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Chapter 22
Sameer stopped eating and looked up at Aisha. He smiled at her slightly and looked at Riya. Both the ladies were confused and looked towards him. He cleared his throat and gulped down some water. He breathed in deep and looked at Aisha and nodded, then back at riya and spoke up, stern and calm,
'mein aur aisha shadi kar rahe hai.'
A sound of a spoon falling on the plate and a soft what?' that was the reaction that came up the moment Sameer finished his sentence. He looked at the two ladies in front of him and found Aisha looking at him dumbstruck which gradually changed into a confused expression, while Riya was alternating between them with an amused teasing expression.
'Aisha tumhe nehi pata?' riya asked her laughing at her now red face,
'haan aisha, tum itna chauk kiyu gayi? Tumhe to pata tha na?' sam asked aisha with a naughty glint in his eyes and a crooked smile. Riya was looking at them confused while Sam resumed back to his dinner, enjoying it even more.
'tum log shadi kar rahe ho? You mean tum log..you people dating each other officially?? And you didn't even tell me?? How mean of you both,' finally riya spoke up, breaking the silence,
'Ab riya gussa maat karo, shadi ke bare mein pehele tumhe hi bataya na? sam replied her which calmed her down,
'whatever, kab hai shadi? Oh no!! mujhe shopping karni hai, kab karu? riya asked keeping her spoon back on the plate and faking anger at them,
'uffo riya, shadi humari hai, tumhari nehi,' Sam spoke up looking at Riya keenly,
The words from Sam made riya sad and she looked down after giving a fake smile to him.
Aisha noticed her sad face and glared at sam but he wasn't embarrassed, he had done it on purpose. He wanted riya to face the harsh truth of her life, which she had kept hidden all these while.
The rest of the dinner was almost silent from riya, who ate her food quietly occasionally giving a smile here and there. Sam was the continuous banter all the while, speaking of his plans, their plans and then the helps he requires from riya during his marriage and after that. Aisha was continuously giving angry glares at Sam for his stupidity and putting riya to further sadness but somewhere she had guessed his reasons behind his actions. She was now feeling relieved that she had broken the promise that day.
She gave a sympathetic look at riya and finished her dinner. Aisha returned back after some serious teasing sessions from Riya, leaving the two friends together.
**********
Riya had poured two glasses of cold lime water for both of them and came outside the kitchen. She made this drink quite well and unlike Arjun, Sam was extremely fond of it.
She had expected Sam to sit in the hall and watch his favourite racing show but he wasn't there. She looked around for him but he wasn't anywhere. She was about to call him when she felt the curtains at the balcony flutter with the wind indicating someone's presence there.
She walked to the balcony and found him standing there looking at the sky. The moonlight had illuminated the area though some corners were still in pure darkness. She forwarded a glass to him, slightly touching his arm and he looked down.
He smiled and took the glass from her. He sipped the drink and licked his lips enjoying the slightly sour taste. As always delicious. He again looked up at the sky.
Riya leaned herself on the railing and looked towards the empty lane. It was calm and serene. She never liked silence before, though Arjun loved but now silence seemed more soothing to her in her otherwise noisy wrecked life.
A silence followed for some minutes in which both seemed lost in their own thoughts. Riya was the first one to get her thoughts away from her mind and looked at the lost Sam.
'Congratulations Sam, you two look perfect, main bohot khush hu,' she spoke to him with a smile, a genuine wide smile,
Sam didn't look at her nor did he reply back. He was waiting all this while for riya to start and when she had done he needs to continue in the track he wanted to. He slowly shifted his weight to the other leg and bend down on the railing, looking quite serious.
'kya hua sam? Pareshan ho? riya asked him, not able to take his silence,
'sach batau riya? Mujhe daar lag raha hai, Am I taking the right decision?' sam straighten up and faced her,
'Sam kya kehe rahe ho tum? Offcourse you are, Aisha loves you and you too love her, to isme itna pareshan hone ki kya baat hai? Aisha tumhare saath haina?' riya spoke up,
Sam remained silent again. Riya was getting scared of his abrupt behavior now and held his shoulder.
'kya hua Sam? Batao na..' she nudged again,
'pyar to hai Riya, but marriage is a huge responsibility, kya main ise nabah paunga?' he asked her calmly,
'kyu nehi kar paoge? Agar do insaan chahe to koi unhe alag nehi kar sakta, aur tumlog to ek dusre se pyar karte ho, fir ye sab kyu soch rahe ho?' she replied,
'sirf do logo mein pyar rehena kafi hai kya riya, ek shadi nibhane ke liye?' he asked her,
Riya knew what he meant and what actually was bothering him. He wasn't quite wrong though. She had never thought about these things, neither had arjun before their marriage. After getting deceived by their families, they were just seeking each others support at that moment of time. They never realized marriage wasn't the solution to such a weak mental state.
