Chapter 11

 **~PART 14~**

 

"So tell me who are you Armaan?"

 

 

"I am the head of the intelligence department over seeing the FBI and cases they handle, heading this section as a member of the CIA"

 

 

A shock ran through every nerve running in her body as she stared at the man standing in front of her. Riddhima locked her gaze on him as he glanced at her wearily.

 

 

 

"Riddhima maybe you should sit down. And I would rather suggest you take some rest. All this can wait, you look pretty worn out to me" he gently mumbled taking a step closer to her.

 

 

 

"You are a CIA agent? You are the head of the intelligence department?" Riddhima whispered hoarsely feeling suddenly dizzy and unable to grasp this revelation.

 

 

 

"Well yes Riddhima, I am all of that, I know you must shocked out of your wits but that's the truth. Trust me if I had my way then I would have never allowed this truth to spill out like this to you. But considering today's events I just couldn't help or undo the outcome. I deeply regret that you came to know all this in this crude manner"

 

He looked at her miserably. She looked white as chalk .Ghostly, pale and rather numb. Riddhima felt her legs give way as she sank to the floor.

 

 

"Riddhimaaa" Armaan kneeled down beside her and slid an arm around her shoulders.

 

 

 

"You are tired love, we will talk later Riddhima, am here for you" he softly whispered.

 

 

"No" came a fierce reply and to his immense surprise she shrugged away his arm and edged away.

 

 

"Riddhima?"

 

 

"So you are a secret agent Armaan? I was being fooled all the way long? Everyone knew this…….hang on if you are what you say, how come I was assigned to protect you?" Riddhima looked at him in bewilderment.

 

 

He chose not to answer it immediately, looking away at the sunlight filtering through the window. He hadn't planned on all this coming out like this. No he hadn't at all. He knew ultimately he would one day, but somewhere deep down he had wanted that assurance that she would not leave him and turn away. He couldn't afford to loose her. That was the prime reason he had proposed marriage. But now all had gone wrong.

 

 

 

"Surely you knew my identity?" Riddhima probed further feeling impatient.

 

 

 

"Yes I knew everything right from the start. Infact I was the one who set this whole thing up"

 

 

"WHAT?" Riddhima looked at him dumbfounded.

 

 

 

"You know what Armaan, if I hadn't seen the entire FBI treat you like you were some God I would have never believed a word of what crap you are talking. Infact I still don't see the need to believe this, who knows what you are since I see I am the last person to be told anything" Riddhima snapped back intent of being as spiteful as could. She couldn't judge why she was feeling so annoyed, so betrayed, so feeble and so helpless. He did offer to explain her didn't he?

 

 

"Riddhima just hear me out once, then you can decide what you want to believe and not and punish me appropriately." Armaan looked at her calmly and moved forward to take hold of her hands. Riddhima held them at her back firmly.

 

 

 

Sighing Armaan looked away.

 

 

 

" Riddhima do even know who you are?" he started gently.

 

 

 

"I am waiting…." Riddhima looked at him irritably and snorted.

 

 

 

"Ok fine, you are Shanshank Gupta's daughter. You were told he was an FBI agent right? Well that's just an eye wash as he wasn't a mere FBI agent. He was the head of the secret intelligent team set up to track the ATS and other terror groups. Fish out their activities and try and stop them to tell you the truth in plain simple words. And his death wasn't a mere encounter killing. He was murdered by the ATS group as you were told, not because he was just an FBI agent but because he had discovered their plans of their next attack, infact your father held the blueprints to their mission and as soon as he spilled the beans to the administration, all the immediate future plans of the ATS would be drained."

 

 

 

Riddhima held her breath as she felt the earth beneath her feet move.

 

 

 

"He hid this from me……he…" Riddhima's voice trailed away as she looked away unable to conceal her shock.

 

 

 

"Yes he had to hide this from you honey, CIA agents aren't supposed to reveal their identity unless necessary" Armaan promptly replied.

 

 

 

"But I was his daughter for Heaven's sake, didn't he owe me that explanation? Isn't he entitled to tell me the truth?" Riddhima looked at him in despair.

 

 

 

"Not unless necessary Riddhima, we cannot just reveal our identity except under extreme circumstances" Armaan retorted quietly.

