Helloo people! I'm so sorry for this delay. I just couldn't get my lazy ass to sit and start writing again. It's a bigg chapter and I tried my best to put some sense to it but I still am immature enough to write this kinda stuff. XD
And also.. pardon me for the mistakes and loopholes. I didn't get to proofread it.
Alsooo, Thanks a million for hanging around this book and for all the precious reviews!
Target for next, 110 maybe?
Happy reading! ;)
...
He didn't know what to do, what to say, how to react after he stormed out of the lab. He ran to his bike and hid his head in the helmet. It was unbearable, the pain that broke out inside him, as if his heart sank deep within his chest and was screaming something.
"Why me?"
The vision in front started blurring as his eyes dwelled up the bonding between him and Tarika. He knew beforehand, that this wouldn't end well, thanking his vulnerable heart that was prone to attach easily.
"Why always him?"
His dissecting mind took him down the memory lane, as he connected everything in his life to that one person, Abhijeet! Instead of slowing down, he raced his bike and reached the same place. He jumped from the bike and started walking across the pathway yearning to calm his aching heart.
He stopped in his way as his legs shivered, sat down and pulled his knee close to his chest. His head also seemed to hurt by now and so he clutched it in his palms and took a few deep breaths to calm down.
It was just too overwhelming. He wiped away his face again and waited for the cold breeze to aid the suffocation he was feeling at the moment. He stared at the sky for a minute taking deep calm breaths while his thoughts started to clear up a bit.
He sure was hurt knowing that she was committed. And it added many folds after knowing who she was committed to. He did, certainly like her.. or has a soft spot for her in his heart while at times he was scared that this emotional behaviour of him would break him again.. like it did once.
Only that this time it hurt less.
"Jaha aakr logo ko sukoon milta ho, vaha ese rona theek nhi h!" A sweet voice came from behind him.. rather mocking one, he guessed. So now this was all that's left; someone mocking his feelings, his pain, his life.
He instantly hid his eyes and wiped the tears as he cursed himself for taking it to this level of people's notice. He was a little angered by the comment but was too drained and humiliated to react. He just pulled all his strength to get up and run right away.
But as he turned, the girl- who just happened to interfere in his moment- seemed kinda familiar. He was a little shocked to remember the girl he met yesterday and her similar way of commenting, seem to be the one standing behind him, mocking again.
"Tum?"
"Aap? Oh! What a coincidence-"
"No it's.. it's not. I'll get going!" He said and was about to stand up after wiping his, now normal face, again.
"Nhi aapko jaane ki zarurat nahi hai. Look, I.. I'm sorry for interfering. I just wanted to know ki kahi apko koi problem toh nhi hai. I.. I am available to help!" She sounded hesitant, unlike last time.
"No I'm fine.." He gazed away to the sea as he lied. He expected her to leave after more or less an apology or something, but unlikely he saw her taking a seat beside him, appropriately distant.
"Agar aap kisi ko dhund rhe h apni problems share krne ke liye, then I'm all ears! Plus, I won't judge I promise!" She had a small smile on her face and the hesitant search for words were still there. But her unnatural determination to hear from him sounded a little bizarre.
She shifted in her place nervously, probably waiting for him to rant up his problems or something. It was really hard for her to hide the fact that, One; she was also quite alone tonight and two; that his contradictory attitude today and yesterday made her quite curious to know more about him.
He turned his head sideways to glance at her properly. She looked much fairer in the full moon light. Her hair were tied in a bun, messy, but were complimenting her looks just fine. Though the dark baggy eyes on her delicate face were quite a hinderance, he found her looking at the sea and playing with her fingers, trying to ignore his stare.
He was sure he wouldn't say a single word to her. But the heavy heart of his, wanted to break the walls around for atleast once. It was nearly impossible for him to speak out his personal problems with a stranger. But it's not that bad, is it? You speak to a person who- with a high chances- will never meet you again in your life. So it seemed a good thought to open up to her and then never comeback on this path. Ever. Again.
"Agar.. aap nahi share krna chahte h toh.. ese.. ghoorna toh band kijiye. You.. remind me of my boss." She sounded rather cute as she made a face on the mention of that, "And vese bhi kuch der baad se meri shift h, mai chali jaungi."
A heavy sigh proceeded.
Inspite of her pointing, he kept looking at her as she spoke further. Something was off about her, and he could clearly see that. But what? Wait.. he doesn't really care about it. You have to keep reminding yourself, Daya!
'I don't care.'
She gave a short glance to him, as she heard him sigh a little annoyed, "So.." she got up and started dusting her dark colored t-shirt which she matched with rather baggy pants, but could've fit in a couple of small numbered ones, "It was nice to meet you and I'm sorry!"
Seriously, what a dramatic girl she sounded like. How kiddish! But... she turned her back to him and started walking away just like that. She is not upset with him, is she? He was almost about to say something to her, but then he saw her stop at a little distance from him, and sit down with a frown.
Gosh, how extra!
