Anika paced back and forth holding the note into her fist, tightly. She didn't want to doubt Om. What could he hide? Even if he was hiding something, then must be for her, their betterment. Should she blindly follow the stalker allowing him to control her? Or would he confront Om about it? Thoughts clouded her brain. And now how Mrs. Kothari entered in the game? How did she know about the stalker? Did she write the note? Did she know the stalker? She remembered the roaring car speeding towards her! She closed her eyes, again the same vision of the roaring car heading towards her. No, she didn't want to die. She was too afraid to meet the stalker alone. She would not go to meet the stalker, she decided.
***
ACP Ranveer Singh Randhawa was informed from the police head quarters that he had to take up and lead a secret mission against child trafficking in the interiors of Uttar Pradesh. For the first time in his life his fingers trembled while signing the assignment. He never before in his life has hesitated in going away from family for uncertain number of days. But this time he felt a part of him being against of his duties of an ACP. From the past one week Priyanka was behaving weird. She was not talking to him properly, not staying together at night. Every time he initiated a conversation or a little intimacy, she with the excuse of Pavel had always refused him. They had seen and experienced a lot before coming to this stage where they are today. He took a lot of time in accepting the fact that he actually loved the girl who accidentally killed his sister. He tried to hate her a lot but those fear stricken eyes, those trembling lips, those worried wrinkles on her forehead whenever she looked at him, drawn him more and more towards her. After struggling a lot with himself he finally let his past go and welcomed a dream of future with Priyanka, together. Last night, with desperate need Ranveer tried to recreate their old moments by tying her up with handcuffs. Yes, handcuffs played a big role in the progress of their relationship, the mere use of the word handcuffs always used to put a smile on his lips. But for the first time he felt her panic, as If his touch couldn't really soothe her. He hurriedly untied her blindfold and hands and then she looked relieved. He knew something was wrong but he didn't know what. What irked him most was the fact that she wasn't sharing it with him.
It was 11 in the morning. For a moment he thought how his wife would welcome him at this time of the day and added to his misery, he had to announce about the secret mission and at last he had to leave her all alone. How would she manage everything, what if anything happened to her! He thought. He opened the door of his house with a scratching sound and entered.
He found her in the kitchen. She was molding some wheat, her hairs in a bun, some of her locks falling over her forehead, touching her nose, eyes blocking her vision, irritating her. With the back of her palm she was tucking them behind her ears. Her glossy lips ushering sweet nothings to the little Pavel who was sitting beside her, on the kitchen countertop.
"Corkoch" three years old Pavel said thrashing his tiny palms on the wall above.
"Eww..baccha. Don't touch it." Priyanka cried catching the cockroach in her fist to keep it away from Pavel's reach. But the cockroach didn't feel like a cockroach. She opened her palms and looked at it.
"Give it to me" Ranveer snatched the Cockroach from his wife's palm holding its antenna. That's not a real cockroach, he was shocked. There was a mini camera planted on the plastic cockroach. He rushed to other walls and rooms searching if there was any more of this.
After dusting and finding the whole house they found one more cockroach camera from kitchen, one from living room, one in the adjacent room to their bedroom where Pavel sleeps. There were 5 microphones attached to their bedroom wall which exactly looked like small insects. Those microphones were attached to a camera which was fixed on the wall of Pavel's room.
***
Anika entered their bedroom where Omkara was still sleeping. She came to his side and placed her hands on his head, caressing his long tresses. She kept looking at his face. The sincerity, the innocence forced her to believe that this man could never harm her anyway. Omkara flickered his eyes before opening them.
"Anika!" he was happily surprised seeing Anika at the very first sight.
"I want to ask you something" she didn't waste time.
He sit back leaning on the pillows behind. "Sure, tell me. What is it?"
"I got this note today" she showed him the note Om is hiding something from you. Meet me at Medley Caf. Same place, same time. Don't involve Police, this time, "Mrs. Kothari gave it to me" she said. "What are you hiding Om? Why the stalker is after me?" she screamed. It was being difficult for her to keep her sanity intact.
