PART THREE:-
23rd December; 4:55 pm
Madhu's flight had to land at 6 pm. No sooner had the sun touched its rays on the horizon than Rishabh rushed to the airport. He sat restlessly in the waiting area, looking at his watch every five minutes. His eyes were wondering about the whole place, mistakenly searching even the faces of men. He jumped on his feet as he found the face he was looking for such a long time.
Madhu's eyes were glued on her cell phone's screen; probably her fingers were dialing his number. She held the phone to her ear. She not only heard the ring through the speaker but also beside her, very near. Then they broke into the tightest hug ever made by them. She almost had tears in her eyes. His lips touched her forehead. They enjoyed their little moment close together and then aware themselves of the stares and murmurs around them. They couldn't forget that they weren't in their own land anymore. So better behave.
They were sitting inside the cab at the back seat...
"Arrey in those three weeks, I was totally free at this time when I was at home. I lazed out here and there in my whole house. Remember? You back in India, we used to talk in the phone because both of us were free. I was so bored during these days." She said.
"I know."
"But I missed you very much in these times. And now you are with me." She shrugged. He mirrored her smile. There was silence for a moment when she was looking out her window at the new city. He stared at her.
"Madhu?" He finally said. She turned back towards him. He continued, "You know what? I was wondering…" He went off.
"What?"
"What would you do if I left you forever?"
Another moment of silence arrived when they stared at each other for a long time.
"What?" He asked with innocent surprise.
"Rishabh, why would you be leaving me?" She asked slowly, in a low voice. He sensed the uneasy atmosphere inside the cab (which was stuck in a traffic jam). He soon back-pedaled, "No no…I mean…look, you flew here from India as I was away for three weeks. But, what if I go away forever? Would still be running here and there to find me?"
She looked deep in his eyes, almost penetrating his soul, and then whispered a definite reply, "I don't know whether I would be finding you here and there. But I can't imagine a life without you. And so, I would also leave that life forever."
At this, he was annoyed, and replied sternly, "No. Never. You will not let anything destroy your 'life'. Not even 'cause of me."
"Rishabh you are my life! And here you doubt on m" She had to cut off as her voice broke and tears started rolling down her eyes.
"No! No…I didn't mean that!" He put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, "What are you saying, love? Why will I doubt you? It seems you doubt on me." He made her head rest on his shoulder.
"Then why are you talking about leaving me?"
He sighed helplessly, "I was just asking!"
"But why leaving me?"
"Madhu, I am not going to leave you! Its not that I won't, but it's that I can't! I can't leave you. It's simply out of my abilities. I'm addicted to you!"
She picked up her head and looked at him, "Do you promise?"
He sighed, "Promise. But I need one from you also." He dared her.
"Mee?" She raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah. Promise me that you will not…'leave your life' even if…I leave you."
"Okay. Promise."
He smiled as she dropped her head back on his shoulder and started playing with his fingers. He suddenly noticed that the driver was enjoying the conversation from the rear view mirror.
"Mahesh, I think you should now move ahead. The traffic is getting cleared. You can enjoy tomorrow morning also." He said.
She giggled as the embarrassed Mahesh roared the engine back to life.
A or Z, they knew that they never had to break their promises.
l
23rd December; 10:48 pm
Back in the hotel…
They were in his room, planning their 'pre-honeymoon'.
"I think tomorrow we should just travel the whole city." She suggested.
He shrugged, "No problem! You are better at these things than me."
She smiled, "Hey, I'm very tired. Can we meet tomorrow morning?"
"Sure." They got up from the sofa. She had stepped outside the room and turned towards him, when he asked, "Madhu? Can't we stay together in one room? I mean…look there are two separate single beds here!"
"But the?"
"Arrey if you are thinking that then I swears I won't do anything to you."
"But listen?"
"Shaadi ke baad toh saath hi rahe na hai na? Kya fark padta hai? Tumhe mujhpe vishwas nahi hai kya?"
"Achcha okay! I have no problem with that. I was wondering what will happen to the other room then?"
