Arakshi SS - Between the Pages of a Book - *Complete* pg 50 - Epilogue - Page 7

Originally posted by: anu91

res/unres
hey ritu...hope u enjoyed ur holidays...
awesome update...
the way sakshi bored of lecture...cute...
now sakshi was in search of Arjun...
waiting for to find him...and how will be there first meeting...
thanks u so much for update...
cute update...

Originally posted by: shreya09

Ritu jiii 🤗
you & your bad/not so good/okaish update... that always help me to go in my fantasy world... oops... your fantasy world
how to thank you for writing so beautifully Ritu ?????
excellent start yaar.
it was beautiful.
already waiting for more.
you better update soon with long wala part.samjhi 😈 ???
waiting

Originally posted by: EashaYousufzai

As usual awesome.

Aww Arjun came to london to find piece but didn't get any..

Hope they met soon.

And again if u can write SS u can write FF too.

C'mon Ritu di u can do it!!

Three cheers for u..

Hip hip hurrah...

Originally posted by: subhakmhl

Great update...👍🏼
Thanx for the PM & update...🤗

Chapter 1 - Coincidences
Luved it... Amazing part...👏
The note 2 Roshni by Arjun was the best...
And even Sakshi's note was gud too...😃
Sorry one off topic question ( I know this is a ArAkshi story still...)😕
Is Sameer there in the story ??? ( Aisha he na issi liye puch rhi thi ) 😉

Originally posted by: laila1994

Amazing Update.

Every word was written beautifully.

It was like I can relate to every word. It was a wonderful feeling.

PS. I am a big fan of Nicholas Spark. I love his books especially A walk to remember. I actually cried reading it.

Originally posted by: skrafty

Awesome
Beautifully written
It was Brilliant
just loved it
waiting for the next part
continue soon
PS: my name is Shravani

Originally posted by: jia03

Awesome update👍🏼

Originally posted by: Humairaa

wow an awsm start

it was so beautifully written

continue soon

Originally posted by: NainaSM

Awww its so beautiful ...👏... i can imagine all scene ..like its happening in front of me ...😳... do continue soon 👍🏼

Originally posted by: shymali

interesting part

characters are sketched very well

continue soon,

thanks for pm,

Originally posted by: sisodia_shefali

its nice story so stop worrying and go on with it
arjun in this story seems to be very different i mean he is reading books 😛
sakshi is different too but so was she in ur last story where she was blind
will be waiting to see how do these two meet
thanks for pm

Originally posted by: misakiscarlet

awesome story ...
plz pm me when u continue...

Originally posted by: Snehajain

Awesome update...

How can u say that it was not good???😡

It was brilliant...

👏👏👏

👏👏👏

👏👏👏

👏👏👏

👏👏👏

👏👏👏

👏👏👏

👏👏👏

Notes were nice...

Everything is perfect...😃😃😃

Continue soon...Thanks for PM...

Originally posted by: miss_precious

I loved it!!! Can't wait for arakshi to meet... The park scene was so sweet x

Originally posted by: sweetpari4u97

wonderful update.

story is going very interesting.

loved it.

thankx for pm.

Originally posted by: ll-Farheen-ll

"If only there could be an invention that bottled up a memory, like scent. And it never faded, and it never got stale. And then, when one wanted it, the bottle could be uncorked, and it would be like living the moment all over again."-This is indeed a beautiful one &goes in my favorite list😃

Kismat Connection begins ❤️

Originally posted by: ...Maha-Srk...

Superb
love, love it
just amazing
wonderful update
hope both Arjun n Sakshi
again milen jaldi hee...

Originally posted by: zainabhassan1

mindblowing dear love it aawesome awesome 👍🏼

Originally posted by: _Nikita_

Awwsssmmm part
loved it
Beautiful...
Magical as always...
Amazing...
cont sooon
eagerly waiting for next part
thanks for The PM

Originally posted by: --Iqra--

Hey! So sorry I'm this late. :( Beautiful, beautiful work! It's very intriguing, very vivid and makes me miss the days when I had all the time in the world to read. I could smell the store, the personalization in each book. The mystery, the whispers. Thanks for the PM! Love the story line! Continue soon!

