A/N: Please review previous chapters before reading this one. I want review for each and every chapter guys.
Next Day:
Time 5:30 pm:
Tarika parked her car outside the gate and got down…. Going up to the gate she mumbled…
Tarika(murmuring to herself): Pehle ek watchman rakhna padega…. Har baar car me aati hoon, to utarke gate kholna pad raha hai…. (Going back to the car and starting it) Aur ghar ke saari taraf plants to lagva di, shouk se… Lekin uski paramarsh! Oh ho… Tarika… Get real… Back to office, you wouldn't even have time to look at them…. (Driving in and stopping the car) Better get a watchman cum gardener soon…
Tarika walked back to the gate to lock it, but stopped thinking, looking at the neighbour house…
Tarika: Use bulake laaon? (Shaking her head) Nai baba nai… Ayegi to kaam karne nahi degi…. Purchasing ko unke jagahon me rakhke thodi der baad jaake le aati… Abi tak to time hai, I had said aunty that I would come around six… (Walking back to the car) If she is here, the whole house would get scattered with the things… Over enthusiastic…. She will keep checking what is this, what is that…
Tarika took out the purchases from the car and went to the house…. Opening the door she went in and deposited the bags on the centre table… Tired she sat down relaxing a bit…
She stretched herself a bit to relieve of the stress in her body and said….
Tarika: Lagta hai khud ke liye shopping karna asaan hai, been a woman… But shopping for house… Jab akeli thi tab to itna shopping nahi ki… Aaj dekho… Aadhe se zyada samaan uske liye hai…. Chocolates, noodles, vegetables, fruits… Itne saare for her fried rice, pulao…. Everything according to her taste! Pehle thoda sa le aati, to ek hafte se zyada chalta tha…. Baap re! (Then smiling) Nai nai… Khaana hai use… Bachchi hai…. Mere hi nazar naa lag jaaye…
Just then she saw the hall littered with color books and color pencils…. A game of scrabble, which seemed to have been played, was also lying near by… Surprised she was just trying to understand how this could happen… Because when she left the house everything was in its place!
Just then sensing someone beside her Tarika jerked to look up and stood up shocked….
Tarika: Abhijit!
Abhijit winked at her and smiled broadly….
Tarika took a look at him and couldn't help smiling… Abhijit was wearing her apron, with a newspaper made chef hat on his head…. He was holding a tray of coffee mugs…
Tarika: Abhijit! Tum yahan kya kar rahe ho? Aur ye sab?
Shaking her head, Tarika tried taking the tray from him, but Abhijit stubbornly held it in his hand and said….
Abhijit: No… Sirf one cup milega….
Saying Abhijit took one cup of coffee and extended it to her….
Tarika(Smiling): Abhijit!
Abhijit indicated the mug in his hand, which Tarika took and repeated her question….
Tarika: Abhijit! Tum yahan kya kar rahe ho?
As if in answer to her question Adisha came out exclaiming….
Adisha: Hi Mamma!
She came and hugged Tarika around her waist... Tarika bent down and kissed her forehead… She further tilted her head and saw that Adisha was holding a bowl of noodles in her hand….
Tarika: Adisha! Ye sab kya hai?
Adisha had started on the almost finished noodles again, when she just looked at Tarika….
Adisha: Mamma don't know this also? (Showing her the bowl) This is called noodles... You only tell naa!
Tarika(Hand on her hip): Adisha! Tumhe pata hai ki main iske baare me nahi pooch rahi... Uncle aur...
Abhijit(Interrupting): Tarika… Main batata hoon… Pehle tum baitho to sahi…
Saying Abhijit took hold of her arm and made her sit down…. Adisha sat opposite on the other sofa, immersed in her noodles….
