Chapter 23

[MEMBERSONLY]

Hello Arakshians...back with a new long part...hope u dont get bored! 😆

pls read and reply...errors ho toh maaf kardena...

Thanks for liking and commenting on it! ur comments is my driving force...thanks a ton!

Disclaimer: all characters, situations and names used in the story are fictional...any similarity is purely by coincidence!

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Part 15A:

A brief silence sets in which he breaks soon and enquires, "ab tak ek baat mujhe confuse kar rahi hai Sakshi..."

She looked at him enquiringly while he continued, "Why didn't you come to me earlier?"

She was taken aback by his sudden question and didn't know what to reply!

She chose to be silent but her silence was communicating more than what she intended to him!

He didn't press for a reply but just let her be...

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His question seemed to have put her on silent mode….and he also noted that her conversations with him were very minimal nowadays….She didn't talk anything that was off the topic….She only spoke when needed and what was absolutely required….

Did he miss the bubbly chatter box side of her? Well he didn't know…..all he could realize was that he was missing out on something! And it really felt really terrible to face this silent side of Sakshi!

As they drove along, his mind wandered back to Roshni….it was strange yet true that Sakshi's presence always made him travel back the memory lane and the visit to the college only added to the effect….perhaps their past encounters made him do that!

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Elsewhere……

1^st lady: kya??? ladki????

2nd lady: haan memsaab…..chote saab ek ladki ko ghar le aaaye….woh yahi thi kal raat…aaj subah dono ek saat nikal gaye…..aisa lagtha hai ke dono saat hi kaam karthe hai!

1^st lady: tumne usse poocha nahi ke woh kaun hai?

2^nd lady: main kaise poochthi memsaab??…waise bhi saab itne dher se ghar aaye aur aaathe hi apne kamre mein chale gaye…..

1^st lady: kya woh ladki bhi….

2^nd lady snaps her understanding what she was going to ask and explains, "nahi nahi …..mujhse kaha ke guest room ready karke deh doom!"

1^st lady lets a sigh of relief and replies, "waise uss ladki ka naam kya hai?"

2^nd lady: [trying to recall] mmm kya tha??…haan Aisha…chote saab aise hi bulaa rahe teh…

1^st lady: [telling to herself]"AISHA"…hmm…teek hai…main Sameer ko phone karke poochthi hoom……

2^nd lady: main kya kehthi hoom…..jaldi se saab keliye koyi ladki doondiye aur zabardasti shaadi kar daaliye…

1^st lady: tum bhi na Chandra…woh kya baccha hai ke mere bolthe hi shaadi kar lega…tum jaanthi ho na maine kitni khoshish kiya par ussne sab ko manaa kardiya….[stopping her ranting and adds]...khair….tum bas unn dono par nazar rakhna….aur mujhe khabar dehte rehna…..

She cuts the call and then thinks to herself, "tum wahaan mere peet peeche kya gul kilaa rahe ho Sameer? Aur yeh Aisha kaun hai? kitne ladkiyaan dikhaaye maine par tum ho ke….."

Mrs Prathiba Rathod muttered to herself before dialing Rathod's number!

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Meanwhile ETF office…..

Sameer: Aisha, yeh sab reports mein kuch bhi clue nahi milaa…baat ab bhi wahi ke wahi hai…..

Aisha: haan sir…..woh jai maat ji waali line ke seva kuch aur lead milaa hi nahi!

Sameer: [nodding] Rawte bas unn papers ko bhej deh phir sab clear ho jaayega….

He suddenly remembers something and dials Shree's number, "haan Shree….Aisha ke ghar aur Nikhil ke ghar mein jo finger prints milaa tha…usse humaare criminal database ke saath match karo….dekho koyi match miltha hai ke nahi…"

He then gets back to his discussion with Aisha….and his phone buzzed with a message….

He looked at it and then spoke up…"Rawte ka message hai…ussne fax kar diya…."

Aisha tries to get up but he stops her, "nahi tum rukho, I will get it…"

Sameer walks to the fax machine at the far end of the room while his phone starts to ring…..

Aisha looks at Sameer, "sir, aapka phone…."

Sameer: Rawte hoga…..pick karo…..

Aisha didn't wait, she just picked it up in a hurry, "hello….."

The female voice from the other side showed a shocked effect, "hello Sameer???"

Aisha: ek minute…..[that's when she checked the display and Mrs Rathod is displayed on it….she gets up with the phone thinking to herself] Sameer sir married hai??

She is confused a bit but then hands over the phone to Sameer saying "sir, Arjun sir nahi koyi aur hai…." and then decides to give him privacy….