Originally posted by: Anjali.Mital

Nice update Ritu..

Cont. soon...
Thanks for tbe pm...

Chapter 2 - The Desire for the Unknown

"There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment."
Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever

Sakshi burst in through the door and headed straight for her desk where her laptop lay. There was only one thing on her mind. Only one name. An unknown face she so badly needed to connect with that name. She tapped her fingers on the table with impatience as her laptop took its time to turn on.

Aisha looked at her with an exasperated expression on her face and said, "Hello? At least acknowledge my presence?"

Her voice didn't seem to reach her and she continued tapping her fingers on the wooden desk of hers.

Aisha snapped her fingers in front of her face and said, "Hello? Earth to Sakshi?"

"Huh? What?" Sakshi looked up, her blank eyes staring into the wall behind Aisha.

"What is wrong with you? And where is my book?"
"What book?"

Aisha sighed and said, "Please don't tell me you forgot."

"Book. Book." Her eyes went back to the laptop screen, which had turned on by then.

Aisha stared at her friend as she typed in a name on the search bar - ACP Arjun Rawte.

"Now who is this ACP Arjun Rawte?"

His name made her look up into Aisha's questioning eyes.

"Oh hi Aisha." Her expression changed and she slapped her forehead. "Damn! I forgot your book."

"Welcome back, Sakshi. Now may I dare ask, where were you?" Aisha asked in a sugar-coated voice.

"Give me five minutes. I will explain everything." Her glance went back into the screen which now displayed the search results.

"That's it. I have had enough of your ignorance." Aisha reached out and clicked on the power button of her laptop, sending it into standby mode. "Now you tell me what is going on, else I am not going to let you Google this ACP Arjun, or whoever he is."

"Aish! You cannot do that! I was just about to find out..." Sakshi screamed.

"Are you telling me or not?"

"Fine fine." She reached for her bag and pulled out the copy of Pride and Prejudice.

"I thought you had read this book?"

"Yeah, but this is different." Her fingers flicked through the yellowed pages until she reached the page where the note had been hidden.

"Ooh what's this?" Aisha's eyes gleamed with excitement.

"Read."

She watched Aisha's expression soften as she read the note. Her eyes held excitement when she looked up from the note and said, "Lets Google him."

***

"You are not going to Mumbai."

Aisha watched her friend in annoyance as she pulled out her small suitcase from the cupboard and started throwing in a few tops.

"I have to see this person! I cannot believe they don't have his image on the website."

"You don't even know this person! How can you waste money in going to see a person you don't even know?"

Sakshi stopped midway and turned to face her friend.

"I don't know. I just know I have to see him."

"Ok. Wait. Before you pack up and leave at least, let us call to find out if he still actually works at the ETF or not?" She briefly glanced at the open website of the ETF and her eyes stopped on a name. ACP Sameer Rathod.

"Let us call this guy, Sameer." She said. "His phone number is given here."

Sakshi smiled excitedly at her friend and said, "Call him."

"Now? It is 4.30 in the morning in Mumbai! Let's wait until tomorrow morning."

Sakshi nodded and asked, "By the way, where is Lisa?"

"Now you notice. She went out with the geek." Aisha smiled.

"Who, Shree?" Sakshi started laughing.

***

Sakshi stood at her open window, staring into the streets below and wondering where ACP Arjun was. Was he with Roshni at this moment perhaps? She nursed the cup of coffee in her hands and a smile appeared on her lips. Smile at the thought of a stranger. She shook her head in disbelief and looked up at the dark sky above. Her eyes searched for the moon within the clouds. She could make out its faint glow from behind the clouds, its light shining through now and then. The moon was the only thing which was the same as home. It instilled the same happy feeling in her when she saw it.

As she sipped her coffee she wondered where Arjun was and if he too was looking up at the moon at this instant.

***

He stood at the window sipping his cutting chai, his eyes scanning the clouds for the moon. Although he had been doing this almost every night, yet tonight felt different. He glanced at the tissue paper in his hand and his mind wandered to the girl in the red coat. He wondered where she was and if she was looking up at the dark and cloudy sky at that very instant.

