Replay: LOOK AT PAGE 47! - Page 8

Replay 2

After long hours of weeping, Kripa finally decided that it was time she fixed herself a meal. She couldn't deny that it had hurt her so deeply when Angad had accused her of an abortion. She didn't know how to explain to him, but she had never undergone one. She had simply miscarried the child in her third month of her pregnancy. The doctor had told her it was normal for some women. Maybe she had been undertaking too much stress. Well, if that was the case, Angad was responsible. They had been fighting the night before she had miscarried. Hell, she had told Angad she was pregnant during an argument.

It didn't matter that he had instantly made her sit down and cooked her dinner without fuss. Nor did it matter that he had made love to her after words.

Kripa sighed as she added the diced tomatoes to her salad. She wasn't sure when they had actually made love. They were hardly ever tender with each other. It was always the tear-each-other-apart method with them.

Angad Khanna was a sweet guy. Despite everything, Kripa couldn't deny that. The one year she had known him for when he had just started out in the industry, he had been a sweet guy. When they had become a couple a few months after his parents death he had treated her excellently. They had landed in bed with each other only a week after they had begun dating and had ran away and married, against Kripa's fathers wishes, a week later. They had been desperately in "love."

Kripa sat down on the sofa with her dinner with a sigh. She had been in love with him, she knew. She couldn't guarantee his feelings. She remembered the moment after they had made love the first night and the way Angad had told her that he wanted to marry her. That he was sure she was the right person. Kripa also remembered running of to Vegas and getting married their quietly, spending a week long honeymoon trapped in their suite for most of it. She had spend four years married to him. In those four years, they had made a life between them and then lost it as well. She didn't know who was to blame for that. Angad hadn't paid enough attention at times. Nor had she. Maybe it hadn't been a priority of either one of them.

But she had felt the pain when Angad hadn't showed her any sympathy after she had lost the baby. Instead, he had accused her falsely. He hadn't touched her since the day she had lost that baby and then she had found him with that woman.

She should be happy, she thought as she picked at her dinner. He was out of her life. He was hurt. It was what she wanted. Setting down her fork, Kripa looked at her left hand. On her ring finger she still saw the wedding band outlines like it had been on Angad's. She had worn it for nearly five years. Maybe ten months wasn't enough time to get rid of it.

Then again, she thought as she unwound the chain from her neck, she would need a life time and more to get rid of Angad Khanna and what she felt for him.

When she was sure she wasn't going to eat anymore, Kripa dumped the rest of her dinner in the trash with the paper plates, poured herself a glass of water and drunk it down. Then another. She was okay, she assured herself. She was perfectly fine.

Then the doorbell rang and she swore. She didn't want any company. She couldn't handle any company right then. In quick brisk moves she straightened her cloths a little and then her hair. Hoping the person would leave by the time she got to the door, she walked to the door slowly. But the knocks kept coming.

Irritated now, she yanked the door open and looked at her father scowling right back at her.

"Dad? Dad!" Suddenly energized, she jumped at him and threw her arms around Samay Kapoor. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"I've been trying to come for a week. Your mother kept stopping me. Let me look at you!" He drew her away and looked at her face. He could tell easily that she had been crying. Her eyes were a little red, a little puffy. He knew she should have never married that man. He just frowned at her and his disapproval showed in his eyes. For once, Kripa could agree with him. She might love Angad Khanna, but that didn't mean he was a good man. Maybe she had made a mistake. She just hated admitting that. For now, she brought her father inside and got him something to drink. And she watched him as he sat down on her dark brown sofa in a grey Swiss suit, and Italian jacket. His hair was a little like salt and pepper, he hadn't dyed it again yet. His eyes were pitch black. Samay Kapoor was a tall man, perhaps she had gotten her height from him, with royal looks. She still couldn't understand why he had moved back to India.

Kripa sat down beside him. "Where's mom?"

"She went to see him." He leaned forward and set the glass down.

"Dad." Kripa wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her face against his shoulder. "You were right. I shouldn't have married him." She paused as Samay kissed her head. "But I was happy, he made me happy."

"I know." Because he felt her pain, Samay kissed her head once more. It wasn't the right time to tell her that Samay himself had liked the man. He had seen Kripa happy. "Now I can beat him up for you."

