Part 38
As she walked on the stage, she heard numerous gasps. She was nervous and this fueled it more. She took her position. A rope dropped from above and there was a pole kept on the stage as well, which could be used by the participants. She had not practiced anything and this was just to fill in Kastuki's position.
Yaani's Nightingale started to play and she started dancing softly to it. It was a famous orchestra song by the renowned composer and one of her favorite songs. At first no one knew what she was doing, but anyway something in her and the song held them captivated to her. As the next chord of the piano was strung she made a perfect cartwheel and landed gracefully beside the rope. She held the rope in her hands and jumped a little to go a little higher. As the piano continued to play the song, she was gliding up the rope without a hitch. Soon she had reached the height to which the pole stood. One swift jump with the rope she landed on the pole.
The entire hall erupted into a big round of applause. But it was not yet over. She quickly fastened the rope on her and on the next chord, she tumbled down the pole and stopped a little above the ground. Randhir had taken a sharp breath when this happened and let it out only when he realized that this was a part of her dance. Gracefully she untied the rope on her and did some new and innovated steps. Till now, no one had found what was the dance form she was performing. Nonetheless, they loved it.
She knew the song was going to end and to win she had to show her dance style. Elegantly she unwrapped a layer around her waist. It didn't look like she had removed a piece of cloth, as she was still fully covered and just that her feet were clearly visible. Now everyone were amazed as so long she had been performing a ballet and they understood the leap from the rope to pole, rolling down the pole were all parts of ballet dance.
Of course the essence of ballet was to send a message or portray extreme emotions, but this was simple sweet and sophisticated. She finished her act in the usual stance of standing on the toes of her right leg, left leg was stretched out at 80 degrees and her hands were spread out while her fingers were gracefully hanging.
The whole hall was extremely silent. It looked as though everyone held their breath and was waiting for her to do some more. But every good thing had to come to an end and it was Ankit who broke the spell she had casted on the audience. He started clapping and the same was followed by the others. Every girl who was envying her before were also appreciating her talent.
DT on the other hand was stunned. Vidushi and Randhir were staring as though they saw some ghost while Parth and Jiggy sat motionless. As the applause subsided, she walked out off the stage after she curtsied. She winked at Randhir and Vidushi and went to the greenroom. Just as she came out, people thronged on her and she found it difficult to even stand.
"Leave her! I said leave her." Came a voice roughly and soon she was left alone but she was still suffocated by them. Soon she found Randhir approaching her and held her waist and helping her stand properly. He knew he had crossed his limits by doing that, but he wanted to show the other guys that she was taken and what was better than this? He glared at the guys who were standing close to her than necessary.
Sanyukta on the other hand was grateful that Randhir came to her aid. She was emotionally drained after the performance. When Randhir held her, it was bliss for her. She leaned further into him and passed out. Randhir quickly scooped her in his arms and made way to the infirmary. On the way he asked Vidushi to tag along, as he didn't want Sanyukta to feel embarrassed later. He ordered Parth and Jiggy to wait her until results were announced.
Once he laid her on the bed and moved he felt a pull. When he looked down, he saw that Sanyukta had involuntarily held his hand. He pulled a chair and sat.
"Vidushi, call the doctor." He said which she did without a question.
Randhir kept caressing her hair when the doctor arrived "What's up young man?" he asked.
"Well, she danced and passed out later. Maybe due to exhaustion." Said Randhir.
"Alright, why don't you two wait out until I examine her?" he asked
"We'll stay." Said Randhir firmly and the doctor could do nothing but do his work.
After a few minutes, the doctor said "Ask her to eat properly. I guess she's skipped her meals. I'll ask the nurse to give her juice. Once she regains consciousness, you can take her back."
"Thank you." Said Randhir smiling at him.
"Love is the best medicine for any ailment son. Don't worry, she's fit as a fiddle." The doctor patted his shoulder and left.
"Itna obvious hai kya?" he asked Vidushi while she just smiled.
"Sabko pata hai." She said
"Except for her, she thinks am her friend." He sighed.
"Nothing is wrong in that Randhir. In fact it's better. You both will find the friend when needed and little more at other times." She said winking at him and he just shook his head.
"Check on Kastu while I text the boys." He said pulling out his cell.
He had a message from the investigators that Samir was in Mumbai now. That one text sent him shivers and he immediately looked at Sanyukta. He kissed her forehead and said "Tumhe kuch nahi hone dunga." He replied saying that he wanted every detail about Samir's moves and that if they found anything weird, he should be updated immediately.
