Chapter 96

Chapter #93

"There is some news: not totally unfavorable, but it..."

"The only good news you can have for me is that you have secured bail for me," Sonal groused to her legal representative. "A blind man can see that I am a victim of a conspiracy; that they have colluded against me. When exactly are you going to do something useful?"

The hapless attorney, who had paused at the start of his capricious client's outburst, tightened his jaw and waited out her volatile interruption. By every right he had just reason to withdraw his services from the duplicitous woman. He too, although to a lesser degree, had been a victim of her fraudulent deeds. Aware now that he  had, albeit unknowingly, taken an active role in the complicity that had brought harm to two families, sickened hm, and the attorney, brimmed with unbridled rancor. Until this situation he had made the point of standing for justice, and the vileness of this immoral woman who dared to call herself a mother was almost more than he could stand. As he waited her vitriolic mutterings to run their course, he found solace in the fact that at least the child would most likely be permanently removed from her custody.

 

Finally it appeared that she was done.

 

"As I was saying the good news is that there is no guarantee that the custody ruling made in the UK will be honored here in India. The final decision will be made locally. Likewise, because the FIR was not made in the timely fashion, the allegations of child abuse probably will not hold water either."

Sonal beamed... things obviously were not as dire as she thought. "Good, it's about time you did your..." She paused when her lawyer held up his hand for her to be silent.

"However, because a case of kidnapping has been filed in the UK, there is every belief that an extradition order will be successful.  While you will be free of the child abuse charges; if the filing is done right away, your detention would then be classified as a provisional arrest until the extradition application has been processed. If after sixty days an order has not been obtained you will be released. Of course your son will be placed into custody of the state, unless other arrangements are made. I have every belief that Mr. and Mrs Tripathi will apply for, and be successful in obtaining temporary custody should this occur."

"Sixty days... for two months, you actually expect me to remain in custody..."Sonal sputtered incredulously.

"My legal opinion would be for you to attempt to reconcile matters as amiably with your son's Aunt, Sonal. She may be persuaded to have the abduction charges dropped at best, or "look away" if you do the best thing in relinquishing custody on your own volition. In due course perhaps you can reach a state where you can revisit the possibility of visitation privileges."

"Are you mad, I will never cede to..." Sonal blasted to her lawyer. She began to panic, when after a moment's hesitation, the solicitor began collecting his papers and made to leave. "Wait... you cannot think to leave me..."

"Sonal Ji, I cannot continue to advise you if you are not willing to comprehend the gravity of the troubles you are facing; troubles which are of all of your making. Now I can either go and prepare to meet with Dr. Arora's legal counsel on your behalf to seek some resolution to these problems, or I can absolve myself completely and allow you to select another attorney. It is your choice how you wish to proceed. In your position, I would select the former. I am not saying that there aren't better representatives out there who may do a better a job than I, but you have put yourself in the position where you are fighting an uphill battle. Presently you have both evidences against you and an opposition with both the financial resources and more importantly the determination and legal acumen to make you pay for your offenses."  Having finished packing away his documents, the beleaguered lawyer stood to take his leave. "The decision is yours...contact me when you have made your choice. In the meantime, did the officer who booked you advise you that you have the right to a relative or colleague to attend you? Is there someone you wish for me to contact on your behalf, Sonal?"

Her own lawyer did not believe her. That and his imminent departure without her was the impetus that Sonal needed to finally realize that she wasn't facing a mere inconvenience. She was in desperate need of help to come out of this.  "Ji there is."

**********

"I expect at best, Sonal will be detained on the FIR for a maximum of 48 hours. If, as I believe, her attorney contests the delay in filing we need to be prepared immediately to begin the extradition process. I have already liaised with your UK solicitors so they will be at the ready to initiate the chargesheet. We in turn, will be prepared to make our submission directly to the court. The timing however is critical as, Sanjay will be removed from his mother's custody as soon as the process begins; to effectively become a ward of the state."

"Rachna and I will not allow that. Should it come to that we want a temporary custody order ready..."

The lawyer smiled and produced the order for his clients. "Done: in anticipation Kabir." Now he turned to address his newest client. "Have no fear, Dr. Arora. With all of the evidences against her I have all confidence that self-preservation will win out. You just need to determine how long you are willing to give Sonal to reach a decision, and what concessions, if any, you are ready to make in all of this... "

 

Sareena was aware of the three sets of eyes on her pressing her for an answer. She cleared her throat delicately.  "Actually this is a question that was posed to me by my own solicitor. Since the mainstay of the case built against Sonal is that she is in contempt of a court order, I am not even sure if I can do anything to persuade the authorities one way or another to drop the kidnapping charge, however as it was never bhai's intention to keep Sanjay's mother away from him entirely, my first thought was that I should aspire to keep to the original premise of Bhai's wishes." Out of the corner of her eye, she observed Kabir make to speak, only to be stopped by his wife. "But that was before today." She shook her head. "She is unfit to be a mother, and I do not want her to have access in any shape or form to Sanjay. Whatever it takes to accomplish this, I would like to do."

