Part 14
A glowing white bulb hung on
a thin black wire dangling from the ceiling, sparingly lighting the square box
of a room in which she sat, nervously. There was a feeling of anxiousness
polluting her mind from the moment the police arrived at her apartment earlier
that night. Now reaching the peak of her patience she slammed her fist on the
weak wooden table, a spectator to her confusion, resting on the cemented floor.
Pushing back forcefully on the cold, plain, steel chair that was provided, she
stood up and screamed, "Is anybody going to tell me what is going on here? Why
have I been brought here in the first place?" Silence prevailed amongst her
echoes driving her mad. Beyond the mirrored glass stood an officer; she could
feel him glaring suspiciously at every tiny move that she made in that cage of
a room.
The door clicked open...
"Finally a familiar face" She thought…
"Vikram? I am so
thankful to see you..." She heaved in relief walking towards him feeling
the slightest tinge of reassurance.
The same officer who brought
her to the police station entered the room again and before Vikram could
acknowledge her, he rudely interrupted. "Mrs. Kapoor, Mr.
Shergil...Please...sit..." He ordered, walking across the room to the other
side of the table, sitting on the lone chair positioned there for him.
"No! Why the hell should
we listen to you? I understand you're an officer but that does not give you the
right to walk all over us. My family must be so worried and instead of hurrying
up this process you are taking your sweet time." She lectured, her
confidence making a comeback.
"Priya...We should
sit...It's about Ram." He suggested, suspecting her lack of awareness with
the shine of fear in her eyes upon hearing Ram's name and that too in relation
to this shady incident.
Obliging instantly, she sat
next to Vikram, like Ram's name was equivalent to a please and therefore she
was asked too politely to refuse.
" W-what happened to Mr.
Kapoor?" She inquired cautiously, fearing the answer that she might
receive but wanting to know that much more.
"I need to ask you two
some questions. Honest and precise answers are needed in order to preserve Ram
Kapoor's survival." He responded an incomplete answer to her request, forcefully
starting a process that she refused to partake in.
"No! Please, I need to
know first. What happened to Mr. Kapoor?" Her insistence was
understandably stubborn. Fearing the worst for her love, she looked at Vikram
and than back at the officer.
They both knew something
about Ram and she sought disclosure. Vikram's head dipped slightly covering his
neck and matching the subtle movement of his eyelids, which triggered the
officer to reveal a bitter truth, giving Priya exactly what she had asked for.
"Mrs. Kapoor your
husband was found beaten and shot 2 miles south of Club Montago next to his
abandoned BMW. We have reason to believe that both your paths crossed tonight
and this discovery is our motive for probing further so that we can capture the
culprit who did this to him." The officer divulged, professionalism not
once leaving his tone. His words sedated her ears with her body losing
sensation shortly after. But her heart pumped efficiently feeding her legs so
that she could get up to leave to be by his side. But before she could even
take a step forward to the exit she stilled hearing the next piece of
information, unbelievably more startling than the first.
"Mrs. Kapoor, I suggest
you sit down. Ram Kapoor's life is still in danger, his survival is the
greatest threat to him right now and we need to find out who did this to him
before they find him and finish him off."
Slumping back down on the
hard chair with no other option, she wept, catching her tears in her palms that
encased her face.
"Mrs. Kapoor, get a hold
of yourself." He asked raucously, sliding a box of tissues across the
table to her.
"Priya. We have to do
this fast. Ram's life is in danger. Please be strong for Ram and answer the
questions. He is stable right now Priya, I know Ram...He is a fighter." Vikram
consoled her with the positive news of Ram's condition, rubbing her back gently
and handing her a tissue from the rectagular cardboard box.
"Vikram you saw him??
Please take me to him. He must be in so much pain. Please Vikram." She
sobbed into a soaked and fragile tissue paper, begging for her life.
"Priya trust me, I will
take you to him but first we need to piece together what happened tonight so
the police officers can make some imperative arrests."
"Okay…But please make this
fast…" she sniffled halfheartedly composing herself for the sole purpose of
meeting Ram as soon as she possibly could.
"Mr. Shergil I will start
with you…was there anything suspicious about Ram's behaviour today?" he asked
clearing his throat.
