After having their food. Ilham went to her room and Bilal to his. She stood in front of the window particular doing nothing.

Someone knocked the door of her room. She turned and asked them to come in. The door opened and the person turned out to be Bilal. She smiled. But that was not genuine. It was fake. He came near her.

Bilal: hum aap ko yeh batane aaye hai ke kuch zarrori kaam ke wajah se jana pad raha hai.

Ilham: lekin aap abhi toh aaye hai

Bilal: haan lekin work is important too

Ilham (nodding): theek hai. Par jaldi aaiyega. Aaj hum khud aapke liye khana banayenge

Bilal: Ilham aap kyu banayengi? Maids hai na.

Ilham: aap ko humare haath ka bana khana acha nahi lagta?

Bilal: aisi baat nahi hai. (Holding her hands) hume toh aapke haath ka banaya khana behad pasand hai. Theek hai agar aap chahti hai toh aap beshak banaiye.

Ilham: shukran Bilal. Hum aapka intezar karnenge. Jaldi aana

Bilal: Ilham ab aap aise kahengi toh hum kaise ja payenge?

Ilham (chuckled): aap bade besharam ho gaye hai. Jaiye.

Bilal: aapki mohabbat ne hume besharam bana diya hai.

Ilham: Bilal.....

Bilal: theek hai. Jaate hai.

He left and Ilham sighed. She again turned to the window. But the door opened again.

Bilal: Ilham

Ilham (turning): ji

Bilal: hume zyada yaad mat kijiye ga

Ilham smiled and he went. She closed the door. Took out her phone and messaged someone

"Bilal kahin bahar ja raha hai. Follow him."

"Yes I am" came as a reply.

"Okay. Send the details to either me or Inayat"

"Okay"

She deleted the message and opened the photo gallery. She caressed one photo.

Ilham: I miss you both. Mari Chakudi (my little sparrow) I know tu strong rehne ki bohat koshish kar rahi hai. Par please rona nahi. Aur Sahil.... teri di bohat jald aa jayegi mera bacha. I miss you so much.

She kissed the photo and swiped it.

Ilham: aur meri jingle bell. I miss you too. Yes I miss you but teri shayari bikul nahi.

She chuckled. The next photo was with Soumya

Ilham: mera Sumo. I miss you too.

Next photo

Ilham: D..... I miss you sooooooo much. Aap toh jaante hai main kahan hun aaj tak humne koi secret rakha hai, jo yeh aapko nahi bataungi? Aap meri chinta bikul mat karna main theek hun aap bhi apna dhyan rakhna. I know Shivaay aapka khayal rakh rahen hai but please unhe zyada tang mat karna. Aur wapish aake sab se pehle aapke pass aaungi. I promise.

Ilham: Om I hope tum meri behan ka dhyan rakh rahe honege. She needs you. Please be with her.

*ignore vermilion and nuptial chain on her neck and forehead*

Ilham: and Rudy boy. I miss you my partner in crime. Wapish aa ke hum khub masti karenge.

Next photo was with Mahir.

Ilham: and Mahir you too I miss you too. I hope tum Bela ke saath ho. Usse rone nahi doge. Kyu ke mujhe pata hai woh kitna roegi.

Next photo

She caressed the photo.

Ilham: aur aap. I miss you too my friend. Mujhe pata hai wapish aake aapki daant sun ni padegi but it's okay. Bas main aa rahi hun. Bohat jald. Aap sab ke pass

She kept looking at the photos with everyone. She switched off the phone and stood in front of the window again.

Flashback

The night when Anika told Shivaay about her past.

She went to her room. She saw Tia and Gauri sleeping peacefully she smiled and kissed their forehead. She took her laptop and stuffs and headed towards the study.

She was working after a while she got a ping on her phone. She looked at it.

"Emergency. Come to ---- soon. You have 20 minutes" it read

As soon she read the message and immediately ran to take the keys and left the house.

She reached to the location in the message. She stood in front of two men. One was wearing clothes like minister and the other was in formal shirt and pants.

Anika: Jai Hind Sir

Man (in formal clothes): Jai Hind. Anika home minister sahab ko tum se kaam hai.

Anika (confused): mujh se?

Home Minister: haan. Vijay (man in formal) ne bataya ke aap best hai.

Anika: main kuch samji nahi sir?

Home Minister: samjata hun pehle aap bethiye.

She nodded sat in front of him.

Home Minister: I want you to find Bilal Ahmed....

Anika: Bilal Ahmed. Wahi na? The most wanted International arm and drug dealer and a serial killer?

