24 January 2019

Ragini hated that Laksh hadn't spoken a word since he dragged her to the cafe to wait the arrival of Rajeev , she so much as not hate him for being the reason her family died but for never doing anything to catch her .

And she resented that she let her anger cloud her judgement , as she turned to look at her husband the man she loved , she noticed he was nervous. She never seen him nervous about anything , he always had his easy smile . It was one of the reasons she fell for him.

At the sound of footsteps. Her husband face brightened and when ragini saw how he rushed to greet the man  with a brotherly hug  ,she realized that in spite of being his wife ,she really didnt know the person who deserved such adoration from her husband

Her mind was filled with million question , all related to how her husband and rajeev knew each other . And so when rajeev finally turned to greet her ,she was surprised by the welcome she saw in his face , she expected that he would hate her .

         " You must be Ragini , i wish we met in a different circumstance . " Rajeev voice greeted her making her aware of the reason behind the meeting .

        " I didnt want to cause you trouble .."Ragini began speaking but she couldn't continue because her husband was glaring at her .

       " You wanted answers from me ,i get it . Pradeep filled me in and i realize if i were in your place i would do the same " Rajeev spoke up surprising her by his defense .

          Ragini was very aware that she didnt let Laksh knew about her reasons , so when his face crunched up in confusion her heart went out for him . But she wont be the one who will let Laksk knew Swara died because someone was obsessed with Rajeev .

         Laksh already lost Swara, she didnt want him to lose rajeev either .So she decided not to tell him after all he did love Swara .

        " Laksh ,can you give five minutes alone with your friend " Ragini asked even though she knew Laksh wasn't talking to her ,she hoped he wont snub her before rajeev .

         " Not a Friend ,but my brother . So help me Ragini if you so much as hurt him with your words . You will lose me forever " Laksh words froze her up , he had been her friend the kind the stood by your side over everything .

            And it hurt to know that she was issued an ultimatum and yet she nodded her head once in answer and waited till Laksh walked away before turning to face the man who held the answers she wanted .

             " He didnt know about Swara?" Rajeev question made her aware the real reason for his presence as she looked at him in silence .

   
            " Why didnt you tell Lucky ?," he asked when she remained silent ,she wasn't going to admit to the stranger . She didnt want laksh to be hurt more than his support , she wanted his happiness .

             And then she froze as she recollected Rajeev calling Laksh, Lucky . She knew he called him Lucky ever since he arrived in the cafe and yet not once laksh corrected him stating only his brother holds the right to call him by the name .

                  His brother , how did she dismiss laksh statment as just like than , when she knew better . Laksh addressed him as a brother not to stress the importance of rajeev in his life but because it is the truth.

            " You are Sanskar ?" Ragini couldn't help but hide the surprise in her voice .

         " You didnt know " Sanskar asked her and this time she realized he expected her to know that the man before her is Laksh cousin ,Sanskar . Now she understood the anger behind her husband reaction and it made her feel ashamed to be the cause of his pain.  

            " So what do you want to know Ragini ?" Sanskar asked her a moment later when she held on to her silence as she was dealing with the knowledge of how interlinked he is with her life .

           " Why you went into hiding ? " Ragini managed to ask the question that haunted her

          " Because i needed to protect my family , if it was just me and threat was just to my life then no i would have never retreated behind false name but i have a daughter to protect . " Sanskar words surprised her yet again , as in all her research the fact he had a daughter never surfaced . 

            Ragini  felt the righteous anger she held on disappear as she faced the truth ,the man before her was not someone who didnt care about others but someone who had a daughter to protect . 

        " How old is she ?" Ragini asked Sanskar and listened as he talked about his daughter ,the apple of his life. 

       " I am sorry , i thought i knew you and i have judged you without seeing from your point of view . I am sorry about the article " Ragini apology had been rushed because she saw her husband was walking towards them and she didnt want to do it infront of him because he may think she did for his benefit when it was far from the truth .

         Laksh return  acted as a buffer between them for an hour as he kept talking about things that was so random and yet it was also showed how much of distance stood between the cousins who used to be so close with each other .

            " Ragini .." Sanskar was speaking to her and she wondered what could be the reason ,she apologize and decided to find another way to find her . And she was fortunate that Sanskar didnt hate her ,so was surprised that he was speaking to her as if she did nothing wrong .

          " If you could keep my identity between us ,then yes i will give you the interview you wanted ,but you are family and i love my little brother too much to allow his wife to be in danger . But i do understand your need to find answers . She is dangerous and i really hope you know what you are getting into .." Sanskar was still speaking but Ragini remained speechless ,the moment she found who he was ,she forgot all about the interview .

