AN: And I am back... I know firse late ho gayi... but I hope y'all are still interested in this story. *puppy eyes* . Here goes the next chapter... Happy reading :)

"Bad day at work? " A familiar voice caused tarika to look up from her phone. Abhijeet sat opposite to her in the cafeteria.

It were a very hasty couple of days. Officers came rushing in the lab, bringing a lot of questions with them. A lot of pending file work had to be completed. Few samples had to be analysed. A few test results were still awaited. All in all a very messy day.

The day got even more messier when Dr. Salunkhe realised that a very important report was no where to be found. Tarika was asked to take care of it and now it seemed to be misplaced. Although this was the first time that such a thing had happened from tarika, Salunkhe was seemingly upset with her. Nonetheless, it ended with Abhijeet coming in and handing them over to the old doctor. He had found the reports lying in the bureau.

As he handed them over, he could sense tarika looking a little off but he didn't say anything to her at that time.

And now, as everything got over, it was already 6:30 pm. She finally came in the cafeteria to get herself something to just gather the energy to go home.

"Yeah, I guess. Agar aapko aaj time par nahi aate toh pata nahi kya ho jaata. " Said tarika having no idea about when he came and sat in front of her.

"Actually, galati meri hai. Reports sign kabke ho gaye the...kaam ke chakkar mein bhijwana reh gaya. I am sorry aapko meri wajah se takleef hui. "

"Nahi sir, its ok. Finally ho gaya hai sab kaam. Its fine." Said tarika in a very tired voice. She had hardly slept or eaten in these two days and it was showing.

"You are looking very tired. Kaam ki wajah se hi hai na? Aapki tabiyet thik hai na? " Asked abhijeet, concerned.

"Haan wo thoda sar dard ho raha hai bass. Ab ghar jaake thoda aaram karungi toh achha lagega shayad. " Said tarika feeling too weak even to talk.

"Sar dard? You know what? Mein abhi ghar jaa raha hu... aap bhi aiye mere saath. Meri haath ki special chai pina. Sar dard thakan sab udd jayegi aapki." Said abhijeet smiling.

"Nahi nahi sir. Its very kind of you to offer. Lekin its okay. Aap itni takleef mat lijiye. " Said tarika hesitating.

"Arre! Kamaal hai. Aapne jab mere liye sabzi banake laayi tab maine mana kiya aapko? Nahi na. Aapne itna achha khana khilaya hai mujhe, in return mujhe bhi kuch dena chahiye na... aur mujhe chai ke alawa kuch dhang ka banana aata nahi hai... so this is the least I can do... takleef ki koi baat hi nahi hai. " Said abhijeet trying very hard to convince her.

She opened her mouth to say something.

"Please just come. I insist. " said abhijeet with pleading eyes.

"Okay! Aap se jeetna mushkil hai. Chaliye. "


While the "special" tea was being prepared, both of them had just their usual chit-chat. Tarika was now feeling so much relaxed than before. There was something so calming about his presence around her. She couldn't believe he is the same man who once, seemed very intimidating to her.

"This room is like a study room or whatever you call it. Sirf files aur papers pade rehte hai yaha pe. " he said while giving her a little house tour.

"Oh my god! This almost looks like the records room. " she said looking at the stack of files.

"Yeah I know. " He said giving a silly smile.

"Wow! itne medals? Log generally living room main rakhte hai. Aapne yaha kyu lagaye hue hai? " She asked looking at a whole row of medals and awards in the shelf.

"I don't know, I don't like to flex them may be. Waise bhi medals ke liye kaam toh hum karte nahi. Show-off kyu karna. "

The respect for him in her heart increased even more when she heard him say that. She nodded in agreement. Just then, her eyes fell on a photo kept besides.

"And she must be your mother? " She asked looking at the picture.

His lips curved into a smile after seeing at the picture. He nodded in yes.

"She was beautiful. " She said with a smile.

