Rudra couldn't believe what he had heard. He heard Savita pulling him out of his trance by calling him," Sir.."

"Yes... Yeah.. I am right here. I just zoned out... By the way, take care of Maya. She may not have had anything and don't tell her that I called. I will.. umm.. surprise her later." Rudra instructed before he had cut the call.

As Rudra felt heavy, he just laid down and tried to close his eyes but the image of how MJ had betrayed Maya came into his eyes. As a result, he tossed and turned before he felt it was enough of his brain to torture him. Sitting on the ledge, he opened the small window. He could hear some violin tunes playing around. As he leaned against the wall, he closed his eyes trying to remember their moments.

After a few minutes, he picked the phone from the table beside him. As much as he told himself not to give up, he wanted to know how she was. Maybe, he didn't know. He wished that she wouldn't pick up and as predicted or wanted, the call reached her mailbox.

...

Walking through the green forests carpeted with bushes and trees, she was walking very cautiously. Trying not to make any noise, she moved further. She looked behind to find men prowling behind her.

Covering her mouth, she could hear her own heartbeat which chimed in the forests which birds were chirping occasionally. As she took each step cautiously, she was caught by MJ with his hands. She tried to scream but it went avail. With him hiding behind a tree with his hand on her mouth, he looked at her face.

She wasn't acting to be scared because he was the one with her. With him lifting her on his back, she tried her hand to make him put him down but she was soon taken into a cave.

Putting her down, her fear mirror in her eyea. Getting up, she ran away from him while he had a smirk on his face. Running upto her, he heard no movements within the forest while he guessed that she had stopped. With heart rates increasing and steps slowing, he got her at the same instant when she tried to get up. With her wrist in his, he knew that she was truly scared.

Pushing her before sharing an eyelock that had intense emotions, he smirked as she growled in pain. As he hovered a scared Maya, she didn't know what happened except the words of Rudra which echoed in her ears," Get out from your past! Don't let your past of torture be a chance for MJ to torture or blackmail you. Fight it back and the rest will fall in place!"

But as much as she wanted to fight, her wounds were bleeding due to the cut from the rocks. Lips quivering, gulping hard, sweat beads across her face, she heard, "Didn't I tell you that I will come behind you?"

She knew that it wasn't purely the character or the dialogues he had to use. Why should she follow the script when he wasn't? As a result, she slapped him using her hand which was free! His hands didn't leave her hair and he pulled it with more aggression but the expressions of Maya were not to be missed! She punched him and he fell against the rocks. She hovered him with bloodshot eyes and gritting teeth. She said," Don't you dare do this to me! I will not hesitate to kill you for whatever you have caused me!"

MJ was purely shocked by this statement to an extent but he wouldn't let that happen! Trying to get up, he tried to attack her only to be kicked on his foot and as a result, he groaned before holding the bark of the tree and looking at her furiously.

"And that's a perfect Shot!" The director who was a woman smirked at the scene that had happened. Even though it was opposite to what they had planned, this was the best and she could build further on it. Getting up, she decided to discuss some changes in the script with the writer..

....

As Rudra sat for the conference, no one had mentioned him being Maya's boyfriend for which he was very happy. He had his own identity there in Chennai and he couldn't be much more happier. Even when things were going well professionally, his personal life bothered him. More than their relationship, the fact that MJ was with Maya bothered him. His ego had grown to be humongous not to call her.. But the scene with MJ bothered him. He couldn't even call her or ask her.

It had disturbed him at times when the conference felt boring but he had managed to stay concentrated since this was his job and he needed it badly to stay on track!

"So, gentlemen, I hope this lecture was useful enough for you to get into the next level of journalism. You should always be curious. With so many things happening around, you should have the curiosity to hunt answers at time. Question yourself! Find the answers! Think in multiple ways to reach your answers that would satisfy your conscience. You may not have a safe life but that's the harsh and the best worded reality of Investigative Journalism. For a crime or incidents, there might be many conspiracies but in the end, only one is right!"

"Remember, Writing can include fictions or stories but for a Journalist, writing the truth is his biggest quality. Thank you." The man who was in his suite finished his speech and the hall echoed with claps and whistles. Closing his notepad, Rudra sighed in relief and looked for a way out of this hall. Taking a  look at the schedule under his notepad, he heard someone announcing that it marked the end of the meeting after which he also announced that the lunch was ready for them.

