"Tarika, tu aa rahi hai na aaj raat ko?" Priya asked.

Priya and Himanshi had become companions to her. Though they couldn't replace Shreya or Purvi, they didn't spare any efforts to make her feel at home.

"Priya wo…"

"Kya hua?" Himanshi placed her hand on Tarika's shoulder, "Apne boyfriend se baat nahi ki?"

FLASHBACK:

Tarika had just been invited by her senior, forensic expert, Dr. Tripathi to a night out. It was the first informal meeting ever since she had joined.

Tarika had been fiddling with her phone, when Himanshi nudged her.

"H-himanshi… tu yaha lab mein?"

"Tripathi madam se report lene aayi thi."

"Tu andar kab aayi?"

"Jabse tu phone ko dekh kar muskura rahi thi."

"Mein..mein kaha muskura – "

"Boyfriend ko phone kar rahi hai na? Night out ke liye?"

"Nahi…mein toh bus –"

"Karle karle…. Hum log bhi akele kaha aane waale hain."

"Himanshi tu kuch bhi – "

"Madam… Senior Inspector Abhijeet is not the only detective in the world. Hum log bhi hain. Haan lekin ye baat alag hai ki iss waqt kisi detective skills ki zaroorat nahi padi."

Tarika couldn't help the slight blush that was appearing on her cheeks on hearing his name. Was she so madly in love?

"Ye jo aap unka photo dekh kar mann hi mann muskura rahi hain na," Himanshi gestured at the picture of Abhijeet on her phone, "isse dekh kar koi bhi chutki mein pehchaan jayega ki aap muskura kyu rahi hain."

"Himanshi ! tu na –"

"Haan bas bas... excuses mein baad mein baad mein sunn sakti hu. Waqt rehte usko call bhi karle… arrey yaar usko Mumbai se yaha tak aana bhi hai."

As Himanshi left the lab without giving her a chance to speak another word, Tarika dialled his number.

"Tarika ji…"

"Hiii."

"Aaj lab nahi gayin?"

"Lab se hi baat kar rahi hu."

"Kuch khaas baat hai?"

"Kyu? Bina kisi khaas baat ke aapko yaad nahi kar sakti ?"

"Kar toh sakti hain magar…"

"Magar?"

"Magar," he spoke with a dramatic sigh, "Ab humari itni kismat kaha."

If he were in front of her, she would have given him a playful punch on his arm.

"Gustaakhi maaf karein," her voice matched his in its dramatism though its tinge of laughter gave it away, "yu bewaqt phone kiya."

"Ab aapne gustaakhi ki hai toh saza bhi milegi."

"Saza bhi Manzoor hai lekin pehle aap meri puri baat toh sunn lijiye."

"wo…" Tarika added after a moment of hesitation.

"Kya hua Tarika sab theek hai na? Tum-tumhari tabiyat toh theek hai? Mein – "

"Abhijeet…saans toh le lo. Sab theek hai."

"Toh phir kaho na kya baat hai."

"Wo yaha Forensic in charge ne purey CID team ko informal party mein invite kiya hai. Sab log apne…mera matlab hai…kya tum aaoge aaj raat ko?"

There was a brief pause. It was almost an eerie, uncomfortable sort of silence.

"Tarika," his tone suddenly turned rough, "Tum ache se jaanti ho ki mein busy hu."

"Abhijeet mein bas aaj raat ki –"

"Doctor Tarika please, if you would excuse me."

"Abhijeet ye," she made no efforts to conceal her disappointment, "ye tumhe achanak – "

"Haan Daya abhi aaya – "

Tarika smiled wryly as she heard him apparently speak to Daya. She knew this ploy extremely well. He used this pretence often when he didn't want to speak with someone. Well, more often than not, there really was some work. But she knew him well enough to know that this was pretence, not work and definitely not Daya calling him.

Little did she know that he would ever have to use such pretence for avoiding her. She sighed. They couldn't even hold one small conversation without fighting. Had they really come to this?

FLASHBACK OVER.

"Tarika," Himanshi gave a gentle pat on her shoulder, "Kya soch rahi hai?"

Tarika shook her head.

"Kuch nahi yaar wo bas… Mein nahi aa paungi."

"Tarika yaar," Priya protested, "Ye Dr. Tripathi hain Dr. Salunkhe nahi. Aur tu toh jaanti hai ki informal meetings toh bas naam se informal hoti hain. Tu nahi aayi toh wo tujhe galat samjhengi."

"Par yaar Abhijeet busy hain aur tum sab kisi na kisi ke saath aaoge. Mein akeli –"

"Aap akeli kyu jayengi?" All three of them turned when they heard a male voice, "if you don't mind, may I accompany you Dr. Tarika?"

Tarika hesitated for a moment. But then she remembered how rude Abhijeet had been to her. She couldn't ruin her prospects just because he busy. How many girls had he gone out with because of his duty anyway?

And why was she even guilty? She wasn't going on a date with this Saurav. Well, it was almost like a multiple couple date but Saurav and she, they both knew that this was meaningless. They were doing this only because they didn't have anyone else to accompany them and going was important.

"Sure Saurav. We'll keep each other company."

"Le…ab toh teri problem solved na. Ab toh tu khush hai na?"

Tarika forced a smile, choosing not to say anything.

"Tera mood toh abhi bhi kharab kharab lag raha hai."

"Nahi Priya. I'm okay."

"Toh theek hai…massage rehne detein hain."

"Kya matlab?"

Priya showed Tarika 3 already paid passes for a luxury massage. Tarika smiled in nostalgia. She always fancied massages but Abhijeet … he couldn't stand them. He would stop her from getting them under one pretext or the other.

Ah that man! When did he ever miss an opportunity to be over-protective?

Now that she was really, really angry with him, she assumed all the rights to do everything that would drive him crazy. And by driving him crazy, she did not mean in a good way.

She wanted to retaliate and so she would.

"Arrey yaar," Tarika spoke as cheerfully as she could, "massage kaun chhodta hai. Wo bhi free ka!"

"Toh 6 baje done?"

"Done."

"Uske baad hum Tarika ko ghar drop kar denge. Phir Saurav tum use pick up kar lena."

Saurav winked at Tarika.

"You'll have the time of your life," he said, moving a little closer to her.

Tarika felt a strange emotion overtaking her. Had she done something wrong by accepting Saurav's offer?

Surely, he wasn't trying to hit on her… at least that's what she liked to believe.

A/N : That's all for the day folks.

Please do review.

Reupdated for those who missed the chapter because I updated two chapters at one go and didn't mention :P