LET ME LOVE YOU

DO I LOVE HIM... STILL?

"I have to go!" She said pulling away in anger and turning to leave.

But as she turned behind, the scene in front of her sucked the breath out of her right away. "Maddam sir..." Escaped her lips.

Haseena Mallik was standing, a few feets away from her. Her lips were tightly shut and her eyes were red in anger. Her jaw was clenched tightly when her eyes met Karishma's. A few seconds of eye-lock sent chills down Karishma's spine. Haseena turned and left the cafe leaving Karishma flabbergasted.

Haseena along with Cheetah and Pushpa ji had come to the restaurant to meet the son and daughter of the elderly couple who visited the station a week ago. But as they reached there, they got a call from their son that they had to visit the doctor as her wife suddenly fainted. They were about to leave when Cheetah spotted Karishma with a guy who turned out to be Shorya.

"Pushpa Ji uu dekhiye Karishma madam..." He whispered but his voice was loud enough for Haseena to hear and she looked in the direction he was looking. There what she saw left her speechless. Karishma was sitting in front of Shorya whose hand was above Karishma's and the other one was on her face. Her brain started clouding with hundreds of emotions and she felt a sharp pain in her heart. Above all, anger rushed inside her as she saw them like that.

She felt... betrayed.

"Maddam sir Karishma madam Shorya ke saath? Uska to case solve ho chuka tha na... Fir kyu?" Pushpa Ji wondered. Haseena remained silent as she was dealing with her overpowering emotions at that moment.

"Aapko pata hai kya kuch maddam sir?" Cheetah enquired.

"Dost hai wo unka... Bataya tha unhone humein ki milne jaana hai..." She lied to them. However, it didn't take much time for Pushpa Ji to understand that something was fishy after witnessing the sudden shift in Haseena's tone but she chose not to ask at this time.

"Aap dono gaadi mein jaake baithiye, hum bas abhi aate hain" Haseena said to them and they moved out without any argument.

-

The journey to the thana was dead silent for Cheetah and Pushpa Ji. "aap kahan jaa rahi hain maddam sir?" Pushpa Ji asked as Haseena didn't come out of the jeep after dropping the two to the station.

"Humein kuch kaam hai Pushpa ji, aur vahan se seedha ghar jayenge... Jai hind" She answered, without looking at them.

"Ji maddam sir, jai hind"

It has been more than ten minutes Haseena was driving the jeep aimlessly. She could not unsee what she saw at the restaurant and soon her vision started getting blurred as the tears she was holding started brimming in her eyes. She pulled up the jeep as it became difficult for her to hold up and the next moment she broke down into sobs. It was the first time in her life that Haseena Mallik got attracted like this by someone. It was the first time she found a reason to come back to her room after duty every day. It was the first time that she gave someone that reserved place in her heart. It was the first time that she has fallen for someone and it was the very first time that she ended up being broken. She was letting out all her fear, frustration, pain, helplessness, and anger and was crying as loud as she can because she knew there was nobody around.

First love is not always butterflies and rainbows. Sometimes it is black clouds and stormy nights and Haseena was realizing the same. Though, it was way difficult for her to make herself understand that Shorya is the one for Karishma and not she. All she could do at this moment was cry and she was doing the same.

An eternity later, she placed her on the headrest closing her eyes. She was feeling tired and didn't realize when she slept in the same position in the jeep itself. But a call makes her awake again. She rubbed her eyes which were swollen due to excessive crying and looked outside. The sky had turned dark and the call was from her mother.