91. BLUSHING CRIMSON
Special Squad Office
Shotgun placed the black dupatta on the table next to his….
He walked towards the pantry…
Pantry
Ajay, Neha and Junhui were sitting around poor Boxer and Niloufer…Both were crimson….
Boxer was looking here and there in embarrassment….Niloufer was looking down, mortified, but secretly pleased…
Ajay: Shotgun, aao,aao….Tumhe pata hain kal raat kya hua?
Shotgun looked at him alarmed…. Thinking about the time spent with Rajashree and her staying at his house, he stammered, "Nahi…Nahi toh!"
Ajay looked at him with narrowed eyes, "Kyun……Waise bhi tumhe kaise pata hoga? Are hume bhi pata nahi tha!"
Shotgun: (Relaxing, certain that they were referring to something else) Kya?
Junhui: Guess what?
Another voice: What?
Shotgun looked beside him…Rajashree was standing near him, her long hair, carefully contained in a small clutcher…Unruly wisps had escaped its grasp and now were resting on her face softly…She was looking radiant and chirpy, dressed in a pink button down shirt and jeans….
Shotgun forced his gaze back on the poor couple sitting at the table….
Boxer was blushing to the roots of his hair, and by now, Niloufer's face matched the red of her dress perfectly!
Both had a joy on their face, the secret happiness…It was clear from the looks they shared, the glances they exchanged.
When Boxer touched her accidentally, and she withdrew, blushing…
When she looked at him from the corner of her eye, when she thought he was not looking at her…
The love in those small interactions was unmistakable…
A smile formed on his face.
Rajashree cried smiling "Yes! Boxer ki ho gayi waah bhai waah!"
Ajay offered his palm in front of her and she put her palm on it, a sharp noise resounded…Both chortled. Neha too joined in the fun…
Junhui smiled at all the ruckus they were creating.
Boxer looked at her pleadingly for help.But she ignored his pleas.
Aaryan entered the room, his brow tensed… When he looked at the uproar his colleagues were creating, a smile automatically lit up his face….
But when he heard the reason of this rumpus, his joy knew no bounds! He hugged Boxer and congratulated Niloufer.
He stood a little detached from the crowd, taking pleasure in watching their uproar…..
The din finally drew Deepika into the pantry….
Aaryan looked at her…The stiff pink shirt and the powder blue suit was making her look undeniably graceful and professional…and beautiful.
She looked at Aaryan. He was still staring at her…She hurriedly looked the other way.
"Kya hua?"
It was Neha who answered…
"Boxer aur Niloufer shaadi kar rahe hain!!!!"
92. A HAPPILY EVER AFTER
Happy blissful moment! Mamu was getting married!
Exultant cheers and delighted gasps all around made the pleased couple feel on Cloud nine.
As Boxer and Niloufer headed out for lunch, everyone departed silently, taking care not to disturb the happy couple.
Aaryan was standing in the door looking at the couple head out. True joy was radiating from his face…
Seeing his shining face, Deepika was unable to resist herself…
"Kya soch rahe ho Aaryan?"
"Yahi dekh raha hoon…Boxer ke chehre ki ronak se he pata chalta hain wo kitna khush hain…."
Inspite of herself, forgetting all awkwardness, Deepika added, "And he deserves it."
Aaryan walked back to his place as the couple disappeared. "Karta to wo hain!"
Before giving her one of his dazzling smiles, he added teasingly, "Wo toh bahut log karte hain…Especially Special Squad ke."
Deepika: (By now totally forgetting her coldness towards him) Agar Neha aur Ajay bhi apni engagement announce kar de toh isme koi surprise nahi hogaa.Unki relationship fir se mazboot ho gayi hain.Shukar hain.Aur Aaryan, isme tumhaara bhi haath hain…
Aaryan: Wo kaise?
Deepika: (smiling) Tum unse kaafi baar saath kaam karvaate the…
He grinned. Then taking a serious pose, a hand on waist and the index finger aloft, he said, "Aur tumhara bhi!"
