so what a blue funk weekend it was CVs
anyways I swear I was going to tackle Mama first and then the heart to heart ..but changed the game a little bit just thought people will appreciate some harmless banter this weekend ..this is the second last chapter ..I will be closing this story in the next one ..so all you silent reader tell me what did you think of this story
XXX
Chapter 21

Shaurya Khanna was   a certified jhakki . She had always known that . It was just that his idiosyncrasies were now taking on a different dimensions ...
The guy for some reason was driving through the forests of Goa like a maniac , his lips sealed .
She was dying of worry and this guy would not open his mouth. There was another call and he gritted his teeth ...
"how is that possible "
He looked at her ..."do you have a phone ..."
Huh??
"Phone   Mehak .Phone ..the thing you can use to call people who are far away ..."
"Shaurya please stop making smartass comments ...no I do not have a phone..."
" Hmm ok ..."
"That means ..."   " bloody Hell... How I could be so stupid.."
"tumhe aaj pata chala??" ( you came to know that today ??) Mehak could not but help retort
He gave her one of his famous glares , as he stopped the vehicle.
He took out the sim card from his phone and threw it away ...
Mehak looked at him with surprise ..."Kya kar rahe ho Shaurya (what are you doing Shaurya)...it is just you who has a phone ..
"Yeah I just realized that was the only source ..."
"What source ?"
"Source to track us "
"Why would anyone want to track us ?"
He leaned over from his seat and brought his lips really close to her ears
"Because laddoo the world is not as simple as you think it is ..."
Mehak was flustered . ..it took her a few seconds to regain her composure and wits ..."Well it is not as complicated as you make it out to be ..." she sulked , as he restarted the vehicle ..
They had left the forest corridor and were driving parallel to the river
Now where are we ..he said after about an hour
"We have been driving parallel to the river going upstream , I am sure we must be near Mhadei now ..."
He looked at her ...his eyes twinkling .."Hmmm smart girl ..you are really not as dumb as you seem"
She decided to handle this insult in an extremely matured manner.
She hit him twice on the shoulder and stuck out her tongue to him, before demanding food..
He looked around , he could see a few signs of human settlement ,
"seems we are near a village..let us go and find something to eat "
they drove into the village and asked ,the first human they spotted, an old woman tending to her cow..
" idhar khane ko kuch milega?" ( will we get something to eat here)
Shaurya's question just elicited a blank stare from the elderly lady.
is she deaf ? Shaurya asked Mehak in irritation ..
Mehak bristled "no Mr Complicated ..there can be a more simple explanation ...she did not understand what you said".."language "
"now let me handle ", she told him pushing him aside.
"Ammamma .. jeavonn...khavchak " she said using her limited Konkani knowledge pointing towards herself and Shaurya
The old woman's eyes showed comprehension and she gestured for them to follow her and led them to a small dhaba   about a kilometer away.
They thanked her and she nodded in acknowledgement
As she left Mehak asked Shaurya .."are you sure you will be able to find our vehicle ?? "
The vehicle had been parked behind a rocky hillock covered with green .it was not visible till someone deliverately walked very near the hillock.
Shaurya gave her his famous look
Mehak just shrugged her shoulders .."sorry I had forgeotten that you come with an inbuilt GPS" as she marched ahead of him inside the dhaba
Shuarya could not help but smile hearing her comment . His girl was growing sassy by the hour.
The dhaba had small wooden benches and tables made of mud . They found one unoccupied table right in the corner with a single bench
They managed to order largely due to Mehak's knowledge of the local cusine , kothimbir vadi( coariander Fritters ) bharleli vangi (stuffed brinjals) missal pav (sprouts curry with buns) ,aamti ( lentils) and thaali peeth.( multi grain paranthas)
Once they had ordered the food , silence spread between them . They were sitting too close for comfort
Mehak pretended to be interested in her surroundings
Shaurya did not bother pretend that he was interested in anyother thing there except , the beautiful girl sitting next to him.
Finally Shaurya broke the silence ..
So Ms Sharma you never told me why were you researching Venice
Mehak was exasperated..This man just would not let go ...
"I told you I had seen it in a movie "
"And I told you , you were lying ..."
She was again tongue tied ..but soon found a way to deflect smartly
"I atleast try to answer your questions , whether you believe them or not is your problem . You on the other hand simply ignore my questions"
"Hmm what question Laddoo" Shaurya Feigned ignorance
"Accha?? ", she was really irritated by now , hence the question came out more sharply than she intended .."what are we doing here Shaurya ?"
Waiting for our food to arrive so that we can eat ..Shaurya answered innocently
She gave him a swift rap on his knuckles
"Ouch ... my my you have become really violent ,,where is my sweet laddoo"
I am not sweet , "My name is Mehak and I AM NOT YOURS ",Mehak decided to clarify all three points and emphasize on the last .
Accha..??
Ofcourse Accha .. "you have no right over me Shaurya so stop acting over familiar "
"We will see about that "
Mehak suddenly felt like crying ...this man would never understand ..he just lived in his own cocoon
She got up in frustration , deciding to leave , when he held her hand beseeched her with eyes to sit down.
"Our food is here Mehak ..Khana khao ..you have not eaten since a long time and you know you are prone to low BP ..please ..." he said
There was something in his eyes that compelled her to sit down
Mehak was serving herself some Aamti . ..when he said out of the blue
"We are trying to avoid running into my Uncle"
Her hands stilled
"what?"
"Well that was the answer to your question "
"Which one ?"
"The one that asks what are we doing here?"
She was stunned ..she did not know whether it was because he finally chose to answer or how incredulous the answer sounded ..
