Hello Arakshians...back with a new long part...hope u dont get bored!
pls read and reply...errors ho toh maaf kardena...
Thanks for liking and commenting on it! ur comments is my driving force...thanks a ton!
Disclaimer: all characters, situations and names used in the story are fictional...any similarity is purely by coincidence!
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Part 15B:
He pulled up the car near a restaurant which was close to his placeā¦."chalo pehle lunch kar lethe haiā¦..phir ghar chalengeā¦."
He gave her a sweet genuine smile saying that...
She knew he wouldn't listen to her on thisā¦she had no choice but go to his placeā¦which also meant Roshni's placeā¦..But how could she step in there?
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He held out the menu card to her but she was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice itā¦..
He could see that she was disturbed but the reason wasn't clear to him at that momentā¦..her face was inscrutable as alwaysā¦ā¦She was brilliant in hiding her pains in a smile and today it was no different...
The smile was missing today but still every sorrow lay hidden inside a false happy pretenceā¦.
He urged patting her hand with the menu card gently, "Sakshiā¦."
She snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at himā¦.."yeah Arjunā¦."
Arjun knew that something was bothering her although she quickly smiled and took the menu card in her handsā¦..She busily browsed through the menu but he could see that it was also an act to avoid his further questionsā¦
But he enquired, "Sakshi tum teek ho na?"
Sakshi looked up at his sudden question and replied, "haanā¦.of course par aap aise kyun pooch rahe ho?"
Arjun: [comes straight to the point as he had already sensed that her gloominess was after he told her about going to his place] kya tumhe mere ghar mein rehne mein koyi problem hai?
Sakshi instantly replied not wanting him to think otherwise, "nahi tohā¦.mujhe kya problem hogi? [to lighten the situation, she chirps naughtily] actually problem toh aap ko honi chaahiyeā¦.mujh jaise shaitan ladki ko apne ghar mein rakhnaā¦its not easy! [grins]
Arjun couldn't help a faint smile but he could very well read the fakeness that engulfed her naughty comment and her smiling face!
He could read it from her eyesā¦and he could decipher her mind to an extent as well!
Arjun: mujhe aisa kyun lag raha hai ke tum mujhse kuch chupaa rahi ho Sakshi??
Sakshi: nahi Arjunā¦.main kyun chupaaungi?ā¦.waise bhi chupaane keliye kya reh gaya hai? I had told you everything about me!
Arjun just mindlessly voiced out, "Roshni??"
Sakshi's color fadedā¦all brain drained out hearing her name from himā¦..her pale face confirmed a lot of thing to him but he couldn't reason it out exactlyā¦
He just felt that their past strained relationship was bothering her still!
He voiced consolingly, "dekho Sakshi, I know mera, Roshni aur tumaara past relationship kuch teek nahi thaā¦..hum dono tumse bohat naaraaz bhi tehā¦but ab aisa nahi haiā¦..I have got over thatā¦..tumaari na samjhi samajh kar maine tumhe maaf kar diya haiā¦..Aur Roshni hoti toh woh bhiā¦..[he stops abruptly]
She could see a lone tear swimming in his eyesā¦..her mind muttered something about their deep love which hasn't died out even after Roshniā¦..Like his smiles, even his tears were just for her!
She placed her hand on his to console him while he continued snapping out of his thoughts, "Roshni bhi ab iss waqt tumaari safety hi chaahegi Sakshi! So don't think about anything else"
Sakshi spoke up as if in a trance, "Kya Roshni ne mujhe maaf kar diya hoga?"
Arjun: tum aisa kyun pooch rahi ho? Hum dono ne tumhe kab ka maaf kardiya tha aur ussne tumhe shaadi keliye bhi invite kiya thaā¦tumne hi tohā¦..[his words stop all of a sudden realizing that he was surely missing something thereā¦.Had the 2 girls hidden something from him? Was he still in the dark? He continued realizing it] hold onā¦.Am I missing out something Sakshi??