"I guess." She gave him a final squeeze before she let go. "Did you see Adi yet?"

"No. I called Neha," he said referring to his daughter-in-law, Adi's wife. "Adi is gone out to meet Angad as well." Samay waited a moment. "Is he okay, Kripa? I mean getting shot is a pretty big deal."

"Yes it is. And he is fine. You know how Angad is. He'll be running around like a horse in no time." Because she felt tears welling into her eyes again, she picked up the glass of iced-tea and went to the kitchen. "You should have gone to see him as well."

"Kripa, sweetheart. Why don't you tell me what's wrong? I know those tears are not for just why you got divorced or for the reasons why he's in the hospital."

"No." Very slowly, she settled the glass down. "He still thinks I aborted out baby, Dad." She whirled on him. "You know I didn't. I wanted that baby. How can he believe that I killed my own baby?"

"He's a fool." Samay said heatedly and hugged his daughter close. "Don't think about it, he doesn't deserve it."

"I know." She closed her eyes and let herself be held a moment. She needed to lean on someone. "I'm so glad you came."

At the same time Kripa was crying on her fathers shoulder, Angad sat on the hospital bed slightly embarrassed in front of his ex-mother-in-law. It was the first time he was seeing her since the divorce and he knew he was ashamed of what he had done with Kripa. He couldn't even understand why Adi, Kripa's brother, and Priya, Kripa's mom, even wanted to talk to him anymore. Shit, he thought, he had deceived her daughter, his sister and they still were there concerned for him. He would have broken legs of the man had he been the father or brother.

"Why are you here?" He finally asked, biting off the word mom. He wasn't sure if he had the right to say that to her anymore. God, he thought again, he'd lost the love of his life and a family.

"That's a foolish question." Priya Kapoor said. She looked like everything Kripa didn't look like. She was a short lady compared to her daughters height. She had perfect, lush lips. A feminine little frame, elegant style. Her hair was cut short to her shoulders. It was worn straight. In her ears she had pearls clipped on, and the necklace she had around her throat matched. Her cloths were brisk as well. A blue skirt and jacket. You could look at Priya Khanna and think that she was a brute. A cruel woman who knew how to break hearts, but she wasn't. She was a lady with a heart as soft as marshmallow.

Countless times, Angad asked himself if he was taking advantage of that soft heart. Then, he had come to terms with the fact that he needed her. He wasn't going to give up a mother because his marriage hadn't worked.

"Well whatever the reason," he said finally. "I'm glad you came."

Priya smiled at him and getting up sat down on the bed in front of him and reaching over kissed his forehead. "You scared the hell out of me, handsome."

He frowned. "I scared the hell out of myself. But I'm sorry." Reaching over he took her hands. "I'm sorry, Ma, for what I did. I didn't mean it."

"I don't know why, Angad, but I believe you. I know you still love Kripa. I see it in your eyes. People make mistakes all the time. We have to learn from them and not repeat them. You didn't do anything purposely."

"I wish Kripa would understand that." Angad said in a quite voice.

"She will if you try." A smile bloomed on her face as Angad looked at her shocked. "Just keep trying."

"You know if she doesn't listen you can come over and we can get married. It would still keep my broken heart glued together."

"You can have both of us," she said. "Come on now, you have to eat and then take your meds and sleep again."

~

Five Weeks Later

In five weeks since the day he had seen Kripa's mother, Angad had recovered more than he had imagined he would in five weeks. It was a different question that he had a damn security guard tagged at his side everywhere he went.

He hadn't seen Kripa and therefore hadn't even bothered to change his security facilities. Deep down, he knew that he wanted her company because it kept them linked, even if it was in this small silly way. When there was hope, there was way. Plus, Priya Kapoor had told him that they still had a chance. Angad didn't know what else to do but believe it.

Problems landed when he couldn't think of a legitimate reason to go see her. In the ten months they had been apart, Angad had learned that he was incomplete without her. In four years he had gotten used to having her around. Even if it was to have her around to fight with. At least she had been there. Now she was gone and his house was empty.

He had given her ten months, now he was going to get her back come hell or anything else. He just needed a reason to go see her first. Better than that, he knew that if he went without a reason she would have him thrown out of the city without a second thought.