Vijay: sirf yeh hi nahi. But he is also involved in human trafficking

Anika: what??

Vijay: yes. Aaj tak usse kisi ne nahi dekha.

Home Minister: so main chahta hun ke aap....

Anika (completing him): usse dhundun and you want him behind the bars?

Vijay: exactly. Yeh bohat hi secret mission hai. So what's your answer?

Anika: was that a question?

Both gave a confused look.

Anika: sir it should be an order. Mujhe bas aap bataiye kya karna hai

Home Minister: yeh sab aapko sochna hai. You are the head of this mission

Anika smiled brightly.

Anika: am I?

Vijay: but Anika. It is very risky

Anika: it's okay sir apne desh ke liye toh jaan bhi de sakti hun.

Home Minister: look Miss Anika. Yeh sach mein bohat dangerous hai. Aapke saath kuch bhi ho sakta hai agar aap pakdi gai toh. And we don't want to loose such a talented agent.

Anika: don't worry sir. Ab chahe kuch bhi ho jaye. Bilal Ahmed ke jail jane tak main chain se nahi bethungi. I will find him.

Home Minister: good. Hum aapko thoda waqt dete hai. Find his location and everything, make a plan, make a team.

Anika: ji sir mujhe sirf kuch waqt hi chahiye.

Vijay: all the best Anika.

Anika: thank you sir. I may take your leave. Jai Hind

Both: Jai Hind.

She left.

Home Minister: Vijay do you think she can do?

Vijay: ji sir. She is the best. One of the best Secret Agent. I am sure woh hume nirash nahi karegi. Mujhe uss pe pura bharosa hai.

Home Minister: hmm.....

Two days later after the Matteo's incident. She went to meet her friends from the agency who's going to help her in the mission.

Vishakha Khanna and Rohit Khanna

Vishakha (Vish): yes Anika kya baat hai?

Anika: we are in a mission Vish

Rohit: kaisa mission?

Anika: hume Bilal Ahmed ko dhundh na hai.

Vish: International arm and drug dealer? (Anika nodded yes) I heard woh Human Trafficking bhi karta hai.

Anika: yes that's true.

Rohit: okay bolo kya karna hai?

She discussed the plan with them.

(The plan and all mujhe nahi aata. Main choti si bachi hun. And secondly that's not important)

Anika: hume sirf usse pakadna hi nahi usske saare karnaamon ke sabut dhundh ne hai. He had killed many innocents and he is illegally dealing arms and drug. Aur woh sab usske ghar mein jaa ke dhundhna hoga. Usski naake niche se.

Rohit: okay. I am on the service Anika.

Anika: no.... not Anika. Ilham. Ilham Sheikh. Ab se main Anika nahi Ilham Sheikh hun. Aur tum Vish, you will be Inayat Khaan and Rohit tum hoge Ijaaz Habib. Hume aaj se infact abhi se ek dusre ko issi naam se bulana shuru karna hoga.

Vish: okay par Anika..... I mean Ilham iss sab ke liye tum apni family se kya kahogi? Kyu ke hum agents bata toh sakte nahi hai.

Anika: I know issiliye maine kuch socha hai.

Rohit: kya??

Flashback ends

Her chain of broke by the knock. She opened the door and found Vishakha.

Ilham (Anika): Inayat aap?

Inayat (Vish): mujhe tum se kuch baat karni hai Anika...

Ilham (whispering): shh.... kitni baar kaha hai. Anika nahi Ilham.

Inayat: I am really sorry. But it's important

Ilham: theek hai. No problem come in.

She entered in and Anika closed the door.

Ilham: bolo

Inayat: Ilham the doves you've set free. Un sab ko Bilal ne shoot kar diya

Ilham (shocked): what???

Inayat: yes

Ilham: how can he??

Inayat: you know how he is

Ilham (angrily): yeah. Bloody inhuman. Itne time se uss ke saath reh rahi hun. Uss ke jaise kamina aur ghenhona insaan maine aaj tak nahi dekha. Ab na gussa control nahi hota mujh se. Jab bhi samne aata hai. Man karta hai ke.....

Inayat (interrupting): Ilham shant ho jao. Hum koi galat kadam nahi utha sakte. You know that.

Ilham: I know. Ab bas bohat hua. Humare pass baaki saare saboot toh hai. Ab bas un hostages ko kahan rakha hai yeh pata karna hai.

Inayat: chal gaya Ilham

Ilham (extreme happy): kya??

Inayat (smiling): haan.

Ilham: kahan?