Abhijit: Kuch nahi Tarika… Bas vo main is tarah guzar raha tha to socha tu... Er… Adisha se miloon…. Aaya to ghar band tha…. I was just going back, when I saw Adisha playing in the neighbour house…. Phir ussse wahan mila aur wahan ki aunty se permission leke Adisha ko ghar laya…. Apni poori credentials dikhake hi…. She was cautious… Lekin mujhe tv par dekha hai to easily identify kar deen…. Bas main aur Adisha kuch khel rahe the…. And that's about it! Kyun mujhe nahi aana chahiye tha?
Tarika looked at Abhijit and at Adisha who seemed not interested in the talks going on…. Then thinking she asked….
Tarika: Office nahi hai Abhijit? Is waqt yahan ho? Office me hona chahiye tha naa tumhe?
Abhijit and Adisha look sideways at each other…. Abhijit indicated to Adisha with his eyes… Nothing of this small act missed Tarika's sharp eyes….
Looking back at Tarika….
Abhijit: Vo… Er… Tarika… Office hai naa… Lekin yahan ek criminal… Haan… Criminal ko pakadne aaya tha… Was going back to the office only, when I came here….
Tarika: Achcha? Kitne baje aaye?
Abhijit (Knowing the neighbour would verify the timing): Around four…. Bas… Anyways it was office ending time…. To….
Abhijit stopped his continuous explanation as Tarika walked over to him…. Looking up at him she smiled….
Tarika: Dopahar ko jo case khatam uske criminal ko Abhijit shaam ke chaar baje pakadne jaata hai! Should be written in history with golden words!
Abhijit looked at her surprised wondering how she knew about the case getting over in the afternoon.…. From her back he noticed Adisha looking stunned, noodles hanging from her mouth….
Smiling Tarika turned to look at Adisha… Going up to her, she took the fork and fed her the dangling noodles and said, to Abhijit actually…
Tarika: Tumhe jhooth bolna nahi aata Abhijit… (Getting up to look at him) Kitna reherse karvaya isne (Indicating Adisha) tumhe?
Adisha(Exclaiming): Mamma! Me do nothing… Uncle chance aaye the…. Maine thode unhe call karke bulaya… Vo…
Adisha stopped seeing Tarika look at her.… She knew she was caught…. She hung her head down and sideways looked at Abhijit, who indicated that he would take care…
Abhijit: Tarika… Chodo naa… Kaise bhi main aaya… Main to waise bhi soch raha tha ki Adisha ko dekhoon…
Tarika: Abhijit! Tumhe Adisha se milna hai to zaroor aa sakte ho… Lekin is badmaash ke aise phone karne par nahi… (Looking at Adisha) Adisha beta… Wrong thing… Uncle ko office tha naa ?
Adisha but the bowl on the table and went and stood by Abhijit, who held her hand…
Adisha: But uncle was free…. He said… Aur mujhe bhi bore ho raha tha naa… You left me for sopping!
Tarika(Sternly): Warna kya karti? Ye aaj ka samaan mujhe kal khareedna tha…. Tumhe leke gayi… Mere targeted budget se duguna hua… And what we bought everything for you…. Ghar ke liye kuch bhi nahi khareeda... Aaj bhi agar leke jaati, to kal ke dugune se chou guna ho jaata...
Adisha:(Making an angry face): But mamma only buying…. So Adisha asking!
Tarika(Mimicking Adisha): Haan haan…. Mamma buying… Adisha asking! Kyunki tumhe pata hai ki tum jo kuch bhi poochti ho, main mana nahi kar sakti...
At this Adisha went to Tarika and extending her hand asked smiling….
Adisha: So where's my chocy?
Tarika looked down at Adisha shrinking her eyes… Seeing Adisha's super confident face she couldn't help smiling… But suppressing it, she shook her head and said….
Tarika: No… Nahi milega… Jo galat hai, vo galat hai!
Saying Tarika went and sat on the sofa, folding her hands, with mock anger on her face…. Adisha kept looking at her for a while and then looked at Abhijit….
Abhijit looked at her pitifully thinking what Adisha would do now… He wanted to help her, but was at a loss of how to do it… He went and knelt beside Adisha and whispered in her ears…
Abhijit: Main aapki mamma se baat karoon… I am sure vo meri to baat maneingi…
Tarika(From her place): Kisi ko kisi ki recommendation leke aane ki zaroorat nahi hai… Main nahi manane waali!
