Chapter 3
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[MEMBERSONLY]
[NOCOPY]
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Khushi ran out of the house, looking around frantically for an empty rickshaw.
The security guard ran after her. "Madam, shall I help you get a rickshaw? Or would you like me to summon Mohan from the office to take you out?"
"No, Biharilalji. I am in a hurry. I need to get a rickshaw!" She waved wildly at a rickshaw coming towards her at breakneck speed.
The rickshaw came to a sudden halt by her, the squeal of the brakes almost deafening her.
Happy Singh poked his familiar head out from the driver's seat.
"Khushiji! Are you looking for a rickshaw? I am on my way to Laxmi Nagar after a test drive. Are you going there?" he beamed at her.
Khushi jumped in to his rickshaw.
"Happyji, can you please take me to Arnavji's office? It is urgent!" she pleaded.
"Of course I can! I will take you where you want to go, Khushiji." Happy Singh started the vehicle, and chattering nineteen to a dozen, drove rapidly towards the centre of the city. He drove as he usually did, recklessly, darting in and out of the traffic with ease.
As he stopped reluctantly at a traffic light, Khushi saw a small shop with a photocopier. An idea flashed through her mind.
The lights changed.
"Happyji, can you stop here for a moment?" she asked.
"Ji." He parked the rickshaw near the shop.
Khushi ran in to get 2 copies made of the document that Shyamji had given her. Paying for the service, she dashed back to the rickshaw.
"Happyji, I need to go to Buaji's house now. I will go to the office after I meet Buaji." Khushi said, panting after her mad dash, nervousness making her sweat profusely.
"To chaliye Laxmi Nagar!" Happy Singh smiled as he started the vehicle and drove like a bat out of hell towards Laxmi Nagar.
Khushi ran in to Buaji's house.
"Titliyaa!" Buaji exclaimed. "Yehan kaa kar rahi ho, Nandkisore?" she asked, surprised.
"I need to take something, Buaji." Khushi explained as she ran towards her room.
She shut the door behind her, and ran to her wardrobe. She rolled one copy of the documents and pushed it under her clothes. Then she ran to open the small drawer of the table with her idol of Devi Maiyya. It held her collection of stars, lamps for Diwali, some old bangles, the wrappers of some gifts she had received, and other junk of a similar nature.
Only she used the drawer. It was reserved for her. Khushi pushed the second copy under her stars and an old dupatta.
She hugged Devi Maiyya, and then ran out of her bedroom holding the file with the original documents.
Buaji, Amma, & Babuji were in the drawing room, staring at her dishevelled form with wondering eyes.
Khushi looked at the file in her hand and the astonishment on her family members' faces.
"Woh... Arnavji... I have to give the file to him... I am in a hurry, Buaji. I wil see you all later..."
All 3 nodded, looking at her and each other.
Khushi ran to Babuji, hugged him thoroughly, and then crushed Amma & Buaji in her slim arms.
"I have to go..." she explained as she ran out of the house and jumped in to Happyji's auto.
Buaji looked at Garima & Sasi.
"Arnav Bitwaa must have forgotten to take his file to the office, Nandkisore!" Buaji thought aloud.
"He must need it urgently. Otherwise Khussi would never run off like this!" Amma consoled herself.
Buaji & Sasi nodded.
Khushi ran in through the main entrance of the huge office site, heaving a great sigh of relief. She was finally here. Now all she had to do was walk in to the building and ask for Arnavji. Please, Devi Maiyya, let him not be in a meeting. Please let him be free. Khushi took a step towards the office to hear a car roar to a stop right behind her.
She jumped.
The bumper of the car was just inches away from her. She glared in the general direction of the driver, ready to chastise him for endangering her life & limbs.
The door opened and Shyam Manohar Jha stepped out.
Her breath stopped, her heart skipped a beat. Panic overwhelmed her, lashing over her in waves. She tightened her hold on the file.
Shyam let out a silent sigh of relief. He was saved! The file was still with her. She had just got here, and was yet to go in to the building.
Taking advantage of her shock, he marched up to her and caught hold of her arm.
