#2 [AR+D3] Sajda (FF) Chap12 (A&B) Pg80 March16 - Page 44

Originally posted by: Aanchal_Kreya

superb update khushi

thanks for pm

update soon

Originally posted by: zona_malik

Freaking Awesome

Amazing

Superb

Fab

Splendid

Marvelous

Awestruck

I read it all in a GO n totally LOVED it

Specially em loving dis kria

n her fight to save rey n gang in initial epi's was Funn

LOVING DIS FF

Update Soon :)

Originally posted by: crazysky

good

Originally posted by: --RAINA--

waiting 4 d update..

Originally posted by: kuhu_Arsha

mindblowing update khushi...

luv it,,,,,

sry 4 late cmt :(

C h a p t e r 11

Karan walked into the office walking confidently as if he belonged there. "Khushboo Garewal?" He asked the secretary. She pointed the way which he followed. Coming across a cabin, he knocked on the glass door. The lady looked up and nodded him in. "Yes?"

"Hi, I'm from St. Louis. I believe you're hosting our event?"

Khushboo nodded. "Yes, our company is hosting it. How can I help you?"

"I just wanted to personally come and check over arrangements. You see, I want it to be the biggest event the city has ever seen."

"Don't worry, sir. We ensure you. It will be as you want it."

Karan suspected her. But nothing from her posture to her behavior give him any hints of any misdoings. She was a clean slate. She asked, "Anything else?" bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Yes... Would you happen to know Mr. Adithya Singhania?"

She gave him a look of are-you-kidding? Then realizing he was serious, she replied, ridiculed. "Of course. What kind of a question is that?"

Again, Karan was hoping to catch a breakdown on her face at the mention of the name. But, nothing. "I'm sure you will do all on your behalf. But Mr. Singhania's son is performing on the event. And you must be aware, being a politician is never easy. He's worried - to put it in simpler terms."

She nodded understanding what he was getting to. "The security will be taken care of."

Karan nodded. "Thank you."

"Anything else?"

Getting up, Karan shook his head buttoning his coat. "No, that'll be it. Thank you for your time." Shaking hands with her, he left.

***

Shilpa clapped her hands calling their attention. "Alright let's begin. Rey and Kriya, you're up. Show me the routine so far." Both of them walked to the middle of the room while others moved back.

He called Shilpa once out of the building. "Yea, meet me." He announced when she picked up. Ending the call, he looked up to glance quickly at the building. He caught a glimpse of Khushboo looking down from the window. She moved quickly when his eyes fell on her but he had a keen eye.

Shilpa looked back at Kriya and Rey. Kriya gave her a worried look and Shilpa blinked calmly, letting her know it was nothing. "Something's come up. Why don't you guys continue without me? I'll check in later on. Good luck." She left.

Rey snapped his fingers in front of Kriya, to get her attention. She blinked. "Shall we?" He forwarded his hand to her. There was a blank look on her face. She had no idea what was going on. One side, she was still worried about Shilpa leaving suddenly. On the contrary, she wanted to forget the mission and focus on the moment. On Rey. It was hard not to.

She put her hand in his and allowed him to lead the dance, her following absent-mindedly.

***

"What's up? I was in a middle of the rehearsal! You know how hard it is to lie when you have to stay with them the whole day? They practically want to know everything." Kriya snapped setting her bag down.

Karan landed a file on her hands, ignoring her cribbing. "You'll get used to it" was all he said on the matter, behaving indifferent. Sipping from a coke can, he briefed her. "Khushboo Garewal. Turns out, she's not only a diplomat but holds a event management company. My bet would be, it's a cover up job."

"How'd you find out?"

Shilpa scoffed, knowing the answer that would follow. Karan ignored her. "I'm the best agent out here, Tiger. I know." He sat down next to Kriya. "I went by today."

"And?" Shilpa asked, getting interested in the progress.

Karan shook his head. "Nothing. Culprits usually have a back-drop - an action when they get nervous or when they're hiding something. But zilch. Either she's found a loophole through our lie-catching classes or there really isn't anything to hide."