"Indeed she was. " The smile on his face increased even more. "You know why I have her picture here in the study room? "

"Why? "

"Kyu ki bachpan mein, jaha tak mujhe yaad hai, mein jab bhi padhne baithta tha, she used to sit right in front of me. You know like a supervisor. " He said chuckling. "Toh aaj bhi jab yaha kaam karta hu, lagta hai ki mere saath hai. Mujhpar nazar rakhe hue hai. "

His eyes had little sparkle in them when he said this. His tone all soft and tender. It was not so hard to guess how much he missed her.

"I am sure she is proud of you. " She said looking at him.

"I hope so. " He said sighing. "Chalo, chai bann gayi hogi. "

She sat on the chair in the balcony of his bedroom while he came with two cups of tea.

"Sorry. Khane ke liye kuch hai nahi abhi available. " He said as he sat opposite to her.

"Usme sorry ki kya baat hai! Aapne chai banayi mere liye wohi bohot badi baat hai mere liye. "

As she took a sip of the tea, her heart was filled with a very familiar feeling. A feeling that she had missed to much in the past few months.

Warmth.

It was not just the tea. It was the feeling. The little effort that he took to make her feel better after a tiring day. That's what brought so much warmth to her heart. She closed her eyes to feel it. Unknowingly, her eyes got moistened.

"Kya hua? Itni buri lagi kya chai? Aap toh rone lagi..." Of course nothing escapes the senior inspector's eyes.

"Nahi nahi. Bohot achhi hai. Infact itni achhi hai ki ghar ki yaad aa gayi. " She said wiping one tear that was threatening to escape from the corner of her eye. "Mein jab bhi aise thak kar ghar aati thi, meri mummy aise hi mujhe chai banake deti thi and I instantly used to feel so much better. Yeh pikar waisa hi laga. Jab se yaha aayi hu, wo feeling bohot miss kar rahi thi mein... shayad isliye..."

He smiled understanding.

"I can understand. Inn chhoti chhoti cheezo ki value bohot baadmein samajh aati hai humesha. " he said sipping his tea.

They finished their the rest of it in silence. Enjoying the calmness of the moment. Finding peace in each other's presence. Although, Abhijeet's chai drinking sessions were limited only to himself after a long day, he really liked this change. Although she is quite the opposite to him in terms of their respective natures, he still had noticed that he likes to spend time with her.

As they got up from their chairs, tarika noticed something in his bedroom.

"Is that Ironman? " She asked seeing Iron man's action figure on the side table.

"Yes. " He said smiling. "I am big marvel fan. Specially Ironman "

"Wow! I could have never imagined..." She said letting out a chuckle.

"Why? " he asked with a confused face.

"I mean, senior inspector abhijeet ko superhero movies pasand hai aise kon soch sakta hai... " She said with a naughty smile.

"K- Kyu nahi ho sakti? CID officers ko aisi movies dekhna mana hai kya? " He asked with innocently.

"Nahi... lekin aren't these movies for kids? Adults watch them? " She said enjoying the look on his face.

"Ye kisne bataya aapko ki ye sirf bacche dekhte hai? Adults like watching these movies too. "

"Achha? You are the only adult I know who watches superhero movies " She said, the smile on her face increasing with the annoyance in his tone.

"Lekin... I am not the ONLY adult who watches these movies... I am sure aur bhi bohot log dekhte hai ye movies... and they are not necessarily kids. " He said in a cute annoyed tone.

"Okay! Aap kehte hai toh maan leti hu..." She said still with a mischevious smile on her face.

"Arre! sachmein... bade bhi dekhte hai superhero movies yaar..." He said in a cute angry way.

"Haan! haan! main kaha mana kar rahi hu" She said laughing.

"Achha? hass kyu rahi hai fir? " he asked knitting his eyesbrows.

"Aise hi. " She said looking in his eyes. Smiling wide.

Seeing her smile, A smile crept up on his lips too. He just smiled shaking his head.

It was this very moment that he realised, she is not just a colleague for him. She is something more than that.

'Not a bad day' She thought, looking at him smiling.

AN: I hope this was not boring. Even if it was, ab yaha tak padh liya hai to review mein batao how are you liking this story so far? I'll be waiting to read them.

See you soon :)