Adisha looked at Abhijit and shrugged her shoulders…. She pulled him closer and whispered in his ears…
Adisha: Uncle… Mamma ko kaise manana hai ye Adisha ko aata hai… Just wait and watch!
Saying Adisha went and stood in front of Tarika, as Abhijit stood watching amused… Tarika turned in her seat looking away from Adisha… Adisha immediately went and again stood in front of Tarika catching her ears….
Adisha: Mamma chorry!
Seeing her face, Tarika's heart melt, but still... Stern she again turned this side and Adisha again came this side, catching her ears….
Adisha: Please mamma!
Tarika turned away her face and Adisha stood thinking for a while… Then she climbed the sofa and went behind Tarika… From behind she hugged Tarika and kissed her on her cheek…
Then hitting Tarika's head with her head lightly, Adisha said…
Adisha: Adisha is chorry mamma!
At this how could anyone not smile… Tarika smiled and turning her head, kissed Adisha… She then pulled Adisha from behind onto her lap and said…
Tarika: No more disturbing anyone unnecessarily… Okay? (Showing her palm)
Adisha: Okies! (Hitting Tarika's palm and immediately showing her palm) My chocy!
Tarika chuckled at this and let Adisha down…. Then ruffling from the covers on the table she extracted a big diary milk…. Seeing it Adisha tried to get it from her…. But Tarika took it out of her reach….
Tarika: Uh… Uh… Pehle mera commission….
Saying Tarika knelt down… Adisha kissed her again on her cheeks and in the process grabbed the chocolate from Tarika's hands and ran off outside… Seeing her go Tarika smiled….
Tarika looked up at Abhijit and saw him looking at the door… She didn't know Abhijit liked Adisha so much within a day, that one phone call from her had made Abhijit , Senior Inspector, CID to take few hours permission from office!
Tarika(Getting up and going up to Abhijit): I am sorry Abhijit…. Adisha ke wajah se tumhare kaam me…
Abhijit(Turning to look at her immediately): Tarika! Koi kaam nahi ruka… Waise bhi I was free for the moment… Ek bahana ho gaya….
Tarika(Teasing): Dopahar ke case ka paper work khatam hua?
Abhijit looked at her and smiling said….
Abhijit(Shaking his head): Uh uh…. Vo kya hai na aaj ACP saab chute pe hain. Wo unke relation ke marriage peg aye hain. Tho unke gair haaziri me paper work nahi hota hai you see!
Tarika(Smiling broadly): I see very well… Issliye CID ki acting head ne sabko chute dedi paper work se. Wapas aake agar koi paper work pending ho to, dekh lena kahin ACP par tumhe kacha jaba nahi jaye.!
Abhijit: Vo jab ayenge tab dekha jayega !
Tarika: Abhijit!
Then she tried to get off the newspaper hat from his head, when Abhijit caught her hand and stopped her…
Abhijit: Kya kar rahi ho?
Tarika: Abhijit! Ab to is khel ko band karo…. Lekin tumhe khaana sab banane ki kya zaroorat thi ? (Concerned) Bahut sataya usne?
Abhijit: Tarika! Bachchi hai… Unke shararaton ko satana nahi kehte…. Shaam ho gayi, to use bhook lagne lagi... Mujhe jo kuch bhi aata hai maine uske liye banaya... Noodles hi to hai, so was no problem...
Tarika looked at him silently smiling a little, about Abhijit been so considerate towards Adisha...
Her looks made Abhijit look back at her thinking how much Tarika loved Adisha… Even when she was away these two hours, Adisha had always talked a lot about her… Mamma does this, mamma does like this, she is this, she is that… Open her mouth and there would not be four sentences continuously without Tarika been mentioned….
