"Hiie!" Nischay chimed in her room from almost out of nowhere, while Aanya was too busy getting atleast a hint of Sameer from her informer. She got startled at his voice but she tried her best to not show it on her face.
"Kya hua?" she questioned in an assertive-ish tone, but that 'surprise' got the best out of her voice, which sounded a bit shaken.
-Well she tried
He came and plopped down casually beside her on the little sofa across from her bed and opened his phone screen, which revealed pictures of their newly built company headquarters and...
And another picture of a beautiful building with a transparent glazing material in the building envelope, including windows in the external walls... and a board with the title 'Carve a Trend' beautifully inscribed in cursive letters.
"Ab mai tumse aise hee Paris chalne kehta toh tum chalti nahi so.." he started sheepishly but was interrupted by Aanya's joyous shrieks
"OMG THIS HAD ALWAYS BEEN MY DREAM! Thank you thank you SO muchh" she literally jumped on him as she flung her arms around his neck in happiness and they stumbled back on one side of that couch, with Aanya hugging him much too tight.
His eyes widened in surprise first but then he instantly felt overwhelmed on seeing a happy smile plastered on her face after such a long time, and caressed her back softly.
She bit her tongue in realization and straightened back instantly.
"Wo... mai..um-" she stuttered awkwardly as Nischay passed her a teasing look 'What the hell aanya nagar!?' she mentally cursed herself.
"Thanks Nischay" she said and got up to walk out of the room.
But he caught her wrist in denial "Abhi baat khatam nahi hu ms- sorry Mrs. Malhan" he said and she turned to face him, trying her best to wear on that 'oh-so-sakht-ladki' wala face, but she failed miserably.
"Aaj shaam ko chalna hai, Paris" he declared as he handed her the tickets
"Aaj?" she asked
"Kyun? any plans or something.. then I can cance-" he said but he was cut off by Aanya
"No no, of course not I am so very.." she trailed off her sentence and walked out of the room, not meeting his gaze.
"Excited" Nischay muttered as he chuckled at her anxiousness.
' I know you too well now, Mrs Malhan'
~
-PARIS-
Though they had come to Paris for their company and mainly for her fashion brand headquarters, yet she could not forget the events of that evening.
She tried to locate Sameer, but the only information she could get was that he was in Paris- that's it, nothing more. She could have banged her phone on the floor if not for the two of them staying together.
Whether you agree or not- Aanya stayed much conservative infront of Nischay
"Chalo" he said abruptly, breaking away from the call he had been attending for almost 20mins now.
"Kahan?" she questioned, not looking up from her phone, much too engrossed in messaging her informer.
"Sab pataa chal jaayega, chalo toh sahi" He kinda tried to persuade her, and Aanya looked up at him to find a satisfactory smile on his face.
'What the hell is he smiling for?' she thought to herself .
"Oh-kayy.. I guess?" she replied arching an eyebrow.
'Well, this should serve as a good distraction for the time being, maybe tab tak kucch pataa chal jaaye?' she thought to herself before leaving to get ready.
~
The wind rushed past Aanya's face as her hair flowed in the exuberant breeze with the smell of fresh flowers all throughout.
Nischay was too busy driving, but he too had his window open, and his short black hair danced in the very merry tune which the wind carried.
They were not speaking to each other much, but anyways the silence was enjoyable
She might as well be detesting Nischay, but this little road trip was something that her mind had wanted subconsciously, and he had somehow managed to read that.
"Hum jaa kahan rahe hain?" she asked out of the blue, almost after 20mins of silence.
Nischay exhaled softly as he changed the gear of his car, as if thinking for a justification to her question.
"Jahan ye sadak le jaaye" he replied as his lips twisted into a smirk after Aanya passed him a annoyed glare, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Shayari padhne nahi bola, kahan jaa rahe hain wahi poocha" she said pouting
Nischay chuckled "thodi der me pataa chal jaayega tumhe, have some patience darling"
'Mr Khadoos Malhan' she mumbled to herself and proceeded to devouring the scenery out the windows with her eyes.
After some more time, they were in the outskirts of the city.
With long fields of greenery as far as the eye could see, and a few cottages here and there.
Aanya had dozed off from the lack of conversation. But when she opened her eyes, she found themselves in the absolute outskirts of the city.
