Arjun rang the door bell of his house. Samaira peeked through the keyhole & opened the door. Arjun stepped in & smiled looking at Samaira but she just ignored him, took the bag from his hand & went inside. Arjun sighed. Samaira & her stubbornness! He removed his shoes near the doorstep & went in his bedroom. Samaira was arranging papers scattered on the bed. Arjun first put his service revolver in the locker of his cupboard & locked it. Then, he pulled out his cell phone & wallet from his pockets & placed them on the table. He removed his watch & put it too on the table. He unbuttoned his shirt & carelessly threw it on the bed . Samaira closed her laptop & glared at her husband.
Samaira- Don’t you dare throw your used clothes on the bed. Put all of them in laundry basket.
Arjun looked at her & nodded his head.
Samaira- Would you like to take tea?
Arjun- No, already had a cup of coffee in airport.
Samaira left the room. Arjun took his towel & the discarded shirt & went inside the washroom to freshen up.
Arjun combed his wet hair. He is feeling refreshed after taking bath. He connected his cell phone to a charger & stepped out of his bedroom. Samaira was setting the table & was listening music on television. Arjun sat & looked at her but she is not even looking at him. She is avoiding him & clearly not in a mood to talk with him. Samaira served the food & sat at the opposite side of him. They ate in silence. After completing the dinner, Samaira put the dishes & other utensils in the sink.
Arjun- You leave, I will wash the dishes.
Samaira- No need. I appointed a maid for cleaning & washing utensils. She works in our neighbor house & trustworthy. She will come to work from tomorrow. I can’t manage office & all the household works alone.
Arjun- I don’t have any problem. In fact, you can hire a cook also. You just concentrate on your work.
Samaira- It’s not easy to get a good cook & I was managing my office & cooking together from the day I left Khanna Mansion. So, it’s not a big deal for me.
Arjun- hmm.
Samaira was lying on her side on the bed facing the opposite direction of Arjun, waiting for sleep to come. She felt relieved & happy to see Arjun but she is upset with his behavior & she just don’t want to talk with him now.
“How was your day? She heard Arjun’s voice in the silence of the room. Samaira remained still & silent. She can hear Arjun’s sigh. “I know you are not asleep Samaira.
Samaira (looking towards Arjun)- How was my day? Well, can’t complain & no one would listen if I did. So, it’s good.
Arjun remained silent hearing her sarcastic reply.
Arjun- You were not picking up my calls. So, I was worried.
Samaira- really? Glad to know that you got worried for me. I was busy. So, can’t able to receive the calls & most importantly, why the hell you were wasting your time to call me?
Arjun( sighed)- It’s not a time waste to call you or to listen your complains. You should share your every problem with me. It’s my right to know.
Samaira blinked, then her normally calm & pleasant demeanor changed & her face contorted in all consuming anger.
Samaira- What did you say? It’s not a time waste to call me but the same “YOU can’t even take out few minutes from your busy schedule just to inform me once that you are going out of station? Do you have any idea how much tensed & worried I was? No, you don’t. You just got so much busy in your work that you absolutely forgot that your wife is waiting for you at home.
Arjun- Samaira my mind was occupied with so many thoughts…
Samaira (cutting his words in between)- Now please Arjun, don’t give excuse of your work. I never demanded to know where you were going. You can even give a message to inform me that you are not going to come at night. But no, you just have it in your way.
Arjun- Samaira please, try to understand yaar…
Samaira- What to understand? Please you try to understand. It’s getting extremely difficult for me to handle your mood swings. I am your wife. Share your stress, sorrow, happiness everything with me, but please don’t misbehave. Don’t talk rudely with me. It hurts. I respect your dedication towards your work. I perfectly know that I am always & will always be your second priority, first obviously your duty. I accepted it. After all, not everyone has the guts to do their duty with that much passion.
Arjun hold her hand & pressed his lips on her palm. “I love you Samaira, I really love you. Arjun murmured.
Samaira- But you don’t trust me. We have love in our relationship & we are lacking understanding between us. I am afraid Arjun. We are always going to stay together, right? Arjun, I can’t live without you but that doesn’t mean I will tolerate everything.
Arjun remained silent for some time. Samaira looked at him. His eyes are full of sadness & Samaira felt it’s extremely difficult to control herself from hugging him tightly. She controlled her tears that were threatening to fall.
Arjun- What are you saying Samaira? If I did not trust you then we would never ever be together.
Samaira- So, now, you are regretting your decision?
Arjun- What? Samaira please, don’t misunderstand my words.
Samaira- oh no no. Twisting anyone’s simple words is your job, not mine. I always failed to understand your complex thought process. I am still trying hard to understand what was my mistake that day? After getting that call from Rajat, you suddenly became so angry & disturbed. So, I asked you the reason. After that, you not even gave me any single chance to complete my sentences. Do you really have any idea what I was actually trying to say. You just started interpreting things in your way & you even told me to stay there & do whatever I like! Do you even have any idea how much disgusting was your statement & your tone?
Arjun- I did not meant those words in this way you are thinking. I am sorry Samaira. Please understand that it was really an emergency situation & I messed up.
Samaira- You misbehaved with me before. So, you are saying I was going to be your punching bag in emergency situations.
Arjun- Samaira, again you are misjudging me…
Samaira- Leave it Arjun. You looked tired. So, please sleep & let me sleep.
Arjun was preparing himself to say something but Samaira’s voice shut him up. “Arjun please, I have to attend an important meeting tomorrow & I need rest to refresh my mind. So, goodnight.
