Charade - KarEena

Day 1938 (Part 1)

Day 1938, 6:00 am

Haseena woke up to the alarm and lay observing the room. She was breathless as she took the site of the soft sunlight caressing Karishma's skin as she lay with a serene look, facing her. The time lost its meaning as she drank the beauty before her. When her lungs burned for air she took a deep breath, recovering from the magnificent site, she sat and unzipped the sleeping bag.

Karishma slowly opened her eyes and saw that Haseena was already up. As she sat leaning on the wall, the sea filled with the orange hue of the sun and the lazy sun made her freeze, mesmerized she sat staring at the view

"My favourite part of the day, good morning" Haseena entered the room carrying two coffee cups and sat next to her handing the cup

"Morning and it's so beautiful. You are so lucky to have this greet you good morning every day" She smiled

"I am, and it's a cop's coffee, it's strong," Haseena said smiling at her

"Doctors too have their coffee strong" She took a sip, closed her eyes she let the coffee do its magic "Perfect!" she continued, "It seems you went on lots of adventures?"

"The sleeping bag! Well, I used to. When I was in college I went on lots of trips with my friends. We love nature, the forests, waterfalls, rides, wind and the sea. However, after I appeared for the exam in the department, training, posting and work filled my days. I worked hard to be where I am. Anyway, after I got suspended and had a fantastic breakup, I again started going out, for three months I went wherever my bike took me, a few places in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. Again, fell in love with nature, and now I try to go at least once a month." Haseena sighed

They sat in silence for a long time. Haseena got up and freshened up. She was preparing breakfast when Karishma walked into the living room. "Make yourself comfortable, I'll be out in a minute" she shouted from the kitchen

"I can help" Karishma entered the kitchen

"Well, as you are already here, grab the juice from the fridge and two glasses, they are on the shelf above the fridge"

"Yes, got it" she walked into the living room, followed by Haseena

"Okay, here is the bread, peanut butter, jam and toasted bread. I have no idea what you like to eat" she said with a shy smile

"Well, I'm flattered. Thank you for this" Karishma smiled After breakfast, they cleared the table.

Haseena sat putting on her shoes

"This is my number, call me if you need anything" She placed it near the landline and continued "Karishma, I'll try my best to make this your last day of missing. You'll be safe here but if there is an emergency, here are the keys for my apartment. Take care. I'll be back for Lunch." Haseena waited till she locked the apartment and took the elevator.

Driving out of the apartment, she noticed the red Santroo parked near her apartment. The red Santro followed in a safe distance but never out of sight, it came to a stop as Haseena parked her car.

1:15 pm

Haseena parked her car in the apartment. She walked into the house, placed the papers on the table, she called out for Karishma

"In the kitchen" she answered

"I'm sorry Haseena. I was bored, so I cooked for us" She said with a shy smile

"Good. Before that, I need to talk to you." Karishma followed her to the living room

"Why didn't you tell me, you met Mr Vikram Singh, CEO of Vikram Solutions 4 months ago?" she lashed out

"I... I forgot" Karishma stuttered

"Okay, what happened" Exhaling slowly Haseena stared at her

"He asked me to join his company and offered me money. He said the final product of the project would be a massive breakthrough and he wants to cash the opportunity. I declined the offer" she explained

"I got your call list in the morning. You are still missing from the department. I went through it and found Mr Singh's office number" Haseena sighed

"Do you think, they are after me for the project?"

"I think so, however, what I don't understand is, as your lab is ruined and if you are gone, how they plan to do that?"

"Maybe Mr Singh is trying to stop this project so he can ruin Mr Nair's company?"

"Hmm... may be. What is this project, Karishma? Why are they ready to kill people?"

"It's classified Haseena" She continued before Haseena answered "As our knowledge of genes increased, it opened up new possibilities for us to cure different diseases. In earlier studies, scientists found out chimps are immune to certain diseases like Asthma, Aids, malaria, Hepatitis virus, etc. Other studies on chromosomes showed some alleles when inherited from the father cause type 2 diabetes and the same alleles when inherited from the mother protect from type 2 diabetes. Using these two, I and other scientists tried to retrieve alleles from a chimp which can protect an asthma-infected cell, after many years of research we were finally able to retrieve a few alleles which can help to save the asthma-infected alleles from triggering. The day of the blast is when our results on the animal testing were obtained. Only our lab technician, my senior assistant and I know about this. If this vaccine comes out, it could help so many people" She signed

"O my God, it's great Karishma" she beamed at her

"Thank you"

"Wait! In the CCTV footage you kept a hard drive in your pocket, do you have it?"

"Yes, it's in my bag"

"We have to move Karishma; your life is in real danger. No one in the department will believe me, we should go now" she hurried

Karishma sat by the coffee table as Haseena took a call in the bedroom, finishing she entered the living room

"Grab your bag, we are leaving now!" she spoke urgently.

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Hey beautiful people, hope you enjoyed the fifth chapter of Awry. The story is going to unveil it's true players and the end is near. Please do share your thoughts, see you soon in the next part.

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