She walks back to the chair……

As Sameer picks up the papers, he balances the phone between his ear and shoulders and talks, "hello…." [Hearing his mom's voice, he smiles] haan maa…..boliye….aaj mera yaad kaise aa gaya???"

He understands that his mom was angry with something and he also knew what it was…

He placed the papers inside a file….and then walks a bit and speaks up "don't tell me ke aapne phir se mere liye koyi ladki doondli hai!"

Mom: ab jab tumne khud ladki dekhna shuru kiya hai toh main kyun time waste karoom?

Sameer grinned, "ab aaya na oont pahaad ke neeche….I knew it…..Chandra bai ne call kiya hoga right?? mere spying karne keliye hi toh aapne usse yahaan rakha hai! so boliye, ussne kya kya bathaaya mere baare mein, haan??"

Mom: Sameer, yeh ETF chief ka attitude na mujhse nahi, ok? Yahaan sawaal main poochungi aur jawaab tum doge…..

Sameer grins, "okay..Go on Mrs Rathod! I am ready!"

Mom: Tum bas yeh bathao ke Aisha kaun hai?

Sameer: maa…Aisha mere team ke member hai….

Mom: toh tumaare team ka member tumaare saat tumaare ghar pe kyun thi???

Sameer: [totally amused with her knowledge and the source of it] Seriously keh raha hoom maa…uss Chandra bhai ko ghar ke kaam nahi yahaan ETF mein hona chahiye tha……humaare informer bann sakthi hai! Perfect job hai uss keliye!

Mom: baat ko gumaao matth Sameer…..seedhe seedhe bolo chakkar kya hai?

Sameer: koyi chakkar nahi hai….ek emergency thi aur usse rehne keliye jagah nahi tha…..so I had to take her home!

Mom: tum sacch hi bol rahe ho na?

Sameer: maa…aap ko mujhpar itna bhi yakeen nahi hai kya?

Mom: aisi baat nahi hai beta…agar woh acchi ladki hai…aur tumhe pasand hai toh hum baat aage badaa sakthe hai…..I don't have a problem in making your choice mine Sameer!

Sameer laughs as he voices, "aap bhi na maa…ek choti si baat ko shaadi tak le gayi!"…..while his mom snaps him, "haso matth Sameer…."

Sameer stops laughing and his mom voices sternly, "mujhe bas tumaare shaadi karwaani hai…phir chaahe woh tumaari team ka member Aisha ho ya phir koyi aur….."

Sameer: maa…..main sochunga….par aap itna hyper matth ho…..filhaal, main ek important case mein hoom….usske solve hone ke baadh sochunga….ok?

Mom wasn't letting him go so easily…..it was his usual dialog about thinking about marriage after the case…so she spoke up again, "For God's sake Sameer….tum ek police officer ho aur zindagi barr aise hi important urgent cases aathe rehenge…..unn sab ke solve hone ke baadh shaadi karoge kya???"

Sameer laughed…but yes, he knew she was right, "good point maa…and its taken…..aur promise ke iss baar main seriously sochunga…[pausing for a moment and sensing silence from the other side, he immediately voices] ab phone rakhtha hoom…..I will talk to you later…."

Mom: koyi zaroorat nahi….jab tum shaadi keliye ready honge tab hi call karna….tab tak main tumse baat nahi karne waali…bye!

She cut the call despite Sameer's constant efforts to cajole her back to normal!

He smiled at his mom's stubborn condition and then looked towards Aisha's direction….She sat there totally unaware that their discussion was on her….. ….she was deeply immersed into the reports…

Yes, she was a good girl and he liked her too par shaadi??

Sameer shrugged it off for the moment and got back into the case…..

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Past:

The previous night's hangover hadn't left him yet….He hadn't slept properly…her face seemed to have got captured in his heart! Or should he say that she had stolen his heart just like that! Like a lightening, she had flashed across him and took away his heart, his sleep and all his senses!

He would have gazed at her photo for over a hundred times!

He was anxiously waiting for the next morning…her decided that he would drop in at her college and give her back the ID…and in that pretext, he could see her again!

And there he was at Presley's college…He was coming there for the first time…the police jeep and his uniform attracted everybody's attention…..

He walked into the office and enquired about Roshni……He didn't let out any details about why he had to meet her and the office staff didn't ask him about it as well! He being a cop was more than reason for him meeting anybody…so none dared to ask him the actual reason!

He was asked to wait for sometime while the office assistant went to her class room to fetch her!

After about 5 minutes of impatient waiting which seemed like 5 hours, she walked in looking nervous and her sweat beads indicated that she had come running to check what it was…..