"Then why the job? Why pretend to be an owner of some event management company rather than just showing she's a diplomat." Shilpa questioned.

"There's where I need your help."

She looked at him with doubtful eyes. "I need you to go down there and propose an event to her. See if she accepts any random offers or..."

Kriya caught on. "Or only arranges the one's when a famous party is involved."

"And silence them once and for all." Shilpa concluded.

***

"Hey stranger!" Rey chirped in the rehearsal room.

"Stranger?" Kriya asked, turning around.

"What else should I call you? Where have you been? You're always leaving." He questioned walking in closer to her.

"Oh nowhere. You know how Karan gets. Always calling me here and there because he can't get anything done by his own."

Rey was somewhere jealous but wouldn't admit it. Who the hell is Karan? Always coming in between us! "Shall we?" He put his hand out after playing the music. She let him lead her to the middle and they began their rehearsals.

"You're a fast learner." He complimented.

"And you're a brilliant dancer," she complimented back.

"So I've been told." He grinned twirling her out and pulling her back in.

"So very modest of you!" She rolled her eyes with a chuckle.

After reeling her back in and his right hand around her waist above her hand, he let his left hand trail down her left shoulder. She slightly shuddered and fought within to now let it show. Sliding her hand in his and holding it, he lifted it and let it linger on his face as he pulled her around to face him. Her hand caressed his face before she pulled away and moved on with the dance steps.

"How's aunty?" she asked, distracting herself.

It amused him. At a time like this, she's wondering about my mom rather than me?! He wondered if he should be offended for her not noticing his feelings or whether forgive her for her innocence.

"You really are a mystery, you know that?"

She smiled - knowing just how mysterious she had to keep her life. Especially in front of him. Every time she was with him even since they met weeks ago, she could feel his vibes. She knew the feelings he had for her. It was forcing her to reciprocate. Each time, she simply fought harder to pretend to be oblivious to them. It was not fun for her. It was sheer torture to ignore both his and her feelings. But to her, his life meant much more. Her replying to his feelings would do no good if she couldn't protect him and fulfill the mission - the reason why she met him. She could live with the heartbreak and hurting self knowing he was safe rather than forgetting her mission and putting him in danger by putting her feelings over his life.

The feelings wouldn't matter if he was no more.

For the same reason, she knew he could never learn her secret. He would never learn her secret.

Never.

She lightly hit his forehead. "Focus. There's only one more day left." Although she put on a smile on her face, her heart felt heavy. The closer they got to the day, the closer she was to leaving him. She knew she had to.

***

As planned, Shilpa entered the office and got her way to Khushboo's office. There when asked the reason, she replied with, "I have heard but good things about the company and wanted you to arrange my engagement party."

She was refused with a reason.

***

"So?" Karan questioned as Shilpa walked in the basement where he exercised. She shook her head to let him know it wasn't accepted and they were right. Karan stood up, shirtless and grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat away.

"I'll come back later." Shilpa quickly decided to hurry but Karan pulled her back. Nothing she'd learnt in training and from the missions could stop her heart from skipping a beat.

"I'm sorry." he said after gazing upon her for a while. Shilpa looked away - for she didn't want him to apologize. She needed for him to understand the reason why she left him years ago when he needed her.

"We need to focus on mission." She gently pushed him back by the shoulder and walked away leaving Karan puzzled and annoyed. What do I do to make her forgive me?

***

"Hey, everything okay?" Karan asked as he noticed a distant Kriya laying on her stomach in the middle of the floor.

"Huh? Yup, just thinking." She replied sitting up. "I learned something..." Karan gave her a 'continue' look. She did. "I learned that I have yet lot to learn." He chuckled at her conclusion.

"Damn true." He squeezed her shoulder giving her a side hug as he settled next to her. "You will, eventually."

After moments of silence, she asked. "How do you manage to keep your emotions controlled?"

