Abhay's head was hurting like hell. The woman could hit! Aarti helped him to the jeep. Jitendra had arrested the two men and was already on his way to the police station.
Aarti looked at him out of the corner of her eye as they drove to the hospital. Abhay was clenching his teeth against the pain. As they reached the hospital, Aarti parked and helped him get down.
The waiting room was buzzing with people. Aarti walked to the receptionist and asked for a doctor for Abhay. The woman was about to say they would have to wait when she noticed Abhay recognizing him. She did not want rile the area's new ACP so she nodded telling them to go straight to Dr Patel's cabin. Abhay interrupted her, still holding his handkerchief to the wound.
"Is Dr Arjun Singh here?" he asked in a low voice. He could hardly talk with the pain his wound was giving him.
The receptionist looked surprised he knew him. Dr Arjun had just shifted there about two months ago. He treated major cases and you needed a prior appointment to meet him. She opened her mouth to say this but Abhay cut her off.
"Just call him and tell him it's Abhay Rai Singh."
He gazed long enough at her for her to comply silently. She spoke on the phone for a second then nodded to them.
"You can go in. It's the third cabin on the left." She gestured to the corridor.
Abhay walked a little unsteadily to where she pointed. Aarti quickly came to take his arm to support him.
The cabin was just as he he had expected. It was stark but the most organized one you could ever come across. There was only a painting of a waterfall at the back wall which livened up the room a bit. Arjun was sitting calmly behind his desk dressed impeccably as always. He looked less doctor and more movie star. He got up laughing at Abhay's condition.
"What happened to you? Seems like a wild animal was after your head?" he laughed again slapping Abhay on the back.
Arjun was his childhood friend. He was one of the few people he knew in Chambal. They had been inseperable as kids and even now joked on how their respective transfers had again brought them together.
Abhay glared at him then thought: You don't know how right you are, Arjun.
Arjun told him to lay down on the examination bed then he noticed Aarti. He cleared his throat.
"You are still the same Abhay. Rude. You did not even introduce me to the lady here." Arjun grinned then turned his attention on Aarti.
Aarti had been looking at Abhay but now her head snapped to Arjun. She looked back at him unsmilingly.
"Sorry, this is Inspector Aarti. And Aarti, my childhood friend and enemy Arjun." Abhay said pointing to Arjun. " Now will you please tend to my wound, Doctor" he spoke sarcastically.
Arjun removed his hand from his pockets and extended it towards Aarti. Aarti ignored it turning her face back towards Abhay.
Uh huh, attitude, I like it, Arjun thought grinning inwardly. He drew back his hand and started cleaning Abhay's wound. Abhay winced at the sting of the antiseptics.
"You escaped stitches unfortunately." Arjun said, dressing up the wound.
Abhay grunted an anwer and got down from the bed.
"Yeah, I'm surprised I'm still alive after..'" he trailed off leaving Arjun and Aarti looking at him curiously.
"Let's go now, we have something important to wrap up." Abhay said quickly to Aarti thinking of Phulwa, then to Arjun, "Thanks buddy. Meet you later." He smacked Arjun on his shoulder.
Arjun prescribed him painkillers. Then as they turned to go, Arjun's voice stopped them.
"Come back whenever you want Abhay," he paused, " but please do bring Inspector Aarti also." He said it innocently but the twinkle in his eyes betrayed him.
Abhay grinned knowing his friend well but then seeing Aarti's expression, they both became serious.
"Come on, Inspector Aarti, we are getting late."
Aarti continued to glower at Arjun, who was now smiling devilishly at her, as she followed Abhay out.
****
Phulwa was thinking hard. How could she break into the police station without getting caught? She could have handled the officers but that ACP Abhay was becoming a headache. Her hand involuntarily went to touch her mouth. Then she blushed, scolding herself inwardly.
She had an idea but she was not sure it would work.
***
Though Aarti suggested he should go home, Abhay refused. He wanted to interrogate those two men they had caught.
