Mrinali
First ring, second ring, third ring, voice note then call ends. It has been a day since I am trying to contact him. I called him more than a hundred times in the last one day and he hasn't answered even a single one of them. Now it's worrying me. I hope everything is okay. I took my handbag and made my way out of the room. Walking off the stairs my eyes met with the people whom I call my parents, but they are not acting like one. I was shocked by their reaction, as I had expected them to at least support my decision, but instead, they only cared about their image.
As I started to step out of the house they stopped me and asked "Where are you going it's already quite late?"
Taken aback by their ignorance, I responded firmly, "Why do you even care wherever I go, it's not like you love me or care about me so why do you put up this fake act?"
"It is not like that baccha, we do care about you and love you a lot. We know what's best for you, and that guy... that guy is not worthy of you beta. He will not be able to take care of you. We are worried about you and your future." Mumma said.
It's disheartening to know that they want to marry me only because of their profit, like I am some sort of stock "He is not jobless Mumma, he does earn money and he can take care of me you don't have to worry about it." I said in a soft voice.
"He does but..." Before she could complete it, I stated, "I don't want to argue about it anymore."
I announced. "I will either marry him or no one else and that's final. Now you two please stop arranging dates with random businessmen and CEOs'"
I took the car keys from the nearby key holder and went out. Driving through the highways I thought about all the things going on. Here I am fighting with my own parents for him and there is he, who is not even answering my call.
So, I arrived at his place and parked my car in the parking lot. As I walked inside the building, I noticed a few people whispering and looking at me curiously. I felt a bit confused, but I decided to ignore them and went straight to the elevator. I pressed the button for the sixth floor, where my boyfriend lived, and waited patiently for the elevator to arrive. I opened the door of his apartment with the extra keys he gave me. As I entered the flat it was all dark. I turned on the lights and searched for his presence but he was nowhere to be found. I searched inside the room, bathroom, hall, everywhere but I couldn't find him anywhere.
Tears started to well up in my eyes, "where is he? He is not even picking up my calls" I am getting stressed now. I again picked up my phone to call him, and as soon as I called him I could hear the ringtone somewhere near me. I followed the source of the sound. He left his phone here and I don't even know where he is.
I off the lights and locked the doors before going out of the apartment. Walking off the lift, I saw a security guard sitting near the gate watching something on his mobile. I went to ask him "Have you seen Karan?"
"Ma'am, Karan sir to kal dopahar se nahi aaye." He replied looking at his phone.
(Ma'am, Karan sir haven't come since yesterday)
Where is he? He never does this, he even left his phone.
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"Sir, but usne apna mobile bhi ghar me chodh diya hai aur na hi kal dopaher se ghar aaya hai." I said to the police officer.
(Sir, he left his mobile at home and he hasn't come since yesterday's noon)
"Madam, aap lagti kya ho uski?" He looked at me with lustful eyes. Why did I wear this deep neck top today.
(Madam, What is your relationship with him? )
"I am his Girlfriend." I said.
He laughed at my statement and said "Jao madam koi naya boyfriend dhundhlo." All the officers started laughing. Is this a joke a person is missing and they are not even ready to write a FIR. They have to write complaints but what they do instead, I don't even need to mention them.
(Go Madam search for a new boyfriend)
I stood up from my chair and hardly slapped the table in front of me making a loud sound turning them all silent and said, "I don't have time to waste arguing with you but I will definitely file a complaint against you."
Saying this I walked out of the police station. It was very disappointing to see them act like this and our government doesn't even take any steps against them. It is very shameful.
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Sitting near the bed I scroll through the contacts and search for someone who could help me in finding him. My fingers stopped at the name "Zeehan". Will he help me after what I did? He was a great person, he even denied the marriage when I asked him to do so. Hovering my index finger over his name for a few minutes while thinking if I should call him or not. I called him, and after a few rings the call finally got picked up.
His soft voice came through the speakers of my phone, "Hello?"
"I actually... I don't know... I am sorry." I stammered saying.
"Relax Mrinali you don't have to be sorry. You are doing this for your love and everything is acceptable in love and war, right?" He said.
"Yes, but I didn't call you to say sorry. I actually..." I whispered.
"Tell me, how can I help you?" He said in a worried tone.