 

 

 

"He wanted to tell you though, in the hospital hours later after he was shot. But he succumbed to his injuries before he could tell you" he added gently.

 

 

 

"He just told me he was a secret FBI agent, he didn't say anything more…..that wasn't any time to talk about all this anyway, I stopped him from stressing himself and assured him we would talk the next day when he was stronger but that morning never dawned" Riddhima swallowed as she recalled the painful memory.

 

 

"Yes, he wanted to tell you the facts love, I am sorry that all this is coming out so harshly on you" Armaan whispered gently pulling her into his arms again. Riddhima didn't seem notice this as she stared far away.

 

 

 

"How do I fit in this entire scheme, if everyone knew everything why was I given this case of protecting you, Mallik's heir? You…." Riddhima suddenly turned to face him and stared.

 

 

 

"You aren't even Abhimanyu Mallik's son right?" she stared at him defiantly.

 

 

 

"Well no, …." Armaan sighed heavily.

 

 

 

"OMG so I was being fooled all this way long? I made a nice idiot of myself; I was living in a world which was entirely based on a false base, a totally constructed, manipulated ground???" Riddhima looked at him aghast.

 

 

 

"Who are you?" she asked him suddenly edging away unable to control the sudden fear that over took her.

 

 

 

"I am Armaan Mallik  Riddhima, not Abhimanyu's son but ex-CIA agent, Akhil Mallik's son. My dad is a retired CIA agent, I took after him, he was your father's close friend. And a very close confidante, when Shashank uncle passed away he was as heart broken as you were. Since they have orders to restrain their discreet agent identities, Shashank uncle never really introduced you to us. He wanted you to live a normal life, keep you out of all this mess. When uncle passed away, we immediately wanted to put our claim on you. With no close relatives around my father naturally became your guardian, not that you were some child to need one. You were a full mature adult, but for namesake and to keep you safe and guarded Dad wanted to come forward and give you shelter. And……."

 

 

 

"How long have you known this??" Riddhima cut him short turning to face him squarely.

 

 

"And you say CIA agents wanted to keep their identity as secrets, like Papa wanted too right?? Then how come you know about everything?? How come you are so involved? Why weren't you kept away from all this as well?? Afterall we are almost of the same age right?" Riddhima questioned further narrowing her eyes at him.

 

 

 

"Well I came to know at a very early stage Riddhima…." He started looking at her wearily.

 

 

 

"Meaning?"

 

 

 

"I told you my mother had been gunned down when I was eight years old, it was then when I realized the nature of my father's occupation. As I grew up I was no fool not to notice the obvious facts. And then I questioned him, he had no choice but to reveal and tell me the truth as I had full right to know under what circumstances my mother was brutally killed"

 

 

 

Riddhima froze. His weary voice sent a sudden shiver down a spine. How much more was left to be revealed, to come out she failed to grasp. But this was definitely making her feel sick .Feeling cold all of a sudden Riddhima found herself leaning closer to him and gazed at him suddenly feeling sorry for judging him a harshly.

 

 

 

"So what did you do when you came to know about your mother……" Riddhima softly asked.

 

 

 

 

"The same fierce, impulsive way in which you reacted, it was my reaction too" Armaan answered simply.

 

 

 

"Meaning?"

 

 

 

"When you realized uncle had been killed you decided to join hands with the force to somehow avenge a revenge……am I right? I did the same much to my father's disapproval. But I was a child then, now as I see back I consider it as a rather harsh decision"

 

 

 

 

"Why do you consider it as a harsh decision??" Riddhima looked at him curiously.

 

 

 

"Riddhimaaa, honey I'll save this talk for later please, right now I need to tell you a few facts. Like for starters, why haven't you yet asked the most important question? That whatever I am, why were you saddled to protect me?" Armaan looked at her grimly.

 

 

 

"Yea…..yes…….I thought that you won't be interested in telling me as nobody here is interested in telling me what exactly is going on in my life" she mumbled.

 

 

 

"On the contrary, everything centers around you" he muttered dryly. Seeing her faltered gaze, her pale face Armaan looked away. He just couldn't imagine why did he have to be the one to tell her this.

