Chapter 5 - Ishq Hota Hai Hone Bhi De

Neha: Kya? Ye café ke owner ke saath flirt kar rahi thi.
Angad: Nahi. Ye nahi kar rahi thi, woh kar raha tha.
Riddhima: Bakwas band karo dono. Koi kisike saath flirt nahi kar raha tha.

Neha ignores her as if she isn’t there. Around 5 minutes earlier Neha came to Riddhima’s office where she was discussing something with Angad. It is a small private room with a desk in the middle and file cabinets near the walls. Angad started telling Neha about what happened in the café as soon as he saw her.

Neha: To woh ata hai, khud ko introduce karta hai aur phir…
Angad: Nahi, introduce nahi karta.
Neha: Phir tumhe kaise pata ke woh owner hai?
Angad: Body language aur movement dekh ke ye saaf samajh araha tha ke woh koi customer to nahi hai.
Neha: Lakin woh employ bhi ho sakta hai.
Angad: No. That guy is nobody’s employ.
Neha: Matlab he has that personality.
Angad: Ha. Warna tumhe kya lagta hai, koi aisa waisa ake Riddhima Rai ka dil leke jayega?
Riddhima: Will you guys stop it?

Both of them start laughing.

Riddhima: Aur Neha, tum yaha iske saath milke mera mazak urane ayi thi ya koi actual kaam tha?
Neha: Ha. Woh main tum logo ko ye dene ayi thi.

She hands her a file.

Neha: Kalash ki official post mortem report. Main ghar ja rahi thi to maine socha ye deti chalu. Aur lagta hai maine ake accha hi kiya. Warna is café owner me pata nahi chalta.
Angad: Ha accha kiya tum agayi. Mera to pet fat raha tha tumhe batane ke liye.
Riddhima: Ha ha very funny. Tum dono yaha pe baith ke ha ha khe khe karo. Main ghar ja rahi hu. Ye report main kal dekh lungi.

She gets up and walks out of the room. Neha waits until she is out of earshot. Then in a serious tone, she says to Angad….

Neha: What are you doing?
Angad: Kya?
Neha: Riddhima ko koi aur pasand araha hai, aur tum has rahe ho.
Angad: To kya karu? Devdas ban jayu?
Neha: Angad, I am serious.
Angad: So am I Neha. Main humesha se jaanta tha ke Riddhima mujhe sirf ek dost ki nazar se dekhti hai. Woh kisi aur ko pasand kare ya na kare isse koi fark nahi parta. Kyuki woh mujhe pasand nahi karti.
Neha: You don’t know that.
Angad: Yes, I do. Main tumse zayada waqt bitata hu uske saath.

Neha makes a sad face.

Angad: It is okay.

He says that with a smile, though inside it hurts. But he knows love can’t be forced. If Riddhima is falling for someone else, he has to accept it. There absolutely is nothing he can do about it.

#

Riddhima stops her bike in front of Kabir and Chandni’s Sweet Corner. The department issued car is only for police work, not for personal use, like going to work or returning home from work. For those purposes the officers either have to use their own personal vehicle, like Riddhima uses her bike, or public transportation or take a cab.

She didn’t plan on stopping here. But the sign of the café attracted her attention. It is funny, she thinks. She passes this road almost every day but she never paid any attention to the café. She saw the name but it never sparked any interest in her. She never had a reason to go inside, until this morning. She doesn’t have any either at this moment but she wants to go inside. Why, she doesn’t know.

For a moment she gets confused about whether she should go inside or not. Then after a minute she hops of the bike and takes a step towards the door. It is a glass door, so the inside is visible. She can see someone on the counter. It is him. The guy who figured out that she let Kalash Juneja’s confession air on TV, for Kajal’s sake. He is doing something near the cash register, most probably sorting cash. A smile forms in her face without her even realizing it.

She slowly places her right hand on the door handle and pushes it. The sound of that catches his attention, and he lifts his head. He looks bewildered. He didn’t expect her here.

Riddhima: Woh... actually main... mujhe laga ke you are open. I should go.

She takes a step back but he approaches her quickly.

Kabir: Nahi nahi. Aap bataiye na aap kuch lengi?
Riddhima: Nahi, woh main….

He eyes are fixed her, waiting for an answer. But Riddhima struggles to find one. She herself doesn’t even know why she has come here.