" You can't. No matter how cold you turn yourself. Emotions is like a switch without an off button." He replied, meaning each word; not sugar-coating it.

She defended, "But you do it so well! At not getting attached to those you meet on the mission."

He gave her a grave smile. "I'm just as weak as you are. Emotions are a basic nature of humans; they'll always be there. You can not turn them off. You'll be a part of those you meet on the mission, just as they'll be a part of you. They'll teach you something, you'll leave teaching them something in return. The game goes on. It's just part of the game for us. No one, no training, not even I, can teach you that."

She didn't have to ask anymore questions. She knew she did not have to be guilty for feeling for Rey and caring about the friends she'd made. She wasn't betraying her country. She'd just have to learn to bear the pain of leaving them and then never meeting the same people in her life twice. Atleast she'd be leaving happy knowing they'll be safe once she's gone.

Thinking about betrayal, another question spurred up in her head. Karan answered looking at her face engulfed into deep thinking, her not having to ask it out-loud. "You'll always be betraying someone or the other. The job you've chosen comes with that unspoken requirement. You'll soon learn to live on. All the people you meet from now on will hold a grudge against you. Some will be enemies, others will be the friends you make. Kriya... no one said this'll be a piece of cake once you've been activated."

"A person can dream." She replied, laughing at her own hope.

"You're not just any person."

"I know, I know." The conversation dropped. He'd always told her she was special. Then it picked up minutes later. "What if Khushboo is the wrong lead we've been following?"

"There's always a Plan B." He replied. She didn't probe him to speak more, knowing him too well; he wouldn't tell her and say it's safer for her to not know until the moment comes where she has to know and there's no stopping it.

"It's going to be a long day tomorrow. Get some sleep." He advised getting up after placing a kiss on her forehead.

"You too! Don't stay up all night trying to crack this when you know you don't have anything else to go off of." She instructed after herself as she pulled herself up the stairs. He chuckled hearing her words. In reality, he indeed was planning to do just that. He couldn't rest until this was over. This mission was personal for him and not knowing what will happen put him in a tight spot. He was the kind of person to have things under control, even the nature's impossible.

Yes. He didn't like surprises. And he was training Kriya to be the same. Tomorrow would be the end of their mission. However, in reality, it would just be the beginning of a new end. An end which he had been planning for almost a decade now. An end that he'd vowed he'd bring.

It's time. He thought as he got up.

***

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Shilpa yelled at him, walking in Karan's room at 2:30 in the morning.

"Shh, you'll wake her up." He shushed her with a sharp look. He did not even bother to question or wonder she got in the house. Kriya was sleeping just in the room next to his.

"Oh, we'll see how long she will sleep if you aren't stopped now. Are you insane?!" She continued to yell at him, though now in a high whisper.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She scoffed. "What?" he asked.

"Sit." She ordered. He wouldn't. She repeated in a more dangerously dominating voice. "Sit. Now." He finally did after a session of glaring at each other, to see who would win. She walked back and forth, trying to contain her anger within. "You wanna play that game? Fine. Let's go through this. You'll turn it on, let them know you're alive and then what? Go after them? Let them come after you? And you'll just kill them one after another? Huh? Is that your plan?!"

"How do you know?" He questioned, not paying attention to her lecture, grabbing her closer to him as a piece of lightless stick.

She forced his hands off her arm. "You're forgetting something Mr. Karan Mallik. I know you. I know you better than any lie detector in this damned world and let me remind you, you can lie as if it's the truth, but not in front of me."

"Then you also know I'm not a big fan of riddles." He glared at her.

"First, to hell with your glare. Doesn't scare me. Secondly, learn to understand. They'll always be a step ahead of you. ALWAYS. And no matter what you do, you can't change that. They're bigger. They're better. You think you're the best of the best. You think you have contacts to take them down. But you don't. You don't know them. For them, you're a piece of twig. They'll just snap you like that," she snapped her fingers to illustrate, "and give a damn about it. Whatever you do affects her. You life is not just yours. Her's is attached to you. In case you're forgetting, she's a freaking human! Not your little doll that you can manipulate around."