"Come with me, Khushi." he ordered softly, his snake-like eyes revealing his fury.
Khushi looked at him with wide, scared eyes. "No..." she whispered.
He looked around. No one was looking at them. He pulled and pushed her towards the passenger seat, holding her arm in a tight vice, leaving her arm heavily bruised. She opened her mouth to scream, to draw public attention, to seek help, but he twisted her arm so hard that her unborn cry came out as a pain-filled gasp. He used every bit of his brute strength and his large size to bundle her in to the seat, covering her body in such a way that his use of force was not visible to casual observers.
Once he pushed her in to the seat, he bent over her, blocking anyone from seeing her. Quickly, a chloroform-drenched hanky was placed over her nose.
Khushi sagged against the seat, losing the fight.
Shyam took the file from her limp fingers, fastened the seat belt, and took his seat again. He drove off from the scene, believing himself to be unobserved.
Arnav returned home late that evening, weary after a day of worrying over Khushi and attending meeting after meeting when his mind was far away from his office, stuck on one pale girl with hazel eyes who had looked at him as if he had pushed a knife through her heart...
HP opened the door for him.
He walked in to see the ladies of his family sitting in the living room. Khushi alone was missing.
"Where is Khushi?" he asked.
Four perplexed faces turned to look at him.
"Bhere ijj Khussi? Tum hum se pochat ho, Arnav Bitwaa? Aphter (after) calling her to the office and keeping her with you all day?" Mami teased him. "Saasumma, the cat has stolen the milk and drunk it, and ijj now pretending it does not knows how the vessel is broken..." she laughed.
Anjali, Payal, & Nani smiled.
Akash & NK came down the stairs.
"What! A cat has stolen our milk!" NK exclaimed. "Maasi, show me where it is. I will teach it a lesson it won't forget and drive it away."
All giggled.
Arnav alone frowned. He opened his mouth to speak, but Mami got in before him.
"I wil show you." She pointed at Arnav. "It ijj 6-feet tall, bears (wears) black, and does not have a mush..." she laughed.
"Nannav stole milk?" NK scratched his head. "What..?"
"Enough!" Arnav put his foot down. "I did not call Khushi to my office."
There was perfect silence in the room. Payal paled.
"Chotey..." Anjali said. "Khushiji left at noon. She said she was going to the office to see you. She even had a file with her..."
All the ladies nodded.
"She didn't come to the office, and I didn't see her." Arnav stated, feeling his heart beat pick up its pace.
All looked at him, anxiety written large on their faces.
Arnav quickly pulled out his phone and tried her number. It rang, but she did not answer.
"Maybe she went to Laxmi Nagar, Chotey..." Nani suggested, her voice trembling.
Arnav was already trying Buaji's number.
"Buaji, it is Arnav."
"Arnav Bitwaa! Itni raat gaye phone kar rahe ho, Nandkisore! Is your Naniji alright?" Buaji asked, worried.
"Haan... yes, yes. Can I speak to Khushi?" he asked, his instinct telling him that something was very wrong.
The ladies, NK, & Akash looked at him, fear written plain on their faces.
"Khussi?" Buaji frowned. "But she is with you, Nandkisore! She came here today in Happyji's rickshaw and went away immediately. She told us that she was going to your office to see you. That it was urgent. That she would visit us another time. She had a file with her, Nandkisore!"
Arnav tried to swallow, but couldn't.
"She didn't come to the office, Nandkisore?" Buaji asked, anxiety making her voice a thin thread.
"No." Arnav croaked.
"She is not in your house?" Buaji's voice trembled.
"No."
"Titliyaa is not here... She is not with you..." Buaji whispered. "Where can she be? It is so dark, so late... she is alone somewhere..." Her hand holding the receiver trembled.
"I will find her, Buaji. I promise." Arnav whispered. He cut the call.
Buaji nodded, sinking in to a chair.
Nani, Mami, Payal, Anjali, NK, & Akash stared at each other in horror. Mami clutched Nani's hand tight.
"I am going out to look for Khushi." Arnav told his family. He moved towards the door.
