the unfortunate thing || kaira

#12

it has been three months since naira's disappearance. kartik tried his very best to find her. he once even got her location but when the police reached there, it was abandoned.

everyone in the house had just a little hope left but kartik was still optimistic. he still had a hope that he would find his naira. he had hired some detectives to look for naira.

he was sitting in his room, with no lights on, just the moonlight who lit up the room. he held naira's photo in his hands and talked to it.

"kaha ho jaan? pata hai kitni yaad aati hai tumhari? please wapas aajao na. kyu sata rahi ho apne mendak ko. tum mujhe gussa karlo, maar lo, daant bhi dena but please wapas aajao na. accha mere liye nahi, baaki sab ke liye toh please aajao na. naksh pata hai kitna udaas rehta hai. maa, chachi, chachu, papa, dadi sab log kitni chinta karte hai tumhari. please jaan, aajao na wapas." he let his tears fall freely from his eyes.

like this, he spent his whole night holding her photo and crying. the next morning his sleep was disturbed when swarna entered his room.

"beta get up." she said gently. swarna noticed his puffy eyes and gave him a sad smile. hugging his mother, he stood up and went to the washroom.

skipping his breakfast he straight went to his office and worked the whole day. the same day during the break, his pa informed him about the vacancy they had.

their designer had left two months ago because he was going on a paternity leave. kartik even allowed him to take the leave but the guy refused and said his wife would need him after the post partum. also he must help her as the child is theirs.

kartik respected his decision and signed his resignation letter. right now they. were looking for a new designer.

"call everyone for the interview tomorrow, rishi. i will personally look into it." he ordered and his pa left.

he let out a deep sigh and opened his phone to see if they found any information. seeing no text, he felt dejected. he wanted to clear his mind.

he went in the basement of the company and took his bike. he had changed into some comfortable clothes as he always kept some spare clothes in the office.

he even informed his mom and his dad about his late arrival today. they just told him to be safe as they knew this has been his routine since the past three months.

wearing his helmet, he sped of somewhere far away. almost an hour of riding his bike, he finally reached an isolated place.

it was a huge jungle. it wasn't too deep, it was for the visitors. he sat on one of the benches and remembered the time when naira introduced him to this place.

ever since that day, whenever both of them feel low, or need an escape from reality, they used to visit here. he sighed remembering all the memories and kept staring at the tree in front.

"krishna ji, aapka bhi sahi hai na. jab kuch accha hone lagta hai tab aap kuch na kuch lekar aa jaate hain, hamara surprise test lene. kya galti hai meri? aap meri chodhiye, kya galti hai naira ki? kuch kiya hai kya usne kisi ke saath? toh phir kyu uss bechari ko aap hamesha aisi duvidha mei daal dete hai. krishna ji, ab aur nahi seh paa raha hu mai yeh doori. nahi mann lagta uske bina. din-raat, subha-shaam bas uski hi aas lagi rehti hai. kab tak aisa karenge aap hamare saath. please wapas bhej dijiye usse. nahi reh paa raha hu uske bina.." he whispered the last line and wipe the corner of his eyes.

he stayed there till the morning. when the sun rose, he quickly drove back to his home. taking a quick shower, he just took an apple and went to his office.

it was still sometime for the interview to start. he called his pa and asked him about the details of the interview which is today.

"total fifteen applicants are there. should i send them in?" his pa, rishi told.

"not now. i will inform you when to send them." kartik said and rishi left.

he shook his head and drank some water. he worked for fifteen more minutes before he told rishi to start sending the applicants for the interview.

he was going through everyone's files when he heard a knock. "come in please." he aaid in his usual stoic voice.

"good morning sir." he looked up and saw a woman standing with a polite smile on her face. she must be in her late thirties.

"good morning. have a seat." he pointed to the chair and she sat.

as they began with the interview, he talked to her about her experiences and qualifications. twenty minutes later, they both stood and shook hands.

"i will inform you. thank you." kartik said.

greeting him again, the woman went out. like this all the applicants came one by one and did the interview. by the time he interviewed the fourteenth person, he was tired.

he gained some courage and called the last applicant. his face was buried in his hands. he heard a knock and let out a small 'come in'.

"good morning sir." his neck snapped upwards when he heard the voice he was yearning to hear from the past three months.

he looked up to see her standing there with a smile on her face. he noticed some little changes here and there. she looked a little pale and underweight.

she also had a pierced nose and was wearing a nose ring with stuck to her nose completely. she even had her nails painted in black when he clearly remembered she hardly used the black polish.

he was shocked to see her dressing sense totally changed. where she preferred to wear something traditional to official meetings, right now she was wearing a grey pencil skirt, with white shirt and a coat of the same colour as the skirt.

"naira.." her name slipped out of his mouth.

she frowned but smiled, "i'm sorry sir. you must be mistaken. i am not naira. i am arika." he was shocked to hear these words.

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word count: 1065