ARHI FF:Strings of Illusion:T6 |LINK 2 T7 - PG1 - Page 44

Arnav sighed as he walked back to where Khushi sat with her head in her hands, she looked pale and visibly shaken after the ordeal they had been through in the past two hours...she looked up as Arnav sat next to her and handed her a cup of nescafe which Avinash had ordered for them "Here, drink this...it will help" he said as she nodded and held the warm styrofoam cup in her palms, the outer heat warming her cold palms

"Did the forensic's check it yet Arnav? What are they saying?" She asked him in a small voice as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her towards him giving her the much needed support she craved...he pursed his lips as she snuggled closer to him and leaned against his strong frame

"Just a few minutes more sweetheart...we'll know for sure if there was any tampering or not" he said as she nodded and sipped the coffee "Are you not having some?" she asked him as he gave her a tired smile "No...i think i would prefer something stronger" he said as she gave him a concerned look "Arnav...you have come out of a fever...you need to replenish your body...please have some juice at least" she said as she started getting up to get it for him

"I'm fine Khushi...been sipping on water...I'll take something if we have to stay back longer ok?" he assured her as she smiled softly and sat back "I hope Sundar is ok now...he seemed really scared when we met him...poor guy got so many cuts and bruises...if I was in the car, I probably would not have even known what to do.." she said with a faraway look as arnav turned her around to face him

"Nothing would have happened to you Khushi..you get that? We don't even know if this was an attempt to your life..and Sundar is fine, he is getting the best treatment...don't worry so much..." he said as she took a deep breath "I know Arnav...but I can't help but think if I would have been in his place...then what?...I may be strong and carefree to the outer world...but in reality i'm scared and weak..." she said as arnav placed his finger on her lips

"Shh...you are not weak sweetheart...scared, yes...but anyone would be in your situation...but you are not weak Khushi Gupta...and don't you dare say it...and till I am with you, I swear to God I will not let anything happen to you!" he said a little gruffly as Khushi smiled at his fierce expression wondering what she did to get such an amazing man in her life...her man.

"Ok...I won't say it again...but i'm worried if mumma and nani come to know about this" she said as Arnav shook his head "That's taken care of...media will not talk about this, luckily the place it happened on was pretty deserted...and even though your car is a very rare and expensive piece of machine, Thanks to Avi...he got it cleared in no time..." Arnav said as Khushi nodded remembering the state of her car when they saw it

They had rushed to the accident area as soon as they could...Arnav had called Avinash and explained everything on the way...they had been surprised to find a police car waiting for them at the accident site with a very pale and injured Sundar sitting inside with a bottle of water...Khushi had rushed by his side to first check if he was ok before going and seeing the car and what remained of it

She had thought that the car would have been a complete mangled mess, but was surprised to see that only the front part of the car had been badly damaged...with no harm done to the engine on a large basis...she assumed that since sundar had the presence of mind to shift the gear into neutral, the car had been forced to slow down before impacting with the dumpster

As Avinash had arrived about half an hour later, Arnav had already made calls to Lavanya and Aman and had explained that this should not get into any paper...he had far reaching influence to make sure this happened...as it is, there was a small crowd gathering near the site, but since the accident did not look that big only the fascination of the car interested them

They had waited till the requisite formalities had been completed and the car had been towed back carefully to the forensic headquarters in town where further investigation was being done on the cause of the failure...thanks to Avinash, a good team was already ready when they reached the place while Arnav and Khushi were asked to wait in the visitors room till they could be taken into confidence...if proven to be a tampering, it would be booked under criminal offense.

