Chapter One

A man was sitting in his car, drumming his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, waiting for the traffic jam to clear. He had planned a dinner with his friends and he was already running late. The traffic cleared finally after what seemed like half an hour. He turned on the ignition but now much to his horror, his car refused to start. He tried and tried but all his efforts were in vain. People behind him were honking continuously, making his temper rise. People were so impatient these days!

He cursed under his breath, 'Iss gadi ko bhi abhi band padna tha' He got down and with help of two people moved the car to the curb and locked it. Fortunately, the railway station was just a few meters ahead. 'Aaj train se hi chala jata hu', he thought.

As he approached he heard the announcement that fast local for Churchgate would be arriving at 7.30. He consulted his watch. He had exactly two minutes.

Meanwhile at Palm tree Restaurant, Churchgate -

Senior Inspector Abhijeet checked his watch. 'Ye daya bhi na hamesha late aata hai. Aur ye tarika hamesha phone pe lagi rehti hai', he muttered glancing at his curly haired female colleague who was talking animatedly on her cellphone . 'Kaise dost hai mere', he sighed.

At the Railway station -

The man took a sprint up the staircase. He saw the train approaching from a distance. He descended down another staircase and shot up towards the platform. He was running at top speed, shoving the passengers out of the way without paying attention to their angry glances. He was almost there and then suddenly - WHAM!

He had bumped into someone.

'Ouch!', he heard a girl cry out. He turned back to look up at her. She was massaging her foot, shopping bags sprawled all over the platform floor. 'Dekh ke nai chal sakte kya?' she yelled at him.

'Sorry sorry, me jaldi me tha, dikhai nai diya, apko jyada chot to nai lagi?' he asked.

'Bas sorry bol diya to ho gaya?' She yelled at him, getting up. She looked to be in her mid thirtes. She was wearing a black t-shirt and jeans and had a very pretty face and big expressive eyes. 'Kya dekh rahe hau aap? Aur meri bags kaun uthaega?'

'Tum of course', he said shrugging.

'Kya?' she said angrily. 'Kitne battameez hai app!'

The man saw that the train had arrived. 'Dekhiye madam mai bohot jaldi me hoon nai to me apki help jaroor karta. Sorry once again', he said and ran towards the men's compartment. She stared after him angrily and started picking up her stuff.

An hour later, Palm tree Restaurant churchgate -

Daya, Abhijeet and Tarika were enjoying their dinner.

'Yaar kitne dino ke baad bahar aaye hai hum. Bohot accha lag raha hai' said Daya.

'Sach me yaar daya. Nai to din bhar hum mujrimo ke piche aur ye murdo ke' said Abhijeet.

Tarika laughed. 'Par ham enjoy bhi to karte hai na hamara CID ka job'.

'Haan wo to hai', said Abhijeet.

'Chalo kal sham sab movie dekhne chalte hai. Baki logon ko bhi puchte hai. Waise bhi kal Sunday hai. Aur case khatam ho gayi hai toh jyada kaam bhi nahi hoga' said Daya

'Kya? Film? Daya tum bhul to nai gaye kal tum dono ko ACP Sir ke saath party me jana hai' said Tarika

'Oh no! Mai sachme bhul gaya tha. Kya yaar movie dekhni thi mujhe. Par Major sahab se mile hame kitne saal ho gaye. Military training ke baad hamne dekha hi nahi hai unhe' said Daya.

'Haan main aaj bhi bohot miss karta hu wo din. Mai bohot excited hu Sir se milne ke liye.' said Daya.

'Haan aur ek baat. Bohot jald CID me ek naya member join honewala hai' said Abhijeet.

'Sach?! I hope koi ladka ho aur forensic lab me aaye. Me akeli bohot bore ho jati hu lab me' said Tarika.

'Bore kyu? Salunke Saab hai na tumhare saath?' asked Abhijeet glaring at her

'Haan par wo din bhar research me lage rehte he. Aur meri umar ka chaiye na koi.' said Tarika.

'Arey tarika par vo Vaibhav hai na tumhare saath?' said Daya with a naughty gri

Abhijeet looked up at daya angrily but Daya ignored him.

'Haan par Salunke Sir ne use 2 mahino ke liye training ke liye bheja hai.' said Tarika.

'Ohh. Umeed karta hoon koi forensic wala hi ho' said Daya.

Abhijeet had had too much. He got up to leave.

'Mujhe der ho rahi. Main chalta hoon. Tum log enjoy karo' he said.

'Yaar hum to bas majak kar rahe the. Tum toh serious hi ho gaye. Baith jao chup chap' said Daya laughing.

'Abhijeet please baitho mujhe ice cream khana hai. Aur waise bhi kisi ke ane se hamara rishta thodi badalne wala hai', she said and smiled at him.

Both were looking at each other completely ignoring Daya who was sitting nearby.

Daya coughed. 'Yaar me bhi hoon yaha pe! Ye tum dono ka romance baad me continue kar lena'

Abhijeet smiled and sat down and Tarika looked away finally breaking the eye contact.

Daya reached home at about 11.30 pm. He changed into his night clothes and settled on his bed. He drifted off to sleep immediately thinking about next day's party.