She looked at him, eyebrows raised.
"Agar tum Neha ko nahi batati ki kya hua tha…to ye rishtaa kabhi kamiyaab nahi hota."
She added thoughtfully, "Aaryan, har rishtaa hameshaa pyaar aur vishwaas ki buniyaad par khada hota hain.Agar isme se koi ek naa ho, toh wo rishta kabhi mukammal nahi ho pata."
He reciprocated her sentence with a reflective nod. He pursed his lips while looking at her thoughtfully…
"Waise sabhi log ek happily ever after deserve karte hain Aaryan."
He smiled thinking of Shotgun, Rajashree, Parth and Janhavi. His eyes strayed to the lab and he saw Shotgun and Rajashree working side by side…
Near Neha's cubicle, Janhavi was talking with someone.Considering the expression on her face; it was not difficult to guess the person with whom she was talking.
"Haan."
Deepika had noticed him watching the others.
She turned away, surprised at herself, attempting to retreat once more into her shell, from where he had drawn her out so effortlessly.
Deepika smiled to herself as she thought, "You deserve it Aaryan.You deserve a happily ever after."
Aaryan looked at Deepika typing away on her laptop, a peculiar smile on her face.
"You too deserve it Deepika." he thought.
93. WONDERFUL SPARKS
A Week Later
Afternoon
Junhui was in the pantry…Face downcast, she poured herself a mug of coffee… Parth had not called her from the day she had told him about Boxer and Niloufer's marriage….
She heard the door of the pantry swing open.
She turned around…and saw him.
Her heart thudded loudly.
The mug in her hand shook silently.
He had not noticed her; he was busy on the phone. A lock of hair was hanging on his forehead, his eyes were intense and he was issuing some orders into his phone.
He cut the call with some anger and looked around.Clad in a jeans and a green tee with a leather motorcycle jacket, she was staring at him intensely.
He felt his heart skip a beat.He took a deep breath.
He definitely knew she felt something…It was hard to be the other case, especially after the special moments they had shared at his house.
He shook his head, wondering whether he had lost his head that evening.It certainly felt so…
She attempted to hold back the smile that had formed on her face when she saw him.
He strode upto her confidently.
"Kaisi ho?"
She started into the twinkly eyes, and dazzled him with her smile.
He felt his heart stop right then and there.
She swallowed and opened her moth to say something… "Bahut dinon ke baad dikh rahe ho Parth…..kaha the?"
To her alarm, he came even closer, totally pinning her on the counter.
"Tum- sab se milne aaya tha..Kaam…" He exhaled.
She noticed the space reducing between then, and looked up in to his eyes challengingly.
He replied to her stare with a merely surprised look, as he leaned over to get a box of tissues.
Cursing fluently under her breath, she escaped from the counter, and hurriedly walked towards the table.. "Stop!!!!" she warned herself.
He stood in his tracks wondering what had prompted her such reaction….Then did he realize what he had just done…Hitting himself mentally, and really pleased, and thinking about her reaction if he had done such thing with another intention he walked towards her………
Her cell phone rang shrilly; piercing the air…She picked it up eagerly, looking at the number.
"Madhura? Kahan? Best main? What? Okay - theek hain…Haan mera kaam khatam hua hain, main tumhe lene aati hoon…Swarg main….."
She looked up at Parth who was looking down at her, curiously.
"Have to go…I don't understand….Madhura…I-.Madhura.."
Seeing her worried expression, he said, "Chalo, main chod deta hoon…Kahaan jaana hain?"
"Wo…mere ghar….." she murmured distractedly.
Parth did not ask her any questions in the whole ride…He could see her worry and confusion…..
But she herself volunteered the information, knowing Parth, even if curious would not ask her anything.
"Madhura meri cousin hain…Mere maasi ki beti.Wo New York main rehti hain."
"Uska pata chala? Phir?"
She looked at him, amazed that he had remembered that scrap of information from their conversation.
