KaYa FF: Flames II Epi 10 - Pg 62 II *NEW* PM LATER - Page 44

"What were you doing out here?" Kabir asked.

"Sunny and I were waiting for Rajdeep Garewal," Ananya replied.

"Son of Cabinet Minister Ajitabh Garewal?" he asked, and Ananya nodded. "Isn't Rajdeep going to be his party's Prime Ministerial Candidate for the general elections next year?"

"Yes... So?" She didn't see his point.

"Was he there in the hotel?" he asked.

"No... he didn't turn up. After waiting a long while, we decided to leave. I stayed for a few minutes longer than Sunny, to go to the washroom," she told him.

Kabir was brought out of his train of thoughts by a sharp, decisive knock at his door.

"May I come in?" A husky baritone floated into the hall. A tall, stout man appeared at the entrance to his living room a moment later.

"Rajdeep! Why do you ask for permission in your own house!" Kabir said, smiling, while Rajdeep adjusted his rimless glasses.

"Yes, but that doesn't give me the right to intrude on your thoughts, does it?" Rajdeep grinned, as Kabir's assistant handed him flowers along with a few customary gifts.

"Congratulations on being officially nominated as the Swarajya's Prime Ministerial Candidate!"

Rajdeep motioned Kabir to sit on a chaise opposite him and gestured the servant, Ramu, to serve tea.

"No milk, no sugar... just a drop of lemon, thank you." Kabir waited for Ramu to serve the tea and leave.

"What scary questions do you plan to grill me with that you waited for Ramu to leave, Kabir? And yes, thank you for your wishes." Rajdeep sipped on his steaming cup of masala chai, his intelligent eyes trained on an amused Kabir.

"Wonderful to see that you haven't changed at all over the years, Rajdeep!" Kabir commented, the smile on his face genuine.

"Ha! But you have my friend! When was it...?" Rajdeep pressed a finger on his lips, trying to recall. "Ah, 2004 right? Remember your first interview with me? But Kabir, why were you interested in interviewing a young, inexperienced party member?"

Kabir raised his eyebrows at the question and shrugged. "Aren't the questions supposed to flow other way round? Well, let me do myself the credit of saying that I knew it was not a young, inexperienced part worker I was going to talk with but the future Prime Minister of this nation, who would one day have great powers..."

Rajdeep smiled and continued to sip his drink.

Kabir stiffened. "So much power that he would know about the possibility of a terror attack but would not even think of warning people... and just save himself."

"I see!" Rajdeep snapped, his hold on his cup tightening. Putting his cup down with a clink on the table, he stared hard and cold into Kabir's eyes. "You think it was easy for me? I received information at the last moment, and had to keep it a secret. It was only a possibility and we the government machinery would not allow me to spread baseless panic among the people. You may take my word for this or leave it!"

Keeping his tea aside, Kabir walked up to Rajdeep and sighed, "Why should I not take your word? It is understandable that to neither alert the ones fighting against us nor put the public in a state of paranoia, a few lives are sacrificed as the defense figures its way out. " Kabir said

"The lives aren't sacrificed Kabir. It's unfortunate that even after trying our best, the terrorists get a minor victory." Rajdeep countered. "However, with the way things are, we can't afford public panic. Their faith in us is all we have. Yes, we actively fight against terrorism when we are attacked but apart from that our intelligence agencies work relentlessly, irrespective of the odds."

Kabir looked on, processing all that Rajdeep was telling him. "Just so you know, I am not accusing you of anything... it was sheer..."

Rajdeep raised a hand and continued, "Aggressive curiosity, I know. And for the sake of that let me say that I wasn't allowed to be there. However," Rajdeep smiled and crossed his arms across his chest, "The only way to respect the men defending our borders is by placing implicit trust and faith in their ability and will to protect us no matter what. They deserve that, at the least."

By the end of their conversation, Kabir found himself looking into the eyes of a flawed but one of the best prime ministerial candidates the nation had seen in a few years.

"Should we start our interview now, Rajdeep Sir?" Rajdeep laughed heartily at his mention as a sir' and raised his eyebrows "The scripted one? For sure... though you would gain a lot by publishing what we said earlier but dare you... "

Kabir looked at Rajdeep for a few seconds and burst into peals of laughter "Never, try threatening someone... I meant it. You are naturally awful at it."

The duo chuckled as they sat in the garden, waiting for the interview set up.

"Welcome. I'm Kabir Sharma and today I have the honor to interview the hopeful future Prime Minister of India - Rajdeep Garewal. So Sir, how did your tryst with politics begin?"

"With cameraman Sunny Singh. This is Ananya Kashyap, KKN." Ananya smiled briefly into the camera as Sunny signaled stop. Cursing the minute the report got over, Ananya groaned at the rally behind "In which sense does this look like a peaceful rally to you? Would you believe what I heard in a private discussion.. That," Sunny clamped his hand over Ananya's mouth.