NK & Akash tried to accompany him, but he waved them back. "Stay here. Let me know if she gets home." he said in a strained voice.
As he took his seat in the car, he called Buaji again.
"Is Happy Singh there? In his workshop?" Arnav asked.
Buaji dropped the receiver and ran to the window on shaking legs to peer out.
"Yes." she reported back to him.
"I will be there in 10 minutes to talk to him." Arnav said, cutting the call as he drove recklessly towards Laxmi Nagar.
"I dropped her outside your office, Bhaiyya. She said she wanted to meet you." Happy Singh looked confused.
Arnav looked at him, helpless.
"She had a file in her hand." Happy Singh added.
Arnav nodded.
"Where can Khushiji be?" Happy Singh's eyes filled.
Arnav said softly, "Happyji, don't tell anyone that you gave a lift to Khushi. You may be in danger."
Happy Singh looked at him in astonishment.
"She may have been kidnapped... for a ransom." Arnav whispered.
Happy gulped, and nodded.
Arnav raced back to the office, and got the security guards to summon the men who had been on duty at the gates during the day.
"Khushiji came inside through the gate, Sir. I saw her walking toward the office entrance." one guard said.
"Then?" Arnav asked urgently. "What happened then? How come she didn't come in?" His face was cold, his eyes turbulent.
The guards looked at each other, helpless, mute.
Aman rushed in to the office, his tie askew. "Sir, you need me?" He had just got home and changed into casualwear when ASR had phoned him and asked him to rush to the office.
Arnav waved the guards away.
He explained the whole situation to Aman. "She came in to our car park, but did not enter the building. Where could she have gone?" Arnav rubbed the back of his neck.
"Sir, I saw Khushiji... I think. That is, if she was wearing a bright blue suit..." Aman faltered.
Arnav turned eyes bright with hope towards Aman. ""She was." he confirmed. He had seen her that morning.
"That is, I was smoking... outside... in the car park. I saw a lady like Khushiji, dressed in blue, walking towards the office..."
"And?" Arnav's voice was a mere whisper.
"I turned away and walked to the dustbin at the far corner to discard the butt, Sir. When I turned around, a white car was leaving the spot. I think... I think Khushiji was sitting in the passenger seat. I saw a flash of blue..." Aman said.
Arnav stared at him. He parted his lips, but could not get a word out.
Aman continued to give him the details of the car. "I didn't notice the number, Sir. But it was white." He added the make and model of the luxury vehicle.
Arnav felt his heart stop. He had gifted Shyam a white car of the same make & model a week before Payal & Akash's wedding!
As soon as Aman left the room, Arnav collapsed in his chair, feeling his chest constrict, making breathing impossible.
Had Khushi & Shyam run off together? Shyam had been suggesting that & more on the terrace, and had informed him many times on that fateful night of his desire to live with Khushi after abandoning his Rani Sahiba!
He frowned. But why should they meet in his office car park before running away?
Why should Khushi carry a file to his office if she was planning to abandon him for Shyam?
And why should she inform all her & his relations that she was going to see her husband at his office before running away with her lover? Her supposed lover?
No, no, Khushi wouldn't do that to him. Never! She wouldn't hurt Di or shame her family by behaving in such an immoral manner. She would never dishonour the managalsutra and sindoor he had forced on her with Devi Maiyya as their witness...
Arnav rubbed his chest.
He called home.
"Di, is Jijaji there?" he asked, anxiety making it impossible for him to sit still.
"Haan, Chotey." Anjali said. "Do you want his help? Shall I call him? Chotey, have you found Khushiji?"
Arnav drew a deep breath of relief. "No, no... I will manage." he said.
He sat in the dark in his office, thinking.
Khushi... where was she? Aman had seen her getting in to a car that resembled the one he had purchased for Shyam. If she had gone with Shyam, then what was Shyam doing at home, and where was Khushi?
Khushi... Khushi... his heart murmured.
He looked around. It was getting very dark. Khushi was scared of the dark. He clenched his fists. He hoped there were lights where ever she was, that she was not alone or hungry, that she could see the stars...
He picked up his phone. He needed help. Urgently.
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