Mirage #3 Check note on pg 149 for next thread! - Page 46

Khalid looked down at the empty pistol in his hand, sitting down on the cool grass. He had decided to spend two days at his farmhouse in Nainital after being stressed out by all the work in Delhi these days. He needed to spend some time all by himself, secluded from the rest of the world just like always. Arnav would return back in a few more days after completing his mission and then, he would have to plan the next step carefully. The enemies were strong, but he had to be stronger and faster and attack them before they even realised it.

For that, he needed to have a hundred percent focus and that's why he had decided to indulge himself in his favourite hobby, shooting. He looked ahead at the target in front of him that was now damaged with tiny holes of bullet all over it.

Maybe it was the cool weather of Nainital, but suddenly he felt nostalgic and went to his bag and retrieved his familiar old diary from it, that he had specially carried it over from Delhi.

Opening one random page, he started to read it.

17 th October, 1977

I saw her once again after a long time. She was sitting in the library and reading a book when I went in search of a guide. My final exams were approaching and I had to get serious about my studies. She didn't notice me for a while, even when I went and sat on the table next to hers so that I could get a clear view of her. She was too engrossed in her book. It looks like she loves reading books.

We sat there for an hour and by then, everyone else had left from the library. I suddenly dropped the book on the floor and it was then that she noticed me. I smiled at her but she didn't react. For a moment, I thought she had completely forgotten about me. But a few seconds later, she smiled and instantly looked away. Nothing much happened after that because the stupid nosy librarian was staring right at me. And after the class bell rang, she walked into her next class, without glancing back at me.

I think I need to make a move soon. I don't have much time left before I leave the school and move to Chandigarh for University.

He flipped through few more pages and started reading the next excerpt from it.

8 th March, 1978

Today was my first exam and she was there, waiting outside the exam hall. It has been three months since I saw her. I was too busy studying at home and even when I tried to find her at her house, there were no signs of her. Anyways, the best part was that before I was about to enter the room, she showed me a thumbs up and silently mouthed 'All the Best'. Can you believe that? She only came near my classroom to wish me good luck for my exams. And she quickly disappeared within a second before any teacher could catch her loitering around our room.

And the best thing was my exam went very well that day. Looks like she is my lucky charm. Hopefully, I'll get to see her before every exam. It is strange, isn't it? A girl who doesn't even know my name came for me.

Khalid smiled as a lone tear escaped his eye, before he quickly wiped it away with his cold hand. Maybe to the outside world, he was the deadly Don of the Mafia world, who was feared by everyone. But only he knew this side of him, a side that seemed to be buried away deep inside him only to be revealed in moments like these.

He looked at the hill ahead of him as his mind focussed on one particular memory that wasn't recorded in his diary.

It was the last day of his exams and he was sitting in the school compound, chatting away with his buddies after completing the exam. After spending an hour with them, he decided to head home. Just when he was passing the gate, he saw her, sitting all by herself on the lawn. Looking all around him, he noticed that there was nobody around them and hence, approached her stealthily, completely catching her off guard.

"Hey!" he said, walking towards her, while she coyly looked at him.

"Hey!" she whispered and for the first time he heard her voice that nearly sent chills of excitement all over his body.

"Not going home?" he asked, sitting down beside her.

"No, my brother said he would come to pick me up. But he has not yet come." She replied looking at the gate for any signs of her elder brother.

"Should I drop you home on my bike? My home is on the street next to yours." He offered, smiling at her.

"No, I'm fine." She replied looking away feeling a bit uncomfortable at the offer.

"I know, you must be wondering that you barely know me and thus, I perfectly understand your reluctance. But I'll wait with you until your brother arrives." He said, plucking a blade of grass in his hand.

"How were your exams?" she asked, looking at him from the corner of her eyes.

"They were good. Thanks for remembering about it." He whispered, slowing inching his hand towards hers, but stopped midway, when she suddenly spoke. "My parents don't like me talking to boys." She said, looking at the ground.

He immediately withdrew his hand and stared at the gate ahead of him. "I'll be leaving to Chandigarh in a week. I'm going to join a college there."

"Oh!" she exclaimed and looked at him.

"I realised I've never told you my name." He said, raking his hand through his hair sheepishly. "I'm Khalid. My younger brother Abbas studies in your class."

"I'm Aarti." She said, smiling back at him. But this time, he found her hand slowly gliding towards his, until it settled on top of his while she carefully intertwined their fingers. Gathering up all his courage, he held on to her hand firmly, making a silent promise of a bond that would last for eternity.

Khalid was brought out from his reverie by the sound of a bird chirping on the nearby tree. He could feel his eyes completely moistened. Those memories were so fresh, as if they had happened just yesterday. He clutched the blade of grass in his palm, his heart wrenching as some of the most painful memories flooded his mind.

