case. He realized that he hadn’t thanked Pallavi for indirectly helping him piece an important clue, that the killer was cancelling with the vowels on any paper found near the victim after killing them. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to give the case a direction. 

Ahir smiled as Pallavi stepped into his car. The drive was a silent one. Ahir had tried to strike up a conversation, but Pallavi wasn’t keen on having one. She was only talking when she had to give directions.

They reached the tapri. It was near the highway and surrounded by trees. The setting sun added to the charm of the moment. He looked at the tapri and the woman sitting next to him. She sighed and looked at him and smiled.

They ordered their preferred tea and sat on the bench, waiting for the old tapri-owner to make the tea.

“Are you ok?” Ahir asked a subdued Pallavi.

“I hope I didn’t force you or manipulate you into anything?” he said hurriedly.

“Oh no, I am so sorry about my behavior. It’s just that this place is very special to me. My husband had proposed to me here,” she said and looked away.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that you were married,” he said and looked at her and frowned at the absence of a mangalsutra. 

Pallavi shook her head and interrupted him.

“Don’t worry. You didn’t know. Mandar passed away two years ago.”

“I am sorry for your loss,” Ahir offered his condolences, and she nodded to accept them. It broke his heart that someone so beautiful and kind like Pallavi was destined for a fate like this. Their heartbreaks were so similar, yet so different, Pallavi could never meet Mandar again, but Ahir, if he was a braver, he could go back again to Chandigarh to see him, again.

“I come here, once a month, just to...” she looked at him, “feel his presence,” they said together. Her eyes went wide with surprise.

“I know the feeling, too.”

“Do you… do you do that too, or am I going crazy?” she asked, twiddling her hands.

“If this is crazy, then I had once spent an entire night at the Sukhana lake, only to relive the memories I shared there with...” he sighed and shook his head.

“Is she the one who is getting married?”

Ahir nodded in a no.

“He is the one who is getting married,” he sighed.

“I could never tell him. I came out to my family that I was bisexual, but I couldn’t tell Shaurya, not when he and Anokhi are so much in love.” Ahir looked away and wiped the tear trickling down his cheek. His heart was heavy, but he was glad that Pallavi was by his side. It was so easy to share his pain with her.

“I wanted a small life with Mandar, you know, a small house with a swing for our kid. We would spend the Saturdays watching superhero movies and then spend the Sundays here, just him and me.”

“It’s a beautiful dream,” Ahir offered. 

“It’s just a dream,” Pallavi replied, her eyes brimming with tears.

“Do you... do you ever think it’s wrong to move on?” she asked hesitantly. “Mandar told me that it was fine, but I am not sure. I can’t ask anyone else this question. His parents want me to get remarried, but I am scared, so I ignore the marriage talks. I don’t have anyone else who will give me an answer that will help me solve the emotional mess I am in right now.”

“I want to know, too. Because at this point, I don’t know how to feel. I love Shaurya. I love both of them, and I can’t hate them, not even for breaking my heart, so won’t it be best to try to push it back in the past?”

“You can’t run away from your feelings, Ahir,” she said.

“But you can try to move on,” Ahir said and looked at her. She looked back at him, her eyes filled with pain and anguish. She held his hand, and that’s when he noticed the ring on her finger.

“Yes, we can,” she smiled.

Ahir smiled. It was as if someone had saved him from drowning. He knew the answers to his questions, but it was nice for someone to confirm them. Especially someone like Pallavi, who had faced much worse than he had. He hoped that she finds someone to fall in love with, and he hoped that whoever he falls in love with, was like Pallavi. He didn’t have to know her for long to know that he would love to be with someone kind and compassionate, yet strong, like Pallavi.

~Fin~

Beta read by: tournesol

Sorry Rado for not sticking to what you asked, but Shaurya x Ahir is my OTP.