FF: Khamoshiyaan... (chap 37 page 133) - Page 48

CHAPTER 20:

"sorry sir…. Its not Nadiya… its Aisha…Aisha Arjun Rawte…"

It was like a ligtening being struck hard on his head. He looked at her with the eyes that cried out questions…

The first time he saw her was on the dance floor, the name was Nadiya. He got it very soon that she was with the hotel manager Desai. Nadiya… the diva on stage and Desai's right hand. It hurt him those days…why? He never knew.

Then came the face off between them where she pushed him away always, be it with her glares or with her words. She was always a mystery for him. Though those days he was the drug addict, Rishab who was desperate to get the attention of James, she was still a mystery for him.

James was operating at another dance bar, so the daily catch up with her not possible. They met on the days when a larger drug was in fore front.ie, when the 2 main men of the Factory had to catch up.

But the 'unannounced' raids made it difficult each times. Little did he know that those were under her tips. Then he had to go out of Mumbai with James... In Goa with James, he had to saty for 3 days, until he was caught by Aman aka Rishab and his men. But those 3 days changed the story upside down. And that was the end of the news about Nadiya. There was a raid in the bar, and then the case was shifted to the top investigation team at that time, The ETF.

There was no news about Nadiya, except that she was dead in the mission.

Then came his meet at Allahabad. The lady in the white shawl… the one that took his breath with every turn she took in the stage… the eyes that held him on position… the tear that dropped from her eyes when she was seated lost in the Allahabad Railway station…

And now, it was crashing down…

Sam was confused. Aman was looking at her as if… she was here from his nightmare. And Aisha was confused too. But the difference was, Aman showed some emotions in his eyes, while Aisha was blank. He cleared his throat loudly bringing everyone back to earth.

Sam: She is right Aman. This is Aisha. And not Nadiya. I wonder how you know Nadiya …

Aman blinks his eyes and breaks the eyelock. She was looking pale again.

Aman: my apologies…

He tries to walk out of the room leaving everyone equally confused. But then Sam stops him.

Sam: ek minute Aman. (To Aisha) Aisha , this is ACP Aman Ali. The second-in –command.

He was just by her side when Sam stopped him. He looks side ways at her.

Aisha manages to bring up her voice again. "Good morning Sir"

He nods and leaves the hall. She turns to Sam. "What's going on? Who does he know me?"

Sam: I don't know. Maybe he knew you when you were under cover. Tumhe yaad nahi hai?

Ais: I am not sure. I think I know those eyes. But kuch teekh se yaad nahi hai.

Sam: it's ok. Sort it out later. You have all your time here. So team, get back to your till we have a new case. And welcome back once again.

Ais: please mujhe kuch time chahiye. You know, kaafi din se in sab se dur thi na… so…

Sam: I get it. And I'm sure you'll come up fine.

He goes out.

She turns to Sree and company. It was Liza who reached her first. She hugs her giving out a shreak. "uff… Liza… chup… kaan phat jayegi…"

Li: I'm so happy yaar. At last you are back… God, it's unbelievable…

She smiles at her. Next was a bear hug from Chotu, which literally chocked her.

Li: Chotu… chod usse. Mar jayegi wo…

Then came Sree. Happy, excited...were mere words. It was far bigger than that feeling.

***

Aman was disturbed… annoyed… angry… frustrated…

He sat on his chair, closing his face with his palms. Then he looked up at the hall. The welcome party was on full swing over there. Chotu was choking her. And Sree… he was so happy.

So, Nadiya is Aisha… Aisha Arjun Rawte…

Arjun Sir ke pyaar… jo usse wapas jeena sikhaya…

Jo unke zindagi bani…

Jisse bijhadke… wo sab se dur chale gaye…

She was hiding herself from the world… because he was not there…

Because her love was not here…

She couldn't stand without her love… her Arjun…

Aman left out a gasp and crashed on to his chair's headrest… it was way too much to grasp in a day…

A knock came up at the door, he answered and Sam walks in. Sam saw a different Aman today.

Sam: are you alright Aman?

He didn't answer him. "Yeah almost…"

Sam: tum Aisha ko jantha tha?

