Heart wrenching adoration Part-40

I sat huddled in jiju’s car as we trundled towards the Dehradun Airport, the scenic beauty of this picturesque city, flashing by us, yet unlike other times, it didn’t hold my attention as I was too preoccupied with worrying about khushi to notice anything.

Aman and Anvesh had left with their respective parents before we started, but not before hugging khushi fiercely and assuring and comforting her in a very elder-brotherly attitude. Even though we hadn’t known her for more than a month, yet she was a very precious entity for all of us...for me. She was my angel, my guiding light in the fathomless darkness of my life.

I couldn’t afford to lose her, not now...not ever!

“Bhai, what about the airport?” Akash whispered softly, leaning towards me.

I frowned. I had been thinking about it for a while. We needed to get our flight to home at the Dehradun Airport, which will surely be bustling with people. Too many strangers!

“I know Akash, I know and I don’t want to have her so awfully exposed too! But we don’t have any other option. We have to catch our flights. We’ll just have to stick to being glued to her I guess!” I said grimly.

I was not at all keen to have khushi in close proximity with so many unknown people,... people among whom could be her assailants, still I had no choice for we had to get the flight anyhow. So, I took comfort from the fact that at least Mr. And Mrs. Gupta had officers of C.B.I with them. Apparently, khushi was put under witness protection programme after the news of the release of the Mafia, Zachary Pilaster.

The officers were tall and well-built, someone who reminded me of the giant troll in the first instalment of Harry Potter, and I knew that they must be carrying weapons, ready to even kill anyone at the drop of the hat if they were to harm khushi, yet I couldn’t really get rid of the nagging worry and a strange foreboding!

I was getting paranoia attacks!

We parked in the Parking lot of airport and immediately alighted. I watched as Guptas’ car was manoeuvred by the driver to a stop and rushed to khushi’s side as soon as she got down. It pained my heart  to see her so distressed.

“Khushi don’t worry! I...I mean we won’t let anything to happen to you!”I promised. I could even go for the kill if that’s what it took to protect my khushi!

“I’m not worried about me!” Khushi nearly whimpered, her beautiful, doe-like eyes were pools of tears.

“I hate to see you guys jeopardizing your safety for me. I’m not worth that!” She whispered, casting her eyes down, her head bowed as if in regret.

“You are right! You’re not worth that! You are too valuable, too precious to be estimated worth of!” I murmured, putting my finger under her chin to coax her to look at me.

Khushi’s reluctant eyes drifted to mine and it broke my heart into million pieces to see her so despondent, so hapless!

“Khushi nothing will happen! Everything is going to be fine! Why are you being so pessimist?” Akash asked her gently, squeezing her hands gently.

“Ok kids! Let’s get going!” Mr. Shasi Gupta called us as soon as all the luggage was out of the trunk of the car.

We moved in the terminal amidst the tightly packed circle of immaculately dressed C.B.I officers. They didn’t so much as utter a word and seemed to communicate only through curt nods. The grim lines on their faces looked so awfully and firmly set that I was cent percent sure that they wouldn’t have cracked so much as teeniest of smile in years!

But naturally, they were perfect in their decorum and moved with a sort of rigid pageantry which was fascinating, yet terrifying at the same time. So, naturally my di, who was the only one in the entire group who neither knew khushi’s story nor was acquainted with the fact that the men whisking us along were the officers of India’s top notch investigation agency, kept on staring at them curiously and tried in vain to strike conversation with them.

“They all are so silent, yet so perfect in their decorum, as if they are in military, though Shasi uncle told me that they are distant relatives...cousins of Payal and khushi. Hmm... and that one there is so handsome!” Di whispered to me giggling.

“Anju!” Jiju exclaimed, looking mortified and upset.

“I was just kidding Shyam! Of course you are my one and only sweetheart...my prince charming!”Di immediately started buttering jiju to thaw him out, which naturally he did.

“It still 1 hour  for our flight!” Shashi uncle informed us and I groaned internally. The last thing I wanted to have khushi exposed to more of crowd.

“Well ours is in quarter of an hour!” Jiju said, checking the information board for the flight to Delhi.

“Fine, till then we’ll sit there!” I murmured, dragging khushi along to a set of sofas cosily arranged , with Akash and Payal and those officers at our tow. I distinctly saw Anjali di roll her eyes at me.

“I’ll go and get some novels for the journey!” Payal said, before disappearing to a nearby book store with Akash.

“Ummm...Arnav, I’ll be right back!” Khushi murmured, getting up from the couch. 

“I’ll come with you. By the way, where are you going?” I asked baffled, at the red colored that tainted her cheeks at my simple statement. Didn’t she know she couldn’t go anywhere alone?