He sighed before finally speaking a little loud, "Fine. I don't know my problem yet! Pta chalegi toh bta dunga!" His gaze turned back to the waves as they hit the stones pretty hard in front, "I'm hopeless... jisko apni life se kuch achha expect krne ki adat nhi h!"
She blinked a couple of times before facing him as if was trying to make a conclusion out of something. The pain in his words were actually heavy but only that she heard the confusion behind them. He waited for the reply under her stare which only made him look at her and shortly after that, she broke the silence.
"Nhi. Esa nhi h." He kept staring in front, while she spoke walking towards him. Not to mention the hidden excitement which almost tripped her on the pathway. She sat down at the same place as before, and stared at the crashing waves with her voice calm as the moon that hid behind the clouds not caring to come out of it, "Apni problems ko khud se behtar koi nhi smjh skta. It's just that sometimes," she paused and the hesitation came back.
He turned to look at her as to allow her to speak further.
"It's just that.. kabhi kabhi hum accept nhi krna chahte ki humari problem kya h. Yeh.. yeh confusion and all, I think yeh humara mind khud create krta h to just.. you know.. feel satisfied!? But in reality, we can't even ignore a bug for too long."
His expressions hardened as she spoke that felt quite illicit to him. His confident eyes downed themselves as he realised she wasn't wrong. His heart was saying everything to him, he knew, but was dedicated to ignore and cover it up with rage, as he always does.
On not hearing any response from him, she turned to look at him and found his face rather blank. She guessed his dark brown eyes offended, feeling the need to apologise for crossing what felt like an emotional limit, "I am s-"
"Tumne problem toh bta hi di. Ab.. solution bhi bta do!" He chose his heart. He knew this choice will be painful like the ones he made in the past but still he dared to accept what his problem was and finally deal with it rather than running away.
She jerked a little with his sudden query but with a small smile, she spoke softly, "Iss problem ka koi solution nhi h. Sirf ek choice h!" He looked at her shockingly, "Yah toh aap sach ko accept krke aage badh jaiye yah phir.. khud ko issi veham mei saalo saal kaid rkhiye! But either way, you have to suffer! That's been happening since ages.." she laughed a little to lighten the whole conversation and hide the anxiety of speaking again that might hurt him.
He was speechless. He took a whole minute confining the situation into some simpler facts. One; he has to accept that somewhere he started developing feelings for Tarika; Two; she chose Abhijeet over him and was the main reason he felt dejected. Three; the past that was always a cover up for him to rant over his fucked up life and luck that never happened to show itself, has to be sidelined.
She gave him a short glance with a smile as if giving him time to clear up his head. On the inside, she was anxiously waiting for his turn to say something just to make sure he didn't get her wrong. He didn't. He couldn't understand what to say or what to ask. He took another minute to make this conversation a little less awkward and spoke the first thing that came to his mind.
"Don't mind me asking but, have you been through such-"
Almost immediately, she cut him with her smile stretching, "I did. Infact, I think I am very good in making choices!" And she laughed it away.
He got the pain behind the laugh but before he could say anything, her cell phone rang loudly.
"W..what?"
.
.
"No. Saare departments se request kro ki sb kaam chhor ke yaha focus kre. I'm getting there in a couple of minutes. Till then, you have to handle it all Abhay!"
She panicked and almost jumped on her feet while speaking on the phone. Daya was confused with the urgency but did ask like a gentleman, "Mai.. mai drop kr du tumhe kahin?"
"Uh no no.. I have my car! Thank you!" She replied politely pointing along to the other side of the road where a few cars were parked.
"And.. I wish next time achhi tarah intro hoga! And also, I owe you a treat!" She turned, waved at him, then crossed the road and reached her car. It was a normal white Hyundai model which didn't look too expensive, deducing from it, that she wasn't in a high paid profession. He saw her pull the seat belt and wave a bye before pulling the accelerator.
He did wave back but wasn't certain if she noticed.
"Treat?" He thought, "Anyways, it's better.. Thank you.." He spoke looking in the direction she left and stood up to walk to his own car.
Tarika's place
.
"Daya please pick up the phone!" Here Tarika was trying to call him as she was worried for him. And by the way he reacted, she was so desperate to talk to him to atleast give an explanation.
She felt really bad for him. According to her, he deserved to know about Abhijeet and her relationship but she kept avoiding as she noticed how weird he used to react with the mere mention of Acp and Abhijeet.
She stared at the screen of her phone. The app she used to keep an eye on the surrounding was still present on the home screen. It helped to link the cameras she had installed in and around her house on the mission. It drifted her back to their first conversation.
.Flashback.
It's been a couple of days the mission had started. Daya and Tarika had taken separate houses barely 100 steps away and in the same colony.
The headquarters insisted to shift Tarika to a little distant place but Daya never agreed to it. Tarika wasn't just a forensic expert but also a trained member of the intelligence but passionate for forensics. Still, Daya never agreed to let her live somewhere he cannot reach in seconds. It was his way of taking the mission, with rules and conditions of his own ground.
The assigned task called for a person with a hidden identity to which Tarika happened to be the best available candidate. And so was on board for her first mission.
Daya was a known identity being a senior inspector in Bangalore. Considering the risk, it was necessary to send him as the criminal- they were after- had main network in the southern parts of the country.