"Marwaegi kya? This isn't our frankie station in Mumbai, by God if someone heard something then we would be over!" Sunny admonished an upset Ananya. "But Sunny, you tell me what's the use in reporting what everyone's reporting? Hello everybody here's a peaceful rally and look at the drama! Anyways, chal na, I am feeling damn hungry."

Sunny masked a laugh as Ananya stuffed herself "First of all miss this food and over that report fake stuff! Isliye I became a reporter na!" Fearing for his life, a quiet Sunny nodded continuously and agreed with Ananya.

"No, you tell me am I wrong!" Ananya paused to lick her fingers while Sunny shook his head.

"No Ananya, can you ever be wrong? In fact you should run to be the Prime Minister of our country - for truth always triumphs. And then join the line of great women of India, you know in the lines of Sarojini Naidu, Indira Gandhi, Kalpana Chawla..." Ananya stopped smiling as she saw the mocking grin on Sunny's face.

"Fine, tease me!" Ananya huffed and walked towards her hotel with Sunny following her "Arrey chill yaar. See we have a really good byte for two days toh relax kar na! Then turn into Sherlock Holmes, aur tera Watson is always available." Sunny pointed at himself while Ananya rolled her eyes.

Bidding him bye, Ananya relaxed in her room. Swinging her legs, she went through the tasks assigned and recalled the email.

The peace rally is a farce. 11 miles from the meeting is (XYZ - an area) a militant discussion is present. Don't tell anyone. Choice is yours, make it or break it.

Should she talk to Mirza about it, but that guy would definitely shut her up! After all he's Kabir's man and Kabir had told her off such stories... yet the devil in her tempted her. Ananya's eyes flashed in excitement as she decided to call Kabir. Yes, he could definitely save her from this conundrum.

Punching his number, Ananya's smile dimmed as she received an engaged tone instead of his voice. A gush of warmth filled her when she immediately got a text from Kabir.

I am busy.

Of course, wasn't Ronnie talking about an important interview Kabir had lined up?

Sorry, can we chat later?

She waited with bated breath but his reply never came. Shushing herself for the silly pang of disappointment, she sent another text.

I understand you're very busy. Sorry to disturb you. Have a great day. Bye :)

Throwing her phone aside on her bed, she grumbled and ran her hands through her hair. Maybe this was a sign - this news could make her life and moreover, this would be the truth... finally. Grabbing her shawl, Ananya headed to Sunny's room and knocked impatiently.

"Kya hai yaar? Let me sleep for God's sake!" Sunny groaned but his sleep went right off to the window as Ananya filled him in with the news she had. Grinning like school kids stealing candies, the aspirants took their equipment and ran towards the mouth of danger.

"That was our on field reporter, Ananya Kashyap from Kashmir. Looks like along with the weather, the nature of politicians have changed as well. But what depends is whether this is just a means for vote or the change we all wish for. Joining for To The Point, today we have with us..." Ronnie signalled Malavika to look into Manav's show as he excused himself.

Standing outside the PCR, Ronnie looked into his phone... tensed about Ananya's response two days earlier. What did the message Big news, will talk later' mean? He may not be as sharp as her but his instincts said that there was something wrong... a strange fright settled in his heart.

"Good morning sir!" Kabir frowned as Ronnie lacked his usual cheeriness. "Mor..." Kabir was interrupted as Ronnie picked up his phone and sighed in relief.

"Annu what's wrong with you! You have any idea how much you had me frightened! Are you looking after yourself?..." Kabir's smile dimmed as he noticed the intimate friendship between Ananya and Ronnie. Ronnie excused himself and walked to his cubicle while Kabir clenched his fists and walked into his cabin.

So Ananya had the time to call Ronnie but not him. Agreed they couldn't speak two days ago but... Kabir shook his head at the matter, chiding himself for his behavior. It makes no difference. Agreed he went out of his way to help her and expecting her call or continuous contact was immature.

He said he was busy, not that he didn't want to speak to her.

Cracking his knuckles, he aimlessly paced in his room and decided to head to the PCR to watch Manav's show. Kabir waved at Khalid in confusion, strange, he wasn't present all the time. Shrugging his shoulders, Kabir sipped water and looked as Manav droned on about the possibilities of the peace rally.

After all he was Manav, finding the weirdest of links in the strangest of cases had been Manav's strength - a thing that Kabir would grudgingly admit. The speculation regarding the Kashmir peace rally was intriguing indeed but Kabir found his interest as Manav called upon Ananya on a signal from... Khalid?

Stepping aside, Kabir mutely noted the exchanges between Manav and Khalid... what was going on?

Manav swiveled slightly in his chair and turned to look at where Ananya came live "We have live with us, Ananya Kashyap from Kashmir. Ananya, what is the situation out there?" Ananya pressed a finger to her right ear and took a moment to process the information.