***
Anika couldn't understand why Om brought her to this Mental hospital and left in the reception without any explanation. As she was trying to figure out something sane from the mess her life had become in the past few days, sitting in the reception, she heard Om. He was calling her inside a doctor's chamber. Reluctantly she got up and followed him.
She changed the pages of a file which the doctor gave her. The file had everything which she forgot about Daksh. She started reading when she met Daksh, when he got engaged with him. How he poisoned Shivay's mind saying she had slept with him. How he had tortured her. How she used to get flashes of those tortures in her dreams. How she was afraid to talk to new people. Enough. No, she couldn't, she couldn't read more. She couldn't complete the last few pages. She left reading, throwing the file away in the sofa. If she couldn't even read those how she felt while experiencing those, she wondered. She couldn't believe Omkara had tried to save her from her own nightmares, her own memories. She looked at him in disbelieve. She knew he loved her but didn't know the extent. She couldn't believe her fortune, did she really deserve him? She thought. Some tear drop made their way from her eyes.
Let's go home" she asked pleading forgiveness with her eyes.
"We will, but before that let's meet Daksh" he said holding her palm, pushing his fingers in the gaps of hers.
Anika looked again at him with horror in her eyes. "Daksh? Why? He is the stalker, right?" she asked.
"No, he is not. The day you first got the note with a bunch of flowers, I checked the CCTV the next day and found him beside our flat. I started track him. I got it that all the time Shivay wanted to tell us that Daksh is out of jail. I found that he was under Dr. Shastri's observation. I know Dr. Shastri from before, when we were having your memory erasing done with our Dr. K. Mukherjee, he helped you with the counseling. Anyway the day you fainted in the college, I again brought you in the hospital to erase your memory because I was not sure If Shivay has blurted anything about Daksh to you or not." Om clasped Anika's hands tightly, his hands were trembling. "I'm so sorry Anika but I was so afraid. I thought what if I again lose your chirpiness, you belief in goodness, your smile, your strength. I was so afraid to lose you."
"When you are with me, I don't fear anything. I am strong enough to come out from any darkness." She told cupping his face. Anika usually showed her affection caressing Om's hairs always, when she touched his face. It was special for him. A smile unknowingly formed on his lips as he made her caress his face. Gaining some power from her touch he again started, "then when you went to meet" Anika cut him in between and fumbled, "What about Sh..." she lowered her eyes. He left out a chuckle and said, "I know you must be thinking what I did with wounded Shivay. I send him to the hospital with his driver and informed Rudra. Don't forget Anika, he is my brother and I love him."
"No, I actually" she fumbled.
"You were worried for him. You don't have to explain anything to me Anika. I understand." He sighed, " Anyway then when you went to meet the stalker in Medley Caf, We, I and ACP saw him in the caf, so I thought he is, till you showed me the last note, because he is in jail right now. The day Shivay saved you, I and Ranveer found him in the caf and we got him arrested. And how can he send you notes while he is in jail?"
"Then? Who is that?" she asked.
"I don't know. May be there are multiple..." he stopped in between. He saw the horrified face of Anika and stopped sharing his guesses. He took her into his arms and said, "Don't worry Anika, I will not let anything happen to you. You are safe with me". He kissed her hairs.
***
The Oberoi mansion was not the same as before, before there were clashes of ideas, egos, attitudes, beliefs but there were unity, there were three brothers who kept their family united despite all the differences. But now Omkara left mansion and looked like he would never return. Rudra had started taking business seriously and working hard to make a place of his own in the business spending most of his time in the office. Tej and Jahnvi again started getting far from each other where Pinky and Shakti's relation had also started getting bitter day by day. The only constant thing was Pinky's love for name, lineage and bloodline.
