A/N:

To all of those who took time off your hectic schedule to read and review Chapter 1, Thank You. This chapter is the result of your support and encouragement.

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'Me?' Freddy said looking around, as if expecting someone else. Though he had asked Sachin to come out with his problems, he never really expected him to. 'Sure', he blurted out, still quite unsure 'Lets go down to the canteen. Its sure to be empty at this time of the day'.

'Canteen?' asked Sachin flabbergasted. 'Can we go somewhere else - a restaurant or coffee house perhaps', he suggested.

'My wife has told me not to..' began Freddy, but then hurriedly went on to say 'Ah.. OK. We will go to a restaurant'. It wouldn't do to let a new officer, and that too someone only a week old in CID, think he is henpecked.

HENPECKED!

There was that dreadful word again. Was he really henpecked? No. He couldn't be. Manisha would have told him if he was. No. How would she? How was she to know? Infact, her orders, and his obedience to them was what made people call him that. Still. Henpecked? Surely, he wasn't all that bad.

That was one of the things that had been troubling him. Nearly everyone he was associated with, called him that. Was it just a joke? He wasn't sure. It certainly didn't sound like a joke to him. It pained to be at the receiving end every time, every single time. He was yet another human - flesh and blood complete. He had feelings too. Why didn't the others realize that? Or did they? And yet behave indifferently? He couldn't be sure. The truth was that, he didn't want to believe the latter statement.

Preoccupied with these thoughts, he walked ahead. With every single step he took, Sachin could make out the remarkable changes on his facial expressions. He had been observing him for quite some time now and the latter hadn't even realized that. He was now sure that there was something disturbing him. But how was he to find out? Should he just ask? No. He may not want to confide in a new entrant. Should he wait? Maybe he could approach the subject in the course of their luncheon conversation. That would be easier. And that was a smarter move. He decided to wait.

Their long walk took them to Masala Mantar, a small, desi restaurant situated in a remote corner of the city. The ramshackled place, found teeming with people at night, because of its proximity to the highway, wore a deserted look, during the day. 'Just the right kind of place for a heart to heart conversation', thought Sachin as they walked in.

'Welcome to Sharma's Masala Mantar sir. What you like, we give sir', chanted an enthusiastic little boy with sparkling eyes in his broken English as he handed over a shabby menu card to Freddy. 'Oh my! What a royal welcome!' Freddy exclaimed as he took the card from the smiling boy's little, yet overworked hands. 'What will you have Sachin?', he asked as he read out the names of a few of the interesting dishes. But all he got in reply was silence. Utter silence. When he turned around to look at his companion, he was in for a shock.

Sachin had faraway look in his eyes as he sat and stared at the boy, who was now merrily whistling a tune as he cleared the table a few feet away. 'Now what is it that is troubling him?' thought Freddy. 'He looks more scared than troubled.'

'Sachin', he called. No answer. 'Sachin', he called again, a little louder this time. The only other customer in restaurant, sitting on the table in the farthest corner, turned around clearly irritated, his displeasure quite evident on his hard face. 'Sachin', he called again, this time, accompanied by a sharp nudge that resulted in the dropping of the tray that held water glasses, all filled to the brim. While the act did the trick of bringing Sachin back to his senses, it not only jolted the poor unsuspecting Sachin out of his thoughts, but also the stray dog with a snipped tail, lying across the entrance hoping for some leftover scraps.

The dog's angry yelps brought the inquisitive neighbors into the restaurant much to the owner's anguish. He glared angrily at the two of them, before proceeding to shoo the neighbors off. After their initial embarrassment faded, and food they ordered arrived, each in his own mind decided to begin.

'Actually, I wanted to….', both stopped short for they had begun with the same sentence at the same time. They looked at each other in utter disbelief. 'You begin sir', said Sachin as he broke the silence. 'No. You are younger. You say', countered Freddy.

Not left with much of a choice, Sachin finally opened up. He found it difficult to begin with. But slowly, yet steadily he explained his predicament.

'It began when I was five sir', he began 'My parents, sister and I were on our way to Lonavala for a vacation when it happened. It's all still fresh in my mind. We were all singing loudly and enjoying the trip when a truck coming from the opposite direction rammed into our car. It all happened within a minute. All I could see was blood. My little sister, who was playing with me just minutes before the incident, was lying motionless by my side. My parents were there too, covered in blood, unable to move.' he shivered as he spoke, and tears uncontrollable ran down his cheeks.

Freddy got up and moved his chair a little closer so that he could put his arms around the weeping Sachin and comfort him. 'Its ok', he said 'if you don't want to continue….' He left the last sentence mid way. He knew that it will make Sachin better to have that load off his heart. But he did not want to force him into telling it all. He decided to give him the option – of coming out with it or not.

But Sachin, not realizing what happened around him, continued ' A few locals came towards the car and on seeing everyone covered in blood, ran away. Since I had by then managed to crawl out, one of them took me along.' said he wiping his tears. 'I was with him for about seven years. I did odd jobs in his tea stall until he sold me to a childless couple for money. This child here, reminded me of myself when I was young', he paused, just enough to have a sip of water and continued ' Those people managed to put me in a school. I studied hard and won scholarships. That was what enabled me to study further. I enrolled myself for CID coaching while at college so I could be of some use to the nation. But I was taunted at every training camp when the boys, most of them who were from an elite background, got to know my past. They could never accept an orphan as a friend. And that hurt sir. Really hard.' he concluded.

There was silence as Sachin finished his narration. The only sound that could be heard was the creaking of the old fan that hung precariously above their heads. For a minute, Freddy forgot about Sachin and began calculating the probability of the fan falling on their heads. After a few seconds though, he gave up on it citing his inability at getting a simple arithmetic problem right. He shifted his focus back on to Sachin.

He was trying to think for the right sort of comforting words to say. 'I wish ACP sir was here now' he thought to himself. 'He always seemed to know the right things to say'. He looked at the teary eyed heartbroken man in front of him. Why, only hours before he looked so confident and perfect. And now, he seemed a new man - very different from the Sachin he had been seeing until about 2 hours before. 'God does everything for a reason', he finally blurted out. He wasn't sure if it was right for the situation. Nevertheless, since that was something he had heard Manisha use often to comfort her friends; he decided to use it here.

The words seemed to be taking effect.

Sachin did seem a bit comforted. He looked up at Freddy, with the innocence of a 5 year old and earnestly asked him 'Do you think I'll still be accepted… you know.. in the bureau… with my background and all?'

'DO YOU THINK I'LL STILL BE ACCEPTED?', the words kept ringing in Freddy's head again and again. That was yet another question that had been racking his brains in the past week. Acceptance was something Freddy always longed for. It was the very thing that he strived for. But was he?

He had been 'part' of the CID team for more than a decade and a half. Yet the question still persists "Am I really a 'part'?"

...

A/N: Well! Like I said before, this is my first story ever. I'm not really sure if this works. Do give me your honest reviews so I can better my writing.