NEW ARAKSHI SS- CHAHOON MAI YAA NAA

'' I promise you Shree. Mai Arjun ke chehre par wo hansi waapas le kar aaungi. Ye aadmi ek din zaroor hansega.''

This was her promise. Not only to Shree, but also to herself.

She had seen many a sad faces in her life span of 22 years. And to tell the truth, she had even made most of them smile. Frown was something Sakshi never got used to. Whenever she ''encountered'' such people, she put all her life and soul to showcase a grin on their faces. But Arjun was a different case. He was not one to easily, oh forget that word!. He was not one to open up to anyone at any cost. His eyes held volumes of pain and anger, and what more, maybe guilt?, and his face, a permanent glare. This was what had caught her attention, when she first met him. He looked to her as an empty shell, with nothing inside. Yes, as she had worked with him, she found out more to this strange man. He was a man of excellent wits and knowledge, but exceptionally short temper. This was proved to her when he had thrown the criminal of their present cases in order to start the process of justice then and there itself.

Present:

The case was finished, the criminal was caught, and the victim's body had been handed over to her family. That left only the paperwork. And as Ayesha was on emergency leave- her only sister was in hospital due to a major heart attack- that left only Shree, Chotu and Sakshi to do the work.

''Kya yaar Chotu. Theek se kar naa. Ab issme bhi gadbad ho gayi to Rathore sir humara chehra gadbad kar denge.'' Shree scowled. He was a bit too frustrated with the heavy work. They had to fill the case details for two murders! Ah. This heavy work!!

''Riya ek cup coffee laana please…'' the sentence had left his mouth, and now Shree realized what he had said. Immediately tears came to his eyes and even Chotu's.

The ever attentive Sakshi too had heard this. By now she knew who Riya was. She was a real hero of the country. That exactly was how Sakshi felt. She had heard a lot of stories of her innocent acts, her hygiene-freak nature, and finally her sacrifice for the greater good. And the most surprising thing for her was, even THE Arjun Suryakant Rawte- had cried after her death. And this made Sakshi sure that she must have had a great impact on this tough cop.

''Shree, Chotu, sambhalo yaar apne aap ko. Socho Riya ko kitna bura lagta hoga tum logon ko rote hue dekh kar'', She tried to console both of them.

''You are right Sakshi.'' This was the first time Chotu spoke. But for Shree, it was a damage too big to handle. He went out of the conference room, straight to the computer room, his personal favorite area in the new office.

As soon as he entered the door, he broke down on the floor. Riya was his best friend straight from the day he had joined the training academy. And her loss was something which Shree had struggled too much to take in. Tears made way from his eyes, as fast as the flow of a river.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He saw up, to see that it was his arch enemy- Liza.

''Liza, please chali jao yahaan se. Mai mazaak ke mood me nahi hun.''

''Shree, mai mazaak nahin karne aayi hun.'' It was the first time that she had called him anything other than Specky. Her voice had a very soft, feminine touch. And Shree couldn't believe his analysis, that it sounded good from her mouth.

''Shree, dekho yaar, mai jaanti hun ki tum Riya ko bahut miss kar rahe ho. But rone ka koi faayda nahin. Jo jaa chuke unhe yaad kar rone se sirf unhein aur humein dono ko dukh hi pahunchta hai. Life mein aage badho. To Riya ki aatma ko bhi shaanti milegi.''

Shree was astonished. The always chirpy, irritating Liza, had said something which had dried up his tears. He completely agreed with what she had said. And, involuntarily he hugged her. A friends wala hug. After a few seconds, they broke apart and started towards their work areas.

But Shree stopped her-" By the way Liza, ye tujhe hua kya thaa?''

"Kuch nahin, Shree" Liza was back to the chattering and blabbering mode "wo, kya hai na mujhe koi to chahiye jo mujhe har weekend Disco lekar jaaye, wo bhi bina 'silly boyfriend' questions puche. Secondly, ETF mein do serious officers- urf Rathod sir aur Arjun sir- hi kafi hain. Samjhe ya….??'' She gave him a wide smile.