Abhijeet and Tarika were talking about a case in the lab.
Tarika: Toh dekha Abhi, (showing him the report) aise maara gaya hai.
Abhi: achaa. Aap kamaal ho Tarika ji (smirking) Dr Salunkhe ke bina bhi matlab ek dum badhiy akaam chal raha hai lab me.
Tarika blushed. She had started liking his subtle flirts and admiration. Purvi looked at them and smiled too. She was happy for her friend.
Abhi: wo Xray reports bhi dikhana firse weapon ke angles wagera.
Tarika: Haan Abhi mai …
Purvi started coughing suddenly. Tarika looked up at her and understood.
Tarika: haan Abhi.. jeet… Abhijeet sir. Mai leke aati hu xrays wagera.
Abhijeet was surprised with the sudden tone change and looked around to see DCP there.
DCP: waah seniors ke absence me bhi acha hi kaam kar lete ho tumlog.
Abhi: (annoyed) sir hum bacche toh hai nahi. Maana acp sir aur salunkhe sir jitna experience nahi hai but kaam toh kar hi sakte hain.
DCP: haan haan advanced tool, advanced rules tumlogon ke..
Abhi: rules?
DCP gazed at Tarika and back at Abhijeet.
DCP: (taunting) haan yehi cool aur progressive dikhane me professionalism ko fek dena. Kal tak reports submit kar dena mujhe mere table pe.
He went off leaving Abhijeet still confused.
Abhi and team returned back to bureau to file the final reports.
Abhi: wo DCP kisey taunt marke gaya aise professionalism pe? Aur tum aise khasi kyu Purvi?
Purvi: Sir wo pichle baar jab aap nahi the, DCP sir ne aake Tarika ko data diya tha thoda kyunki wo aapko sir kehke nahi bulati toh… mai usey hi warn kr rhi thi.
Abhi (to himself) kya? Tarika ko daant padi? Bataya nahi usne mujhe… tch. Meri wajah se bichari ko sunna pad gaya. Mai hi aage se dhyaan rakhunga ki ye sab bureau me na ho. DCP mujhe toh kuch bol nai payega Tarika junior hai usey na transfer kar de. Sirdard hai ye aadmi.
NEXT MORNING
Abhi saw Tarika while entering the bureau in the basement.
Abhi: hello Tarika ji…
Tarika: hello Abhi (smiling)
Abhi; acha tarika suno na mujhe tumse ek baat kehni thi.
They got in the lift
Tarika: (holding his hand) haan bolo na.
Abhi: wo na… (interrupted)
Abhi (on call) kya? Haan sir? Kitne din? Kyaaaa? Sir ek toh Daya bhi mission pe hai. Upar se aap ye sab. Aap aajaiye mai jaata hu na. ok sir…. Yes sir…
Abhijeet was irritated after the call.
Tarika: kya hua?
Abhi: kuch nahi yaar (removing her hand)
Tarika: kuch toh bolo…
Abhi: hatao yaar choro.
Tarika (getting out of the lift behind him) Acha Abhi tum mujhe kuch bolne wale the?
Abhi: Haan. Wo bureau me mujhe sir hi bulaya karna aajse please.
He left for the bureau.
Tarika was surpised. The whole day Abhijeet was busy. Some other officer reported to the bureau for reports too. He didn't even reply to her texts or calls.
At night.
Abhijeet was still on a call while Tarika was leaving the lab.
Tarika (trying to initiate a conversation) umm Abhi, mujhe drop kar doge please?
Abhi: call pe hu yaar dekh toh rahi ho. Mujhe time lagega jane me ghar.
Tarika: umm okay I'll wait?
Abhi: nahi tum jao. Aur.. maine bola na office hours me please Sir kehke bolna.
Tarika was still confused as to what had got to him suddenly.
Abhijeet's POV: Ek toh ye Daya ka mission khatam nahi ho raha pata nahi kahan jaake baitha hai. Pichle 1 week se contact nahi ho pa raha usime meri jaan atki hai. Upar se aaj ACP sir ne call krke bol diya wo bhi ja rhe hain Daya wale hi mission me kyunki contact nahi ho pa rha Daya se. Mai kya karu? Mai stress me bureau sambhalu. Aur upar se wo DCP aake alag taunt marke gaya professionalism pe. Mujhe koi load nahi chahiye pata chala itne drame me aur upar Tarika ka bhi transfer karwa diya. Mai toh pagal hi ho jaunga… Tarika.. yaar aaj us se bhi thik se baat nahi ho payi.
He called her but she didn't reply so he decided to text her.
"hey! Sorry for today. Wanna hangout sometime soon?"
He left the phone on table and arranged his bedsheets, filled his jug, did all the necessities for the night and plopped on the bed tired.
Tarika saw the message as she woke up in the morning.
Tarika: Itni raat ko Abhijeet ka text? Subah se itna chidhke 2 baje kya wanna hangout? Isko ho kya gaya hai?
Tarika replied: "are you okay?"
Abhijeet saw her message while he was driving. It was no sense to him and thought she was casually checking on him. He replied "yes".