Neil knew something was going on between Ali and Ananya. He could read Ali's eyes. So, he knew if he wanted to reach to Ananya's truth, he'd have to do it through Ali. He had to encourage that friendship to build, and he had to keep his own friendship with Ali strong enough for Ali to confide with him.
So, he was following through with his plan, he had invited Ananya to Ali's restaurant and also had asked Ali to join in for lunch. What he didn't expect was to see them get along so well. Although the beginning of the lunch meet up was slow and awkward, the atmosphere changed. He didn't expect to see Ananya laughing. He didn't expect Ali to order for Ananya and Ananya to let him do so with a smile. He didn't expect them to have the same likes in food choices. He didn't expect them to get along so well.
It was good. He was further along the plan than he expected. He was a step closer to Ananya's truth. However, for some reason Neil felt restless.
It took forever to build his own pseudo-friendship with Ananya. With Ali, it happened within minutes. Ananya hadn't smiled at him or talked to him nicely until just the other day, a whole month after they met. With Ali, she had already talked to him nicer, than she had with Neil. Neil tried not to let the trivial things get to him.
They shouldn't get to him. He's only trying to be friends with her because it's his duty as a police officer to search for the truth. But for some reason, these facts did sting. Neil tried to stay animated in the conversation, but he found himself staring at Ananya, watching her talk with passion about poha, watching her hide her smile as she drank her mango lassi. She was happy. Well, happier than usual. She was still hiding something and it was killing Neil inside to know what it was.
A small part of him was also happy seeing Ananya get along with Ali. Riya never did, and Neil wanted his best friend and future wife on good terms. Not that he was thinking of Ananya being his wife.
With this last though, Neil stood up unexpectedly from the table. Watching Ananya and Ali look up at him with confusion, he scrambled to find an excuse.
"Ummm...I...sorry...DD...I need to go to DD...work," he responded before leaving almost immediately.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It had been weeks since that fateful lunch where Neil's restlessness had began and it hadn't stopped. He had been to the doctor and tried medicine. He had been to his mother and tried her home remedies but nothing made the restlessness stop.
There was a thought gnawing at the back of his mind that maybe this was love. No. It couldn't be. Neil had been in love before. But he had never felt like this. Plus he was with Riya. Plus he couldn't trust Ananya. Plus all he and Ananya did was fight. That's not what love is about. Neil reasoned to himself. It's probably just a virus or acidity.
The worst part was he wasn't any where closer to Ananya's truth as he had hoped he would be. Ali hadn't let out anything new, other than maybe what Ananya's favourite movie is or her favourite flavor of kulfi. Talking to Ali just made the restlessness worse for some reason.
Just then he heard hurried knocking on his door. When Neil went to get the door, it was the last person he had expected but the first person he had hoped for. Taking his eyes away from her eyes, he took in Ananya's full form and suddenly realized nothing was alright. She was covered in blood. She held on to his arms for support.
"Neil, I..." Ananya let out before she lost consciousness.
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Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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