Without lining up for lunch, he got out as soon as possible and dialled Maya's number. A bad feeling churned inside during the conference and he couldn't help but dial Savita's number. Since she wasn't picking up, his fingers reached Maya's number but his fingers were scrolling up and down instead of dialling her number. It was a human consideration, he told himself before dialling her number. But alas, her phone was switched off.

He didn't know when he started walking and the car horn was something that made him move aside from the road. He stepped back and apologized while he even got a shout for not watching the way he was walking into.  Blaming her for that shout mentally, he shoved the phone into his pocket angrily.

~~~

As Maya opened her eyes, she saw a few people. She didn't know when her eyes had closed. She just remembers someone asking her if she was okay after that shot. She had fallen unconcious owing to her nature of not having something during these hours. She felt a pain striking her back with people talking around her. Her mind rewound to the scenes with MJ and his threat! She felt a smile through the pain thinking of what she had done. 

Someone saw her opened eyes and gathered other's attention too. She sat up straight only to clutch the quilt by which she was covered. They were asking so many questions and she only heard many of them when Savita shook her slightly.

She was out of the trance and the picture started becoming clear. As others said something and left, she nodded her head without concentrating on anything. As the director dispersed everybody, she sat next to her and said,

"In the first place, I am really sorry for calling you when you were exhausted. Secondly, there are many stitches due to the push. Those sharp edges and I know the tiff between you both and what he has done to many other women but the push was unexpected. The rocks were sharp and it has caused you some stitches. The stitches are not severe but it's good if you see a doctor. The doctor had left a few minutes back. I apologize for that but there is one good news! MJ has been admitted since his back and legs are injured." 

The director spoke the last line with a smile while Maya too, had a smile on her face. She heard her speak," We will shoot the rest of the film until we have your scenes. It will take a few days."

She heard the director whispering, "By the way, it's good that you pushed him and gave him one. Take Care."

She groaned in pain as she tried to get up. She saw Savita who asked her who she was to which Maya just shrugged her shoulders because Maya instructed," Anyway, the shoot is stalled! I will go home. Ask Rahim to drop me home."

As she tried to get up, she limped at the first attempt and was held by Savita who took her belongings and gave it to her while she sat inside the car.

...

As Rudra sat down with his coffee on the small chair which was next to the bed, he decided to take his notepad to refer to today's notes. His eyes widened as he had written about his and her problem. It also included the points given by the people who lectured but the first few pages were about his and her arguments. He had plotted what had happened. It was written 

His thoughts 

☆Why did she have to speak to Dev?

♡She loved you Rudra. She couldn't see tears in your eyes.

☆I ignored his words but ...

♡You didn't ignore his words. If you had ignored his words, would you have accused of Dominating her?

☆No...

♡Look, that's the point! When someone's love is pure, they tend to fight for you!

☆I want to be independent! I can take my decisions alone!

♡ Once you enter a relationship, it's just 'we' or 'us'. I won't say that your whole world should revolve around your spouses but she/he is a part of your life from the time, you accepted her.

☆ Look! It takes away my independence to take my own decisions when I am in a relationship with Maya.

♡ Didn't she allow you to take your time when you wanted some? Your independence was never destroyed! It's being shared with the person you love!

♡ What is your problem now?

☆ I don't know... Sometimes, I just doubt myself. Maybe I just overreacted...

♡ You overreacted! You could have spoken to her instead of shouting. There your ego overpowered you! Remember that Ego is a three-letter word that destroys the 12 letter word relationship...

♡ And if it's about your identity. Take a look back! When people had seen you together, hadn't she called you an independent and one of the best journalist! She never recommended you as her interviewer. She knew that you have an independent identity. After the first rumour, she had put an article on identity.

☆ "Look, even there I get a mercy because of her name!"

♡ "My Gosh Rudra! Everyone addresses each other as someone else's and she just reminded them that every individual had an identity. Think in this way! Do you think she would have been alive if you didn't reach on time?

♡ No! She hasn't been repaying you for whatever she had done! She is trying to make you comfortable because she knows the pros and cons of this industry!

♡ She isn't possessive or obsessive. She can get several other men but she chose you to reveal all her secrets and life! Do you know what that means? It means that you are the most important person! Tell me one thing! Your brother is the most important person you love! If your love is true, won't you go and bash the people who tried to hurt him?

♡ The same thing was done by Maya...

