Ariya The Wait - Page 4

Part 2

A week later,

Conference room-

Ayesha: so ab tak hume ye pata chala hai ki Dev ka apni wife ko chod kar kisi aur ke saath affair tha aur most probably usi ne Dev ka murder kiya hai, aur suspect no 1 par uski vidhwa bhabhi hai

Rathore: lekin jab uska affair usi ke saath chal raha tha, dono ek hi ghar mein hi toh the, murder karne ki kya zaroorat aa padi?

Shree: shayad woh complete commitment chahti ho aur jab Dev ne mana kiya toh usne gusse mein use maar daala because uski wife ke saath toh usne shaadi sirf uske paison ke liye ki thi

Arjun: mujhe nahi lagta ki Dev ka affair Rashmi ke saath tha, bhale uske pati ko mare 5 saal ho gaye hai but she’s still devoted to him

Sakshi: Arjun 5 saal! Itna time kaafi hota hai pyaar ko khatam hone ke liye and come on, woh mar chuka hai

He glared at her and was about to speak when…

A female voice countered her: jazbaat na waqt ke mohtaaj hote hai na zindgi ke

Arjun’s head jerked towards the door. Shree squealed in delight and engulfed her in a bear hug. Chotu and Rathore stood up while the others remained confused. Arjun’s eyes fell on her hand as she hugged Shree. His ring was resting on her ring finger.Their eyes met, she looked at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Shree: kaisi hai tu?

Riya: bahot achi, tu bata

He broke away: abhi tak kuwara

Riya: are re so sad

She hugged Chotu as they exchanged pleasantries

Chotu: kaha gayab ho gayi thi tu?

Riya: are puch mat yaar bahot lambi story hai

Shree: par tu achanakyaha

Riya: kya karu? bahot yaad aa rahi thi tum logon ki toh waapis aa gayi

Rathore: ah, toh tum ho woh (extending his hand) welcome back to ETF miss Mukherjee

Riya nodded cheerfully and shook his hand but he pulled her to him in a hug. She laughed.

Rathore: I’m so proud of you

Riya: thank you sir!!!

They stepped away and Shree asked.

Shree: tum ho matlab sir?

Rathore: mujhe kal commissioner sir ne bataya tha ki ek nayi Senior Inspector join karne waali hai ab ye waapis aayi hai toh yahi hogi na

Chotu: oye hoye! Tujhe promotion mil gaya?

Riya: kaise mat puchna, mujhe bhi nahi pata

Rathore teased: woh toh theek hai, tumhari gun ko pata hai?

Riya whined: sir!!!!!

The four of them shared a laugh.

Arjun interrupted them: case abhi bhi hume hi solve karna hai

Rathore: tum 5 minute shaanti nahi rakh sakte Rawte?

Arjun: ghadi dekhni nahi aati ya yaadasht kamzor ho gayi hai

Rathore glared at him and muttered under his breath gesturing the trio to take their seats.

Liza: uh….toh kaha the hum

Shree: wahi jaha Rashmi ne, apne pati ko chod diya

Riya: woh apne pati se pyaar karti hai

Sakshi: par woh aage kyun nahi bad sakti?

Riya: of course bad sakti hai lekin naye ki jagah banane aur purane ko bhulne mein farak hota hai. uska affair agar Dev ke saath hai bhi toh woh use maaregi kyun? Firse apne pyaar ko kho kar kya milega use?

Arjun: after all, jazbaat na waqt ke mohtaaj hote hai na zindgi ke

Riya smiled as their eyes locked with each other’s. The others stared at them, surprised at Arjun repeating her words.

