ArShi GONE CASE - Season 1 - Page 9

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1. THE ENCOUNTER

"Malad is here!" the lady sitting beside informed a 24-year old Khushi as the bus came to a halt. The bus conductor too announced the stop. The destination of her journey had arrived. She got up from her seat hanging her sack over her shoulder. She smiled at the lady waving her good bye. The lady waved back and her smile radiated the same warmth with which she had made Khushi feel comfortable throughout those three hours and forty-five minutes of the journey from Pune.

Along with some other passengers, Khushi moved towards the door. The door of the A/C bus was opened. Khushi took a deep breath as she stepped down, the saline air filling her lungs. She walked to the road-side and turned to see the bus go off. She took out the napkin from her sack to wipe her face clean. How contented she felt after drinking the water from the bottle she was carrying! She wanted to drink more but she thought to save some for the rest of the day. She looked around for the advertisement boards to find the one that was in the newspaper she was carrying and she did. She gladly hurried to climb up the stairs and she reached the office only to see a big lock hanging on the door. She saw the timing on the door... 10 AM to 7 PM. She checked her watch. 7:15 pm. Uh oh! Late by 15 minutes! She saw the same advertisement on the door as well.

"Yes! I have got it all!" thought Khushi proudly. "No one can stop me from becoming Detective Khushi now!!" she said as she extended her hand as if it was a gun, shot a fake bullet and blew over her fingers in style. She realised she was being stared at by the people walking past. She quickly put her hands into her pockets and walked around slowly, embarrassed. She waited till the people went away and came back to the office.

There was a contact number of some Shashi Gupta given. Khushi quickly called the number. She was told that the office was closed for the day and she should come back next morning.

Humph! "Couldn't that bus driver drive faster and bring me here fifteen minutes earlier! I will have to wait till tomorrow now!"

Khushi had already contacted some Mrs. Joshi for arranging for her stay in Mumbai. She was to stay at Mrs. Joshi's place as a paying guest. Khushi called Mrs. Joshi to inform her that she will be reaching the place in half an hour. But Mrs. Joshi was not at home and was to return in an hour. There was no point in going there right now. Khushi thought of hanging around for some time.

Khushi began walking along the road. She looked around as she walked through the humid environment. A lot of hustle and bustle was going around which was normal at that peak hour. This wasn't the first time she was in Mumbai. She had visited Mumbai once, fourteen years back, when she was in class four. Her orphanage had organised a one-day trip to Mumbai. But she hardly remembered anything of the trip except that they had seen the Gateway Of India, they had visited some museum and she clearly remembered that they all had to wipe their sweaty faces from time to time!! So this, right now, was as good as her first visit to Mumbai.

She had only heard about the "fast-life" in Mumbai, about the crowd... but now she was witnessing it as she walked along. She felt like a small droplet in this huge sea of People. "You need to get used to all this, Khushi" She told herself, "You will be here solving cases if you are lucky enough!"

Khushi soon noticed that the road she was walking along was the "Link Road". She thought she had walked quite a distance. She stopped to check her watch. Just over 7:25. She still had got plenty of time. She looked around and saw this lofty complex - Inorbit Mall. What better place could she find to pass her time! Without another thought, she entered the building. She noticed Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) on the ground floor. This made her realise that she was feeling too hot and needed some refreshment. What could be better than a cold coffee!

She pushed open the door and walked in. This was only the second time she was at CCD. She went to the counter, placed her order and made the payment. She got her drink and looked around for an unoccupied table. There were two. She went to the one in the corner and sat down, placing the cold coffee over the table. She was enjoying examining the people around. On the table next to mine was seated a young couple. They were quarreling for some reason. She couldn't hear the arguments as they were speaking in very low voices. But their expressions were entertaining. Soon their issue was probably settled and they got up to leave.

Just then a weird guy, about 35, entered the Cafe. She didn't know what it was, but there was something about him that couldn't stop her from noticing him. He hurried, almost came running, to the CCD entrance. But the moment he entered the cafe, he walked as if strolling in a park. She couldn't understand this drastic change. He was about five feet seven-eight inches tall and a hefty man. He wore a T-shirt with red and black horizontal stripes. His jeans, though brown in colour, clearly indicated that it wasn't washed since many days. His face seemed dull but his red eyes had an evil glint. He was half bald and the grayish black stubble veiled most of his expressions. He probably noticed Khushi observing him. He smiled at her revealing his golden tooth among those brown. Confused, Khushi just looked away as if she didn't see him at all. As she looked down, she could see those brown legs walking towards her. Now she was a bit scared. She looked up to see him come closer. She didn't understand what exactly was happening. Was she imagining things? Or was it all really happening? She tried to calm herself down, it wasn't easy. And things worsened when he waved at her with the same dirty smile. Her heart was pounding and she could hear her heart beats clear in her ears. And then she realised that he might be waving to someone behind her. With great relief, she turned to look who the guy waved at. But to her astonishment, there was absolutely no one behind her, neither any table nor any staff. There was a lump in her throat. She just tried to ignore and looked in front. Oh my God!! He was actually sitting across her!! She missed a beat. Her body became numb. The shining golden tooth brought her back to senses. She was about to open her mouth to shout, but...