***

"Hi. May I speak to ACP Arjun Rawte?" Aisha asked, hesitatingly.

"He isn't here. He is on a holiday." Came the abrupt reply from the other end of the phone.

Aisha was taken aback by the way his voice sounded. It was deep and had a hint of frustration in it, as if he were looking for an outlet to let go of his anger and resentment, but hadn't been able to. ACP Sameer Rathod wasn't a very friendly person, she thought.

Sakshi stood beside her, biting her lips and looking at her curiously as if she were about to find out about her exam results.

"Well, do you know when he will be back?" Aisha asked on the phone.

"Why are you interested in knowing anyway?"

"Um, I have a friend...never mind I will call back later." She hurriedly hung up the phone and stared into the eager face of her friend. Aisha sighed at the curious obsession of her friend. It was still dark outside. The sun will not be rising for a good few hours now, it being winter time. It was a Saturday and her winter break had just started. And yet, she had been woken up early in the morning by her friend, begging her to call the ETF headquarters in Mumbai. Aisha yawned, thrust the phone back into Sakshi's hand and climbed back into bed.

"Aish!" Sakshi pulled back her covers and asked, "What happened?" Her voice was bubbling with excitement.

She replied, sleepily, "He isn't there. He is on a holiday."

She saw Sakshi's happiness draining out of her face instantly. She looked crestfallen as she climbed into her bed.

Then she asked in a meek voice, "I so badly wanted to meet him now. When is he getting back?"

"He didn't tell me. And I couldn't give him the real reason we were calling."

"Oh. Yeah. I am probably being stupid." She pulled her duvet up to her face and reached out for a book on her bedside table.

"Why didn't you call yourself? Why make me call?" Aisha asked as her friend slowly slipped into her world of fiction.

Sakshi peeped at her from behind her book, bit her lips and said, "I was too nervous to hear his voice."

***

Sakshi hummed to herself as she walked through the busy streets of Piccadilly Circus. The sun was shining down after a week of grey clouds and depressing showers. She stood for a moment at the corner of the street and closed her eyes, allowing the sun's warm rays to wash over her, leaving behind a happy and comforting feeling. She loved the rare sunny days that London offered her now and then. Sometimes she felt thankful for the sultry grey days, because they made her appreciate the sunny days even more. After all, the love for something or someone only deepens if there is distance involved. Or at least, that's what she thought.

She smiled and skipped through the stony streets, her hair flying all across her face in the cold chilly wind that blew through the city. She didn't know where she was going today. She liked to wander aimlessly on the streets, her mind wiped clean of any thoughts. There were so many undiscovered streets, so many undiscovered bookshops. She smiled as she spotted a branch of one of her favourite bookstores across the road. She bit her lips, wondering whether she should really go in. She shuffled her feet at the pedestrian crossing, debating whether she should cross the road to the bookstore when she had just bought a book two days ago.

The signal turned green and the crowd around her filed towards the other end, making their way across the road. So many people, so many destinations. She suddenly had a destination. And it was right in front of her.

How could she not cross the road?

***

Arjun didn't know why he was here. He just knew that he needed a place to escape. Sun-filled days reminded me of happier times. Sunshine was connected with love, laughter and happiness. And he needed to escape the sunshine. Even if it meant spending more money or time on books. He didn't know why his feet had carried him towards this particular bookshop on Piccadilly Circus. It wasn't even an old one. It was one of those modern bookshops, complete with soft plush sofas. The wind was chilly today and he shivered as he stood at the doorstep. A faint smell of new books drifted through the open door beckoning him inside. It was enough to make him step into the shop.

As soon as he entered the bookshop, the atmosphere changed. There was that sudden calming feeling again that spread through him. The warmth of the shop, the enthralled faces around him buried within the pages of books, and then, the silence that he longed for. The silence that he always missed in Mumbai.

His eyes stopped on the purple velvet sofas placed at the corner of the bookshop. They were mostly vacant except for a little boy and girl sitting at one corner, flicking through a picture book. Their silent giggles made him smile. And then, he saw her.