Inayat: Rohit...... mera matlab Ijaaz ne pata kar hi liya. Bilal aaj uss silsile mein bahar gaya hai. Un sab ko uss ne India mein.... infact Mumbai mein hi rakha hai

Ilham: really?

Inayat: yes. Aur ab kal woh India ja raha hai. Deal karne un sab ki.

She said this with disgust on her face.

Ilham: location pata hai un sab ki?

Inayat: nahi na. Bas wahi dhundh na hai.

Ilham: ab location kaise pata karen?

Inayat: Ijaaz ne kaha hai ke woh sirf Bilal ke pass hai. Uss ke room mein

Ilham: pakka?

Inayat: haan

Ilham: theek hai aaj uss ke room mein jaake main dhundh lungi

Inayat: kaise dhundhogi? Usske room mein kitni security hai. Aur......

Ilham: aap shayad bhool rahi hai Inayat. Uss ke room mein mujhe jaane se koi nahi rok sakta hai.

Inayat: haan par agar koi uss se puche ga toh woh log toh usse bata denge.

Ilham: woh tum mujh pe chhod do.

Inayat: lekin Ilham.....

Ilham: Inayat..... main huna. Don't worry.

Inayat: theek hai.

She left and Ilham went to kitchen to prepare food. As she promised.

She was making food after a while Inayat came there. She saw some flour on her cheek. She chuckled

Inayat: Ilham yeh kaise bana rahi ho. Gaal dekho

Iham (frowning and checking her cheeks): kya hai?

Inayat showed her the front camera of her phone. She saw herself and wiped her cheek. But she got into her memory lane.

Flashback

Once Anika was cooking angrily. Shivaay came to her.

Shivaay: Anika....

Anika: hmm....

Shivaay: kya kar rahi ho?

Anika (annoyed): dandiya khel rahi hun.

Shivaay (frowning): tum sidhe muh jawab nahi de sakti. Khana bana rahi ho toh bolo na ke khana bana rahi ho.

Anika (angrily banging the knife on the platform): jab aapko dikh raha hai toh kyu puch rahe hai?

Shivaay: itna gussa kyu ho?

Anika (angrily): main koi gussa nahi hun.

Shivaay (folding his hand on his chest): acha? Abhi kya kar rahi ho?

Anika: khana bana rahi hun. (Chopping the veggies angrily)

Shivaay: haan woh toh dikh raha hai par itna kyu gussa ho tum?

Anika (screaming but not so loud): Main Gussa Nahi Hun.

Shivaay: okay. Samaj gaya.

Anika: good.

Shivaay went near her and back hugged her. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder.

Shivaay: ab batao kya problem hai?

Anika (eyes still closed and head on his shoulder): woh Mr. Chabbra nahi hai.

Shivaay: woh Chabbra Industries ke CEO?

Anika: yaa wahi. Kuch dinon pehle they called and said ke unhe mere saath collaborate karna hai. So meeting fix ki. Ek baar nahi do baar nahi chaar baar meeting postpone kar di. Aaj abhi main wahin se aa rahi hun. Cafe mein pure 2 ghante wait kiya aur sirf call kar ke kehte hai ke meeting postpone karni pad rahi hai. Aur reason pata hai kya dete hai? Usski maasi ki neighbour ko labour pain hua issiliye jaana pada....... I mean can you believe it.

She looked at him and he chuckled. (They were still in the back hug)

Anika: hasi aa rahi hai aapko?

Shivaay: nahi main usske bahane pe hass raha tha. Aage kya?

Anika: kaise log hai. Pehle meeting fix karte hai aur phir postpone kar dete hai. Kaam ki koi value hi nahi hai. Chalo ek baar theek hai par 4 - 4 baar.....

Shivaay: toh tum issiliye itna gussa ho?

Anika: off course. Unhone collaborate karna tha. Mujhe nahi. Aur khud aate nahi hai. Main 4 din se unke liye apna kaam chhod kar unke liye 2 - 2 ghante wait karti raheti hun aur woh phir bhi nahi aaye.

Shivaay: toh mana kar do

Anika: kar diya. Aur do gaaliyan bhi suna di.

Shivaay: toh phir ab itna gussa kyu?

Anika: main gussa nahi hun. Bas mera mood kharab hai.

Shivaay: theek hai main tumhara mood theek karta hun. Par ek baat batao mujhe. Tum itna sara khana kis ke liye bana rahi?

Anika: yeh kaisa sawal hai? Sab ke liye. Lekin abhi shuru hi kiya hai. Sirf aaloo chop kiye hai.

Shivaay: a... excuse me zara mujhe batao. Itne chote pieces se tum kya banaogi?

