Chapter 9

I just came back to my room from downstairs after having dinner when the ping sound of my notification grabbed my attention towards my phone lying on the bed. I hopped on the bed and saw the message.

" Hii Aayan . Ssup ?"

It was a message from an unknown number. I checked the profile photo and I recognised it was Niti.

" Hi Niti. Nothing much, you tell me how's your shoulder?"

I texted her. She immediately saw it and replied,"Yaa, it's fine now."

I saw the message and thought if I should talk to her some more about any random stuff when another text from her popped up. I saw it and my eyes widened.

" By the way If you want I can help you in impressing Tara."

' Was I too obvious that even she came to know about this?'

I mumbled to myself and replied her

" What do you mean?"

" Oh common! You don't have to hide anything from me. Consider me as your friend. I have seen the way you look at her. The amount of adoration your eyes hold for her shows it clearly that you are whipped. If there had been any other guy I would've killed him till now but I like you. Don't know why but I feel that you are the one for her, who could handle her. I feel like she needs someone. And I want you to be that someone because I feel that you deserve her."

Her reply gave me many mixed feelings and many questions which I wanted to ask her. I knew she had all the answers.But my mind was stuck at one phrase.

'Handle her'

What is she? 5? I mumbled to myself and replied,

'What do you mean by handle?'

" She is not any ordinary girl. She is the fire herself and holds the power to burn down whoever comes in her way .

But I fear that someday she doesn't burn herself in that fire. I am scared from that day because when her anger overpowers her she burns everything in the fire of her rage. That's why I feel that she needs someone who can calm her down and work as ice on her fire of rage.

That's why I said 'handle'."

I suddenly felt proud on myself and texted her with a smile

" So do you think I deserve her ?"

" Yesss I do dumbo ! And that's why I want to help you." she replied.

" Thank you so much Niti ! You are the best. I want to know about her . I want to know every small detail about her. Tell me what are the things that she likes?"

I asked her with my eyes shining in excitement and the grin never leaving my face.

" Her first love are her guitar that her sister gifted her on her 16 th birthday. And her black Thar which she bought from her own money.

She calls it ' black beauty'.

She loves singing and dancing.

She is a great classical dancer as well.

She loves the sound of ghungroos.

She loves white roses.

Her love for coffee and chocolates are Immense. You know she can even kill anyone for these.

She loves to play chess and is a genius. I've never seen her losing.

She loves white and grey colour.

She loves going on long drives on her black beauty.

She smiles rarely and when she does, she can light up anyone's day.

She loves listening to poetry which Vihaan used to write. She still has those recordings.

She speaks less. But if she gets attached to someone she never stops speaking.

She loves looking at the rain.

She is a huge devotee of lord Shiva .

Whenever she is angry, leave her alone. She dances when she is angry.

She dances till she faints.

She is the destroyer and she is the healer.

And yes, She drinks occasionally but when she does, she gets crazy."

AUTHOR POV:-

He read the message carefully and was totally amused. He never knew things like these about her. Now his desires were overpowering him. He just wanted to listen to her singing and playing guitar. He wanted to see her dance. He wanted to see her smile and laugh her heart out. He had literally never seen her smiling. His ears yearned to listen to her laugh, her singing and her never ending talks.

He thought for a moment and typed

" Does she likes surprises ?"

As soon as Niti read the message, she shaked her head and said to herself,'How do I tell him she gets horrible surprises! She gets threats in surprise boxes.'

She took a deep breath and replied,"She never got any. Try it, maybe she likes it."

His eyes lit up looking at the approval message from her.

' Let's have some fun Miss Sahani !'

UNKNOWN POV:-

I was sitting in my office fidgeting my fingers when someone knocked the door of my cabin.

'Come in' I muttered and a person came looking downwards.

"B..boss, we couldn't get any c..cluee about h...hher. She killed our men ruthlessly."

My assistant said with a trembling voice.I closed my hands in a tight fist and closing my eyes, I yelled " GET OUT!"

The man flinched and left the cabin.I growled in frustration.

" Aayinaa !!! Kab tak bhaagogi ? One day I will catch you. And that day will be the last day of your life. I WILL FUCKING RUIN YOU"

I shouted as I smashed a glass of water on the wall.

Next Day -

Tara got ready in a plain sky blue saree with a white full sleeve blouse and sat in her car leaving for office. She reached the office and walked inside her cabin.

She was surprised to see a big bouquet filled with white roses kept on her table.

