Chapter 4

Ice-Scream Parlor

Tarika was still staring at Adi with shocked face, her eyes were widened in shock, and her eyebrows lines were twitched together clearly reflecting the confusion created in her mind due to Adi's reply, she was still staring at Adi, her eyes fixed on his every little moment. Adi looked at her from corner of his eyes to avoid direct contact with her eyes which were demanding a reasonable answer which could clear the fuss in her mind. Adi got restless by her stare & he started sliding away from her such that he could escape from there, but even Tarika was alert, she acted fast & held Adi's wrist firmly so that he didn't run away, she hold adi by his shoulders & made him face her, now both were facing each other.

Tarika (with her tone firm) Aditya ..(Adi who had lowered his gaze in fear; Tarika called out his name, in stricter manner) Aditya dekho meri taraf..(After listening her tone, Adi has to move his gaze towards her) Aditya mujhe sach-sach batao ki tume iss incident ke baremain kasie pata?

Adi replied back in fear but due to fear he started fumbling) who—who haan mujhe salunkhe sir ne bataya..

Tarika: impossible..uss waqt date par main aur ABhijeet hi the..tho salunkhe sir ko kasie pata hoga? ( she raised her eyebrow in suspicion )

Adi started trembling more, he felt loss of words..but still he managed to think some excuse : may be Abhijeet ..I mean Abhijeet uncle ne bataya ho..

Tarika: yeh tho next to impossible hain..agar yeh baat Abhijeet salunkhe sir ko bata tha, tho Ab tak Abhijeet jinda nhi hota..

(Adi started sweating with fear, he was completely dumbstruck at this situation, he started thinking more & more to find a perfect excuse which could satisfy Tarika atleast for that moment, but it seemed that nothing was getting in his big intelligent head. He felt that the End is near when suddenly tarika's grip on her shoulders loosened, Adi glanced at her, he realized that her eyes were closing & she was having a tough time to keep them open, after some time she started falling on Adi..Adi quickly managed to hold her from her shoulders & pushed her back to the chair, but it was quite impossible physically for a 8 yr old one to support a weight of adult person..Adi couldn't hole her longer, he realized that Tarika was going to fall flat on her face, but luckily he felt her weight as lighter as feather, her body was once again seated back to the chair, Adi glanced over her shoulders to catch a glimpse of that man who helped him & found an elderly man with familiar features looking down at him in disgusted manner, he snorted looking at him & occupied the seat next to Tarika, Adi also joined him & sat opposite to him & Tarika. Adi looked at him ,his face was expressionless staring back at Adi.

Adi : Salunkhe sir.., ..(but before he cud ask, the elderly man replied back with dejected look)

Elderly man: usske baremain na poochto toh behetar hain..kuch nhi pata laga..(& he let out a sigh; Adi looked at him, he was not expecting this answer, as a result this answer triggered his anger which he was storing since last few months. He burst out in anger, he loudly cried out "what?" his loud cry was noticed some last visitors who were standing near the counter & they all turned in his direction to check out the matter, Adi who was in anger didn't bother to have a look at the people, he banged his small hands on the table making a sound & shivering it a little bit,he pointed his finger to that elderly man expecting an answer from him..

Adi: are you kidding? Aapko idea bhi ki main kiss situation se gujar raha huin? Do you have any idea? ( Adi asked him, his fiery eyes were demanding a reply which cud make him feel better but the elderly man didn't budge out, he replied calmly staring through his specs at him..)

Elderly man: I think we shud move from here..I don't want you to create a scene & attract questioning gaze to you..understand? ( he got up from his chair) let's move..iss topic ko kissi aur jagah discuss karna theek rahega..

