Arakshi OS: Beginning of Friendship

OS: Beginning of Friendship

Sakshi clutched the flowers tightly in her hands as she walked into the ETF office. She looked around discreetly to make sure the lion was in his den and not lurking around the lobby of the ETF offices. Today she wanted to avoid him at any cost.

"Sakshi!" speak of the devil, she thought, as she heard the lion bellow her name.

She clenched her eyes shut tightly and counted to ten before pasting her usual playful grin on her face. "Hi Arjun, she said sounding bit flirtatious on purpose just to annoy him further.

Arjun placed his hand on his hip and glared at the shameless girl in front of him. "Where are you going with those flowers? Didn't I tell you I don't like these types of jokes? Besharmi ki bhi hadh hoti hai." He said nastily. He had tried everything in his power to make the girl leave ETF but she hasn't budged no matter how much he scolds or insults her.

Sakshi stayed calm while he ranted. Just once she wanted to put the rude and arrogant man in front of her in his place.

Sakshi opened her mouth to explain but he waved his hand to dismiss her, "Don't bother coming up with any excuses, I am not interested."

"Good, because I don't plan to explain myself to you." Sakshi said then walked towards the conference room.

She had only taken two steps when she spotted the person she was looking for. Sakshi grinned widely and went towards Ayesha to give her a quick hug. She handed the flowers to Ayesha. "Happy birthday Ayesha."

Ayesha took the flowers and hugged Sakshi, "Thanks." She then pulled Sakshi away from everyone.

"Aab kaise hai woh?' Sakshi's smile dimmed at Ayesha's question.

"Abhi koi farak nahi pada, doctors koshish kar rahe hai." Sakshi said. She blinked back the tears that formed in her eyes at the thought of her father's health taking turn for the worse.

Ayesha patted Sakshi's arm in reassurance, "Don't worry Sakhshi, I am sure he will pull through."

"What are you two whispering about?" Rathore asked.

Sakshi immediately pasted her signature grin on her face, "Ayesha's birthday party of course." She winked at him to tease him.

"Filhaal hum case pe thoda dhyan de Ms. Sakshi? Arjun asked sarcastically.

Sakshi was not dithered by his cold attitude. "Ji ACP Rawte, aap case pe dhyan do, mein chali apna kaam karne." Deliberately misleading him in regards to what she was up to for the day. He probably though she would spend the day planning things for Ayesha's BD but little did he know what she would be doing for the day.

Sakshi went to Shree and whispered something in his ears then turned and grinned at her audience before walking out.

Arjun just shook his head at her retreating back then walked out also. Rathore followed Arjun into the conference room leaving the other three worried over Sakshi.

"I am really worried about Sakshi." Ayesha voiced.

"Haan yaar, mein bhi," Chotu also voiced.

"Humein kuch karna padega uske liye." Shree said.

"Filhaal hum case pe kaam karte hai, warna Arjun sir hume kuch karne ke liye layak nahi chodenge." Ayesha voiced then all three went into the conference room to work on the case.

Later in the day, the team returned to the ETF offices after running into yet another dead end. They had been investigating a case of murdered teacher. There were so many suspects and no clues. Every time they felt they had found the killer something or someone would come up to clear the suspect.

Arjun studied the fact board thoughtfully while others sat wondering what to do next.

Arjun was about to point out few details of the case when Sakshi burst into the conference room in her usual boisterous style with a huge grin on her face, surprising everyone. "Hey guys, guess what?"

While everyone gave her a baffled looks and exchange looks amongst themselves, after seeing Arjun's thunderous expression, Sakshi was too excited about the news she had to share to notice any of it.

However before she could share the news Arjun's shout stopped her in her tracks. "Ms. Sakshi Anand, how many times will I have to tell you that we are here to work and not to have fun and joke all day long? May I remind you that this is your work place and not your home where you can barge in and out as you please?"

Sakshi opened her mouth to explain but Arjun raised his hand to stop her and continued to berate her for her behavior. Entire ETF team was shocked into silence by the way Arjun continued to yell, scold and insult Sakshi. No one dared to step into stop Arjun, not because they were scared of his legendary temper but because it was so out of character for Arjun to lose his temper and insult and yell at Sakshi to this extent. Up until now he had kept himself in check whenever he taunted or responded to Sakshi sarcastically.

Sakshi on the other hand was not afraid to take a step towards the great ACP Arjun. She held up her own hand, "Enough ACP Arjun Rawte, just because I have stopped myself from reacting to every one of your insults doesn't mean I will continue to stand by and take more of your misplaced anger out on me."

Again the team exchanged looks amongst themselves. Sameer sat back and let the drama unfold without saying anything. As far as he was concerned it was about time the cold war between the two came to an end one way or another. He had been waiting for the dam to break, for days, from either side.

Sakshi held up her hand and counted on her fingers, "You told me to get out of ETF, you forcefully kicked me out of ETF, and when I came back it hurt your ego that mere girl was able to fulfill her challenge to you." Sakshi paused for a moment then continued to answer Arjun in his own language.

