Several months had passed. Tarika felt perfectly content with how things were going - both at work and in her personal life. Abhijeet seemed busier than usual but he always made time to talk to her, they went on long-drives and weekend dates whenever their schedules didn't clash. Of course, she missed seeing him everyday, falling asleep on his shoulders after a tiring day and working together on cases. But that would be asking for too much, wouldn't it?
She sighed, hoping that her posting after this deputation would be Mumbai.
Tarika was still thinking about him, when her phone rang.
"Abhijeet!" she picked up instantly.
"Hello! Tarika ji."
"Tumhare baare mein hi soch rahi thi."
"Ye toh badi achi baat hui."
"Acha!" she teased, "Mein tumhe yaha miss kar rahi thi aur tum ho ki…"
"Toh mulakat ho jaye?"
"Tum Pune aa rahe ho?" she was excited.
"Mein ek case ke silsile mein yahi hu toh socha aapse bhi mil lu."
"Aaj yahi rahoge?"
"Baaki baatein milke karenge na Tarika ji. Mein aapko address text kar deta hu."
"Abhi milna hai?"
"Busy ho?"
"Mein aati hu."
…
…
…
She reached the location. It was a posh looking, newly built flat.
"Abhijeet?"
The door was open, so she walked inside.
"Abhijeet?"
She went inside all three bedrooms. No trace of him.
She was about to call him when she received a text message.
Urgent work came up.
Meet me at flat 39, shalimar palace?
That was a half an hour drive.
Tarika sighed, trying not to be angry. Maybe ACP sir sent him there. And he couldn't argue with the boss, could he?
When she reached the new address, she still couldn't find her boyfriend. Instead, he texted the address of another flat.
…
…
…
"Abhijeet where the hell are you?" she almost yelled at him over the phone, after having searched the third flat.
"Sorry, sorry Tarika, mujhe waha se nikalna pada."
"I swear to you Abhijeet, if you text me one more address -"
"How about I meet you at home?"
"..."
"Come on na Tarika"
"Hmpf!"
"You know I wouldn't do this to you if it weren't important."
"..."
"Tarika ji?"
"Darn," she spoke in a made up grumpy tone, "Why are you so cute! See you there."
…
…
…
When she reached her home, the door was already unlocked and Abhijeet was standing at the threshold. In his grey shirt and black suit, and the ever-so-slight smile on his face, he looked dangerously inviting.
"Aren't you a little overdressed for the case?" Tarika teased, trying to underplay the effect he had on her.
"Why, you don't like it?"
Her eyes lingered on his lips as she looked at him again.
Sexy.
She felt her own lips tingle.
His silky straight hair, those piercing brown eyes, it was impossible to take her eyes off him.
"Tarika?"
"No… I mean, you look… wow but…"
"Shall we talk inside?"
Tarika nodded. As they walked inside, the whole living room was dark except for the candles on the small foldable table. The table looked beautiful, with fancy napkins, white wine and her favourite food. There was a chair on each side, the first of which Abhijeet pulled for her.
"Abhijeet, this is perfect," she gave him a quick peck on the cheek before sitting down.
"It's all food from your favourite restaurant," he said, smiling as he sat down.
"It's delicious," she said, taking a bite of the lasagna.
"So… how was your day?"
"Well, I was with the trainees. Two of them threw up."
"Ugh!"
"That was the least disgusting part of my day."
"Moving on."
"Thought you'd be used to it by now," Tarika giggled.
"I thought so too. It's why I asked a forensic scientist how her day was."
This made her giggle even more.
"So… you were carrying all this stuff with you on a case?"
"Ahem," Abhijeet cleared his throat, "Actually, Tarika… there was no case. I've been on leave for a week."
"You're worrying me."
"And in the last few months, I made more than a few visits to Pune without telling you."
She took a few moments to respond.
"Abhijeet…" there was an unmistakable quiver in her voice, "What's going on?"
He took a deep breath, as though he was mustering courage to speak to her. This worried her even more.