After freeing himself from his mothers never ending suggestions, Shivay stood in front of the window, looking at the recently created riddles in the water of the pool caused by a dry leaf which just dropped in the water, from a nearby tree. Pinky's words were still ringing in her ears.
"Move on Son. Forget that girl. Marry someone from our status, you will be happy."
He has to move on he thought.
***
Anika had sketched Daksh in her mind with the help of the descriptions in the file but still his face was not clear to her. She looked at the patients through the glass window but couldn't find someone familiar.
"Where is Daksh?" she asked.
"His family has decided to take him back to Delhi. So..." told Dr. Shastri who was handling Daksh's case told.
"So, he left?" Omkara asked curiously.
"They have completed the paper works here. I guess they are flying off tomorrow, as I heard them discussing."The doctor added.
"But I need to talk to him. I have to clear the puzzle of notes." he whispered.
"Huh?" Anika asked.
"No, we have to talk to Mrs. Kothari."
"Yes" she said.
***
They were astonished watching some labors carrying wrapped furniture and bags from Mrs. Kothari's flat and going towards the elevator. Why suddenly she was leaving, Omkara and Anika were shocked. Yes, in metro cities people were not bound to inform their neighbors about anything but Mrs. Kothari used to share. Even Anika helped her getting job in Priyanka's NGO. They entered Mrs. Kothari's already opened flat knocking once.
"May we help you out Mrs. Kothari?" Omkara said seeing her struggling with heavy furniture.
"Omkara ji, no no. The labors would do it." She left struggling and greeted them.
"Come, seat." She gestured them to seat on the sofa.
"No, we are fine. Why suddenly?" he asked.
"Erm. Important work in my village. So!" Mrs. Kothari said.
"I wanted to know how you got the note." Anika asked.
"What note?" she asked innocently.
"The one, you gave me this morning?"
"Oh? That one? A little girl was running in the corridor and when she saw me, she said me to give it to you. Okay, now I'm getting late. I have to change to head towards the station, so if you please?" she concluded the conversation.
They had nothing to do now. Clueless, they return to their flat and waited, waited for the next happenings. Leaving her safe in their bedroom, Om locked the doors and went to find the CCTV footages, if really any small girl gave Mrs. Kothari any note. After one hour, when seeing the CCTV footage for multiple times, Om understood Mrs. Kothri's lie, he dashed to her flat only to find she has already left.
***
It was past five in the evening already, but Shahil didn't came back home. Omkara called his school, the school cab, Anika called Sahil's friends, but no one could give proper information. Anika and Omkara have already informed ACP. An overly tensed and frustrated Omkara take a perspiring Anika out of their flat in search of Sahil. While locking the door they heard someone banging the door of Mrs. Kothari's house from inside. Shocked, they looked at each other when the constable appointed by ACP reached the place.
"Baburam?" Omkara asked surprised.
"Sir ji, ACP Sahab has sent me. Sahil baba is missing. Don't worry; I won't let anything happen to him. He is such a cute boy." Constable Baburam was freed from his duties the day Daksh got caught. They were sure that Daksh was the stalker. The banging sound on the door where Mrs. Kothari used to live till the morning increased. Flabbergasted Baburam looked at Omkara.
"We have to break it open Baburam."
***
After two failed attempts when they opened the door, they found a woman, covering half of her face with a dupatta shivering.
"Who are you?" Omkara asked.
Anika went to her and take her shaking form in her embrace and asked, "How did you come here?"
"I..I.." she tried to speak "Sahil is kidnapped. I know who had done this." She said looking towards Omkara, uncovering her veil of a dupatta.
"Nisha?! Nisha Randhawa!" Omkara blurted.
Please let me know your thoughts. 😲
Sorry Guys, as I promised this would be the concluding chapter but after writing 200 words, it still not over. So you have to wait for the next to see the end. But somehow I kept my promise revealing the clue of who could be the real stalker. Merry Christmas. Wish you guys have a gala time. See you all in the next chapter. ❤️
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain
Anupamaa
CID
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
Fan Fictions