"Uska abhi phone aaya ki wo yahaan aayi hain… Koi naa koi gadbad hain….."
The black car stopped outside Swarg.
Parth's mouh fell open seeing the scene unfolding in front of him……..
A girl wearing a black oversized muddy synthetic track pant…She was clad in a grey ganji and had a sweatshirt slung on one shoulder…..Motorcycle boots on her feet…..Her unruly curly hair had slipped out from the bandanna…Her eyes were hidden behind a stylish pair of sunglasses….She pushed her sunglasses on her forehead. Apart from the anguished expression on her face, she looked like she had just stepped out of an adventure sport magazine.
But what had caused his jaw to drop was the irate and pissed off Paras standing beside her…
94. BOMBS AND SHELLS
The girl rushed towards Junhui and threw her arms around her shoulders, and started sobbing then and there….
Junhui looked surprised, but she held on to the girl and let her sob her heart out.
The girl disentangled from her arms few moments later, embarrassed at her outburst, and straightened her unruly black ringlets.
Then Junhui noticed Paras looking at them, with an expression close to shock.
He just kept nodding his head mutely.
Parth threw him a warning glance before picking up the giant rucksack on which the girl had been perched.
He motioned Paras to follow him, and headed into the giant mansion. Paras pushed the giant brass door open, flabbergasted. He was taken aback by the sheer size of the house.
Parth kept the rucksack on a wooden table, and settled down in an armchair, completely at ease.
Paras sat on the adjoining armchair, his anger abated, due to the fact that there was a connection between the crying girl and Junhui.
He had no idea, where he was, who the girl was or what was happening here.
Junhui and the young woman came in a few moments later…..They both sat on the divan, side by side. The girl looked completely normal. She even managed a weak smile.
Then she turned her gaze towards the two men sitting in the armchairs.
She said, aplogetically, "Paras, oh I am so sorry, Di, ye Paras hain, isi ne meri madat ki…."
Junhui smiled at them impishly, "Pata hain mujhe…."
The girl looked at her quizzically…..
She continued, "Paras Parth ka bhai hain….Ye Parth hain….Parth aur Paras, Madhura."
The girl looked at him, with her eyes the size of saucers, and smiled, as though she had some secret agenda of her own.
Parth smiled back at her.
"Hmm…The Parth?" she asked turning her eyes towards her sister.
Junhui just flushed deeply and got up. Just then an elderly man arrived, bearing a tray of water.
Madhura took one look at the man, and shrieked with glee, "Sadanand Kaka!!!!"
Sadanand Kaka looked amazed to see her. He said in a very small voice "Madhura beti?"
She smiled widely at her.
"Reema Memsaab aur Saabji kahan hain? Aur Laraji aur-"
Then she announced, "New York main."
All four stared at her, not able to understand her low spirits and the absence of other family members.
"Main toh ghar se bhaag kar aai hoon."
95. A COLLECTION OF VIEWS(1)
Madhura Gujral's journal
Growing up with two style, glam and boy obsessed sisters and being the black sheep of the family was not easy for Madhura Gujral. But blessed with the presence of fellow black sheep and cousin Janhavi Mehra just made the things easier. Instead of spending time with her sisters or (non-existent) friends she chose to hang out with Janhavi and Sanjay Mehra, her uncle, at their New York Mansion. The journal writing stared at the same time her cousin started penning her thoughts.
What happens when your mother decides to marry you off to a dumb-jock-loser, who does not have enough brains to earn a single penny and lives on his parents' success, and whose only hobby is flirting?
Well, the simplest option is to ditch the whole thing and run away…..Which is exactly what I did……
Keith may be extrememly good looking but I refuse to marry him because his father owns enough money to buy an entire state in US. What is he? He is only the son of such a person, apart from that he has no integrity to carve an identity for himself.Or he may have that spark, but he prefers to ignore it…
I just hate to think of myself being married to such a person. I am sure, the first thing he will do is to make sure I do not go for adventure sports or stuff like that! I love canoeing, white water rafting…He hates the mere thought of rappelling…I love travel; he hates being roused from his couch… We do not have anything in common.What will we talk at the table for breakfast, for god's sake!