"Arnav?..Khushi...can you guys come please?" Avinash said as he walked towards them and pointed to a door on his left...they quickly got up and went inside the room as Avinash followed behind them..."We have the result guys... Neha, out automobile expert is coming to explain this in more details to you both " he said as the door opened and a dusky slim woman who seemed to be in her early 30's walked in with a small smile "Hi...I'm Neha...sorry it took us this long, but we had to be sure" she said as she sat opposite to them while both Arnav and Khushi looked on nervously

"The breaks had been tampered..this is a criminal case" she said without any preamble as Khushi clutched Arnav's hand under the table...he held it tightly as he felt her body stiffen at Neha's words "Someone planned this to hurt you Ms Gupta...but there is an interesting twist to this" she said as she picked up a pen and paper and faced it towards both of them

"You see, in an automobile brake system, the main thing that the mechanism works on is a break disc..." she said as she drew a round slanted disc..."this is supported by three other parts of the system...the break pad, the callipers and the slide pin" she said drawing random odd shapes on the circle... "When someone tampers with the brakes of a car with an intention to kill or harm mortally, they would either target the calliper or the pad..." she said making big circled on two squiggly things she had drawn

"But in the case of your car...the person tampered with the slide pin...he loosened it to such an extent that after a few attempts to break, the pin falls off the valve and lodges itself into the rotor...this results in a failure to stop the car on the pressure provided by human feet...but on impact, the emergency brakes of a car like your's go into action and jerk the car to immediately stop" she said as both Arnav and Khushi tried to understand her reasoning

"But why won't the emergency break work if the other two parts are tampered with as well?" Arnav asked in genuine curiosity as Neha smiled "Emergency brakes work on same principle as the normal brake system...they are in fact part of it and only come equipped in luxury and sports cars like Ms Gupta's...if the other two parts are tampered with, the emergency brake too stops working" she said as arnav nodded and leaned back in his chair

"So bottom line here is Khushi...that the person who did this, was not trying to kill you...he was trying to scare you...hurt you through fear" Avinash said as Neha nodded "If this is the same guy and I am very sure he probably is, he is seriously trying to scare you...his intentions right now are not to kill you but to harm you" he said as Khushi closed her eyes and held on tighter to Arnav's hand

"Have you gotten any leads yet Avi?" Arnav asked as his heart bled looking at Khushi's state "No...Not yet Arnav...but I did send my guys to go and collect the CCTV camera footage from the R&S Car park...luckily Khushi's car was parked in the VIP section where there is a direct camera facing the parking area" he said as Arnav nodded

"We do have some leads on the photo thing though...I'll let you know once things are a little but more solid..right now everything is on suspicion...but rest assured we'll get this guy soon...remember everyone leaves a trail..." he said as Arnav and Khushi nodded gravely hoping to God that they find this man soon.

"Let me know of you need anything else...anything!...i'm counting on you Avi" Arnav said as Avinash came and sat next to him "I'll do my best Arnav...all my best guys are on this case...right from Mr Mehra's murder to the recent scare attempts on Khushi...we'll nail him...soon" he said as Arnav and Khushi both looked at him gratefully

......

" I Know that it will take some more time to woo you enough to come and have dinner at my place, so can we just meet for a quick walk in the garden? Say near the Greenhouse?" Shashi asked Garima as he paced his living room...after the night at the engagement party where Garima was left a bit disturbed due to Khushi and Arnav's discovery, he had not gotten any time to speak to her

Today somehow was the perfect time to meet her since payal had gone for a college trip to Karjat while Ritwik was staying over at his friend's place for his project work...he had also come to know that Khushi was staying back at R&S and Garima was more or less alone at home...such opportunities were rare...and he wanted to make the most of it

"You know I can't come over to yours na...there are too many people around...but yes, I can meet you in the Garden...after all, that would be a coincidence right?" she said with a giggle as Shashi smiled on the phone " See you in a bit...accidentally" he said before ending the call, a huge goofy grin plastered on his face

He quickly changed his t-shirt and wore a freshly laundered one before slipping into his loafers..he walked out of his house into the balmy evening as the setting sun cast a beautiful moody tone to the evening sky...he took a deep breath of the tantalizing rose fragrance that lined the entire north side of the garden as he passed their path towards the green house

He strolled around the periphery and waited patiently as after a few minutes, Garima came around the entrance of the greenhouse from the other side of the house...she smiled shyly at him before walking inside making his heart beat erratically...he took small steps towards the greenhouse watching over his shoulders for any unwanted attention