"Shhh...!!! Sit in your place silently!... Or else you will suffer!" the guy said in a low but coarse, heavy voice. "Drink your coffee!!"

Khushi just looked at him in bewilderment, her eyes watered.

"Didn't you understand what I just said? Drink your coffee!" he said strongly. "Don't be scared" He leaned forward and whispered, "I won't do anyyything to you!" And he winked. He made sure that no one suspected him.

Khushi shivered, her hands trembling as she held her glass of coffee. She shut her eyes tight as she took a sip of her coffee, thinking with a calm mind what her next move should be. She made up her mind that whatever happened, she was just going to get hold of her sack and start running as fast as she could. She opened her eyes, he was still staring at her. His heavy eyelids and red eyes could not hide the fact that he was an alcohol addict for sure, or a drug addict may be, who knew! He kept looking at the entrance door frequently. And before Khushi could make her move, he suddenly got up and went towards the washroom. Why did he do that? She was totally confused...

Just then, another guy, aged 27-28, entered in a hurry as if he was desperately looking for someone. He seemed sophisticated in a sky-blue shirt and a black jeans and a black jacket, but the way he came in, he surely didn't seem a good guy. With height about 5'10", he was fair and lean. He hurried to the counter and asked something to the staff members. One of them pointed at Khushi. She stood up in scare as the guy walked towards her. "Sit down!" He ordered. She had to obey. She clutched her sack, which was on the table, tight as he sat across me. He had a gun!! She stared at the gun in horror.

"I haven't seen you before! How do you know Gagan?" he asked.

She was shocked at this question. "I d-don't know any Gagan!!" She was scared.

He laid his captivating fierce eyes on her. "You don't know? Really?? Then what was he doing here with you?!" he said sharply.

Now Khushi realised that Gagan was that weird guy. She was almost crying. She took out the napkin from her sack to wipe her wet eyes. She composed herself and said, "Listen, I didn't know that guy! He himself came and sat here!" She pointed to the chair in which the gun-guy was sitting.

"Your name is Khushi, right? You have come from Pune some time ago... Am I right?!"

Khushi was shell-shocked! How the hell did he know that?!! She got up holding her sack close to her chest. "How do you know all this? Who are you?" asked she breathlessly. "It doesn't seem that you know anything about Gagan and his gang..." He observed.

Gang?? Oh no! Where was she trapped? And why her? Couldn't that Gagan find anyone else? Khushi just noded in "no".

The lean guy got up. Leaning forward, he asked sharply, "Where did this Gagan go from here?"

"There..." She said in a low voice pointing towards the washroom.

"Then why didn't you tell earlier?!" he shouted.

You never asked! Khushi looked on as he almost ran towards the washroom. This was it! This was her chance to run out of CCD, and she didn't miss it.

As Khushi came out, she saw some police men rushing into the cafe. She was pretty sure they were behind those two guys she had encountered. For a moment, she thought of approaching the police... But then she discarded the thought. Who would want to get into a fix! She just ran away from the cafe without knowing where she was heading to... Some people stared at her as she was running. She didn't approach anyone for help 'cause now she could not trust anyone. She stopped running after a while to realise that she was at the parking lot of the mall. This place, though less crowded, felt far safer at the moment than the cafe. She was panting. There were people coming and going at the parking area. She heard two ladies, walking past her, say that they should get out of this mall right away as police were there behind some bad guys. She knew exactly whom the police were searching for. She didn't know what to do. She heard many footsteps fast approaching towards the area where she was. Her phone slipped from her hand. She hid behind a pillar in the parking area as she watched Gagan hasten through the area frequently looking backward. How did he manage to escape from the Cafe?! She could see some police men, at a distance, chasing Gagan. She didn't want Gagan to slip away from the Police this time. He was running in her direction. She gathered all her courage, and without another thought she put her leg across him and he toppled. He looked up at her as she slowly moved back step by step. His face was red in anger. She just wondered why the police hadn't arrived yet. He got up and began walking towards her. He suddenly took out a knife from nowhere. She was horrified and moved backward, as quickly as possible. Moving back, she struck the wall. She could see an enraged Gagan coming after her, there was a wall to her right and a dead end behind her. Now there was only one way left. She began running, as fast as she could, towards her left. She was crying out for help. It was not like there was no one there, there were people around. But alas, no one came forward to help. She was out of breath, tired. She saw someone running towards her. She was pleased to see that at least some one cared to help me. But was he really coming to help her? As he came closer she realised that he was the fair, lean guy rapidly approaching with his gun in hand, followed by police. She was trapped! She wasn't sure whether the police would be able to catch those guys before they reach her. Both of them were running in hard. She just left out a loud cry as she tightly shut her eyes and covered her face with her hands. She heard some gun shots and many cries... But she was too scared to open her eyes and see what was going on around. She didn't want to know anything at all. She had lost all her senses. Was she dead?