"When you knew you couldn't get me fired, you did everything in your power to get me to leave on my own. You chocked me for a sake of demonstration, you right out challenged and threatened me that you will get me out of ETF one way or another, do you know why I take your behavior and your insults day in and day out?"

Arjun clenched his jaw and fisted his hand as he tried his best to ignore Sakshi and her rant.

"Of course you don't, why would you? You are the great ACP Arjun Rawte, who doesn't care about anything or anyone but his loss and his pain. You are afraid to feel and that is why you want everyone to be like you, serious all the time. Do you even care that we may also feel pain of loss of a loved one? Do you ever even try to ask me why I behave the way I behave? No you automatically assume that I am not serious about my work just because I like to smile and joke with my team." Sakshi took a deep breath and stepped back.

"You are the one who once said to me that if you go by what is in the face then you will always be wrong, yet you only judged me by what you see in my face. And you know why you didn't bother to find out? Because somewhere deep down I hit a nerve in you when I recognized the pain in your eyes the very first time we met."

"The great ACP Arjun Rawte is afraid to feel anything and that is why you wanted me out of ETF, because I made you feel and made you want to do the things you have forgotten to do." Sakshi said as she looked at him. "Just because I smile and joke doesn't mean I am not serious about my work or that I haven't experienced a pain of loss. All of us have understood you and your way of doing thing but unfortunately you have failed to understand us.

"Yes I wanted to see you smile once in a while and to achieve that I went overboard at times but when I realized this I also backed off, but you didn't care about that did you Arjun? All you knew is that one way or another you were going to prove to me that your decision of firing me was right one and you hated it that I went above you to get reinstated in ETF." Sakshi's voice cracked at the end but she didn't let him see that he had finally broken her.

"Well today I will grant you your wish ACP Rawte not because I am scared of you but because I now know that I am never going to find what I am seeking here at ETF. I had heard great things about you Arjun and thought you would be the one person to help me but I was wrong, how can a person who doesn't want to help himself, help me?"

She turned to walk out but turned back, "Just one last thing Arjun. When you are alone and lost in the memory of your loved one ask yourself if she is at peace seeing you like this. Would she be happy to see you turn your back on your life?"

She stopped next to Sameer and gave him a wobbly smile. "I am sorry Sameer, I know I have been a nuisance to you also, I hope that things get back to normal around here now." She then handed him the camera she was holding in her hand.

"I just stopped by to give you this. I had taken some pictures when we went over to the teacher's house. You will notice that Rahul Ahuja, the student who claimed he was at home at the time of the murder, is in one of those pictures. He is standing with a group of teacher's neighbors, trying his best to hide himself." Sakshi turned and gave her three friends a small smile before walking out of the conference room without looking back again.

Later that evening…

Ayesha, Chotu and Shree sat around sipping coffee. None of them could believe that Sakshi was really gone. "Arre yaar Sakshi is really gone this time." Chotu finally voiced.

Shree looked into his coffee cup with a sad face. "Haa yaar, I am really going to miss her. She always used to help with investigations; She had so many contacts out there and they were always quick to help her."

"Kya? She used to help you? But how come you never said anything Shree?" Ayesha asked.

"Because she didn't want Arjun sir to know that she was helping us in anyway. She didn't care what Arjun sir thought about her but she never wanted any of us to get in trouble for not working efficiently." Shree further elaborated.

Unknown to the three friends their conversation was heard by the very man. Arjun walked away quickly before they saw him eavesdropping on their conversation.

He entered the conference room and stood facing the blank fact board as he reflected back on what had happened earlier. Had he taken the game with Sakshi too far? He realized he didn't like what he had become since Sakshi joined ETF. No had ever dared to cross the limits he had set until she arrived in ETF and in his life. She had ignored the wall he had built around him and barged right in without permission and he hadn't liked that one bit.

Initially he hadn't thought much about her but he had to admit there had been moments when he had been impressed by her quick mind, but her attitude regarding work didn't cease to irritate him. That is what had made him fire her, or so he had convinced himself.

When she came back he had thought that she would gloat and throw it his face and he didn't give her a chance to do that. He tried his best to scare her off instead. The more she resisted the harder he worked to get rid of her.

If he was stubborn than she was more stubborn which brought him to the reason for his dissatisfaction with the way things had ended earlier in the day. He wondered why she gave up after fighting so long and so hard to stay in ETF?

And what had she meant by the statement about her seeking something from ETF and she had thought that he would be able to help her? Come to think of it she had said something along the same lines when he had fired her but at the time he hadn't thought much about it. Could he have been wrong about Sakshi?

He shrugged those thoughts away but her last statement about Roshni being unhappy to see him turn his back on life wouldn't leave him alone. Could Sakshi be right about all that too he wondered to himself?

Before his thoughts could go any further Rathore burst into the conference room. "Rawte let's go," he said and walked out.

Arjun hurried to catch up, "What's going on Rathore? Where are we going?" He asked as he took the passenger seat and the other team members strapped themselves in the back of the SUV.

"We are going to the city hospital. We have to help escort the ex-home minister Khurana back to the safe house." Rathore informed them all.