Basically, the mission was solely about confirming the identity of the criminal, finding out his bases in different parts of the countries and/or if overseas. The suspect was a businessman who was to be checked thoroughly in case was behind all the smuggling of illegal drugs and weapons.
"Nervous ho kya tum? I understand!" Daya spoke as he spared a glance over his shoulders.
"Kon mai? Nhi toh!" Tarika was sounding confident with her words but still both of them knew, that both were trying to hide their nervousness and fear.
"Good!" They entered inside Tarika's place from the backdoor sheepishly.
"Toh plan kya h? Where to start?" She locked the door behind and watched him sink on the couch.
"Plan abhi bnaya nhi h." He spoke with his eyes closed.
'What is he, insane?' Her heart literally stopped for a sec. She felt like yelling at him instead she spoke, "Toh hum yaha iss society mei kya krne aaye h?"
"Tch.. kuch krna nhi abhi. Time thora km h isliye lagbhag 1 mahina toh sirf settle hona h yaha. Logo se milna jhulna, society mei aana jana and most importantly, uss ladki se dosti kro!" There was a different glow on his face with the mention of the girl.
"1 mahina kuch jyda nhi ho jayega?" She sat opposite of him 2 glasses of water she brought from the dining table. He took one from her with a thankful gesture.
"Yeh bhi km h vese toh.. lekin family chhoti h isliye routines samjhne ke liye enough time h." He emptied the glass in one go and kept it on the front table, "Ek din bhi skip nhi hona chahiye. Jo krna pade karo lekin bs thora sambhal kr. Humei pta nhi h ki yehi voh criminal h yah nhi.. agar hai toh iski roots kafi gehri hogi."
"Hmm. We need to consider the worst possibility." She hummed and processed everything in mind.
"Hn aur ab tk toh hum logo ki saari information untak pohunch gyi hogi. Background clear milega lekin phir bhi voh check karege!"
She nodded understandably, "Mai networks pr dhyaan rkhti hu tb tk, kuch bhi ajeeb mila toh btati hu."
"Haan. Aur.. kuch din Ghar pr contact na kro toh hi acha h. Voh humpar nazar rakhe huye h."
"Expected tha."
"Subh 6 se raat ke 12 baje tk ek budha dikhne vala admi tumhare main gate ko face kiye betha rehta h. Vahan samne park mei." He pointed along the side where the park is, "Maine use phle kabhi dekha nhi h aspas.. sirf doh din se dikh rkha h."
"Pehle kabhi mtlb?" She was confused on that mention, "Tum yaha phle bhi aaye ho?"
"Mai doh hafte se yahi hu Tarika. Aur voh park vali jagah meri hua krti thi.." She chuckled lightly on his annoyance, "..aur haan.. tumhare side vali aunty chillati bht h. Best of luck for that."
He got up from the sofa and pulled out some technical items from his handbag. They were some spare sim cards, keypad mobile phones and small AI items like cameras, gps and microphones to keep an eye on the surrounding and the home.
"Cameras apne hisab se install kr lena. And baki toh tumhe jyda hi pata h mujhse! But.. never forget to check recordings every single day! Baki sim cards and all toh mai phle hi bta chuka hu.. chalta hu ab mai!"
"Hmm!" She walked him to the back door, "Mujhe pata nhi tha tumhe 2 hafte phle se bhej diya h yaha."
"Mujhe kaha bheja? Mai toh parso hi aaya hu tumhare sath!" He spoke that with ultimate seriousness. It was tough to understand which of the statements were fake.
"Tumne hi toh phle -" She saw him smiling a little and then understood he was joking.
"You shouldn't mention it, meri naukri chali jayegi!" He spoke with the same smile on his face.
"Tumhari naukri kese jayegi? Peeche Sir hai na sabkuch sambhalne!" She laughed but then noticed the change in his expressions. His jaw clenched while his fists grabbed the handbag tightly.
"Good night!" He said with much difficulty and left immediately.
"Good night!" She whispered to herself as he was already out of sight. "Maine kuch galat keh diya kya?" Confused, she closed the door and curled up sleeves of her shirt and was ready to get to work!
.Present.
The way he reacted in the bureau reminded her of the same expression he had on this particular day of Mission. Later she got to know more about him and then after some months it felt as if they were friends from childhood.
She came back to senses when her phone slipped from her hand and landed on the carpet. She hurriedly picked it up and thought to call him for last one time.
"What is it." He finally picked and asked in the coldest tone possible.
"Daya please.. don't take me wrong. Mai yeh tumhe batane vali thi.. but I didn't think it was okay to share personal-" She didn't know if even the words came out in order and certainly they didn't. It was a little too overwhelming for her to justify as soon as she could before he gets to cut the call.
Only she didn't know, he never wanted her to justify.
"Tarika.. It's okay!" And he cut the call. She stared at the screen for a few seconds then sighed in defeat.
He wouldn't listen now!
A/N:- so how was it? Lame, right? ;P
XD anyways, tell me in the reviews!
I'm waiting okay?
+S+