September 15, 2018 : Mumbai
Vikrant woke up with a jerk and glanced at the other side of the bed, it was cold and untouched. He sighed, he was waking up alone for a while now. He got up and made himself breakfast, he looked outside the window while his omelet was cooking, the sky was filled with clouds and rain was lightly pattering on the window panes, it was a gloomy day.
"Just like my life", vikrant mused to himself.
The toaster pinged and vikrant came out of his reverie. He had cases to get back to. Vikrant got ready and left the house. Once he reached the police station he saw the kidnapped guy's wife already waiting for him at the station. He went and took his seat at his desk. Mrs. Mukherjee started talking as soon as she saw vikrant.
Yes, he was working on normal-human cases now, he could still remember the day he took this decision. Suresh Dutt had called him into his office to brief him about a new case,
August 10, 2018
"Vikrant, ye Aditi ka case Hai, businessman R.M Khanna ka kisine khoon Kar Diya hai, Mei chahta hu ke tum ise take over.."
"Sorry sir, lekin apne Aditi ko inform Kiya Hai Kya iske baare me?"
His boss looked at vikrant incredulously, until the realization dawned at him,
"Vikrant.. Aditi ne Delhi transfer le liya hai."
"Lekin sir, usne mujhe kuchh nahi kaha is bareme." Vikrant replied in disbelief.
"Vikrant usne 2 din pehle hi apna paperwork complete Kar Diya hai" and Suresh Dutt pushed the papers in front of vikrant.
Vikrant's eyes brimmed with tears, as he went through the papers and he remembered what Aditi had told him 2 days back,
"Vikrant, mei thak chuki hu, mujhe kuchh dino ke liye break chahiye. Mei papa ke pass Delhi Jana chahti hu."
Looking at her sad face he had agreed to her request, only.. only if she hadn't lied to him and told him on his face that she wanted to leave him. It wasn't just her, he was hurting too. The tears in his eyes had now transformed into raw anger. If she didn't want to be around him then so did he!
"Mr. Singhal!! Aap Meri baat sun bhi rahe ho?"
"Haan Mrs. Mukherjee, sun raha hu. Hum apke pati ko dhundke nikalenge." Vikrant replied coming out of his stupor. They were close to cracking this case, vikrant was sure, by noon today they will be able to rescue Mr. Mukherjee and catch his kidnappers as well. Joshi had given him a solid lead.
As predicted, vikrant and his team were able to rescue Mr. Mukherjee but slightly later than expected, they returned him to his wife and kids.
"Kids! A pang of sadness hit him. May be it was his fault.
Vikrant brushed that thought aside and sat at his desk to resume his paperwork. That's when he knocked the mini calendar from his desk to the floor. Vikrant picked it up and glanced at the date, September 15, 2018. His hands faltered and he felt his heart clench. It's the day, or was supposed to be. If everything had gone fine he would be holding his Vidu right now. Argh! It was as if the world was conspiring against him. He looked outside the window, it was pouring now. He needed a drink, and a friend.
Vikrant picked his phone and dialed a number,
"Hello Nikhil? Yaar ek dost ki jaroorat hai."
At the other end of the city Dr. Nikhil Bhatiya looked at his wrist watch, it was almost 11pm. His eyes diverted to the red numbers blinking on his watch, September 15. Sh*t! It was the day today. Vikrant had made him remember that date by heart and had set multiple reminders for him. Vikrant had asked him to be ready with a camera when the time comes, but it never did.
Nikhil felt sorry for his friend,
"Thik hai, humeshawali jagah milte hai."
When Nikhil reached The Ark, he spotted vikrant sitting by the bar counter sipping his drink. "God knows how much he has had already" he thought to himself as he made his way to the counter. He tapped on vikrants shoulder and sat next to him. Vikrant nodded at him curtly and pushed a glass towards him which he had already ordered. Vikrant didn't seem to be in the mood for talking so Nikhil didn't push it. He took his glass and waited for vikrant to start. His friend needed him and he was here for that.
After a while Vikrant moved his hand to grab his 8th vodka shot when Nikhil pried it out of his hands. Vikrant already had too much on his mind and drinking wasn't going to solve anything. Vikrant's lips twisted into a sardonic smile and he finally started talking,
"Saari galti meri hai.. meine khud apni hasti khelti duniya ujad di hai."
Nikhil tried to stop his friend from blaming himself for the turns his life had taken, but vikrant motioned him to stop and continued,
"Na hi mei uss din use break lene ke liye bolta, na hum zagadte aur mei ek hi raat me un dono ko kho .."
Words got stuck in his throat and he stopped talking. Nikhil understood it and sat there quietly sipping his drink. After a few minutes vikrant all of a sudden stumbled out of his bar stool and dashed towards the door before Nikhil could stop him.
"Mujhe ye thik karna hi hoga." He mumbled as he pushed through the throngs of people to get out of there.
As soon as Vikrant left, Nikhil started dialing his number constantly, vikrant was not in a condition to drive anywhere, let alone travel all the way to Delhi.
"The number you have dialed is currently busy, please try again after some time. App jiss number..
Nikhil cut the call, only to try again. The called went through this time and Nikhil launched,
"Vikrant kahan hai tu? Sunn ab raat bohot ho gayi hai, kuchh ulta sidha mat kar dena, hum kal subah baat karenge na ispe.
"Hello? Vikrant ji ka accident ho gaya hai..
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Lines in grey are vikrant's past memories.
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