"Karan has been missing since yesterday, he doesn't even have his phone with him, I even got to the police station but they didn't write the FIR. I don't know whom I should ask help from that's why I called you." I said while crying.
"Hey, firstly stop crying and drink some water, and share his photo and car number if possible." He said.
"Okay, I will. I am so sorry, I am troubling you yet again but I don't trust anyone else." I said while wiping the tears.
"It alright. I will call you as soon as I find something till then make sure to get some rest."
As the alarm buzzed, I woke up and glanced at the clock. It was 7 a.m., and I wasn't sure where he was. I went through my phone looking for any information but it only disappointed me. I strolled towards the bathroom while keeping my phone by my bed.
After I came out of the bathroom, I sat on the bed and looked at my phone again. There were 7 missed calls from Zeehan, so I immediately called him back. After a few rings he picked up and said "We have found something, I am coming by your house in 10 minutes. Be ready!"
After saying that much he ended the call. I got ready for a lavender colour Kurti with floral embroidery and some relaxed-fit jeans. Taking my handbag with me I walked downstairs. Ignoring my parents and their little conversation I left the house straight away.
I stared at the empty road in front of my house. There was no sign of anyone's arrival. I looked at my watch and it had been 15 minutes past his call.
Minutes passed by and he didn't come. I looked at the analog watch I wore on my wrist a thousand times today. I was getting frustrated and thought about calling him but instead, I decided to wait for a few more minutes. Taking deep breaths, I roamed along the sidewalk checking my watch now and then. A black Porche 911 got into my field of view and stopped in front of me, I squinted my eyes to take a look at the person sitting in the driving seat but my eyesight got blurry. Suddenly the doors of the car opened and then came Zeehan out of it.
He said making a guilty face "I am sorry, I got stuck in the traffic, I hope I didn't make you wait much."
"It's alright but where is Karan what did you get to know please tell me I am getting restless," I said in a hurry.
He walked close to me and held my shoulders in a tight grip and the words that came out of his mouth the next moment shattered me to the core. I couldn't believe my ears. How can this happen...
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I opened my eyes slowly and felt a sharp pain in my head. I tried to sit up and while clearing my vision I grasped my surroundings and realized that it was a hospital. The glass window beside me gave me the view of Zeehan and the doctor talking about something. I recalled all the things he said which made tears start flowing through my eyes.
Sobbing for almost 5 minutes I didn't notice when Zeehan got inside the ward. I felt his hot and huge palm around my hand held them in a stronghold and asked "Is that all true?"
He nodded in reply and thick drops of tears again started rolling down my cheeks. Zeehan gently rubbed my hand with his and said "Please stop crying Mrinali. It is not like he was the last person in the world. You deserve much better than him. He is not even worthy of you or anyone and I will make sure he reaches where he deserves to be."
I said while wiping the tears from my eyes."But how can he do this? I was so clueless, I was so blind to his love that I never even tried doubting him. He was suspicious from the start but I always ignored it saying that this can't be true."
"It is not your fault Mrinali, he was very clever. He never left any clue for anyone to find out about this. But even the sharpest one makes a mistake and that one mistake is all we need to find." He said while looking at me.
I said, "How did you find out?"
He got up from his seat and while pacing side to side inside the private ward he explained the whole story, "As soon as you called me, I asked my team to search out everything about him, while looking at his information we found out a few things which made me furious. I took the matter into my own hands and looked into all of his past and realised one thing, he switched his jobs very frequently which grew more into my suspicion, one of the companies in which he had worked was of my friend's so I instantly called him he said that he came late to the office daily and was very rude while talking, even the coworkers complained about him multiple times in result he fired him. His records were telling something that made me doubt. I accessed the cameras in both his office and residence, and after reviewing the footage, my suspicions were confirmed.. "
Before he could tell anymore doctor came inside the ward and did some regular checkups. He informed us that I could take a discharge tomorrow morning.
Zeehan said sitting beside me while caressing my forehead, "I will tell you the whole story tomorrow right now you should take some rest"
As I felt a strong pain in my head, I agreed to his words and fell back to sleep.
Hearing someone call my name I woke up and there was a nurse with some food in the tray. Looking inside the tray I whined, "I will not eat this thing".
The nurse said, "But ma'am you have to eat this, you also have to take medicines."
