She walked into the house looking at the time… Ammi might be already asleep she thought and thanked her stars… But she had forgotten about the little baby of hers… Mansi was still awake playing games on her laptop… She gave a confused look to her sister whose cheeks were flushed and hair dishevelled… “Didi…” she called out… HM had completely missed her presence… She froze in her tracks on hearing her… “Man… Mansi…” she fumbled… “Aap kaha thi?? Ammi aapka wait karte karte so gayi…” Mansi asked… “Woh… woh… hum… hum… haan… humne bataya tha na case ke bare mei… wahi solve karne gaye the…” she tried to explain… “Saree pehen ke??? Aur aap bheeg kaise gayi?? Barish toh kabki ruk gayi thi…” Mansi asked… HM fidgeted with the loose end of her saree, why was Mansi asking so many questions, she thought… “Woh ye case special tha na… toh… toh hum uniform nahi pehenke jaa sakte the… Aur hum pehle hi bheeg gaye the…” she tried to cover up… “Aapko chot lagi hai Didi…” Mansi said… “Chot?? Kaha??” HM asked looking at her arms… “Waha nahi Didi… gale par…” Mansi said and HM realized immediately what Mansi might be talking about… Her eyes bulged out and she touched the place where AS had bitten her sometime back… “Acha… hum… hum dawai laga denge… Abhi aap chaliye sone… itna late koi jagta hai kya??” HM tried to scold Mansi to divert her attention… Mansi ran to her room before HM could give her a lecture and HM heaved a sigh of relief… “Mansi se bach ke rehna padega…” she thought to herself and went to her room to change…
AS walked into his house avoiding to disturb Maa… But she was awake and waiting for him… “Maa… aap ab tak kyu jag rahi hai??” he asked… “Woh hum baad mei batayenge… pehle yeh batao tum ab tak the kaha?? Aur bheeg kaise gaye??” she asked… “Woh… woh… Maa… aap toh janti hai na… humara kaam hi aisa hai… isiliye der ho gayi…” he fumbled… “Woh sab toh thik hai lekin tumhare baal itne bikhare hue kyu hai?? Aur gaal laal kyu ho gaye hai??” she asked looking at his flushed cheeks… He froze, unable to formulate an excuse… “Khair chodo… Hum kal do din ke liye tumhari maasi ke ghar jaa rahe hai… yahi baat batane ke liye jag rahe the… Abhi jaa rahe hai sone… bohot neend aa rahi hai… Tum baal sukhalo nahitoh thand lag jayegi…” Maa said… “Ji Maa…” he said and rushed upstairs before Maa could ask any more questions… Maa looked at him amused but ignored and left for her room… Once he was in the confines of his room, he heaved a sigh of relief… He quickly changed and laid down in the bed… He checked his phone and found a ‘Good Night’ message from his HM waiting for him… He replied to it with lots of kisses and quickly slipped into a deep slumber…
“Jai Hind…” HM said loudly startling everyone in MPT… “Jai Hind MS…” “Kuch kaam kar le agar aap sab ka ho gaya ho??” she asked sarcastically… “MS… Bataiye na… aapne chor ko kaise pakda??” KS asked… “Choron ki tarah soch kar…” “Matlab??” “Hum chori ka tarika toh samajh gaye the lekin chori kaha honewali hai woh pata nahi chal paa raha tha… Parso DSP sir ne ek aur similarity dhund nikali… Sabhi ghar walon ko kisi rishtedaar ke bimar hone ki khabar aati thi aur woh log hadbadi mei nikal jate the…” “Lekin…” “Puri baat toh sun lijiye KS…” “Ji MS… boliye…” “Fir humne humare spy network ko activate kiya…” “Aapka kaunsa spy network hai MS??” SS asked… “Hai na… Billu the Spy…” HM said with a smile… “Ohh…” “Humne Billu se kaha ke apne network se pata kare… Tab Billu ne hume bataya ke yeh chor nakalchi hai aur humara shaq yakeen mei badal gaya…” “Haan… jis wajah se koi bhi Chor association ka member usse support nahi kar raha tha… Fir mujhe pata chala ke chori kaun kar raha hai… Aur maine aake MS ko bata diya…” BIllu pitched in… “Haan… Humne Billu se kaha chor tak jhoothi khabar pohchane ko” HM said… “Kaisi khabar MS??” KS asked… “Humne ek khali ghar dhunda aur Billu se khabar pohchvayi ke dono husband wife out of town ja rahe hai kyunki kisi tabiyat kharab hai… Bas fir thoda natak kiya aur chor seedha chalke humare jaal mei phas gaya…” “Waah MS… Aur Bille tum toh kaam ke nikle…” KS said… “Thank you KS… Ab sab kaam pe lag jaiye… aur yeh case ki file shaam tak ready honi chahiye…” HM said and left for her cabin…
The entire day passed by, but neither HM nor AS found time to message each other… The workload had kept them busy… HM was tired by the time she reached home… She made a straight line to her room, took a shower and walked to the kitchen to look for her dinner… “Didi…” Mansi called out startling her… “Baby… dara diya aapne…” “Sorry… Lekin aap kya kar rahe ho??” “Bhuk lagi hai baby… Dinner??” “Ammi ne aapki plate microwave mei rakhi hai… Aur humse kaha aapko kehne garam karke kha lena…” “Ok… Hum kha lenge… lekin aap abhi jakar so jayengi…” “Ji Didi…” Mansi said with a frown and left for her room… HM heated her food and sat on the table when a thought occurred her, “Aaj pure din Anubhav ka call ya message nahi aaya… Aur humne bhi nahi kiya… Dekhe toh kaha hai…” she pulled out her phone and sent him a message… ‘Mr Anubhav Singh… Aapki girlfriend aapko miss kar rahi hai…’ She put her phone aside and concentrated on finishing her dinner… Once she was done, she checked the lock at the door, switched off all the lights and went to her room… She checked her phone but he hadn’t replied… She laid down on her bed waiting for his reply and contemplating if she should give him a call…
Suddenly there was some noise… The police office in her was alerted… She pulled out her gun from her bedside drawer… She looked around trying to adjust her sight in the dark… She saw some shadows on her balcony door… She slowly crept up to the door and stood with her back to the wall… With delicate hands, she unlatched the lock, pulled the door open and swiftly turned pointing the gun at the intruder… “Sona… Jaan lengi kya humari…” AS said… “Anubhav Sir aap yaha??” she said shocked… “Sshhh… ghar mei sabko jagana hai kya??” he whispered… “Nahi… lekin aap is waqt yaha??” she asked… “Pehle andar toh aane dijiye… fir batate hai…” “Aaiye…” Both moved in and she locked the balcony door again… “Ab bataiye…” she said… He was busy checking her out and did not answer. That is when she realised, she was in her shorts and t-shirt… She blushed due to his gaze. He snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her closer… “Humari woh kya tha…? ‘Girlfriend’ hume yaad kar rahi thi… Toh hum chale aaye…” he said with a smirk… “Kyu, sirf hum hi aapko miss kar rahe the?? Aapko humari yaad nahi aayi??” she asked with a frown. “Yaad karne ke liye bhulna padta hai… Aap toh har samay humare khayalon mei rehti hai…” he flirted… She scrunched her nose and said, “Bohot cheesy tha…” “Acha… Kisi film mei dekha tha… kuch naya sochenge agli bar…” he said and both laughed… Suddenly, her room’s door opened, “Didi…”
