Written by Originals143. I do not own anything.

Missing You

Tarika gives an audible sigh while looking at her phone for one last time before putting it away on the bedside table. All of the five calls unreceived, messages unanswered.

Nobody is to be blamed for this, she thinks to herself. The week had been exceptionally busy for the CID team, she recalls Purvi telling her, with back to back cases being reported and unforgiving deadlines to meet. Of course, when Purvi herself was working around the clock, Tarika can only imagine how overburdened the second-in-command of the team would have been. As compared to the female inspector, he has more tasks to handle, more troubles to worry about and more people to answer to.

Being overwhelmed with a number of dead bodies constantly arriving at the forensic lab and reports which refused to let her get a moment of rest, Tarika herself is worn out and happily ready to call it a day. However, she cannot deny the fact that she misses him terribly, and wishes she could get to hear his voice at least.

Shaking her thoughts aside, she reaches over to switch off the light when her phone rings. Out of habit, she scrunches her face in irritation thinking it's another of the out-of-work-hours phone call, but her features soon take a drastic turn as she sees the caller ID.

"Hello!," says Tarika, keeping her voice as jovial as she can.

The person on the other end answers in a weak, tired voice. "Hi! Are you up?," asks the senior inspector and it doesn't take more than a second for the forensic doctor to sense the weariness in his voice.

"I was about to sleep. Where are you?," she asks.

"Just done with work. I saw your missed calls. Is everything alright?," enquires Abhijeet.

Tarika gives a long suffering sigh before answering, "yeah, everything's fine. It's just that I… I miss you, Abhijeet! We haven't even talked properly since a whole week!"

The sharp shooter smiles ruefully to himself. "I know, dear! I'm really sorry; I've been busy with so many things," he says apologetically.

"I'm not complaining, Abhijeet! I just… I just feel like listening to your voice sometimes… or seeing you, even if it's for a couple of minutes. It makes me happy!," replies the forensic doctor.

"I know!," whispers Abhijeet in a soft tone.

Pausing for a few seconds, Tarika asks, "When will I get to see you?"

"Very soon," answers Abhijeet, his voice more confident this time.

His girlfriend chuckles in spite of herself. "Okay. Let me know," she says.

"Will you wait for me, Tarika?," asks Abhijeet and when Tarika responds, he knows she's smiling, the effect reflecting in her eyes. She does that every time he asks her the question. And he falls for her every time she does that.

And indeed, she smiles- albeit in tiredness- as though he's there in front of her. "Of course I will, Abhijeet! I'll wait for you till the end of the world. You know that!," she says in a reassuring tone- which she dons every time, irrespective of whether or not he needs the assurance.

"Well then, your wait is over!" declares Abhijeet.

Tarika frowns in confusion. "Huh? What do you mean?," she asks.

"Open the door," instructs the senior inspector.

Needless to say, the forensic doctor does a double take at the statement. "Wh-" she starts to question, and as commanded, rushes to the main door to answer it.

When she does so, all of her lethargy, inhibitions and distress vanishes in a split of a second. There he is, standing before her, phone in one hand and giving her an extremely tired yet happy smirk.

Tarika releases a sound halfway between a laugh and a gasp and shakes her head at him in exasperation while ending the active phone call. He follows suit as he walks inside and closes the door behind him.

"I didn't expect it to be this soon!," exclaims Tarika, throwing her arms around his neck as his hands go around her waist almost immediately. How blissful it feels to be able to see him after being away for so many days! The forensic doctor can feel it in her soul.

The senior inspector breaks the hug and makes her look at him. "You're willing to wait for me till the end of the world. This is the least I can do for you," he mumbles before cupping her face and planting a languid kiss on her lips.

"What would I do without you?," says his girlfriend in a dramatic pout but with eyes full of love.

"Same goes for me," grins Abhijeet, now placing a kiss on her forehead.

That is when Tarika notices how fatigued he looks, his eyes sunken and pale and shirt tucked in his jeans haphazardly. She smoothens his hair lovingly as she says, eyeing him with concern, "look at you, you're exhausted!"

The sharp shooter tilts his head slightly as he looks at her. "Can you put me to sleep, Tarika?," he asks in a persuasive voice and the forensic doctor instantly smiles with an obliging nod. "Come," she says, extending her hand to him which he happily accepts and follows her inside.

However, the forensic doctor halts a couple of seconds later and turns around to ask him, "have you eaten anything?"

"Yeah. You know, Freddy and I had dinner at this really amazing dhaba on the highway," replies Abhijeet, leaving her hand and snaking his arm around her shoulder as they walk together to the bedroom.

"You always get to go to such nice places and then brag about it!," says Tarika, pouting in a playful tone, her eyebrows creasing a bit, which earns her a subtle laugh from her boyfriend.

"I'll take you there someday!," says the sharp shooter, pulling her cheek before closing the bedroom door behind them.

..

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