"Do NOT talk to me in that tone. I love her more than anything in the world. And I will do anything to protect her. Forever."

"So would I love to too. But we can't. If you put yourself out in the open, they will come after you. It'll only be a matter of time before they get to her. You know they will! This is nothing but a suicide mission!" She was pleading him into stopping from doing what he was going to. "This goes way beyond you, me and her! Five lives were lost. Five! Lives that shattered a lot of other lives. Lives that cannot be brought back. Lives that cannot be forgotten. No one's forgotten their death, Karan. No one can. And no one can do anything about it either. Revenge is never the answer. They say revenge is best served on a cold plate. Most dangerous. But they're wrong. This once, they're wrong."

He shook his head, closing his eyes, knowing his decision was final and no one can change it. He repeated, "That's why it needs to be done."

"There you go again! Controlling everything. Even after all these years, you haven't learnt your lesson. And you expect others to? When will you learn you can't go around controlling everything? You've been silent for all these years. You have no idea what all progress has been made till now. You can't just go back on the radar all of a sudden because you decide it's time!"

"I do know." He announced, but knowing very well he was lying.

"You think you know everything! Well, newsflash! You don't. You don't even know 0.1% of it."

"And you do?!" He accused.

She sighed. She ran her hand through her hair, frustrated. They turned into a hot mess before placing back in order. "Fine. Do it. Who's going to stop you right? It's not like I matter to you. Not like she matters to you. It's only you, isn't it? It's always just you, you and you! Do it, but first have the guts to tell her the truth. You wanna know one truth from me? She's not ready. You think you've toughened her. You think she can go through anything. You're wrong. She's now out of your shell. She's seeing things that you aren't showing her. You don't control every aspect of her life anymore, what she sees and doesn't see or what she feels and doesn't feel, none of it. Not anymore. And if you still think she is ready, then know she'll be going through hell and worse and you won't be able to protect her from that. No one can."

She turned on her heels sharply to leave. She had done all she could to help it. She had warned him. Advised him. Pleaded him. It was up to him to listen; to understand or to ignore. From his looks, she could tell he had made his call; he was determined. No one could stop the doom now. She stopped after taking a step closer towards the door. Turning, she gave him one more piece of information he needed to hear, whether he wanted to or not, he had to.

"You're just as in the dark as she is. You think you know it, but you don't. There are things kept hidden from you for your own good. It's better for everyone if you don't start pricking the past. That night, I made a promise too, like you did. I'm just sorry I failed."

He stayed silent. She took a deep breath in and let it out. "See you tomorrow." When she left, he did wonder what promise she talked about. But, blinded with the faith he had upon himself, he choose to ignore her pleas of the future she was showing him.

***

Karan activated his pager. It signaled directly to Rajeev. He replied just as quickly. The only thing Karan said to him was, "It's time to finish what was once started and stopped." The pager ended. Hearing it, Rajeev sprinted on his feet and even though he heard the pager turn off, he tried to get a hold of him, repeating his name over and over. "Damn it! Karan, you're heading the wrong way." Next, he dialed a number. "You were supposed to keep an eye on him. Stop him from doing anything stupid."

Shilpa was the one he was talking to. "Hello to you too!" She snarled. "I did. Rajeev, you know better. I had told you before. Keeping me close to him is not going to stop him from doing this. You knew sending him back here was a danger. Yet you did nothing to stop it. Why blame me now?"

He sighed. "I would have sent someone else in his place if it was within my control."

"And you know I would do anything for Karan and her. Karan is not going to understand that revenge is never the answer."

"Keep them safe." he asked her, even though knowing he didn't have to.

"With my life." she replied, meaning every bit of it. The line beeped and Shilpa went back to work. "Let the game begin."

***

Please do leave your likes and comments! Eagerly waiting for them. Thank you so much the warm welcome!! Hope I can do Justice to it's readers 😃

-Khushi.