She turned to look at Nischay who was still driving with his one arm resting on the window on his right and he relaxed back.
"Hum yahan kyun hain?" she asked.
The purpose of her asking this question was the fact that Aanya's informer had told her that Sameer was in Paris, and additionally that he had certain dealings in quiet and serene places-
like the one they were in currently
"So you know" he said in a low tone and she turned to face him.
Aanya tried to read his expressions "you are here because..." she said arching an eyebrow. "...because Sameer is here" he completed her sentence, changing the gear.
Aanya looked at him in awe.
"Aise mat dekho mujhe baat suno meri" he said without even looking at her and Aanya flinched at her place.
"How did you even come to know about this?" she asked, trying her best to keep it affirmative...ish
"I know most of the things, you know" he said with a slight smirk on his face. He SO knew how to torture Aanya with this courteous mocking tone of his.
"Well... maine tumse vaada kiya tha, and I wanted to keep that promise" he continued "So I had begun to track down Sameer from day one, and I know you are trying too, but it's just that ki mujhe kucch information mil gayi" He finished of his sentence as the car halted to a stop and Aanya's gaze shifted from Nischay to the greenery behind him, then again to him with a questioning gaze.
"He's here" He said simply, as he un-buckled his seatbelt
"Yahan?" Aanya questioned
And her question was only fair, because this was a really distant place from the city, and unlike most mafia dealings, there wasn't even a single soul around. Certainly NOT something you expect from huge mafias, ya know.
"Haan, he's here for some meeting of his" Nischay answered "And the reason that there is NO security is around, is that Sameer ka kaam karne ka yehi tareeka hai" He said, as if reading all of what was going on in her head.
He opened the center console of his car and handed her a fully loaded pistol.
"I made a promise... you get to kill him"
Aanya first glanced at Nischay confusedly 'why does he even care?'.
her gaze softened at him 'well.... I get to take my revenge, that's all what matters' she thought to herself as she clutched the gun tighter in her hands.
They move further inside that park/field in search of Sameer.
But the only thing they found was dead silence.
They looked around and specially Aanya who was frantically searching for him, she had waited long enough to have him killed.
She was about to move further in the woods, but Nischay stopped her.
"Aage mat jaana" he warned, trying to look through the mist. She jerked of her wrist from his grip and moved forward.
"Jo hoga dekha jaayega, I've had enough"
But as she did, he grabbed her wrists once again and pulled her towards himself, and sandwiched her between the nearest tree and himself while he looked on towards the distant.
She again tugged at her hand, but this time he had it secured tightly in his hand. The fact that she was tugging on with both her hands and he had literally held her from just one hand, was making Nischay laugh inside his head.
But anyways he looked on from behind the tree, to find out what exactly was going on
"Shaant rahogi 5min!?" he whispered shouted at her and she glared at him.
He leaned to one side not letting go of her, for he knew she would surely create a ruckus.
He was a bit too close to her, almost leaning over to look behind the tree, and this made her notice a half-healed scar on one side of his neck, that was certainly a souvenir from the long-forgotten fight-off in Paris.
She looked over at him and stopped fidgeting.
Nischay glanced at her and let go of her wrists, and as if sensing what she was thinking, rubbed that side of his neck softly.
"I think he is here" he said "but aisa bhi nahi ki he doesn't have security, I think there are people around" he said pointing to some nearby places and Aanya squinted, trying to see far off.
"Toh ab?" she questioned, looking up at him.
"Ab tumhaara favorite part" he replied, pulling back the slide of his gun "Ab chalo, jo hoga dekha jaayega" he said as he darted towards the direction of where Sameer was supposedly standing, while Aanya followed close behind.
They dashed with full pace towards him and as soon as they got there, Nischay immediately pointed his gun at him, who was busy talking on the phone with his back towards them. He made him turn around to face them.
But as soon as he did........
They realized it wasn't Sameer.
It was somebody else who was smirking at them as if they had straightaway walked into a trap
Before any of them could react, two of the average 'gunde' pounced at them and snatched away their pistols, and made them surrender.
Aanya glanced at Nischay and he nodded his head, which meant that he had a plan up his sleeve.
