BATTLE OF LOVE (completed)

CHAPTER 21

Arjun's POV:

Dharani left as soon as the bell rang while I looked at her from behind. Is she really possessive of me? Does that mean she loves me? I really hope she does. I have no idea how long we could be normal with each other before a fight comes in but I really wish she loves me. 

"Umm....sir..." Deepak interrupted me, "Who is the winner?"

"No one," I replied.

"But I should write something over here. Whose name should I write?" I thought for a while and took the chalk from his hand and went towards the board.

"Minjan," I wrote in the column allocated for the name of the winner.

"That's so sweet," Priya smiled from behind and I smiled back.

The rest of the training went fine and Dharani looked as if she was afraid of facing me. The minimum interaction that we had was really awkward but I wanted to talk to her. I needed answers for my question. I wanted to know if she loves me or not. So the next day I planned something during lunch.

"Deepak do you miss Priya?" I asked hoping he would say yes. I wanted to make it an excuse to have some private time with Dharani.

"I do miss her sir but I can't meet her right now," he said looking down.

"Why? What happened?" I asked.

"She is not talking to me?"

I wanted to ask the reason but remained quiet. It is their family matter and I am not supposed to interfere. However, Deepak continued talking.

"Well...I was late for home yesterday and so she stopped talking to me," he said.

"That doesn't make sense. You should talk to her and protest."

"No...no..sir...it's okay," Deepak said as fear showed on his face.

"It's not okay Deepak," I said, "Let's go meet Priya and ask her what's wrong. I promise to set things right."

Deepak had no choice but to come with me. I had my doubts. Priya is quite a sensible girl and it is highly unlikely that she would stop talking to Deepak just because he arrived late.

I knocked on Dharani's door.

"Do you need something?" Dharani asked as she opened the door.

"Justice for him," I replied pointing towards Deepak.

Dharani rolled her eyes. "Deepak you are digging your own grave," she said.

"Stop threatening him and call your friend," I said, "She was being really unfair."

"I am not unfair, sir," Priya said as she walked towards the door. 

She then looked at Deepak, her eyes red with anger while he looked down.

"What exactly did he tell you?" she asked turning towards me.

"That you were not talking to him because he arrived late last night," I said. I already sensed that he was hiding something from me.

"Really?" she said turning towards Deepak. "Sir, he hid the truth from you," she added, "He came home fully drunk last night and made a nuisance in the streets. He even said that his life was better off without me and also insulted me in public using bad words."

"What the hell Deepak?" I asked turning towards Deepak.My eyes red with anger. Deepak lowered his head and I realized what Dharani meant. She wasn't threatening Deepak she was trying to protect him. Protect him from me to be specific.

"This is not done, Deepak," I said deepening my voice, "Do you know how big your mistake is? You made a nuisance on the street and later hid the truth from me. You should have at least told the truth when I said we should fight for justice."

"Exactly," Priya added, "Send him to jail, sir."

"Priya what are you talking?" Dharani tried to convince Priya.

"Priya just tell me this is an official complaint and I will take care of everything," I interrupted.

"This is an official complaint, sir," Priya said without a second thought.

"Well, that clears everything. I want to sentence him to 24 hours in prison. What do you say Dharani?" I asked deliberately not giving Dharani any time to convince Priya.

"Priya are you sure you won't regret this? I cannot help you once the decision is made," Dharani asked Priya. Priya nodded.

"I agree with you," Dharani said turning towards me and I ordered the guards to arrest Deepak.

"Sir, I am really sorry," Deepak tried to convince me.

"Sorry, Deepak. You should be punished for what you have done and now there is an official complaint against you," I said in a gentle way. I kind of feel sorry for him but duty comes first. "You still have your job," I added, "and consider yourself lucky. The construction of Minjan prison is complete and you are the first one to enter. It's just 24 hours. So you better not stress too much."

(Hey guys, Thank you for making it till here. Please vote and comment. So the next chapter will be updated on 25 November 2018. So stay tuned. Thank you. Love you all)