Aman: Aisha ko nahi… Nadiya ko…

Sam: but…

Aman: give me some time Rathod. If you don't mind.

Sam: um…sure… tell me if you need any help.

Aman: thanks.

Sam walks out of the cabin. He was lost in thoughts. "Aman Nadiya ko jantha tha… and the way he's handling this news… it looks as if… Kahi usse Nadiya se… nahi… God… ab ye hi baki tha kya? Bohot mehnath se Aisha ko wapas laya hu… if she gets the hint… hope mere soch sirf ek weham hi ho…"

He walks to the hall. Everything was resumed. Sree was giving a brief idea about the last case. And she was asking her doubts too. Aisha was slowly getting back in action.

***

She was typing very fast in her laptop. Her phone rang aloud. He saw the name and took it and placed the earphone in her ear, still typing fast. "hello…kaise ho Teja?"

Teja: mar gaya Teja…

Her: oh. Don't tempt me to be happy.

Teja: yaar kaha ho tum? Na kabhi milthe hai. Na phone.Aise kya secret work pe ho tum ke apne frinds ko bhool gaye. Aur aaj mujhe patha chala ke tum kal sham ko yaha office me ayi thi. Aur ye sab mujhe Boss se sunna tha. He is damn happy with your work. But why didn't you come to meet us? Hum sab mar gaye hai kya?

Her: are Teja mere bhai…. Relax… kuch zaroori kaam thi. Isliye chale aye.

Teja: zaroori kaam?? Hum sab frinds se bhi zaroori? Do you know when was the last time we met? It was 3 weeks back. Aur uss din bhi tum jaldi me the. You had some long trip planned. Yaar, aise kya work hai jo tum ithne busy ho?

Her: kabhi kabhi zindagi me ek aise point athe hai Teja, jaha se pure zindagi aur hamare soch ek 'U' turn lethe hai. Ek nayi maksath milthe hai jeene keliye. Bas ithna samajhlo ke mujhe mere maksat milgaya.

Teja: are you alright? Bukhar tho nahi hai? you are speaking high level languages yaar. Mere samajh me kuch nahi araha hai.

Her: yaar samajhne ko bohot kuch hai. aur samjhane ko mere paas iss waqt nahi hai. tho its better, hum kuch din baad mile aur bath kare… ab kuch samjhe ya samjhau???

Teja: God… ye ladki pagal hogaye hai. ab ye kaunsi film ka dialog hai. jo bhi hai… mast hai...

She smiles at his words. This was the same words that she told him, when he said it to her for the first time.

Her: ok bye. Rakhthi hu. Warna boss ko ye paper time pe nahi depaungi.

Teja: ok. Take care. Aur apne 'maksat' ke beech me ye nahi bhoolna ke tumhare bhi ek zindagi hai,aur waha kuch friends hai.

She hangs the phone and takes a deep breath. She looks out of the window. There was nothing excited looking out through the Ravi Lodge window. "patha nahi wo yaha ithne saal kaise rahe. I'm trying to understand how he lived. And more I try, more mysterious he becomes."

She place down and walks to the window.

"ek maksat… wo maksat jo meine khud liya hai… wo maksat jo iss shararthi natkhat ladki ko kuch aur hi bana diya… wo maksat jo mujhe phir se sochne pe majboor kiya… ke iss duniay mien aise bhi log hothe hai… jo ithne dur hoke bhi aise pyaar karthe hai… wo pyaar jo kisiko mauth se wapas le aye… wo pyaar jo kisi aur ko, zindagi ko mauth ke tharah bana diya... wo pyaar ab un dono ko firse jeene ke ummeed deraha ho… wo pyaar jo ab mujhe ek maksat diya ho… ke unn do pyaar karne walon ko phir se milau…"

She smiled at herown thoughts. "have a nice day at ETF Aisha. wahi tumhari duniya hai. wahi tumhari pyaar hai. wahi tumhari zindagi ke aage ki kahani likhi hai…"

***

Aman walks into the hall after sometime.

She was settled in her work reading a file. She looked up at him when he took his seat. Both of them were distracted. He found it a bit awkward. He cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry… wo… mien…."