"Ohh! Bharr mein gaya woh."
Part 4 coming soon…
PART FOUR:-
24th December; 5:47 pm
Salvatore garden
Rishabh and Madhu had been traveling from early morning. Both of them were tired but did not want to go back. Gazing at their surroundings, sitting beside an artificial fountain, they did not talk about anything. Rishabh broke the silence, "So, we are going back tomorrow."
"Ya, at last! Okay we will soon make them fix our marriage date. I mean, really soon."
"Hm but we should get back now. I think it's over. Any other places?"
"Mmm…no."
With that they started moving towards the gate. The garden was empty…almost. It was getting time for it to get closed for that day. Other than them, there was a family with two kids who were constantly running here and there, making it difficult for their parents to force them back home. The place was green and filled with different types of flowers with a big, artificial fountain in the centre of the whole area. The South China Sea could be seen from here, at a far distance, blue and calm.
They were passing a closed ice-cream parlor when another figure caught her eye.
"Hey, isn't he an Indian?" She whispered to Rishabh, pointing towards that man, who was standing beside a huge mango tree, almost hidden by its shade. When he saw his face, for an instance he thought he knew him. He smirked.
"What?"
"Gaurav Singh Chauhan."
"Huh?" She frowned.
"Gaurav Singh Chauhan. I know him. He used to be Dad's PA when we were in Bangalore. Um…it was almost…eleven years ago. I was of only seventeen years then. I don't remember well but I remember his face. I'm not wholly sure about why he was thrown out of his job. Actually I never tried to know."
She chuckled looking at the man; he was busy scuffing someone in his phone. The light breeze blew the trace of his low, harsh whispers towards them. He was not so aware that he ever looked at them.
"He surely angered Uncle." She tried to guess.
"No. It was not Dad who threw him out?" He involuntarily cut off as Gaurav looked up at them. He gave a short stare, especially at Rishabh and turned his back towards them to continue his conversation in his phone. She sighed.
"Err…he did something, the manager there had caught him and he was handed over to the police. Automatically he lost his job."
"And what is that 'something'?"
"Yeah…I think…as much as I know it was that he was sending some kind of a message to the ISI of Pakistan. He mistakenly sent the e-mails to the manager's address…something like that."
"It sounds like Ekk tha Tiger. Was the manager a RAW agent?"
He laughed silently, "I'm not sure whether it was ISI or the terrorist gang. But this guy was new in his job and hence, there is an evidence of his guilty. He is now out of custody it seems."
"But what was the message?"
"Nahi pataa yaar. Chchodo na ye sab, lets get back now."
They had moved a bit further and were out of the garden now. Though their day ended there, something else was still going on someplace else, in a world of what they were completely unaware…
"Look, I'm not sure whether it was really Rishabh Kundra or not. So I don't think there is anything to shout at me, you ass! And what if he was? What help would he do to us…? Huh...No, I'm sure they did not. I never shout whenever I'm on these calls. I just said 'cause they were staring at me. He knows me…Alright, alright! I'll make it out…I'll call you later…What? Hah, never. How can I forget about their India? I'm going to leave tomorrow. Morning."
24th December; 8:15 pm
In the hotel
Madhu was talking about something and packing their bags. 'Something' because Rishabh was not paying any attention to her. She noticed that.
"Heyy! What are you thinking of?" She dropped beside him on the couch bringing him back from his dreamland.
"That man."
"Who?...Oh, Gaurav Chauhan?"
"Yeah, I mean, the way he stared at me, it was like he remembered who I am. But why did he turn away? Above that, it was like he was actually talking about us."
She assured, "Chill! We are going back tomorrow morning. So, you can ask Uncle about this. And why are you steaming up your head about this matter? He knows you, let it be so. If he doesn't, then he doesn't. Plus, you said to leave this topic. Then why are you bringing it up yourself?"
"Dhyaan se dekha jaye toh mamla mujhe garbad lagti hai. Dunno why."
She sighed, "Hmph. A purana paapi is out there."
Part 5 coming soon…
