THE MAN HELP - By Ocean Singh

- CHAPTER 10 -

- CHAPTER 10 -

WHERE ARE WE HEADED?

"Phew! That would be an extra, for an unfortunate morning!"

The man chuckles listening to the relief. Vaani looks at him and then she turns backward and looks at Sonakshi. Sonakshi smiles and asks her query.

"Where are we going for the trip, di?"

"Aa... Orchha! Have you ever been there?"

"No.. I have seen just the Gwalior fort!"

"Aw, no problem, I'll take you to every near tourist place now onwards, starting from today, okay!"

"Yayy!" - Sonakshi agrees a little excited.

Vaani adds on - "But where we are going today, it's a bit far away, it will take a few hours. Why don't you play some games on my phone till then! (She takes out her phone and gives it to Sonakshi.) And also, let me know if you feel hungry or have to go to the washroom, okay!?"

Sonakshi already gotten busy in the phone. - "Okay."

Vaani turning back to front. - "Okay..."

Now the driver speaks - "Seems like.. Kidnapping."

"Shut up! What would you say that! Man!!!"

"aa...sorry!?"

"No... It does feel like that."

"Hey, but it's not. We both know that."

"mhmm." - After a thought, she speaks. – "Never felt wrong bringing her with me, even knowing the fact, where we're headed!"

"Everything will be all right. If you don't mind sharing some points of your plan, maybe! Let's start with the route. Where are we headed?"

"aa... yeah. Aa.. (She turns back to check and then whispers to the man.) Gwalior Police Station, I know the route, I'll keep guiding."

"Okay. Cool."

"Yeah."

Man - "So, Gautam is your best friend!?"

"Aa... He's a special friend..."

"Ahaan. You're kinda 'in love'... with him!?"

"What!!! No. Things never came to that... Everything happened so fast and unexpectedly. Disappointingly. And he's two year younger to me... for the fact! So... no!"

"That doesn't matter, two year is not that much for a couple."

"What are you saying. It is... if the girl is the older one! And whatever I'm not saying anything in general, it's by my personal preference."

"Oh! Okay. So the guy who'd be with you, should be 'older than you' or maybe of same age."

"Yeah... maybe."

"Ahmm, cool."

"Why we're talking about this, we can clearly change the subject and focus on the serious one right now!"

"Sure! So I have seen your file, but I don't know what exactly you have planned to do!"

"Yeah... actually, there's a batch of some prisoners which is going to be shifted from Gwalior police station to Delhi, today."

"And...?" – The Man asks more.

"And... in that batch, Gautam is one of the prisoners."

Man with rising eye-brows asks now - "and...?"

"And we need to take care that we help our friend before he reaches Delhi."

"And how exactly is that gonna happen?"

"I'll.. Tell you in a while, let's just stop there and lemme go and check the status first."

Man obeys, parking the car. - "Okay... but.."

Vaani getting ready instructs him - "Alright I'll just go and check if they have left for Delhi or will be leaving. You need to be ready when I come back and drive, okay? And yeah, take care of her, till I'm gone."

"aa.. Okay!"

Vaani gets out of the car and after looking around, she heads to the police station. The man still sitting in the car stays in confusion and doubts. He keeps one eye on Sonakshi and other on the road and the station. He wished if he could just go through the file once more for some clarity but he could not share his focus more than two place at the moment. He just prays and waits for Vaani to come back and he could know, what's going on.

Leaving this man with tons of questions, Vaani finally comes out of the station with the knowledge of Gautam's whereabouts. She gets in the car and tells her driver to head to the northern highway. The man quickly starts the engine and hits the road again.

"All right, now I actually need to know, what's going on!? How I'm supposed to help you when I'm 'not driving'!?"

"I don't think that moment is any near right now. Right now, I just need you to run this car as fast as possible as we need to catch the police vans!"

"All right. Okay."

He hits the race with more speed, which makes Vaani to check on Sonakshi. Sonakshi is still playing on the phone while struggling to sit straight in one place with her body fighting the high speed of the car. Vaani turns back to the front and while doing so, she sees the look on the face of the man sitting in the driver's seat. She reads his tempered confusion and asks.

"What!!!?"

"What! Nothing. I'm driving."

"We both know... Just say it!"

"Nothing. Just tell me if you have any idea where the police vans would have reached by now, so that I can work better on my speed." – The man chooses to talk casually for the moment.

Vaani gulps and answers - "They left the station @9:30, that means they'd be near Bamor by now, that's not far, it's just 20-25Km away from here."

"And can you calculate where I can stop this car and have a little conversation with you!"

Vaani takes a deep breath, understanding his situation and she gives her explanation - "See, I know you're having a lot of questions right now. And that's obvious, we didn't plan this together. But if you could just wait and catch Gautam first, that would be helpful. That's important, I CANNOT miss any other chance this day. And for answering your questionnaire, we can do that 'following' his van."

"All right. And after all, It was me who offered the help, so, I shouldn't be showing the tantrums." (Vaani looks at him.)

For a few minutes a silence takes place in the car. Vaani keeps looking outside the window and the route, guiding. She keeps checking on Sonakshi in intervals and a while later, Sonakshi falls asleep. Vaani repeating her activities then looks at her help, who's driving the car. She feels like saying something but keeps quiet. But couldn't helping herself she begins her words.

"I hope you didn't have anything important to do for today."

"Surprisingly, I don't. I guess it's written 'Vaani', for me for today."

"I guess, maybe you're right. I bumped into you so hard."

She makes him grin. Then she smiles too.

After a long continuous speedy ride, Vaani finally meets the two police vans riding on the highway. She says being furious. –

"There! There! There they are. Now let's just follow them without them noticing us."

******