He went straight to the lock up and surveyed the two men inside. The gun supplier must have been in the mid-forties. He looked scared, sweat beads shining on his forehead. Abhay's eyes shifted to the other guy. He was taller, more muscular but also younger. In fact he had an angry air about him which was vaguely familiar. He looked as if given the chance, he would kill Abhay right then and there for putting him behind bars. Abhay had a sudden thought. When he had been hiding in the woods, he had noticed the closeness between this man and Phulwa. Who was he? All of a sudden, he felt unexpected anger mounting up. He refused to believe it to be jealousy. After all, why should he be jealous? But why had he been looking at Phulwa like that, as if reluctant to leave her. He slapped his palm on the iron bars, the vibrations it caused making the throb in his head start again. He turned to the constable asking him to open the door. The constable placed a chair in the middle of the cell locking the door behind him. The driver cowered back as Abhay sat down but the younger guy looked back at him, unmoving, head resting on the wall behind and arms crossed on his knees.
"What is your name?" he directed the question at Babu, a hint of menace in his voice.
Babu remained silent. Abhay felt his blood boil. He tried calming himself down then asked the question which was actually nagging him.
"How are you related to Phulwa?"
No answer again. Abhay tried something else.
"If you co-operate, we will let you go. We just want to catch Phulwa. Just tell us her whereabouts, and you are free." He said calmly gauging Babu's reaction.
At the name of his sister, Babu got to his feet, enraged. He did not know if Phulwa was ok or not. Hearing this cop talking of her like that just made him lose his head.
"Don't talk about her like that!" his voice slashed through the air.
Abhay got up, his face a mask of anger. So what he was thinking was true. This man here was someone close to Phulwa. Perhaps the one she loved. He felt his heart constrict at the thought.
Babu made to grab his collar but Abhay pushed him back with force causing his head to bang against the wall. Babu struggled and tried to punch Abhay. On hearing the commotion, Jitendra came in quickly, breaking the two apart. Constables held Babu's hands still while Babu snarled at Abhay.
Abhay wanted to punch him. Only one thought turned in his head. Phulwa loved this man. He felt his wound start to throb again.
"Sir, I don't think you should be here in this state." Jitendra said noticing Abhay's wince. "I'll carry out the interrogation."
"NO!" Abhay's voice reverberated off the cell walls.
Jitendra was taken aback. Abhay realised there had been no reason for his violent reaction and tried to redeem himself.
"I mean I'll do the interrogation myself tomorrow." He said in a normal voice.
Jitendra, still confused at his early outburst nodded silently. Abhay looked hard at Babu before going out. It was almost night anyway and he was not thinking clearly.
He left, walking towards his jeep. As he opened the door of his jeep, Aarti came up to him with a blue file in hand.
***
Phulwa looked out from the shadows. She was behind the police station, a saree concealing her kurta and pants, waiting for Chotu.
The she saw him. He was near his jeep, a bandage on his head. Phulwa flinched thinking of the blow she had delivered to him. She was glad he was alright. Wait. What? She shook her head trying to clear it. Then something made her burn. There was a police woman deep in conversation with him. She felt something she could not define. Why was the woman standing with her face so close to his? She thought angrily. She could talk from a distance also, couldn't she? Then she got a more disturbing thought. Why did it matter? This should not be bothering her.
Aarti's voice drifted to her.
"Sir, as you had instructed, we have reduced the perimeter where Phulwa possibly hides. We can start the operation as soon as you give the go-ahead."
She handed the blue file to Abhay.
"I still have to fine tune some of the strategies I've thought of. It might take a few days. Then I'll brief everybody on it." Abhay's voice suddenly sounded tired.
He said his goodbyes to Aarti then drove off. Phulwa was apprehensive. So ACP Abhay had a new plan to catch her and he had an idea of her whereabouts. Whatever the blue file contained, Phulwa would have to get hold of it. Babu would be able to decipher their plan maybe. Phulwa was glad Abhay had gone home. Somehow she did not think her task would have been easy with him there. Phulwa scowled at Aarti as she drove off too. She decidedly did not like her but she could not exactly say why.