 

 

 

"Riddhima you were set up to protect me, I had planned this, rather the entire team had been planning this. Ok let me start from the beginning. When Uncle was killed I told you my father wanted to extend his support to you. I was ofcourse into the plan and knew all about you. But you had other plans it seemed. We had imagined, atleast I did that you would be full of misery, totally lost and would need all the support we would give to rebuild your life back again. and plus you came to know uncle was an FBI agent, after his death. So we presumed you would lean on our support and I would ensure you were protected"

 

 

He paused seeing her eyes gazing at him intently with sheer confusion.

 

 

"Why did you want to protect me Armaan? I mean if dad was killed in an encounter, there wasn't any need for special protection was there?"

 

 

"No, as I said uncle wasn't killed in an encounter, it had been a planned murder. Uncle had their blueprints and if they would reach us their plan would fail even before it started and as far as our sources tell us it was a big plan, a major event that our dad got hold of……. " he stopped seeing her eyes widening.

 

 

"It was to do something with the big UN meeting coming up next month .Uncle had hidden the blueprints in his secret vault in a bank near our house to avoid suspension. The night he was murdered he was supposed to pass us the blueprints but before he could……."

 

 

 

"Now your question would be that where do you fit in this right?" Armaan looked at carefully seeing her absorbing everything with no evident reaction.

 

 

 

"Riddhima only uncle knew the secret password to unlock his vault. And try as we might we cannot retrieve that password from anywhere. It's against the bank policy to reveal the password, however grave the matter will be. You are his natural successor. You can access the vault, after his death only you have the right to do so" he added calmly.

 

 

"Then why haven't I received any notification about this? I should be the first one to be told about this. And this account contains something so important. How come I don't even know?" Riddhima looked at him bewildered.

 

 

 

"Well Riddhima firstly since this account contained these documents, owing the tight security your father had requested, the bank just couldn't transfer everything under your name in a day. The procedure was to take six months. Before you could get any hint, we came to know how valuable that account was. I knew ultimately you would be in possession of it. We intertwined in between and asked the bank authorities to keep this a secret until you were prepared"

 

 

"Prepared? For what?"  she looked at him confused.

 

 

"To handle this situation. Leaving those documents on your name had put you too in grave danger. So I thought if you were kept innocent, kept out of the mess, I would keep you away from the danger, how wrong I was I now see…." He brooded looking away.

 

 

"In what sense?"

 

 

 

"Well exactly two weeks after uncle passed away we came to know the actual danger u were in….."

 

 

 

 

 

"What danger?" Riddhima pressed him further.

 

 

 

"I came to know that they were planning to kidnap you, capture you and keep them in their hold till that account matured and would be transferred on your name. Once you were in the possession naturally you would give them the password forcefully and then they would kill you too anyways……I had thought if you were kept innocent, they would see you knew nothing and perhaps not harm you or even kidnap or hold you captive, as you would be of no use to them. You weren't even aware what your father was, a CIA agent. But they were going to stick to their plans. So I thought of a new plan…."

 

 

 

Riddhima looked at him looking far away. She had never for once in her life imagined something like this.

 

 

 

He continued.

 

 

 

"I had made Frank meet you, made him convince you to join FBI forces. That way atleast you would be under our gaze. You would learn self defense. And then….."

 

 

 

"Hang on, you set me up? Why couldn't you just tell me the truth?" Riddhima glared at him defiantly. To think that the life she had been living as her life had actually been set up??

 

 

 

"We had observed you honey, you were sharp, bold and definitely not the kind of a girl who would merely sit down and accept my protection. I knew you would rebel, demand to do something yourself, refuse to stay dependent on me. And knowing your father's killers were out there scouting freely you would never rest still. And to top it all you were instinctive, impulsive. I was worried as to how you would react to this news. We didn't want any harm to come upon you. So making you join FBI was the perfect solution. You would be in our reach, safe and secured and also put off your trackers since they would see you were no normal girl but an agent. If not for long then atleast for six months till you got hold of the password. Then I would explain you the truth and we would safely get our hands on those blueprints……. But I was wrong again"

 

 

 

 

"The plan was going smoothly till we got a tip off that your hunters were not going to rest. It has just been 3 months since your father passed away. Yet inspite of you being so very bold and fearless had not put them on a hold. And the bank procedures are taking longer then I expected. Being in charge of you, I came up with this plan…."