Zeehan after hearing my whines walked inside the ward and I said while crying "Zeehan, see what they want me to eat I will not eat this tasteless daliya."
The nurse said, "Sir, how will she take medicines without eating anything?"
He said while looking at me concerned "Do you want to go back home or do you want to live permanently at the hospital only?"
"I want to go back home," I said.
"Then you need to get well and for that, you need to take medicine and for taking medicine firstly you will need to eat something." He said.
I looked away from him and pouted while saying, "Okay so get me something good I don't want to eat this."
He leaned towards my ears and whispered "Right now eat this then I will get you a chocolate ice cream okay?"
I looked at him and with a beaming smile I nodded. He winked at me which made my stomach go all trembly and took the tray from the nurse and said "I will feed her, you can go"
"I will eat on my own you don't have to..." Before I could complete it, he looked at me with his siren eyes and I turned all silent. He sat beside me and I said while pouting "I am eating this only because of the ice cream"
He chuckled and took a spoonful of daliya near my mouth and I took a bite. His laughter is so melodious that it melts in my ears, like a song by KK. I noticed he had a small tattoo of a star near his earlobe. My curious self can't live in suspense so I asked him while pointing my finger toward the tattoo "What does this tattoo signify?"
His eyes shined while answering "My mom always told me when I was a kid that after someone's death, they become a star and always shine the brightest. So, this is my mom always close to me guiding me through everything."
"Your mother would be very proud of their kid today. She indeed raised a gentleman" I said.
Silence occupied us and I took bite after bite of the food. Even this tasteless food tasted good from his hands. After the last bite, I said, "Now what about the ice cream?"
"I will get it but before eat your medicines." He said while keeping the empty tray on the table beside the bed. I didn't notice but the hospital ward was very big. It was no less than any five-star hotel with all the possible amenities. It even had a balcony.
The nurse came inside the ward and said "Ma'am it's time for medicines"
I took all the medicines and the nurse went away.
I stood up from the bed and Zeehan gave me his hand to help me stand up and asked "Where are you going?"
"To the balcony," I said.
He walked me to the balcony and we sat beside each other on the sofa chairs. The balcony is really big with a few plants kept near the fence and a sofa placed near the door.
He passed me my ice cream and took his own. While taking a bite from the ice cream and feeling the sweet chocolaty taste on my tongue I asked him "How did I reach hear? What happened?"
He gazed up at the clear sky and said "After I told you about him, you got unconscious. I panicked and brought you to the hospital."
I chuckled and he looked at me with furrowed eyebrows "Why are you laughing?"
I took another bite from the ice cream and said "If you would have splashed some water on my face then all this expenditure could have been saved."
"This is nothing I can spend my whole life's worth of money on you without giving a second thought. You are more important than any materialistic thing." He said while looking into my eyes.
"Thank you so much Zeehan, I can't thank you enough for all the things you did," I said.
"You don't need to Mrinali. I guess we are friends so, no sorry no thank you. If you want to thank me then you can give me a party." He said while taking licking at his ice cream.
I laughed and said "You are such a kid, look at the way you are eating"
He asked furiously "What happened ?"
I pointed my fingers towards the corner of the lips. He wiped his fingers but it didn't clean. I held his chin with my index finger and wiped the area. He looked deep into my eyes like he was searching for something. His beautiful brown orbs matched with my own like they were made for each other. His sharp jawline and clean shaved face made him look a lot younger than he was. He was very handsome for a businessman. He was wearing a light blue coloured shirt with top buttons undone and sleeves folded to the elbow with navy blue coloured trousers. His hairs were all messy and I had this sudden urge to ruffle my fingers through the folds of his hairs. I feel very guilty for all the mess I made him go through.
We ate the ice cream in silence and I leaned to his shoulder and said "Why are you doing all this for me?"
"Maybe because I wanted to help you, I felt really sad after knowing all the things you are going through. So, I just wanted to help you in any way possible." He said.
I kept my chin on his shoulder to face him and said "I am sorry Zeehan for everything. I am making you get into trouble every now and then."
He glimpsed at me and said, "I guess you should sleep now. I might go and inform your parents. They must be worried about you."
I nodded and stood up in an instant making me stumble a little. I held onto his shoulder to maintain my balance and he took me inside.
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3000+ words
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