"Not today…but last night he
seemed strangely upset…" Vikram answered equally intrigued, still not sure
about the reason behind Ram's odd behaviour.
"Why do you think his
demeanor was strange?"
"He went to meet his
wife…uh…Priya…yesterday evening. From the moment he found out that she wanted
to meet him, he was so happy. In fact, he called my wife to ask her advice on
which colour tie to wear, Jade or emerald. I mean is that even a rational
question to ask when there is such a miniscule difference between the two colours?
But love exposes the child in all of us and Ram was so desperate in his attempt
to woo Priya. In all his encounters with Priya he would come home looking
refreshed, but last night he was different." he reported his findings glancing
at Priya whose eyes began moistening at the thought of her behaviour towards
Ram that specific night.
"Mrs. Kapoor…Can you
enlighten us on what occurred last night that had Mr. Kapoor so upset?"
Priya narrated the entire
story reliving the dreadful incident that put her ego to shame once again.
"Hmmm…Mr. Shergil coming back
to you, where was Mr. Kapoor today?" The officer stated, jotting something down
on the white, small lined notepad that he had held in his hand.
"Sir, he came to the office
very early in the morning. But he left shortly after without informing anyone.
I assumed that he was going to Priya's house with his family to discuss his
brother's marriage to Priya's sister." Vikram hypothesized, looking at Priya
once he had completed his sentence for confirmation.
"No Vikram, he was not with
them when they came or when they left. In fact, Mummyji said that he had a
meeting and you are saying that he wasn't at the office? I don't understand
surely you must have your facts mixed up…" Priya piped up with confused
hostility towards the mismatch of information.
"Priya what are you saying?
He would never miss a chance to meet you but of course you were to painfully
harsh in your interactions with him to see beyond your hatred. Why couldn't you
have called him to see where he was?" Vikram uttered a mouthful replicating the
same tone of dismay in his voice and angrily gazing at Priya whose pride was
beginning to stretch it's arms, awakening from her egotistic hibernation.
"I was waiting for him to
call me." Her ego justified one last time before it was tranquilized.
"And did he call you?" The
officer implemented himself into the conversation hoping to regain control of
it.
"Mr. Kapoor, I love you!" She stated in
a hurry, given the rarity of this moment. The speaker of the phone firmly
sealed the entrance of her ear as every nerve in her body froze in anticipation
for his response…
"Priya…It's Ashwin…" his voice crumbled
every bit of hope that she had reserved in her heart for this moment. "I just
called to ask you if you were ready. We are still going out right?" she missed
the desperation in his seemingly humble request, her mind elsewhere.
"uhhh….Ashwin I don't think I can make
it… Actually my head is hurting really badly." Off the top of her head
this excuse rushed promptly to the tip of her dry tongue feeling the side
effects of a dangerous mix of feelings, embarrassment and disappointment.
"Please Priya for old times sake.
You can't just cancel last minute I made all the arrangements and besides if
you don't show up it'll be just Shruti and I. Given our history that would be
tremendously awkward for both of us." whispering a prayer in his tainted
heart, he played a card that Priya could never stack up to, one that succeeded
in the manipulation of her feelings.
"Okay fine! Just give me some
time...like 20 minutes." unknowingly in that split second she had signed a
deal with the devil wagering her love to please her friends, the consequence of
her decision vastly unruly and grossly life altering as she would soon find out.
"No he didn't
call." Priya muttered as the flashback washed her mind with bitter
realization and further guilt.
"Okay so we have a
multi-billionaire whose whereabouts the morning of his attack is unaccounted
for, this is not good." the officer sighed and continued, adjusting
himself upright in his chair. "Alright, Mrs. Kapoor I know how you ended
up at Club Montago with Ashwin and Mr. Shergil you mentioned earlier that Mr.
Kapoor went to the club on your insistence, right?"
