Chapter 16

Bloomie

@bloomie

Part 16 [MEMBERSONLY][NOCOPY]

A knock resounded on the conference room. They turned to see as Rathore allowed them in. Arjun’s men greeted him....................................

Arjun stood up: ho gaya sab kuch?

They glanced at each other.

Mohan: ha sir, hum bhi saaf ho gaye

Arjun purses his lips to control his laughter. After all, he knew the hygiene freak too dearly to question them. He pulls out his wallet and removes a bundle of notes.

Rathore looks at him weirdly: itna saara?

Arjun: Riya ke ghar ki safayi karke aa rahe hai

Rathore raised his eyebrow and cleared his throat.

Rathore: itna kam?

Arjun chuckles and gives them the money.

Kushal: shukriya saab

Rathore: acha waise ye batao kya kiya? madam ne kya kaha?

They remained silent, afraid of Arjun.

Rathore: are uski tension mat lo, main huna, bolo

Arjun: Rathore…

Rathore: tu chup kar, tum log bolo

Birju: bas sir itna ki, table ke upar saaf karne aur neeche saaf karne ke liye alag kapde hote hai

Mohan: aur poche ka paani baar-baar badalna zaroori hai

Kushal: bina deewar saaf kiye, ghar saaf nahi hota

Birju: curtains aur bed sheets ek saath machine mein nahi daalte

Mohan: saab, maine gaav ke khet main bhi itna kaam kabhi nahi kiya

Kushal: lekin saab, madam khaana bahot acha banati hai, thoda daant ti hai lekin bahot achi hai

The ETF boys burst out laughing.

Chotu: ab ghar par apni biwi ki aise hi help karna, woh khush ho jaayegi

Arjun gestures to them to leave.

Ayesha: ye kya tha?

The boys answer in unison: hygiene freak Riya Mukherjee!

A collective laughter emanates from the group.

Next morning-

Rathore and Arjun were the only ones who had arrived so far. A knock resounded on the door.

Rathore: come in

Riya enters. They happily stand up from their seats. Rathore hugs her.

Rathore: kaisi ho Riya?

Riya: main theek hun sir

Arjun comes forward: tumne davai lagayi na? zyaada dard ho raha hai abhi bhi?

Riya: ha sir maine lagayi thi, ab utna dard nahi hai aur painkillers bhi le rahi hu

Rathore: Riya agar tum chaho toh 2-3 din aur leave…

Arjun: nahi!

They turn to him.

Arjun: mera matlab ki… woh ghar par kya karegi? Aur waise bhi, kya pata woh dhyaan rakh bhi rahi hai ya nahi, hum nazar kaise rakhenge? Riya tumhari joining ho gayi hai, bas thode din field par mat aana, research toh kar hi sakti ho

She nods: ji sir

Rathore gives him a teasing look: ha yeh bhi sahi hai

Just then, Ayesha comes in. She greets both the bosses.

Ayesha : good morning sir!

Rathore: good morning! By the way Riya, ye encounter specialist hai, Ayesha Kapoor.

Ayesha smiles: hi Riya, tumhari chot kaisi hai ab?

She smiles faintly: theek hai

Arjun and Rathore squint at the low response.

Rathore: Ayesha, Riya ka statement le lo, report bhi toh puri karni hai (glancing at his watch) baakhi sab aaye nahi abhi tak? Had hai! phone karo unhe!

Ayesha: ji sir (she gestured Riya to come with her) aao

Riya follows her silently outside. Arjun keeps looking in the direction that she left. Something was definitely wrong. He could read it on her face but what? He wasn’t very sure.

Rathore continues to rant: bigadte hi jaa raha hai sab ke sab! Ab bas bahot hua! Rawte! Woh aaye toh unhe ache se daant lagana (hearing no response, he turns his face to find Arjun immersed in his thoughts) Rawte!

Arjun snaps out of them: ha bolo?

Rathore: kya hua? Ab kaha kho gaye?

Arjun: kuch nahi

A short while later the rest of them arrived. Rathore introduces Liza and Sakshi to Riya as well. Again, she just passes a faint smile and greets them formally much to the surprise of the boys.

Rathore’s phone rings announcing a new case.

Chotu: are par sir, ye report? Ise bhi toh submit karna hai

Rathore: kitni baakhi hai?