Once she got out of the initial surprise , her mind and tongue went into an overdrive
" who is your uncle? " , " why are we trying to avoid him?" , why am I trying to avoid him?" " do I know him?"" does he know me?"
Mehak please khana khao ..I will answer all your questions ..
"Bbbuttt "    she sputtered ,,,
"...I promise .. eat first ..we will talk later "
Mehak settled to eat..
As they were finishing their meal , Shaurya finally ventured information
"He is my Mama ..or rather my step mama . You can say that there is no great love between us "
"Why"
"Because he believes that I deprived him of his rightful inheritance as my grandfather decided to make me his heir ..."
"Oh ok but Why are we running?"
"Because I want to avoid him for another 24 hours "
"What will happen in 24 hours "
"My IPO will close , "
Seeing Mehak's look of confusion he said " forget it ..it is not important ...just remember that we need to avoid him for another 24 hours "
Ok but what has it got to do with me I do not even know this mama of yours .. I am sure even he would not know me
They were interrupted by the server who wanted to know if they needed anything more .
Shaurya asked him to get the bill.
It was dark outside as they walked out the eatery ..
"do you think it is safe for us to drive through the jungle at night" Mehak asked tentatively
Shaurya could not resist " Are you suggesting that you want to spend the night with me , doing something else other than driving"
Though he could not see her face due to the dark , the way she hung her face , he knew she was going red ..
He laughed out loud as she hit him on the shoulder
"Wow you have really grown violent "
Ok let me see ..he walked back into the eatery to find a possible place to stay .
They realized as they conversed with the owner that the village was really close to the Wildlife sanctuary and there best bet was a homestay near the edge of the WLS.
As is usual with hospitable villages across India , with simple friendly people , the owner vey kindly send one his workers to direct them to the homestay , which was some distance away.
The walk was difficult with jagged stones littering the path and the torch that their companion carried and Shaurya's phone light were just not enough .
Mehak stumbled as her feet caught in the stone , post which Shaurya resolutely held her hand , though she tried to snatch it away .
The homestay seemed welcoming with lights streaming out of its window . They could make out it was painted bright yellow
They were welcomed by the mistress of the house , who soon called her husband .
They were lucky as the family had room for them . Usually they took in guests through prior reservations only , but this not being the tourist season , it was possible to accommodate them.
Shaurya showed them his ID and declared Mehak as his wife , fastidiously ignoring Mehak's glare .
He enquired if he could make a call and the family lend him their cell phone . he quickly called his lawyers in Delhi .
Sanjay had reached the spice park and was looking out for them , but had returned back to Panaji as he was unable to trace them any further ..
Are you sure he is in Panaji ? Shaurya asked
"His car was spotted entering the hotel in Panaji was the reply at the other end.
"Was he in the car ?" he asked again
If you are not sure , double check, he instructed and disconnected the call.
He faced his hosts again and smiled very sweetly at them ..
"You know I am a businessman in Delhi and I have come here to spend some quality time with my wife.
But you know how people are ..they got wind of that I am in Goa and are now looking for me to discuss business. But I am not here to do business ..Can you please do me a favor ...just do not let anyone know we are here or we will not get anytime with each other"
The couple smiled and nodded their heads as they led the supposed Mrs and Mr Khanna to their room.
"why are you portraying that we are married? "
She blurted as soon as Shaurya closed the door.
" Aah Ms simple ...Can you think of an explanation that why an unmarried couple is roaming in the dark in a village near the forest , looking for a place to stay without any reservation, which is not complicated "
Mehak's answer was silence
"Exactly that is why " he smirked
She turned in huff towards the bed but was stopped midway as Shaurya's arms snaked in from behind locking her waist and pulled him back till she collided with him.
He whispered in her ears ,
So where were we Mrs Khanna?
Mehak again rapped him on his knuckles " we were certainly not here Mr Khanna"
And for the record " I am not Mrs Khanna"
Something that can easily be rectified ..smirked Shaurya ..
Mehak's hand stilled ...
"Shaurya I know it is a joke for you ..but can we not talk about this .." she said very quietly ..
Shaurya's grasp grew tighter in response to Mehak's attempt to free herself
" not talk about what Laddoo" he whispered again
"I am nnoottt you Llaaddoo." Her voice cracked and she sniffled
He felt warm tears falling on his hands , and he turned Mehak around ...
She was trying to dry her eyes , when he caught his hands midair..
"Baby please stop crying " He wiped her tears
" Shaurya all this is very easy for you ..it is easy for you to say stop crying, do you have any idea how much have you hurt me "
" I have and if it is any consolation to you ..I have been equally hurt in the process"
"I swear Laddoo, you are the only woman other than my mom for whom I have shed tears . I did what I did , because I was pushed in a corner "
" Accha you had an affair with Pooja Grewal because you were pushed in a corner "
He laughed ..so all these tears are because of Pooja Grewal..
She hit him on his chest "don't you dare laugh ..you know how much you made me cry "
He pulled her closer and kissed her squarely on the lips
"Sweetheart Pooja Grewal was just a cover for me ..I was busy working on the IPO and to keep it secret I was operating from a hotel . I did not want anyone to dig deeper into what I was doing in the hotel , so I paid Pooja to stay there ..It gave media enough masala and diverted everybody's attention to what I was actually doing there"
" again this IPO ..what has this IPO got do with me , I don't care about this IPO , is this IPO the reason you dumped me "
"Laddoo I never dumped you ..i just decided to put some distance between us as your life was in danger "
" My life was in Danger ..she scoffed ...Don't tell me it was because of this IPO"
He fetched from his trouser pocket a red velvet box , as Mehak's eyes grew wide in surprise

"No Laddoo it was because of this ring "
tibs092017-03-27 11:00:08