Okay I am posting my fic.
The earlier part is on pg 36. At first Abhimanyu thought that Naina had got bored with his yoga and had strolled away. He continued to swim. But after another quarter of an hour, there was no trace of Naina. Abhi felt nervous and swam back to the lakeside. He found his shoes ans shirt there but no sign of Naina. He looked into his shoes.
The gun has vanished!
Instead there was a piece of paper, with a hurriedly written message – "Sorry Sir."
Abhi even did not know where was Naina now. He would have to go back to the Academy to find out where Naina 's home was. But he saluted her spirit and smiled to himself.
IX
Next day Naina was on her way to Maludh. She was wearing her jeans but instead of t-shirt had a kameez over it. She wrapped herself with a long black dupatta, covering her head. Unless one looked at her eyes, she very well looked like any ordinary Punjabi small town girl. She had taken a jhola type of carry bag with the most essential items and a couple of dresses. Rest of her things she had dumped in her bag which she left in the waiting room of the bus-station. She had been careful not to leave anything in that bag that could be traced back to her. The gun which she managed to pick-shoe from Abhimanyu was firmly held near her waist by the tight jeans. She had checked last night and found it to be fully loaded. The metallic feel of the gun on her skin provided her with some kind of assurance. Moreover it made her feel like a solder again.
Naina had also printed out some local maps from Yudi's laptop. Now she was looking at them . She was trying to find out which road would take her from Malaudh towards the north –east. By the time she would reach MAlaudh , it would be quite dark. She did not want travel at night. Surely there would be someplace – dhaba beside the bus-stop where she would be able to spend the night away.
She looked at all the village names along the north-east road and wondered which one hosted Rajveer Sir. She looked out of the window and got lost in her thoughts. She was drooling about the time of the mentorship program – how they were engrossed in that clue-finding exercise and never noticed what time it was. Were they really engrossed with the exercise or they just enjoyed each other's company. Naina literally hung on every word uttered by Raj and Raj said everything to invoke admiration and awe in Naina. He loved to stare at her, to watch her without bating his eyelids. Even now Naina started to blush remembering his stare. She remembered their playing around in that dirty muddy pool. It was real fun. If it would again happen now, she would pull Rajveer deep into the mud and would………..
"Bahenji , Bahenji, hum Malaudh pahunch gaye. Aap ko utarna hoga." The Bus conductor was trying to wake her up without touching.
Naina wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, shook her head. Pulled the dupatta around her face and got up from her seat. She picked her bag from overhead rack and got down from the bus. It was eight-o-clock in the evening and quite dark. The night air was fresh but slightly chilly.
Edited by sunaina02 - 18 years ago
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