She picked it up and found a small grey note inside it. She flipped it to the other side to see the name of the sender but nothing was written. Just a small black heart infinity symbol was made in the card.

At the bottom a small phrase was inscribed ' many more ahead '.

She squinted her eyebrows in confusion.

She kept the bouquet on the couch and started working ignoring the confusion and curiosity lingering in her mind.

After an hour she had an important meeting. She went towards her car and as she opened the door, she found a box kept on the seat. She sat inside and the driver started the car. She looked at the box confusingly. She asked the driver about it but he said that he didn't knew who kept it inside. She frowned and opened the box.

She was surprised to see a beautiful pair of ghungroos in it. She picked them carefully looking at them with pure astonishment. Very few people knew about her love for dancing so who could gift her ghungroos. She searched for a note and found a small grey note similar to the one in the bouquet.

' looking forward to see you dance wearing these.'

These were the words beautifully inscribed on it.She raised her brows reading the note. She started thinking who could gift her these while she was disturbed by the driver

" Mam, we've reached."

She nodded and got out of the car." Keep that box safely. I'll take it after the meeting."

Saying this she left for the building in front of her still thinking about the gifts .

The meeting finally ended after two hours. Tara came towards her car. The driver forwarded a box towards her and said,

" Madam this has came for you."

Tara frowned looking at another box and asked " Who gave this to you?"

" Madam A kid came and handed this to me and said , give this to Tara di."He replied.

She raised an eyebrow and asked" Where did that kid go ?"

He pointed towards a park on the left side of the road.

"What is he wearing ?" Tara asked him.

" A red tshirt madam. He was looking of somewhat 8 to 9 years." He replied.Tara nodded and said" Wait for me in the car."

She went towards the park and spotted the boy standing with a broken cycle with his friends. She went towards him and said,

"Hii kiddo !"

All the kids looked at her and said hii.

She pointed towards that boy and said" You gave a box to a driver uncle right?"

"Are you Tara didi ?"

The boy innocently asked.

She nodded and said" Yes. Now please tell me who told you to give me that box ?"

" I can't tell you that. I promised my neighbour bhaiya."

He said shaking his head.She thought that it's waste to ask directly so she thought for a moment. An idea popped up as she looked at his broken cycle.

"Hmm okay if you don't wanna tell. But do you want a new cycle?"

She asked him smiling.Hearing her, his eyes immediately sparkled and he said in excitement

" New Cycle??!! Yessss I want it. But wait, Are you trying to bribe me ? Because I won't tell you the name."

She shook her head in disbelief looking at the boy's smartness.

" No no I am not asking the name. I just want to reward you for giving me that box. So can you please give me your address? I will send your new cycle there."

She said looking at him.He became happy and gave her his address. She got up and turned back, leaving towards her car.

'children are easy to fool.'

She chuckled and mumbled to herself while sitting in the car. Driver started the car and she took the box in her hand. She opened it and unknowingly a gasp left her mouth looking at the gift inside.

It was a rudraksh bracelet. She took it in her hands and glided her fingers on the rough beads.She found the same note inside and she flipped it.

'It will make you feel your Shiva closer to you.'

She was literally dumbfounded. Again this thing about her was not known to many people.She was now getting angry. She started feeling wierd looking at the gifts. She never told anyone about these things only few of her friends knew her this well.

'how is this possible'She was in deep thoughts when she remembered about the address that kid gave.

' Neighbour huh ?'

She mumbled to herself and then smirked. As soon as they reached she stormed inside her office and called Ritesh.

" Ritesh I want information about the Rameshwaram heights. Prepare a list of all the residents of the building and bring in my cabin asap."She said in an authorative tone and disconnected the call.

After a while, a man knocked the door of her cabin and came inside after getting the permission from her.He presented a box and said,"Mam this has come for you."

Tara annoyingly groaned and said" One more box, and you must not be knowing who gave this right ?"

"Huh, how do you know mam"He dumbfounded said.

He closed her hands in a fist and said

"Get lost"

He left the cabin without saying anything.She took the box and opened it. It was filled with chocolates.A small smile adorned her lips and she searched for a note which she easily found.

'This bitter damsel really needs some sweetness.'

She gasped reading the note and before she could react, Ritesh knocked the door." Mam, I've got the list of all the people living in this building."He presented the list which she hurriedly grabbed . He left the cabin and she started going through the list.