Five long years had passed since the last time he had met her. Actually, he hadn't even been to Delhi in those five years, let alone see her. After spending three years at the college, he had been introduced to his family business by his father, a business that he didn't even know it existed until two years ago.

The Mafia.

Yes, the Maliks had been running the Mafia business for the past several years and he had no clue about it. And then, everything had made sense as to why they were one of the richest families in Delhi.

So, when he had finally returned back to Delhi after his training, the first thing he had decided was to go and see Aarti. He wondered how she would be after five long years. There had been absolutely no contact between them. Would she still remember him after all that time?

He had stood behind the same old tree opposite her house, not finding any courage to meet her directly. He had seen her walk into her house from the college. She had changed. She was no more that young fourteen year old. She had blossomed into an even more beautiful young woman.

And for the first time, he had felt an instinctive attraction towards her, the kind of physical attraction a twenty three year old man felt.

That day, she hadn't noticed him and he had gone away without a word with her.

Khalid focussed on his present as his mind began to ask the same question once again. If he had made a move that day, would she have been beside him holding his hand today? He eyes wandered off once again on another memory that was the beginning of the destruction of their lives.

He had been sitting in his room, going through some files of his father, studying about their business when suddenly he had heard a laughter coming from the hall downstairs. He had wondered who it would be at this hour as his parents and brother was out of the house. Going downstairs, he had first seen his brother laughing holding his abdomen, only to move aside and reveal her, laughing along with him.

Aarti had come to his house and was sitting in front of him. Hearing his footsteps, they had both stopped and a minute later, she had silently smiled at him without uttering a word.

"Abbas, I thought you would be out for the day." Khalid had asked, wondering why he was at home when he was supposed to be in college.

"As if Baba would allow girls into our house at any other time." Abbas replied rolling his eye. "We bunked college and by the way, she's my friend Aarti. We study in the same class. We have been in the same class for nearly 9 years now, haven't we?" he asked turning towards Aarti.

"Yeah." She nodded and stared right into Khalid's eyes, her gaze unwavering and strong.

That was just the beginning of what was going to come for the next two years.

"Abbas, is there something going on between you and Aarti?" Khalid had finally asked, after Aarti had avoided talking to him for the next few weeks even after visiting their house every alternate day.

"No Bhai! She's just another girl. You know how I bring every other girl to our house. Nothing is going on between us." Abbas had replied chiding away the matter. Khalid had relaxed hearing this, putting away all doubts of any fling between his brother and her. So maybe she was just upset with him for not keeping any contact with her all these years. Maybe he should just go and apologise to her, he had decided.

And few days later, he had even seen his brother getting laid by random girls every other day in his house while his parents were away. This had put an end to every doubt in his mind and he was definitely sure a girl like Aarti would never go after a playboy like his younger brother. She was from a respectable family and was wise enough to see the right thing.

But he had been very wrong, Khalid realised as he picked a pebble from the ground and threw it as far as he could, his mind spinning to the next memory before he could hear the soft thud from the pebble.

Just a couple of weeks later, he had walked into the living room from his bedroom only to find his younger brother pinning her against the wall as he kissed her all over senselessly, right in front of his eyes. That day, Khalid Malik had experienced the first heart break of his life, seeing the girl he had started to love, making out with his younger brother.

He had felt his heart shatter completely as the only girl he had loved seemed to walk out from his life even before she had stepped in.

At first he had given up on her entirely, but something else had perturbed him.

A week after witnessing the incident he had decided to go and talk about it to Aarti. He had waited outside her house in his regular place and before she could enter the huge gates, he had pulled her from behind taking her aside.

"Khalid?" she had yelped out completely startled at his presence. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you, about my brother Abbas." He had said, looking into those molten brown eyes that seemed to enchant him everytime he stared into them.

"What about him?" she had asked.

"Aarti, you know how my brother is. He isn't serious about any girl. He brings home a new girl every week. You cannot get serious with him. You are a good girl and you would only have heart break later on if you move closer to him. Please don't do this. I don't want you to be devastated by him. Please Aarti." He had pleaded, hoping to make her see the true face of his brother.

But she had only asked back one thing. "Why are you doing this Khalid?"

And he had instantly replied back, without thinking about it. "Because I love you Aarti." That day he had confessed his love, his feelings for her.

But then her reply had changed everything in his life. "I don't love you Khalid. I love Abbas. It was him that I always loved."

"Then what about that day five years ago?" he had asked furiously. "Didn't you feel anything for me?"

"You never once spoke to me for five years. How could you expect me to wait for you? Things change. Everything has changed." She had said and walked away, pushing him aside.

That day, she had rejected him outright. But he couldn't blame her. It had only been his fault. How could he have expected her to wait for him? They had never even had a proper conversation after that day. What had he expected from her? Now that he thought about it, he realised he was so blinded with love that he had failed to see the obvious staring right at him.

