here is the next part... the story is in initial stages so not too much maaneet interaction... expect more for part four... maaneet interaction coming up 😉
Part 2:
Geet parked her car in her allotted lot in the underground garage and walked towards the exit to catch an elevator to her apartment situated on the seventh floor of the eighteen-storey building. She had been offered a luxurious and well-equipped government quarters from her department and even uncle Raj had asked her to stay in his house, for afterall, it was the house she grew up in, but she had flatly refused both wanting a simple suite to her likability and privacy. Nobody knew where she stayed except Dev and Raj for she preferred to keep a low key among her peers in the department.
She hit the elevator button only to find a note on the elevator saying it was out of order. She sighed in reluctance at the maintenance note. She looked at the narrow looking stairs that had come to become her friend in the past few months she came to stay in this apartment as the elevator was more prone to repair than working condition. She tucked the binder and her purse under her left arm and started walking up the stairs pondering about the case at hand.
She finally reached her floor panting a bit and wiping off beads of sweat that came to form on her forehead due to the physical exertion. She brought the keys out of her pocket and walked to the door that read 12B before opening it and walking into her apartment. She hung the keys behind the kitchen counter that was located on the left of her as soon as she walked in and shrugged off her holster and placed in the nearby closet. Then she placed the binder on the coffee table in the main hall while sitting on the couch to pull off her boots. She changed into her sweatpants and a looser t-shirt after freshening up. She had not cooked anything since morning as she left early for work. She wanted to take a preliminary look at the case file before she went into the kitchen. She settled on the couch, folding her left leg and tucking the other one on the side while pulling the file along.
A closer look at the case she realized it was trickier than she thought it would be. Surprisingly there were no drug or weapon dealings. It was mostly cases of people being misled into financial scams. No physical record or complaints were lodged against any of those people because coincidentally few months from their debts they went missing. Investigation reports showed people in the neighborhood hardly recognized anyone missing from their locality except cases of people moving out only to have no news of them. There was nothing outrageously suspicious to the people living around that they never bothered to report a case and only after the people from her department inquired they realized the person in question has gone missing. Although the criminal was surely identified as male but neither his name was known nor his face as he changed his get up quite often, confusing the victim or any witnesses if any. His heists followed no particular pattern and his dealings left behind little or no evidence. But what had piqued her interest was the fact that the victims of homicides were in no way connected to his heists. There seemed no apparent connection between the victims versus the scams he had performed. She scratched her head in confusion. She had never come across such a case and it sure would be a challenge. The computer-generated image came from people who had seen him from far as well as using bits of their imagination. She pulled out the envelope and was about to take the image out when she heard someone knock her door.
"Ab yeh kaun hai," she said tucking the photo back and dragging her feet to the door. Usually the milkman or the newspaper guy would come, knock and, leave their stuff and she had very few visitors for hardly anyone knew she lived here. She peeped through the tiny hole only to find the person with his face turned allowing her only view of his back. She scrunched her eyebrows in confusion and looked to see how far her guns were just in case she needed them. She could certainly catch the intruder off guard and efficiently get to her defense weapon. So far in her career her bare hands were enough to knock down any scumbag.
She opened the door to find a tall and well-built man with his back facing. His hair was neatly trimmed into a military cut while his toned biceps showed he worked out quite often. He wore dark denims that contrasted with his faded beige t-shirt, etching his perfect physique without an ounce of fat. He wasn't anybody familiar she knew, so her instincts kicked in as she prepared for any surprises when he suddenly turned around to face her. Her defenses fell flat like an inflated balloon and her breathing hitched at the sight of him. Even the Greek gods would have shied away in front of his perfectly handsome face that bore a hint of his neatly trimmed stubble. His dark chocolate irises reminded her of melted chocolate lava allowing one to drown easily in them. The neatly shaped nose gave way to perfectly M-shaped lips making her skip a beat at the thought of feeling them. Damn! He was sexiness personified indeed she thought, her racy thoughts surfacing only to be quickly brushed away. From when did she become attracted to men allowing her emotions to rule her? She had come to believe the concept of soul mates was just a figment of one's imagination; relationships hindered her ability to focus on her job only to turn into a person's weakness. And here she stood shamelessly drooling over the man whom she hardly knew from a few minutes ago! She wondered if her menses cycle was around the corner cranking her hormones that seemed to drown her thoughts in the gutter. She made a mental note to keep her thoughts in check when she heard him clear him throat.
"Hello, Ms. Handa?" he asked as she registered his husky voice.
Well the gutter it is! Hai Babaji his voice is' her mind tried to find an expletive to describe his attention drawing voice that had her fully immersed in her so-called gutter.
"Hello?" he repeated waving his hand in front of face to gain her attention.
She snapped out of her string of thoughts and straightening up, "Haan, but who are you?" she asked, "I don't think we have met."
He grinned revealing his perfect teeth before continuing, "Of course, it isn't that easy to meet me," his eyes twinkling in amusement.
"I'm sorry?" she asked in confusion.
"I mean I just moved in to the apartment next door, so it isn't possible we would have met before. By the way, I am Maan, Maan Singh," he said extending his hand.
She had never allowed herself to touch anyone unless it was case related or in personal defense but for some reason she instantly took his hand to shake, surprised at her own actions.
"Well Ms. Handa, a packet arrived for you when you were out so the postman left it by me," he said revealing a package in his hand that had gone unnoticed by her in her drooling sessions of him.
"Thank you," she whispered softly wondering who could have mailed, as nobody knew of her stay. She decided to get her questions answered by opening the package but she was curious how he knew her name. Maan was about to walk back to his apartment when she asked, "aapko mera naam kaise pata?"
"The package had your name Ms. Handa," he said with amusement.
"Oh of course," she countered wondering her drooling session had completely cleared her of her rational thoughts. She badly needed to be back in her element scolded her derailing thoughts.
"Take care Ms. Handa, hope to see you often," he said before walking into his apartment and closing the door.
"Hope to see you not often," she mumbled, closing the door. One encounter was enough to swing her rational thoughts; more would only worsen her ability to think straight engage her emotional thoughts.
Before she could open the package, her eyes wandered to the file and the envelope lying beside it. Her curiosity to take a look criminal's photo overshadowed her need to open the package. She dropped the package and pulled out the photo in the envelope while sitting on the couch.
The surprises for the day seemed to be never ending. The computer-generated image seemed vaguely familiar except she couldn't put a finger on it. The top part of his face was masked revealing only his glaring golden eyes but the etched face seemed quite familiar. She raked her brain to find the face matching to the image when it clicked rather harshly; it was a splitting image of the man she had just met, Maan, Maan Singh!
Next part contd below...
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Edited by Maaneet099 - 13 years ago
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Cricket
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