It was a long day for the team......Arjun and Riya had to come back to Mumbai as they had to question the girl's parents........The rest of the team stayed back at Pune......
Case details: a girl had died under mysterious circumstances in her apartment in Pune....She worked in a IT company in Pune....her family was based in mumbai and she stayed alone at Pune owing to her job......
It was late night and Arjun was speeding away through the highway......He was quite pissed off with Riya's carelessness earlier today.....She had missed a vital clue at the apartment and that caused an unwanted delay in the proceedings......else, they would have been at Mumbai by now.....Adding to all this, it was raining heavily.....if not for the important questioning, they would have cancelled this travel......Arjun was having a tough time steering the SUV carefully...the rain water splashing on the glass was giving visibility problems and the wiper wasn't helping much due to the intensity of the rain.....he looked angry and irritated!!
Riya sensed his troubles
Riya:[trying to start a conversation] sorry sir....mere kaaran.....[he sternly looked at her which was enough to stop her from talking but after a moment, she gathered up courage and spoke again] main drive karoom??? I mean, I can help.....
Arjun: [never turning to her and in a sarcastic tone] mujhe aaj hi Mumbai paunchna hai....dho teen din baadh nahi.....[that blew Riya's top "he was again underestimating her!! and why not??? She messed up big time today!!" so she cooled down by herself while he added after a pause] if you really want to help, don't distract me with your bak bak!! Let me focus on the road!
[he had indirectly asked her to shut up...and that she did most diligently]
Though their relationship had improved a lot over the past 2 years but yet Arjun had a strong wall of ice around him and never allowed her to break it.....time and again, whenever she tried to behave casually with him, he surprised her with his trademark glare and "don't you dare come near me look!"
That was more than enough to scare her to the roots and she instantly backed away from him......
Today was not any better.....she was bored due to the unsettling silence......a nice chat would have eased the travel.....it would have comforted the day's tiredness.....She missed Shree and Chotu....."how I wish, they were here with me.....!!" she sighed...
Her deep sighs and her tossing around her seat didn't go unnoticed from him....but he chose to ignore it.....her bak bak was the last thing he wanted to hear......moreover, he hated to admit it, her talks often left a smile on his face....it tried to melt away the ice around him.....and it always gave him a feeling that she was much more than just a subordinate to him......And all those troubled him a lot......He couldn't let anybody into his life like that.....Roshni was, is and will always be his life....his soul mate....even after death, she continued to be with him as loving memories.....she was with him always or perhaps he wished to believe it that way.......So getting closer to any other girl would be betraying Roshni......He couldn't do that.......but Riya was constantly knocking at his heart and sought entry into his life......and it shocked him that he tend to give in at times.......He was angry with himself and he poured it out on her in an attempt to distance her away!........
They were almost half way through......Suddenly, his instincts told him of something untoward......he pressed the brake suddenly.....A few people, probably a team of people were on the road trying to remove some block.............there was a huge tree on the road....a giant sized tree lay across the entire stretch.......there were zero chances of passing that stretch.......one of the people came running to the SUV "sir, aap yahaan se jaa nahi sakthe.....hum block nikhaalne ki khosish mein hai par shaayad subah hi ho paayega.....aur phir yeh bhaaarish ke wajeh se saare kaam slow chal raha hai....."
Arjun sighed in frustration "ab kya karein??" he asked to none in particular....Riya was worried as well...it would add to his already existing anger!!
The guy responded pointing to the opposite direction towards Pune, "yahaan se ek kilometer dhoori mein right side mein ek hotel hai......aap wahaan jaakhar rukh sakthe hai...." saying so, he sprinted towards the rest of the crew.....
Arjun had no choice...it was almost midnight......and it was raining cats and dogs.......a huge tree blocked his way.....there was no network in their mobiles and a totally crazy girl was with him.....he was totally irritated.....he took a turn back and steered towards the hotel.....
As he pulled up the SUV by the side of the hotel, he told Riya "tum jaakhe room ke baare mein patha karo....main ghaadi ko park ke aatha hoom!!"
Riya nodded and got down.....She got a little wet as the portico wasn't shaded completely.......she ran into the lobby......
As she neared the reception, a man in his forties woke up from his shallow slumber hearing the sound of her heels "madam, sirf ek room hai aur yahaan ke rule hai ke sirf husband and wife ko milega.....yeh koyi aisi waisi lodge nahi hai......"
Riya: [suddenly cooking up a story in a desperate attempt to get the room] toh maine kab manaa kiya???mere husband mere saath hi toh hai.....Woh dekhiye ghaadi park kar rahe hai.....iss bhaarish mein bas gaye hum....yahaan room nahi milaa toh kahaan bhatakthe rehenge hum dono......plzz bhaiya room dho na???plzz plzz.....
Manager: [melting at her plead] teek hai teek hai....register baro aur keys lo....[she instantly thanks and fills the register with their names as Mr and Mrs Rawte....and grabs the keys quickly.....]
Riya: room kis taraf hai bhaiya????
Manager: uss taraf.....uphar left side mein hai......number 102!
Riya: agar woh aaye, toh unne uphar bhaej deejiye......bohat bohat thanks, haan....
Riya literally ran through the stairs and she knew that Arjun would definitely burn her down if he knew what she said to the manager but she had no choice......she didn't want to sit all night in the SUV......
She had just got into the room and was panting heavily......when he knocked and entered the room "Riya, mere room ke key dho...."
[The manager had told him the room number and pointed to the stairs to him....So he didn't talk to the manager...so he didn't know anything about the whole husband—wife arrangement!!!]
Riya looked at him not knowing what to say or how to explain, fear gripping all over her body and she trembled.....
[To be continued]
