Chapter 26

[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 16B:

He just threw a towel on to the bed and voiced without even looking to her side, "Dry yourself Sakshi….aur jaldi se kapde bathlo warna zarddhi hogi!"

He walked out without waiting for her reply….he knew he had left her confused and shocked….He knew he had started all of it …..He didn't know why or how that happened….He was confused as well….he didn't know what got into him in those moments….He had no justifications to offer to Sakshi…..nor to Roshni….Did he betray both of them? may be….

He was rendered speechless because of his own guilty conscience…..it pricked him and he couldn't face her!

She didn't get up for a long time…she just sank into the bed as her tears trickled away!

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He had locked himself up in the other room……He quickly changed and lay there thinking about what happened or rather trying not think about that at all……Roshni's words echoed in his mind which made him feel all the more guilty….

He had let go of his self enforced controls in the weakest of moments…he cursed himself for having done that…..He knew Sakshi had paid the price for his slip….His grave error would have let shattered her totally….He wanted to apologize to her and make things normal between which he realized was never gonna happen….Nothing would become normal now!

The equations between them had changed completely and a revival was next to impossible….Guilt and the thoughts about betrayal clogged up his mind…He couldn't get himself to go back and see how she was….

He knew he had to console her but he couldn't face her anytime now!

He had to tell her that he hadn't meant to hurt her…it was just a weak moment and he faltered….but he just couldn't get himself to do it……..

There was a dead silence in the entire house…none spoke…none got up…..

It was dark….and almost dinner time….He knew he couldn't stay like that forever…

He decided to get out of the room….He had to also get dinner for both of them….

Seeing her room shut, he thought he would buy dinner first before checking up on her….

He went out locking the front door………

In about half an hour, he returned and went straight to her room…..the door was just ajar….He knocked it and entered slowly hearing no response…

The room was empty…He looked inside the restroom…She wasn't there…..

He was worried and searched everywhere….No, she was missing……..He smacked himself for not anticipating this…..

He should have expected this from her….whatever happened between them and then his guilt feeling would have made her walk out…and distance away from him….Damn, he banged the door furiously for having slipped and also for this mistake on his part of having left her alone at a time when he should have been with her and helped her get back to normal!

Now where the hell did she go? And how would he track her? He panicked and rushed outside……

As he drove through the dark streets, his mind was frantic for getting to her….He just hoped that she was fine!

His phone rang…he picked it up instantly…"Hello"

It was Rathod on the other side…he had been waiting for Arjun to call him when he reached but Arjun hadn't called him and that left him worried…."Rawte, tum dono wahaan safely paunch gaye na?"

Arjun didn't know what to say, "haan…."

From his voice, Rathod sensed some trouble, "tum teek toh ho na Rawte??…aur Sakshi….."

Arjun: Main abi tumse baat nahi kar saktha…..I will call you later…

Rathod: Rawte…meri baat suno….Sakshi kaisi hai? is she alright?

Arjun knew he couldn't hide this….he had to inform Rathod, "Rathod, Sakshi is missing…useeko doond raha hoom….but don't worry…she is my responsibility…..I will get her!"

Rathod: WHAT???? Kahaan gayi woh??? [When Arjun didn't speak up, Rathod enquired] tumne usse kuch kaha?? Did you guys fight??

Arjun was silent as he didn't know what to reply for that question and Rathod got his answer, "Rawte, we had too much problems to handle already…this was the least we needed right now!"

The line went dead and Arjun threw the phone away and resumed his frantic search!

Rathod on the other side banged the table in anger, "DAMMIT Rawte!"

Aisha rushed to his side seeing his fury….."kya hua sir?"

Rathod composed himself a bit and spoke up, "Sakshi is missing aur Rawte usse doond raha hai!"

Aisha was shocked, "Oh no…" but then she didn't want to add to her chief's despair, so she tried to cool him, "don't worry sir….Arjun sir usse zaroor doond nikhaalenge…"

Rathod knew that she was right…..He knew Arjun would find her somehow….

He just nodded as he sank back into his chair! They had just zeroed in on the names of some big shots who could be involved in the whole scandal and the attacks on Sakshi! A famous political leader Vikrant Sinha topping the list…."Bolo Jai maata ki jai" had led them to that name……

Shree and Chotu had done their best to bust into their group and find some more vital information!

There was going to be an unofficial get together of the top level party workers and the leaders! ETF felt that the get together was just a false pretence to something more…

An undercover mission was planned to get into the root of it……Aisha volunteered to take the lead and get into the party…Though Rathod was skeptical about sending her, he knew that she was the only one who could get in without any glitches!

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Arjun checked the bus stand, nearby auto stand….everywhere but she was nowhere to be seen…..

He was continuously thinking and hoping that she doesn't do any silly things and land herself in trouble…..Already dangers lurked her life and she had literally plunged into one more!