“Arnav, I need to use the loo!” She said sheepishly and it was my turn to blush.

“Oh! Ok then, I’ll stand outside and...”I began awkwardly, but she cut me off.

“No! I mean you don’t need to! I’ll be ok! Besides, you don’t really expect my assailants to attack me in ladies’ toilet! That will be so crappy and such a give away!” She grinned at me.

I wasn’t at all convinced, yet I let her go. Khushi tried to excuse herself from her ‘Bodyguards’ but apparently they didn’t give in like me and one of the officers went along with her.

I watched her go and in the distance I also watched Lavanya, who was with her parents, waiting for her flight, excuse herself and follow khushi’s suit.

I  should’ve known that it was the beginning of the disaster!

Ten minutes passed still khushi didn’t return and I started to get worried, but I wasn’t the only one who was fretting. Apparently, all those C.B.I officers too were starting to sense something fishy.

“She is gone for a long time now...It shouldn’t take so long!” I said anxiously to one of the officers who nodded, frowning perplexedly.

He took out his cell and tried to get through to the officer who had accompanied khushi, but couldn’t make the call.

“That’s strange. Ravish is not picking his phone!” The officer murmured. My blood ran cold!

“Do you think something happened to them?” I asked, glancing over at the place where our families were busy talking with each other.

“I’ll go and check!” The officer said resolutely, standing up.

“What’s wrong guys?” Payal asked, bouncing in with Akash, clutching a paper bag. I quickly explained everything to them.

“What? Khushi didn’t come till now! Oh God!”Payal started getting hysterical.

“Shh Payal! Speak softly. Lets’ go and check her first...maybe she got and upset stomach or something!” Akash shushed her and we quickly traipsed to the ladies’ washroom with the C.B.I. officer.

“Ravish should’ve been here!” The officer muttered in bafflement as we stopped outside the girls’s washroom.

“Payal go and check inside!” I ordered her, tensed, and she quickly darted inside the washroom.

We waited for her in silence, too disturbed to speak anything. Each passing second felt like an year and I could feel almost a physical ache that separation with khushi caused me. How will I survive without her?

My painful abstractions were broken as the door of the washroom opened and Payal stepped out, white as a corpse.I felt color drain from my face.

“Payal what...?” Akash trailed off, gaping at her.

“ Its over! They took khushi away!” She whispered, tears trickling down her cheeks and I felt a numb ache as I collapsed on the tiled, hard floor of the Airport, defeated!

Heart wrenching adoration Part-39

Next four days were sheer torture! I didn’t know exactly how I survived them when I half expected khushi’s assailants to burst through the doors any moment and Akash, Anvesh and Aman seemed to share my views.

We moved about in tight circles even in the corridor, flanking khushi, especially Aman, Anvesh and Akash’s trod around khushi looked very much similar to that of Salman khan in the movie ‘Bodyguard’ and usually I would’ve laughed at their hilarious attitude had the situation not been so terrifying.

Anyway, time moves on even if every passing second takes you on a ride to hell and so the rest of the days to Summer holidays passed quite normally, except for the nerve wrenching anxiety and finally the day came when our parents were supposed to come to pick us up.

 

I had talked my di into coming just precisely at the time when Payal and khushi’s parents were about to pick them. Since our families were very well acquainted that wasn’t really too big a trouble, but I had my suspicion on my di’s eagerness to meet and know khushi more for the reason she had agreed so quickly and graciously to my persuasion.

So, as soon as the clock struck 8 in the morning, I began strolling the patio around the hostel anxiously for my di and jijaji to come. After all I needed to put my plan to save khushi in action too.

As soon as I spotted my jijaji’s Renault duster round the corner and speed towards the hostel through the sprawling lawn, I sighed in relief. 

“Chote!” My di started squealing ang waving her hands wildly through the open window as soon as she spotted me and I rolled my eyes.

She was acting like a kid who had just spotted his favourite candy.

“Chote!” Anjali di squealed as she literally flew through the air towards me and caught me in a bone-crushing hug.

“I missed you so much my sweet pumpkin!” Di squealed and I turned red as a couple of students standing near the hostel gates heard her comment and smirked.

“Di why do you have to call me by that name here! Isn’t it enough that I keep up with your chotey-ing me still!” I whispered mortified.

“But you are my pumpkin, my sweet pumpkin or at least you were when you were a kid with that permanent scowl wiped of your face and chubby little, cute face, but now you resemble a cucumber!” Di murmured and then held me at arm’s length.

