7:00 PM, 29th March, Mhatre Niwas, Anant and Aruna's Room
Aruna took out her phone and dialed up a number while resting comfortably in her armchair. "Hello, Roopali... Aruna here, how are you?" She excitedly greeted the person on the other side as she held a glass of wine in her hand.
"Hi Aruna, long time no call... Well, I am very busy but equally worried. There has been no gain in TRP this week for my channel. I mean have people stopped getting themselves into scandals or what?" She burst into laughter while playing with a pen in her hand.
"Well, in that case, I can help you... I have a really terrific piece of news, exclusive only for your channel"
"Really... What is the news?"
"Check your email... I have sent some very interesting pics of Shreekant" She smirked as she completed her sentence.
Roopali opened her email and checked the pics, "Wow Aruna... You are really fabulous, where did you get this from?"
She chuckled shaking the wine glass in her hand, "A trader never tells his secrets"
"But are you sure? I mean Shreekant is your family after all and who is this woman?"
"I am very sure... The responsibility of finding the identity of the woman is yours. But in return for this exclusive tidbit, I need something from you."
"Sure... Anything"
"I want an exclusive interview of my son Saket in your show"
"That's not a problem at all, It's a done deal then". Aruna then smirked again looking at her phone and messaged "Good work, you will be rewarded soon" to an unknown number who had shared the pics with her.
Just as she was sitting calmly, a young man in his late twenties barged into her room and screamed, "Mom, What are you doing? I just heard everything from outside, why are you doing this?"
She stood up from her chair, putting away the glass she was holding on the table, and went near him, "Don't you understand anything? I am doing this for you, my son"
"Really? Are you not doing this for yourself? Just to satisfy your ego? Why do you hate Shreekant and Daksh so much? They are my brothers after all" He shot all his questions in one go.
"Brothers? My foot... They are not my sons, Daksh is the MD of ROYMHA, Shreekant is the MD of Mhatre Group of Hotels, What are you exactly? All you do is follow them like a dog, I want you to be the Chairman" She angrily looked at him while tightening her palms around his arms.
"You and Papa are just the same, do you people even care for us? Do you really want to know who is most capable of managing the company amongst us? It's Mishka... But all you did was to force her into a marriage to that drunkard and womanizer Mahesh. For a moment, even if I understand your hatred towards my stepbrothers, What about Mishka? She is your own daughter... I don't know when I last saw her smiling." He snapped at her gesturing her to let go of him.
"All I did was for Mishka's good, because of that marriage, she has rights over ROYMHA now," She said in a low voice gritting her teeth.
"Whatever you are doing can never be good for anyone, as far as I know you... Shreekant has just lost his wife, at least leave him alone right now" He warned fisting his palm tightly and staring directly at her face.
He then angrily strode away from the room, dashing the door with a loud thud while she looked at him with enraged eyes and threw her wine glass on the floor.
"He can never understand me, but anyways, this is the right time... Shreekant was already out of his father's good books because he married that Christian woman. A few more mistakes by him and then he is out... My son will take his position. He has been already emotionally unstable because of Anna which has made my work even easier" She thought as she clutched her palms and grinded her teeth.
****************************
Shreekant and Amna reached Mumbai back, late at night and went to their respective rooms after the long tiresome journey. After the hectic search, both of them threw themselves onto their beds and slept, even without changing their clothes.
The next day Shreekant went back to the office after almost three weeks while Amna kept on sleeping on her queen-sized bed till 1:00 PM. Whether it was her tiredness or love to sleep, she slept comfortably after a long time, even though the danger was not over. She for unknown reasons felt every safe in that outhouse as if someone was always there to watch over her.
With a neatly ironed button-down white shirt with grey colored pant and blazer, Shreekant entered the compound of the office. As he entered, some employees greeted Shreekant in chorus while some were whispering nonsensical chit chat about him. It was well known to him but he preferred to quietly go to his cabin.