Liza: zyaada nahi sir par aadha ghanta toh lagega

Rathore: ha toh, uh… tumhari zaroorat toh hai hume, uh, Chotu ki bhi, Sakshi dono mein se kisi kaam ki nahi hai

She fakes a glare at him.

Arjun: Ayesha tum ruk jao, Riya uski help kar do, hum sab jaa kar aate hai tab tak

The girls nodded and the rest of the team left for investigation. At the office, Riya silently helped Ayesha finish the report, only answering her questions, barely talking anything else making her wonder what was wrong. She was tempted to ask but refrains thinking that they barely knew each other. She probably won’t be very comfortable.

Ayesha gave the file to Rathore when they returned. He tells Chotu to go and submit the file while they work on the case. Even as the discussion progressed, Riya remained silent along with her percentage theories.

Rathore: Riya, koi aur information pata chali?

Riya nods negatively: sir, agar call records ho toh… (lowering her gaze) I mean Shree nahi hai

The mention of technical expert saddened everyone for a moment.

Arjun firmed himself: Rathore, hume technical work ke liye koi chahiye, commissioner sir se baat karo (he nods wordlessly) Riya aao mere saath

He stands up to leave, making her follow. He leads her to Shree’s desk and starts working on accessing the call records.

Riya(surprised): aapko technical work aata hai?

Arjun smiles as he gives the print command: ha, subject liya tha maine, uske option mein research tha aur woh toh main karne se raha, foundation agar compulsory nahi hota toh us book ko haath bhi nahi lagata

She just hums in response while averting her gaze.

Arjun: lekin tajub is baat ka hai ki tech expert ko pakadne ke liye tech se zyaada research hi kaam aaya

Riya looks at him quizzically. She couldn’t quite understand what he was referring to, her?

Arjun: are woh tech expert hai toh waha se toh cyber space se aasani se saboot mita dega na? (she nods) toh use pakadne ke liye paperwork ka hi sahara lena pada warna main uske khilaaf saboot nahi dhundh paata

The papers finished printing. She picked them and sat there with a pen saying a feeble thank you. Arjun gazes at her for a few seconds before standing up.

Arjun: kuch pata chale toh batana, main cabin mein hu

She answered without looking up: ji sir

Arjun sighs and walks away stumbling into Rathore on the way he gives him a teasing look.

Rathore: aa gaya? mujhe toh office hai yaad dilaane aa raha tha

Arjun: mazak mat karo Rathore

Rathore squints at his fallen face: kya hua?

Arjun: kuch nahi

Rathore: kuch nahi kaise? Itna utra hua hai chehra hai aur kuch nahi? (teasing) ek minute! Kahi aisa toh nahi ki teri khadoosiyat ki wajah se usne abhi tak tujhe ha nahi bola?

Arjun: Maine use kuch nahi bataya

Rathore(stunned): kyun?!

Arjun: kyun ka kya matlab hai Rathore?

Rathore: Rawte paagal mat ban, bol de use jaakar

Arjun: ye sahi waqt nahi hai Rathore

Rathore: kab aayega tera sahi waqt? Pichli baar ki tarah uske jaane ke baad?!

His eyes widened in horror: Rathore!

Rathore: toh aur kya bolu Rawte? Tum kyun apni feelings accept nahi kar rahe ?!?!

Arjun bursts out on him: accept nahi kar raha hai?!Tumhe Lagta Hai Ye Sab Mere Liye Aasan Hai?! Roshni ke baad pehli baar mera dil dhadka Riya ki wajah se, jab tak is baat ka ehsaas hua toh woh hume chod kar chali gayi! Fir pata chala ki ye sab saazish hai aur use Dhundhte-dhundhte paagal ho gaya, main us par humara rishta thopna nahi chahta Rathore!!! Haalat Dekhi Hai Uski? Muskaan Kho Di Hai Usne Apni, Chehre Par Chamak Nahi Hai, (tearing up) Yaha Tak Ki Uske Aankhon Ka Pyaar Bhi Kahi Kho Gaya Hai, Uski Haalat Nahi Hai Abhi Ye Sab Sochne Samajhne Ki! Pehle Main Khud Ko Samajhne Ki Koshish Kar Raha Tha, Uski Yaadon Mein Tadap-Tadap Kar Jiya Hun Main Aur Ab? Ab jab woh mere saamne hai (his voice cracks) Toh Main Chah Kar Bhi Uske Kareeb Nahi Jaa Sakta!