Tarika lowered her eyes not able to look more into those boring deep eyes and saw that Abhijit held her hand…. She looked up suddenly at him with an embarrassed expression… Puzzled Abhijit looked down and saw that he held Tarika's hand still…
And only then did both realise that the process had got them very close….
Slowly Abhijit slackened his grip and Tarika too released her hand from his…. A third person seeing from a distance would definitely think that neither of them wanted to release their holds from each other's….
Tarika released her hand from Abhijit's and slowly took a hesitant step backward… Abhijit too took a step forward, both of them still looking at each other….
Tarika turned around and went back to the centre table… She took a coffee mug and felt it….
Not looking towards Abhijit…
Tarika: Coffee thandi ho gayi… Garam karke laati hoon…
Saying Tarika took back the two mugs into the kitchen…
Abhijit smiled a little seeing her go… Then hearing some noise he went to the window in the hall, facing the front of the house and looked out…
Adisha was lying back on the lawn, putting her one leg over the other eating her chocolate, singing something at the same time…
Adisha was so naughty, mischievous and bubbly…. She spoke a lot… When she had called him, he had received a pleasant surprise…. And it was true that he did want to see her again, but he didn't know what was right…. But Adisha's call came as an excuse for him…. Adisha was in the neighbour house and Abhijit did have to prove himself before bringing Adisha home…. Been extra careful was important nowadays… Adisha showed all her colouring books to him and together they had colored few pages, played the game of scrabble…. In the first round Abhijit had won, obviously… But Adisha became upset and from then on Abhijit lost all the rounds they played…..
In between Adisha had started to feel hungry…. Abhijit was helpless at the situation not knowing how to handle it…. Then both of them together raided the kitchen and got out Adisha's favorite noodles…
Adisha had insisted Abhijit wear an apron because it seems Tarika always wore one while in the kitchen… So Adisha brought out Tarika's apron for her… To make the moment more enjoyable, Abhijit had made the newspaper chef hat pinning it here and there…. Seeing it Adisha had liked it very much and both of them started on their mission noodles….
Abhijit couldn't help laughing thinking about his state in the kitchen…
Abhijit had tried to make one first, where he had forgotten to put in the sauce maker…. He tried the second time, successfully putting in the powder, but the whole dish which had gone very watery…. And Adisha doesn't like watery noodles it seems…. So he had tried to make one again which had gone too hard and was uncooked… Finally the fourth time he had got it right… And by that time he was all perspiring, but Adisha was happy with her noodles…
He remembered….
During a conversation when Abhijit was making the second pack of noodles….
Adisha was sitting on the counter nearby drinking juice…
Abhijit(Waiting for the water to boil): Beta…Ek baat batayeingi?
Adisha: No secet then Adisha telling….
Abhijit: Haan… Haan... No secret…. (Putting in the noodles) Kal mujhe dekhte hi aapne hume pehchaana bhi? Aapne hume dekha hai kya pehle?
Adisha: Nai to! Lekin photos dekhe hain naa... Mamma ki vo... Er… Vo kuch hota hai naa?
Abhijit(Understanding that Adisha was in search of a word again):Vo kya beta? Kuch to bolengi to kuch kar sakta hoon….
Adisha: Wahi naa uncle, jisme mamma aise aise karti hai….
Saying Adisha imitated the typing action…
Abhijit(Understanding): Oh laptop?
Adisha: Haan lappy…. Mamma mujhe sab kuch dikhati hai…. Sabke photos hain usme... Tasha aunty ki, Vivek uncle, Funny Freddy uncle, Daya uncle, aapki, Docy boss ke…. Sabki….
Abhijit was surprised with all these informations coming from Adisha…Even about their habits…. Because when Adisha had seen him yesterday she had asked him a lot of questions which was his habit… about coffe….He wondered more as of what and all Tarika shared with such a small girl….
Abhijit(Putting in the sauce maker and wondering): Waise Adisha beta, aapne mujhe dekhke kal poocha tha ki yahan kisi ko chot nahi aayi hai…. Aapne aisa kyun poocha?