Chotu came just then, holding his tea holder. Phulwa smiled at the lanky boy who usually delivered tea to the station. Then she retrieved a vial filled with white powder from her pockets, and carefully added some of it to each glass. As Chotu was making his way in, Phulwa stopped him.
"Chotu, do you know where ACP Abhay lives?" she asked.
"Phulwa didi, you know that brick white house on the hill, right?" Phulwa nodded. She had always thought it was a lovely house. "That's where he lives."
Chotu went in as Phulwa peeped in through the window.
****
Five minutes later, all the cops were slumped on their desks. Phulwa walked in expecting everyone to be out cold, then saw the lone conscious constable surveying the scene incredulously. He ran to the phone but Phulwa blocked his way, beaming at him. She snatched the phone and smashed it hard enough on his head for him to fall on the floor with a thud. He would have, at most, a bump in the morning. Phulwa snatched the keys from the belt of the constable and opened up the lock-up where Babu was kept. Babu smiled wide at seeing her and hugged her hard.
"Jijia, I thought something bad had happened to you."
Phulwa squeezed him back then let him go.
"We have to get out of here fast. Somebody might come." She grabbed Babu's hand.
Jagan was already running outside forgetting to even thank Phulwa in the rush to freedom.
****
They were back home and Babu was fast asleep. Phulwa looked at his sleeping figure tenderly then a thought came to nag her. There was some information in that blue file that would help ACP Abhay reach her. He had already taken her on the wrong foot once, she could not let it happen again. She had to know what he was planning and for that, she needed to get hold of the file. She looked at Babu a last time, then went out.
****
The house stood in the dark, it's white bricks covered in shadows. Phulwa circled it, listening for any sound. But the place was dead silent more so because there weren't any houses around. She crept up to the open window she spotted then dropped silently into the living room. There was a faint glow provided by a small lamp on the table in the centre on the room, making the shapes visible. How would she find the file in there? Then her eyes fell on the couch. Abhay lay on the couch, his lashes closed onto his cheeks. How could a man have such long lashes? Against her will, Phulwa advanced towards him. She saw it. The blue file was tucked close to Abhay. She sighed in exasperation. This man could never make her life easy, could he? She knelt down in front of him. He looked so childlike, his features relaxed in sleep, his breathing regular. Her eyes went to his lips. They had kissed her. Phulwa's eyes strayed to the bandage on his head. She told herself to grab the file stealthily and run but something pulled inside her. She felt it again. The almost invisible chord that connected them to each other and which tried to pull her towards him every time. This time she could not fight it. She leaned close, stopping her breathing momentarily, with fear of waking him up. She could not help herself, she kissed it, her lips remaining there for some time. He smelled clean, spicy but most of all male. She breathed him in then he stirred breaking the spell. Phulwa drew back hastily, shocked at her own actions.
She tried to pull the file from him but he stirred again, hugging it closer, a smile on his face. Then he uttered the word which made Phulwa go numb.
"Phulwa." His voice was low but filled with sweetness. His eyes started o flutter open. Phulwa suddenly panicked. This man had pinned her to a wall on the road, kissed her in the jungle. Now she was in his house. What would he do if he found her there? She looked at the file a last time then returned from where she had come from.
***
Abhay sat up on the couch, a glint in his eyes. So Phulwa wanted the file, did she? He could have caught her now but somehow, he did not want her capture to be like this. It would have been too easy. In fact, he wanted to capture her in every sense of the word. He did not know what that meant exactly himself but that was how he felt. His hand went up to touch where she had kissed him. For a moment there, he had wanted to open his eyes, grab her and pull her to him...to test whether the kiss tasted the same as in the jungle. It was insane but he could not deny the pull that he felt towards her. The woman had the most disturbing effect on him but seems like I'm not the only one affected, he thought, smiling wryly. He needed to find out the reason for this thing between them and he had the perfect plan to make her come walking to him by herself...
If you are already bored with me, DO NOT hesitate to say so! As always, your comments are most appreciated😊
Cricket
Bade Achche Lagte Hain Naya Season