That day, he had come home and confronted his younger brother.

"Abbas, don't play around with Aarti. She's not like those other girls." He had said, trying to convince him.

"Bhai, I love her." Abbas had replied in a crystal clear voice and Khalid had no other choice but to back away from them, quietly accepting the truth of his life. That day, he had believed that maybe his brother had changed and he knew one thing.

Khalid Malik was ready to give up his own happiness for his brother's sake, for he loved his brother a lot.

Yes, Khalid Malik was ready to do anything for his little brother. From the time his mother had placed the little boy in the elder brother's arms, he had vowed to take care of him and protect him from everything that threatened him, even to give up his life for his brother. And that was the reason why Abbas was still with him, inspite of all that he had done. Even after living for more than five decades of his life, Khalid still felt the same protective feeling about his brother.

That was one of the reasons why he had decided to take charge of the entire mafia business in India while Abbas lived peacefully with his wife and four kids in Bangkok.

Khalid looked at the eagle flying a few metres above as if it was encircling its prey and his eyes focussed on that memory which had destroyed everything in just a matter of few hours.

Nearly a year had passed after Aarti had confessed that she loved Abbas and from that day, Khalid had always maintained a distance from her. Even though everytime he saw her, he had felt the same old feelings rise within him, he had controlled them, burying them deep inside him coz he knew, there was no point in going after someone who was never going to be his.

And as months had passed away, he had realised that atleast the two people who he loved the most in the world were with each other. So their happiness was his happiness too.

But he had been wrong once again.

As he passed by his younger brother's bedroom one find day, he had heard him shout loudly and the next second, he had heard someone weeping.

"Aarti, you cannot involve me in this. It was all your fault. You should have known the consequences when you took this decision. You should have used your big fat head in things other than your studies too. Now please leave me alone and don't bother coming back here. My answer is not going to change." He had heard his brother shouting at the top of his voice and the next minute, he had seen Aarti run out of the room with tear filled eyes, nearly bumping into him.

"What happened?" Khalid had asked curiously to his younger brother.

"Nothing Bhai. She's one insane girl. A week ago she came to me and she said she was pregnant, apparently with my child. And now she wants me to marry her and accept her child as mine. I told her to abort it and she says she cannot. And now, she's scared her parents will find out and disown her and wants to move in with me. Is she freaking crazy? I'm just twenty two. I have a life of my own. I cannot sit around being a father of a kid. And anyways, Baba would never agree to me marrying a Hindu girl." Abbas had exclaimed loudly, only to be silenced by a loud slap right across his face that resounded in the entire Malik Mansion.

And then without a word, Khalid had retreated out of the room, going after Aarti.

But it had been too late. Aarti was gone in a matter of few minutes. He had gone to her house to find her, but there were no signs of her. He had even waited for her at her college. But she was still not to be seen.

And then a week later, he had heard the news that Aarti had been missing from her house. Her family had begun a desperate hunt for her. She had never returned back home from the day Abbas had asked her to leave.

Khalid had searched desperately for her in every nook and corner of Delhi, using all his contacts, not even sparing the morgues and hospitals fearing that she was dead. But no, there was absolutely no news of Aarti.

Days had turned into weeks, weeks into months and months into years.

Even the Delhi Police had given up on their search, her family accepting the fact that their daughter would never return back.

But Khalid had never given up his hope of finding her.

Maybe the world never cared for her. But there was no denying that he still loved her. Loved her so much that he never allowed any other woman to enter in his life during that time and for that matter, even till today.

And just when he was about to give up, the miracle had happened.

Seven long years had passed since that day. Khalid was almost on the verge of giving up his search for her. How could he hold on to that hope that only promised him a dead end on every path?

It had been one of his business meetings in Mumbai. He had gone to one of the banks to deposit some money of his deal. And that day, just out of the blue, he had stood at the queue of the cashier only to turn around and see her working in one of the desks and immediately felt his heart stop beating, at one glance of her.

It was Aarti, the one who he had spent the last seven years of his life searching for like a madman.

She had looked the same even after all these years, so beautiful and enchanting. But there was one stark difference in her. There was no more that spark of happiness in her eyes.

And most of all, she seemed alone, confined to her solitude.

He had approached her right away.

"Aarti, my God!" he had exclaimed and instantly she had looked up at him, her eyes first widening with surprise, then shock and soon she looked petrified, all colour draining from her face.

"I don't want to talk to you." She had replied bluntly, looking down at the files, and then around her to see if anyone had noticed Khalid. "Please go away." She had said and Khalid had retreated once again like he always did, giving her whatever she had wanted from him.