 

Supported on either side by the married couple, Sareena  left the law firm, spent from the tumultuous encounter with her former sister-in-law.  She was just the same, spiteful  and vicious, but never would have foreseen the  malicious declarations that Sonal had directed against her brother and then by default towards her.  The woman had never loved Bhai; he had only been the unsuspecting wealthy benefactor that Sonal had preyed on. And her poor Bhaiyaa..." Tears formed and dropped from her eyes so quickly that they caught even her unawares. She struggled to open her bag, but before she could, a wad of tissues where held in front of her.

"Take a deep breath, "Rachna advised gently before nodding to Kabir, who left the women to retrieve the car. "We will go and grab some lunch before we head back; maybe we can even start planning that trip we spoke about?"

"How can I even..."

"I have every belief that everything will work out, and so should you Sareena, thik hai?"

 

They had planned more than eaten once in the restaurant, but now having come to some sort of agreement, the trio delved into their meal. Sareena smiled when Kabir winked at Rachna, when the young woman feed him a morsel from her meal, which he had determined looked so much better than his lunch order. She looked away from the intimate scene and back at the luxury hotel presently up on the IPad.

"I think that will be the perfect resort; it has it's own private beach, and all of the amenities we can ask; something for everyone: from kids to honeymooners, and everyone in between," Rachna said excitedly.

"Plus they have availability in the near future, so we have the flexibility we need. KT, why don't you contact Rajeev and check if he and..."

"Aacha, afraid to contact her after what you've done, Rachna," Kabir teased his wife.

Sareena  looked up in time to see Rahcna's cheeks turn bright red. "What happened," she asked; her curiosity piqued.

"Just a prank, my cruel wife has played on our dear sister. However, I think that the seriousness of Naomi's early morning death-threat has finally sunk in."

Sareena let out an honest laugh, and the couple smiled back at her in return.

Rachna reached over and patted the physician's hand that rest on the IPad. "Much better," she indicated, preferring Sareena's improved mood.

"You are all so lucky to have each other; all of you. You definitely seem more like family than just mere friends...it's very special."

"Family comes in all shapes and in many forms, Sareena," Kabir stated. "As do friendships; I hope that you can come to consider us good friends as well."

"Saviors would be more appropriate,"Sareena interrupted.

The couple both shook their heads, denouncing her accolades.

"I don't know what I would have done if not for the two of you," Sareena began.

"That settles it then," Rachna said, "As you are so grateful, you can pay us back by making the call to Naomi and inviting them to come to Goa with us."

Sareena chuckled. "I think I'll rather stick to dealing with Sonal ji. At least we haven't reached the stage of death threats yet."

**********

Rajeev took the mobile that Naomi held fast in her grasp, even in her sleep. She had been distracted for the most of the morning, as had he. Unlike his pretty wife, he had been better at hiding it though.  Finally, after they had eaten their noon meal, he had coaxed her to the chaise lounge to relax and watch a movie with him. She had lasted all of twenty minutes into the film, before she drifted off to sleep. Probably a combination of fretting and the fact that her condition dictated that she take more rest; he had smiled when she had snuggled up against him, and then as he was becoming used to, entwined her legs in his. That was when he took the cell from her and then settled, holding her close, contented. Briefly his thoughts turned again to their friends, and he hoped that everything had gone well for them this morning.  Before he knew it, however the movie was playing to an absent audience, as he followed his bride into slumber.

 

The ending of the movie brought him back to awareness, and he woke to see the credits rolling on the screen, and his mobile - not Naomi's flashing an incoming call. The conversation was brief, but mixed; not exactly the good news they had wanted to hear, but hopefully the just conclusion everyone sought was not too far away. The prospect of the group vacation was definitely of interest, so Rajeev asked Kabir to send the link to the resort, so that he could show Naomi later. They would discuss it when they met in a couple of days.

 

"We will have to go shopping first; I don't have a swimsuit with me," Naomi uttered as Rajeev rested his mobile down. She purred in unreserved contentment, when he leaned over and his warm lips brushed her forehead.  Her body quivered when his lips trailed down her cheek and unconsciously, her hips began to undulate against him. "Not to be immodest, but I really do look great in swimwear," she added breathlessly.

