Posted:
| PART - 3: PLACE: DELHI AUGUST 18, 2009 Raj got up and sat on the bed rubbing the sleep from his eyes. His eyes fell on the table clock. "Damn!!!" he cursed. "I overslept. But why?" He knew the answer even before he had asked the question to himself. The reason was NAINA. That girl had done more harm than good. She kept popping in and out of his thoughts throughout the night. The more he tried to forget her, the more she kept coming back to him. Her eyes, which were so expressive that it seemed that given a chance they would start speaking in volumes, the slow way her lips curled when she smiled, her way of talking .......... he couldn't get her out of his thoughts. He had fallen into an uneasy slumber towards the wee hours of the morning, and now he woke up at 8 O' clock. He swung his legs down the bed and sat thinking, "What's happening to me? I have never been in such a state over a girl and today, I just can not stop thinking about her. What's wrong with me? Concentrate on your job Raj. Its your first priority." he told himself sternly but without the confidence that it will really work. Besides if he kept meeting her every day how the hell is he supposed to ignore her. "Why the hell did I cultivate her friendship in the first place?" he chided himself. But he knew it was because she was a reporter and would be helpful to him. He got up from his bed and decided to get dressed for the fair. This self recriminations can be done later. He had no time for it right now. The ring of his cell phone stopped him in his tracks. A look at the name of the caller brought a fond smile on his face. "Hi Naveen? How are you?" "Good morning Raj, how are you?" "M fine Nav, don;t worry." "Fine??? But I had just called up Aditi and she told me that you didn't come down for breakfast. Does that mean that you are still in your room?" "Yeah. I'm but I'll be joining them straightaway in the fair grounds. You don't worry about that. So what's the news?" "Nothing special. And anyways Raj, we didn't expect developments soon. So I guess we will have to wait a bit before the crowd increases. Today is the third day after all." "I know Nav. But today is the third day and somehow I'm feeling uneasy." "Why? Is everything allright Raj?" Naveen was immediately concerned. "I don't know Nav. I really don't know. But I have a feeling that something is going to happen today." Naveen went very quiet at these words. "Veeru, I dread your gut feeling. Please be careful" he said after some time. "I myself dread my gut feeling. But dont worry, I'll be careful." Raj tried to comfort his friend. "Please be very careful." "Stop worrying Nav." Raj laughed off his friend's worries. "Everything will be all right. You handle your job there, okay?" he asked affectionately. "Okay Raj. I'll hang up now." "Yeah sure. You take care. Bye." And Raj disconnected the phone. He rang up to the room service and asked them to send his breakfast to the room in half an hour. Then he went towards the bathroom. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Naina woke up at the persistent ringing of her cell phone. "Hi Aditi. Good morning." she spoke sleepily into the cell. "Morning Naina. Were you sleeping?" Yup. I got up at the sound of the phone ring." "Ohh!!! I'm so sorry, I disturbed you." Aditi was aplogetic. "Don't be because I overslept. And if you hadn't called me up, god only knows how long I would have slept. I don't know why this happened today. Oversleeping is not my habit." "Its okay dear. A break from the general rule is allowed sometimes. By the way, will you be joining us in the grounds today?" Aditi asked. "I'll, for sure. Don't worry about that." "Umm, okay and Naina, can you do me a favour?" Aditi queried a little hesitatingly. "Yes Aditi, what's it.?" "Can you please check on Rajveer sir? He didn't join us for breakfast today and I'm worried about him. He is not the one to deviate from the rules, but this .... Actually I"m on my way to the stall and also, I really don't have the courage to go and ask him. So if you can please ............." Aditi trailed off. Naina wanted to say no but somehow found herself agreeing. "Okay Aditi, I'll provided he would be in his room by the time I get up and get dressed." "Sure Naina and thanks." Aditi replied. "Don't mention. See you in the stall. Bye." "Bye." And Aditi hung up and then burst out laughing. She was still in her room and was just preparing to go out. When neither Naina nor Rajveer turned up for breakfast, she checked with the receptionist and found out that they were still in the room. Naveen sir had called her up to know about the progress in the progress in the job and very innocently she told him about Rajveer getting delayed. She wanted Naveen to get a hint of what was going on in his friend's mind. On an impulse she called Naina up and decided to throw both Raj and her together. The concern was so nicely shown and the hesitation so perfectly timed that poor Naina had no other option but to agree to her proposal. Laughing to herself, Aditi went in search of Prem and quicly left for the grounds to avoid being caught. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dressed in a black jeans and white top and chandelier ear rings Naina crossed the corridor and rang the bell of room number 606. Suddenly for no reason at all, her heart beat faltered and she just wanted to turn back and run away from there. But as she had already rung the bell, there was no turning back now. To make matters worst, just at that monent, Raj called out a "Come In" and she couldn't go back. Slowly she pushed open the door and entered to behold a strange sight. Clad in just a white towel Raj was standing at the far end of the room with his back towards the door and fiddling with the mobile. Naina stood rooted to the spot as she saw this. The sight was sending strange vibes throughout her body. It was a good thing that Raj had his back turned towards her, or else he would have seen her face flushing. She took a grip over herself with a great effort. Just then Raj spoke, "Keep it there, I'll take it." "Are you waiting for somebody?" Naina queried gently. Raj turned to see Naina standing in the middle of the room with a gentle smile on her face. The sight of her brought a new warmth in his eyes and his lips automatically curled up in a sweet smile. "Good morning Naina." He said and took a few steps towards her. She stood there at the centre of the room, her hands folded across her chest and a smile lingering on her face as she tried hard to control the warmth from spreading across her face. She thanked her stars that Rajveer hadn't seen her earlier reaction, or else what would he have thought? Little did she know that Raj had actually seen her blushing as because he was standing in front of a mirror. He had seen her blush and surprisingly had enjoyed it. The redness of her face, the looking away, the way she tried to get a grip over herself and everything. It gave him some clear signs. So the attraction was mutual. He had been waiting for the room service when the door bell rang and he called out to come in, but he was a bit surprised to see Naina entering. The surprise was replaced with amusement when he saw Naina's reaction. "You were waiting for someone?" Naina repeated her question. "Yeah, the room service. I had asked them to send the breakfast to the room, but they haven't done it till now." He was enjoying her discomfort, which she was trying hard to supress. "I'm sorry for coming like this." she said after a moment's hesitation not quite meeting him in the eyes. Instead she looked down as she apologised. Laughing slightly, Rajveer very gently put both his arms on her shoulders startling her. "Don't be. I wouldn't have been standing here in front of you if I hadn't been comfortable in your presence, trust me." He said it with such sincerity that Naina lost all her shyness and looked up at him straight in the eyes. He smiled at her lovingly but didn't move away. Neither of them made any move to step away from each other. They were well aware of their barriers to take any step forward, but also knew about their messed up feelings and were trying hard to sort it out in their minds. Finally, Naina smiled and said, "You better get dressed if you don't want to be late any more than what you already are, while I take care of your breakfast." Rajveer nodded and disappeared inside the bedroom while Naina dialled the number for room service. 10 minutes later, when Raj came out, he say Naina laying breakfast for two. "So you too missed your breakfast?" he sat on the couch next to her. "Well, you are not the only person person in the world who can oversleep." Naina replied tongue in cheek and Rajveer burst out laughing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
Standing there in the fair grounds, Naina let her gaze rest on the stall of Solanki Enterprises - the rivals of Singhanias. This had been happening from the first day. Their chairpeson, Rajesh Solanki hadn't arrived till date and the work was being managed by Lalit and Roshni, their managers. They had been friendly each time Naina had gone there, but somehow Naina didn't feel comfortable. Something was wrong, but she couldn't place it. She was lost in her thoughts debating whether to spend some time with them or not.
"Are you all right Naina?" Raj came and stood near her. The concern in his eyes was very much evident. Naina nodded her head to indicate that she was okay, but Raj was not satisfied.
"Are you sure? If anything is wrong, we can go back to the hotel."
Naina looked at her watch. It was just 4:00 pm. "Maybe in an hour, but not so soon. You wait for me, I'll be back in an hour." Curbing her instincts and her dislike forcibly, she walked towards the stall of Solanki Enterprises deciding to spend some time with Lalit and Roshni. Little did she know that the evening would turn out to be in her favour.
Naina didn't know how and when she had spend more than two hours with Lalit and Roshni and had even enjoyed her time with them. Finally when she decided to leave, it was past 6:30.
"It was nice talking to you." Naina said as she shook hands with Lalit and Roshni. "And it was really nice of you to spare some time for me."
"The pleasure is ours Ms. Naina. But if you dont mind, may I ask you something?" Roshni said.
"Sure, go mahead."
