DESTINED TOGETHER

8. || Poor Debu ||

Ananya was driving the car while Rhea rolled her eyes at her. "Seriously, Ananya, this is pathetic. Why are you hurting him? You've made him believe that you love that good-for-nothing Ray, and moreover, you're hurting yourself, Ananya. Stop all this."

"I can't," Ananya replied firmly.

"Why the hell can't you, Ananya?" Rhea pulled her own hair in frustration.

"You know, Rhea, it's too risky. Ray's men are all around us. Don't be a fool. And as for Dev, I never intended to tell him anything about Ray. The mistake was that idiot Dabbu's. He overheard me talking about it on our wedding day when I was just pretending to cozy up to Ray to earn his trust. Who knows, Dabbu's trust in me might be shaken forever. Huh!" Ananya pushed the accelerator irritably.

"Well, whatever happened, happened for the best. I don't want to clarify anything. Clarifying everything means I have to tell Dabbu everything, reveal my identity, and I can't take that risk. And why should I give Dabbu any hope when I don't even know anything about my own life? You know how risky this mission is. I know he... he loves me a lot, and if I tell him, I don't know how he'll react after I'm gone. I can't bear to see him broken, Rhea."

"And what about breaking his heart right now? What about that? Nothing will happen to you, understand? Why are you always thinking of negative possibilities?" Rhea spat angrily.

"No one knows the possibilities, Rhea," Ananya replied.

"And no one knows I'm an undercover agent except our team," she added.

"What do you think, I enjoy seeing Dabbu in pain? It was just... I don't have a choice anymore," Ananya said.

"You do have a choice," Rhea insisted.

"No, I don't," Ananya countered.

"Leave it."

"Better."

After minutes of silence, Rhea asked again, "So you don't love him?"

"Of course, I do, Rhea. Isn't it obvious? He's my inspiration, my idol, and fortunately, my husband. I love him from the core of my heart, but I can't neglect my country. I swore an oath to love and protect my family and my country. I'm just fulfilling that oath."

"You know, Rhea, that's why I never wanted to get married, but destiny has its own ways."

"I swear, I feel like breaking Ray's face right now. There will be no chaos, no root of his. Just a little more time, Ananya, just once all the members of his team are captured. Then that Ray won't escape our hands," Rhea threw a fist in the air in anger.

Ananya nodded, chuckling. "By the way, Agent Roohi, be careful. You know how hot and happening our Chief Justice is. Maintain your sanity, okay?" She gave a lopsided smirk.

"Oh, I know how to maintain my sanity around him... been trying since day one. But you, don't mention my name like that. He knows who Roohi is, technically he doesn't know who Roohi is," she giggled to herself.

She was still giggling to herself when she didn't notice the traffic light turning red and all the cars suddenly stopping, except hers. She rammed her car into the car in front of her, making a loud screeching sound. Luckily, the airbags deployed just in time, preventing any harm.

"Who is this idiot who came in front of my car? Let me show him right now," Ananya angrily unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Ananya, stop! It was your fault, you didn't see the red signal," Rhea screamed from inside the car, but Ananya was already gone.

Dev rolled his eyes as he saw Ananya marching towards his car angrily. Yes, it was Dev Joshi. He rolled down his car's tinted window.

She knocked on the window impatiently, "Hello, mister. If you don't know how to drive a car, why do you bring it out?"

Dev smiled and leaned forward to look at her with a slight smirk on his face.

"Is 'manners' a foreign word to you? It's not done that a Maharaja steps out of his important car," she knocked on his window again.

"Am I a mannerless person? After all, you're the one who rammed into my car," he replied calmly.

"I told you to come out. Come out yourself," she said, "or do you think of yourself as the Chief Justice?"

He nodded.

"I said come out, come out. You made a mistake and now you're not even apologizing. Come out or else I'll pick up stones from the road and throw them at you," Ananya huffed angrily.

Ananya kept ranting, and he stared at her completely dazzled. Meanwhile, Rhea stood outside her car holding her head in exasperation.

"Poor Dabbu, I don't know how he puts up with her," she muttered to herself.

"Look, come out with manners. Don't you know who I am?" She turned to Rhea, who was approaching her.

"So, who are you, miss? Tell me," he said, and she shivered upon hearing his voice.

Her eyes widened as she realized whose voice it was. She glanced at Rhea, who shrugged her shoulders, suppressing her laughter.

She turned around nervously, biting her nails and giving a wide, fake smile.

He leaned forward on his damaged car. "Hmm, so idiot, nonsense, mannerless, Chief Justice, huh? Go on, continue."

"Uh... Dabbu... I mean, Debu," she stammered.

"Yeah, go on, Miss Pune Reject, I'm listening."

"You... yes, well, one should drive a car properly, right? What kind of way is this, suddenly stopping a car like that?" She tried to sound confident, at least.

"Of course, my fault. All the mistakes are mine. You were driving carefully, following all the protocols, right?" he replied sarcastically.

"Sir, the car won't start. Maybe it's damaged due to the collision. There might be an oil leak if we try to use it," his driver spoke up nervously, giving a smile to his boss.

Dev looked at her while she tried her best to avoid his gaze.

To be continued...