PART-58

“God!We screwed up evetything!”Akash moaned rubbing his cheeks.

“Seriously man,your family can give those give black-belt holders a run for their money!”Aman  muttered painfully,nursing the bruises on his arms.

“I’m so sorry guys!You had to bear all that for me.I didn’t know it will be bungle up so badly!” Khushi apologised,her voice thick with guilt.

“Don’t be silly Ms.Happy!You don’t have to be sorry!Its not your fault!I should’ve been careful enough.Its the result of my frivolous approach!”Akash attempted to ease her out.

“Still that doesn’t negate the fact that I’m the reason behind the whole gaffe.”Khushi said sadly.

“Khushi,stop berating yourself unnecessarily!What’s done is done,we can’t change it.Though,we need to concentrate on warding off the storm that undoubtedly be brewing up savagely!”Aman bit his lips,fettered.

“What do you mean?”Akash and khushi demanded,making Aman roll his eyes incredulously.

“Seriously guys,how dumb one can be?I’m obviously talking about ASR!I’d wager everything that I possess that the news of our little adventure would’ve reached him and he must be waiting to come barrelling towards us like an enraged bull as soon as we pop in his vicinity!”

A frightful, charged silence followed this ominous announcement as the trio mulled the danger that awaited them in the office and worst off was khushi!She remembered clearly the lecture she had given him on the gravity of abdications,however playfully it might be,before venturing out of the office on the pretext of a lie!Somehow,the plan their plan had gone horribly awry!

Their intuition didn’t prove out to be a mere figment of their imagination for as soon as they so much as set their toes inside the  premises,they were whisked in A.C.P.Arnav Singh Raizada’s cabin, where they found a trembling Lavanya.

“Where were you guys?”ASR asked with barely suppressed fury.

Akash,Khushi and Aman gulped hard,their voice betraying them as they waited breathlessly for the violent torrent of ASR’S anger to strike them.Finally khushi gathered up some courage.She had to own up everything!

“Arnavji,I know that you are aware of everything that happened today and so,I’m not going to beat about the bush!Its all my fault and I’m really sorry for that!”Khushi hung her head remorsefully.

“SORRY!SORRY!Does your apologies assuage your act?How dare you forget even for a second that we are supposed to shoulder the huge responsibility of national security?You even led three fellow officers on the same track!”ASR snarled.

“Bhai,you are utterly mistaken!”

“Yes,sir khushi didn’t oblige us.We went on our own accord!”

“It was my plan not hers!”

Akash,Lavanya and Aman burst out at the same time, hearing his blatant accusations, but  ASR stopped them.He was beyond his senses with anger!

“Shut up!I’m not willing to hear your flimsy excuses to save her and not that you all are not equally responsible!The team I was so proud of,has ashamed me today!I never expected carelessness of such magnitude from you all!And most of all you Ms.Gupta!I won’t tolerate such foolishness here and if you want to engage in this kind of cheap activities worthy of degenerates ,then you’re most welcome to hang up your gun for good!”ASR snarled,ignoring the tears that sprang up in khushi’s eyes at his harsh words.

Wordlessly khushi slipped out of his cabin to the corridors beyond where she found her colleagues scurrying  away,trying to put up an unconvincing pretence of nonchalance and normalcy.It added to her hurt and humiliation.Apparently,the entire office had heard ASR’S dulcet tone.

“Khushi!”Lavanya  and Aman trailed after khushi meekly.

Akash watched khushi walk away,her shoulders slumped and his anger rose.Though he was quite familiar with his elder brother’s hot temperament which was often unjust and impromptu,he had never felt any sort of resentment,yet now as he saw his little sister’s dejection,he felt the flare of elder-brotherly rage and he lashed out at ASR.

“Bhai,you shouldn’t really have talked to her like that!Do you have even slightest of idea how much you have hurt her without knowing the truth?Do you know how buaji had been quite literally harassing her for marrying Shyam?How she had taunted her of being an orphan and that she should be actually grateful that that screwed-up bastard is infatuated with her?No,you don’t and neither did you try to know the cause of her apparent gloom for past few days but jumped at conclusion and became the reason of her sorrow!I know that we shouldn’t have gone during office hours,but there’s no emergency or something going on right now,nor some very important mission!Bhai,you may’ve forgotten that you’ve a life beyond the S.T.F. precinct,but we haven’t.I agree that we’ve the responsibility of national security which undoubtedly holds paramount prominence,but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we should forgo every seam of relationships and be just taut,ruthless stones!” Akash growled and stalked off,leaving behind a stunned,repenting A.C.P.Arnav Singh Raizada.