Apart from his good looks, there is nothing in this marriage. NOTHING.
Maybe Lara or Sara can have him.But sometimes I feel that they understand me…Lara and Sara both stick up for me every once in a while, but then act all superior…But I think they just want to cover up the affection they have for me.
Today dawn, I took a flight from Guwahati to Mumbai, and jumped into a Best.
Utterly confused, because of my lack of use of public transport, I got lost thrice. Finally, I climbed in the right bus and phoned Di. But after talking to her, I had a flood of tears, in which I nearly drowned my co-passenger, Paras.
He was, I could tell, amused and confused by my ganga-jamunas but I nearly begged him to help me.
So after making him tour all the Mumbai in search of 'Swarg' (the taxi hired at his expense, I having spent all my cash), we finally reached our destinaition.
Paras is pretty nice…and cute…tall….handsome….. seemingly flirt…
This Paras turned out to be the younger brother of The Parth Mathur aka Di's only love interest……
I understand what she sees in him. Possesing an extraordinary nature, he is her polar opposite but resembles her…He compliments her physical appearance, her nature, her quirks, everything in every imaginable way possible….
If she is a supernova, he is the cold star, if she is the moon, he is undoubtedly the sun.She is Sachin Tendulkar and he is Irfan Pathaan, yaar!!! Okay not Irfan Pathan, because he and Sachin rarely have a partnership, okay Rahul Dravid, the wall! And he is in love with her. He is really really cool, and I plan to hook him up with her…Best of all, he suits Di, and he is clearly not after money like Vishwas.
He seemed unfazed by the house, so I hope Di has told him all about the high-and-mighty Mehra Industrial Empire…
If not.
Well…I do not wish to think of the consequences, because he is really independent and has high self-esteem. I am sure he will not appreciate being branded as a gold-digger.
96. A COLLECTION OF VIEWS (2)
Journal of Paras Mathur
What is up with this girl?
In the bus she calls someone, and tells that she is in town, and when she cuts the call, she promptly starts crying on my shoulder!
I first think that she has some ulterior motive, but somehow, I am convinced.I really believe her.
She was wearing a grey ganji and oversized tracks. Bandana on her head….And a rucksack on her shoulders…
What impressed me was that she did not implore me, or faintly suggested me to take her heavy load…She just took it on her own shoulders……A true trekker after all… Refreshing to see someone like this…..
But of one thing I am sure, that she won't peel herself out of the ganji and tracks….I doubt if I will meet her again….
From what I gathered, she has run away from home as her parents were forcing her to marry somebody she did not like.Justified reason I think…So in all probability, she will return home, New York soon.
But why should she not? What is your problem Paras?
What is happening?
Okay back to her antics.
Then she almost begs me tearfully to help me find the address…And I pay for the bill – 600 rupees, nonetheless.
And then it turns out, that Madhura Gujral is no one other than Janhavi Mehra's cousin.
And the huge mansion her house. I must ask Parth Bhaiyya about Junhui's family background.
Well, Mira at my workplace is making eyes at me, and has been indicating subtly that I take her out for coffee.But now I really don't want to take her.
97. A COLLECTION OF VIEWS (3)
Janhavi Mehra's Journal
Madhura is here. After pulling nearly a week of vanishing act, and being virtually non existent to the world, she turned up on my doorstep.
Apparently, Reema aunty was forcing her to marry Keith.Well that is a justified cause of running away, but she should have called me atleast!
After Madhura had come back to normal, Parth and Paras went away, promising to come back soon…And then did Madhura relay her adventures to me….
Apparently she sneaked on Uncle Stuart's flight to London, joined a trekking group and came to India, and the after trekking a bit in the Himalayas, she came to Guwahati, and then to Swarg….
