Before aditi could say anything, vikrant changed the topic and stared talking about a case with her. Mrs. Singhal knew her son well but she decided to keep quiet for now. In just 24 hrs she had seen how these two act around each other, and if her son wasn't going to make any move then she was going to make him. She knew aditi was the perfect girl for her vikrant.
After a while, Aditi and vikrant we're done talking and vikrant carried her bag which she had got yesterday and went outside to drop her till her car, ( he was a bit disappointed tbh that she was leaving)
"Thanks vikrant, maa khana bohot accha banati Hai."
"Are mujhe kyu thanks boo rahi ho, jab Tak maa yahan Hai tab Tak tum kabhi bhi aa sakti ho unke hath ka khana khane."
Aditi smiled at him and left. Vikrant stood there for a few moments smiling. When he turned around to go inside, he saw his mother standing at the door,
"Accha beta, jab meine bulaya tab to tu badi baatein suna raha Tha mujhe aur ab khud hi invite Kar Diya Aditi ko?".
Vikrant opened his mouth to deny it, but Mrs. Singhal continued,
"Kucch mat bol tu, sab samajhti hu Mei. Chal ab andar chal."
Next two days were pretty uneventful. Neither vikrant or aditi thought of it as the calm before the storm. Aditi and Mrs. Singhal were getting along pretty well. Aditi had overcome her fear of facing Mrs. Singhal because of her friendly nature. She had even started calling her maa, it just felt right. On the third day, Mrs. Singhal invited Aditi for breakfast. Vikrant was joining the duty again today. As they were eating Mrs. Singhal asked Aditi,
"Aditi, tum bura na mano to ek baat bolu?"
"Haan boliye na maa."
"Meine tumhari photo Meri ek friend ko dikhayi thi, use tum apne bete ke liye bohot pasand aa gayi ho. Bura na mano to aaj use mil logi Kya tum?"
Aditi was surprised by this, she did find it very invasive of vikrants mother to take such a step.
"Lekin maa, meine abhi aisa kuchh socha nahi Hai."
Even vikrant chimed in,
"Maa tune aise kyu Kiya? Tu to humesha mere picche padi rehti hai shadi ke liye aur ab Aditi ko bhi kyu ghasit rahi Hai isme?"
Mrs. Singhal looked visibly sad at this and she turned towards aditi,
"Sorry beta mujhe aisa nahi karna chahiye Tha."
Aditi felt bad for the lady,
"Koi baat nahi maa, aap mujhe uska number de dijiye Mei dekh lungi."
Vikrants jaw was touching the floor now, he could not believe aditi agreeing to this. Mrs. Singhal though looked happy. She gave Aditi the contact details of "Raj", and both Aditi and vikrant left for work.
While in the car, vikrant would look at Aditi and give weird expressions. Finally Aditi turned in her seat facing vikrant,
"Kya baat Hai vikrant? Aise ghoor kyu rahe ho mujhe?"
"Tumne maa se uss "Raj" ka number kyu liya?" He asked a bit jealous.
"Sirf number lene me Kya harz Hai? Baat karke dekhungi usse aur maa ko Bata dungi ke baat nahi bani. Simple." Aditi shrugged.
Vikrant was relieved that Aditi didn't actually have any plans for this "Raj" fellow. Still he decided to push it a little further,
"Accha to tumhara dil pehele se hi kisi pe aa Gaya Hai Kya?"
"Haan Hai koi, aur lagta Hai maa bhi janti Hai.." Aditi replied absent minded.
Vikrant was surprised to hear this but didn't continue as they reached Suresh Dutt's office. When they entered, they were told to wait outside. When they were waiting Aditi decided to send Raj a text. She got a reply when they were with Suresh sir, unlike her Aditi checked her phone and giggled at the funny meme Raj had attached to his reply. Vikrant was surprised as well as annoyed at this Raj, but he didn't say anything. They continued their meeting and Suresh Dutt assigned them a new case.
Later that day when they were about to leave vikrant asked Aditi if she was coming for dinner,
"Aditi aaj aa rahi ho na tum? Abhi maa ka phone aya tha, unhone tumhari favorite sabji banayi Hai."
"Nahi vikrant, aaj Mei raj ke sath bahar ja rahi hu. Maa ko Meri taraf se please sorry bol Dena?" Saying this she left the station.
Vikrant was really irritated by this, he was fuming in his mind, "ek din bhi nahi hua ek dusre ka number mile aur abhi se dinner plans chal rahe Hai. Iss raj ke to sare raaz khol dunga Mei. Hota kaun Hai ye Meri Aditi ko mujhse dur le Jane Wala" suddenly he realized what he was thinking, "vikrant! Kya ho Gaya Hai tujhe? Ye kaisi baatein soch raha Hai tu?"
Vikrant brushed his thoughts aside and left for home. When he reached home he heard his mother talking on the phone and gushing about how perfect someone would look together and how cute their babies will be. He was so preoccupied with Aditi and Raj that he assumed it was them. Mrs. Singhal saw vikrant coming in and she paused talking and bombarded him with questions,
"Are aa Gaya tu? Aditi nahi aayi? Khana laga du Mei tere liye?"
At the mention of Aditi's name vikrant got annoyed,
"Nahi aaj wo nahi anewali, aur mujhe bhook nahi Hai", vikrant stomped into his room and shut the door laudly.
"Lagta Hai plan Kam Kar raha Hai", Mrs. Singhal continued on phone.
In his room vikrant was furious beyond words, and he had no clue why. He started talking to himself,
"Raj.. huh ye bhi koi naam Hai? Aditi ke naam ke sath bilkul bhi nahi jata. Aur cute bacche? Aur bhi kisi Raj ke? Ho hi nahi sakte. Cute to Meri Aditi Hai, jab wo hasti Hai, jab wo gussa karti Hai. Aur jab uske baal Hawa se uske chehre pe aa jate Hai aur wo unhe sawarti hai.." vikrant started day dreaming about Aditi without even realizing.
At the restaurant, Raj was talking on phone when Aditi reached there. As soon he saw her he cut the call and walked up to her, and introduced himself,
"Hello! I'm Raj, u must be Aditi right?"
Aditi had a sense of deja Vu when she looked at Raj. She extended her hand none the less.
"Hi, Aditi Sharma." And they walked towards their table.
Every time aditi looked at Raj, she could not stop but wonder that he looked very much like vikrant. She brushed it aside as her imagination, Raj was funny, had a great sense of humor and looked handsome too. They had a nice dinner, she didn't mind spending her evening with Raj, but she couldn't stop comparing him with vikrant. For some weird reason she kept getting the feeling that she was missing something.
CID