She looked at the chopping board she saw she had chopped a very tiny pieces of potatoes even smaller than 1 cm. She closed her eyes and again rested her head on his shoulder.

Shivaay: aur dusri baat. Ghar pe koi nahi hai. Sirf hum dono aur Sahil hi hai

Anika (snapped her head): kya? Koi nahi hai? Kahan gaye sab?

Shivaay: senior Oberois kisi ki shaadi mein gaye hai aur sare love birds honge kisi dali pe.

They chuckled.

Anika: matlab sirf hum dono hi hai?

Shivaay: Sahil hai na

Anika: nahi woh bhi nahi hai. Uss ke friend ke ghar gaya hai....... ab isska (potatoes) kya karun?

She placed her hand again on his Shoulder annoyed. Shivaay kissed her forehead to relax her. Which helped a bit.

Shivaay: ab tum ek kaam karo. Beth jao. Main tumhare liye kuch banata hun.

Anika: kya banayenge aap?

Shivaay: surprise hai betho.

Anika nodded and he left her. She went and sat on the dining table. After a while Shivaay came out. With this......

Anika's mouth started dripping. She smiled brightly.

Shivaay (keeping the mug infront of her): there you go.

Anika: wow!!!!

Shivaay: peeo

Anika had a sip and she closed her eyes in pleasure. Shivaay smiled seeing her.

Shivaay: acha laga?

Anika: acha?? Bohat acha hai. Thank you Shivaay.

Shivaay: ab tum dost ko thank you bologi?

Anika: acha theek hai nahi bolti.

Shivaay: ab batao kya khaogi?

Anika: ummmm Pizza

Shivaay: okay. Main bana dunga. Tum peeo.

He went to kitchen and she followed. She sat on the slab enjoying her drink. While Shivaay was preparing Pizza dough.

She smiled mischievously and dipped her hand in flour and spread that on his cheek. He frowned and wipped his cheek. Anika smirked and again did that.

Shivaay (frowned): Anika....

He wipped it again and Anika spread it yet again.

Shivaay: kyu pareshan kar rahi ho?

Anika: arey dost hun aapki. Aur doston ko toh haq hota hai pareshan karne ka

She again spread it. Shivaay closed his eyes.

Shivaay: ab mat karna?

Anika (teasing): agar kiya toh

Shivaay: Anika mat karna

But she didn't listen and spread some more. Shivaay now dipped his hand in the flour and spread some on her cheek. She frowned and spread yet more on both his cheeks. He did the same.

Anika again did that while Shivaay followed her. They continued it untill their face was fully covered with flour. Anika was going to spread some more but he held her hand and neared her face.

Shivaay (huskily): bas ab aur nahi.

Anika shivered by their proximity and tried to act normal but fail miserably. Shivaay saw that and smirked inversely. He took the tissue and started wiping her face. She closed her eyes.

Shivaay wipped her face and backed off. She opened her eyes and saw him busy with his work.

She took another tissuse and held his face. He frowned. She started wiping his face while he was lovingly staring her. After wiping his face she looked at his eyes and their eyes entangled. They shared an eyelock.

Their faces were inch apart. She could feel his hot breath on her cheek. But suddenly she hugged him. Shivaay frowned but placed his hand on her back.

Shivaay: Anika.... kya hua?

Anika: kuch nahi.

Shivaay: nahi kuch toh hai. Batao kya hua?

Anika: kuch nahi hua Shivaay. Just hug me.

She tightened her hold and Shivaay too held her protectively. After a while she withdrew the hug. Shivaay tugged the loose strand of her hairs behind her ears.

Shivaay: are you okay?

Anika: yeah. Aap pizza banaiye. Main bahar wait karti hun.

She took her drink and went out of the kitchen. While Shivaay stood confused for a while but soon shrugged his shoulders and continued his work.

Flashback ends

She was still in her lane when she felt something on her waist. "Shivaay..." she whispered in barely audible voice and looked back. She flinched finding Bilal standing behind her.

Bilal: kya hua Ilham? Sab khariyat toh hai?

Ilham: ha.... haan sab.... sab khariyat hai

Bilal: toh aap itni dari hui kyu hai?

Ilham: woh aap achanak aa gaye toh.... aap aaye kab?

Bilal: hum abhi aaye.

Ilham: oh... aap fresh ho jaiye khana tyar hai.

Bilal nodded and went to his room. While Anika closed her eyes. "Baal baal bach gai." She said.

She asked the maids to place the dishes on the table.

*********

How is the chappie guys?

Kya khyal hai aapke Anika / Ilham ke baare mein?

Love Love

M. S. ❤❤