( then he caught Tarika by her shoulders & made her stand, since she was still unconscious, & started moving towards the car. Aditya realized his point & followed him towards Tarika's car, he then made her sit on the back seat & himself got seated on the driver's seat & then waited Aditya to seat next to him, when all were settled the car started & made his way towards Tarika's home. After driving fro few mins, they reached tarika's home, once again the man got up & pulled out Tarika from back seat, he made sure that Tarika don't get up, coz if she gets up now, he would have a tough time handling her , so the three started moving towards her home, aditya opened the door using tarika's keys. After that the man rested her in her bed, quickly covering her with sheets, he patted her forehead softly & mumbled " Sorry" for indirectly hurting her, then after checking she is still asleep he made his way towards the hall, he scanned the hall area in search of Aditya but he was nowhere to be found, he made his way towards his bedroom when he heard some sounds from kitchen, so he headed towards it & found Aditya messing with some cups, Aditya felt his presence. So he turned & asked him to made him comfortable in hall & he will be back in couples of mins with tea, the elderly man who was standing in kitchen entrance asked him whether he could managed, to which Adi replied that he will, so the man once again turned back towards the hall & made him comfortable on the sofa, he rested his head on the sofa's back & closed his eyes thinking or trying to figure out a way from the whole situation. But all got in vain, his mind was completely lost, it seemed that he had arrived at the DEAD END!

He started to have a feeling that it is the END of everything..& nothing can change back to normal..the things cannot exist now..the time 4 months back cannot be obtained now..Everything will change after this Truth..affecting everyone's life…

He turned his gaze towards the side table, where a photo frame was resting, he took it & moved his hand softly over it, remembering the happy incidents..he looked at the frame once again, he thought how happy they were..there smilng faces..but ..but after this incident, will smile on their face continue to live was the next immediate question that hit his mind..he was completely clue less, that how will he face Tarika, once the truth is out..how will he make her understand? How will he tell her that Abhijeet is…?

When his mind was shadowed by the worries & guilt, a small voice managed to broke his trance, it required some time for him to understand the whole situation..he stared back at the 8 yr one who was holding a tea cup in front of him, he repeated his sentence but this time louder " tea, salunkhe sahib.."

Salunkhe broke out from his trance & held out his hand to get hold of the cup, when Aditya noticed that his one hand is still holding a frame, Aditya took it from his hand to have a look at it, A smile crept on his face, it was a photo which was click during tarika's birthday, Tarika was standing & laughing very hard,dressed in blue color dress , surrounded by tasha who were also laughing on Abhijeet's expression, Abhijeet had a cake piece in his hand & his expression was like he was ready to cry at that moment, next to abhijeet was daya standing smiling broadly over Abhijeet's situation..& Salunkhe standing in middle of Abhijeet & Tarika with that wicked smile.

Actually it happened that Tarika had called every team member for her bday bash, After the cake was cut, all fed cake to Tarika, when it was Abhijeet's turn, salunkhe quickly managed to get in between & relished on the cake, which got the whole team split up in laughter after watching Abhijeet's pouted expression..& vivek managed to click in right time, capturing everyone's exact set of expressions..that was 2years back..

Aditya: remembering old time Sir?

Salunkhe nodded while stirring the spoon in his cup, Aditya also made him comfortable at the chair opposite to him, after taking few sips of the tea, Aditya managed to spoke..

Aditya : Sir..are u sure..it's impossible..

Salunkhe: (nodded) there is no way..

Aditya: so ab?

Salunkhe: I guess we have no other choice..I think it's a hightime ..we should tell her & him the truth..there is no point of keeping this as a secret..hume jald se jald Daya aur Tarika ko sachai batani hogi..

Aditya: I can't..main yeh nhi kar paonga..

Salunkhe: we have to..we don't have a choice..they have to accept the truth..sachai chupane ka ab koi fayda nhi hain..kyunki ab umeed ke sare darwaze band hogaye hain..

Aditya: sir,yeh aap keh rahe hain..aap hi kehte hain na ki umeed kabhi nhi chodni chaiye phir aaj..aur wasie bhi Sir, jiss din unn dono ka sachai pata lagegi na, tab pata nhi kya hoga..

Salunkhe: toh kya aise hi unn dono ka andhere main jeene de?

Aditya: nhi Sir..maine kuch socha hain..

Salunkhe: kya?.