"What's going on is… I miss you. I miss being with you often. I love our long conversations Tarika but I miss seeing your hair bounce when you laugh or the way your eyelashes flutter when you're sleepy. It's almost been a year since you moved here. And I don't want to go another year like this. What's going on is… I've realized you're far too important in my life for us to be apart. I don't care what comes next or where you're posted next year. The fact is, I want to be with you today. That's why I've decided I'm renting a house here, in Pune. What's going on is… I am in love with you, Dr. Tarika."
She felt blood rush to her cheeks, as she willed herself to reply. He had said it, after all these years, after they had almost lost each other.
He had finally said it.
He really had.
"I… I love you too," she said, barely above a whisper.
She leaned across the table and took his palm in hers. They sat like that for a few moments, their brains processing everything that had happened. It felt good, to say to aloud, to call him hers. And although she knew it all along, it felt good to hear him say it.
"I love you," Abhijeet almost laughed, "I love you."
"I love you too," she squeezed his palm, reassuring him.
"Told you I wouldn't keep you waiting."
"You didn't keep me waiting?" she rolled her eyes.
"Well, you only put it out there a few months ago."
"That's debatable."
"What do you mean?"
"What do I mean? I gave you hints."
"You could've given me words."
"I told you I liked you!"
"I… I… well, bad timing."
"I am just going to pretend I didn't hear that."
"Tarika?"
"Hmm?"
"You remember those three flats?"
"Since there was no case, I am assuming you're renting one of those?"
"Depends… do you like them?"
"Well, we could have gone flat seeing together. You almost drove me crazy."
"I wanted to surprise you and I needed time to set up. So I thought… why not."
"Mmm… well, fair enough. By the way, Abhijeet?"
"Hmm?"
"You said you're renting the house… and you already have a house in Mumbai which you have to maintain. Where is all the money from?"
"I worked a double shift. And, um, you already know about renting out a room."
Tarika's face fell. That was why he was always unavailable. That was why he couldn't visit on weekends… and he had to lie about going to Goa so that she wouldn't find out.
What a fool she had been!
There he was working hard so that he could surprise her and she… Her eyes brimmed with tears and before she knew it, she was engulfed into a hug.
"Hey, it's okay," Abhijeet patted her head as she buried it in his chest, "You did nothing wrong."
"But I did," her voice came out muffled.
"Alright… if you insist."
"Mmm."
"But you have a lifetime to make up for it."
She separated herself from him and looked at his face, squinting her eyes as she did so.
"Stop mocking me," she said, hitting his chest.
Abhijeet only ruffled her hair in response. He then looked at her empty plate.
"If you're done eating, let's dance?"
Taking her cue, Abhijeet turned on the music.
Holding her fingers, he spun her inwards. He then crossed his arms over her midriff.
"We'll get to do this more often," he bent down to whisper in her ear.
"Mmm," Tarika leaned closer to him, tilting her head so that their cheeks touched.
"Wait...how will you even go to work?"
"I'll be here on the weekend. And then I'll stay there 2 days, stay here 2 days… it… sounded better in my head."
"Well… " she turned around in his arms.
"Anyway, which one did you like the most? I mean, since I am renting a house, why not let you pick. I mean, you'd be visiting, right?"
He left her abruptly, looking at her in grave anticipation.
"Abhijeet," Tarika smiled at his nervousness, "I'll tell you what, let's search for some place in khopoli. It's close to both Pune and Mumbai. Till then, why don't you stay here… with me?"
"Ar-are you asking me to move in with you?"
"Mmm-hmm."
"And then we both move to khopoli?"
Tarika nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"That's perfect," he said, placing his hands on her waist.
Swaying slowly with the music, Abhijeet closed the distance between them, till her breasts rested on his torso, their touch soft and gently titillating. As she drew circles on his neck, his hands moved down her hips. Blowing on his neck, she pulled him closer to her, the thin fabric of her top giving away the contours of her body.
"Hope you're not tired," he whispered, slipping his fingers under her top.
"I don't plan on sleeping tonight," she said, before sealing his lips with hers.
A/N : That's it guys. We've reached the end of the story. Thank you for bearing with me and hope you enjoyed : )