Samaira again turned towards the opposite side & closed her eyes. “Good Night, she heard Arjun’s faint voice.
Samaira woke up hearing the constant buzzing of alarm clock. She rubbed her eyes but wait, she did not set any alarm last night. She stopped the alarm & looked at the other side of the bed. Arjun is not there. Her eyes fell on the side table & noticed a tray. In the tray, there is a coffee mug, a small box & a paper folded under it. Samaira took the paper & read it.
“I am sorry that I made you feel bad. I never meant to put you through pain. Sorry for hurting you dear. Please forgive me.
Samaira’s eyes widen. A hand written sorry note from Arjun! He apologized & she also feeling light venting out all her anger & frustration in front of him. The reason must be big that he lost his temper that night in Goa. She don’t know. She is not even angry anymore & she really not has the ability to say No on his face. Every time she wonders why he has so much control over her mind & heart? They both have no one to openly share their feelings apart from each other. She opened the small box. Again, she was surprised. She carefully looked at the trendy anklet set. A smile spread on her lips. Inside the box, she also noticed the card of the jewellery shop. So, he was in Rajasthan & he bought a gift for her from there. She finished her coffee & put the box into the drawer & went inside washroom.
Arjun was reading the newspaper sitting on the dining table. Samaira came & stood in front of him. “Good Morning. She greeted him.
“Morning Samaira. He smiled looking at her. He folded the newspaper & placed it on the table.
Samaira- Thank you for both the gift & the coffee.
Arjun- You liked the gift?
Samaira- The anklets are really beautiful. I loved it. Thank You.
Arjun stood up & came closer to her.
Arjun- Are you still angry with me?
She shook her head in denial. Arjun cupped her face in his hand & made her meet his eyes.
Arjun- I know I behave rudely with you. My mind was not working then. It was a crisis moment. In fact, still the situation is not good. I am just trying to find ways to crack the case plus the tremendous pressure from higher authority. It’s just went out of my mind that I have to inform you that I was going in Rajasthan.
Arjun sighed & remained silent for some moment.
Arjun- Naa, no more explanation. I can’t blame the situation. It’s all my fault. I made you cry.
Samaira- Leave all this. I am not angry anymore.
Arjun looked at her. Samaira firmly nodded her head & smiled. Arjun tightly hugged her.
Samaira- now tell me, why the hell you set the alarm & that too in highest volume?
Arjun- Obviously to wake you up.
Samaira- Can’t you think of any romantic way to wake me up?
Arjun- hmm. Point. Actually, I was not sure about your mood. But I have a romantic idea in my mind. I should throw water on you to wake you up.
Samaira- What?? Pathetic!
Arjun- arre, in Goa beach, don’t you noticed that couples were throwing water at each other?
Arjun bites his lips & tried hard not to laugh. Samaira pinched on his arm.
“ahhh! ” Arjun rubbed his arm. “Cut your nails Samaira. Do you even notice how many scratch you gave on my back?
Samaira turned red. “Shut up & leave me. I don’t have time to waste with you. I have many works & already said today I have to attend an important meeting in office.
Arjun- But first give me my good morning kiss.
Samaira- No.
Arjun- oh yes.
Samaira- Don’t you have office today?
Arjun- of course, I have. But first good morning kiss. See, I didn’t even smoked till now.
Samaira rolled her eyes. She lightly kissed on his cheeks & started to move but his hand drifted to her hip & pulled her closer. She inhaled sharply as she was against his warm chest. She splayed her hand against it. His breathing quickened & he covered her mouth with his in a hungry kiss. Their lips crushed together. His mouth was so warm, the caress of his lips softer than she could have imagined & she opened her mouth with a low moan. The door bell rang & Samaira quickly withdrew.
Arjun (irritatingly)- now, who is disturbing us?
Samaira- Definitely, the maid. Now, you don’t disturb me. I have lot of work both in home & office.
She went to open the door but she heard Arjun’s voice from behind, “Okay, I will disturb you at night.
In Intelligence Bureau Office,
Arjun was checking the fax sent by Bundi Police. Rajat was sitting in front of him lost in thoughts. He suddenly muttered, “shocking!
Arjun looked at him, “What so shocking?
Rajat- Nandini Pandey aka Anju Kiran is Rana’s cousin sister!! Oh My God!
Arjun- We got the clue about Nandini from Rana’s past. Most probably, we get more. So, we need to search more about their pasts.
Rajat- how?
Arjun- well, this Nandini Pandey aka Anju Kiran used to do counseling in the same correctional home where Dev used to stay.
Rajat- But the NGO no longer exists. They closed their office many years ago & vacated the house where their office used to be. So, it’s impossible to get the total details of the workers. The correctional home only kept the records who used to come to do counseling, but that’s too only their pictures & an identity proof & all the staff of correctional home are new, so, they are unable to provide further details.
Arjun- Need to talk with the Superintendent of the correctional home at that time again. Anyway Rajat, you try to find about Nandini’s life in Mumbai.
Rajat- but how?
Arjun- She left the village after passing Board examination. So, she must took admission in a college in Mumbai…
Rajat- now, you are talking like crazy. How to find out about a single student after so many years??
Arjun- There must be many colleges in Mumbai but University only one & all students of various colleges have to registered their names & details in University. So, search the database of Mumbai University for Anju Kiran. & take the year in which she left the village & also search three more years if by any chance she got delayed in taking admission.
Rajat- Okay.
Arjun nodded his head & lit a cigarette. “But one of the biggest mystery is till now Samrat Khanna.
That’s all for TODAY. Waiting for reviews.