Sitting by his pool, Angad glared into the sun with his fan mail lying on his lap. He would get to it today or tomorrow. It had been nearly four months since he had replied to his fan mail, it was time he did that. He didn't want to be the rock star who didn't care about his fans.

With a sigh, thinking why he chose to become a singer, he ripped opened the first letter. It was quite simple, a twenty year old college student, female, admiring his work, his voice. His looks. After reading it once, Angad set it on the table to his left. Then ripped open the second one. It was one of a desperate female this time, with pictures, a pled to marry her now that his wife wasn't around. Laughing at the things he had to face, he tossed it to his right and into the trashcan.

For about thirty minutes he went through the letters. He laughed at some, frowned at some. He was disgusted by some. He was even amused by some. It surprised him that most people said the same thing. A lot mentioning his current health. Most of them wondering if he was ever going to get together with his wife again. Some saying that he had done the right thing by leaving "that lady." It didn't anger him any longer. Him and Kripa had gotten a kick out of the letters. He wondered if people thought that IS he had blood running through his veins that was red like theirs, or if he was eating diamonds instead of normal food like them.

He tossed another letter in the trash and picked up the next one. Hoping it was a sensible one, he ripped it open, unfolded the thick paper, and then turned it around. There was one sentence on the gold dust colored paper.

For a moment he just started at it. Maybe someone was playing a prank. After all he had been through a lot lately. Maybe someone was just kidding around, trying to scare him. They hadn't found the man who had shot him linked to anything illegal. He had been a normal civilian who had showed up at his concert, managed to enter with a gun, and had shot Angad and then himself. The FBI or Kripa hadn't found anything more than that.

He tucked the letter back into its envelope and the envelope into his back pocket. He went through four more letters until he found another one threatening him of losing his life. Then two more. Frantic now, he looked through the rest without reading them unless they were one sentence long. After fifteen more minutes, he found himself with seven letters threatening him in the past five weeks. There was no return address on any of them and everything was typed. From the content of the letters to Angad's house address on the front.

Reaching over Angad grabbed his phone and dialed Kripa's office. He still had it memorized.

Kripa was looking through a stack of files when the brisk knock sounded on her glass door. Without looking up she signaled the person to come in. After she had heard the door open, then close, and had seen the woman stand by her desk through her peripheral vision, Kripa looked up. Her assistant Carrie Woods stood in a prim cream colored skirt and jacket, hands folded neatly at her waist. Kripa wasn't sure what had kept the woman at her office for the past six years. For all Kripa knew Carrie Woods hated her boss.

"Carrie." Smiling, Kripa sat back, folded her hands over her flat belly. "How can I help you?"

"I have a few appoints to go over with you, Mrs. Khan… Ah, Ms. Kapoor." Carrie cleared her throat. She couldn't understand why people married and then divorced. And if they were going to marry and then divorce, why the hell did they have to change their name a million times? Didn't they realize it took too much paperwork and money?

"Can it wait?" Kripa asked with a look at the files on her desk. "I'm a little busy."

"Ma'am… Yes, I suppose it could, actually. Would you like me to come back before I leave tonight or tomorrow morning?"

"First thing tomorrow, Carrie. In fact I don't need you at all today, why don't you take an early leave? Enjoy the day with your children?" Kripa didn't exactly know how a woman like her enjoyed anything, but it was the right thing to say. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes, Ma'am. Thank you."

"Yes." Kripa watched Carrie walk out of her cabin and sighed. Maybe she wasn't happy at home. Oh well, it wasn't her business. Leaning over she prepared herself to be buried into the work when her gaze landed on the red file with Angad's name on it. She was waiting for him to call and delete his account from his company, but he hadn't called. She grabbed the file and dropped it in a drawer and leaned back into the files. The phone had her swearing.

"Hello."

"Kripa. Please don't put this phone down," he said knowing she was aiming for the receiver already. "Just listen."

"What is it, Angad?" She sat back and closed her eyes. Why did he have to come into his life when she needed someone the most.

"I was checking my mail and I have a stack of them that are threatening."

Her eyes snapped open. "How many total?"

