Bloom into YOU

CH:3- Don't call me that word!

Haseena was on a conference call with various SHOs from a few major cities. They all were collaborating on one case and planning to do a crackdown on the big mafia that does human trafficking, mainly children. As per the sources, they kidnap children, predominately; male children, between the ages of 9 to 10. Once, they have the desired set of children, they shipped them to Banglore and from there these children were sent to different parts of Asia, Arab countries, Europe, and the Americas. In addition to that, the intel they have, as per that, some big porn companies bid on those children and then use them to create pornographic content which unfortunately is one of the most-watched themes/genres over the internet—in the videos, an adult male physically abuse an underage child, live. So, the team that was set up in India, their main goal was to stop any of those children trafficked out of India. Therefore, all the SHOs or higher personnel working on the case were briefed to keep this to themselves, because, one mistake and they will be risking the lives of hundreds of children.

As of now, none of them knew who was handling all this here in India. The only insight they have is: that it's a male close to age 34-35, he is 5'7 inches tall, and currently, he is active in Lucknow. But the most important fact is, that they were unsure whether the information they had on him, was even correct because they didn't even know his name, yet.

Haseena finished her call and held her head between her hands, "What is going on in this world?" She shook her head in disappointment, "Are these people even human?" She sighed deeply, "How cruel one can be?" She was currently swamped by the work: Zayan's marriage, all the cases coming at the station, and this case for which she has to be on alert for any illegal or suspicious activity twenty-four-seven, "I feel like I might die with overwork," she really needed her SI by her side because the work pressure was increasing day by day, "Kaash Karishma Singh aap ne woh sab na kiya hota," she slammed the file on the desk frustratingly and leaned back on the chair and closed her eyes, "I really need a break from all this," She muttered. However, a knock on the door broke her reverie and she looked at the new arrival with her tired eyes.

Pushpa Ji entered the cabin while fidgeting with her hands, "Maddam Sir," She cleared her throat, "Hum sab ko gol gappe khilane le kar ja rahe hai, Riya ki baat pakki hone ki khushi mein, aap bhi chaliye, please."

Haseena looked at Pushpa Ji and then she thought about all the work that needs to be done; she took a deep breath, "I can use this time to refresh my mind," she thought as she got up from her chair, "Chaliye!" She forwarded her hand and followed Pushpa Ji outside of her cabin.

All the staff members were ready including Karishma, Haseena glanced at them and just walked out of the station and everyone else followed her silently. They were just happy that she didn't say, no to their request.

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It was late evening, a slightly cool breeze was blowing after a very hot day, and a pool of chaat lovers was out to enjoy their favorite snack. All the station staff stood beside the gol gappa stall and each one of them was waiting to be served. Haseena and Karishma were standing opposite each other, trying to ignore each other's presence to the best of their abilities. It was Haseena's turn to be served, she forwarded her paper plate to take the piece and as she was placing the gol gappa in her mouth, it cracked before it could make its way to Haseena's mouth. She looked around to see if anyone saw that but everyone was too busy in their conversation to observe her embarrassing moment, she moved her head sideways to shake off the embarrassment and forwarded her plate for another piece. However, a pair of gleaming eyes were taking note of Haseena's every moment; Karishma's lips curved into a smile unknowingly after seeing Haseena's face flushed with embarrassment, "So, the ice queen does display emotions other than being irked all the time." As Karishma was thinking about Haseena, she found Haseena staring at her, and after being caught in the act, Karishma turned her face in another direction as she felt a sudden increase in her heartbeat.