6:30 PM, 30th March, Outhouse
Amna had already received Shreekant's message on her phone earlier in the day that he was going to work and will meet her at night. After wasting the whole afternoon doing nothing and loitering around, she decided to take a shower. As she came out of the shower and was getting dressed, there was a sudden blackout in her room. Her heart pounded as she was really scared about darkness after that incident, but she still gathered up courage and looked for her phone around the room.
As soon as she got her phone, she immediately switched on the flashlight, and her fear subsided by a little. With tiny careful steps, she went down the stairs to check what had happened. The whole outhouse was in a blackout and she could hear the dashing of the raindrops against the majestic walls of the house.
Just then as she stood in the middle of the hall holding her phone, she heard a strange sound coming from somewhere, "Where is this sound coming from?"
Following the source of the sound, she entered the painting room. Flashing the light from her phone everywhere around the room, she finally found where the sound was coming from, "Ahh... The window was open and hitting against the wall because of the heavy wind and rain" She breathed a heave of relief.
While going out of the room, she hit her foot against something and slipped, falling forwards with her chin hitting the floor, and ankle getting twisted, "Aaahh... My foot..." She tried to get up, but her foot hurt really bad and she sat on the floor in pain holding her ankle around her palm.
"Oh, God... First, this stupid light went away, then that creepy sound, and now this sprain, really what is happening with me? Have I become the epitome of bad luck?"
After cursing God for quite some time, her phone rang and a familiar name flashed on it, "Shreekant" and she quickly picked it up. Before she could say anything he started yelling, "Why are you not opening the door, I have pressed the bell numerous times?"
"Ah... You are standing outside the house, listen I couldn't hear the bell because there is no electricity here, plus I have kind of injured myself and I am unable to get up"
"Injured! What happened?"
"I just slipped and fell in the painting room... I think I have sprained my ankle" Before she could say anything further he said, "Wait... I am coming" he said and immediately disconnected the call.
"Where are all the guards? Come here quickly!" He shouted in a loud voice and ordered them to call the electrician quickly and fix the issue with the Outhouse.
"Someone help me open the door" He and a few other guards managed to open the door of the outhouse forcefully, and without wasting a single second he dashed into the painting room with a torch where Amna was injured.
The door of the painting room clicked open and Shreekant flashed the torch to find her sitting on the floor holding her ankle, "Why do you always end up here in this room? Can't you be a little more careful?" He scolded her as he went towards her.
"Now wait... Don't try to move, Hold this torch" He then carefully picked her up holding her in his arms with the torchlight clearly showing his face to her.
As she was in his arms, his dark brown eyes met hers and she could feel a strange adrenaline rush within her as if the world around her had stopped for the moment. It was something that she had never felt before.
Her heart was racing, but her eyes stopped blinking. She kept on looking at those eyes of his which were sharp and full of emotions... They were communicating a deep agony that he had hidden in a corner of his heart.
"What is this I am feeling? Why am I feeling this? Why is my heart pounding like this? Am I having an arrhythmia now? He walked out of the room, holding her carefully while she was unable to comprehend her own feelings, and sensing the awkwardness of the situation she turned her face away from him.
He then placed her on the sofa with her legs stretched, "Why is it that I always find you in that room? Don't go to that room unnecessarily and walk carefully. We have lots of work to do together and you are injured now? " He kept on getting annoyed with her.
"Why is he scolding me? Is it really my fault? If he is scolding me, why is his voice not sounding like one?" She thought all this as she sat in the darkness with a flickering torch by her side.
Just as she was listening to his chiding in the utmost focus, the lights were back and she was transported back to reality.
"Sir, we have fixed the issue with the electricity and repaired the door latch" One of the guards came into the hall and informed them.
"Okay... You can go now"
Before he could talk to Amna about anything his phone rang, "Yes, Yadav tell me... Hmm... Is it really that urgent? Okay... But I am not in office now, do one thing come to the outhouse. I will sign it here" and the call ended.
He turned towards her and went near, with a concerned voice he asked, "Does it hurt too much? Should I call a doctor?"
