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Summary: What if Aaliyah's conscious hadn't awaken and she had refused Ranveer's mission even after two days? To what extent will Ranveer go to persuade her to help her country?
The handkerchief reeked of chloroform swaying him a little but he immediately secured it in his pocket. He knew he should have planned this out better but in the duration of two days, he had spent most of his time debating whether she should do this or not. It was simply against the rules of law and he knew he would be losing his badge if this girl didn't agree to do this mission.
Climbing the pipe slowly, he thanked his stars that the pipe was in good condition and not hot. He was sure that he could have asked a henchman to do this job for him but he knew this would simply frighten the girl even more. Thank god for chloroform, he thought pushing open the window and climbing inside the dark yet childish room.
The room had green stars shining down at her while she slept rather restlessly. He wondered what was on her mind and felt a surge of possessiveness come forth on his mind before he shook it away. Feeling anything for this girl wasn't a part of his job and no way was he going to go down that road. No, he had his own demons to deal with - love, infatuation or care would simply complex his already depressed life.
Diverting his eyes away from her extraordinary beauty, he pulled out the handkerchief and smashed it on her mouth. She let out a muffled scream and her eyes shot open immediately, wildly searching past his eyes to hopefully see his concealed face. And then her eyes drooped and she felt back into an unconscious sleep submitting herself to darkness. In this case for her, she knew that she would not awaken in a pleasant place and wished death would come upon her.
***
Cold water hit her on the face in waves and she almost thought she drowned but her eyes flew open immediately revealing a familiar but also her captivator's face. He stood there confidently, his eyes fixed to her face wanting to capture it's every expression, every glance and the most likely every smile which he yearned to see for a reason he did not know.
"Wha...what?" she asked, confusedly staring around the basement where he had decided to hold her captive. It was his own basement and he swore he would let her go unharmed even if she refused. He just personally had to make sure that she was thinking hard about this mission.
"Aaliyah, do not be scared. I will not harm you," he said removing his gun and throwing it over her head behind her. "There... no guns, no handcuffs, nothing. I just want to have a decent conversation with you..."
"Talk!?" she exclaimed wiping her wet face on her half sleeve. "This is your way of having a 'decent' conversation, Mr Ranveer?" she asked angrily, glaring daggers into his swollen, bloodshot eyes. It seemed as if he had missed a day of his sleep to carry out this abduction but again, she had noticed bags on his eyes before.
"Look, Aaliyah. I am not here to become a victim of your sarcasm. You are the captive here and you will be answering questions!" Ranveer grabbed chair and sat down a few meters away from her. By then, tears had already sprung to her eyes and she was wailing loudly calling for her Aapa.
"Fine..." he said looking anywhere but at her face. "I'm sorry..." He looked at her while she wiped her face harshly.
"You should be."
Glaring at her, he made sure she backed down first but she adamantly held her gaze upright. He finally sighed, looking away. "Right, well that's settled. Now, tell me-"
"I'm not answering any of your questions," she announced turning her face away, shocking him.
Standing up, he punched the wall, roaring the next commands at her. "Don't make this hard for both of us! They are lives at stake because of you! And you..." he pointed at her accusingly. "You are a selfish girl who shouldn't even be a part of India in any way!"
At this, the tears sprung to her eyes but she blinked them away rapidly. "You can say whatever you want about me. My decision is final..."
Looking at her face, he saw the a wall she had built around her for reasons he wasn't aware of. Sadly he didn't know her too well from the inside as he did from the outside. Her eyes were cold and hard and he felt repulsed with himself for even thinking about her as a considerate girl. Turning his eyes away, he muttered, weakly losing another battle once again.
"Get out... just get the hell out of here..." he commanded, sighing into his hands. "But before you go, just remember that those people who are here today may not be here tomorrow. Those people who you may love now may not be there for you to love tomorrow. And this will all be because of you, Aaliyah Hassan!"
Walking to the door, she turned to look at him with wet eyes. She knew she should help him but she had no way. He was asking too much from her and she would've given it to him if this wasn't just about her. It was about her Aapa, Rishi and her closest friend Nargis. She couldn't let any of them die just to save other people. Yes, she was selfish but if her family and friends were at stake, she would be selfish a billion times.
"I'm sorry Mr. Ranveer but..."
"Aaliyah! You heard what I said. GET. OUT," he interrupted swinging around to glare her down this time. As expected he did but he also noticed the shining, wet eyes of hers and knew they was more to the story than it met the eye. It was about her family, her friends - not for herself. And for once, he did not repulse her. He respected her.
And just like that, he watched his only ray of hope go but with one gone comes another. Now, he simply awaited that another ray of hope. In darkness and shreds with Aaliyah's name forever etched in her mind.
Note: I'm extremely sorry to readers who have been reading and appreciating my other short story but I simply couldn't come up with a stable chapter to write. So as a substitute, I wrote this extremely silly one shot which is definitely not romantic.
Anupamaa
