LET ME LOVE YOU

CRIMSON LONGINGS

She settled inside the car while the latter was looking at her like a silent spectator. Haseena didn't look at her again and the car drove her away to her destination.

"Love story hai naa aapki woh, maddam sir?" The constable asked casually. Be it any other officer in place of Haseena he hadn't dared to ask such a question.

Haseena rolled her eyes but then smiled as the constable got a little scared. "Sabko dikhta hai naa? bas unko nahi dikhta!" she said with a sorrowful smile. He made a sorry face at her statement. The rest of the journey was silent.

Two hours later, he stopped the car half a kilometer before the destination. "Maddam sir, aapke paas tracker aur microphone hai na?" He questioned to which Haseena gave an affirmative nod. She jumped out of the car and asked him to leave. The area was surrounded by dense forests but she knew where she has to go. The street lights were helping her move. Keeping an eye at her surrounding, she was carefully walking on the empty streets until she reached the abandoned old building. She hide behind the bushes as she noticed some movement. They were some men sitting around the bonfire in the open area. They were half drunk and were talking and laughing at themselves. One of them was fully in his senses and was keeping an eye everywhere. She knew she had to act fast before they caught wind of her investigation. Satisfied that it was safe when the men got busy in themselves, she quickly made her way inside. She already had the idea how the building looked like so it wasn't much difficult for her navigating the pitch black insides. Once she made sure there was no one around, she sneakily entered inside one the rooms to find any clue.

"Haseena Mallik, sab thik hai?" The DSP asked.
"Sir, building ke andar hain, rooms ko check kar rahe hain. bahar lagbhag 5-6 aadmi hain jo nashe mein hain. Andar koi nahi dikha hai." She replied in one go.
"Okay! be careful."

-

The lights of Haseena's room were on as if the room was waiting for Haseena to call it a night. Karishma Singh, her so-called girlfriend, was half lying on bed lost in nowhere. She was still wearing Haseena's clothes and the smell of Haseena they carry were making her unforgettable to Karishma.

"Thik hai, kapre acche hain, humare oopar acche bhi lag rahe hain, unko jala bhi lia hai pehen ke inhe, lekin ab toh bahot bore ho raha hai humko. Is waqt woh yahan pe hoti toh massage karate apni" She thought with a mischievous smile to divert her mind from Haseena's absence but nothing seemed to work. She felt like the walls of the room weren't recongnising her in the absence of Haseena. She scrolled her phone, read some files and novels but at last it was Haseena whom she needed the most.

As she was finally lying on the bed cuddling a pillow, fooling herself that she's sleeping, her phone rang loudly. Misha. It said. It was 1:30am and what was Misha doing this late? was there anything serious? she wondered before picking up the call.

"Haseena kahan hai? uska phone nahi lag raha hai" Misha sounded tensed.
"Woh maddam sir ghar pe nahi hain, 26 January ka ek event hai toh uske liye dusre sheher gayi hui hain... 4 din baad lautengi... tum thik ho?" Karishma lied.

"haan main thik hoon mujhe kya hoga... ek minute... mtlab tum room mein akeli ho?" Misha asked.

"Haan hain toh?"

"Toh Haseena ki jagah main aa jaun kya?" She asked mischeivously.

"Amaa oo! ek kantaap lagayenge naa..." Karishma reprimanded her.

"tch yaarr... tumko chhedne ki himmat bas Haseena hi kar sakti hai... aur sabko toh tum dho deti ho" Misha said in disbelief.

"Kya kuch bhi. unka bhi himmat nahi hota hai. woh toh darti hain humse"

"Darti nahi hai bas pyaar karti hai woh tumse, samajh gayii!" Misha pouted.

"Itni raat gaye tumne joke sunane ko call kiya hai humko Misha?" Karishma asked and Misha shook her head. She's really a thick head.