Free Cold Love by Amieya Prabhaker Page B

goodbye
and walks away. Riya slowly moves away from Arjun. She has completely wet his
shirt with her tears.
     “Uncle, can you please drop
me home? And can I request a big favor uncle? I do not want today’s incidents
to be discussed with papa, mummy… or anyone!” She glances at Arjun for a
moment; he is about to speak but Riya walks to the exit. Commissioner Pratap
follows her. Arjun is left in the corridor to ponder alone as he clenches his
fist helplessly. This is what he had wanted to warn Riya about earlier in the
morning but could not find the courage to frame his words correctly. A burning
rage was driving him wild. Eventually, Arjun started walking towards the secure
back exit from which the Commissioner had taken Riya.
    The case today hung in the
balance. Riya had completed her part in factually identifying the killer but
Mr. Banerjee, for all his wickedness, had made Riya’s eyewitness statement
appear conditional to the issues he raised today. Riya will have to go through
a blood test to prove that she is not a drug addict.
    “I’ve let her down,” Arjun
tells himself. A seemingly simple witness statement in court had turned into an
affair that included mudslinging. At the end of the day, the trump card had
been clearly quashed in this game.
    A shroud of guilt hangs over
Arjun’s head as he rushes to catch up with Riya.
     
     

Reshuffling the Cards
     
    When Riya came home
accompanied by the Commissioner, Arjun was hot on the trail and followed her in
just a few minutes later.
     “Oh you guys are here
already?” Shanti welcomes Commissioner Pratap, “Hello bhai sahib, please come
in. Hope everything was fine today at the court?”
    “Yes; everything was fine,
mama,” Riya responded instead.
    “Namaste, bhabhi ji. Thanks
to Riya’s help we have progressed so much in this case. You don’t know how
brave your daughter is!” the Commissioner added.
    “Mama I am a bit tired, can I
go up please?”
    “OK beta!” Riya excuses
herself and immediately rushes upstairs to her room. 
    “Come in bhai sahib, please
have some tea.”
    “No bhabhiji, I will take
your leave. I will only say that your kids have a great responsibility, and
they are doing a beautiful job. You should be proud of your daughter.”
    “It’s our good fortune that
she has got an opportunity to do something for the country. Though the person
I’m really proud of is this son of mine!” she touches Arjun’s cheeks
affectionately, “He is the one who has done all the hard work and really
deserves all the credit.”
     “You are absolutely right.”
The commission says his farewells. “Nice meeting you Mrs. Saxena.” Shanti sees
off the Commissioner and returns to Arjun.
    “Come beta, will you eat
something?” Shanti asks Arjun.
    “No aunty!” Arjun responds
hesitantly, “Can I speak with Riya?”
    “Yes beta, go on. You don’t
need to ask me about it. She must be in her room.”
    Arjun approaches Riya’s room
upstairs. She is on her bed, crying, with her face on her pillow. Arjun stands
next to the bed for a moment, at a loss for words to console Riya. Before he
can speak, Riya starts talking, her words muffled up in the pillow.
    “Arjun please leave me alone.
I do not want to talk about anything.”
    “Riya … please don’t
misunderstand the events today,” he sits by her side and holds her arms to pull
her up but she resists with all her strength. “Riya… Please listen to me!”
    Finally, Riya gets up and
faces Arjun, “What should I listen to Arjun? What’s left to be said anyway?
Arjun, no one has talked to me in my life like this. No one!”
    “Riya…I know…” Arjun
stutters.
     “All right go on. I am
listening. Tell me, what more do you want to say to me?”
    Arjun is lost for words,
seeing Riya all ears; he bites his lips staring into her eyes. Even though he
wants to say so much, he can’t say a word and continues to simply stare at her
instead.
    “Well done, Arjun!” Riya
continues