“What have you been doing chotey? Don’t you sleep or eat well? You have got dark circles beneath your eyes and you’ve grown so thin! Don’t they serve good food? I should talk with hostel warden about it! Maybe a nutritional ch...” My di’s head on was thankfully cut short by my jijaji, or rather would-be-jijaji, Mr. Shyam Manohar Jha, a famous criminal lawyer as he deftly veered me away from her grasp.

“Hold on Anju! At least, let him breath! Besides, what exactly do you want?...That your brother should expand like a drum! He is a sportsperson for crying out loud! You can’t expect him to be just as agile and lithe with a huge pot belly  handle!” Jijaji rescued me from di’s onslaught just as usual and pulled me for a quick hug.

“Here is what you asked for chote! Get it!” Jijaji murmured softly so that only I could hear as he handed me a small packet discreetly.

“Thanks jiju!” I whispered before pulling out of the hug.

“Di! Jiju!” I heard Akash bellow form a distance as he came barrelling towards us like a mad bull and jumped on the duo.

I rolled my eyes. Akash and Anjali di were so much alike!

“Hey Anjali di! Hello jijaji!” Payal greeted them softly, followed by khushi Aman and Anvesh.

I looked at khushi as she politely greeted my di and jiju. I had to introsuce her to my family now, something I had really been looking forward to!

“Di, jiju, this is khushi, Payal’s sister and my friend and khushi, they are my di and jiju!” I introduced. The sudden  gleam in my di’s eyes didn’t go unnoticed by me.

“Its so nice to meet you khushi, finally!” Di grinned, stressing on the word finally and I shot a quick glare to her.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw khushi blush and Akash, Anvesh and Aman smirk evilly. After a little chit-chat di and jiju proceeded towards the administrative building to pay mine and Akash’s fees and I took khushi and others to cafeteria, insisting that they ate something.

“Arnav I’m not hungry!” Khushi pouted as I dragged her along with me.

Don’t be ridiculous! You didn’t eat properly yesterday night too! Are you trying to starve yourself to death?” I asked, serving some crispy pakodas to her and getting a flask of juice.

“You are such a mother hen!” She growled, jutting her lips out and I was suddenly gripped by a mad desire to kiss that pout away!

“Control your ardour man if you don’t want Payal to beat you into a bloody pulp!” Anvesh whispered softly, chuckling.

I flushed in embarrassment. I realized that I had been staring at khushi’s lip and even though she hadn’t noticed the others had and now Payal was shooting daggers at me, fuming. More to make that glower wiped off her face than anything else, I quickly proceeded to give khushi juice, something Payal would approve off and which went with my plan.

“Khushi, her’s your juice! Just finish it up and I don’t want any arguments this time, got it!” I said sternly, as I poured her a glass of orange juice.  

I quickly dropped the tiny object that I was holding in her juice and looked up to check whether anyone had noticed. It seemed that  luck was on my side as everyone round the table were wrapped up in conversation to notice my little stunt.

Saying my best prayer to heavens, I gave the glass to khushi to drink and waited with baited breath as she guzzled it down.

My heart skipped a beat as suddenly she stopped drinking and looked puzzled as if she had encountered some foreign object in her drink which was exactly the case.

I crossed my fingers beneath the table, praying incessantly for her to drink the juice and as if she heard me, she complied, instead of throwing the juice out.

I let out the breath that I had been holding, letting the relief wash over me. Apparently, my plan was successful!

Heart wrenching adoration Part-38

The day passed in the worst of anxiety as we sat in tight groups, unable to utter words more than absolutely necessary. We were still reeling in the horrors of the debilitating revelation that we had just heard.

I was absolutely jumpy the entire day, getting startled with the slightest of sound, still I couldn’t be blamed not when I half expected an attack any second and it seemed as if my friends opined the same for Akash, Aman and Anvesh literally oriented themselves around khushi protectively. 

My nerves were tightened to their breaking point and I practically stuck around with khushi, not letting her out of my sight for even a nanosecond. I couldn’t take any chances with her safety.

But as the dim of dusk dissipated into velvety ink of night, I had to let go of her, much to my immense discomfort, for guys weren’t allowed inside the Girl’s Hostel. 

Despite knowing that it was a lost cause, I was al but set to argue with Manju ma’am about that but Payal stopped me pointing that my insistence will needlessly bring the entire debacle in teacher’s knowledge and it was the last thing that we wanted.

I knew I was being absolutely dickhead for who ever heard of guys sleeping in a girl’s hostel. Heck, that was the point of having separate hostel for girls and boys, still I was more than terrified to leave khushi alone!

If something happened to her, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself!

“Arnav go! I’ll be alright! And I promise if anything goes wrong, you’ll be the first one I’ll yell for!” Khushi said, trying to ease the tension.