"Aacha," Rajeev whispered huskily near her ear.

Naomi nodded. "It may be your only opportunity to see for yourself, before I blow up like a balloon, Rajeev."

 He placed his hand flat on her stomach. Already he could tell the differences; the slight firmness in her lower abdomen, and a filling out in other areas. "And you will be all the more beautiful for it, Sweetheart." He kissed her once more. "So you have no objection vacationing with everyone?"

Naomi shook her head, "It was what we had planned originally, and it's not like we plan on rooming with them. We will book a room as far away as possible," she said as she leaned in and kissed him this time.

"Which we will escape to whenever we want; will that suffice, Rajeev?"

"I guess that means that we will be going shopping then... but later," he said. Naomi nodded, already warmed up to where their sensual cuddling was leading to.

"Much, much later," she agreed.

*********

Back home, Kabir and Rachna parted ways with Sareena, as they went to collect Aryia from next door. She entered the home and was greeted by the sight of Daadi, Sanjay and Jack in the lounge. The little boy was excitedly showing his grandmother his new digital watch that Jack had gifted him today. Sareena smiled at him and entered the room proper.  Only when she did, did she notice the fourth person there - Vihaan who had purposively chosen a seat where he could watch for her return. She sent him a weak smile, while he studied her in return.  Her attention then turned to the little boy suddenly in front of her.

"Aunty Reena, look at what Jack got for me. Now I can tell the time!"

"Can you really; so tell what time is it then, Sanjay?"

The little boy checked the face of the watch, unnecessarily activating the built in light.  He confidently told her the time. Sareena bent down and hugged him. "Well done, Sanjay. So this means that we can rely on you to always be on time for school right," she teased.

"Ah huh," he answered. "Where's Papa, I want to show him too."

"He should be right behind me; he and Rachna Aunty have just gone to collect..." She stopped when her nephew darted away. When she next heard his voice behind her, she knew exactly why.

"Papa..look."

 

Daadi excused herself and went to the kitchen to arrange for tea for Sareena, who despite her calm demeanor looked in need of it. Of two minds in whose direction to turn, Sareena took a deep breath and  headed for Jack - definitely the safer option of the two men who waited there. She tried not to notice Vihaan's small frown, as she took a seat beside her school chum. "He really likes that watch, Jack, thank you."

"It's got a lot of wicked features that a little boy his age will like; the light being the least of them. There are enough to keep him from wanting take it off, which is a good thing." He took out his mobile and scrolled to the App he wanted, before passing it to Sareena. "It has a good battery life, but you should get it off his arm once a week to ensure that it charges completely," the bodyguard added.

Sareena looked down at the cell phone's screen. "It's a GPS device?" Her exclamation got Vihaan's attention and he came over to sit beside her. Sareena shared the screen with him.

"...With some added features- which I will explain later, after I've loaded this App onto your phone. I don't want to come across as an alarmist, but I would rather definitely err on the side of caution especially right now. This is usually the most precarious stage of a situation like this." He knew that he had rattled his friend, but he needed her not to drop her guard yet.  "It will be alright, Reena, I promise." He stole a look at the man on the other side of his friend and grinned to himself. "Don't worry, we will be off to Goa before you know it."

**********

"Who is that man to you, Sonal," the doctor asked the woman who had fascinated him for years. Fate had brought them together after their encounter in London, and he would not let anyonelse come between them now.

"No-one, he is nothing, other than acquaintance who knows how to get things done, that's all, I promise you."

 Sonal's visitor stepped closer, and lowered his voice. "He's asked for me to aid him in some way...I'm not certain if I should." He was distracted when Sonal reached out for his hand.

"Please; for me, will you not consider it?"

"And then what Sonal, what happens next...is there...will there be a chance for us then..."

"I don't think it coincidence that I end up exactly where you have relocated; that you be the doctor on duty after my accident...do you?"

He shook his head, unbelieving that there couldn't be more to their reconnecting. "Your husband never deserved you...do you finally believe me, Sonal. Even in death he tortures you."

She sent a tremoulus smile in his direction, and raised her hand to her eyes. "I should have listened then."

"He, Abhi, says that he needs a day or two to get things in order, and that you will have to remain incarcerated, until then. I don't feel comfortable with that..."

Sonal shook her head, "Nay, I can handle it, I promise you. Please I just need you to intercede on my behalf, and help him in anyway he asks. In a few days I'm sure he will have arranged everything to all of our satisfactions."

[NOCOPY]

crtkelly2016-03-19 10:45:02