But that had not stopped him from visiting the bank for the next few days just to catch a glimpse of her. He had tried talking to her but she had always refuted his approach. He had even extended his stay in Mumbai, only for her, so that he could demand one answer from her.

His patience had soon run out and was replaced with fury.

Nearly after a month since he had seen her, he had realised that it was enough and he needed to confront her. And so when she was returning back to her house at night, he had forcefully pulled her inside his car and taken her to his hotel room, locking themselves up so that she would finally speak to him.

"Khalid, what are you doing?" she had screamed out in horror.

"What did you do Aarti? You simply disappeared just like that without informing anyone. Do you even realise what I've been through for the last seven years? Even your parents were desperately searching for you. And now everyone thinks you are dead. Did you think how they would feel when they know that all this while you were in Mumbai, enjoying your life?" he had shouted back at her.

"Enjoying my life? B*llshit! Do you even have any idea what I've been through for these seven years, raising a child all by myself? Yeah, your brother's child. No, I didn't abort the child. I raised him up." She replied and he had felt as if he had been splashed by a bucket of ice water on his face. "What did you expect me to do when your brother rejected me and shunned himself away from his responsibility? And you know my family very well. They would have killed me if they came to know I was pregnant. What was I supposed to do?" And then, as if she could no longer withhold her emotions that had laid bundled up all these years, she had broken down, weeping uncontrollably, collapsing on the floor.

And for the first time, Khalid had held her tightly in his arms and cried along with her. "Everything is going to be alright now. I'm here." He had whispered, soothing her trembling body.

For the next one year, Khalid had shuttled between Delhi and Mumbai, visiting her and helping her out in whatever way he could.

But somehow, he had never been allowed by her to meet her son.

"Aarti, I want to meet your son." He had asked one day, during one of their meetings. But she had outright refused him saying that she didn't want the boy to be involved in any of this mess and that she had wanted her son to live a normal life, away from her past. And as always, Khalid had given her the space and respected her wishes.

He snapped back to the present as a tear rolled down his eyes, only one regret in it.

He had never got to see Aarti's son.

His eyes once again focussed on the eagle that was flying high above him, soaring in the free skies gallantly.

"Aarti, Marry me!" he had said one fine day when they were dining at the restaurant and she had nearly choked on her food.

"What?" she had asked in utter disbelief unable to believe her ears.

"Yes, Marry me. We have been meeting like this for the past two years. How long will we do this? I know, you don't love me. But I love you and I think that's enough for both of us. Come and live with me in Delhi as my wife." Khalid had said, holding her hand.

"What will I say to everyone? What about my family? What about Abbas? And most of all, what would I say to my son?" she had asked, staring at him with tears in her eyes.

"You don't have to worry about anyone. No one knows that you have a son and they don't know the father. We'll just tell everyone that he is my son and we were married all this time. No one would have to know. And about Abbas, he has moved on. He's soon going to get married to an Industrialist's daughter. And he never bothered about you then. So he has no right to question you now." He had looked at her worry filled eyes. "I promise I will take care of your son as if he is my own."

"I need time to think about this." She had replied and his heart had once again been resurrected by hope that promised him that all was not lost. Maybe he would finally get to share his life with the woman he loved the most.

"I have to leave to South Africa tomorrow. I'll be away for two weeks. Call me on this number regarding your answer. I'll be waiting for it." He had said offering her a piece of paper.

And he had received the call from her and she had said yes to him. That day had been the best day of his life.Until once again, mere hours had changed everything in his life permanently.

Aarti had informed him that she was coming to Delhi along with her son. But due to some urgent work, he had been sent out of the city for a week and till then, he had arranged for them to live in a guesthouse, till he returned back later that week.

And he had returned a week later, only to find her dead, brutally murdered by someone and the boy missing, ultimately leading to only one conclusion that he too was killed in the process.

She had been so close to him and yet, in an instant departed away from him permanently to a place from where there was no return.

Maybe some dreams never came true.

Maybe some stories never had their happy ending.

Even after nearly two decades after her death, he was not sure whether she had ever loved him. He just wished that maybe once, just once, she had told him that she loved him too.

"I miss you Aarti. I wish you were here with me." He said, looking up at the barren sky above him, as uncontrollable tears streamed down his eyes.

He had been so lost in her memories that he was nearly startled when he was suddenly brought back to reality by his phone buzzing in his pockets and he retrieved it out to find Arnav's number flashing on the screen.

CHAPTER 47

If you still have doubts about Khalid Malik, read the second post after this update. It contains an explanation about Khalid Malik's character and answers to some FAQ's.

And one more thing. My crazy friend LoveyDovey, who is also one of the crazy readers of this FF has reached a whole new level of craziness,😆 and actually created a Trailer VM for this FF. Please do check it out!😆

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjF9olE7H34&feature=youtu.be[/YOUTUBE]