Chapter Nine
"Noor!"
"Mamma!"
"Noor..."
"Mamma! Mamma, ruko! Mamma, where are they taking you? Mamma!!" The child clambered forward frantically, her little hands reaching out for the woman being dragged away.
"Noor..." The woman had stopped fighting. She could no longer keep her eyes open. She could no longer see her own daughter. "I love you, Noor. Be good. Be brave. You will be the strongest of them all. The strongest and the best. You will show everyone what it means to be Noor Farswani."
She gasped, her breath hitching as she was dragged down the steps. "Shahnaz..?"
They had taken the woman out into the courtyard now and her faint, muffled voice could only just be heard inside the house. "Shahnaz, take care of my daughter. Love her like your own. She is my everything. I am giving her to you."
"Mamma!" The child broke free from the shackle of arms around her and ran with determination to the veranda. She watched as her mother was bundled into a white car, next to a man she vaguely recognised as the father she barely knew.
Wearing a grey khadi kurta and a disinterested expression, he took a cigar in his hand and ordered the driver to start driving before putting the cigar between his teeth.
As the car began to move, the child looked at her mother's face in desperation and saw her offering a weak, watery smile.
"Meri Noor..."
"Noor? Noor!"
Her head snapped up at Dehlavi's voice. "What?"
Dehlavi reached down to straighten Noor's dress before asking, "What are you thinking, Noor? I've been calling you for so long. Aren't you ready yet? Shahnaz aunty said that you have to be out there in five minutes."
"So come back in five minutes!" She snapped angrily. "Why are you here now? Idiot."
Ignoring Dehlavi's shocked expression, she walked towards the mirror and reapplied her lipstick. Without waiting for the girl, she left the shabby dressing room and entered the wings of the stage, ready for another night of being everybody's entertainment.
* * *
They entered the lounge together and were instantly assailed by cigar smoke and the smell of whiskey. He coughed and turned his head to see Rathod doing the same.
He had confronted Rathod on the way here and demanded to know the reason behind why Riya was sitting in the shack instead of working with the rest of them. She was just as capable as any one of them, he had told his Chief aggressively.
Rathod had smirked and reminded him that he was the one in charge, not Arjun, and that he knew what was best for his team. When he still hadn't relented, Rathod finally told him the truth. And when he knew the reason, even he had to begrudgingly admit that the man knew what he was doing.
He scanned the room, looking to root out anything suspicious between the masses of suit-clad men and ladies in barely-there dresses.
They seemed to be biding their time, waiting. Waiting for what? Waiting for -
A moment later, he understood.
Wine red lips and a devilish glint in her eyes, she was even more potent and beautiful than her photo had allowed. She moved seductively to the beat in a dress that outlined her every curve; her toned thigh played peek-a-boo through a slit, showing just enough to rouse the men's eyes and imaginations.
Subtle, deadly and undeniably dangerous.
Noor.
They took their seats close to the stage and he turned to see Rathod shifting uncomfortably. He looked an odd mix of irritated, furious and... aroused?
Arjun watched carefully as Rathod's eyes followed the dancing woman and he fought to stifle his laughter. Of course. Only Sameer Rathod would fall for a suspect.
A moment later, she finally saw them. Amusement sparkling in her dark eyes, she sauntered towards Rathod, a ruthless feline teasing her prey.
Keeping her dark eyes on his, she danced close to him, a lingering touch here... a teasing whisper there...
Rathod's increasing agitation was clear to Arjun and he looked on as the woman continued, clearly aware of what had become of India's most composed officer.
Arjun suspected that Rathod's anger was due less to Noor herself and more because of the obvious effect she was having on him.
She leaned forward, her face just inches from his, and raked her sharp fingernails along his forearms. It was his breaking point, the final touch that undid him. He grabbed her wrist harshly, intending to push her away but - ah! She was too quick, a lithe, mischievous sprite ready to match his every move.
With a wicked grin and a knowing wink, she was gone.
* * *
He sat still, flustered and unsure, his body temperature and anger rising in parallel. She didn't come near him after her little dance but he could feel the heat of her gaze from across the room.
The entire group of dancers were now perform and he and Arjun remained seated for another two songs while he contemplated their next move.
Chotu and Shree had been stationed at the lounge a while before he and Arjun had entered; he signalled now for them to begin. Chotu moved to sit closer to a large group of men and a while later, Shree walked away nonchalantly to begin their search behind the stage.
"Rathod," Arjun whispered. "We don't have a lot of time. Jo bhi karna hai, abhi karo."
"I know," he snapped back. Waiting for a moment when he would not be noticed, he slipped in backstage through the side door.
It was dark and smoky but a quick sweep around the area told him that it was deserted too. He hurried up a staircase and walked the halls until he found her dressing room.
Forcing the door open, he shuffled through the dressing table. Lipsticks, perfume, hair pins. Nothing of substance.
Hurriedly, he opened the drawers. The first two were empty, save for a pack of makeup wipes and a small box of mints. The last drawer contained a few slips of paper and screwed up post-it notes - reminders of lunches and sessions with clients.
Beneath them, he found a bracelet, delicate and encrusted with crystals. He picked it up, running his thumb along its surface. When his thumb dipped, he looked down and noticed that a crystal was missing. Putting the bracelet back in the drawer, he moved to search the sofa.
"You should have told me you were tired. I would have taken you up to my bed long ago." Her velvety whisper sent a shiver down his spine and he composed himself before turning to face her.
"I'm sure you would have," he replied casually. "By the way, are you sure you can afford to be here right now? I mean, shouldn't you be out there with the rest of them, getting dirty money slipped in through the top of your dress?"
She smirked at his response and stepped closer to him. "I'd much rather watch you go snooping through my dressing room. Did you find anything yet? Tell me, ACP," she whispered suggestively. "When are you taking me away?"
He ignored her and gestured towards the drawers. "It's a pity that the bracelet takes after its owner. It's just as flawed as it is beautiful."
He moved past her, intending to go back downstairs when she grabbed his wrist and turned him so he that he faced her.
"Kaha jaa rahe hain, Saab? Stay a while. The night has just begun."
Edited by kaamchorni - 12 years ago
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