Rathore cleared his throat breaking their trance: guys! Hume murderer dhundhna hai, us par focus kare? Yaha debate nahi chal rahi ki kisi insaan ko dusri baar pyaar ho sakta hai ya nahi

Ayesha: sir waise Rashmi hi Dev ki girlfriend thi iske koi thos saboot nahi hai apart from the fact ki pichle kuch dino mein unke beech bahot saare phone calls hue hai aur ek baar Dev ki patni ne unhe buri tarah se jhagadte hue suna tha

Riya: kahi aise toh nahi uske paas koi aur phone hai jo exclusively usne apni girlfriend ke liye rakha ho? Kyunki agar haal hi mein dono ke beech calls badhe hai toh kuch hi dino ke affair mein toh itna bada kadam nahi uthayegi

Arjun: Shree!! Phone companies se pata karo!

Shree: yes sir! (He immediately dived into his system) sir woh log thodi der mein information bhej denge

Rathore nodded: theek hai, tab tak break le lete hai

He had barely uttered the words when Arjun left the room. He shook his head in disbelief and turned to Riya.

Rathore: Riya mere saath aao, tumhari joining ke liye ek do formality khatam kar dete hai

Riya: ji sir

She followed him to his cabin. The second they left Shree and Chotu were bombarded with questions by the other three ladies.

Ayesha: ye ladki kaun hai? Rathore sir uske saath itna friendly kaise hai?

Sakshi: ha pehle toh kabhi nahi dekha, tum logon ne bataya bhi nahi aur tum sab use kaise jaante ho?

Liza: aur…

Chotu: are, are shaant ho jao itne saare sawaal ek saath? jawab toh dene do

Liza: bol na jaldi Chotu

Shree: are woh humari pehli female officer hai, research specialist Riya Mukherjee, ek saal pehle uske transfer hua tha uske baad contact nahi tha humare beech but ab fir se uska transfer yaha ho gaya bas

Ayesha: aur Rathore sir?

Shree was about to tease her but one glare from her and he gave a straight answer: woh Rathore sir uske trainer the toh dono ki ache se jamti hai

Ayesha heaves a sigh of relief mv “thank god!”

On the other hand-

Riya signs the last paper and gives it back: ho gaya sir

Rathore took the bunch and filed it properly: tumne bataya kyun nahi ki aane waali ho?

Riya: woh maine socha ki aap logo ko surprise du isliye

Rathore: hmm, waise I see double congratulations are due

Riya looked at him questioningly hearing double. He pointed to his ring finger, indicating hers. She blushed.

Rathore: you seriously thought koi notice nahi karega?

Riya looked down shyly: nahi sir, aisa nahi hai woh bas…aise hi

He chuckled seeing her shyness.

Rathore: please tell me he’s a good guy

Riya: very good for that matter.

He nodded. She tried to escape from him before he asked further questions.

Riya: main jau sir?

Rathore nodded. She smiled and left his cabin. She moved towards the conference room. A hand grabbed her arm pulling her into a room and locking the door behind.

Riya: what the…Arjun sir aap kya kar rahe hai, ye ladies washroom hai!

Arjun: tumhe gents washroom mein toh nahi laa sakta na?

She looked at him flatly: aur aap ladies washroom mein ghus sakte hai?

Arjun shrugged and embraced her: I missed you so much

Riya smiled, tightening her hold on him: I missed you too!!

She looked at him: sorry mujhe der ho gayi

Arjun leaned in: aa gayi kaafi hai

Riya immediately put her hand on his lips to stop him: no!!!

Arjun(confused): kya hua?

Riya: ye washroom hai

Arjun: toh?

Riya: aap washroom mein mujhe kiss karenge?

Arjun: are Riya kiss toh kiss hota hai kya farak padta hai?

She jumped apart: no way! Mera first kiss ETF ke washroom mein bilcul nahi hoga! in fact kisi bhi washroom mein nahi hoga

Arjun: are tum itne dino baad mili ho aur tumhe jagah ki padi hai?

Riya: itne din baad aayi toh kya hua? Washroom koi kiss karne ki jagah hai kya?

Arjun rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath: fine! Chodo woh sab, meri ring toh waapis karo

Riya hid her hand behind her back: kyun? Waapis kyun? Propose ki hui ring koi waapis thodi maangta hai?