"Seven." He paced, trying to relax his right arm. It still wasn't working correctly. "I have seven now. They were with the fan mail stack."

"Okay." He needed her, he was stressed out. She could almost imagine the frantic look on his face, him pacing from one end of the room to another. "What can I do for you?"

"Well maybe behave like a damn cop and help me out for a change? Isn't that what you were trained for?" He regretted his words the moment he realized he had said them.

"You know what, Khanna, you can just go find someone who knows their job." She began to snap the phone down, but he said her name again. He said it quietly, with desperation in his voice.

"Look, I'm sorry. This entire deal is freaking me out. Just help me out, okay? You know what's going on and if I went to anyone else now I'd have to explain everything. I don't have the time or the want."

"Alright. Come over and we'll look at them."

"No, you come over. Have dinner with me, Kripa. I've given the staff the day off and I can't drive myself yet." He looked at his right arm and grinned.

"I'll come, but I'm not having dinner with you, Angad. I'll come as a detective and we'll talk business."

Yeah right, he thought with a inward snort. "Whatever you want, babe. I'm home." The phone snapped on the other end without a goodbye.

~

Angad decided he couldn't manage to cook with one arm broken and that eating out wasn't a good idea until she got here. He was hoping that he could convince Kripa to stay with him, have dinner. Whatever. He would order what she wanted, for goodness sake. He was sure he could figure it out. Now only if the damn woman would show up!

The doorbell had him rolling his eyes at the ceiling. Finally! He opened the door hoping to find a smiling Kripa. Instead he found Officer Kapoor standing in her signature white shirt and denim pants. Her shirt was tucked in still, her hair pulled back, and she had a pair of sunglasses in her hands with her car keys.

"Hi. Come in." He moved aside and let her in. As she walked into the house, he watched her stand in the center of the foyer. She completed the house. After all they had redecorated it together only weeks after their marriage. "I managed to put up some tea." He said and brushed past her.

"Angad we both know that I don't want tea or anything else. I want the letters and I want to take them home to look through them."

"Of course." Once, he thought with a sour look, home was here, where she stood now. Now home was another place. "But I want to talk to you about the letters as well."

"We could do that once I've looked through them. Just give them to me." She demanded, grabbed his left arm before he could move back to the stove.

"Authority." He turned so they stood facing each other. He noticed the light shadows under her eyes and frowned. "You aren't sleeping well," he said and rubbed a finger under her eyes.

"Don't touch me!" She spat, and yanked her hand away from his arm. "Just give me the damn letters."

"Have dinner with me."

She folded her arms and looked at him coolly. "Alright then, I'll send Quinn over to collect the letters."

"Oh fine!" He opened a cabinet and gave her the bundle. "They are all."

"Good. I don't want you to pick up your phone, let the answering machine take it. If you get anything in your e-mail don't delete it. And for God's sake," she said and looked at him. "Don't give your staff a day off when you can't do your own crap."

"I can't cook. And I'm not allowed to pick up the phone." He gave her a puppy dog look.

In return she snorted. "Don't even think about it. I'm going, Khanna. I'll let you know when I'm ready to talk to you about these letters. 'Bye."

He lifted his left hand, "bye." He said and watched her turn out of the kitchen. At least, he thought, they were going to talk again for sure.

Kripa went home and dove right into the letters. There were finger prints, but she was pretty sure that they were her and Angad's. Every letter was typed. Different fonts, different faces. The texture of the paper was never reused. She was sure they weren't bought from the same store either. All letters were also mailed from different districts. She couldn't recognize all of them.

In an hour she had three pages of notes on the letters and her eyes burning. She rubbed and decided she could go to bed, an hour and a half was enough time to put into Angad's case. Now she could sleep peacefully and forget about everything else.

She wondered if Angad had eaten his dinner yet. The man couldn't do anything by himself and he'd given his entire damn staff a day off. Sighing she leaned back in her chair and throwing her head back, starred into the ceiling for a few minutes, wondering if she would ever stop loving him. Within two seconds she knew that it was a foolish question to ask. She was never going to stop loving him. And she would have to just live with it.

The house was silent when the fax machine beeped from her office. Questioning who it could be, she ambled to her office, shutting off the lights as she walked through the tiny house. The white piece of paper was lying on the tray waiting when Kripa got there. She grabbed it and looked down at the one sentence on the paper.