They escorted the duo towards a large black car on the other side of the garden/woods.
And before making them sit down on the absolute backseat beside each other, they tied their hands and covered their eyes with a black piece of cloth.
'WOW ab yahi baki rehi gaya tha' Aanya cursed in her head as she was shuffled harshly against Nischay, and she almost fell on him yet again.
She heard the door close beside her and the car drove off.
As it did, Nischay wiggled his hand a bit outwards, towards her tied hands.
She could feel his breath on her cheeks, as he leaned to get hold of that dratted piece of rope around their hands.
"We shouldn't have done this" the guard whispered to the driver
"A little revenge wont be so hurtful" he smirked
"Aanya" Nischay whispered "Mere haath me cut lagaa hai I can't reach your hand" he said almost groaning in pain.
She extended her hand towards his, and yes she could feel his wrist was severely bleeding.
She could feel his blood on her fingers.... and a sharp piece of something.
With all might she could, she tugged at the rope in his hand and finally managed to untie it somehow. He removed the black cloth from his eyes and untied Aanya.
She immediately examined his hand.
"Ahh-" he whispered-shouted but bit down his painful whisper.
She removed the piece of glass which was dug firmly in his wrist and tied those black pieces of cloth around the wound to prevent more loss of blood.
"Yeh hua kaise?" she asked concerned, and for the first time in god knows how long had he noticed real emotions in her voice.
"Apparently, that asshole had an old score to settle with me" he glanced at the driver and Aanya gritted her teeth helplessly.
"Before you take any step, remember that they are the only ones who can lead us to Sameer" He cautioned and Aanya nodded her head, waiting for them to lead them deeper into the woods.
"Ab aage dekhte hain kya hota hai"
~
They didn't drive for long until they reached a distant lake, with a small but cozy cottage on it's side while mist covered the scenery all around.
The driver was not surprised on seeing the two of them untied and helping themselves out on their own, as if he knew everything from the very beginning.
Nischay's hand felt much better now, so he let go of his hand with those two strips of cloth tied around it firmly, though he had kept that piece of glass with him- just in case, you never know.
They tried to get a peek into the cottage somehow, but the only thing that they noticed was the fact that there were too many people around it, which was kinda obvious.
Aanya and Nischay exchanged glances trying to devise a plan, but Nischay just shook his head as he could think of nothing.
The only thing that mattered yet was meeting Sameer, and getting out of there in one piece.
They knew that it was certainly not gonna be easy.
And as expected, the driver/guard did not even touch Aanya, but he held Nischay tightly from his injured wrist as if trying to mock him, while Nischay whimpered.
"WO CHAL TOH RAHA HAI FUCK OFF!!" Aanya screamed at him as she landed a punch on his face and helped Nischay up again. The sight of the piece of cloth drenched in blood made her feel guilty.
He was right-
they shouldn't have rushed here, it did only make matters worse.
"He will stay here, tum akeli andar jaao" The guard said coldly, holding him by his wounded arm again.
Aanya glanced at Nischay and he shook her head, but she anyways marched inside.
Nischay let out a defeated breath as she walked in and the door slammed shut behind her.
"well well well, look who we have here" the guard turned to face Nischay and smirked evilly, while he glared at him
"Do you really want to die so soon?" Nischay asked(read:mocked) angrily gritting his teeth
"Well.... it's not me who's on the brink of passing out here" he remarked darkly, squeezing his wrist.
~
"So you are here finally" Sameer said as he heard Aanya enter the room, and the door slammed shut behind her. He didn't care to put away the strange black box which rested on his lap, and diverted Aanya's attention towards it for a brief moment.
She could've literally strangled him THEN AND THERE with her own hands, but they were interrupted from a loud scream from outside.
Aanya certainly knew what that was about, cause she had very well seen Nischay fidgeting with the little piece of glass. She smirked darkly and Sameer looked at her confusedly.
A guard entered the cottage with his hand on the side of his right collar, miserably trying to stop the flow of blood. That person was the very same who had dared to misbehave with them, and he had received that very piece of glass on his shoulder as a mark of his defiant behavior.
No sooner had he entered, that Sameer shot him on point blank.
"NOBODY defies me" he said as the body landed down on the cold wooden floor of the cottage and asked two of his assistants to carry him outside.