She sat huddled on the floor behind the sofa that was placed at the furthest corner of the bookshop. Sunlight streamed in through the glass window behind her and bounced off the black curtain of hair that fell across her face. Her feet were propped under her as she read the book clutched in her hand, occasionally biting her nails.

But it was her bright red coat that caught his attention. Was it her? He wondered. Something told him that it was the girl in the red coat.

His lips curved into a smile as he saw her immersed in the book, transported into the world of fiction. Or perhaps, non-fiction. He didn't know why, but the more he looked at her solitary figure by the window, the more she seemed to be a part of the fictitious world. A character out of a book. A girl that didn't really exist in the real world.

She had carved out a space of her own; in a world where that she belonged. And he wished for one moment that she would let him into her world. He wanted to escape. With her.

***

She sat there, flicking through one page after the other, completely oblivious of the stranger's gaze that was fixed on her. She had escaped into a world of her own that she created as she read the book. She had promised herself not to buy another book and so, she sat there reading. After all, how can you prop into a bookstore and not read anything?

The sun was warming her and after a while she put the book down and stared up through the glass window. Her eyes went to the pastel blue sky overhead and she smiled. It was such a nice day outside. Perhaps, she should buy one book and go into a park. One book wouldn't hurt right?

She bit her lips and walked towards a shelf. Her fingers brushed over the smooth paperbacks and stopped at a brand new copy of Pride and Prejudice. His name returned to her mind, reminding her of the reality that surrounded her. She paused there, her fingers freezing on the title of the book. ACP Arjun Rawte had somehow stepped into her thoughts again.

For the past two days she hadn't stopped thinking about him and his whereabouts. She wondered if he was perhaps on a holiday with Roshni. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine what he must be like. She wondered if he had a deep voice. Did he smile often? Her lips curved up ever so slightly as she thought about his smile and ... his laugh. She felt a sudden desire to hear his laugh. What must it sound like?

"Excuse me, but do you want this book or not?" A girl's voice brought her back into the bookshop.

"Oh sorry," she blushed and moved away from the shelf.

Why was she thinking so much about an unknown person anyway? Why did she still have such a strong urge to see him?

Her fingers were still brushing over the books, absent-mindedly, as she walked through the bookshop. Her mind was wandering elsewhere.

She didn't notice when her fingers met with the stranger's, halfway across the stack of books.

She flinched as her warm fingers touched the stranger's stone cold fingers. Their hands had stopped on one book.

She didn't know what to expect when she looked into his eyes. His dark and intense eyes felt so vaguely familiar. Somewhere in those eyes, she saw a sudden glimpse of pain. Hurt. Secrets. His eyes were like a novel. There was so much she could read. But he was a stranger.

Her eyes went to the grey coat he was wearing and the white scarf he had draped across his neck. Bleak memories of that night in St. James' park came back to her. The cold night. The stranger in the distance. His love for books. Could this be him?

She started when he suddenly pulled his fingers away from hers, lowering his gaze as he did so. His fingers no longer touched hers, and yet, his cold touch still lingered on her skin.

She didn't know why his brief cold touch had felt so comforting. She felt herself wishing for that moment to rewind and play again. But this was life and the rewind button simply didn't exist.

She watched as the stranger slowly pulled out the book from under her fingers, looking at her briefly as he did so. When she didn't protest, he held the book to his chest and started walking away.

She stared after him, the grey figure retreating away from her, a book clutched in his hands.

And she didn't know why, but she called after him, "Hey stranger!"

He stalled on the spot and glanced back to look into her eyes.

She smiled and called out, "Happy reading."

And to her surprise, the stranger smiled back.

She didn't know then, that a couple of days later she wouldn't be calling him a stranger anymore.

She didn't know that she would meet the stranger again, the very same day. In a different place, a different time, surrounded by the thing they loved the most - books.

************************

Oh god. How did you find it? I know it was rather a weird first meeting...but, oh well leave your comments😃

P.S - I know the first half isn't very well-written