“She’s right! Besides, Manju ma’am will all but kick you out if you so much as set a toe in the lobby of the girls’ hostel!” Anvesh tried to reason with me.

 It was very rare to find Anvesh all so serious and not trying to pull someone’s leg and usually I would’ve laughed at this avatar of his, but laughing was the last thing I wanted to do now. 

So all in all after a lot of persuasion and reassurances, especially from khushi, I finally let go off her and allowed my friends to drag me back to the boy’s hostel.

That night was a sheer torture, the longest one I had every endured in 16 years of my existence! I tossed and turned restlessly in my bed.

 What if those nutters did something to my khushi? What if they chocked her with a pillow or poisoned her? 

I knew I was being stupid and paranoid, yet all the crime thrillers I had ever seen on T.V. came back to me en mass, harassing me and making my imagination run sickeningly wide. Even the though of someone so much as scratching my khushi was unbearably agonizing!

Suddenly my phone buzzed and that sent my heart into a frenzied palpitation. I could literally feel it pounding my rib cage, fit to burst. Trembling, I grabbed the phone to find a message from khushi.

“Stop fretting and go to sleep Arnav!”Khushi had texted.

I sighed. It was so characteristic khushi! She had a death sentence hanging on her head and here she was worrying about me! Miffed, I dialled her number.

“Stop acting so calm khushi as if nothing has happened!” I had to try very hard to keep my voice down!

 I had reached the end of my patience. Throughout the day I was the one who had been on the edge, worrying over her safety, yet she acted as if nothing was out of normal, except the time she cried and lost her control while telling us about her hideous past.

“What do you want me to do Arnav? Cry? What for? I don’t have any fear and regret Arnav. Even if that Mafia and his men catch up with me and kill me, I don’t have any reason to be afraid. What am I if not a liability. I’m the cause of threat on Payal di’s family too. I’m jeopardizing their safety, not that they have any problem with that...not that they will say anything like that to me, still that doesn’t lessen my guilt! If I’m gone then everyone can live happily! They won’t....”

“Shut the hell up khushi!” I yelled, making Aman literally fall from his bed in fright and Anvesh to sit up bolt upright with a yelp.

“Do you know what you’re talking about?Have you lost your senses? Don’t you have anything in that thick skull of yours? How dare you call yourself a liability and entertain all those ridiculous notion? How can you even say something like that damn it!” I shrieked, even as blinding pain ripped through my heart at the painful picture her words had painted.

“Arnav mate! Calm down! Why are you yelling like that?!” Anvesh flounced over to my bed, alarmed.

“Shut up Anvesh! Just hear what she is saying! She’s giving up damn it!” I bellowed, like a wounded animal.

“Jeez Arnav! Take a breath. I was just...” Khushi began, her voice trembling.

“You were just what khushi? Do you have any idea how important you are to me?” I growled and I distinctly heard khushi's breath hitch, before my phone was snatched away from me.

“Khushi, we’ll talk in the morning, ok? Don’t take tension. Everything is gonna be alright, l’ll sis!” Aman assured her before snapping the phone shut even as I tried to snatch my phone from him from Anvesh’s restraining arms. 

“What the hell was that for Arnav?”

“ How can you yell at her like that? Do you know how tensed she must be and you made her even more upset!”

Aman and Anvesh began at the same time, looking beyond mad! They were literally breathing fire down my neck!

“You didn’t hear her talk! She’s giving up...I can’t just bear it!” I whispered, closing my eyes and plopping back on my bed, ashamed. I knew I had no right to lose control like that on khushi, not when she was already so messed up!

So, I simply lay there, letting Anvesh and Aman rant angrily at me, thinking. When they returned to their beds, I sat up with a blazing determination. I took my phone and dialled a number.

The ring went on until a sleepy voice responded.

“Jijaji!” I whispered, quickly whispering all that I needed to say.

I had a plan to protect my khushi!

Heart wrenching adoartion Part-37

I sat motionless, absolutely stumped to stillness by this sudden revelation.  My head spun in whirling vortex! A cruel, ill-famous Mafia was behind my khushi to kill her! I couldn’t digest it.

“But how? Why? Surely he..he wouldn’t I mean...”I didn’t know what to say and flabbergasted statement barely made any sense.

“Are you sure khushi?I mean surely he wouldn’t want authorities to chase after him when he  just got released?” Akash wailed. He looked so pitiably desperate and frightened, which was reflected on Aman and Anvesh’s faces too as they sat silently, lips gnashed together.

“ I remember each and every part of that horrendous nightmare! I couldn’t possible forget it at least in this life!” Khushi said grimly, her voice chocked.

