Arakshi SS: KHO JAANE DE DC NOTE: pg 13 - Page 6

The bhaiya came up to them with a kit in his hand and handed it over to sakshi. arjun looked at her with raised eyebrows. Sakshi replied, " parcel le rahi hoom. Shree aur chottu ke liye."

"itna bada packet for the two of them?" he asked cocking his eyebrows and then turned to the bhaiya "bhaiya isme kya kya hain?" Sakshi gestured him not to reply but one glare from arjun the poor man started speaking like a parrot.

"isme pav bhaji haiin, vada pau, masala puri, bhel puri. Aur bhi bahut kuch hain."

Arjun asked with a smirk, "acha? Yeh paanch logon ke liye kaafi hoga na?"

Bhaiya : " paanch! Yeh toh das logon ke liye bhi extra hoga"

Arjun turned around to see sakshi sitting there with a hand on her head.

" kitna khati ho sakshi?" arjun asked surprised seeing the size of package.

" voh' yeh.. ' toh.. haan. Yeh toh sirf snacks hain." Sakshi mumbled

"yeh aur snacks. Tum khaana khaaane ke liye hi paida huyi ho kya? Har waqt kuch na kuch khati rehti ho. Aise khati rehogi toh aur moti ho javogi" arjun said shaking his head in disbelief.

"aur moti! Tumne mujhe moti bulaya?" sakshi said flaring up

"ab moti ko moti nahi kahu toh kya kahu? Well, main tumhe insult nahi kar raha tha. bas facts keh raha tha." he said shrugging his shoulders. He stood up and offered his hand to sakshi who took it muttering, " mere dialogue mujhpe hi. Dikhati hoom main."

"Bingo! Miss Sakshi Chirpy Bubbly Anand is back. Well done AP saab your tricks still work." He thought smiling at his own thoughts. He was very happy to bring back sakshi to her old self. Sakshi with a smile on her face and a naughty glint in her eys gave him soothing feeling. She and her smiles were rays of sunshine in his otherwise dark life.

They walked together to the stall. Arjun took out two thousand rupees and gave it to the vendor.

"par sir, mere paas iske balance den eke liye paise nahi hain."

"balance tum rakhlo. Aur apni beti ka fees bharlo. Use apni sapnon ko jeene do." Arjun said cupping his hands and passing him a reassuring smile. The vendor smiled back gratefully at him. arjun started walking towards the scooty.

Sakshi was watching all these with a proud smile on her face. She was very proud of herself to have got such a great friend. Arjun Suryakanth Rawte was a gem of a man, and Sakshi Anand was lucky enough to have him in her life. She sprinted behind him and smacked on his head.

Arjun let out a small "ouch and turned around when he got smacked. He turned around to find a beaming sakshi and the very same beaming sakshi pulling his cheeks.

" YOU- ARE-VERY-CUTE-ARJUN" she said pulling his cheeks and making his head oscillate in the frequency in which she delivered each word.

"SAKSHI!" arjun said alarmingly.

"ab main kya kar sakthi hoom. Tumne itna cute gesture jo kiya. I couldn't stop myself." She said tilting her head And ruffling his hair. She walked past him and arjun said gaping at her.

"main tumhe CUTE lagta hoom. Out of all the adjectives in English language tumne mujhe cute bulaya. I'm a cop sakshi. and cops aren't supposed to be cute." He said gaping at her.

"ab cute ko cute na bolu toh kya bolu. Vaise tum akdu aur khadoos ho. And I hope those two adjectives suit a cop." Sakshi said jiggling her eyebrows.

Arjun shooked his head in disbelief and went onto start the scooty. Sakshi got on the scooty and they continued their journey back to office.

The journey was unusually silent even after the recent banter. Both of them were deep in thoughts. Past memories had created waves in each of their hearts. The waves did subside a bit due to the banter but a ripple was still there in their hearts.

Sakshi rested her head keeping her cheek on arjun's back. The recent trip down the memory lane was an ordeal for her and she needed a support.

They reached the office and parked the scooty at the parking garage. Both of them noticed that the ETF SUV's were not back yet which meant the team was not back. Arjun and sakshi went into their respective cubicles to complete their pending work.

Sakshi had to complete the article on the latest vase. She sat down infront of his system and switched it on. "what do I write?" she thought. She never started off an article directly with the case. She always write stuff that she sees around and eventually come to the topic. How do I start today's article?

Mumbai. City of dreams. Sapnon ka nagar. Har din na jaane kitne log iss sheher apni sapnon ko poora karne ke liye aate hain. Yeh sheher humhe sapne dekhna sikhati hain. Jaane kitne logon ki sapne sach huye hain iss sheher main aakar.

Lekin iss shehar ka ek aur chehra hain. Ek chehra jo itni khubsurath nahin hain. Iss shehar ne na jaane kitno ki sapno ko cheena hain . apno ko cheena hain. Inn oonchi imaaraton ke par dekho toh kuch bikhre huye ghar bhi dekhege. Jahan log e boond pani ke liye taraste hain. Ek waqt ke khane ke liye na jaane kitne khatarnaak jurm karte hain.yeh bhi iss shehar ka ek chahra hain. Ek khaufnaak chehra.

Par job hi ho, har subah ek nayi ummeed leke aati hain. Sooraj ke saat hum bhi she har mein nikalte hain iss umeed ke saath ki shayd aaj mera lucky day ho. Inn traffic jams aur work se nikalkar dekho ke kitni khubsurath hain iss shehar. Jab apne busy lives se thodi fursat mile toh ek scooty lekar ek trip par nikal pado. Preferably at night. Raat mein Mumbai aur bhi khubsurath hoti hain. Jab hawa aapke baalon ke saath khelte hain toh aap ek alag hi nazariye se iss shehar ko dekhne lagte hain. Isske dil ko samajhne lagte hain. And however complicated your life in this city is, you will fall in love with this city all over again.

Sakshi finished aand leaned back in her chair. She rested her heads in her palms. The articles on such cruel cases always drained her out. She relive all those gruesome moments again and empathise with the characters present in them. It took away all her mental strength and left her feeling desperate and helpless.

"You are not bad, Miss Sakshi Anand."

She snapped out of her thoughts when he heard arjun's voice. She turned around and saw arjun going through her article. He turned his gaze towards her and their eyes met. There was appreciation in arjun's eyes. But it held some curiosity too. She let out a smile in return as she stared into those dark orbs.

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