Chapter 21

Well guys, i planned your update on the bus on the way to work and wrote it on the bus on the way back! :D Which left me feeling quite nauseous, as I'm not good at writing while in cars or buses, haha! So you get an update of Vanished today and hopefully one of My Cadet tomorrow if the bus trip is long enough, hehehe. In other news, my first day at work was BORING. (By the way, did I say that I had gotten a job?)

Chapter 21:

Huda was writing up his copy of the report on the trip to Ladakh that Captain Abhimanyu had insisted on when one of the office workers suddenly disturbed him.

"Lieutenant Amardeep Huda?" The man asked, "There's a package for you."

"Package?" Huda wasn't expecting anything and he couldn't think of anybody who would want to send him anything either. "Who from?"

"I don't know," the man replied, "It was sent from somewhere in Delhi judging by its postmark."

"Well hand it over." Huda told him, curious to see what it was. Handing over the parcel, the man walked away.

"Hey, who sent you something?" Priya asked, obviously bored with writing her own report. She rolled her chair over to his desk and peeked over his shoulder.

"Let's see." Huda replied and opened the package.

Inside it was a folded over note and a small jewelry box. Huda knew what was in the box even before he opened it. It was the engagement ring that he had given to Naina.

Priya was looking at him as if she was worried he might be upset, but Huda simply put the ring down without any fuss and unfolded the note to read it.

I'm sorry,

Give this to somebody who truly deserves you. No matter what happens, I'll always be your Phoolan.

A normal man might have been upset or angry but Huda laughed. Even when Naina agreed to breaking off their engagement she did it in a unique way.

Reading the note over his shoulder, Priya mouthed the word 'Phoolan' in a confused way and then looked at Huda with an expression on her face which clearly said she was offended on his behalf even if he wasn't.

This just made Huda laugh even more.

"You know Priya, that was always the problem." He told her, smiling with only the slightest hint of regret. "She was always my Phoolan and never my Naina, and it took me far too long to figure it out."

"So what are you going to do now?" Priya asked, obviously concerned for him and not understanding why Huda didn't seem more upset.

"Well, I think," Huda said, pausing as if thinking deeply. "That I'll go and get some coffee. Why don't you come with me? I think that at this deeply depressing time I need the support of a pretty girl."

Priya raised her eyebrows at him, "Huda, you're ex-fiance just returned your ring and you're flirting with me. I now believe everything that Yudi told me about you."

"Well Priya, how am I meant to heal my wounded heart if I don't let you comfort me?" Huda asked her jokingly, "Don't you think I need your support in my time of sorrow?"

Seeing the look of disbelief on her face, he quickly added. "Come on, yaar, I'm just telling you to come for coffee with me, it's not like I'm about to propose now that I've got the ring back!"

Laughing at this last sentence, Priya gave in. "Fine," she told him, "Let's go get some coffee and you can sob your heart out to me. But you'd better be paying."

**

Raj arrived home early from work with a smile on his face, knocking on the door in the special pattern they'd agreed on to let Naina know it was him.

"You're back early," she told him, not able to help herself from smiling.

"I'm taking you out shopping," he informed her, bending down to kiss her cheek as he came in, "Get ready and let's go."

"Shopping?" she asked him, "Raj, what are we going to buy?"

"Don't worry," he tells her with a mysterious grin, "You'll find out when we get there."

They've never been short of money. Raj had removed almost his entire life savings from the bank when he had first disappeared and hidden it with the red box, that's the only reason they've had enough to survive on and carry out their plans until now.

Naina quickly moves behind the screen to change her outfit, knowing that the one she's wearing now is better suited to the house. She wonders why she's bothering, since nobody will see it underneath the burqa anyway.

They leave the apartment and Raj leads her through the bazaar, keeping a hand on her back so that he doesn't lose her in the crowd. Stopping in a street filled with gold shops he starts to lead her into one before she stops him with a hand on his arm.

"What are we doing here?" she whispers to him, "Are you crazy?"

Raj just smiles at her, "You've sent your ring back, and people will notice if you're not wearing one. I told Anwar that you had lost it and were devastated, his friend owns this shop and will give us a good price on a ring."

Fed up with looking at Raj through the black veil while discussing something so important, Naina lifts it from her face and stares at him in wonder, not believing that he had planned this all along when he asked her to come out.

"But…" she starts to say.

"You're mine," Raj tells her simply, "And I want my ring on your finger. I know that we can't get married right now, but at least I can give you this much."

Naina wants to kiss him right there and then, but knows that such an action would probably be frowned upon in the streets of Lucknow. She settles for giving him a look that clearly tells him how much she loves him. Raj gazes back at her with a smile that melts her insides.

It takes them awhile to pick out the ring, as Raj insists that it must be absolutely perfect and makes her try about twenty before he picks one for her. It's beautiful in it's simplicity, a thin band with a small diamond in the centre. It reminds Raj of her, and he knows it's the right one for her. Once that is done, Naina insists on picking one out for him too, choosing a men's band with the same type of patterning. Raj hands over the money and they take the rings with them, heading for home happily.

Once at home, Raj picks Naina up in his arms and swings her around while she giggles, then placing her back on the floor gently, he takes both her hands in his.

"Naina Singh Ahluwalia, if you will have me, then I'll always be with you, always support you and always love you." He tells her, when Naina nods smiling, he slides the ring onto her finger.

"Rajveer Singh Shekawat, if you'll have this silly girl, then she'll never leave you, never stop loving you and never betray you." Naina tells him and Raj leans down to kiss her on the mouth, signaling his yes. Grinning like a small girl, Naina slides the ring onto his finger. There is no party, no witnesses and they're both dressed quite plainly but Naina thinks that it's much better than her first ill fated engagement.

"You're mine." Raj tells her, "Never, ever leave me."

"Never." Naina promises him, and allows herself to be drawn into another kiss.

It's said that love makes people blind. Perhaps that's why neither of them noticed a man in the bazaar pause when Naina drew up her veil and examine them both carefully. Perhaps that's why neither of them saw him lingering outside the shop while they chose their rings, and when he followed them to their apartment, both of them were too happy to realise.

The detective from the Lucknow Police notes down the address and then hurries back to the station, and examines the poster that has been hanging on the wall for months now. It is without a doubt, the same people. Immediately he calls the number on the bottom of the poster, "Yes, I would like to report a sighting of Rajveer Singh Shekawat and Naina Singh Ahluwalia." He tells the person on the other end of the line, "Yes, I'm sure."

After months on the run, their past has finally caught up with them.