One hour into the search, still no trace of her….He just reversed to go towards the city when he suddenly remembered something…..

That chain…the locker key was with him….she hadn't taken it from him….And he knew that she wouldn't go away without that……….She would come back for getting it!

He hurried back home……..He just walked in….and there she was on the garden swing looking at nowhere in particular and in a totally lost mood!

He didn't yell or shout at her for leaving him tensed and worried like this….He set aside his entire frantic and tensed moods….

He quietly walked to the swing and sat at the other corner leaving ample space between them…..

A unsettling silence set in which was so horrible yet so very difficult to break for both of them…..

"kya sochke chali gayi thi….mujhe saza dena chahthi thi, huh?"

His low mellowed voice broke her line of thoughts….

She was silent for a long moment and then just muttered slowly, "khud ko saza dene chali thi……but…[pauses while he glances to her side trying to judge her thoughts]….I had to come back….."

Arjun pulls out the chain and holds out to her, "I know…iss keliye, right?"

Sakshi hadn't come back just for that…that was the last thing on her mind…..

Whatever happened between them tortured her like hell…A loving passionate move from the man she ever loved and then abruptly abandoned had shattered her!

She had stepped out of the room and out of the house in order to go away from him once and for all….She never wanted to come between Arjun and Roshni…..never again in her life! She couldn't allow Roshni's death to shake that decision of hers!

Roshni's screams and cries to leave their lives forever and let them live in peace still echoed in her ears….She felt guilty of having stepped into Roshni's private sanctum, her love paradise!

She had even started walking but then she couldn't….

Where would she run away from him?

She had nowhere to go except may be……no she didn't want to go find death for herself…She didn't want to die…she knew that there were people behind her life…...She had to come back to him where she felt safe….She knew she was secure under his wings…

Also, she couldn't let her emotions and love for him get in the way of her mission for getting justice for her father! Never!

She had to get a grip on herself and reign her feelings….She knew it was tough after all that happened between them and after being subject to his passionate intimacy!

She knew that staying with him will be a real test of sorts but she had to go through it for her father and for herself! So she walked back to his home….She couldn't go into the house….So she sat there outside on the swing!

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Sakshi replied just to show off that she came back only for her mission and for that key…Moreover, she couldn't see him getting tortured in guilt and she knew that her disturbed state would only add to his despair….so she posed a casual tone and replied…."hmmm….I had to come back for this….no matter what, I cant miss it Arjun"

A long silence prevailed which wasn't any less than a storm for both of them…Both were hiding their true emotions and bringing in a fake pretence in everything they said and did….Will they ever leave this pretence and realize what destiny had already planned for them? May be…may be not…..time would only have the reply to that question!

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His silence troubled her….she had thought that he would vent his anger on her but he didn't leaving her confused……she herself started saying her side of the story…..

Sakshi spoke up in a lost tone, "aisa laga ke maine waapas aapke life mein aakhar galat kiya Arjun! Isiliye chali gayi!"

Arjun was a bit hurt hearing that….may be his mistake had steered her away from him…may be she feared his proximity…. May be she feared him….the mere thought made him mad at himself and his behavior…..

Arjun spoke up apologetically as if in regret, "Sakshi….jo hua…."

That tone of him hurt her a bit…yes she knew that he would be feeling guilty of that slip but even then it pricked and hurt her heart deeply…...But she hid every bit of that hurt within her…..

She didn't allow him to complete that….she spoke up, "haan main usse bhool chukhi hoom Arjun…Lets move ahead…."

He didn't reply for a brief moment and then just nodded to her, "hmmm"

He walked away into the house without even a glance at her……

He didn't know why but her response hurt him as well….He too knew that forgetting it and moving on was the best thing to do but it hurt when she said that….and he felt an urge to ask her if it was so easy to forget all that happened but he didn't…..rather he kept silent!

But again, what else was he hoping for from her when he himself had made those intimate moments between them sound like a grave mistake which should have never happened….

Mistake it was for sure but it had changed a lot of things between them which could never get reverted now! They had to get over all their misunderstandings and equal their planes….perhaps time and togetherness would act as a catalyst and do that for them….

Kaise bataayein, kyun tujhko chahe, yaara bataa na paaye.
Baatein dilo ki, dekho jo baaki, aankhein tujhe samjhaye.
Tu jaane na .. tu jaane na .. tu jaane na .. tu jaane na
Milke bhi, hum na mile, tum se na jaane kyun. meelon ke, hai faasle, tum se na jaane kyun. anjaane, hai silsile, tum se na jaane kyun. sapne hai, palkon tale, tum se na jaane kyun.ooo ooo..
Kaise bataayein, kyun tujhko chahe, yaara bataa na paaye.
Baatein dilo ki, dekho jo baaki, aankhein tujhe samjhaye.
Tu jaane naa..aaa... tu jaane na .. tu jaane na .. tu jaane naaa...

[To be continued]

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