“Shahi Paneer aur garma garam rotiyan le aaiye paaji…” he said to the waiter… “Aaho Paaji…” waiter replied and left to get the order… She was back from the restroom and took her seat… He had been gazing at her all the time but his eyes craved for more… She was a beautiful woman but the Sindoor and Mangalsutra had escalated her beauty by thousand folds… “Kaam ho gaya…” she whispered… He smiled and nodded… AS and HM were at a dhaba somewhere between Chandigarh and Ambala, disguised as a Punjabi couple… They had trailed Vikram (VG) and Tanya (TV) and halted at the same dhaba as them…
They were waiting for their order when a troop of entertainers started dancing and singing… The beats of the dhol made every guest to sway over them… The female members of the troop began dragging the ladies to dance with them, TV and HM were no exception… HM took this as an opportunity and tried to be friendly with Tanya while dancing along… AS and VG were watching their lady loves dancing… AS whistled loudly, “Oye hoye Soniyo…” he said enjoying HM’s dance… To keep up the act HM blushed… They stopped dancing after a while as their food had arrived…
TV and VG’s car had broken down… Suddenly 3 masked men emerged from the shadows and attacked them… VG was trying to thwart them but was being overpowered… Two men held him and third guy tried to stab him but his hand was held by a strong muscular arm… AS punched the man with knife and freed VG… A fight ensued but the goons were now overpowered so they ran away… TV ran and hugged VG, so did HM pretending to be a worried wife… “Aap thik toh hai na??” HM asked… “Mai thik hoon Sona… Sab thik hai…” AS consoled her… Their attention moved to the other couple… VG had taken a lot of beating before AS had arrived… “Aap thik hai Bhaisaab??” AS asked… “Thik hi keh sakte hai…” VG said… “Thank you so much… Agar aap time pe nahi aate toh pata nahi kya ho jata…” TV said emotionally… “Isme Thank you ki kya baat hai… Lekin aap logone is tarah sunsan jagah mei gadi kyu rok di thi…” AS asked… “Asal mei humari gadi chalte chalte achanak ruk gayi… Vahi check karne mai niche utra tha jab un logon ne hamla kar diya…” “Ohh… Waise aap log kaha ja rahe the?? Chahe toh hum chod dete hai…” AS offered… “Haan kyu nahi… aap log humare saath chaliye…” HM said… VG gave a look to TV… though she did not want to trust anyone, she also didn’t want any trouble before reaching Ambala, so she gave her consent… “Maine apna introduction toh diya hai nahi… Veer Kohli” AS said stretching his hand towards VG… “Vikramjit Gill… aur yeh meri mangetar Tanya… Kal hi humari engagement hui hai…” “Are… Congratulations aap dono ko… Waise yeh meri jaan, meri wife Meher…” AS said putting an arm around HM’s shoulders… “Congratulations aap dono ko…” “Thank you” Both VG and TV responded… “Waise aap log ja kaha rahe the??” AS asked… “Ambala Cantonment…” “Ohh… Chaliye fir… aapko waha drop karke hum Ambala city aa jayenge…” AS said… “Are aap kyu takleef le rahe hai… Ambala City hi chaliye, mai dad se kehkar car mangva lunga waha…” “Isme takleef ki kya baat hai… Koi baat nahi… Humari utni hi drive ho jayegi… Ghar jake sona hi toh hai…” AS said moving towards their car…
All four of them were on the way to Ambala when HM’s phone rang… “Sat Sri Akaal chachiji… Hum bas…” “……” “Hey Bhagwan…” she said worried and looked at AS… He gestured towards her trying to understand what had happened… “……” “Nahi nahi… hum abhi Chandigarh mei hi hai… Aap log jaiye Patiala… Hum fir kabhi aayenge…” she said… “……” “Khayal rakhiyega… Babaji sab thik kar denge…” “……” “Ji… Sat Sri Akaal” with that she ended the call… “Kya baat hai Sona?? Kya kaha chachiji ne??” AS asked… “Unke jo Patiala wale bhaisaab hai… unhe heart attack aaya hai…” “Oh God…” “Maine unhe isiliye nahi bataya ke hum raste mei hai… Unka Patiala pohochna jyada jaruri hai… Humare pohchne se pehle nikal jayenge woh log…” “Acha kiya jo nahi bataya…” “Babaji raksha karna…” HM said folding her hands…
They had reached VG’s house in Ambala Cantonment… “Lejiye… aapka destination aa gaya…” AS said… “Thank you so much…” VG said getting down… All four of them got down… “Are Thank you ki kya baat hai… Abhi hum chalte hai…” “Itni raat gaye aap kaha jayenge?? Matlab maine aap dono ki baat suni li thi… aap jinke yaha aaye hai woh log toh Patiala gaye hai…” “Hum kisi hotel mei ruk jayenge…” AS said… “Aapne humari itni madat ki… aap aise hotel mei rahenge… woh bhi humare sheher mei aake… Aap log yahi ruk jaiye…” “Lekin…” “Please… request samajh lijiye… Jaan bachai hai aapne meri…” VG requested… “Ab itna keh rahe hai toh ruk jate hai… subah nikal jayenge…” HM said… “Thik hai…” “Thank you… Aaiye…” Before they could move in MG Gill had come out… “Vikram… Yeh chot kaise aayi?? Aur yeh log kaun hai??” he asked… VG narrated the entire story and introduced AS and HM… “Thank you aap ne mere bete ki jaan bachai…” “Thank you ki koi baat nahi hai Sir…” AS said… “Aaiye andar chalte hai…” It was late so everybody decided to rest and moved to their rooms…
AS and HM entered their allotted room… “Mubarak ho… plan ka pehla hissa kamiyab raha…” AS said to HM… “Aapko bhi… Achi acting kar lete hai aap…” She said smiling and remembered how she had messed with VG’s car… The constables posed as masked men… the fake call and pretending to not having a place to stay… That was all their plan… “Hume aur chaukanna rehne ki jarurat hogi iske aage…” “Ji sir…” “Pehle toh aap hume sir nahi bulayengi… Kamre mei bhi nahi… Tanya ki nazar humare upar rahegi… Hum ek min ke liye bhi apna natak band nahi kar sakte…” “Ji… Waise abhi so jate hai… Hum thak gaye hai…” “Ji… aap bed pe so jaiye… hum couch pe so jayenge…” “Aapne couch dekha hai?? Hume nahi lagta aap fit aayenge uspe…” she taunted… “Bed pe so jaiye… hum so jayenge couch pe…” she said… “Thik hai…” Both freshened up and fell asleep…
Sometime later HM’s sleep was disturbed… She could see some shadows outside the door of their room… She was alerted… Was someone here to hurt them?? She quickly moved to the window that opened into the corridor… She saw Tanya lurking near the door… It seemed she was here to spy on them… HM saw here approaching the window… she hurried inside and tried to wake AS up… But AS was fast asleep, her whispers unheard… She had to act fast… She slid under the covers and slept hugging AS’s sleeping figure… The scene gave Tanya an impression that they were indeed a loving, married couple…
