"Hey." Officer Maria is not far behind. She greets Haseena and gives Cheeta a polite nod.
"How did they know?" Haseena asks Karishma who is approaching her with worry in her eyes. She doesn't expect any answers from Karishma who was possibly on her patrol when the news broke. She keeps Karishma's touch that lands on her arm while listening to Aanya on the phone. "Karishma's here with Officer Maria."
"I'm Cheeta. Haseena's brother." Cheeta takes his long stride towards Officer Maria with his hand extending out.
"Officer Maria." The officer shakes it with a polite smile. "There are already a few paparazzi waiting outside. There will be more in a bit with some reporters and everything."
Haseena hangs up the phone from Aanya and sighs through her mouth. She doesn't say anything more as she gets another phone on the coffee table and hands it to Karishma. She exhaustedly rubs her eye.
Karishma bends down to look at Haseena's eyes. She tucks her hair behind her ears and whispers. "Are you alright?"
"Of course, I'm fine, Karishma. My girlfriend basically betrayed me and now the news broke with half of it sending straight out of Taken's writing room. I have no choice but to relive the whole thing just to make the entire story straight and save my career. So I'm perfectly fine, Karishma."
Karishma places her hands on her duty belt and takes a deep breath. She sees and feels Haseena's frustration and she doesn't want to say anything more to make anything worse. Although she hates the comment Haseena has made on her, she chooses silence over madness she might bring.
"I think you should reschedule your flight and leave as soon as you can." Haseena turns to Cheeta who is right next to Officer Maria with his hands in his pockets and his eyes on his sister. He is evaluating the situation to decide what his next move should be. "Before you're dragged into this mess."
"Dad will kick my bum if I leave you now." Cheeta doesn't move an inch and doesn't intent on following Haseena's advice.
"I'll kick your bum if you stay." Haseena glares at Cheeta and makes sure he knows that there is no bit of a joke in her words.
Cheeta takes a moment to consider what he has heard before nodding slowly. He knows better than to fight Haseena. "Alright, then. I'll leave through the back and call a taxi."
"Hmm, Chez." Karishma gets his attention as he grabs his duffle bag from the couch. "Officer Maria can-"
"Hold on one second here." Haseena interrupts Karishma and closes her eyes to quickly gather her thoughts. "Chez? You called him Chez?"
Karishma pauses. She doesn't look all anxious or all suspicious but she knows well that while her mind is on Haseena, her brain skips some details that were discussed.
"My name is Chez." Cheeta steps up trying to hopelessly salvage the situation that is about to be trashed to the ground by his sister.
"You don't just go by nicknames after meeting for 5 minutes." Haseena looks at Karishma who tries her best to not show any expression on her face and looks at Cheeta who is ready to rebut anything. "You met. Why did you meet? Oh my god, what did you two do?"
"We just hung out." Cheeta squeezes himself through a tiny hole and hopes Karishma will be able to do the same. He knows his sister well. If they don't get away while they can, they might not be able to at all.
Haseena locks her eyes on the target who also looks at her like there is no one else in the room. Her heart is now too heavy to flutter by the brown eyes she loves to have on her. "What did you do with him?"