Sakshi snapped out and went back into the menu card as if she never spoke that nor never heard himā¦..she just voiced out, "jaldi se order karthi hoomā¦.mujhe bhi bohat bhook lagi hai Arjun"
Arjun knew that she was just pushing off that topic and there was something which he didn't know!
But for the time being, he ignored it and noddedā¦.They have lunch and then head to his homeā¦.
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Meanwhile at ETFā¦ā¦..
Rathod picks the papers and start reviewing the names and details of people who were involved in the conspiracyā¦..He is shocked to see some big shots in the listā¦..
Rathod: [banging on the desk almost frightening Aisha with his boiling anger] Dammit! Itna bada conspiracy hua hai aur kisi ko usski sacchayi tak paunchne ki himmat nahi huiā¦ā¦bas ek bali ka bhakra mil gaya aur case closed! [shaking his head furiously and rubbing his stubble, he voices out sternly]
I am telling you Aishaā¦.yeh system aur yahaan ke log na ek din sabko dubaa denge! Tab bhi kisi ko koyi farq nahi padega!
Aisha was silent till Rathod vented out his anger and then slowly spoke upā¦."Sirā¦. please calm downā¦.aise ghussa karne se kya hoga?"
Rathod just looked at her and her concern for him was evident in her faceā¦.
Her eyes communicated more than what her words told him!
And it was indeed an instant remedy for his angerā¦..Surprisingly, he cooled down and nodded!
Aisha: [sensing that he was calm now, she spoke again] sir, humaara next step kya hai? I mean, humein bohat soch samajh kar aage badhna chahiyeā¦.We are dealing with dangerously big people and they obviously have strong political connections!"
Rathod nodded, "I knowā¦.maine commissioner sir se baat karliya haiā¦..He had called for a meetingā¦.phir unn ke through CM saab aur phir defense ministry mein bhiā¦."
His words trailed off showing his uncertainty in his own plans!
Aisha could see Rathod wasn't so convinced with the whole plan because they didn't know where the hole wasā¦.
They weren't sure of who in the line could turn out to be a black sheepā¦.a rotten apple which could ruin the entire plan and also cause danger to all their lives!ā¦..but they had no choice but make this move keeping the hierarchy and protocols intact!
Aisha responded assuringly, "sab teek hi hoga sirā¦.dont worry!"
Rathod nodded with a smileā¦.He knew that everything will be fine with the best of people in his team! He had already asked Shree for tapping some important phone numbersā¦the permission for which was just taken verbally from the commissioner without a paperwork so that nothing leaked out!
Rathod, for the first time in life was breaking his own rules but he knew that this was indeed necessary to know if the people whom they suspect the most were really involved!
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It had been a little long that he hadn't been thereā¦.else, he came in once a month to clean up the place but this time around, his busy work in ETF kept him away from hereā¦.So everything lay unattendedā¦ā¦
The small garden which Roshni had skillfully put up in the front lay all dry and withered and the dry leaves piled all around scattered! But it had been like that ever since her death! He just couldn't keep it all alive because every plant, every climber, every leaf and every flower had Roshni's touch on them and he couldn't clean them up and do away with her touches and her memories ā¦ā¦
He knew it was a silly thought but he couldn't help it! So he left them all the same way she had left it years back!
He stood at the gates to take in a deep breathā¦ā¦.He knew he couldn't lose out to his emotions at this point when Sakshi was with himā¦ā¦.If he fell weak, then situations could become worse for herā¦.
Roshni's playful voices echoed in his ears when he put his foot in thereā¦ā¦.
Their romantic moments flashed across his mind as he closed his eyes in despairā¦.It almost killed every inch of him!
All that he had buried deep within him seemed to resurface backā¦ā¦
But then he opened his eyes violently rubbing off the unshed tearā¦.
That's when he noticed Sakshi wasn't beside himā¦.She was still standing far away just where he had parked the carā¦.
He turned back to her and voiced, "Come Sakshi.."
