Part 22...
"Tension math le, sab thik ho jaayega!" Rathore tried to comfort Arjun.
Arjun nodded and let the matter be, for the time being concentrating on the case.
After a while when they decided to take a short break from the work Arjun and Rathore sat in the latter's cabin relaxing and having tea and coffee respectively.
"Arjun, you know it's not that hard to find out who the guy is" Rathore said slowly but quite randomly.
Arjun frowned, he wasn't sure if he was talking about the case or something else.
"Who are you talking about??" Arjun asked.
"Anu aur woh jo koi bhi hain uss ke..."
"Paagal hogaya hain Sam??" Arjun was quite surprised that he even suggested such a thing but at the same time couldn't help smile at the thought.
"Soch Arjun, we'll know who the guy is and WE can surprise Anu by telling HER who she has...feelings...lov...you know what I mean yaar..." Rathore couldn't get himself to say that his sister was 'in love' with someone.
Arjun chuckled seeing his best friend struggle.
"Haan, it won't be that hard actually. Shree say poochenge toh woh do minute mein patha laga dega..." Arjun said.
Both laughed and conspired for the next twenty minutes how they can find out who the guy is – most of their plans ironically needed SHREE's assistance!!
By the end of the twenty minutes though both dropped all the plans and decided that whenever Anu was ready she'll tell them herself.
*****
Shree knocked on the door and waited. A minute later an elderly lady opened the door.
"Ji hum ETF se hain, yeha par Chintu kehke..."
"Haan mera potha hain" the elderly woman said.
"Woh kaha hain aapko pata hain?" Riya asked.
"Pata nahi. Do din se gayab hain. Pakad ke legayi hogi police phirse...laut aayega do, teen din mein"
Riya and Shree looked at each other and thanked the woman before making their way to the bar where Chintu supposedly spends a lot of time.
"Ri, did Anu speak to you about us in the last few days??" Shree asked when they sat down in the car. Riya looked at Shree and became completely blank; she didn't know what to say, she can't possibly tell him that Anu is in love with him.
"Why?" She asked not able to come up with anything else.
"Kuch nahi, she's behaving...differently. I mean even this morning when I was dropping her off at her work she was...ek different expression tha yaar uske chehre par..."
Riya frowned with confusion. Expression? Shaayad kuch zyaada hi khush hogayi ki Shree usse drop kar raha hai She thought and smiled inwardly.
"I – I don't know..." after a small pause she continued, "...yaar Shree I think it's about time you both seriously sit down and talk about your feelings. I know you are in love with her..."
"Yaar aisa kuch..." Shree tried to protest.
"Shree!" Riya cut him short and looked at him warningly.
"AGAR, agar aisa kuch ho bhi toh kya farak padtha hai? I mean if she doesn't feel the same for me...it's just...I don't want to ruin the friendship we've built so far"
Before Riya could say anything they reached their destination so both got down and entered the bar. They looked around, scanning the room for their man. When they did not find him, they started to question the people sitting there.
After talking to about half a dozen people finally they found someone who had some interesting information for them.
"Yeh bar tumhara hai?" Shree asked him.
"Ji saab" the man spoke nervously.
"Isse jaante ho?" Shree held up Chintu's photo.
"J...ji saab. Yeh rooz aatha tha yeha par"
"Aatha tha?" Riya asked noticing the past tense.
"Ji madam, woh do din se aaya nahi hain"
"Usse kisi se milte hue dekha hai? Jo usse normally na milta ho?" Shree asked looking around the room.
"Woh...woh..."
"Woh, woh kya? Batao jaldi!!" Shree said sternly.
"Woh teen din pehle, jab akhiri baar usse dekha toh, woh kisi se yehi baat kar raha tha. Woh pehele toh kisi ke liye na keh raha tha par phir raazi hogaya...bas itna hi maloom hai saab"
Riya and Shree thought about what he said.
"Shaayad Arjun sir ne jo kaha, that he was hired by someone to follow you was right" Shree said thoughtfully to which Riya nodded her approval.
"Woh aadmi kaun tha tujhe pata nahi?" Shree asked the bar owner.
"Mujhe toh nahi pata saab lekin shaayad, Ganesh ko patha hogi..."
"Ab yeh Ganesh kaun hain?" Riya asked.
"Woh aur Chintu dost hain...woh do din mein yeha aane waala hain, gaaon gaya hua hain...agar aap tab aayenge toh aapko mil jaayega!!"
"Thik hain...lekin usse batana math ki hum aane waale hain...warna..." Shree said with a deadly warning.
"Na...nahi saab, usse kuch nahi kahunga"
Shree nodded and left the place with Riya.
"Kuch zyaada hi cooperate kar raha tha..." Riya said.
"No licence for the bar...most probably..."
"Hmm, we should inform the local police" Riya said and turned to Shree.
"After we get Ganesh!" They said is unison.
They sat in the car and headed back to the ETF office.
"So, as I was saying..." Riya continued their conversation as if nothing happened, "...you should talk to Anu and if you ask me you should talk to Arjun as well"
Shree gulped nervously when she mentioned Arjun.
"If I am absolutely sure that Anu feels the same way I feel for her...I...I'll talk to Arjun sir"
Riya rolled her eyes, ab iss ladke ko kaun samjhaye? SHE LOVES YOU SHREE! Riya screamed in her mind.
Ab toh Anu hi kuch kar sakthi hain. Riya thought again.
*****
Shree and Riya informed Rathore and team what they found and it was decided that they'll again split and continue the investigation. They worked till 7:00 pm when Arjun got Anu's call that she finished work.
"Should I go by myself bhai or will you pick me up?" Anu asked.
"No, I'll pick you up. Is anyone with you or are you alone?"
"A couple of my colleagues are still here but they'll leave in about five minutes"
"Can you ask them to tag along for a while till I get there?"
Anu was about to say something but Arjun stopped her when Riya gestured to him.
"Shree and Chotu are in that area, they went to talk to Vikram's family remember" Riya said.
"Oh ya, Anu I'll ask Chotu and Shree to pick you up. They won't take too long...still don't stay alone ask your friends to stay back till they get there, okay?"
"Okay bhai, bye"
Ajrun cut the call and immediately called Chotu, knowing Shree would be driving.
"Chotu can you guys please pickup Anu from her work?"
"Ya, sure sir we'll pick her up" Chotu replied promptly.
"Take her phone number just in case..." Arjun was about to read out her number, but stopped on hearing Chotu's reply.
"Oh, Shree has her number sir don't wor..." Chotu suddenly became silent without finishing the sentence as if he realised something.
"Shree has Anu's cell number?" Arjun asked surprised and looked at Riya who was discussing something with Rathore.
In a second, quite a few scenes flashed through Arjun's mind;
First and foremost, Riya knows the guy Anu likes – that is only possible if Riya knew him from the beginning, since it hasn't been that long since Anu came to Mumbai.
The times he saw Anu and Shree together, their closeness, their friendliness – it was now so obvious, why didn't he see that before?
Anu's eagerness this morning when Arjun asked Shree to drop her at work – why didn't he understand immediately?
Shree has Anu's cell number even Chotu knows that – of course the trio, Riya-Shree-Chotu hardly keep anything from each other so, if one knew all of them knew about it.
Arjun's mind put two and two together and his eyes widened with realisation.
Edited by Aukview - 12 years ago
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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