Everything but her

Why did you do this to me?

Two years later:
'Aarushi, all the best babes', Virat said to her as she walked past him. He had come to one of Aarushi's fashion show which was taking place in Delhi.

'Thank you!', she said almost in a whisper.

She was a professional now and Virat knew she needed no luck on her side. She was that good. But, he never failed from saying those words of luck to her before any of her show.

The collection was presented and well received by everybody. But Aarushi's work had not yet been completed. She looked after each of her models and never left until they had all left. Virat stood there waiting for her. He was not allowed to go in the green room. He started taking a walk around the place.

Aarushi arrived after a good 30 minutes had passed and instantly apologised to Virat.

'Sorry, sorry', she said in a hurry and sat down in the car.

'It's ok', he said and motioned the driver to take them home.

Virat made coffee for Aarushi and brought it to her.
'Oh my God. Thank you Virat. And the award for being the best husband goes to my hubby', she said planting a quick kiss on his cheek.

'Thank you so much. I am at a loss of words after receiving this award', Virat acted along.

'What a drama queen!', Aarushi exclaimed.

Aarushi was really tired and slept as soon as she lay on the bed. Virat, meanwhile, was engrossed in watching another football match.

Aarushi woke up in the morning and decided to skip the gym for the day. She just didn't feel up to it. She went to the washroom, took a quick bath and came to the room.

'Virat, wake up. I have to go at 10. It's already 8:45. Please wake up', Aarushi said, a certain urgency in her voice.

'Aarushi, I'll come and pick you up. Please go with the driver right now', Virat said to her.

'Virat, wake up no, I have to tell you something important', she said.

Virat knew it was one of her tricks to make him get up. He wasn't falling prey to any of it.
'Aarushi please', he said and covered his face with the blanket.

'Ok, I am going then. Goodbye. Don't come to pick me up. I'll come on my own', Aarushi said sounding angry.

'I love you babes', Virat said trying to irritate her a little bit more.

'Yeah, I can see that', she said and left for her office.

Virat woke up at around 10 and sent her a message:
'I am sorry. Will come to take you. What time should I come, though?'

Aarushi replied to him after a few minutes:
'5 in the evening. And it's ok. Bring chocolates. There is something I want to celebrate.'

Virat thought she wanted to celebrate the success of her show the day before. Yeah, she didn't even get a chance to have a drink, he thought. He got ready and took Aarav with him. He dropped him off to his cricket academy and bought a big pack of Cadbury for Aarushi. He also purchased a bottle of champagne.

It was almost 1 by the time he reached home. He had a workout session for over an hour and then went to his room and switched on the television. He was just going to switch the channel when he saw the local news. Fire had erupted and engulfed some parts of Mayur Vihar. Mayur Vihar. Aarushi's office was right there.

Virat was instantly blown off. He took his mobile and called Aarushi up. The ring went on but nobody answered. Virat was sweating from head to toe now. He went to his brother and told him everything. Vikas could see that he was almost on the verge of tears. He took the wheel and drove him to her office.

The entire place was in tatters. The fire had been taken control of but there was nothing concrete left. There were dead bodies being brought out with charred faces. Nobody could be recognised.

'Sir, please stay away from here. Do not enter this place', an officer told Virat seeing him walking up to the site.

'My wife...my wife is in there. I need to get to her', Virat said now crying with all his heart.

'Sir, please let us do our job. You can go there and identify if any of those bodies are of your wife by the little clues that our officers have set up. Sir, please cooperate'

Vikas came and joined him. He took him to the place where they were keeping all the dead bodies for identification.

'Virat, just calm down. Maybe she wasn't here. Maybe someone called her and she went away', Vikas was trying to be optimistic.

They called the driver and he confirmed that she had neither called him up not asked for the car. That meant she had been inside.

Virat broke down completely and Vikas knew that he would have to be the one to identify her body. He asked Virat to stand afar and went in to see all the dead bodies. He was disgusted to see what he saw. Half burnt bodies, they were all beyond identification.

He was praying that somehow a miracle had happened and Aarushi is safe but that all changed as soon as he saw that ring on one of the bodies. It was Aarushi's ring, the one Virat had given to her when he had proposed to her. The face had been totally burnt. Vikas told the officials and he was taken in for some querying.

After about an hour of questioning, they finally decided to give them the body but not before the post mortem had taken place. Vikas saw his brother sitting in the car, tears flowing without a care. He had no expression on his face. He just sat there looking somewhere. Vikas came up to him and said,
'We found her. Have to go to the hospital for post mortem', and a tear trickled down his face.

'How did you do this to me? Why did you do this to me?', Virat whispered.