Arjun: are propose kaha kiya tha maine? Sirf nishaani ke taur par di thi

Riya: ha toh de di na, ab ye meri hai

Arjun: lekin Riya…

Riya: Naahi……

Arjun clasped her mouth shut: are kya kar rahi ho, marwaogi kya?

She scrunched her face:sorry….(reverting)par main waapis nahi dungi

Arjun: are main tumhe dusri….

Riya: deni ho toh do lekin ye mere paas hi rahegi (He tried to protest) End Of Discussion!!!

He squinted and tried to catch hold of her but she swerved. Giggling, she unlocked the door before he could try anything else just as Liza was about to open it. The girls gasped on seeing each other. Liza was stupefied seeing Arjun with her inside. The couple were no less embarrassed at having being caught. Riya looked in every direction but straight. Unable to handle the silence she ran off. Her actions broke the spell of shock. Arjun cleared his throat and left in the opposite direction. Liza stepped forward. Her eyes wandered around the place. Scandalized, she ran back to the conference room.

Riya and Liza refused to make eye contact with each other even as she warmed upto the other two. Shree’s mail pinged and everyone got back to work. Riya’s guess had been proven right. Dev had been having an affair with his secretary who confessed that Rashmi had gotten to know of their affair and was pressurizing Dev to either leave her or get divorce else she would expose them. Not wanting to lose the money Dev had decided to call off the relationship that had enraged her and she had killed him in revenge.

Not wanting to do paperwork for the rest of the evening, Shree resorted to taking advantage of Riya’s return.

Shree: Rathore sir! Riya aayi hai toh celebration toh banta haina?

Rathore: of course banta hai

Riya: sir uski zaroorat nahi hai

Chotu: oye! Gap bas!! Tumhe nahi pucha kisi ne

Riya giggled: are meri celebration mein mera hi consent ignore karoge tum dono?

Shree whined: dekhiye Rathore sir, ye ek saal chali kya gayi ise toh humari parwah hi nahi

Rathore: ha Riya baat toh sahi hai, this is not done

Riya: sir aap bhi?

He winked at her.

Shree: toh fir done! movie aur dinner, chalo chalte hai warna tickets nahi milegi

Riya: Shree…

Ayesha nudged her to keep quiet and whispered: are ek din paperwork se chutkaara mil jaayega, sirf dinner hoga toh raat tak yahi baithna padega

Shree piped in the conversation: aur nahi toh kya? samajti nahi hai! Arjun sir ka khadoos mode Hitler mode mein badle uske pehle hum nikal jaate hai

Riya somehow controlled her laughter and gave him a thumbs up.

Sakshi: great! Kitne din baad hum sab saath mein jaayenge, tum bhi aaoge na Arjun?

All the juniors glared at her but she was busy in her dreamland. Arjun did not answer and left the conference room much to their relief.

Rathore stood up to leave: 10 minute mein neeche milte hai

Chorus: yes sir!!!

Ayesha: Sakshi! hum Arjun sir se chutkaara paane ke liye jaa rahe hai aur tu unhe invite kar rahi hai?

Chotu: aur nahi toh kya? Acha hua woh maane nahi

Shree: are chill yaar! Woh ACP Arjun Suryakant Rawte hai, The ACP Arjun Suryakant Rawte tum logon ko sach mein lagta hai ki woh humare saath aayenge?

Liza recalled the bathroom scene and gulped(muttering): bharosa nahi hai, shayad aa bhi aa jaaye

The team packed up their belongings and headed to the parking lot. Rathore and Arjun were talking to each other.

Rathore: lo aa gaye ye log

To their dismay, Arjun occupied the driver’s seat while Rathore slipped into the passenger. Ayesha and Chotu glared at Shree and Sakshi.

Chotu: nahi aayenge?

They looked back innocently, equally shocked at the occurring.

Ayesha: idiots! Ab bhugto!.....................................