Morning All! I'll be updating the next chapter on Friday. Until then Happy Reading🤓 & Stay safe😷.
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Haseena and Karishma both arrived home close to midnight. As soon as the bike stopped Haseena got off and started limping toward the house, gradually. Karishma just shook her head in disappointment, "such an ungrateful person, she is," she mumbled.
As soon as Haseena entered Picasso lept towards her, "Aww...look at you, miss me..didn't you?" She bent to hold him in her lap.
Picasso snuggled closed to Haseena as he licked her face, vigorously.
Haseena put him down after some time as she pointed towards his corner which has his bed and without making any fuss, he just walked towards his corner and sat on his bed, leisurely. After having her little chat with Picasso, Haseena was about to climb the stairs when Meena's (House Help) voice stopped her.
"Di, aap kuch lain gi?" She asked while standing at a distance.
"You are still up?" Haseena asked surprisingly.
"Ammi asked me to wait for you and Karishma madam," She said politely, "she wanted me to make sure Karishma madam has some dinner before she goes to bed."
"Hmm..." Haseena muttered, "Aur Riya?" She asked, "did she come?"
"Ji woh aa gayi hai aur unhon ne Ammi ke sath hi dinner kiya tha," She replied.
"Okay!" She put her foot forward, "Ek glass garam doodh without sugar," she said as she started climbing the stairs while holding the railing.
"Aur Karishma madam?" Meena asked.
Before Haseena could answer, Karishma spoke, "Mujhe kuch nahi chahiye," as she stood behind Haseena and made eye contact with Picasso who was staring at Karishma but he didn't move from his spot as if he was observing her every move, carefully.
Meena shook her head in an understanding manner and moved toward the kitchen. On the other hand, Haseena started climbing the stairs, however, Karishma followed her keeping a distance of a step or two.
"Are you going to follow me everywhere, now?" Haseena halted in her steps and turned towards Karishma who was about to bump into her due to this sudden stop.
"I'm not following you," Karishma looked at her, "you are walking right in front of me," she said with a smirk on her face.
Haseena stares at her surprisingly, "Are you serious?" She almost screamed, "you don't see a place there," she pointed towards the emptied side of the staircase.
"There," Karishma moved towards the other side, "happy now?" She raised her eyebrows.
"Better!" Haseena started taking the steps again but with each step she was taking, she noticed that Karishma was watching her closely and was taking much slower steps intentionally to keep an eye on her, "Is she really sorry for what she has done?" She peeked at Karishma from the corner of her eyes, her face softened up after finding the genuine concern on Karishma's face.
On the other side, Karishma noticed Haseena glancing at her, however, she pretended as if she hadn't seen her and continued to climb the steps keeping a safe distance between them.
Once they reached close to Haseena's room, she opened the door and turned on the light, "you can sleep there," Haseena pointed towards the couch that was right opposite her bed.
"I can't sleep on the couch," Karishma uttered as she sat on the right side of the bed as if she is been living there for years.
"And, Why is that?" Haseena asked agitatedly this time while keeping her hands on her hips.
"There are two reasons," She paused and look at Haseena, "First, I have back issues," a glint of playfulness appeared in her eyes as she spoke her next sentence, "Second, certain someone was leaning with all her weight on me, so now my back and neck are hurting."
Haseena's mouth was wide open at Karishma's statement, "you pulled me towards you," she pointed her finger at Karishma, "and it was you, who was very keen on providing me support."
"Of course, I'm not denying that," Karishma got up from the bed and took a few steps toward Haseena, "I'm just saying that my body is aching now, and, I need a good night's sleep," she said as she wrapped her finger around Haseena's and put it down gently, "that's all," she uttered with a smile on her lips that irritated Haseena to the core as Karishma moved towards her bag that was already placed in Haseena's room, to take out clothes.
"You are doing all this on purpose," Haseena said as she stood there vexed, "you are avenging me for keeping you off the cases."
"Exactly!" Karishma turned after taking out her clothes, "It took you so long to understand that," her voice carried a tinge of sarcasm as she stopped in front of Haseena, "How can I miss any opportunity to avenge you, you better watch out," she said in an annoyed tone and moved towards the bathroom to change without waiting for Haseena's response, leaving bewilder Haseena behind.
"Ek to chori aur upar se seena zori," Haseena slammed her hand on the bed as she sat down, "samjhti kya hai khud ko." She was still perplexed by the happenings of the entire day when she heard the knock on her door, "aa Jaye."
Meena entered the room with the glass of milk.
"Yahan rakh dijiye," Haseena pointed towards the side table.
"Aur kuch chahiye aapko," Meena asked before leaving the room.
"Nahi," Haseena responded, "shukriya," as she was still lost in the happenings of the day. On one side her marriage with Karishma and on the other side, those notes from the unknown person have occupied her mind.
Meena just nodded and moved out of the room. After some time, Karishma came out of the bathroom into her PJs, and moved to the right side of the bed, silently. However, this time Haseena didn't say anything to her, her mind was too occupied and exhausted with all the happenings, so, she just thought of ignoring Karishma's presence for the time being, "few days and she will be out of here," she mumbled and moved towards the bathroom after collecting her clothes from the wardrobe.
"What should I do to shift her perspective of me?" Karishma continued to sit on the bed facing her back to the door, "tell her the truth, everything, and let her be the judge," a voice came from within her. "Would she understand that?" another voice countered her thoughts. She sighed frustratingly, "Is she so blinded by the disdain for me that she can't see the genuineness of my actions?" She thought, "Of course, she is! You have deceived her, what else, you will expect," an answer came within from her. The ongoing battle between her mind and her heart has wreaked havoc inside her, she took a deep breath and slumped her tired body on the bed when she heard the knock on the door, "come in."
