Chapter 30

[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!

No silent reading. I will stop my updates. yes dhamki hi hai! SYS?

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

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Part 18B:

In the arms of the guy whom she had ever loved, respected and trusted, she felt peace. she felt warmth, she felt happiness. she felt love!

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They didn't know how long they stood basking in that comfort and solace. Perhaps a long long time had passed by quite oblivious to them.

Arjun's phone sprang into action snapping them out of the trance. She stepped back realizing that they were hugging each other. She quickly wiped her tears and turned away while he picked his phone but his eyes still darted to her and followed her path.

It was a call from Rathod. Rathod had called Arjun to inform about their plans for the mission. Arjun silently wished him luck and cut the call.

Arjun walked into the room looking around for her. She wasn't seen anywhere in the living room. Her room was closed and he thought perhaps she needed sometime alone!

Arjun sat in the hall impatiently waiting for Rathod's call or any information from the team regarding the mission. He knew it would be successful but waiting was still a pain!

He was never used to such idle waiting being and caught in such a helpless situation not able to be there in the mission to help and support the team made him more desperate.

Sakshi wasn't in any better state. She was continuously thinking about the dangers that Aisha was taking in and prayed for their safety.

Dinner was never on their minds. They forgot the time and sat in solitude till some information came from the team.

It was almost midnight when Rathod called him and told him about what had happened. Arjun was relieved to hear the news about the success and also that all the so called big shots including Vikrant was in their custody now!

He disconnected the call and looked towards her room. She stood at the door and her face showed agony and tension. It was evident that the shrill ring of the phone which broke the dead silence of the entire place had drained away the color of her face and she had sprinted out of the room to know what happened.

He just gestured to her that all was fine. She silently tried to calm herself and nodded with a smile.

He voiced to make her feel better, Rathod ka phone tha. Vikrant ab ETF ke custody mein hai.

Sakshi only wanted to know one thing, Aisha teek hai na?

Arjun smiled at her concern and replied, haan Aisha bilkul teek hai. mission successful tha

Sakshi smiled and then turned back into the room when he enquired, dinner?

She just shrugged mujhe bhook nahi hai Arjun. Tum khaalo and she went inside

He shook his head denying what she said and told to himself mujhe patha hai ke tumhe kitna bhook lagi hogi Sakshi.

He walked into the kitchen and took out some instant noodle packets. Quickly mixing the noodles and the masala mix, he cooked it up in 2 minutes.

Serving it into 2 plates, he walked to her room.

He knocked once but then didn't wait for an answer from her. He pushed open the door and entered...

There she was lying to the opposite side at the far end of the bed. He could see how weak and delicate she was in those moments. The strong ever confident and smart miss wrong number was missing.

This was a simple girl who appeared broken from inside. It seemed as if she lost all strength to fight against the odds which were tormenting her.

He stood silently for a few moments before calling her.

Sakshi

She wasn't in deep sleep but just a shallow trance as if trying to forget the mess that her life was in. she had no idea about what the future had in store for her. Though she would never accept it but yes a fear of the unknown dangers lurked deep inside her.

She turned to his direction and saw him standing with the dinner plates in his hands.

She quickly wiped off the unshed tears in her eyes and got up muttering maine kaha tha na ke mujhe bhook nahi hai

He ignored that and walked to her side. Placing the plate before her on the bed, he spoke up, pehle dekh toh lo kya hai. shaayad tumaari favorite ho aur usse dekhte hi bhook aa jaaye

The aroma and the masala flavor of the noodles were indeed irresistible. She turned to see what he had brought for her.

The hot and juicy noodles surely urged her to taste it.

The sight of the noodles and also Arjun's mischievous reply made her smile faintly. She voiced, tumhe kaise patha ke mujhe yeh noodles pasand hai?

He grinned and sat down opposite to her. He knew she was coming back to her real form. He replied, pehle khaake bathao kaise bana hai. its long time since I made it. so i am not sure if its good enough!

Sakshi smiled back and took a spoonful and put it inside her mouth. Once inside, she relished it and realized that she was damn hungry.

And this tasted like a feast in that hungry state of hers. She gestured to him that it was perfectly made. He smiled and started eating as well. he was relieved that he could get her to eat something.

She suddenly looked up to him and questioned again, Arjun, ab bathao ke tumhe kaise patha chala ke mujhe maggi pasand hai, huh?

Arjun grinned naughtily and replied, ek simple si intuition tha.

Seeing her enquiring looks, he added with a slight grin, yeh baat toh main jaan gaya hoom ke tum kitna lazy ho. So maggi instant noodles must be your all time favorite na? Lazy logon ko bhook se bachaane keliye hi toh yeh noodles banaaya gaya hai! [He could feel her glare at him while he added] samjhi yaa samjhaavum?

Suddenly her glares faded and she laughed out hearing his sarcastic remark about her and her lazy ways!

He couldn't stop himself from gazing and admiring her laugh. She looked beautiful when she laughed and giggled playfully! Her eyes sparkled and her lips curved up beautifully!

When the laughter subsided, she realized his warm gaze on her.

Quickly snapping out, she looked back into the plate and exclaimed, yeh gharma gharam hi tasty hai.

Without waiting for a reply from him, she started eating it wholeheartedly relishing every bit of it. She smiled and giggled as she played with the noodles.

Or to be precise, the noodle strings played with her. It oozed out of the fork and slipped back into the plate. She tried her best to mouth it before it fell down each time.

