Arjun was lost somewhere thinking about the relation between Riya and the word "stubborn" when he heard someone honking and looked back and saw a car behind his, waiting to pass but his car was occupying the road. So he got into the car and drove off.
---
Next day.
Riya was back to her usual self. She came in, Shree and Chotu looked at her. Chotu again looked at her with a look of help-me-defeat-Shree-in-this-game and Riya smiled at him nodding a yes secretly. The game was a car racing one today and Shree was playing when she came behind him and nudged his hand a bit and his car crashed with the other one on the screen. Shree missed and his game got over. Seeing this Chotu jumped, "I won! I won!" imitating him from yesterday.
"Hey hey! This is cheating! She nudged me and by the way, I didn't even complete my game, so I get to start again!" said Shree and was about to sit on his chair again.
"Hey I won coz I drove till half of the lane and you messed up in the start itself!" queried Chotu and looked at Shree.
"No Chotu, this game is about winning! No half of the lap counts." Argued Shree and Riya looked at them as they were fighting like a nursery kids over a game.
"Shree not fair! Last time you won when I messed up in the start but in your turn you NEED to finish the game, huh?" asked Chotu looking at him a little angrily.
"Okay you won! Now stop staring at me as if you will eat me!!" said Shree and Riya laughed.
Seeing them fight Riya chuckled but then saw Rathore coming and whispered to them, "ohh stop it now! Rathore sir!"
Rathore entered and looked at them, "having fun guys?!" asked Rathore but then said, "not any more!" and became utterly serious. "We have a case to solve. Remember?" asked Rathore and they all gathered around the ETF table.
"Where is Arjun?" enquired Rathore.
"He called me and said he will be a bit late." said Shree and Riya sulked unknowingly.
She didn't know what happened that instant but something lost hearing that he wont be there any time soon. She looked down when Rathore asked her, "Riya, where is your diary?"
Riya was lost in her own thoughts so she asked without thinking, "diary?"
Rathore sighed and explained, "your writing journal! The thing in which you usually write statements and the other details!"
Riya came back to earth by his tone, "umm, sir, actually Arjun sir had it." She said looking at him.
"Riya!-" Shree looked at her frowning and saw the diary in front of her, how did she didn't see it!?
Riya looked down and noticed the diary and handed it to Rathore, "sorry sir, I didn't see it."
Rathore took it, "next time not only physically but be mentally present too." warned Rathore for her childishness and they all sat on the chairs to discuss the case.
"Okay team! Reading a statement and having some leads which I discussed with you last night, I suspect the victim's fiance to be the murderer." Just then Arjun entered and Rathore glared at him and he casually sat on the chair opposite to him. "So I was saying, about the fiance, when we enquired about him, we found out that he was a very possessive and obsessive guy, and the victim, Maya, a college student was fed up with his attitude to follow her everywhere." Rathore continued to explain but Arjun noticed all the color drain out from Riya's face and she was utterly uncomfortable, "we should get a hold of him before he slips from our hands. Shree, trace his calls and find out where he is (Shree nodded), Chotu follow Shree's leads and find him (Chotu said "yes sir"), Riya-" Rathore moved to Riya and saw her lost somewhere as she didn't respond.
"Riya!" said Rathore.
Riya came back from her reverie and flinched looking at him, utterly scared; at first everyone was surprised at her behavior coz Rathore didn't said it in a scary way, he just called her.
"I-I am sorry, sir." Said Riya but her nervousness was visible.
"Riya, I think you are not well. You should take the day off." Rathore said a bit calmly, caring for her.
"No sir, I am fine. I don't need any break." Said Riya to him and politely refused.
Rathore nodded and asked her to assist Arjun, as he was going to meet Maya's (victim's) psychiatrist.
Arjun saw her, or rather observed her keenly. She was all the more nervous today, maybe coz she was not well, as Rathore said.
---
Arjun drove the car with Riya besides him on the passenger seat and it was AWKWARD - Riya not speaking a single word in whole 1 hour ride! She just looked out the window, staring at nothing and He was suspicious that she was tensed at something, but then soon they reached their destination so he buzzed the thought off.
Arjun and Riya reached the clinic and asked the receptionist for the doctor.
The receptionist called the doctor on phone and informed about the ETF officers waiting to see her.
"She is in her cabin. Please, take the stairs towards your left." She smiled and showed them the way and Arjun started climbing the stairs. Riya fumbled through them and was about to fall on her nose when Arjun quickly caught her hand and steadied her.
Riya looked at his angry yet concerned eyes and looked away, something happened to her whenever she saw them.
