The sun rose and brought in a beautiful morning… She woke up and tried to open her eyes but couldn’t as her head was pounding… All her senses returning one after the other sequentially… Why was her head hurting?? Why was the bed soft but the pillow hard?? She tried to feel the pillow… What are these bulges on it?? Why is it warm?? What is holding her?? She slowly tried to open her eyes and tilted her head upwards… Oh, it’s Anubhav Sir… she smiled and closed her eyes again… realisation hit hard and her eyes flew open… She pushed his arm that was resting on her waist and sat up straight… “Aahh… yeh sar kyu itna dard kar raha hai??” she said pressing her head with her palms… She noticed what she was wearing… Is that AS’s shirt?? She looked around the room… Her dress lying on the floor, his jacket lying on the edge of the bed… He stirred in his sleep catching her attention… Her eyes travelled from his abs to his chest then to his cheek… Is that a lipstick mark? On his cheek and even on his chest?? Her eyes bulged, lips taking a shape of a big ‘o’… she pressed her hands on her mouth to supress a scream… What happened last night?? Was it even a relevant question?? There were enough proofs to tell her what might have transpired between them… But how?? How could she do this?? Wait… She couldn’t remember anything after gulping down the contents of the glasses which means she was drunk… Did he take advantage of the situation?? Of course, he did… How could he??
“Sir…” she shook him… He had been tried and did not respond to her… “Anubhav Sir uthiye…” she shook him harder… “Kya baat hai Haseena ji… itni subah subah kyu shor macha rahi hai aap? Waise bhi kafi late soye the hum…” “Sirrrr……” she hit him with the pillow and he jerked out of his sleep… Sat up straight and said while rubbing his eyes, “Kya haseena ji… aise koi uthata hai kya??” “Sukhr kariye sirf pillow mara hai… warna jo harkat aapne ki hai uske baad toh danda marna chahiye tha aapko??” He opened his eyes and looked at her confused… “Kya kiya humne??” “yeh bhi aap humse puch rahe hai??? Kamre ki halat dekhiye… hum dono ki halat dekhiye… koi bhi dekh ke bata sakte hai yaha kya hua hoga… aapse hume yeh umeed nahi thi sir…” He was still confused… What was she talking about? Suddenly it hit him what she meant… “Aapko lagta hai yeh sab humne kiya hai??” He asked… she only nodded… she was holding the blanket close to her chest and was on the verge of crying… “Is kamre mei jo bhuchal aaya tha na uska naam Haseena tha… Anubhav nahi…” he said… “Matlab… yeh sab humne…” “Ji haan… jab bardasht nahi kar sakti toh piti kyu hai aap??” she was lost in her thoughts… “Ek toh aapne humari izzat looti aur upar se humpe hi ilzaam laga rahi hai…” he continued… “Kya kya kiya aapne humare saath kal raat… hume to soch ke hi bura lag raha hai…” he pretended to be sad… “Kya sach mei humne…??” “Haan… aapne…” “Kya kiya humne sir??” “Jane dijiye… hum nahi bata payenge…” “Bataiye na sir…” she pleaded…
In one swift motion he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer… She was affected by the closeness… she put her hands on his chest to create some distance between them… “Aapne hume aise apne taraf khicha… Fir…” he said… “Fir…??” she asked lost in his eyes… “Fir…” he whispered and began moving towards her lips… she closed her eyes in fear… He looked at her expressions and smiled… He let go of her and said, “Aapne humse humari shirt mangi… Humne aapko de di… Fir aapne change kiya aur so gayi…” “Toh aap yaha kaise aaye??” she had managed to open her eyes… “Woh aapne hume neend mei jakad liya aur jane nahi diya… isiliye hum yahi so gaye…” she was embarrassed and avoided eye contact… “iska matlab kal raat kuch nahi hua??” She asked still not looking at him… “Ji nahi…” but still all the dots were not connected… “Toh fir woh kaise…??” “Kya kaise??” “Woh…” she said pointing to his cheek… He had no idea that last night had left an evidence, right there on his cheek… He got up and looked at himself in the mirror, his eyes bulging out… The last night’s incident flashed in front of his eyes and he flushed… “Woh… woh… woh humne aapko shirt di na…” he fumbled… “Haan…” “Toh… toh… a… uske badle mei aapne yeh…” Crimson rose up on her cheeks… “Humne… Humne kafi mana kiye tha… lekin aap nahi mani…” She pulled the blanket above her head and he quickly escaped to the washroom… When she heard the door closing, she peeped out of the blanket and found herself alone... “Hasseeennnaaa… Kya kar diya…???” she chided herself…
She walked out after taking a shower… her head pounding hard… “Yeh pi lijiye… sar dard kam ho jayega…” he said handing her a glass of lemon water… “Thank you sir…” she smiled… The laptop chimed indicating a video call… “Jai Hind Sir…” both said together… “Jai Hind… Well done guys… Kal ka task bohot ache se complete karne ke liye…” “Thank you Sir…” “So coming to the point… Do news hai aap logon ke liye… pehli… Jis insaan se Tanya kal mili, uska naam hai Vikramjit Gill, son of Major General Gill, Station Commander of Ambala Cantonment… Rajnish Malhotra ke chote bete ka dost hai Vikram… explains his presence at yesterday’s party… but Tanya ka iske saat connection abhi pata nahi chal paya hai…” “Kya Vikram bhi army mei hai??” HM asked… “Nahi… Family business sambhalta hai…” “Tanya Vikram se kya chahti hai??” she asked again… “Jis tarah kal dono baat kar rahe the… aisa pratit ho raha tha ke pehle se jante ho ek dusre ko…” AS said… “Jitna waqt Tanya party mei thi, woh sirf Vikram ke saath thi…” “Aur humari surveillance team ne pata lagaya ke party se pehle ya baad mei Tanya kisi aur se nahi mili…” SO said… “Iska matlab uska target Vikram hi tha… Agar aisi baat hai toh Jagat Seth ka kya role tha is sab mein…?” HM said… “Abhi jab Jagat ka kaam pura ho gaya hai toh hum use arrest kar sakte hai…” AS said… “Nahi kar sakte…” SO said… “Kyu sir??” HM asked… “Kyunki uski aaj subh accident mei death ho gayi…” SO informed them… Both looked at each other shocked… “Bilkul humare officer jaise??” HM asked… “Yes… Exactly similar…” Danny’s plan seemed to be extremely elaborate and dangerous… “Humare liye kya orders hai Sir??” AS asked… “Aap dono kal subah ki flight se wapas Lucknow aaiye… till then we will have some fresh intel…” “Ok sir… Jai Hind…” “Jai Hind…” with that the call ended…