She felt her breath knock out and herself stumbled back. She grabbed the corner of the desk to stable herself. She looked down at the fax and read it again. Then again. There was sweat pearling on her forehead, her neck. Sliding slowly down her back.

Why would someone want to threaten her? She wondered staring at the sentence.

Ordering herself to relax, Kripa walked to her desk and opened it slowly, slid the paper into it and snapped it shut and tried to do the same with her brain.

She went to bed but didn't fall asleep until she downed a sleeping pill.

~

Kripa avoided contacting Angad for one week. On Monday, one week and one day later, Angad showed up at her office. She was looking through the letters again, trying to find a new clue when her door opened. Annoyed she looked up and saw Angad, and Carrie standing beside him, inches shorter, frightened.

"Miss. Kapoor. Ma'am I asked him to wait outside until I contacted you."

Kripa capped her pen and tossed it on the table. "It's okay Carrie, let him in. Hold all my calls until I say differently." She smiled at Carrie and dismissed her. Her look at Angad was sharp and cold. The fax she had received flashed in front of her eyes. In defense, her eyes frosted even more. "What the hell are you doing here, Khanna?"

"My life is still in danger and I'd love to know if you have progressed on the letters." Because she wasn't going to invite him to sit down, Angad did so himself and grabbed the pen from her desk and began to fiddle with it.

"Nothing really." She sat back and rubbed her forehead. There was no point in being nasty with him. "All letters were mailed from different places. Different stationers, different fonts and faces. No clue at all so far. Have you got anymore? Letters, e-mails, phone calls?"

"Nope. I've been keeping up with my fan mail, e-mail. I'm checking phones messages daily." Those damn beautiful eyes were bruised again, Angad through with a frown as Kripa tapped keys on her computer with a thoughtful face. How many times had he sat where he was now and just looked at her while she worked, late at nights, early in the mornings. "I guess I'll leave." He said when she groaned at the computer.

"Yeah. I'll e-mail you if I find anything new, I doubt it." She looked at him and noticed the way he was looking at her. She knew that look in his eyes. "Angad." She stood and turned away. It hurt too much even now to think about all they had been through. Reaching up she closed her hand over her ring around her neck and then left it go. "I have a meeting in a few minutes, Angad. Make an appointment next time."

"I will." He said softly and stood up. He walked beside her and looked out the window. "Kripa."

"Yes." She turned and stumbled back. He had her arm right away. "You were saying something?"

"Some other day." He let his hands slip down to hers but she snatched them away. "Goodbye."

She gave him a brisk nod and watched him go out her office. She didn't close her eyes for another ten seconds after he had gone. Why had she seen love in his eyes for her?

She turned around, expelling her breathe when her door opened again. She frowned when Angad grinned at her. "I forgot my car keys." Still grinning, he grabbed his keys. At the same time, Kripa's phone shrilled.

"Hello." She waved at Angad as he began to turn around. "What!"

Angad turned around and watched her as she sank into the chair. He was rushing to her before he could weight his pros and cons. Angad snatched the phone form her nearly limp hands. "Hello?"

"Angad." Adi's worried voice echoed. Angad could hear the pandemonium. "Kripa's house is on fire. They thinks it's arson."

"Okay. We'll be there." Because Kripa had gone unbearably cold, Angad simply snapped the phone down, and took her hands. "Come on, Kripa." He took the glass of water, and held it up to her lips. "You are stronger than this." He didn't realize when his fingers began to comb at her hair, or when he reached up and kissed her forehead. Or when he helped her to her feet, and took her to his car.

She was quite when he started the car, when he zipped through traffic to reach the scene, even when he reached out to touch her she didn't try to pull away, to yell. He would have been much happier to see her frantic than this quite, this calm. Taking a deep breath, he turned the car into her lane and the saw the house on fire together. Their hands met, and linked.

There was no doubt that the fire hadn't been an accident, but an arson. Kripa had known it the instant Adi had told her on the phone nearly ten hours ago. Now, as she wandered through her house dressed in soot, she could only wonder who could have done this. She could hear Angad talking to Adi outside and wondered why he hadn't left her side for more than five minutes in the past ten hours of the day. Kripa wasn't sure if she did or didn't like the fact that he had stuck with her.