"I have read your articles Ms. Naina. I know you are a crime reporter and a celebrated one too. So what are you doing here covering a fare?"
"A friend of mine was supposed to do this but at the last minute, she fell sick. So I'm doing this for her. Hope this goes well. I'm a bit nervous." Naina admitted.
"Oh dont worry. It will go very well." Lalit comforted her.
Just then a black coloured Innova came and stopped in front of the stall . Naina turned at the screeching sound of the brakes of the car. As she watched, the chauffer got down and held the door open and out steped a man clad in a grey suit. Naina judged him to be in his mid forties, but she had to agree that he looked much younger. But she had always been a good judge of people and their appearences. Behind her lalit and Roshni hurried forward to greet him.
"Welcome sir, please come in. We weren't expecting you to come soon." Lalit shook hands with the man.
He smiled as he greeted Lalit and hugged Roshni lightly who was now beaming with happiness. "How was I to know that such a beautiful lady would be waiting for me here Lalit? Or else, I wopuld have left everything and hurried forward." He said as he looked at Naina.
Contrary to his expectations, Naina instead of blushing, simply smiled. "Mr Rajesh Solanki I believe." she said, putting out her hand.
"At your service young lady. But I dont know you."
"Naina Singh. I'm covering this fair."
"So you are a journalist. That's great."
Naina simply smile at this. "I must leave now. See you tomorrow Mr. Solanki." And she left as quickly as possible. It was not that Rajesh Solanki was discourteous, instead he had behaved with her like a true gentleman, paying compliments and all but somehow she didn't like him. Besides she was missing the comfort and safety which Rajveer brought along with him. She hurried forward to his stall and let out the breath she had been holding back once she reached there.
"Was it that bad?" Aditi asked handing her a glass of water.
"What? Oh!!! The meeting with Rajesh Solanki. No it wasn't." She said. "But I didn't like it." she thought to herself. She looked at Rajveer who smiled at her and she felt like regaining some peace.
"You know he is still a bachelor." Aditi said excitedly.
"Who told you?" Naina asked.
"Lalit did. Mr. Solanki doesn't even have a girlfriend." Aditi supplied.
"You better stay away from that Lalit and stop this crap as well." Prem made a face and got up as he said this to Aditi.
"And pray tell me why I should stay away from lalit?" Aditi queried in a puzzled way. "Just because he belongs to our rival company?"
"No, but because I dont like him." Prem snapped at her.
Naina and Rajveer stiffled a smile. Both of them knew about these two, but this was the first time that Prem had come close to a demonstration. Naina cut in quickly before they started arguing.
"Mr Solanki may be a bachelor, but he certainly does have a girlfriend."
"Really!!! And who is she?" Aditi asked.
"Roshni."
"No ways. How is it possible?" Aditi was too surprised at this piece of information.
"Why is it not possible?" Naina wanted to know.
"Because Aditi says so." Prem said dryly from the other end of the stall.
"Shut up Prem." Aditi ws angry now.
Rajveer stiffled a smile and sought refuge in his files. He was afraid that he if looked up at anybody, he wouldn't be able to control his laughter.
"Stop it guys." Naina stopped them. "And it is true Aditi. You should have seen the expression on Roshni's face when she saw Mr. Solanki. Watch them and you will understand what I want to say."
"I'll. I'm not going to miss it." Aditi promised.
"I think I should go now." Naina got up. "I'm too tired. Will you come with me Raj?"
"Sure. Just five minutes." Raj started to sort out the various documents lying in front of him.
"By the way, what is the time now? My watch seems to have stopped working." Naina asked to no one in particular. The question was addressed to everybody.
"19:00 hours." replied Raj.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Naina had finally slipped under the sheets and was about to close her eyes, something came back to her. Perhaps a word or a phrase, there was something which someone had said, something which was not right. What was that - the bit about her being a crime reporter? No. something else. But ... what? She kept wondering untill sleep overcame her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok guys. Done with this part. My job has ended and now your job starts. The job of commenting. So go ahead and pour in your replies. Silent readers please press the like button. And please dont delay with the replies. If oyu all reply in time, I'll be able to post the next update soon. Hope you enjoy this part.
Love
Guglu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Priya has rightly pointed out that I haven't specified who plays the role of Rajesh Solanki. So here are the pictures of Rajesh, Roshni and Lait.Love
Guglu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LALIT:
ROSHNI:
RAJESH SOLANKI:
CID
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
5