Riya signed looked at a Sam who was looking at her closely, waiting for her reply,
'haan pyar kafi nehi hai, sirf pyar kafi hota to hum bhi khush hote,' she said, her face fading its color slowly,
Sam could understand her state and held her hand. She too held his hand tightly and controlled herself.
'Yeah sach hai sam, love isn't enough to be happy in a relationship. Relationships requires sacrifices and compromises and I couldn't do that,' she told him, looking embarrassed and sad.
'aisa kya hua tha riya?' sam asked her softly, holding on her shoulders firmly before she fell down,
Riya looked at him. His eyes were calm and silent. Sam wasn't a man who would insult a woman even in his worst state. He knew to respect and adorn women. She could trust him with everything she says. He would listen and still remain his calm. But this calmness was different. She felt he knew something and wanted to know it from her. This was the actual reason why he called her.
She held the railing and slowly slid down on the floor. Sam sat beside her, waiting for her to start. She sat lost in thoughts when sam held her palm and pressed it,
'bolo riya,' he nudged,
'I killed his family Sam, his child, our daughter.' She spoke up and looked at Sam.
She had expected a shocked and angry Sameer, but he was calm and the usually sober Sam. She understood he knew it all, aisha had finally told him.
'Is it true riya?' he asked her softly looking at her closely,
'To some extend yes. I didn't feel it wrong to kill the unborn child then. It seemed a better decision to me rather than leaving her alone for my career later. I understand his longing Sam, but I had to prove myself. The loss that followed later was our destiny. I regret for the precautions I should have taken before deciding such a huge step.
'Riya I understand your decision. I cant say you were completely wrong, but the child wasn't your own. You could have spoke to Arjun, before deciding anything alone. '
'I know I should have informed him before the abortion but he wouldn't have accepted, I didn't have had a choice Sam,'
'one problem doesn't have a single solution riya..you both could have known each others mind and then could have come to a decision,'
'but Arjun didn't wanna hear anything sam, I cant force him to hear me,'
'he didn't hear you because you wanted to force your decision on him like he forced his decisions on you when he rejected your decision of going for the mission. Discussion of a problem is different. You have to come to a result which might not completely satisfy any of you but partially it will do.'
Riya remained silent lost in those words.
'A mother's attachment to a child is well known to everyone but a father's love, its hardly expressed. But trust me it's an unusually strong bond. I had seen the shattered Arjun after you left for mission. I didn't know the reason for the pain he harboured then but I can tell you it wasn't just his arrogance or his ego. He was hurt.'
'he was looking forward to the child sam, but I just didn't want a burden at that moment. Sam we had planned later again but destiny failed us.'
'life never takes the course, you want it to take, riya' he replied,
'but the career, the honour was mine and I had decided on that part long back when I last spoke to my family, my father'
'Have you explained yourself to him? Why do you people still keep avoiding each other then?'
'its sometimes easier to avoid, than explain your innocence Sam. We never thought about things with a shared mind. We were always individuals in the same house. We never tried to share our thoughts, or think about what the other thought. We aren't really matured enough for the responsibilities of this relationship,' she completed,
'no Riya, Arjun cares for you and you too care for him, but you people have increased the small crack into a long deep pitch. Speak to him now Riya, don't hurt yourself more,'
'I tried but that hurt us more. We are happy in our life, its better we don't bring in the past again,' Riya completed and looked away. A silence prevailed between them. Sam didn't probe her more. It would just hurt her.
After a long silence finally Riya spoke up,
'tumhe sab pata tha..aisha ne..' she asked him, scanning his face,
Sam nodded and then looked at her.
'Aisha kept her promise intact all these years riya. She never spoke a word ever. But on the day of the party, I forced her to speak, and she had to. Its good she did, warna mujhe pata hi nehi chalta,'
'ab aur kya fark parta hai sam, sab kuch to khatam ho chukka hai,' riya told him losing herself completely,
'kya khatam hua hai riya? You still care for him. No doubt Arjun is wrong, but jo bhi hua ho chukka hai, life has brought you close again, why don't you try again?
But riya ignored his words completely and wiped the drop of tear that rolled down on her cheek.
'Sam we are not made for the other, coz both of us are selfish, we don't care about the other. Hum firse saath honge to firse wahi problems hongi,' she stopped and another drop of tear rolled down.
'I blamed Arjun for getting involved with sakshi after your separation, but I never realized why he got involved with her. He missed you Riya, he never loved Sakshi,' he tried to speak to her,
'but sakshi loves him sam, and she will keep him happy, I couldn't, ' riya replied with a sad smile,
'Arjun will not keep her happy, will he?'
She kept silent.
Sam knew he had done his job. Riya will try to think on this track too.