"it's ok sir…"

A simple line took a great effort form both of their sides. Sam walks in. "team we have a case. There is a dead body found in a closed flat on the Dhawan Colony. Lets move in. since you are joining after a long time, you may need a bit back up. So Aisha, team up with Aman and Sree. Let's go."

He walks out followed by everyone. The team formation was a conscious one as he needed them to sort out everything soon.

Sam, Chotu and Liza go in an SUV, while Aman takes the next one's driving seat. Before Sree could decide, Aisha takes the backseat, leaving the front one for him. Sree nods his head negative and walks in. he describes what he came to know about the case.

Sr: sir, victim ka naam hai, Mrs. Sheela Sharma. 47 years. Stays alone in the flat. Kaam wali ne bell dabaya. Koi khola nahi. After a while she felt something fishy. So she opened the door with the spare key with her. And Sheela was inside with a stab. Dead.

Aman: uske husband?

Sr: wo dono ke beech me kuch problem the. So he stays separate. We have informed him. He will reach the spot.

All the way Aisha was silently listening. The life was going at a faster pace. And she was trying to catch up with it.

Aman goes silent too after Sree's talks. Sree found it different. This was not the usual Aman. "Is it because Aisha is here?" he asked himself.

Aman at times was looking at her eyes through the rear glass. She was aware of it at times but thought to ignore it. Sree also saw it. And to be honest with him… he did not like it… after all she was Arjun sir's wife. But again he thought to keep his silence.

The investigation began when they reached the flat. It was apparently a well planned murder. At a point Aisha brings in evidence which would have been lost at the first sight. All were impressed. After all the jungle billi was not so dormant. It just needed a provocation.

All the way she avoided a talk with Aman unless it was really necessary.

The came back to the office discussion room after initial investigation. They were getting really professional keeping all the personal problems aside.

A chai wala comes in with a cutting chai with him. Aisha was suddenly plunged to a deep memory lane that she felt suffocation. The chai wala went to Aman and he took it paying the guy. He sipped it without any hesitation and then his eyes went to Aisha. In fact everyone was looking at her and she was looking at Aman. All could feel her suffocation and knew its reason. It was a tough moment for her.

Aman kept on looking at Aisha who was eyeing him with pain. He didn't get it at the first time. Then it seeped into him…

He was reminding her about Arjun…

Aman: are you alright?

The sound came from far away. Se blinked herself out. She took away her eyes from him and then looked at everyone. She was caught red handed.

"Excuse me…" she stood up and walked towards the washroom. She needed time to catch up with her breath.

The mirror showed herself… the vulnerable Aisha… the lonely Aisha… whom she tried to leave back at home when she came to the office… but she was back… a lonely tear fell from her eyes…

***

Aman was not able to concentrate well on the case. Though she came back after a while, she looked the same Aisha or Nadiya whom he saw in the railway station.

Sam needed to bring everyone back on line. He knew he needed to handle Aisha. But never in his dream had he thought he would have to handle Aman too. It was a bit too much for him.

Sam asks Aman and Sree to go to Sheela's husband to interrogate him. And then asked Aisha to come with him so that they may talk to the neighbors. For the moment leaving Aisha with Aman was not wise.

***

It was late night. The case was going to reach an end. But inorder to verify the theory they needed to wait till morning. Sam called it a day.

Sree told Aisha that he would drop her home. But she declined. She needed time today. After Sree left she took a cab to a place where she could be herself again. Ravi Lodge.

***

Aisha walks into the room 121. But her movement was noted in room 128.

She knew Aisha would come in today. She knew that the first day at ETF would be a roller coaster ride for Aisha. So she had planted the minicamera long back. It was just a small wait for her. And there was Aisha in the room 121.

Little did the ladies know… that someone else was also keeping a tab on Aisha. Aman was in the SUV when she went down from the cab. A small backup knowledge about Arjun had helped him in knowing the significance of Ravi Lodge in the 2 lives.

He closed his eyes with a gasp. He needed answers. And he knew where he would get it. Comm. Dustin Coelho.