Episode 7
The next day Malhar as usual left for work early in the morning. Kalyani and Moksh stayed back at home.
Moksh was cranky in the morning as he had also not slept well at night and Kalyani had just no energy to attend any classes. She would fall asleep again and be bullied by her friends. She just messaged her friend that she wouldn't make it to college and asked her to share notes.
Though she wanted to finish her work, she was fast asleep along with Moksh.
At the police station, Malhar was searching for some papers and couldn't find them. He searched for his thumb drive from which he could take another print out but he couldn't find that too. "Probably I left them at home", he thought to himself.
"Pawar, mujhe ghar jaana hoga, main papers laana bhool gaya. Mera thumb drive bhi reh gaya, Main jaldi le aata hun."
He reached home and opened the door himself as he was not expecting Kalyani to be at home. To his surprise, both Kalyani and Moksh were at home.
He saw that Kalyani was fast asleep while Moksh was sitting beside her with a pen in his hand and vigorously scribbling on something.
Malhar was worried and touched Kalyani's forehead to check if she had a fever. Thank god she seemed ok.
Feeling his touch, she woke up. "Malharji, aap kab aaye? Raat ho gayi kya? Oh god, maine koi kaam nahi kiya, Pillu ko khana nahi diya." she was panicking.
"Calm down Kalyani, raat nahi hua hai, Main apna papers aur thumb drive bhool gaya, isliye wapas aana pada."
Moksh was happy to see his father and waved the paper in front of him. Both Malhar and Kalyani saw that the papers Moksh had been scribbling were Malhar's official papers. She had tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry Malharji, Maine dhyan nahi diya, Pillu tune kya kiya, Baba ke papers hi mile kya tujhe."
Malhar put his arms around her and her tears wet his uniform. He rubbed her back comfortingly, "Chup ho jao Kalyani. Rona bandh karo. Mere thumb drive mai hai, main dusra printout le lunga.
Ek aur baat, aaj tum koi kaam nahi karogi. Main tum donon ke liye lunch order kar doonga, Bai ko phone karke use jaldi aane keliye bol deta hun, woh ghar saaf karegi. Mujhe ab jaana hoga.
Please aaj meri baat maan lo."
He kissed her forehead and went back to work. He understood that she was very tired and felt really guilty that he hadn't been able to help her out these past 10 days. He would have helped her follow that stupid timetable if he had not been tense himself.
He had noticed that Kalyani was pushing herself too hard trying to fulfil everything that she had written down in her planner but he had neither been able to stop her nor help her out. He had refrained from replying to her angry remarks and avoided arguments.
Yes, he was no saint and was feeling deprived of their intimacy and spending some quality time with her but he did not blame her. He knew she was trying her best.
The delay in the progress of the case was nagging at the back of his head. As a result, he couldn't think about anything else. Hopefully they would get a breakthrough soon and he could take matters in his hand to sort out Kalyani's troubles.
On the other hand, Kalyani felt that she had slacked and she now had to find some more methods and add them to her daily planner.
Sarthak who was a guest lecturer was in the college for his class that day. He noted that Kalyani was not in college. He also heard from Kalyani's professor what had happened in the past 3 days.
Concerned about it, he called his wife, "Anupriya, aaj Kalyani college main nahi hai. "
"Acha? kyun? Kya hua hai use? Aapko kuch patha hai?"
Sarthak told her whatever he had heard from Kalyani's professor.
"Teekh hai Sarthak, main use phone karthi hun."
Anupriya called her daughter, "Kalyani, kaisi ho tum? Moksh aur Malhar kaise hai? Tumne phone hi nahi kiya itne dinon se."
"Aai hum sab theek hain, main tumhe baad me call karti hun. Abhi mera aur Moksh ka study time hai."
"Are Lekin woh 10 minute mujhse baat karne ke baad bhi kar sakthi hai na?"
"Nahi Aai, mere paas bilkul time nahi hai mere timetable main aur bhi cheezein hai jo mujhe complete karne hain?
"Theekh hai phir main aur Sarthak aate hain tumse milne."
"Nahin Aai, aaj nahin. Main plan karke aap logon ko bathathi hun. Bye." Kalyani cut the call.
Anupriya was stumped. Kalyani had never before cut her calls so briefly. She dialled Malhar's number.
"Aai! Aap Aur Kaka kaise hai? "
"Hum dono teekh hai, par kya tum sab teekh ho? Kalyani ne mujhse baat bhi nahi ki teekh se. Sab teekh hai na?"
"Aai, sab teekh hai, Bas Kalyani thodi tired hai."
"Haan, wahi, Sarthak ne kaha ki Kalyani aaj college bhi nahi gayi, pichle 3 dinon se college me sogayi aur Professor usse naraaz hai."
"Yeh toh hoga na. Aai, mai aapse milne aata hun kaam ke baad. Abhi mujhe phone rakhna hoga. Bye."
Malhar and his team had gotten a significant clue and were glad that the case was making some development.
He finished his duty around 9 pm and went to meet his Kaka and Aai. He explained to them how Kalyani was pushing herself too hard.
"Mai uske ideas ke khilaf nahi hun par agar usne itna stress liya toh woh bimar ho jayegi aur uski padhai suffer hogi."
"Tum sahi keh rahe ho Malhar, main usse baat karti hun."
"Koi fayda nahi hoga Aai. Mere pass iss situation ko deal karne ka ek idea hai, lekin aap donon ki madad chahiye."
After listening to him, they agreed and Malhar took them home with him to see Kalyani.
Kalyani was surprised to see all three of them. She had been feeding dinner to Moksh who was now interested in the three other people who had entered the house. He ran around them like a cute puppy showing his pleasure.
Sarthak picked up his grandson and swirled him, making him giggle with delight.
"Aai… Malharji...aap sab saath mein? " Kalyani asked.
"Haan Kalyani, yeh mere mehman hai, mujhe patha hai tumhare timetable main in sab ke liye time nahin hai toh tum apna follow karlo, Main dekh lunga inkeliye jo chahiye." Malhar teased her.
Her eyes flashed anger at him but she smiled at Aai and Kaka. "Aap log baitiye, main kuch karti hun."
Sarthak stopped her, "Kalyani, humne dinner kar liya hai, kya tumne khaya?"
She shook her head. He made her sit down with them and Malhar went in to get her dinner plate. As she ate her dinner, they were all chatting and Moksh was also happy running around them, sitting on their laps and getting all attention.
Kalyani couldn't eat any more, she was feeling left out. She went to the kitchen and threw away the remaining food. Her tears were threatening to fall. She was so exhausted and she wished Aai would go away. She didn't want to talk to anyone.
As Sarthak and Anupriya took leave, Malhar thanked them for agreeing to his request. He picked Moksh in his arms and went into their bedroom. She was laying on the bed, her back towards him.
He knew she was pretending to sleep but he didn't say anything. He left moksh on the bed, freshened and changed. He switched off the lights, put Moksh to sleep and closed his eyes. His mind was occupied with his work front and also hoping that his idea would work and she would stop exerting herself.
Edited by rekha1975 - 5 years ago