"Look where you are going! You might have hurt your nose and the ego sitting on it!" Arjun said and expected a glare from her as usual but instead her eyes became moist for a split second but she recovered.
"I am okay." Riya said and left his hand and moved away, while Arjun just stayed there for a moment thinking, he saw it or were her eyes speaking to him, about being sad?
Arjun shooed the thought away and moved upstairs.
---
"Hello." Said the psychiatrist.
"Hi, Arjun, from ETF." Arjun said and very professionally showed his batch and sat in front of her. While Riya took out her famous diary, and started taking notes.
"How can I help you?" The doctor asked.
"I want to know about your patient, Maya." Arjun said and the doctor looked at him.
Soon the doctor started speaking, "Maya was a very nice girl,she was in her college, she was very good in painting and drawings but from some days she was very depressed." Arjun started hearing really keenly, "actually she had a boyfriend-"
"Her fiance, right?" Arjun enquired.
"No, she had some other guy, her boyfriend." Doctor said and Arjun listened, "her fiance was not a very nice person. He was so possessive of her that he didn't even let her go out without being with her. He followed her to her college and then back too. She told him many times that she doesn't love him and would never be able to in the future too. But he didn't understood."
Hearing these things Riya became nervous again and her hands became sweaty, which did not went unnoticed by Arjun.
The doctor continued, "the fiance got the news of Maya's boyfriend and he was very much furious! She told me that he even attempted to kill him once! And then his obsession kept on increasing. So seeing this and being not able to handle him, Maya started to go into depression. That is when she consulted me and told me everything as I was her psychiatrist." she said.
"But Maya's family said that her fiance was a very nice guy." Arjun crosschecked.
"They will na! After all he was their choice! They got Maya engaged in very early age. Due to Indian law, they couldn't marry her off in childhood so they just got her engaged. And being fond of her from childhood, her fiance got really mad about her." the doctor cleared his doubt and Arjun said thanks and they left.
Hearing those things about Maya's fiance, Riya was so uncomfortable that she asked Arjun for half day leave and left for her home abruptly.
---
Arjun came back from the clinic and told the new findings to Rathore. He asked Arjun about Riya and Arjun told that she left for her home, as she was not well. Rathore was convinced by the reason she gave but Arjun was not. He knew she was hiding something. And now after seeing her so nervous in the psychiatrist's clinic, he was sure that this case was making her nervous. But why?
So many why's but no answer to any of them! At first the discovery of 'stubborn' and now this nervousness!! What is it behind all these WHY's!!
---
Some days passed and they solved the case, the murderer was the fiance only. He claimed to be in love with her but when he found out about her affair with some other guy; he couldn't hold himself and killed her in a fit of anger. He confessed and admitted his crime and was taken to the jail.
When they solved the case, Arjun saw a mysterious type of happiness on Riya's face. As if she achieved something big. She didn't express it much but he noticed. Shree noticed this too and asked her.
"Hey Ree, why are you so happy to put that criminal of Maya's case behind the bars?"
"Shree, Maya was a college student, she had full right to enjoy her life but her family!" Riya made a disgusted face, "never understood her and got her engaged to a psycho! And the result is here. If they would have tried to understand her and let her do what she wants, she would have been alive today and maybe happily married to her boyfriend too. But I am so happy that the culprit is behind the bars! Finally!" said Riya totally understanding Maya's dilemma.
---
Riya Mukherjee, who belonged to a very traditional family of kolkata, was engaged to a person in the age of 11 too but her family was very supportive. When they came to know that Riya wanted to become a police officer, they called off the engagement soon. But that person too has gone mad for her. He still keeps on calling her and requesting her to come back and marry him. Riya now a days even avoided to take his calls and has became very sad, as she thought nobody understands her. She felt so lonely in this big city of Mumbai! Unknowingly from 2-3 days she had become very silent. She barely spoke anything. Arjun noticed this.
Arjun Suryakant Rawte, the fearless super-cop, feared one thing, just one thing! Silence, and moreover, he feared Riya's silence. Coz usually her silence brings a big storm with it. And the storm tends to break everything. Last time when she was silent, he lost his car and now again she was silent! God knows what he will loose now.
But this time it was not something nonliving, it was his living and beating heart, that he was going to loose.
---
Precap:Aarjun opened the door as he saw it opened. he stepped in and looked around for riya but she was nowhere. suddenly he heard some noise from the bedroom and what he saw stilled him and he was shocked and angry beyond bounds.
---
hey alll!!!
Thanks alooottt!!! You were so supportive and motivating.
Here is the next part.
Please leave a comment, and do tell me how you guys felt while reading, I love reading your reviews..
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And next update - tommorow!
MUSKAAN