Aditya : sir, maine yeh socha hain ki…( & aditya explained salunkhe about his plan..after explaining ) tho yeh hain mera plan..

Salunkhe got furious about hearing this

Salunkhe (angrily) Pagal hogaye ho? ( trying his voice to be soft as possible..) jante bhi ho isske baad uun par kya gujregi? Andaza bhi nhi kar paynge hum..

Aditya: tho aur koi rasta hain aapke pass? Jab unnhe sachai pata lagegi na toh who dono toh wasie hi toot jaynge..Daya ko tho shayd hum ek baar sambhal paiye..par Tarika ka kya? Iss sachai ka ata chalne ke baad who aapni zindagi kabhi naye seere se chalu nhi akregi..she will not move on..I want her to move on..I want her to be happy & move on from Abhijeet's memory..I don't want her to suffer..

Salunkhe: par..

.Aditya: nhi salunkhe sir..ab hum yahi karenge..unnki jindagi bachana keliye hum yeh kadam uthana hi padega..

Salunkhe was not convinced with this point but he knew that they don't have any other option, so he agreed..

Next Day

Tarika's home

The light fluttered in through the window panes passing through the white curtains finally falling on the beautiful face, her eyes were still closed, the constant rays on her eyes made her to come out from the deep slumber, she flickered her eyelids before opening her eyes fully,she rubbed her eyes & got up, she sat on her clumsy bed supporting her back to the wall, she stretched herself on the bed, then moved her hands to check the time towards the clock which was resting on the table, she looked at it, it said that it was only 9. She took her pin from the table & started pinning up her hair finally getting out of the bed, she walked towards the washroom when something caught her eyes, she moved towards the mirror & noticed that she was still wearing her previous night outfits & suddenly a thought entered her mind "why she was wearing the same outfit, instead of wearing a night dress? & what happened yesterday? She started thinking about the previous night incidents, she remembered that to make up Aditya's mood she took him to city's best mall, but it didn't worked, so they returned back toward home but before that they stopped at the ice-scream parlor..& then..

Tarika completely felt blank after this, she was not remembering anything after that..she was even unable to recollect when she drive back to her home & how did she got in her bed..

She tried straining her memory but she couldn't remember anything, she quickly moved towards Aditya's room to check him but she didn't found him, her face quickly turned worried she quickly headed towards hall way but he was not even there, she started getting panic attacks so she started calling his name "Aditya..Adi..kaha ho tum?" she cried out..

When she heard her name being called out, she quickly turned & found another girl with chocolate colored eyes, staring at her & smiling, she had her hair left open & was wearing a yellow shirt with brown kepri under it..

She came forward & handed Tarika a coffee cup, Tarika took it..

Tarika: tum kab aayi tasha?

Tasha: tum jab ghode bechkr so rahi thi..(Tarika smiled back..) aare Aditya ka subha call aya tha..

Tarika: (confused) Adi ka?

Tasha: haan..usne kaha ki tumahri tabiyat theek nhi hain issliye ussne mujhe bulaya liya..

Tarika: meri tabiyat theek nhi hain..meri tabiyat ko kya hua? Aur Adi kaha hain ab?

Tasha: who park main khelen gaya hain..

Tarika: oaky..par Adi ne aisa kyu kaha ki meri tabiyat theeek nhi hain?

Tasha (shrugged back while settling on sofa with newspaper) pata nhi..jab aaye toh pooch lena uss se..

Tarika: hmmm..(thinking) Adi ne aisa kyu kaha? Aur kal raath kya hua? Mujhe kuch yaad kyu nhi aaraha?..

Meanwhile, City hospital Morgue

Salunkhe & Aditya are standing staring at the dead body which was kept in front of him.

Salunkhe: are u sure ki daya aur Tarika ko hume yeh batana hain?

Aditya: yes sir..unnhe yeh batana hi hoga..

Salunkhe: okay..main lash ko forensic lab le jane ki tayari karta huin..

Aditya: hmm..

A.N

Okay, Thanks a lot guyz with your awesome reviews & support :D

Thanks once again!

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