She was not getting any familiar name which was confusing her more but her eyes stopped when she reached the name

" 7th floor, flat 702,Abhijit Malhotra"

'I've heard this name somewhere' She mumbled to herself and then something clicked her mind.She instantly dailed a number and said

"Bring Aayan's file to my cabin right now"Within no time his file was on her table.

She looked at the file and smirked."Ok Mr. Malhotra! If you want to play like this, let's play!"

Chapter 10

"Mr. Malhotra can you please come to my cabin right now?"

" Yes mam"

I disconnected the call listening his positive response.
He came inside with a knock and I gestured him to sit.

The gifts were on the table on display. I could see a small smile forming on the corner of his lips.

"Mr. Malhotra I actually need a help from you. It's not official. Like it's a personal matter. "

I said and he licked his lips in nervousness. I smirked slightly and said,

"You see these things here, I am receiving them one by one since morning. Don't know who is this person sending me gifts that too of my preference! I think he is some psycho stalker or something."

His eyes widened listening to me and I smiled internally. I continued,

"Kon si dhaara lgegi iss paagal pe ?"

I said looking at him.
He frowned and I said,

" You are a lawyer right ! So I need this advice from you. You know I need to know that taking lawful action would help or I would have to do something unlawful"

I said and he gulped. Hi eyes widened and he immediately said,

" Wait what do you mean by that ?! And why do you have to punish the guy, like he might be genuinely feeling for you. You never know right !

You might have not liked his way of approach but try to think from his perspective also na , he must be scared of you and who wouldn't be ! The whole department is scared of you! Please don't freak out and think calmly.

By the way the gifts are not looking bad as well, I think you should accept them . You know you should respect his efforts."

He rambled up in one go and I chuckled internally but my face was as usual, emotionless.

I got from my chair and started walking towards him. He got scared and stood up from his chair. I kept on walking towards him and stood in front of him.

The distance between was was not more than an inch. I could see him breathing heavily. I smirked internally looking at my effect on him.

"Are you by any chance related to that guy? You seem so touchy and sympathetic towards him!"

I whispered in his ears and he instantly moved back and gulped.

"What, no! There's nothing as such. How would I know him! I was just saying you to think calmly you know!"

He stuttered while saying and I smirked.

"Why are you stuttering Mr. Lawyer?
Are you also scared from me like the whole department?"

I said looking at him and he cleared his throat and said
" I..I am not scared or anything"
He stated and I moved back.

"You know I'm confused. How does he knows this much about me ? How can he gift me all these things without knowing me closely?"
I said raising my eyebrows.

"How would I know?"

He said and I again went close to him. I could sense his heartbeat increasing insanely due to the proximity.
I looked straight into his eyes meeting with his brown doe ones.
I moved close to his ears and whispered,

"Next time, don't ask Niti. Ask me. And yes, I don't like coward people. If you wanna gift something, come straight to me and hand it looking straight into my eyes."

I said and moved back looking at him.

He looked at me in pure shock and tried to say something.
He opened his mouth to speak something but I instantly placed my index finger on his lips and said,

"Let's talk when you gather some courage. Leave!"

He looked at me for a few seconds and left the room. As soon as he left, I sat on my chair and spared a glance at the gifts. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes leaning back on my chair.
I called Ritesh and asked him to bring a strong cup of coffee. I called Niti. She picked up after a few rings.

" Why the fuck did you talk to him regarding me ! How can you tell him about me haa ? What do you think of yourself?!"

I lashed out on her. After a second of silence,she replied
"Your bestfriend"

Just these two words made me completely silent. I couldn't get any words and I just mumbled one word

" Why ?"

She took a long breath and replied,

"Because you need someone Taru. You cannot live like this for the rest of your life. Just look at yourself. You have no one except me to call as your own, your family! When did you last met your parents? Last visited your home ? Met your old friends?

You just spend your time by rather working or taking out your frustrations on the criminals. Only having me is not enough Taru ! And I am not telling you to purpose him or something but what's wrong in being friends?

Maybe you two would understand each other. Don't let your anger overpower you and think calmly."

I listened to her and then disconnected the call without saying anything. I was feeling suffocated in my cabin and I just took the keys of my personal car and left the office. I drove and stopped the car near a beach.

I walked towards the beach and sat down on a bench near seashore. There were not much people in the beach and it was quite. I was looking at the waves.

The light breeze brushing my face was feeling therapeutic and I closed my eyes to relax. I sat there for some time and then left for home.