She smiled and said, "Shreekant, I am a doctor... And this is just a sprain, it will be fine by tomorrow. I will take a painkiller and put on a crepe bandage, you must be having it in the first aid box right?"
"I will bring it now" He hastily went to bring the first-aid box and quickly came back to her.
He kneeled on the floor while Amna was lying, stretching her legs on the sofa. He gently held her foot and rubbed cream on it, brushing his fingers on her skin. Carefully lifting the foot, he then wrapped the crepe bandage around. While he was nursing her, she kept on staring at him and a small smile arched on her lips.
"Done... Now you don't dare to move from your place" He ordered her in an imperative voice.
Just then they heard a knock on the door, "Sir, may I come in"
"Yadav, come inside, the door is open" A stout man in his 40s with a black blazer and black pants, holding a briefcase entered the hall of the outhouse.
"I needed these signatures urgently, Mhatre sir told to submit them to the HR department by today itself," He said as he took the papers out from his bag and handed them to Shreekant.
A sudden feeling of extreme trepidation clinched her heartbeat for a moment as she heard his voice. It was not an unknown voice, she had heard it before. The moments of her struggle and perilous encounter with the masked man resurfaced her mind as she remembered a strange but very distinct detail about him, his voice... Which was very similar to the one who was talking to Shreekant right now but she was not sure.
Turning her face away from him, breathing heavily and fisting her palm, she thought, "What if I was right and he is the same man who is just a few feet away from me with Shreekant being the only thing standing between us"
He signed the required documents, "The work is done right... You should have done it when I was in the office itself"
"Sorry sir, If you don't mind, I can please know what happened to Madam?"
He budged aside and the man got a clearer view of Amna, "Oh that... Madam just sprained her ankle a little, Ahh... By the way, she is our guest"
The man turned to her side facing her directly as she was lying on the sofa and said, "Welcome to Mhatre Group, Madam"
With fear still lurking around her mind, still gathered up courage and lift her head to face the man, but the words were not seemingly forming in her mouth and she simply nodded.
"Sir and Madam, I will take your leave" As he was leaving the house, she again heard something... The dragging sound of the feet of the man as he walked away from the house.
"It's just like that sound. Is he the same man? If he is, what is he doing here? How does Shreekant know him?" With all these deeply disturbing thoughts her face became pale and her palms became cold.
"Shreekant! He is the same man", she shouted while clasping her hand on the armrest of the sofa. Startled by Amna's sudden reaction, he turned and went near her, "Which man? What are you talking about?"
"He is the same masked man who tried to kill me... He is the one" Her voice was fumbling and lips trembling out of uneasiness.
"He can't be the one, you are mistaken... He is one of our very old employee working for us for a long time" He tried explaining to her in a calm and slow tone.
"No! No! He is the one... His voice... I can never forget that voice and also the way he walked dragging his feet, I had heard the same dragging sound that day in my house... He is the same man" She was still shivering with a face full of fear and sweating profusely.
He kneeled again and caught hold of her elbow, cupping her chin and turning her face, aligning it with him, he said "Calm down! Listen to me! Don't panic... That day you were so scared and the person drugged you with something, so there are high chances that you are mistaken. Please understand if he were the same man, would he have behaved so casually on seeing you? Seeing the person alive whom he tried killing just a few days ago?"
"He is right... How can that man behave so casually when I was sitting in front of him? He didn't seem to be bothered at all by my presence, Am I really mistaken? But then his voice and way of walking... What was that?" She tried to reason what he was saying and calmed her agitated nerves a little.
"If you are so doubtful about him, I will do a background check on him, but there are more chances that he is not the one... So don't worry," He was trying to comfort her by gently patting her shoulder.
After a while, Amna calmed herself and Shreekant took her into her room. Giving her some food and some painkillers, "I am going back to my room, call me anytime if you need anything... Don't think too much" and he went away.
Despite Shreekant's convincing way of pacifying her, she was still not satisfied, "Why is my gut feeling saying that he is the same man? I feel something is really wrong" With these perturbing thoughts, she clutched her bedsheet tightly and tried to sleep.