Adisha(Hitting her head): Uffo uncle… Aap to sab bhool jaate ho… Aapka oppice kaam hai naa ye!
Abhijit(Looking at her puzzled):Office ka kaam?
Adisha: Haan… Mamma kehti hain ki aap log naa un sab ko punish karte ho, jo doosron ko chot pahoonchate hain… Isliye chot karna bad thing hai!
Abhijit(Thinking): Tho Adisha ko pata hai ki aapki maa kya kaam karti hain?
Adisha: UNCLE! Maa nahi mamma…
Abhijit(Smiling): Okay… Mamma…. Aapki mamma kya karti hain oppice me?
Adisha: Pata hai naa…. Mamma chot ko dekhke batati hai ki unhe kaise laga...
Abhijit was impressed with the way Tarika had explained about her job to such a small girl… Any kid would want to know what their father or mother's job was… But he knew that police job was the difficult job to explain to kids, especially in the case of CID where they dealt mostly with murder jobs…He was certainly impressed with the way Tarika had explained her job… In an easy language Forensics did mean that, finding how the person was hurt…. Meaning, how he or she was murdered….
Abhijit(Getting back to reality): Ah… Adisha beta aapka noodles ready hua!
Saying Abhijit titled the pan into a bowl and putting in a fork extended it for Adisha to see… Happily Adisha took a fork of noodles and her happy expression turned sour…
Abhijit(Seeing her expression): Kya hua beta? Achcha nahi bana?
Adisha(Shaking her head): Tchch… Very water uncle… Adisha no likes water noodles!
Abhijit(Looking into the bowl): Hein ! Achcha!? Theek hai! Ek aur bana deta hoon…
Saying Abhijit emptied the noodles into the bin and started making a new one while Adisha munched on some biscuits…
Abhijit had also decided to make coffee for Tarika and thought of surprising her… Surprising her! Thinking about it Abhijit wondered why he thought of doing that for Tarika… Was he in any way trying to please her? Was it right to do those NOW! Stunned he tried to understand under what circumstances he had decided to make coffee for Tarika….. He couldn't remember and wondered what was happening to him!
Just then…
Tarika: Abhijit coffee!
Abhijit looked around and saw that Tarika had two coffee mugs in her hand…. Abhijit just smiled and took a cup… He turned back and saw that Adisha was now chasing the birds and squirrels in her garden which had come to feed on the plants and flowers…
Tarika sipping her coffee was just walking back to the sofa to be seated when Abhijit called out to her…
Abhijit: Tarika!
Tarika stopped in her tracks and turned around just as Abhijit too turned around…
Abhijit(Guilty): Sorry! Vo kitchen ki halat kuch theek nahi hai!
Tarika(Sternly): Pata hai... Dekha tha... Ganda jisne bhi kiya hai, usi ko saaf bhi karna hai!
Abhijit(Seriously): Sure sure... Main khud clean karke hi jaoonga! I...
Tarika(Chuckling): Abhijit! Its okay! I was joking... Main kar loongi!
Abhijit: No its okay... I'll help...
Tarika: Abhijit! It is okay! Waise bhi tumne meri Adisha ke liye hi kiya naa? So anyways it becomes my responsibility... I'll take care!
Abhijit just smiled and looked at her and opened his mouth, but shut it again... How could Abhijit's hesitation miss Tarika's eyes? She could read that he wanted to ask her something…
Tarika: Haan Abhijit, you want to ask something?
Abhijit: Tumse… (Hesitantly) Tumse kuch poochna tha!
Tarika(Walking up to him): Mujhse kab se tum permission maangne lage Abhijit?
Abhijit(Smiling): Thank you! Bas tumhare aur Adisha ke baare me hi….
Tarika's face lost her smile at this wondering what Abhijit was asking about? Had Adisha said something or did he want to know himself?
Tarika(Forcing a smile): Bolo Abhijit…
A/N: Thank you for the reviews. A reviewer asked about Daya and Akshara track. That will be covered later dear. Till then enjoy Abhirika and Adu.