"Only two days baby. I will take you far away from all this." He said and squeezed her hands. Just as he was about to text Parth, Ankit barged into the room.
"What happened?" he asked worriedly.
"She passed out." Replied Randhir grimly. He was getting irritated with Ankit's constant concern about Sanyukta. Accepted he showed the same for Kastu, but it was a little more than that for Sanyukta and he could not bear anyone else apart from him showing that concern.
"It's all my fault." He muttered under his breath which definitely was not missed by Randhir. But before he could ask Ankit what it was, Vardhan and the others came.
"Well done guys, am so proud of you all." He said and shook hands with everyone. As soon as he finished shaking hands with Ankit, his eyes fell on Sanyukta who was looking at him with confusion.
"Ah! Sanyukta. How are you feeling?" he asked with a smile on his face.
"I am better sir. What are the results? Did we win anything?" she asked.
"Lets begin from the start. In the projects, we got two prizes - first to Randhir and Vidushi and second to Kastuki and Parth. Yours and Jiggy's came close to third, but that south india college had something better. Never mind. Next in sports we have Parth and Jiggy as winners. And now in Culturals, all three of you have won - Sanyukta, Randhir and Vidushi in first, second and third places respectively.
Sanyukta's face fell when she heard that she didn't win a prize but still she was happy for the others and she wished them luck. Everyone knew that she was sad but saying it's ok or any consoling would only worsen her situation so they kept quiet. After she was done with her juice, all of them went back to their cottage. Ankit had ensured that their dinner would be served in their cottage.
Soon they were busy discussing what they would be doing the next day for their individual projects. Sanyukta had done a complete research in what they would be doing as they had to give a basic structure as to what they were going to do beforehand to the organizers. Now all they had to do was allocate and improvise each of their projects. It was informed to them that there'll be up to 20 ranks and they aimed the top 6.
As usual Ankit informed them that he would verify their work in the morning and retired to bed along with Vardhan. As they were discussing Randhir's phone beeped again. It was a call from the detective and so he immediately excused himself to attend the call.
"Yes, Mr Sharma?" he asked
"Randhir, we've got a problem." He said urgently.
"What?" he asked tensing.
"We just got information back from home that your sister is missing for a while now." Said the detective in a low voice.
"What?" randhir shouted and everyone turned to him with concern. "Nothing, just a friend calling from US." He told them and smiled at them. Sanyukta realized that something was wrong and he didn't want attention at the moment so she distracted them with their work.
"Yes Randhir, we just got the message. She's been missing for the past 5 months. All her cell connections have been disconnected. Last message from her number was to some Ankit Aggarwal asking him not to trouble her anymore if not, he'll meet a lot of consequences." Replied the detective.
"Ankit Aggarwal? Can you trace his number? Maybe we'll get some connection. But what is the reason that we get to know about this only now?" asked Randhir defeated.
"Randhir, we've been manipulated. The tracking device has been found and injected into someone else. So we've been fooled that your sister was in safe hands. But it sort of sent out of coverage signal and that's when our officers got to the roots and found this." Said the detective.
"F***. Dad knows?" he asked.
"Not yet, we thought to inform you first." Replied the detective
"Good, don't tell him. I'll see what can be done." Said Randhir and cut the call.
He chucked his phone on the couch and stormed out of the cottage. He kept running until his legs gave up, he fell on the ground with a thud and started crying. He didn't know how long he was there on the ground crying, but after a while he felt someone pull him off the ground. He knew the touch - her touch, her scent - Sanyukta. He crushed her in his embrace "I cannot lose her."
"Ssshhh. Everything will be ok." She said and rubbed his back soothingly.
"No, nothing is ok." He pushed her away harshly and stood up.
"Meri baat suno." She said trying to calm him.
"She's been missing for 5 freaking months and I get to know about that only now. I cannot lose her. If dad comes to know, he will die. How will I face him? How will I face myself? No no no no. this cant be happening. I sh" he could not complete his sentence as Sanyukta had softly placed her lips on his.
She lovingly cupped his face with one hand and pulled him closer by his nape with the other. Randhir on the other hand was stunned at first but later responded with equal fervor. It was a slow but a soothing kiss. They pulled out when they were out of breath. He pulled her to his chest and hugged her tightly "I love my sister a lot Sanyu. I miss you Tiasha, where are you?" he said crushing Sanyukta more into him.
PS: Please listen to the song when u have time... its really amazing.. Nightingale by Yaani.
Drama shuru hone wala hai :P
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