FF - 100 Seconds To Live CH - 5 , PG - 27. - Page 7

CHAPTER - 3

[ PRESENT ]

That night,after coming out of the office,Sameer offered a lift to Natasha upto her house.After reaching there,Natasha asked,"Abhi kaha jaaoge?"Sam replied,"Well!!Kisi saste se hotel mein jaaunga waha jaakar dinnar karunga aur phir ghar jaakar so jaaunga."Natasha replied,"Kisi hotel mein khaane se achcha hai ke tum aaj ka dinner mere saath kar lo."Sam smiled a little and asked,"Kahi mera pet to kharaab nehi hoga?Ya phir kachcha khaana to nehi khaana parega na?"Natasha slapped on his arms and made a face and said,"Very funny!!Chalo aaj main tumhe typical Indian khaana khilaati hu,tum bhi kya yaad rakkhoge ke kaisa dost mila hai tumhe."Sameer accepted her proposal and walked up to her apartment.After getting in there,Natasha asked him to watch TV till then she would prepare the dinner.Sameer occupied a sofa and put on the news channel,where a news was telecasting of a missile manufactured by the country's scientists which should be used only at extreme cases and that particular missile had the capacity to eliminate a vast part from the world permanently.He was watching the news very minutely in different channels and was so immersed in his own thoughts and that he didn't even realize when Natasha started calling him.When Sameer looked at her,she asked,"What the hell were you watching with so much attention?Kitne der se awaaz laga rahi hu main tumhe?"Sameer behaved as if he woke up from deep sleep and replied,"Oh!!Vo main ek news dekh raha tha...Vo ek naya missile banaya hai scientist logo ne bas usime thora kho gaya."Natasha nodeed her head disappointedly and said,"Pata nehi ye government itne missiles kyu banaate hai.Ye log aise dangerous sab cheese invent karte hai aur neend hamaari kam hoti hai."Sameer replied,"Achcha hai na hum jaise policewaale bhi to varna sirf murder cases solve karte karte bore ho jaate,aise cheezo se hume bhi kuch action karne ka mauka milt hai.Isse boredom bhi khatam hoti hai aur brain ka exercise bhi hota hai."She then said,"Ok abhi thora haath muh dho kar aa jaao,main table ready karti hu."He went inside the washroom and sprinkled some water on his face and then came out into the dining room.Natasha served him the food and he was quite amused on seeing the item as those were all typical Punjabi items.Sameer asked,"New York ki larki hokar aisa khaana?I mean wow!!"Natasha proudly replied,"Yaha paida hui hu to kya hua?Khoon to saada Punjabi hi hai.After all Iam Kapoor!"He appreciated and asked,"Ye khaana banana kisne sikhaya?"She replied,"Mom ne,abhi kha kar bolo ke kaisa bana hai."Sameer picked up a spoon and replied,"Shakal se to achchi hi lag rahi hai,ab khair kha kar dekhta hu.Lets see!!"He took a bite of the food and then,with an appreciating tone,he said,"Sach mein bohot achcha khaana banaya hai tumne Nats.I really love it."Natasha gave him a very loving look and said,"Tumhe jab bhi jo jo khaane ka man kare tum mujhe aakar kehna main sab kuch tumhaare liye banaaungi."Sameer just passed a smile.Natasha then asked,"Tumhe maine tumhaare beeti zindagi ke baare mein kitna pucha par kabhi tumne us baare mein mujhe kuch bhi nehi bataya."Sameer stopped eating and then looked at Natasha and then said,"Tum meri sabse achchi dost ho Nats,par ye ek baat hai jo main kisise nehi keh sakta,tumse bhi nehi.Main peechle 6 saalo se apne kal se bhaag raha hu,aaj bhi bhaag raha hu aur shaayad marte dam tak bhaagta hi rahunga."She said,"Ek beeta hua kal to sabhika hota hai Sam,par isse koi jeena to nehi chor deta.Peechle 6 saalo se dekh rahi hu main,pata nehi ek ajeeb si udaasi chaayi rehti hai tumhaare chehre par."Sameer looked into her eyes and said,"Jeene ke liye jee raha hu bas,varna jeene ki koi vajah hi nehi hai na mere paas.Meri ye zindagi to kisi ki di hui udhaar hai,agar vo nehi hota to shaayad main bhi nehi hota."In order to change the topic,Natasha asked,"Achcha Sam ye to bolo India mein koi tumhaara best friend to hoga na?Ya phir family?"He smiled and replied,"Family vagera koi nehi tha,ek dost tha...Dost nehi jaana tha vo mera.My best friend."She made a face and asked,"Oh to mujhse bhi zyaada bara dost koi tha tumhaara?Kya naam tha uska?"He looked somewhere with blank expression and said,"Uska naam Mayank tha,Mayank Sharma.Uska ek garage tha,jaha hum dono kaam karte the."She smiled and asked,"Really garage mein???Par ab vo kaha hai?"He looked at her and then remained silent.He silently resumed his dinner and Natasha too didn't raise any questions about his past thinking that something terrible might have happened and she didn't want to trigger up his pain.After the dinner,he took her leave and she came out on the road to bid him bye.When they reached upto Sameer's car,he said,"Kaam karte karte pata nehi 6 saal kaise beet gaye.Bohot thakaan si hone lagi hai aajkal,soch raha hu ke do teen din ki chutti lekar kahi ghum aau.Soch raha hu Philadelphia chala jaau,suna hai achchi jagah hai."Natasha said,"Ha achchi jagah to hai,par main to nehi chal sakti hu na tumhaare saath,kyuki mujhe kuch dino ke liye ghar jaana hai,varna main bhi chalti."Sameer said,"Koi baat nehi phir kabhi chale jaayenge saath mein.Well thanks for the dinner.Goodnight!!"Natasha bid him bye and Sameer left for his home.