"Yes that is correct. Ram
was very upset, I am guessing now that it was because of Priya and Ashwin. So
to cheer him up I thought it would be good for him to get out. I didn't
anticipate him ever getting hurt so badly. In fact, we went in the club
together and we were getting some drinks but the moment my back was turned Ram
was gone. That was the last I saw him until of course I found him laying at the
side of the road in a pool of blood on my way home. He was semi conscious, his
face lit up in the dark night when he saw me, smiling through his pain. I
helped him get into my car while it was pouring rain. On our way to the
hospital he kept repeating one thing time and time again before he passed out. But
there were two consistent words in every sentence that he formed, love and Priya.
He told me to tell Priya that he loved her and that he was sorry for everything
that happened between them. And than he kept repeating, tell her I love her so
much, before he passed out." Vikram reported, while Priya helplessly cried
hating and holding herself accountable for what occurred.
"Sir...Please...I need
to be with my husband please sir, we can do this later...I will protect my
husband, I will make sure that no one comes near him. Please..." Her
fingertips touched as she cupped her palms together, pleading for an escape,
which was excruciatingly far.
"Oh just stop it Priya.
When Ram was hurling himself towards you, you neglected him. I have never seen
him as broken as he was when he was yearning for you. It's ironic isn't it? You
taught Ram how to live just so you could take his life away. What a shame...You
claimed that Ram betrayed your immense love for him but if you ask me it
doesn't seem like you have ever loved him like he loves you." Vikram
unveiled the depth of Ram's feelings for her, melting the cloth of hatred that
covered her moist and strained eyes.
"Listen, please calm
down! I have already said that until we get to the bottom of this incident you
are not going anywhere. We found this in Mr. Kapoor's car." the officer
struggled once more for control. Pulling out Priya's cellphone from his pocket,
he managed to get her attention. He slid it across the table to her and asked,
"This is your cellphone, right?"
"Yes!! But where did you
find this?" Her inquiry transformed into a rhetorical request only after
the words slipped through her mouth, she realized exactly where they might have
found her phone, at the scene of the crime. Suddenly the officer's suspicious
interrogation made more sense to her. "Oh my god, he thinks that I did
this? That I tried to kill Mr. Kapoor?" the thought troubled her mind with an indescribable level of disgust, "Wait a minute..." her soft voice
shook, opening up against the threat brewing in her heart. "You think I
did this? Are you postulating that I tried to kill my husband?" Her
question was destined for silence and blank expressions from the moment of
conception. "Vikram aap bhi yahi sochtey hain key main?" The thought alone
was so awful but judging by the expressionless stares she received it seemed
obvious that she was the only one who was appald by this repugnant conclusion.
"Well how else would you
explain your phone in Mr.Kapoor abandoned car at the scene where his body lay?
All evidence is suggesting that you were the last person who was with Mr.Kapoor
before the attack. And the motive is simple; you are now the sole 100% owner of
Kapoor Industries so Mr. Kapoor is technically dead weight to you. Besides we
all know how fond you are of your husband". The officer replied
sarcastically making her soul whither as it attempted to escape the flame of
fiery burning steadily inside of her.
Precap:
"Mr. Kapoor, please wake up.
Look Mr. Kapoor it's me your Priya. I am here in your…in our room, with you.
Please wake up!" She sat down next to him wincing at the site of his wounds. He
is injured so badly and she knew that she was just as accountable for his pain
as the person who did this to him. Caressing his left shoulder where he had
been shot, she planted a light kiss over the white dressing tightly bound over
his injury. She sniffled and quickly wiped her tears fearing that it might leak
on the bruises etched on his exposed chest, burning him with its touch. No one
was going to hurt him anymore, not even her tears. She stretched her upper body
being careful not to touch him as she brushed her quivering lips over his and
whispered against it, "Please wake up… Please baby, don't punish me like this!
First our daughter left us because of me and now you are threatening to leave
me as well? This is not fair, atleast take me with you. What am I going to do
in this world without you? I have already lost all hope seeing you like this
and knowing that I am responsible. I should have sat quietly in your car just
like you had asked me too." She kissed his lips again applying a bit more
pressure this time; its warmth gave her a sense of hope that he was still with
her. Caressing his face she examined his pouty expression, he lay there
harassing everyone with his trademark angry frown. "Atleast yell at me…if
you're going to frown like that, than atleast yell at me…"
comment:
p_commentcount