“I thought he’ll be punished for what he did to my parents and numerous those who were killed because of his ruthless greed for money, but I was so wrong and now that he’s out, he’s not gonna spare me!” Khushi moaned, burying her face in her hands.

I leaned weakly against the iron body of the merry-go-round staring helplessly at khushi. Even the possibility of hearing that khushi might be hurt when I can feel her safe in my arms was unbearably agonizing!

“But why did he kill your parents khushi?” Aman enquired.

“Because my dad made him lose his million bucks!” Khushi said bitterly, her face veneered by a mask of absolute loathing.

“Huh?”

“My dad was the M.D. of Greenboroue Company ,a high-profile arms and weapons manufacturing company in the U.S. He was a law-abiding, honest citizen and knew his responsibility as the M.D. of one of the top Arms Manufacturing countries of the world."

" Hence, he strictly did business with the government of various countries, to provide them weapons to defend their motherland. He always engaged in lawful business, and encouraged his employees to do so too!” Khushi trailed off, her eyes glassy with unshed tears.

“But one day he got whiff of corruption and infiltration in his company and he hired some detectives to look into the matter. The revelations were drastic! It employed high-profile scheming! The weapons that were manufactured in his company, some of which were so dangerous so as to annihilate an entire city, the size of Vegas in seconds, were being smuggled to Syria, Egypt and all those countries which have been seeing a lot of political tussle lately."

" My dad was beyond horrified to say the least! The company that he had nurtured with his honesty was the cause of death of lakhs of innocent people!” Khushi croaked, her voice reminiscing the horrors of her past, while we sat around her in a hypnotic silence.

“He himself delved into the investigation with renewed vigour! He so desperately wanted to bring to book all those monsters who had allowed merciless killing of all those innocent, guileless people! The more he got into the bottom of the thing, the more appalling the matters came out!"

"My dad got to know about the involvement of one of his Manager in the whole scandal, that Merelyn Miranda you heard about in the news. He was the one who along with Zachary Pilaster contacted and traded with the militants and minted millions through his illicit business. Some other names also came out in that scam, the names of well-known senators and people belonging to white-collored, high class societies!” 

“It wasn’t easy to round on those plutocrats, what with their endless wealth and power. So my dad began gathering proofs of this debauchery and when he had enough to prove their felony, he contacted someone in the senate. I don’t exactly who he/she was, but my dad seemed to trust that person.”Khushi gazed unseeingly into the space and I tightened my grip on her.

“But that’s when things started to spiral downhill. Apparently, the senator whom my dad had entrusted with the information and proofs, informed him that somehow the information had gotten leaked and the Mafia had gotten to know what my dad was planning to do!"

" Zachary Pilaster tried to buy my dad by offering a huge amount but obviously my dad refused. He would rather die than betray the nation and be the cause of brazen bloodshed and that’s what happened in the end.” Khushi sighed, tears trickling down her cheek.

“I was in Florida when that Mafia’s men caught up with me parents. I had gone on a trip to NASA Space centre from my school. That day I was chatting with my Mom on skype...she was sitting in the little parlor, just beside the living room, overlooking our garden. It was my and mom’s favourite place in the house!..."

" It was separated from the living room with a laminated glass, so that you could clearly see out what was happening in the living room, but you couldn’t see in from the other side of the glass.”Khushi trailed off, her voice ,melancholic and despite not knowing anything about her past, I had a foreboding of the oncoming disaster.

“I clearly saw them torture and murder my parents in front of me, hear every word that they uttered, but they didn’t know that, not until my horrified scream broke through the numbness that enveloped me!”Khushi chocked.

“I was the eye-witness of the entire catastrophic event which changed my life forever...and so they knew and therefore sought to kill me too. I was placed under witness protection programme for a half a year, until I gave the statement in the court to get them convicted. I had heard Zachary Pilaster being proclaimed as the kingpin behind the entire debacle from the mouth of those filth murderers, hence I got him convicted too!”Khushi rasped, her hands balled up into fists.

“All the perpetrators of the crime and the swindlers who were engaged in that smuggling scam were jailed because of the proof my dad had gathered. He had given it to his lawyer-friend, Mr. Sebastian Williams for safekeeping, because he knew of the threat to his life."

" But even after those criminals were jailed, several of the Mafia’s men were at large, so Sebastian Uncle advised me to leave the U.S.A, for I was still in danger of getting killed. Therefore, I came here to live with Masaji(Uncle), Masiji(Aunt) and Payal di!”Khushi concluded in the stunned silence and then let go off her last vestige of control as she let out all her anguish and pain in my embrace!