Chapter 1: 5 years' ago

Neil, who a moment ago was sat down, nervously waiting in the coffee shop, became elated when he heard her say his name. His nervousness almost but completely faded as he saw her face and looked at her with affection.

Neil: Hi juhi!

He said softly as he sensed his breath being knocked out of him, as he took in her smile. He quickly tried to collect his thoughts and maintain a cool composure, as today he was determined to tell his beautiful friend, for whom he has felt nothing but love from an age where he perhaps had no idea what love was. Before he could start speaking, she began speaking.

Juhi: How on earth do you always reach before me? Whenever we set a time to meet, you always come before me, then I challenge myself to arrive before you, yet you still manage to reach before me. How?

At this point, butterflies were fluttering in his stomach, and he felt a surge of heat through his body as it struck him that this was it. This was the moment he had been waiting for since years, and after this moment, their relationship would change from friendship to pure love.

Neil: Because I never want to leave you waiting alone for me, but I am willing to wait as long as needed for you, so i make sure I set off earlier, even if it means having to wait for a prolonged amount of time till you come.

The emotions that were building up in his body, now reached his eyes, as he was no longer able to hide his love for her, and his eyes, even more than his words gave that away. Juhi was stunned by what she was able to see, as he took a step towards her, taking hold of her right hand gently, whilst placing his hand on her waist and softly pulling her towards him, and she finds herself becoming increasingly conscious of her heavy breathing and cheeks that were burning up. As Neil proceeds to speak, Juhi's phone rings. Juhi shakes her head, almost as if she was asleep and attempting to wake herself up, and with great difficulty, tears her eyes away from Neil to answer her phone. Neil once again became nervous, as with great difficulty, he had got himself to tell juhi his feelings, but the phone call felt like an obstacle in his smooth proposal.

Juhi: What? Are you serious? Who was she? Did you see her face? She came in a burqa and niqaab? Hmmm! Ok! I am coming right now to pick up what she gave you.

Juhi, completely shocked and amazed at what she had been told, holds her head in disbelief, as she turns to an impatient and desperate Neil.

Juhi: I'm so sorry Neil, but I have to go. It is urgent.

Neil: But juhi, what can be more important than talking to me? I have something important to tell you.

Neil's eyes softened, looking pleadingly at juhi.

Juhi: I'm really sorry Neil, but this really is important. I'm serious. Remember when I told you I'm investigating a case from a few years back? Well I've just been informed that a burqa-clad girl just handed in some really important evidence for this case, and I need to take a look at it immediately. I can't put it off at all. Please! I hope you will understand how important my job is to me, and won't think I don't respect your feelings?

Juhi examined neil's face to look for signs of him being hurt, but his expressions softened and a subtle smile adorned his face, as he nodded in understanding. Juhi smiled, and gave him a tight hug, as she thanked him and hurried away into her car. Neil failed to see a car that had been there the whole time, and left as soon as juhi did in the same exact direction. Neil's eyes followed the direction juhi left, looking disappointed.

Neil shakes his head as he comes back to the present. His eyes flooded with tears. Narrating his last meeting with juhi made neil's healing wounds once more fresh. Neil turned to look at ananya, who was blank faced, but appeared to be full of questions.

Ananya: What happened neil? What happened to Juhi?

Neil: From the moment I got home that night, I kept calling her, but she wouldn't receive my call. I was getting worried and the following morning, mum told me to go to her house if I was so worried. I was about to go, when all of a sudden, my phone started ringing. the number was Juhi's landline number. When I received the phone, happily thinking that finally juhi reverted back to my calls, I heard Juhi's mother crying bitterly, and I asked her why she was crying. Mum also got concerned when she heard me ask juhi's mother that, and then her mother told me something that shook the earth beneath me, and I was no longer able to control myself.

Neil recalls how he dropped the phone out of his hand, almost losing his balance, and his mother caught him, and how his mother was stunned and scared to see him like that.

Neil: I couldn't get myself to say anything to her. Mum kept shaking me and asking me to say something, and at that point, dad had also walked hurriedly to the room hearing the commotion, and all i was able to say was "JUHI!" , before I ran without an explanation from the house, with my parents on my tail.

Neil looked up at ananya, whose facial expressions started to take the form of worry. He saw fear in her face, as even she sensed, that the story he was telling her, was about to come to a fateful end. Although in tears, and in indescribable pain, he continued with the story.

Neil: When we reached Juhi's house, the police had surrounded her house. I struggled and fought to get access, and finally got in. When we reached her living room, everything had been trashed in the house, and mess strewn across the floor. Then my eyes zoomed in on what I had dreaded the moment I got the phone call. There she was. just lying down on the floor. Lifeless. Like a broken doll. There was just so much blood.

Ananya was unable to believe what she was hearing. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

Ananya: H-h-how? Do you know...?

Before ananya could finish her question, neil continued, knowing what she was asking.

Neil: She had been shot. Not once, not twice, but six times. The police had said that from what they could get from finger print samples from the house, two people's finger prints were discovered. And the way the murder took place could not have been a one-man job. She was bound and tortured by beating. The police also said the assailants had been looking for something in her house, but they don't know what they stole. I had found out that what had been stolen was the evidence that the mysterious girl had handed in to her office. Witnesses say they saw two men they had never seen before right near her house, so they are presumably the killers. Even a sketch was made of the men, which is still on record. We never found out anything about those men who killed her, and even her colleague who had received and then handed her the evidence, who was the only other person who knew about the case she was investigating was murdered on the same night at his home. Nobody knows what the case was. And police shut the two murder cases due to lack of leads. That is why I had become a cop. So I could get my Juhi justice.

Neil, was in inconsolable tears, as he had finished narrating the story of that fateful incident that changed his life. Ananya was in complete shock and tears, but her reaction was more than just shock over the tragedy of the incident, but much more, which neil somehow spotted.

Neil: What? What's worng?

Ananya: Was juhi a journalist?

Neil: (Surprised and shocked) Y-yes, but how do you know that?

Ananya, looked on, shocked, as realisation hit her, that she was the girl that had handed the evidence for juhi to check. And she was quite possibly, the reason for Juhi's demise.