"Yes sir, the situation in Kashmir is as..." Kabir's eyes widened as Ananya continued Manav's speculation about the peace rally and went forward to put direct accusations on the leaders of the rally. What the hell was this girl doing?

Although the glimmer in Khalid's eyes told Kabir another story. "To be added, sources have revealed that the peace rally is nothing but a farce... a cover up to a heinous militant activity."

"YES!" Khalid muttered and fisted his palm in the air while Kabir looked in shock... Khalid instructed Ananya on... on this! But Ananya wouldn't be able to handle this! What if something went wrong? Kabir jumped out of his thoughts as his colleagues, except for Malavika, clapped as Ananya displayed a footage of the militant activities.

"The question that arises is why does a sudden peace rally come up right before a planned attack. Is Osman Qadri doing nothing but playing his cards to win the votes of the public and establish his dominance over Kashmir. Will Kashmir ever have it's true voice... the voice of its people?" Her brown eyes sparkled with subtle fury and it was no doubt that Ananya would be the next big thing.

Though Manav was displeased with Ananya covering over half of his show, the sight of a very furious Kabir walking out of the studio led Manav to give a full blown smile to the audience. Working his brains out, the sudden cooperation of Khalid and anger of Kabir meant one thing.

Kabir knew nothing of these new developments... why? Why did Khalid manipulate with Ananya and not tell Kabir?

Settling in his chair, Manav let Ananya be the overnight sensation over her live cover of militant activities - after all, everybody has their day.

Three days after the sensational live news, KKN definitely was back on being number one. The rest of the channels were simply recycling Ananya's perspectives into their content. With Khalid avoiding Kabir like a plague and Ananya's lack of response to Kabir, the latter was as angry as a mass murderer.

"KHALID!" Kabir boomed the minute a slightly anxious looking Khalid walked into Kabir's cabin. "Firstly, congratulations that KKN has reached the number one spot and before you take everything wrongly..."

"Who is Ananya Kashyap?" Kabir looked at a perplexed Khalid "Um... well if you have traded your memory with the goldfish then it's a pity. For your information, Ananya Kashyap is a journalist you hired in KKN." Khalid scratched his neck as Kabir's anger grew by the minute.

"I am not joking. She's simply a junior reporter... do you have any idea what could happen to her! You've freaking sent her to cover militant activities? What if something goes wrong!" Kabir argued while Khalid raised an eyebrow.

"The concern for her is touching. Is there a growing space in your heart?" Khalid began to smile but straightened up at Kabir's no nonsense face. "Kabir, Sunny is there with her and she's constantly in touch with that Inspector of yours... what's his name..."

"Mirza, fine. But do you realise the risk? Ananya is blatantly reporting about the cover up in a place that's not even five kilometers away from their area. And you think the other guys don't watch KKN. Over that she's taken Qadri's name and accused him directly. I agree she had the perfect evidence but look at her damn it! Forget the band aid on her forehead... you have put her at risk..." Kabir stopped as Khalid raised his hand and settled himself on a chair.

"I agree, that probably Ananya should have filtered her information slightly but that's just the little errors of being a new journalist. And moreover, you just see what Ananya is... I see what Ananya can be. So don't blame me for utilising her to her full potential. Am I nothing but right Malavika?" Malavika walked in, giving Khalid a tight lipped smile.

Khalid grinned at Malavika's stoic stance, oh how much he loved riling her! Jealous of a junior reporter, well Malavika could even be jealous of a dead rat if that rat was near Kabir or near being famous.

And Ananya was both.

"Dil kya karein, jab kisi se... " Khalid stopped humming as daggers were shot at his direction, from a frustrated Malavika to a flustered Kabir.

"Khalid, Kabir would be naturally tensed because we lost a journalist last May... we can't let history repeat. If you're in need for entertainment then you can go elsewhere... so Kabir as I was say.." Malavika was interrupted as Kabir's phone rang.

Kabir excused himself and walked to the corner of his cabin. What was wrong with him? Fine... Ananya was in a danger zone but that shouldn't... it shouldn't bother him this much. Over that Ananya didn't even have the decency to tell him about her crazy ideas, silly of him to have gone over his boundaries to have helped Ananya. She could easily discuss everything with Khalid and even that Manav but in front of Kabir she hiccuped.

Opportunist.

"WHAT?" Kabir barked into his phone and felt the ground slip below his feet as Senior Inspector Mirza's worried voice came through,

"Kabir, Ananya has been missing since the last forty eight hours. Last seen with Osman Qadri's right hand man. I am afraid she has been kidnapped."

A/N : So another sincere apology for the delay! We really couldn't help it despite our best efforts. We hope however that the update is worth the wait and you enjoy reading it! Looking forward to your comments! 😳 Apologies in advance as this UD is a little short 😭

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