'Why the fuck did he do that?' Aanya thought to himself as she tried to read his expressions, but she found only coldness and contentment in his eyes.
'Coldness toh theek hai, yeh itna calm aur composed sa kyu hai' she questioned herself
"You will find out very soon" He said, as if he read her mind and asked those two to leave.
"You have two options" He started again, keeping his pistol in his hands and extending it towards Aanya, much to her astonishment.
"Either you kill me within 2mins....." he said and for a moment the excitement took over her, but then she realized- this cannot be so easy, how's that possibly true?
"......Or your husband dies" he finished of his sentence with a long pause.
Anya looked out through the window, removing the curtains slightly, and found about 15-20 men surrounding Nischay from all sides, and he was being carried towards the car.
For a brief moment their eyes met, and Aanya understood that he wanted her to think twice before doing ANYTHING. But he was shoved into the car before he could possibly think of anything.
"Nischay will die even if I kill you" she said "then why do I even have that as an option?" she asked him affirmatively.
"He won't" he said shifting in his seat "That's my promise... and I never break my promise" he said with assurance in his voice.
'I am not stupid Sameer' she thought to herself as she looked on out again 'What if this is not true... then?' she looked at Sameer.
'He can't escape from the lake, he can't run off even-' her thoughts were interrupted as Sameer spoke again.
"Times running out, think quick" he said again.
And this time, she was quick
She went towards him and took the gun from his grip.
"This ended well for me, hope it does for you too" she said coldly, pulling back the slide .
"Yahan nahi" he said, as she pointed the gun at his head
"Idhar maaro" he pointed towards his chest, his heart
"Marne waale ki aakhri iccha maan leti hu mai" she said and fired and a breath escaped his throat.
"T-thank y-you... Annu" he said before collapsing in his chair and this sent chills down Aanya's spine.
'Yeh naam.....' she thought to herself 'Kya ye..?' she looked at his lifeless body, which still had a smile on his face.
She picked up the box from his lap and opened it.
~
Nischay's POV
All of those 20-30 people surrounded me. I tried to decode what was going on, but I heard the curtains shift, and I looked towards the cottage.
Aanya looked on at me helplessly.
Ye kucch gadbad na kare, bas. I hope she handles it.
but even before I could think of something, I was shoved into the car and we drove off.
I didn't have the slightest hint of what was happening.
We were quite far away from the cottage now in the 40mins of our drive.
There was dead silence in the car, but it was disrupted with the sound of a phone ringing.
"Hello?" he picked up the call.
"okay" His voice was almost a sad whisper, and I could understand nothing happening around me. The car came to a halt suddenly, and they took a u-turn and started going towards the cottage again.
'what the heck is going on???'
~
"aap andar jaa sakte hain sir" the assistant said with tearful eyes. I didn't get what was the cause of their behavior?.
Is there any way, that they knew this was gonna happen? I went inside to find out.
And as I did, I found Aanya seated on the floor at Sameer's feet, and it was almost as if she was drowned in her deep thoughts.... and a tear drop escaped her eyes.
There was Sameer's lifeless body and creepily, he had smiled before being shot by Aanya.
Aanya.....
I rushed to her side "Aanya?"
she didn't respond. What is going on?
The only thing that attracted my attention was the old and weary looking box, which was kept down near Sameer's feet, with the gun with which she might have shot him
I picked up the box to examine it.
I found an old picture
It's sides had gone yellowish due to the effect of time
But the fact that I could recognize the people in the picture......
One of them was Sameer
The other one was a girl, maybe his wife?
But the third person...
The third person was a little baby girl
- who could be identified as Aanya
I had seen her childhood pictures in her room, so I knew this was her.
But why was her picture there with this Sameer?
Who was his woman?
And why did Sameer reach out to us?
I found a worn out diary too in that box
I opened it hastily....
-BTS-
When exams suck every life drop of life and imaginative power off of you (dukhx100)
When your co-author is chhapri AF and she know it all too well
When jeevan ka dukkh makes your future flash infront of your eyes
When co-writer get's too carried away imagining scenes
When finishng a chapter >> than winning an Oscar
When co-writer jee loves your plot twists a bit too much
Baklol Writers
The Harami Duo💃