She stumbled as she heard his invite to come inā¦ā¦She spoke to herself or was it to someone else whom she felt would surely be somewhere around this place, "Roshni"
Her mind muttered and then after a pause, she spoke to herself again as she slowly took the next few steps towards the house, "Roshni, kya tumne mujhe maaf kardiya hai?"
Arjun looked back again seeing her slow paced stepsā¦.."kya hua Sakshi? Are you alright?"
Sakshi nodded, "hmmm" as she reached by his sideā¦.
As she stepped inside the house without a choice, her mind wandered back the memory laneā¦..She remembered the day she had met Roshni for the last timeā¦..
She again spoke as if to Roshini's invisible presence, "Sorry Roshniā¦..main promise thod rahi hoomā¦."
Arjun felt he heard something and turned to face her, "tumne kuch kaha?"
Sakshi shook her head, "nahiā¦.aap se nahi tha"
Arjun raised his eyebrows and looked around once before looking at her voicing sarcastically, "phir?"
Sakshi knew that he wouldn't ignore anything so easily and so she snapped out smiling like a kid who was caught picking candies and voiced, "aap toh mere aadat jaanthe hai na? I was talking to myself Arjun!"
Arjun shook his head in total disbelief and looked around trying to gauge what all work had to be done to make it suitable for a stay!
Lot of work lay aheadā¦..there was a thick layer of dust on every surfaceā¦..
Sakshi looked around and crunched her face realizing the mountain of cleaning work needed to be done to get it ready! She was never used to all this sort of workā¦
Sakshi slowly voiced, "Arjun, kya hum kahi aur nahi reh sakthe?"
Arjun looked at her wondering what was running in her mind and one look at her, he was quick to catch what the reason was while she added, "matlab, yahaan sab aiseā¦"
He chuckled snapping her hesitant words, "kyun? kya hua?"
Sakshi hesitantly replied, "nahi, yeh sab bohat kaam hai na? I am really not used toā¦."
He snapped her again, "yeah of courseā¦tumhe kaam se allergy hogi, right?"
Sakshi glared at him and replied, "aise kaam karne ka maukha hi nahi tha naā¦so its all new to me!"
Arjun wasn't going to be diplomatic at allā¦.he replied, "ab tak maukha nahi milaa par ab mil raha hai na? saat karenge toh shaam tak ho jaayegaā¦phir tum aaraam se rest kar sakthi ho!"
Sakshi voiced like a kid's complaint looking at the cobwebs and the layers of dust, "Arjunā¦.mujhe na yeh makdhi aur chipkali se bohat darr lagtha haiā¦..kya yeh sab humein karna padegaā¦.I mean kisi aur seā¦.."
Arjun couldn't help a smile at her lazy and childish attitudeā¦.The girl who wasn't scared of bullets was frightened of spiders and lizards! He was amused totally!
He shook his head and replied sternly, " Nahiā¦humein hi karna padegaā¦..For your information Miss Wrong Numberā¦.hum yahaan vacation pe nahi aaye haiā¦ā¦..Samjhi yaā¦.Samjhaavum?"
Sakshi instantly nodded at his stern SYS!
Arjun took a duster and thrust into her hands asking her to dust the tables and chairs while he moved to the roomsā¦..
As he entered the room, he turned back to see her holding the duster far off from her and turning away from the table and she was dusting as if she was caressing the table with a featherā¦..He chuckledā¦.Taking a long cloth from the kitchen draw, he came back to her and asked her to turn aroundā¦ā¦.He slowly tied the cloth around her nose and mouthā¦..and then voiced, "hmm ab jaldi se karoā¦."
He added before disappearing into his room, "woh khatam karke aa jaanaā¦.yeh bathroom aur toilet bhi tumhe hi saaf karna hai!"
Sakshi rolled her eyes hearing that and muttered to herself stamping the floor, "aaargā¦ā¦Sahi naam rakha tha Shree ne..khadoos ACP!ā¦..aur yeh khadoos toh ghar ka saara kaam mujhse hi karwaane waala hai! Oh God please help me!"
[To be continued]
So how was it?? pls do reply...
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