"Now this is romantic" Garima said with a soft smile as she stood by the orchids, spraying the stems with some water...she kept the bottle down and gestured Shashi to come and sit with her on the bench by the window that faced the rear of the garden...a place where no one usually ventured

"I know!...what is life after all...if there is no romance?" Shashi said as he sat close next to her and took her hands in his...he bought them up to his lips before kissing her knuckles..albeit with a little more pressure than he did the last time...he smirked as he saw a faint blush mar Garima's fair cheek while she looked away shyly

"How much Longer Garima? Why is this case taking so long? I wish that things weren't this difficult for us.." he said as he sighed and put his hand over her shoulder while she rested her head on his "I know shashi...but it will all be over soon...I can feel it...things are changing Shashi...for the better" she said as she looked up into his concerned eyes

"I know... I know..." Shashi said as both closed their eyes and leaned into each other, the flutter in their heart igniting the dormant need to be with each other, making them sigh in contentment as they aligned their bodies together, finding solace in each others arms as they looked deeply into twin orbs speaking of the same emotion

"May I...kiss you?" Shashi asked hesitantly as Garima's already present blush deepened making her look more irresistible then she was...she hesitated for a moment before looking down, her lashes casting a deep shadow on her cheeks as Shashi angled her face towards him "I got my answer" he said as he lowered his face towards hers to join his lips to her smiling ones...it was soft peck...but something so insignificant caused a rush of heat to run across their bodies

They turned fully towards each other as the kiss lengthened and deepened as their lips and teeth sought the pleasure that both discovered mutually...Garima melted in Shashi's arms as his lips trailed over hers, parting them to finally reach the sweet recess he craved...as they came up for breath when breathing was absolutely necessary, Garima had her eyes shut as Shashi leaned his forehead against hers..smiling softly at her reddened face

"Now, how can I stay away from you?" Shashi asked her as all the tension left her body as she hugged him tightly while laughing along with him...their laughter ricocheting across the glass walls of the greenhouse..leaving them in a safe cocoon away from everyone else...they still kept hugging as their laughter died down but the bliss of being in each other's arms still left them in euphoria...until it was cruelly cut down by an unexpected voice

"Ooh...what do we have here? A lovers reunion?" a tall willowy woman said as she stood at the entrance of the greenhouse, her heels clicking against the terracotta tiles as she smirked with a rained eyeborw at a visibly shaken Garima who looked up in horror and fear..she quickly pulled out of Shashi's hug as she stood up and started at the woman "Monica?"

......

"Arnav?" Khushi mumbled as she shifted more closer to him...she looked over her shoulder to see him open one eye groggily and lean down towards her "Khushi?..whats wrong?" he asked her as she turned towards him and hugged him laying her head over his chest...she shook her head as he tightened his hold over her "Nothing.." she said as he kissed her hair lightly

"Not getting any sleep?" he asked her as she looked up to find him gazing at her with a tender look...as soon as they had reached home, they had changed and fallen into bed, exhausted to the bone...sleep had taken over almost instantly but the restlessness of whatever had happened had left them in a state of incomplete slumber as they kept waking up again and again

"No...its not that...I just feel really weird...like something big is going to happen...I just..." she said as aranv cupped her cheek "Shh...don't say that...you are just feeling like that because of all the stuff that has happened...everything will be ok...alright?" he said as she smiled at him and leaned forward to kiss his lips lightly

Arnav smiled against her mouth as he deepened the kiss before bringing her back to hold against his body...he ran his fingers through her long hair as she gradually fell asleep, her ear pressed against the steady beat of his heart...he looked at her tenderly and wondered how she would have reacted had he told her what he wanted to earlier...before she got the call of the car accident

He sighed as he felt her even breathing against his skin while her arms imprisoned him possessively...tomorrow...tomorrow he will tell her...he thought as he closed his eyes and fell into a dreamless slumber.