Meena entered the room with a red gift box and a note, "yeh, Haseena di ke liye aya hai," she uttered as she stared at Karisma's back.
"Wahan rakh dijiye," Karishma pointed towards Haseena's vanity table without looking back, "I'll tell her when she will come out."
"Ji," Meena placed the gift box on the vanity and moved out of the room, closing the door behind her.
Haseena came out of the bathroom and limped towards her vanity to brush her wet hair. She was surprised to see the box which wasn't there earlier, she picked up the box which was addressed to her and moved it upside down to guess its content.
Karishma changed her position and turned towards Haseena as she placed her hand over her eyes, "Meena said, someone left it for you," she uttered without removing her hand from her eyes but continued to observe Haseena who was removing the wrap, "who leaves gift at this hour?" her voice became gruff without even realizing, "is there any occasion?" She couldn't hold herself anymore and leaned against the bed rest as she looked at Haseena who seems busy with her gift which was just lipstick.
"Why it is a bother to you?" Haseena replied as she held the lipstick in her hand, it was from a 'MAC Matte collection', she flipped the lipstick to read the name, "SIN," she mumbled, "interesting choice," as she opened the lipstick and was getting ready to apply that on her lips.
"It feels like I'm banging my head against the wall," Karishma mumbled as she was about to lay down once again when she heard Haseena's painful cry.
"Ouch!" Haseena yelped as she looked around to find the napkin to stop her bleeding lower lip.
Karishma almost ran towards her with the napkin, "what were you doing?" She said as she dabbed Haseena's lip gently.
Haseena removed her hand, as she looked at the lipstick which had a blade hidden in it that ended up cutting her lower lip.
Karishma analyzed Haseena's face and for a brief moment, she noticed Haseena's face didn't hold any contempt for her as she dabbed Haseena's lip but it lasted for a mere second, and it didn't take long for the coldness to take over Haseena's entire being, once again, she sighed deeply, "Are you into BDSM or something?" She said with a loop-side grin.
Haseena's hand stopped as she was about to pick up the note, "What nonsense are you talking about?" She uttered, exasperatedly.
Karishma enjoyed Haseena's expression, "No, it seems like your lover," she pointed towards the lipstick, "or admirer into it," she took a few steps towards Haseena, "so, I just thought you must be into that stuff, Ice Queen," she uttered with a smirk on her face as she started moving towards the bed.
Haseena was speechless for a few seconds, "I don't know what you are thinking but there is nothing like that," she fumbled as she uttered those words, "why I'm explaining all this to her," she muttered as she picked up the note and started reading it.
Karishma noticed Haseena's face became pale as she was reading that note, her heart quivered after finding Haseena in this condition. At that moment, she very much wanted to snatch that note from Haseena and read it but all she uttered was, "can you please turn off the light?" She lay on her side of the bed, "I'm too tired and I have a tiring day ahead too."
Haseena folded the note and placed it on her side table, and after turning off the light, she lay down on her bed quietly as worry lines got deeper on her forehead.
"Hey!" Karishma shook Haseena's shoulder after a few minutes, "can I have that milk if you are not drinking?"
Haseena removed the duvet from her face, flabbergasted, "do hell with milk or anything but don't disturb me," she said in an irate tone as she covered her face, once again.
Karishma tip-toed towards Haseena's side and after picking up the glass of milk and note; she moved out of the room and walked towards the balcony. After placing the glass on the edge, she opened the note in a rush which reads, "I so like 'Rouge' (the color red) on you. The fear that I have seen today in your eyes excited me so much that I would like to see that again, and, again, and, again on you. I thought of killing you first but now, I have started enjoying this chase with you, so, let's play a little. Would ya?" Karishma flipped the paper to find anything else but there was nothing, "Amma, Bhakk! Yeh ho kya raha hai," She picked up the glass of the milk, "That person wants her dead. Does she have any classified information on him?" Karishma mumbled as she continued to think and sip milk.
"You are not going to stop poking your nose in my business, do you?" Haseena uttered as she came and stood behind Karishma which made her choke on the milk that she was drinking, a few minutes back.
"A little warning, please," Karishma muttered as she cleaned her mouth with the back of her hand, "you almost gave me a mini heart attack."
"Why do you have to act like a rebellious child, always?" Haseena asked as she snatched the note from Karishma's hand.
"You told me to do hell with milk or anything," Karishma tried to clear her stance, "be specific next time, if you may, please."
Haseena shook her head without saying anything and started moving towards her room when Karishma held her wrist and stopped her midway.
"He wants to torture you before killing you, he wants to enjoy the fear of death in your eyes, you know that right?" She said in a concerned voice.
"I know," She replied without turning towards Karishma.
"Why don't you inform headquarters?" Karishma made her grip tighter on Haseena's wrist as she came in front of her.
"And, what they will do," Haseena struggle to get out of Karishma's hold, "they will remove me from this case and give it to someone else," she said while taking her hand out and moving away.
"At least, this won't cost you, your life," She held Haseena's upper arm this time and stopped her again.
"Life and death are in the hands of God," she started walking again, "it has to come when it has to come," she entered the room, "I can't back off from my duty because of the fear of death," she said as she sat on her bed, "or due to the fear of some sadist who enjoys seeing people in pain."
"You are very stubborn," Karishma uttered as she locked the door and went to her side of the bed.
"Not more than you," Haseena replied as she covered her face with a duvet.
"This woman is going to be a death of me," she mumbled as she lay down and started devising a plan to help Haseena in any way possible and also to keep a close watch on her.