Arjun was sure that the office assistant had told her that a police officer has come to meet her and it was some urgent matter….

Na jaane ussne kya socha hoga?. He wondered seeing her like that

But her enquiring face, and "I_WILL_CRY_NOW" look made him softer than usual……

She desperately enquired, "kya hua hai? mere papa….unnko…."

Her tears started rolling down even at the slightest doubt of something bad happened to someone in her family!

Arjun walked to her side immediately, "nahi nahi….aap pls rona matth…..I just came to give this back to you…..[held out the ID to her] kal raat aapne mere jeep ke saamne….[stops talking as she looked at him innocently] kuch yaad aaaya?"

She wiped her tears and then nodded realizing who he was, "ohhh….sorry..mujhe laga ke…I am really sorry….woh kal…"

He snapped her short, "its ok…but be careful next time when you cross the road….aur haan itne raat ko akele….I mean its not safe….."

She nodded, "hmm….thanks!"

Then it were moments of awkwardness…He didn't know what more to talk and she didn't know if she can leave the place…..a police officer's presence scared her and she was confused if she can walk away when he stood there with his eyes fixed on her! He wasn't leaving the place neither was he talking anything…so she felt kind of odd and awkward!

She gathered up courage and slowly enquired, "toh main chaloom? Class hai!"

Arjun snapped out and nodded, "yeah of course….class hai toh attend karna hi hoga na?…..carry on!"

She walked to the door when he enquired, "waise aapke class kitne bhaje tak hai?"

She turned around and replied in a confused tone, "shaam 4:30 tak"

He nodded with a smile while she didn't have to guts to ask why he wanted to know that information….

He also didn't know why he asked that neither did she know why she replied to him!

She walked away and he stood there ruffling his hair a bit….as a totally love struck teenager who was in love for the first time! Was it love at first sight? Well he didn't know then…. Only the days ahead could confirm that!

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Present: He smiled to himself thinking about his state back then…….The very thought about Roshni and their meet that day made him smile!

Sakshi wasn't oblivious to his changing expressions…but she was silent till she saw him smiling…..his smile was so cute and infectious too…..she was forced to smile too seeing him smile…..

She couldn't deny the fact that she couldn't take her eyes off him while he smiled…..She adored him and his smiles added to his magnetic charm…

However hard she tried, there was no way she could turn away from that charm!

And now at the moment, his genuine smiles were a rare occurrence…..he seemed to have forgotten to smile!…..but today he was smiling and she didn't want to miss that sight!

He felt her gaze on him and turned to her side….He enquired seeing her smile at him, "kya hua? Aise kyun dekh rahe ho?? Aur smile bhi, huh?"

She grinned and replied back, "aap bhi toh smile kar rahe teh na?"

Arjun shook his head amused by her reply and spoke up, "haan…kuch yaad aa gaya…."

She couldn't hold it back….she just voiced it out in an impulse, "Roshni ke baare mein?"

He felt a prick somewhere deep but then hid it and replied, "hmmm….par tumhe kaise patha chala?"

Sakshi spoke up in a lost tone, "Arjun ke harr smile Roshni keliye hi toh tha….yeh baat main hi nahi samajh paayi…..aur ab jab samajh gayi hoom, how can I forget it?"

Arjun looked away and just replied, "Sakshi….lets not get into that!"

Sakshi nodded as she understood that the topic annoyed him …."hmm"

She was silent for a while and then enquired…."waise hum jaa kahaan rahe hai?"

Arjun: mere ghar…..

Sakshi was stunned hearing that, "aapke ghar? But….No Arjun…main wahaan nahi aa sakthi…"

Arjun: kyun?? [Seeing her starting to argue on that, he snaps her short and adds] waise bhi, I am not giving you a choice Miss wrong number….So no point in discussing it further! Samjhi yaa [staring at her and after a pause] samjhaavum?

Seeing her getting restless, he adds as if to lighten the situation, "fikhar matth karo…main tumhe kaa nahi jaaavunga…maantha hoom mujhe bhook lagi hai parr….so just relax!"

She gave a faint smile seeing his effort to cheer her up!

Zindagi Do Pal Ki
Zindagi Do Pal Ki

Intezar Kab Tak
Hum Karenge Bhala
Tumhe Pyaar Kab Tak Na Karenge Bhala
Zindagi Do Pal Ki

He gave her a sweet genuine smile saying that...

She knew he wouldn't listen to her on this…she had no choice but go to his place…which also meant Roshni's place…..But how could she step in there?

[To be continued]

so how was it?? pls do reply...those who want romance will have to wait as this is not a typical love story! well i hope u understand!