Bloom into YOU

CH:25- The Cat is out of the Bag

"Lekin, Umar nikal jaye gi iski shaadi ki," Pushpa Ji's voice carried concern for her.

"Ho jaye gi, shaadi, Karishma ki bhi," Noor Jahan Begum uttered as she glanced at Haseena who was awfully quiet, "aab humari wali ko hi dhek lijiye, keh keh kar thak gaye hain, manti hi nahi hai."

"Aab is sab mein hum kahan se aa agye," Haseena spoke for the first time a bit agitatedly.

"Tumhari wajah se hi ho raha yeh," Noor Jahan rebuked her daughter, "if you will get married, these girls will learn something," she pointed towards Karishma and Santosh who was witnessing the turn of the table, "they follow your orders in the stations," she looked at Pushpa Ji, "they will follow your actions too."

"Yeh ghoom phir ker baat mere per hi kyu a jati hai," she leaned towards her mother, "abhi toh aap Puhspa Ji ko samja rahi thi," she said, sarcastically, "aur, aab aap khud wohi kar rahi hai," she leaned back on the couch, "you are such a hypocrite, ammi," she shook her head dismissively.

"And, you are such a spoiled brat," Noor Jahan looked at her daughter with wide eyes.

"not , now ammi," Haseena sighed tiringly, "we can continue this another time, please," she said pleadingly, "I know you have missed fighting with me," she winked at her mother, "trust me, I have missed that too," she smiled playfully, "can we focus here now," she gestured towards Karishma and Samar.

Noor Jahan glared at Haseena but didn't say anything in response.

Karishma cleared her throat and then leaned forward to glance at Haseena again, who was already watching her, "I'm not ready for the marriage, yet," she looked at Samar, "I'm sorry, I have wasted your time," she said apologetically.

"There is not the slightest bit of chance," he asked, hoping for a positive response while peeking at Haseena through the corner of his eyes.

"Don't bother her, now," Ammi intervened, "She has said, no," she said firmly, "and, Masahallah itne Handsome ho, koi bhi mil jaye gi tumahin," she passed a smile to him in order to boost his morale.

A peal of laughter echoed in the living room on Ammi's last words and after spending some more time with everyone all the station staff left.

_____________________________

The next day, it was early evening and since the time Haseena and Karishma had come back from the station, they had locked themselves in the study, working on the case.

"So far the knowledge I have, Nyx was working with someone or under someone," Haseena uttered while pacing in the study, "but I don't understand, what changed her mind towards the end," she glanced at Karishma who was taking notes, "she was ready to give pen-drive and for someone reason, I felt she was delaying the process to kill me," she placed her one hand on her hip and the other on her forehead, "as if she was waiting for someone, but who?" She said, still lost in this conundrum.

"Probably, someone from the police," Karishma uttered as she leaned back on the couch while placing one leg on the other, "I have replayed the events of that day on my mind, a thousand times," a shiver ran through her spine, "and, the only question ran through my mind, why didn't she hurt you," she avoided to look at Haseena and refrained herself from saying the word, 'kill', "was she expecting to save herself too from someone?" she proposed.

"Could be," Haseena sat back on the chair, "and, that's why she had that Pendrive with her ?" she turned on her computer, "otherwise, why would she carry evidence with her," She placed her elbow on the desk, "unless, she wants to make a deal with someone," she looked into the empty space.

Karishma got up and plugged the pen drive into the computer, "what if she wasn't saving herself?" she said, "What if she was saving someone; she loves or cares about?"