He also ate his part but then his eyes continuously flew back to gaze her.

Even amidst her plays, she could feel him looking at her but then she chose to ignore and focused on the food!

She played..she fought and she struggled with the noodles. and never once did she stop giggling like a small kid! Her childlike mannerisms made him smile also.

She finished the plate soon and licked her lips making it obvious that she enjoyed the dinner.

By then he had finished eating as well. When he looked at her, he saw a tiny bit of the noodles stuck to the side of her mouth and she hadn't wiped it off

He didn't think twice before his fingers mindlessly went to her face to wipe it away.

She didn't notice what he was upto till his fingers touched her face. She looked at his fingers and then looked at him. Even after wiping it off her, his fingers lingered there.

She froze for a few moments not knowing how to react but then snapped away and stood up!

She took his plate as well and walked away voicing, main plates wash kar dehthi hoom

He nodded but he was confused at her sudden repulsive reaction.

He stood there till she left the room and then slowly followed her out.

He lingered near the kitchen counter as she washed the plates and the vessel which he had put into the sink after making the noodles.

She didn't speak anything surprising him all over again.

He could feel that she had a tough time controlling her urge to talk to him but he didn't understand her reasons for that!

But he opted to stay quiet to give her the time and space which she was forcefully enforcing on herself!

She walked past him and then stopped to turn back voicing, goodnight Arjun.

He acknowledged back with just a nod.

She walked away without a delay. He could feel that she was distancing herself from him and he didn't know why it bothered him so much. He didnt know why that hurt him!

What else did he expect from her? What was she doing to him? Why was she impacting him so much? Her distancing away and the indifference made him feel a sense of loss! As if someone or something precious was being snatched away from him!

Was it her? Was it her love that he was longing for? He didn't know.

As the wandering thoughts engulfed his senses, he slowly drifted into a shallow nap!

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Next morning

Arjun woke up when he heard the light thud of the glass on the side table. He saw Sakshi standing near it and she smiled at him as she saw him opening his eyes.

Good morning. Your cutting chai

He smiled and sat up while she turned away. Even in those gestures, he felt distance. he sensed formalities!

He called her back Sakshi, tum teek ho na?

Sakshi: Haan Arjun. I am fine. Don't worry about me

A few days passed by and her formal attitude never changed. It was clear that she was trying to stop herself from getting closer to him.

Sakshi's POV:

Her mind was not less than a storm. She could see that her changed attitude was affecting him but she had no choice. She couldn't let her mind and heart wander towards him. She had to build a barrier around her and could let nothing break that! She felt that she could never be at peace if she gets closer to him and it would only end up in a total shattering of hearts!

Roshni's thoughts and dislike towards her made her feel that perhaps Roshni would never wish that she gets closer to Arjun. yes it did sound silly and crazy but her mind couldn't stop itself from thinking in those lines!

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The proceedings at ETF were going at a fast pace. Once the evidences and witnesses were in place, nothing could stop them from detaining the big shots in their custody.

Vikrant posed total ignorance to all the cases and crimes he was accused for initially but ETF had their ways of breaking his silence and arrogance down.

Sameer had made his moves quite tactfully higher up the department only involving people who were quite trustworthy and whom he knew were honest and sincere officers.

With the political factors out of the way and many under arrest, the life threats for Sakshi had decreased considerably!

Sameer and Arjun kept in touch almost daily and both together planned all the further course of actions!

It was time for Sakshi to come out of the hide out. Arjun felt that Sakshi could now step into ETF and perhaps face Vikrant again!

Arjun himself wanted to meet Vikrant. He had scores to settle with him for having given Sakshi such a horrifying ordeal!

So it was decided that they will head back to ETF soon.

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The drive was silent. Unusually silent considering that it was miss chirpiness who was by his side!

She was, perhaps worried for more than one reason. One was her face off with Vikrant. Another was an anticipation of what next.

And also about what and how was she going to go away from Arjun? Her first love was so close to her but still she couldn't embrace it happily!

To add to her despair, she was determined that she didn't want to let out anything to the man beside her.

He glanced to her side silently. Something which he had been doing so long to read what was running in her mind. What was troubling her? Why was she so aloof and alien to him?

His mind and heart screamed and hurled those questions to her side but somehow never once did they come out of his mouth! he didn't know why but he could never voice them openly to her.

Even those silent words never failed to reach her heart.. but her heart could only reply back helplessly, I am sorry Arjun!

Jaaniye Heeriye
Jaaniye Heeriye
Mere Mann Ye Bata De Tu
Kis Or Chala Hai Tu
Kya Paya Nahi Tune
Kya Dhundh Raha Hai Tu
Jo Hai Ankahee Jo Hai Ansuni
Woh Baat Kya Hai Bata
Mitwa Kahe Dhadkan Hai Tujhse Pyar
Mitwa Yeh Khudse Toh Na Tu Chhupa

[To be continued]

So how was it? pls do reply.

My note: Sakshi and Arjun are caught in a strange crazy complex entangled relationship. Coming out of all that and gaining clarity is tough and would take time. Roshni and her seeking promise from Sakshi to stay away from Arjun is haunting and taunting Sakshi even after Roshni's death. It does sound silly but the way human mind and heart thinks and works is often silly yet quite complicated!

I am not a psychologist but still I think I have justified that part. in fact human thought processes are far beyond justifications.

mann ke baatein mann hi jaane, dill ke baatein dil hi jaane...

vidya.anand2013-08-28 04:00:46