He storms off to his cabin leaving a thoughtful Rathore behind. It was somewhere true, even he had noticed she had been behaving weirdly throughout the day. He was thinking it might just have been exhaustion from the past two days and she was taking a little time to adjust to the new surroundings. After all, even the ETF wasn’t the same as she had left it. Plus, she was injured.

However, if Arjun’s observations were correct which they always were, it meant they would have to do a lot more to bring back the Riya Mukherjee that had left them.

Arjun’s cabin-

He collapsed on his chair and removed her photo-frame from his drawer. It now seemed as if the Riya staring gazing back at him and the Riya he had found were two completely different people.

He sighs mv “kya ho gaya hai tumhe Riya? main aisa kya karu ki tumhe tumhari khushi firse mil jaaye?”

The next 4 days passed quickly. Riya’s withdrawn behavior only confirmed Arjun’s doubts. Even though he, Rathore, Chotu and the girls all tried talking to her normally and including her with the team, it wasn’t very successful. She would either politely refuse or make some excuse. When she worked, she tried to stay at her desk, involving with the others only when a discussion was needed or she needed to tell them information. Most of the time when they were not working, she remained lost in her own thoughts. As the clock ticked so they did their worry. It wasn’t a very good sign. She only seemed to be sinking deeper into the mess rather than to swim out of it. They weren’t able to figure out what exactly was the source of her distress. The idea of giving her time was not working and at the same time, they had no idea what else to do.

The only positive thing in those days was that her injury had healed considerably. Rathore was contemplating over her joining them on the field but at the same time was worried about her safety due to her recluse behavior. Arjun reasons that they could let her in on interrogations and crime scenes and then allow her on raids when she got better. Agreeing, the chief lets Riya know that she could join them on the field from the following week.

She nods and leaves while muttering a thank you. Rathore and Arjun glance at each other in disappointment. They were hoping that getting back on the field would cheer her up but it didn’t quite seem so.

Barring her, the rest were all in the conference room later in the day.

Liza: sir post-mortem ke hissab se Kulkarni ki maut dubne se nahi, balki gala ghotne ki wajah se hui hai

Rathore: iska matlab ki use maarne ke baad uski body ko lake mein dump kiya gaya… Chotu Riya ko bulao, dekho use kya pata chala hai

He nods and goes outside.

Ayesha: sir uske pariwar waalon se pata chala hai ki uska ek business rival tha jiske saath uska kayi baar jhagda hota rehta tha

Riya arrives with Chotu and a diary in her hand. Rathore gestures to them to sit and motions Riya to share her findings.

Riya read from her diary: Kulkarni ka ek farmhouse hai Panvel mein, jaha woh har weekend jaata tha, uske…office ke kuch colleagues ne bataya ki uska affair uski secretary ke saath chal raha hai, phone records bhi is baat ko support karte hai.

Arjun: uski wife ko pata hai affair ke baare mein?

She answers without looking up: pata nahi

Arjun: aur kuch?

Riya: woh Panvel apni secretary ke saath jaata tha, ek saal se affair hai

Sakshi: agar ek saal se ye sab chal raha hai toh uski wife ko shak toh hua hi hoga, I mean agar mera pati har weekend gayab ho jaaye toh main toh use usi waqt divorce de dungi

Chotu rolls his eyes: aur agar woh kaam ke liye hota hoga toh? bina baat ke bhi divorce de degi?

Sakshi: kaam hai toh chupa na kyun?

Ayesha: Sir! I think hume ek baar us farmhouse par jaa kar dekhna chahiye, shayad koi clue mil jaaye

Rathore: ha, Chotu tum aur Rawte…

Arjun snaps out his thoughts: tum jao uske saath, mujhe thoda kaam hai. Liza ko bhi saath lekar jao. Ayesha, tum aur Sakshi uski secretary se mil kar aao, dekho woh kya kehti hai

Rathore: aur kya kaam hai tujhe?

Arjun ignores the question and stands up. He walks across to Riya and gently holds her hand surprising her and the others. Rathore raises his eyebrow. He tugs at her hand for her to stand up. She gulps in fear pondering if she did anything to anger him. He leads her out with her following him like a fearful child who was bracing for impact.

Sakshi: ye kya tha?

Rathore rolls his eyes: Arjun Rawte! (shaking his head) Chalo kaam par lago!

The team nods……………………..