• Second Chances •

39. The Wait

"Why do you look like a dead rat?" asked Adi in an emotionless voice.

Ram jutted out his lip like a small child. He held the helm of Aditya's shirt and tugged at it. "Cause my brother won't talk with me."

"Shut up!" Aditya snarled at him and went back to typing furiously on his laptop.

Ram insistently tugged at his shirt again. "Please na. I am sorry na." 

"Shut up!" Aditya repeated again. He then tried to free himself from Ram's clasp. But Ram didn't budge. 

"Adi yaar. Kya karu mein? What will make you happy?" asked Ram. He propped himself against their office table and looked at Aditya with big, puppy eyes. 

Aditya looked up from the laptop. He stared at Ram for a long moment and bit out, "You being happy. That will make me happy. Is that a big ask?"

Ram's heart felt like it was going to explode with emotion when there was a rapt knock on his cabin's door. Then the door flew open and in walked Karan.

"Hey!" Ram hugged him. "Come have a seat." 

Karan hugged Aditya and then sat down. Ram stood by the table and raised his brows, "So. Any development." 

Ram knew that unless there was a big development in the case, Karan wouldn't bother coming to his office. So he held his breath. 

Karan pursed his lips. "I had sent my men for a recce there. I will be very honest with you, Ram. It is a tricky area. A lot of politicians are backing these men because their job gets done through these men. And unless someone complains formally, I can't do much." 

Aditya removed his specs. "So even though we know that they are there illegally, we can't do anything?" 

"No..." Karan answered in a clipped tone. 

Ram's brain stopped working. He walked towards the couch. He picked up a glass of water and drank it. This project was special. He had invested in it heavily and a lot of the company's future depended on it's success or failure. And the way the things were looking, Ram was beginning to feel that it was going to be a failure. 

He turned around and agitatedly argued, "I have paid for this land, Karan." 

"Yeah, I know that," Karan replied calmly. "But my suggestion will be that you need to launch an official FIR. Name the offenders and raise a dispute in the court." 

Looking at Ram's crumpled face, Aditya swooped in and took control of the situation. "Okay fine. We will discuss this with the lawyer. Ab bata, samose khayega?" 

"Khila de yaar!" chuckled Karan.

Ram didn't hear the rest of the conversation as he zoned out. A quick thought of his father's death, the threats that they had received earlier, Nandini, his siblings, everything that happened with them after Virendra died flashed in his mind. 

History had a bad habit of repeating itself. 

Ram didn't want this history to be repeated. Ever.  

*********

"What are you doing?" asked Priya as she sat down on the bed and eyed the pile of files around Ram.  

"I am going through these property papers once more. I want to ensure that everything is perfect from our side..." Ram answered without looking up from the file. "The land case is a bit complicated. I did ask the lawyers to look into it but I want to make sure that I know about the case just as much."