Poor child. Well, she is an adult, and this is my home. She can stay here for as long as she likes, and Reema aunty cannot force her to marry a dumb flirt like Keith.
We shared so may beautiful moments together, both branded as the official black sheeps due to our slightly eccentric hobbies….Mine martial art and hers adventure sports -in comparison with Lara and Sara's hobbies ours were unconcentional.She was a favourite with Baba, and we used to discuss all the topics under the sun, including politics, culture, art and business.
Her firm mind and her quirky with got her a lot of fame as a column writer in the New York journal. Let her settle down for a few days and then we can resolve this issue too…
Lara and Sara did petty management degrees and spend their time hunting for eligible bachelors.Nothing wrong with that.I still imagine them as the most popular girls in high school, and unfortunately, possessing little compassion and empathy…But Lara and Sara too have grown up, and I hope that may have instilled some maturity into them.
Paras' presence was the most amazing thing…Madhura forced the poor guy to roam all the city n search of this particular bungalow….But when he came to know that Madhura was my cousin, the look on his face was priceless!
That reminds me that Parth is unaware of my family background, and I must hurry to enlighten him, particularly if I am in love with him.
Wait…
What?
98. A COLLECTION OF VIEWS (4)
PDA of Parth Mathur
Intersting day, writing only a short account as have to run for a meeting…..
Madhura, the elusive cousin decided to make an appearance today, and she did appear,
Only dragging Paras along!
Somethingis going on in his mind! I can almost hear the gears in his mind turning….
Madhura Gujral promises to be an exciting person…different from everyone else….just like her cousin….Long hair, and stylish appearance, she has great attitude, just like Janhavi…..
Stop. Focus. Madhura Gujral. Not her cousin, Janhavi Mehra.
And when guys like my brother encounter such girls, they fall for then…and hard….And I do have my fingers crossed…
Mother has called thrice in the past week. Favorite topic of the week was: When are you going to marry, Parth beta???
And the answer I gave was haphazardly vague, but fortunately that stopped the subject becoming the sole topic of our conversation. Mothers! Their favourite pastime is to make their kids eat everything, and when they grow up, find suitable matches for them!
And speaking of her…Well
I will treasure that moment forever…. I am sure that she feels something, and I must probably tell her what I feel….
What I feel about her….and I have fallen so badly, that the ride was totally worth the fall…
And I promise to stay that way with her forever…..
In short I officially declare (to myself obviously) that I am in love with Janhavi Mehra!
99. Special Squad
Neha looked at Aaryan.
"You sure?"
He concentrated on the mug and then the golf ball.
His eyes roved back to Deepika's empty seat.Then to the shelf which was now empty…
He nodded imperceptibly.
Deepika stuck her head in the cabin.
"Aaryan, new case…."
He straightened as Deepika disappeared.
"Chalo Neha, duty calls…"
"It does."She replied pushing up her specs on her nose.
"Chalo, kuch rules wagera todte hain, Mummy ko pareshaan karte hain," Ajay whispered.
Aaryan pretended not to hear.
Few days later
"Dekha Deepika, pehli baar tumahre peet peche kuch bhi nahi kiya."
She glared at him.
"Aur saamne Aaryan? Kabhi toh meri baat suno Aaryan…"
He merely lifted the cup to his lips.
"Aur coffee mat piya karo. Paperwork? Kahaan hain? Kya jawaab doongi main Commissioner sahab ko? Aaryan coffee pe raha tha, isi liye paperwork karna bhool gaya?"
He put down the cup.
"Unse kehna, Special Squad hamesha aap ke saath hain."
He walked towards the door.
"Ab kahaan jaa rahe ho?"
"Paperwork karne. Ya tum mere liye kar rahi ho? Thanks. Bye."
He stopped for a moment and then folded his hands in front of the deities. Throwing his jacket on his shoulder we walked away, whisting…
She nodded her head dejectedly.
He had left the door open.
"Aaryan! Darwazaa!"
The shout went unheeded as usual.
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