'tum logo ka halat dekh ke mujhe aur daar lagta hai riya, pata nehi ye rishte kaise..' sam said, signing dramatically,
'nehi sam, tum log waise nehi ho. Aisha bohot achi hai, she is matured and knows her responsibilities, unlike me. We were immature sam. Our love was hidden behind our failures in life. The reason we got married was becoz our family left us and we needed support. It was support sam not love.
But tumhara aisa nehi hai, Both of you love each other. You people want to share your lives with each other. Love her Sam but give her the space and trust her, which arjun couldn't do, neither could I, she told him in an unusually serious tone,
Sameer nodded at her. He didn't know how to console this broken soul.
'Waise ye sach hai tum shadi kar rahe ho ya mujhse ye batein ugalwane ke liye kaha tha?' she asked him raising a brow,
Sam smiled mischievously at her.
'kya? Tumne jhoot kaha? Sam? No wonder aisha aise confused thi, I had a doubt,' she said hitting him,
'nehi jhoot nehi, maan hai shadi karlu, kahi wo bhag gayi to mein to kuwara maar jaunga,'
'tum bhi na Sam. Date fix kiya?' she asked rolling her eyes,
'haan soch raha hu next weekend. Tum rahogi na?' he asked,
'weekend? Itni jaldi? Sam?' she asked smirking at him, making the serious sam blush.
************
Next morning wasn't quite pleasant for the ETF team. Finally after days of search, Chotu's informer had traced George Dcosta who used to work in the insurance company and was linked with the four victims who were killed.
Chotu and Arjun traced his location and brought him to the ETF office. Some tough interrogations from Arjun and Rathore and George started speaking his crimes.
George had met Neha, the fourth victim when she shifted to Mumbai few years back. He was stalking her for a long time. He knew she used to live with sushant, who was cheating her with one of his office colleague. He had tried to inform her about Sushant but she didn't pay any heed. George often visited them with schemes or on occasional packages regarding the insurance services. He always visited them when Neha would be alone at home.
One such day George tried to warn her about sushant and she insulted him and threw him away from her house. But George didn't stop, he sent a few pictures of sushant with his colleague to neha. After this incident sushant and neha came to his office and created a scene, cursing and almost beating him in front of everyone.
He had to take revenge. He planned to murder neha but he needed to create a distraction coz it would easily link him with the case. He knew sushant was registering their marriage. He paid a peon in the registrar office and took a list of appeals of marriage. He looked into a few profiles and found four who had claimed insurance from the same company. Thus it became easier for him to get their address. In order to make the case sound like a serial killer, he killed the other three in the exact way, creating a pattern.
Final victim was Neha. It was easier for him to kill her after killing three random women.
George was an over possessive stalker who wanted to claim his lust through neha. But neha's love for sushant and then sushant's support with her, made them fight together against him. But George never understood the real meaning of love and killed the person he loved most. He had separated them along with three other people, who had no faults of them.
Arjun was furious with this man and had not been for rathore, arjun would have beaten him to death.
'Pyar hasil kiya jata hai, wo kisi se cheena nehi jata Goerge samjhe ya firse samjhau?' arjun walked out of the interrogation room followed by Rathod.
************
Sakshi was hearing the interrogation outside the room and had heard Arjun speak the line. She looked at Arjun who was now sitting on his chair, in his cabin, rotating his pen. The words kept ringing continuously in her ears.
'pyar hasil kiya jata hai, cheena nehi jata,'
She had failed in both. She couldn't make him love her, neither could she snatch him from riya. He still loved riya with the same strength as he had loved before.
Aisha found her lost in thoughts and came to her. But before she could get her attention, Sakshi's phone rang breaking her trance like state. She picked it up and left signally aisha to wait for her. She came back more frustrated and thoughtful than she had left.
Aisha held her hands while she slumped down on the chair holding her hair tight.
'kya hua sakshi? Kiska call tha?' aisha asked her,
'ghar se call tha, mom dad kal yaha aa rahe hai,' she replied,
'great per tum itni pareshan kiyu ho?' she asked again,
'Aisha mom dad, Arjun se milne aa rahe hai, humari shadi ke liye,' she spoke up even more frustrated and irritated,
'Arjun se shadi? Lekin??' aisha was shocked and confused,
'jab ghar gayi thi, tab hi kaha tha humare bare mein mom dad se, dad arjun se milna chahte hai, lekin yaha itna kuch ho gaya, ab mein kya karu?'
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well i stop here...i dont know how many would like the first part..but i think if sam would have burst out on riya there wouldnt be any difference between sam and arjun..🤢
also sam has a calm nature of looking into things..unlike arjun..hope i could justify myself..😳
how you like do give back your feedback..they would help me understand my readers mind..😊😊
Edited by rimi_invisible - 11 years ago
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