Chapter-3

“Dushman", he cursed him inwardly.
.
.
.

There was nothing much Arjun could do right now. Dejected, he sat in the SUV where Shree and Chotu were already in the back seat. The whole drive was silent, as expected. Not everyone dared to start a conversation with him, unlike Riya. She would always have something to say, not caring about whether the other person was interested or not. She would say a thing, wait for his reply, if he didn’t, she’d assume one, and take the conversation further. And even worse, her love for the stereo. It irritated Arjun so much that he got it removed from his SUV. But today, he was missing everything, her non-stop chit-chat and that Stereo too.
Riya and Sameer had already reached the crime spot. They had started their preliminary investigation.

Arjun: “Riya, update?”

He spoke without making an eye contact, expecting to hear her voice at least now.

“Reena Thakur, 28, a model and an aspiring actress. Her body was found by her house help, Sulekha, who came to work in the morning. No marks of injuries on the body. No cash or valuables missing.” Rathore  spoke in a breath, while all Arjun did was gaze Riya. She was writing something in her diary as usual, jotting down all important points so that he doesn’t get a chance to scold her.  She didn’t even spare a glance at him, adding to his restlessness.

“Shree, Riya, go and talk to the neighbours. Chotu, get the building’s CCTV footage, Rawte and I will inspect the crime scene.”, Rathore gave orders and everyone got on their feet for the job at hand.

The day passed like that without much success in the case. Tired, they decided to call it a day. They all packed their stuff and moved towards the parking, when Arjun remembered that Riya had nowhere to go. He just made her homeless and he needed to talk to her about that. He could help her in finding a new accommodation. He took longer strides, but before he could stop her, he saw her getting in Rathore’s SUV. Rathore too, didn’t waste a second and immediately drove off out of the parking, leaving an irritated Arjun behind.

Arjun threw the car keys at Chotu and asked him to drive them back, while he sat at the passenger seat and Shree, at the back. The silent ride began again. But this time, it was even more restless. Arjun kept looking at the stereo, the road and his watch, while the duo were just silent spectators. He was massaging his temples, then rubbing his palms and then checking his phone. As soon as they reached the office, he almost jumped out of the moving vehicle, not even waiting for Chotu to apply the brakes. The duo just watched silently in surprise.

Arjun rushed up the stairs, as quickly as possible, into the conference room, only to find Rathore sitting alone, sipping coffee and reading a case file.
“Tum, ake..le..”, he ate his words, realizing what he was just about to ask. But Rathore had already heard it.
“Nahi Rawte, Shree air Chotu ke liye bhi bnayi h. Aur tumhari cutting bhi manga di h!”, Rathore said showing his coffee mug.

Rawte closed his eyes in frustration.
“Not again. She is gone. But where?”, he thought to himself, landing hard on his chair.
Rathore was enjoying his state. After all, it was he, who had planned all this, to make him REALIZE- his mistake.

                       *Flashback*

Rathore got down from his car and approached Arjun, who was standing at the office gate. He had sensed something was wrong last night itself and the empty tea glasses were the proof. He was about to ask him , when suddenly his phone started ringing.
It was Riya.

“Sir, I need to talk to you, it’s urgent. I am waiting in the conference room.”
Well, he could sense the urgency in her voice. She sounded troubled. He immediately walked inside the office without turning back.

He entered the conference room, and found Riya. She was clearly not in a great state and mood too. Swollen eyes, messy hair, dirty clothes, she looked like a mess. Rathore grew concerned and walked upto her in three quick steps.

“What’s wrong with you, Riya? You look...”
Riya, cutting him, “I'll finish that one for you. HOMELESS".

Rathore thought she was joking. He looked at Shree and Chotu, who had just been silent spectators all this while. He smiled at her and touched her head lovingly, only to earn a glare from her.

“What, are you serious?”, he enquired, still unsure.

“What do you think?”, she said sarcastically. She spun around, showing off her state, faking a laughter.

“No! Who did that to you?”, an angry Rathore questioned.

In place of answering, she held his hand and dragged him to the window. She pointed downwards like a small child, pouting.

Rathore looked outside the window, confused.

He was surprised. “Arj..un?”, he asked still not believing.

“YESSSSS!!!!”, she shouted impatiently.

“This heartless man did that to me. And look at him enjoy his cutting, like nothing happened.”

Rathore was in shock. He couldn’t believe his ears. The Arjun he knew could never do this to anyone.

“Tell me what exactly happened. Each and everything, in detail.”, disappointment clearly evident in his voice.

Riya, grabbed a seat, and began to do the thing, she is best at, TALKING. She told them everything right from Arjun following her to her home to the landlord throwing her out.

Rathore was hurt listening to the entire fiasco. He knew Arjun was short tempered, didn’t care much about people’s emotions and often crossed the line while scoldingthem when angry, specially Riya. Rathore always thought they were two very different people, completely opposite to be precise. Riya, was too outspoken, he, too reserved. Riya, was friendly and he, just pushed people away. Roshni’s death had left scars on his soul, he didn’t want to heal. So, he behaved that way. Once upon a time, they used to be best of friends, though today they didn’t even look eye to eye. One thing Rathore never wanted for his friend, was people hating him. If he continued to be rude to the people around, those who cared for him, those who loved and respected him, he might be left alone in this cruel world. Though Arjun always claimed that he wanted to be left alone, Rathore knew that nobody in the world actually wants that.

So he, as a friend, took upon himself, to teach Arjun a lesson, to make him realize that he needs good people around him. And for that, he needs to be considerate about other's feelings, be kind to them and most importantly, value their presence while they are around. Those who are gone, will never be back, you can just mourn over them. The least you can do, is value those who are still around.

Rathore had made up his mind. Arjun will have to go through 'Realization'.

“I have a plan!”, he said aloud to the team.