Ayesha, Chotu and Shree exchanged a worried look. "Sir is he okay?" She asked tentatively.

Rathore glanced at him sharply. "Shree do you know him?"

"No sir, but we know someone who is related to him."

"Who?" Rathore asked.

Before Shree could answer, Arjun interrupted him. "Leave that for now Shree." He addressed his questions to Rathore next.

"Wasn't the ex-home minister Khurana in a coma? Arjun asked.

"Yes, but he was hospitalized for complications recently." Rathore answered as he maneuvered thru the Mumbai traffic.

"So why does he need to be escorted to the safe house?" Arjun asked.

"The current home minister has received some information regarding an attack on minister Khurana and he wants us to make sure that we get the ex-home minister to his secure location.

Arjun was jolted back to the past and remembered how minister Khurana had given his full support in bringing down Sikandar and his illegal activities. He also remembered how the ex home minister had paid a big price for going against the mafia don.

Minister Khurana had lost his whole family in an attack launched by Sikandar, but Sikandar had left the home minister alive to make him suffer. Arjun wondered why sudden plan to attack Khurana at this point in time.

Before Arjun's thoughts could go any further they arrived at the hospital. They introduced themselves to the guards stationed outside the private wing and then went to several security measures before reaching minister Khurana's room.

Arjun was last to enter the room because he had stayed back to check the area around the room. When he entered the room he was shocked to see Sakshi sitting in a chair next to Minister Khurana's bed, holding his hand with tears in her eyes. He just figured out Sakshi's reasons for joining ETF and her fighting him at every step of the way to stay in ETF.

"Sakshi, what are you doing here?' Rathore asked.

Sakshi stood up. "Thank you for coming Sameer. I am here because he is my father." She said gesturing to the man lying in the bed.

Seeing Sameer's confusion Sakshi explained further. "I took my mom's maiden name after the attack on my family so that the people who tried to kill my father and killed my family wouldn't find out that I had survived the attack."

"But now someone knows and are going to come after him and you." Arjun spoke up for the first time.

Sakshi finally looked at him but looked away quickly after nodding her head. She didn't have to say anymore, that one look and nod had said it all.

Arjun realized how wrong he had been about Sakshi and he deserved everything she threw in his face earlier that day. The reminder of his behavior towards Sakshi left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Ayesha went around the bed to give a quick hug of reassurance to Sakshi while Chotu and Shree both patted Sakshi's shoulder to show their support.

Rathore glanced at Arjun then turned back to Sakshi. "Don't worry Sakshi, we will get your dad to the safe house quickly and make sure that no harm comes to you or your dad."

Sakshi blinked back the tears. "Thank you Sameer. Waise I wouldn't have called you but Raghu uncle insisted on asking for your assistance to help get dad to the safe house."

Arjun turned away because he knew Sakshi just explained for his benefit. She wanted him to know that she wasn't trying to use the situation to her advantage and nor did she need his pity at her situation.

Next morning Sakshi had just finished visiting with her father when one of the guards informed her that ACP Arjun Rawte was here to see her. She granted the guard a permission to let Arjun in then went down to the living area to wait for him.

"What are you doing here Arjun?" She asked as soon as he stepped into the house and took of his aviators.

Arjun raised an eyebrow at her blunt question. "I am here to take you to the ETF office." He answered in the same brusque manners.

Sakshi's eyes widened in shock at Arjun's response, "I quit ETF remember?"

Arjun sighed; it was time to redeem himself, somewhat. "Yes I know, but I also remembered you saying that you came seeking something from ETF so now it's time for you to fulfill your duty."

Sakshi crossed her arms at her waist. "Just like that, why? What has changed since yesterday? I don't need your pity Arjun. I can find another way to achieve my goal. You don't have to change your mind about me just because now you think of me as some helpless girl who lost her entire family so tragically.

"I haven't changed my mind about you," he replied. "And just how do you plan to seek justice for your father and your family Sakshi?" Arjun asked. His temper flared at the thought of her taking unnecessary risks.

Sakshi didn't back down. "You don't want me at ETF. You think I laugh and joke all day and I don't have anything better to do but gossip instead of work." She shot back.

"Okay so I was wrong," Arjun said shocking Sakshi even more. "You were right about me. I didn't want you around because deep down I knew you were right about me but I was not ready to face the fact that I had turned my back on my life. Besides you and I are both after the same thing and if you are with ETF then you will be safer."

Sakshi looked at thoughtfully. "If I come back don't expect me to change my ways."

"And don't expect me to not scold you if you misbehave while we are on a case." Arjun shot back.

Sakshi gave her signature grin as she looked at Arjun, which got little wider when she saw Arjun's lips turn up at the corner.

Sakshi held out her hand as a peace offering, "Friends?"

Arjun gave a dramatic sigh but placed his hand in hers to give it a quick shake, "Friends." He said as he finally gave in and gave her a tiny smile.

*~+~*

Hope you guys liked the OS. Like I said no big steps for Arjun, I doubt we will see a big change in our hatke ACP, so this was my attempt to show a small changes in him.😛