      
        " Are you sure ?" Ragini asked him yet again .

      " Yes . Why do you think i agreed to meet you ." Sanskar answered back . And few minutes later he walked away leaving her alone with her husband who still refused to speak to her .

    "You lost someone because of her ?" Laksh question came out of nowhere in the ride back that she couldn't hide the look of surprise in her face that he guessed it right. 

    " No ,just my job curiosity.  As you said i will do anything for fame " Ragini lashed back hating the fact she let the words get to her .

   " Bhai refuses to meet your eye , he does that only when he sees ram uncle and sujatha aunty . Because he feels guilty . He knew who you lost ,he always knew the casualties of her . It was why he agreed to meet you not because you were my wife " Laksh still continued speaking while ragini mind hated how the fact she was stuck on him calling her ,his wife . 

     "My best friend was the  one who worked in the hospital that day " Ragini answered back not telling him it also happened to be her cousin and the love of his life. 

     Yet she knew he would know everything about that day after all he was Sanskar cousin  and she knew the moment he connected the dots  as to what happened to her friend ,the one who according to everyone died on the same day as Rajeev wife .

        " Oh Ragini" the two words werent enough to convey his feelings but when his hand reached out to grabs her for a few second . She felt the tears fall freely at the loss of her family . 

                     *******************

          Dear Sanskar ,

 
                         Today i saw you taking with her ,the girl who had the audacity to call you a coward . I know she is family but still i hated the article she wrote about you .

                    I wanted to know what you talked but you were far from me that i couldnt hear you , also you have yet to answer my demands . I know killing Mrs Shardha was wrong but the woman told someone about how she thought you were the one who is killing everyone ,i cant let that go now can i ?

                And Sanskar , today i killed someone else . You will find all the answers soon enough . And this time you have to respond to my mail because if not I will be disappointed with you .

                                              Yours forever

                                                       Miss X .

          She clicked the sent button and only then turned towards the little girl sleeping in the couch . She saw the tears strained face of her ,she didnt want to kill her mother in front of her but it was the only way .

      " I will not harm you little one but you will bring him to me . so sleep a little longer " She whispered to the little kid who remained oblivious to her Captor plans .

            *************************

          It has been two hours and Pari worry limit crossed from low to high , at first she assumed he went after her and the thought he didnt  know who she was the only reason that calmed her down. 

          She wished she didnt faint after hearing her past , and right now she had no time to even think of her morbid past as she remained anxious about his disappearance

           " What if she kidnapped him ?" Pari asked her bhai ,who remained in the house when they found Arjun some how slipped out of the house .

         " Arjun had already linked his phone to mine , so i can check his whereabouts . Also he is wearing a bug as well and both indicate he was in a nearby cafe till five minutes ago and now he is heading back home . So please Shona relax for a bit " Pradeep spoke up and because she didnt know if he was speaking the truth or lying to calm her down , she remained nervous until he walked inside in person

           Usually Asha would be the one who rushes out to greet him but today she ran toward him and without realizing what she was doing , she hugged him at the sheer relief of seeing him before her .

             It took her a moment to realize how she crossed a line, but she was glad that he didnt push her away . And one look at her worried face , he seem to realize the reason behind it as he set about reassuring her and told her about his visit to her cousin .

  
       "   A interview is not  great idea Arjun , we are trying to keep public from starting to panic because if they realized a serial killer is on the loose then they will go into panic mode " Pradeep spoke up .

         " It is a risk we have to take ,ragini is right we need to shake her up a bit before she escalates her crimes " Arjun argued back. 

          A call for Pradeep diffused the situation as he went to answer it and when he returned back, Pari knew things got escalated already .

      " She kidnapped a little girl this time and killed her mother " Pradeep voice raised a octave but Pari knew it was not the anger directed towards them but her .

          Pari turned to look at Arjun ,hoping to gauge his reaction on how he was taking the news and from first glance he remained calm , but behind the calm was restrained anger and that worried her more .

          " What do you think she will demand for you to do ? We have to do as she says Arjun . " Pradeep was speaking to him but he was not listening as he was lost in his thoughts .

             " Arjun .. " Pari called out his name to get his attention and he looked at her and the level of desperation in his face made her grasp his hand in a show of support .

              Pari didnt know what the future held but she knew they can't hide any longer and yet she knew what ever the hurdles she will stand by his side offering the support she can .

           Because she realized she may have lost her family  but  Arjun ,Asha and Dida  were here family now  and she wasn't gonna lose them to her .

P.S : That it for now . Let me Know your thoughts and Feedback. Hit the votes if you liked it "

Juanita Reid