~~~~

As he sat down, he greeted the people sitting next to him. He smiled as they talked from different levels. They had formed a good comoraderie within the first two days for which he was grateful. Only two or three people had been from Chennai others were from different parts. He met many people and saw himself amongst diversified group.

As the spoke person stood, he spoke through the mic, "If you have gone through the schedule, you might have noticed the name of Actress Maya Jaisingh. Since she is still a freelancer and a person who loves to reports under her pen name, we had invited her. But.."

There was a pregnant pause after that while everyone looked up to him to complete and he said,

"As we know from the third column of the newspaper, she was injured during the shoot of her new film as a result due to which she can't come here and share her set of experience."

It came as a peal of thunder to everyone but Rudra's eyes were in a completely different shock. Curling his fingers into a fist, he tried to remain calm.

"When I had called her yesterday on her second number, she told me that she had got a few cuts from the rocks as there were shooting in a forest and had sustained a few injuries. It's very unfortunate but she has assured us that she would come for another meeting if God is willing."

There was soon a whole lot of people talking amongst the group while the spoke person said," You may remain silent as we are going to start."

Rudra wanted to get out from there as soon as possible. As he was sitting in a row where so many people weren't there, he felt safe.

As a break was announced, he put the notepad into his bag and then dashed out of the conference room. As he exited, he sat in the restaurant and called up Maya to find her phone switched her. Finally, he tried Arjun's number who took within the fourth ring...

"Arjun, how is Maya?" He spoke in a hoarse voice as he clutched the fork tightly in his hands.

"She is fine except for those scratches. Wait, you aren't there with her?" Arjun asked suspected while Rudra sighed and said,

"I am in Chennai for a conference held for journalists.  I just came to know about this a few minutes back. When I called her, her phone wasn't reachable." He said and Arjun hummed. 

"Have you fought with Maya because she also didn't sound pleasant when I asked her about you?"

"We had a small fight and I guess it will be fine.." Rudra spoke while Arjun asked," When are you coming back?"

"I need to be here for this programme. It would take me at least two days more." He said and Arjun said as he heard Mallika from the other side,

"Okay. I will talk to you later." He hung the phone while Rudra just lied down on the table. Ordering a coffee, he tried her number but it was still unavailable!

....

As Maya got up from the couch where she had slept, she felt the pain crouching into her. As she felt famished, she held onto everything to reach the kitchen. Opening the cabinet, she took a packet of noodles.

Waiting for the water to boil, she saw the coffee stains on the ground which neither of them swept.

Did she really dominate him? Wasn't it her love for him? Why did he have to call his her obsession? She knew she was eight but somewhere she was wrong in interfering without asking Rudra about it.

As she was stuck in her dilemma of him or her being correct, the boiling water was the only source of the sound. As she picked her new phone after switching the water off, she settled on the chair! She saw that she had missed calls from Rishi.

Picking up the phone, she dialled Rishi's number back to hear his concerned voice. Something he expected from Rudra which she knew, was futile.

R- Di, are you okay?

M- There's nothing to worry Rishi! It's a matter of few stitches...

R- Should I come home?

M- No Rishi. I am fine.

R- Then what will I do now? I am already here!

She was amused at that and rushed with her numb legs as soon as possible to open the door to see him standing there! Her eyes just got teary while he came forward and hugged her tightly making her groan. He retorted from the hug soon and held his ears to which she ruffled his hairs

His arms wrapped a bit too tight to hear her groan. He asked her in a concerned voice," Di, are you okay?"

Maya said in a tired voice," Yes. Got a few stitches on the back too." As she closed the door, he asked looking at her with his phone in his hand," Did you have something?"

"No. I didn't feel like having anything. Had my medicines anyway!" Maya shrugged her shoulders saying that.

"That's bad! You should have your medicines only after food otherwise it will affect your kidney!" He advised and she asked in a puppy face," Is it?"

"It is Di! "He remarked and went to the kitchen. He saw a packet of noodles and steam coming from the boiling water.  Preparing a bowl of noodles, he sighed in rwlief as noddles waa something he was flexible with. She fed herself and even asked him to share. Picking a fork from the stand, she gave it to him and they shared it before she heard him ask,

"Fought with Bhai?"

She just hummed as she put her fork down in an uninterested manner.

"Just tell me Rishi, is it a big crime that  I asked Dev to stand away from criticising Rudra? Am I dominating him? Why do you even love me?"

....