But that wasn't her main concern right now. Her concern was that her house was ruined. Everything in it was ruined, the memories, the memorabilia from over so many years.

"Kripa." She whirled around and slammed into Angad's chest. "Sorry, I startled you." Briefly, he pressed his lips to her hair. "You should go home and take some rest." But both knew he was referring to his house in Manhattan. Kripa shook her head. Now, when she stood close to Angad, almost in his arms, alone, she realized that she hadn't eaten anything all day. Or that she was light headed and was very close to fainting. "Yes." Because he noticed her eyes blur briefly, Angad closed his hand around her arm. "And you are going to eat."

"I'm not hungry. I need to go and file the reports, start the investigation." Her voice blurred slowly and her dipped forward against Angad's chest. "Angad, I'm going to faint."

He gathered her closer and tightened his arms around her. "Go ahead, baby." And he felt her go limp as he scooped her into his arms. It was better, he reflected, that she fainted instead of worrying about things that weren't in her hand.

Kripa woke with a roaring in her head, it registered to be a headache only moments later. Moaning she turned to her side and snuggled into Angad. Her arms went around him naturally and she pressed her face into his chest for comfort. She didn't realize it, but her body relaxed to know that he was beside her. It had been too long since she had held on someone like this. She missed it. She missed him. She took deep breaths and tired to level out her headache, but it only grew stronger. When the phone rang somewhere in the house, Kripa groaned. When it stopped, then started ringing again, Kripa pushed herself out of bed, sat on the other side and picked up the phone.

"Hello."

"It was just the house this time." The voice said. Kripa's senses snapped and she forgot her headache instantly as everything rushed back. Her burned house, her fainting in Angad's arms. She turned and look at him. He was sleep now. But his jeans and collared shirt told Kripa that he had just fallen asleep while sitting beside her. She avoided the slow turn her heart took.

"Who are you? What do you want?" She asked, hoping the person would speak again so she could tell if it was a man or a woman.

"I want your husband. And, I want everything linked to him. You." The voice was computerized or disguised. No one could tell if it was a man or a woman.

"What did he do to you? Why-" She stopped speaking when the other side went quite. She knew the call had been disconnected. Breathing heavily, she lowered her head to her hands, and pressed her palms to her eyes. She wondered what more she had to face still. Turning her body, she looked at Angad again. She couldn't go back home. She had no home. Rising, she looked around the room that once belonged to her. She owned this house, half of it was hers after the divorce. It was big enough where she could live on the other side and never come across Angad. Her heart knew it would be the hardest thing to do. Reaching up she unhooked the chain from her neck and slipped both the chain and the ring into her pocket. She had to detach herself with him, and living here wasn't going to do it.

Her attention went back to the phone call. His life was in danger, she was still his security handler. If anything happened to him no one would forgive her.

She wouldn't forgive herself. She rubbed her fingers over her forehead as she walked into the bathroom. Opening the mirror cabinet, she took out a bottle of aspirin and dumped four in her hands. Walking back to the bedroom, she grabbed the jug of water, and downed all four pills. She could only hope that she was going to feel better in a while. She looked down at Angad and frowned. So he'd been a jerk, but he'd been nice to her yesterday and she could pay it back. Kneeling down, she unbuttoned his shirt and took it off. She tried to ignore the indent on his chest and ended up leaning down to pressed her lips against his heart. She missed him, she missed them. Grabbing a night shirt, she helped him on with it and then tucked the blanket around him. Making sure that the phones were off, she went out to shower herself. When she was done, she had business to take care of.

Hey guys!

Sorry for the delay.  I have a really busy week.  I'm still getting used to wakeing up at 6 every morning.  😭  AP classes are killing me and so is my English class.  I have one heck of a difficult teacher!   This part was like... 3/4 page shorter than the last one.  I thought it was a nice place to end it.  It's going to be a quick FF.  Seven-eight parts total.  I already have a great idea for the next one! 😆  Enjoy this one! Please, please, please comment.  I hate it when I dont get comments from you guys! 😳 Enjoy!

Hugs and Kisses,

Neha 😉