She heard someone call out to her, "Ma'am?" She opened her eyes to see police men around her. She was glad that she was still alive and absolutely alright. A lady constable was standing beside her with a bottle of water. She gulped down the water as if she hadn't drunk any for days. She still hadn't overcome the shock. "Gagan...?" She asked looking around.

They informed Khushi that Gagan was arrested and thanked her for the help. They told her that she had to go with them to the police station for they had to record her statement. She was taken to the police station by the Police jeep. On their way she inquired whether the other guy was arrested too. She could still not forget those fierce eyes fixed upon her. They seemed very confused. Other guy? They said they had no idea about any such guy. She was perplexed on knowing this. They don't know him?

They reached the police station. She was seated on a chair and they asked her many questions. Her replies were recorded on a tape as well as noted down by the constables. They noted down her details. She had to sign on some papers and legal documents.

"Have you taken all details?"

She looked up to see who it was. She was shocked! She got up from her chair and cried, "He is the one" He was the same lean guy standing before her.

"You also come here and give all your details!" said to police to the guy.

"Uhm... yes, why not!" he said in style.

Khushi was totally confused, a bit scared too.

"Do I look like a goon to you?" he asked Khushi sharply.

She just nodded her head in a "no" hesitating a bit. He noticed that she was very nervous.

"No need to worry" said he.

Khushi remained silent.

"Hi... I am Arnav!" he introduced himself putting forth his hand for a handshake. "Naam toh suna hoga!" he added putting on his glares. You must have heard the name!

"Nahi toh... I heard this name for the first time!" said Khushi.

Arnav frowned. "What kind of girl is this?" he thought, "Check my style yaar! Huh!"

Everyone thanked Khushi and admired her small but brave effort to get Gagan caught. As she was about to leave, Arnav called out her name. She turned. He walked towards her and held out a white paper. She took that paper and looked closely to know that it was her bus ticket!

"When you had taken out your napkin at CCD, this ticket had fallen out on the table." he explained.

Now she understood how he knew about her. It was because of the ticket!! She just smiled admiring his minute observation. "Not bad!" she said. "You are smart!"

"Of course I am! Any doubt?" asked Arnav weaving his hands through his hair.

One of the police men called Arnav. "Hello Mr.! Take your wallet!"

"Bad timing" he thought. "Will you not let me impress this girl? Humph!" He went to get back his wallet which was stolen by Gagan.

As Khushi and Arnav were leaving the police station, Arnav said, "Did you see how I caught this Gagan?"

"You caught him?" asked Khushi sarcastically. "He was caught because of me! Because I made him fall!" she said.

"Oh hello! I didn't need your help, okay? I would have caught him anyway!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever!"

"I am soon gonna become a detective! You must have already got an idea the way I was interrogating you back at the Cafe" said Arnav cleaning his "already clean" glares. "So if you have any problem, don't hesitate to call me!" said he expecting Khushi to take down his phone number.

"Detective, haan?" Khushi laughed remembering his toy gun which she had seen while at CCD earlier. She could make out that it was a fake gun as she too had a similar one when she was a kid. She looked at him and said, "I am capable of handling my own problems! I don't need anyone"

"Oh God! Why is it so difficult to impress this girl?" thought Arnav. "Okay, give me your phone number..." he said finally.

"Why?" said Khushi sarcastically, "So that you can call me to help you just like I did some time ago?"

"Argh!! Why did I meet this girl!!" thought Arnav as he saw Khushi walking away. "Tell me your name atleast!" he said looking at her back.

Khushi turned to look at him. "You already know it!!" she yelled back from where she was standing. "Crazy guy!" she thought shaking her head and walked away.

"Crazy girl!!" thought Arnav as he headed in the opposite direction.

Little did they both know that they were to meet again the next day!

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