Part 5
Ashima lived on the South East fringe of the London suburbs on the borders of Kent. She lived in her parents' home but right now her parents were out on vacation and she was all by herself in the huge estate. There was a lot of vegetation around the house which looked like a classic home from one of the Charles Dickens novels. Anandi was enchanted by the beauty of the house, Shiv had been there before and loved the ambience of the home, it was very tastefully decorated with a little Indian touch to it. Ashima gave them a tour of the house, there were about 10 rooms in the house, huge balconies, a huge formal dining area, a recreation room and also an indoor swimming pool. Ashima said that her mother had prepared some food for her before they left, but Anandi offered to make something real quick and they all agreed that some Khichdi and kadi would be great, left alone in her cooking comfort zone, Anandi quickly rummaged through the kitchen cabinets to see if she had all the ingredients, she was surprised to see such a well stocked kitchen with all the Indian spices and cooking items. She got to work and did not realize how quickly time flew by, the aroma of the food brought Ashima and Shiv back to the kitchen from the recreation room where they were playing a game of pool and catching up on old times. It was 7.30 and they decided to eat an early dinner as they had to get back to the hotel. They relished the simple homemade food, Ashima was all praises and kept pulling Shiv's legs that if he did not watch his diet then Anandi's culinary skills would start showing on his lean physique.
'Shiv lets play another game of pool before you leave', Ashima begged, 'OK, last one, then we really have to leave', Shiv agrees. While they start playing, Anandi decided to explore the estate and ventured out into the backyard barely catching Ashima's warning, ' Anandi, sambhal ke, door mat jana, nahin to rasta bhool jaogi, bahut confusing ho sakta hain tumhare liye!' Shiv worriedly looked her way but was distracted by Ashima's last shot which got two balls in.
Anandi loved the greenery, the sun set late in the summer, there was enough daylight for her to take a small stroll around the house, she thought to herself. She started walking in no particular direction, when she saw a deer playing around in the grass, the sight of the deer excited her, and like a child she ran after it, wanting to pet it. In all her excitement, she did not realize that she had come really far away from the house and was in the thick vegetation around the house, she could not see anything but trees and plants. A little worried, she turns back but she does not know which way to go….she was lost….she should have remembered Ashimas warning and not wandered off. Trying a few routes, she still cannot figure out where she is, it was beginning to get a little dark now, the sun was setting and Anandi began to panic, she looked at her watch and realized it must be about an hour since she left the house and Shiv might start to look for her, walking she reaches a road, but it was really dark now and she could not find a single person, neither was there any cars passing by, as she starts walking on the road she notices a car pull up behind her and a bunch of unruly young teenagers jump out of the car and surround her, there were about four of them, 'What have we here?' asks one guy leering at Anandi, 'A beautiful Indian belle, all by herself, maybe she's lost, we could help her,' another one jokes in his deeply accented countryside English, Anandi did not understand a word, but softly asked if they could take her to the nearest phone booth. One of the boys comes close to her and holds her hand and says, 'Yeah, we could take you anywhere you want to go…' and they all start laughing…. Anandi realizes that something is not right here and just says, 'Thank you, I'll find my way' and starts walking, one of the boys, blocks her way and says, 'We are in a hurry, aren't we? Do spend some time with us.' She is really afraid now and starts to run, as she turns around she collides with something and falls, she tries to frantically get up, tears rolling down her eyes and she is not able to see what she collides with, till she hears a familiar sound , ' Anandi, kya hua?' 'CS, CS aap kahan the', she hugs him tight and cries like a baby, Shiv holds her back and asks her what happened when he sees the four boys running towards them, he quickly gauges the situation and realizes what must have happened, ' the lady is with me, you guys have a problem?' he asks, seeing his bulky form the boys back off and say, 'No, it's nothing, we were just helping the lady..' they turn around and disappear in the woods.
Anandi is still shocked at the turn of events and can't stop crying, she senses Shiv's anger, all he says to her is 'Chalo mere saath, Anandi', wiping her tears, she runs after him to keep up with his pace, she knows that she will have to face his wrath for not heeding to Ashima's warning, but she couldn't bear to see Shiv so angry at her. 'Please Shiv, aap meri baat to suniye', she pleads but Shiv just clenches his hands and walks looking straight ahead. 'Main woh hiran ke peeche daudti gayi aur mujhe pata hi nahin chala ki main bahut door aagayi thi…' he just keeps walking without looking at her, she can't keep up with his pace and stops to catch her breath. In his anger, he does not realize that he has left her behind, the sound of Anandi calling out to him breaks his trance, he turns around to see her standing by the tree tired, he walks up to her, draws her close to him and kisses her hard, bruising her lips, when he breaks off, a tear rolls down his eye, 'Kyun, kyun baat nahin sunti ho tum, kaha tha na Ashima ne tumse, door mat jana, phir kyun chali gayi akele, zara bhi nahin socha, main tumhe kahan dhoontta phirta is jungle mein, agar mere aane me zara si bhi deri hoti, to woh ladke tumhe….………..'he trails off shuddering to think what would have happened.
Wiping the single tear that rolled off his cheek, Anandi lets out a sob, 'Aap please shant ho jaiye, main meri galati manti hoon, I am sorry, phir kabhi aisa nahin hoga'. Shiv lets go of her arms, only to circle them around her, he gives her a papa bear hug and kisses her hair, 'chalo abhi, nahin to Ashima police ko phone kar degi, hume dhoondhne le liye'.
As they near Ashima's house, the unpredictable English weather sets in and it starts to rain, drenched they reach the house.
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