Chapter 5

rimi

@rimi_invisible

It had started pouring heavy by the time it was evening and both were waiting for Annu's parents to receive her. Though Annu had to face a lot of struggling encounters while glaring and fighting with her climinal, finally she had managed to gain the access to his room and was now roaming around the room looking into his things.

Arjun was sitting quietly watching the news and sipping his evening tea when Annu came running to him with a heavy bunch of keys attached to a fancy key ring. She looked up at him with mischievous eyes and held out the key stack.

'Aljun dekho mujhe kya mila...ye kiski hain?' she asked him,

Arjun took the bunch from her and looked at it. His face color paled and his fingers seemed to shiver. Annu held onto his legs and climbed on the bed and leaned on him.

'kya hua Aljun? Dald ho laha hain?' she asked checking the bandaged wound on his arm,

'tumhe ye kaha mila?' Arjun asked in a lost tone,

'waha uske piche..' Annu replied pointing towards the bunch of files and newspapers kept on the ground beside the cupboard,

Arjun looked at the pointed spot on the ground and back at the keys. He had not used the keys for two years now. He didn't need them. The keys had got a bit rusted and dusty. The bunch of keys was hanging from a key ring which had two cracked silver hearts entangled together. The white color had got a yellowish tint.

Annu alternated her gaze from his fingers which brushed on the metal ring and back to his face which showed tiredness and pain. She kneeled beside him and wrapped her arm around his neck.

'kya hua Aljun? Ye kiske keys hain?' she asked,

'mere ghar ke,' he muttered softly,

'ghal? Wo to yaha hain na?' she asked again looking around,

'nehi, ye ghar nehi hain, wo to kahi aur hai,' he replied her,

'kaha?' she asked sitting on his legs,

'pata nehi, kho gaya,' he replied in a lost tone,

'kho gaya?' she asked with wide eyes,

'hmm,' he hummed, nodding at her,

'tum mujhe apne ghal le jaoge na? mujhe tumhala ghal dekhna hain,' she nudged,

'Agar mil gaya, to zaroor le jaunga,' arjun told her looking towards the broken hearts inside her palms,

'mein tumhe dhoond ke dungi,' she replied, holding onto his vest,

'kaise?' he asked giving her a hopeful gaze,

'Captain Spalk ko saab pata hota hain, mein tumhe tumhala ghal zalool dhundke dungi,' she replied standing up on the bed and taking back the keys from him,

'ye mele pass lahenge, ye eff...id..' she tried remembering the word,

'Evidence,' Arjun helped hiding his laugh,

'haan eff...id..nce, ye mele pass lahega,' she said clutching on the keys tight at her chest,

Arjun pulled her toward him and she banged onto his chest.

'ek baat batao, Captain Spark kitne detective stories parti hain?'

Annu slapped her forehead.

'uff, kitne be...wa..koff climinal ho, mein palti nehi hu, mumma stories sunati hain na, mujhe saab pata hain,' she clarified in a proud tone,

'sorry captain, mujhe bilkul nehi pata tha,' arjun told her wrapping his arms around her while she kneeled on his thighs,

'ye mele pass lahenge, mein tumhala ghal dhoondke tumhe de dungi, tum udas maat hona, thik hain?' she told him sternly,

'done, thank you so much Captain Spark,' he smiled at him,

'uff flends ko thank you nehi kehete, tumhe kuch nehi ata,' she said hitting arjun's forehead,

'to kya hum dost hain?' he asked,

Annu thought for a while looking at the keys and then back to him. He was waiting eagerly looking at her gestures.

'haan flends,' annu replied forwarding her palm,

Arjun shook her hand and hugged her close to him. Annu nagged for more stories about him and his 'ghal' and 'Loshni' and the evening went with some secret conversations between the two, sometimes laughing, while sometimes Annu lending a shoulder towards a broken Arjun.

*******

It was almost night and it had started pouring more. Arjun and Annu were still waiting for her parents but none had turned up yet. It was thundering with frequent flashing and Annu was hell scared. She sat holding onto Arjun tight, hiding her head in his chest, whenever the sky roared.

Finally when it was getting too late, Arjun called Sameer and after a lot of trouble could get through the call. Sameer picked up the call instantly and informed him that they were stuck in the highway while returning from the Pune conference. Due to heavy thunder storm the road had been blocked with a fallen tree trunk. The network too was fluctuating and they couldn't inform. Sameer requested Arjun to keep Annu with him for the night as they could only reach them by morning.

Annu listened to Arjun as he spoke to her father. Arjun disconnected the call and narrated her about the trouble. She was comfortable with the solution of staying back at her Aljun's' place. But a bigger trouble was on its way. It was raining outside and both of them were hungry.

Had it been any other night, Arjun would have silenced his hunger with a strong cup of tea, but with Annu's presence it wasn't possible. Moreover he hardly kept much grocery at home as he usually spent most part of the days at ETF nowadays and ate his meals there.

Annu looked at him with a pale face when he showed her the jug of milk and the bottle of tea leaves kept beside the induction.   

'tab hum kya khayenge Aljun? Bohot bhook lagi hain,' she told him making a pouted face,

'wahi soch raha hu,' Arjun muttered to himself and looked at Annu helpless.

He scratched his temple and stepped down from the bed. He looked outside the window. It was raining heavily outside. He wouldn't be able to take Annu out for dinner nor could he leave her alone at the lodge and get some food for her. She was already scared of the roaring weather.

He turned back and bent down to look for some left over groceries when the room filled into sudden darkness. Current failure, the only trouble left. He heard the shrill cry in Annu's voice,

'Aaaljunnn,' cried from the bed.

Arjun instantly stood up and ran to her. She hugged him scared, almost crying. He patted her head and rubbed her back, but she was too frightened to leave him. Arjun picked her up in his arms, but his wound started paining again and he had to leave her back on the bed. Annu could guess his painful hiss in the darkness too.

'solly dost, tumhe lag gayi?' she asked him,

Arjun pulled her closer and both sat there leaning on each other. After sometime the darkness faded and Arjun lighted a candle. Stormy wind and rain was hitting at the window pane making strange sounds, frightening Annu more.

Arjun left the candle at the table and went to check his grocery. At the illumination of the candle light he could find some leftover cereal and pulses. The amount wasn't enough for the two, but it would surely feed Annu and he could compensate the missing part with his regular tea. He was looking at the utensils when he found Annu, hold his shoulder beside him. He looked up at her, she was looking at the candle, with frightened wide eyes.

'kya hua Captain Spark?' he asked at her scared face,

'mein yaha tumhale pass baithu?' she asked,

Arjun nodded and she sat on the ground, moving close to him, turning back at times looking at something on the bed,

'Kya hua?' Arjun asked her,

'wo dekho, mujhe dal lag laha hain,' she said holding her arm, pointing towards the bed.

Arjun looked at the source of her fear and within seconds started laughing. Annu glared at him but instantly looked back and shifted closer to him.

'Captain Spark shadow se darta hain?' Arjun laughed and the teasing session started.

The rest of the night went with a distasteful khichri made by Climinal and Captain Spark, which the captain seemed to love eating. Then a round of more laughs and glares, along with a fight competition which Annu won with flying colors. Then a round of bickering supper where annu was hell bend on Arjun to gulp down his medicines one by one and not together and along with the medicines very less water could be drunk.

After a long tiring day, when finally the thunder storm has stopped reducing the rainfall too, Annu and Arjun slept on the bed. Arjun had a protective arm around Annu while Annu cuddled towards him, pushing her head more into his chest.

It was after years of sleepless and torturing nights, Arjun was peacefully asleep.

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