 

 

 

"The FBI had this case of protecting Abhimanyu Mallik's son Amit. He is he millionaire for real, Amit is in actual danger. So I got Frank to assign you the case. You not knowing who Amit was and how he looked was an added bonus. We devised this plan of keeping you both safe. If I stepped in Amit's shoes, whisked you way with me while Amit would be watched over by other agents then you would be safe with me. You would keep my side, constantly with me under the guise of protecting me and in turn I would be assured you were safe till the account matured."

 

 

 

 

"You mean…..all this time…………………..it was not me protecting you but you protecting me?" Riddhima asked faintly unable to recognize her own voice, barely whispering as the truth sank in.

 

 

 

"Yes, I made sure you were out of US where you might realize I wasn't Abhimanyu's son. Here no one realize it ever. Amit was safe, in protection and so were you. Till you were with me, nothing would happen to you….."

 

 

 

"So everyone knew I was the one being baby seated , being protected and I was making a fool of myself in protecting you?" Riddhima asked in a tight voice.

 

 

"You weren't making a fool of yourself Riddhima. You were doing fabulously. And besides this, we now share a bond much deeper and protection or keeping each other safe isn't the only aspect or nature of us living together…." Armaan spoke tenderly, caressing her cheeks with his knuckles trying to sooth her.

 

 

 

"Armaan…." Riddhima choked and looked away. What a fool had she made of herself. God!!

 

 

 

"Riddhima look at me…….see what happened today was a mistake. I shouldn't have explained you about Anjie and Rahul earlier, not left you alone for you to worry about me and trace me. I didn't want the truth to come out like this……."

 

 

"What about Anjali and Rahul…" Riddhima asked quietly still not looking in his direction.

 

 

Those facts can stay on hold right now…..we need to talk about us Riddhima….about you and me…." He paused hearing his cell vibrate.

 

 

"Hello? Yes……umm right now, ok fine……five minutes exact….yes ok"

 

 

Armaan looked at apologetically and pulled her close.

 

 

"Sweetheart, Frank is coming to see me urgently regarding some news. It will just take five to ten minutes. I won't be with him for long as I want to give time to you……"

 

 

 

"No its fine, you carry on here, I'll go up…."Riddhima murmured feeling her voice croak.

 

 

 

"Are you sure, you can sit here and join us if you want?" Armaan replied back uncertainly.

 

 

"No….no you carry on…" saying so she pulled out from his hold and trod back upstairs leaving Armaan looking at her uncertainly and full of reproach.

 

 

A look on her face and Armaan knew this had gone way too far. And he'd just swept that mat out from under her feel with brutal efficiency. Which had hurt her. Hurt her badly. She almost looked sick as she climbed upstairs. He knew she would cry. His chest tightened at the thought of causing her to shed tears. Damn it! This had all gone so wrong.........

 

 

*********************************

 

Armaan rushed up as soon as Frank departed. Riddhima hadn't come down at all throughout the entire half an hour Frank had been there. Worriedly Armaan opened her bedroom door and peered in.

 

 

"Riddhima? What's wrong honey…."

 

 

Hearing no reply he cautiously stepped in.

 

 

He froze seeing the cupboard open .Everything lay scattered. Riddhima was no where around. Wildly looking around and then tearing throughout the entire house Armaan almost felt his heartbeat stop with worry and anticipation?? She wasn't here anywhere. Then where did she disappear??

**************************

Firstly wishing u all a very very happy, safe and prosperous New Year!! Thankyou everyone for all your love.

Your responses have surely restored some confidence in me!! Thankyou so very much.I wasnt really sure about this shaping up too well. Pls do leave your views on this. Its just ur responses, views that keep me going honestly. And i know a lot of questions still need to be answered, this was just a halfway through. Will be waiting for ur take on it!! Love u all.

PS: I cudnt reply to all my comments this time which is something i deeply regret!! But believe me i have read each and every comment more then twice!! Thanku once again and pls do comment!! 

jia..2009-01-01 10:39:04