Kabir: Aapko kuch lena tha?
Riddhima: Ha?
Kabir: I mean coffee wagaira kuch.
Riddhima: Ha. Right. Coffee. Mujhe coffee chahiye thi. But it is okay. I’ll manage.
Kabir: Are nahi. Aap baithiye, main le kar ata hu.

He pulls a chair for her at a nearby table. Riddhima sits hesitantly.

Kabir: How would you like the coffee?
Riddhima: Umm….
Kabir: Never mind. Main bana kar lata hu.

Kabir goes to make coffee for her, while she takes a look around. The walls are painted a soft pastal pink and floor is covered with ash colored tiles. The tables and chairs are made of beige colored plywood. Each table has two to four chairs depending on their sizes with a tissue paper holder and a copy on menu on them. The tissue paper holder on the table she is sitting is however empty, which is normal since the café is closed.

Riddhima picks up the menu to paas the time. There is a wide range of food items listed there. Seeing all those food items, her stomach twists in hunger. That is it, she thinks, that is why she is here. Because she is hungry, not because of anything else. She didn’t have any chance to eat properly since yesterday because of Kalash’s case as it is a high-profile case which requires more attention than usual ones.

Kabir enters the kitchen first before going to make the coffee. The others are cleaning. He puts a finger on his lips, signaling them to be quiet. Then he points to the door. They peek through it and sees Riddhima sitting. Chandni says in a low voice.

Chandni: Ye yaha kya kar rahi hai?
Kabir: Coffee lene ayi hai.
Lily: Café to band ho chuka hai na. Closed sign nahi dekha kya?
Chandni: Kahi ise shak to nahi ho gaya na ke kuch garbar hai aur abhi band hone ke baad check karne ayi hai.
Kabir: Mujhe nahi lagta. But still. Be alert. Main usko dekh raha hu. Tum log yaha pe jo kar rahe the karo.

He then exits the kitchen.

Chandni: Chalo let’s get back to work. Warna aise khare rahe to shak ho jayega use.
Shunty: Ha didi. Thik kahe rahe ho. Main bahar jake table saaf karta hu.
Chandni: Nahi tu ruk. Pahele yaha saaf safai karle phir uske jaane ke baad bahar table saaf karna.
Shunty: Kyu?
Chandni: Bas aise hi.

Dhruv looks at his wife hopelessly. He knows what she is doing. When it comes to Kabir, Chandni always thinks emotionally.

Kabir makes Vanilla Cappuccino. He then takes it to Riddhima along with two blueberry muffins form the display case storage.

Kabir: Here you go.

Riddhima looks at the muffins.

Riddhima: Lakin maine to sirf coffee maangi thi.

Kabir smiles.

Kabir: Ha. Lakin aap ko dekh ke lag raha hai aapko bhook bohot lagi hai. To isiliye main ye le aya.

…Chhua tune, bahe gaya main
Heeriye...

Riddhima looks at him with admiration. He has taken of his glasses and she can see his eyes clearly which seem even more captivating now. His eyes are fixed on her as well. Once again, he forgets everything, loosing himself in her eyes.

Suddenly, without any warning the light goes off.

Riddhima: Ye lights?
Kabir: Ha woh kabhi kabhi chali jati hai. Aap yehi rukiye main mombatti le kar ata hu.

He heads towards the kitchen without much difficulty as he is familiar with the place. But before he can enter the kitchen, Chandni comes out and hands him a lit candle on a stand.

Chandni: Ye lo.
Kabir: Thanks.

He turns and goes back to the table where Riddhima is waiting for him. He places the candle stand on the table and sits in a chair facing her unwittingly.

Kabir: I am so sorry for the inconvenience. Kabhi kabhi raat ko light chali jati hai. It is not regular though but yeah.
Riddhima: It is okay.

She, then, hesitantly takes a small bite of the muffin.

Riddhima: Wow. This so is good.
Kabir: (With a smile) Thank you.

He looks at her affectionately as she continues eating the muffin in the flickering light of the candle.

… jo ab tak kisine kabhi naa kiya
ishq aisa….

Riddhima: Waise. Aaj subha Kajal ke samne mujhe defend karne ke liye thank you.
Kabir: To aap maanti hai ke maine jo kaha woh sach tha?
Riddhima: Maine aisa bhi nahi kaha.
Kabir: Kaheni ki zarurat nahi hai. It was obvious. Aur iske liye Kajal ki taraf se thank you.
Riddhima: Kajal ko aap pahele se jaante hai?