Next morning,in Philadelphia,Indira quickly completed the order as it was time to bring Saanvi from school.She was already late when she came out of the bar and started walking towards the school.When she reached there,she found Saanvi was standing outside alone puffing her cheeks and making a sad face.Indira bit her tongue and then murmered,"Aaj to shaamat aanewaali hai meri."Indira stood near her and she turned her face away from her.She apologized and said,"Iam sorry baba mujhe thora sa late ho gaya hai.Agli baar se kabhi aisa nehi hoga."Saanvi replied,"Mere saare friends chale gaye,par aap itna late karke aayi mama.Main aapse katti hu."Indira made a o' face and said,"Nehi nehi Sana mama se katti hogi to mama ke saath baat kaun karega aur phir mama story kisko sunaayegi?"Saanvi replied,"To aapne mistake kiya to aapko punishment bhi milegi."Indira nodded her head and accepted and said,"Thik hai to kya punishment milegi mama ko?"Saanvi replied,"Mujhe ice cream khaana hai."Indira said,"Ok thik hai done,main tumhe ice-cream kharid kar dungi par usey tum lunch ke baad hi khaaogi.Thik hai?"Saanvi agreed.Indira purchased ice cream for her and then took her to the restaurant with her.Indira gave her the lunch which she prepared at home which obviously Indira had to feed her and then she gave her the ice-cream.Indira,by that time was busy preparing to serve the customers when Saanvi was doing her homework.After sometime,Saanvi went to the washroom which was at the backyard of the restaurant.While coming out,she heard some noise and she stopped.She became very curious and walked to open the door which opened at the backyard.When she opened that door,she walked a bit and found that some goon type men were threatening another men with guns and knives.Saanvi was very scared and hid behind a trash drum and sat on her knees and kept on staring at them.Whatever they were speaking,was not audible to her,but she could easily and clearly see their face.At one point of time,the argument reached to such a point that one of the goons angrily stabbed the man on his stomach.Saanvi was so scared on seeing it that she covered her mouth as tight as possible and got up to run away from there.But as she got up to run,the trash bin fall and it made a sound.On hearing that sound,the goons saw her running.One of the goons shouted,"Get her!!"Saanvi started running from there and entered inside the restaurant from that same back door.Since she was a bit far from their eyes,so they didn't get where she entered.

Saanvi ran to her mother but she was not there in the kitchen.She madly started searching for Indira when she was stopped by Anna.Anna guesses something terrible might have happened for which Saanvi was behaving so impatient.Anna grabbed her hand and asked,"What happened???What happened sweetheart?Why're you so scared?"Saanvi was so scared that she could not say properly what she had seen.She kept on stammering,"Vaha vaha...there'there...mama...mama..."Anna understood that she desperately needed her mother and so she asked another of their co-workers to go and call Indira.Indira came inside the kitchen and on seeing her,Saanvi just jumped into her arms and started crying badly.Indira was very scared and asked,"Kya hua??Kya hua baby??Bolo...say it to mama..."Saanvi could not reply properly and could just say,"Mama...mama...vaha...mama..."Just then they heard a great deal of noise on the backyard.One of the waitresses came running to them and then said,"Theres a murder at the backyard.Someone very brutally stabbed the man on his stomach."Indira and Anna were very scared on hearing that.Saanvi,while coughing replied,"That bad man killed him mama...Us gande aadmi ne usey maar diya...Itna saara khoon tha...Main bohot dar gayi thi mama,phir main bhaag kar yaha aa gayi."Anna and Indira understood that Saana had witnessed the murder and so she was scared.Indira became very much angry on Saanvi for going out like that.She scolded Saanvi,"Sana maine tumhe mana kiya tha na ke bahaar akele mat jaana,phir tumne meri baat kyu nehi suni?Hamesha aisi harkate karti rehti ho na ke..."Anna stopped her and said,"What the hell are you doin' Indu??She's just a kid...She's very scared right now,you need to pacify her."Anna gave a glass of water to Saanvi and then wiped her tears.She then leaned towards Saanvi and asked,"Baby tell maasi did they see you?"Saanvi replied,"Main jab waapas aane ke liye dauri to waha se trash bin gir gaya phir vo log mere peeche bhaage."On hearing this,Indira was so scared that she was about to fall,but Anna grabbed her.Indira kept on saying,"They will kill her now...they are not gonna spare her...I have to take her away right now."She immediately put on her own dresses and then picked up Saanvi in her arms and was about to run when Anna said,"Iam too coming with you."Both Anna and Indira ran out of the restaurant with Saanvi.They came out quickly and started walking as fast as possible.Anna said,"Its not safe to go back home,I think we should leave the town now temporarily."Indira replied,"Yes I know and thats what Iam gonna do."Saanvi was completely silent and was hugging her mother tight.The moment they called for a taxi,Saanvi saw those goons coming out from a shop and were looking here and there.She cried out,"Mama vo dekho vo bad man!!"Her voice even reached the ears of those goons and they they yelled,"There she is!!"Indira couldn't think what to do and she started running alongwith Anna and caught a taxi.Seeing those goons already arrived too near to them,Indira handed over Saanvi to Anna and said,"You go Anna!!I'll stop them!!"Saanvi started crying,"Mama mama mere saath chalo na,mama mujhe aapko chor kar nehi jaana."Indira said,"Mama aa jaayegi beta abhi ke liye tum Anna maasi ke saath jaao.Good girl!!"Indira said to Anna,"Promise me if anything happens to me you'll take care of my Sana and please do try to unite her with her father."She asked the driver to take them out of the city to any place and the taxi drove fast.

CHAPTER - 4