This question puts Kabir on guard. He watches her carefully, trying to determine whether she asked this casually or she is attempting to extract information. Her face says that it is probably the former. But in his profession, he has to be careful always. One small mistake can ruin everything.

Kabir: Nahi. Bas ek mahina hi hua hai. Chandni, jo meri partner hai is business ki, uska husband, Dhruv mere bachpan ka dost hai. To usne jab Kajal ka case liya to tab meri mulakat hui usse. Woh log zayada tar yehi meeting karte the.

He chose to tell her the truth. There is no reason to lie here. It will only create a mess. Of course, he haven’t told her everything. He skipped the part where after receiving the payment from his client, he instructed Dhruv to approach Kajal and offer to take her case. He did this ensure Kajal’s safety, to make sure that they were on her side in case Kalash Juneja ever tried to harm her.

Riddhima: That is very nice of you. Use is tarha se sahara dena, support karna.
Kabir: Use zarurat thi bohot. She was in a very bad place. Uske Maa-Baap ke alawa aur koi nahi tha uske support karne liye.

Riddhima looks at the man sitting in front of her. Her respect for him is growing with every passing moment. He could have treated Kajal like any other client of his friend. But he didn’t. He welcomed her, gave her a shoulder to lean on. And even now, he could have easily said that they were closed and sent Riddhima off. But instead he brought her coffee, along with muffins, which she didn’t even ask for and is giving her company so that she doesn’t feel awkward.

…. aisi dewangi se main chahu tujhe
jaise paheli dafa koi pagal hua…

Slowly Kabir’s guard begins to wear down and he becomes comfortable. The candle keeps burning while they talk, losing track of time. They don’t stop even after she is finished with the coffee and muffin. The world around them fades and at this moment they see only each other, unaware that four sets of eyes are fixed on them, near the kitchen door.

Dhruv: He is falling.
Chandni: Ha.
Dhruv: What do you mean “Ha”? This is dangerous Chandni. Ye ladki ek police officer hai. Kabir ko isse baat tak nahi karni chahiye. Lakin ye to dil de raha hai apna.

Chandni looks at him with a smile.

Chandni: Tumhe yaad hai, tumhe kisse pyaar hua tha.

Dhruv sighs.

Dhruv: It is not the same. Tum mujhe jail bhejna nahi chahti thi.
Chandni: Phir bhi. Us waqt laga tha na ke humara ek hona namumkin hai. Lakin dekho aaj hum ek saath hai. Aur ye sirf Kabir ke wajay se possible hua hai. To ab bari jab Kabir ki hai to hume uska saath dena hoga.

Dhruv doesn’t argue further. He knows it is pointless. Chandni is stubborn, she won’t listen. But he still thinks it is risky to allow this girl to enter their lives. She can destroy them. She will, if she finds out the truth.

The power returns, just as suddenly it went out. Kabir and Riddhima come back to reality.

Riddhima: I think ab mujhe chalna chahiye. Raat bohot ho gayi hai.
Kabir: Aapko kuch aur chahiye?
Riddhima: Nahi.

She stands up. He follows her, blowing out the candle as he does.

Riddhima: Thank you. Coffee aur muffin ke liye. Dono hi bohot tasty the.
Chandni: Honge kyu nahi.

They turn toward the sound of her voice. She approaches them and stands next Kabir.

Chandni: Kabir ne jo banaya hai. Aur iske haath me jaadu hai.

Her praise embarrasses him a little bit.

Kabir: Iski adat hai barha charha ke bolna.
Chandni: Aur iski adat hai tarif karne pe sharma jana. Dekho kaise sharma raha hai.

The girls laugh a bit.

Riddhima: Woh bill?
Kabir: It’s okay. It is on the house.
Riddhima: Are you sure?
Kabir: Yes.
Riddhima: Thank you.

She walks out of the café while Kabir and Chandni look at her way. They see her getting on the bike and driving away through the glass door.

He lets out a deep sigh.

Kabir: I am screwed Chandni.

She pats him on the shoulder.

Chandni: Koi baat nahi. We will figure something out.

She knows it is not going to be easy. But she is willing to do anything for Kabir.