Maithili

#Maithiliepisode8

#maithiliepisode8

Link for episodes: #Maithiliepisode1 , #Maithiliepisode2, #Maithiliepisode3, #Maithiliepisode4, #Maithiliepisode5, #Maithiliepisode6, #Maithiliepisode7

#Author: #RhituparnaChakraborty

#Disclaimer: This is an original work of fiction with no relation to any person/organism living or dead. Every episode, every character is a work of imagination. Any resemblance to any person, organism, place or character is purely coincidental. There is no intention to hurt or rebuke anyone through this work. This story/episode cannot be copied, published or reproduced without the permission of the author RhituparnaChakraborty.

Raghav told himself, ‘I don’t know what Mushtaque meant. But, I am glad I am following what he told me. Good I did not eat dinner last night. Today too, I will eat with the rest of the guys in the common dining room. It’s okay to be careful.’

‘Where are you going now?’, asked Saanchi. Mushtaque tucked his gun in the holster and said, ‘Need to wind up something.’ Mushtaque was facing the closet. Saanchi came from behind, wrapped her hands around Mushtaque’s chest, put her head gently on his back and said, ‘I am sorry.’ Mushtaque turned around, looked at her eyes and said, ‘Why sorry?’ Saanchi said softly, ‘You were on holiday and I made you take up this case.’ Mushtaque held Saanchi’s face gently, kissed her forehead and said, ‘Sweetheart, you did this because you cared for someone. Maithili is like your little sister. Your sister is my sister. She needs us now. The primary thing here is if we are not with our loved ones when they need us, what is the point of name sake relations? Also, my holiday is not a waste. There is a beautiful hill station close by. We will go there.’ Saanchi smiled and said, ‘I did pray to Lord Shiva to bless me with a superb groom. And he listened to me.’ Mushtaque smiled and said, ‘Aha. So, I am the fruit of my wife’s prayers. That way I am also thankful to Lord Shiva for blessing me with my Saanchi.’ Saying that Mushtaque hugged her and said, ‘Now, I need to leave. Will be back in a jiffy.’ Saanchi smiled and said, ‘Stay safe.’ Mushtaque smiled and said, ‘With my wife praying for me I know I will be safe.’

Mushtaque’s phone rang. It was from his boss and Saanchi’s mom Parvati. Parvati said, ‘ So, you are almost on the verge of closing the case?’ Mushtaque said, ‘Yes. I am almost there. I just need to get that menacing creature confess and put him behind the bars.’ Parvati said, ‘Hmm. So, did you get any help from the local police out there?’ Mushtaque said, ‘Yes. They were of immense help. They helped me in tracking the phone numbers and tracing the whereabouts of the troublemaker. And the biggest help was the new officer who joined just a week ago. She helped me a lot. She was adept in finding clues from the episodes I narrated to her. That made things easy for me to find out the miscreant.’ Parvati said, ‘Good. I will talk to her and send her an appreciation email. Send me the details.’ Mushtaque said, ‘Sure.’

Maithili was playing with Mehek when Saanchi came. Saanchi sat on the bed beside Maithili and Mehek and said, ‘So you guys have become good friends.’ Mehek said, ‘Mommy, Maithili is fun. She plays snakes and ladders and every time I win. Tee hee.’ Saanchi brushed Mehek’s hair and said, ‘She has always been that way. When she was in school, she would even give away her favourite doll to anyone if he/she asked. She would deliberately lose a game with her friend if she knew that would make her friend happy.’ Maithili said, ‘Oh come on di, Mehek is too little for these type of talks.’ Mehek first looked at Maithili and then at Saanchi and said in her adorable voice, ‘Can I eat some cookies?’ Maithili smiled and said, ‘I will get those for you.’ Maithili got a packet of cookies for Mehek from the kitchen. While Mehek ate the cookies, Saanchi asked Maithili, ‘Maithili, I wanted to ask you something.’ Maithili said, ‘Sure di. You can ask me anything.’ Saanchi said, ‘Is there anyone special in your life?’ Maithili hesitated and said, ‘Well….there is someone but then I don’t know whether I should tell him or not.’ Saanchi looked at Maithili and asked, ‘And why do you not know?’ Maithili said with a pensive note, ‘You know my family. They will never agree. It will be a pain. Hence I don’t want to get into this mess.’ Saanchi said, ‘Well, will you be happy if you don’t share your feelings with that special person in your life and you end up spending your life with someone else just because you were afraid that your family won’t agree.’ Maithili eyes drenched. Saanchi came closer to Maithili and hugged her. Maithili’s tears were unstoppable. She said, ‘I was happy that I made it to this elite medical college through merit. However, those text messages and then my feelings for Raghav and then the fact that my family will never agree, everything has made a mess of my life. Why can’t my life be simple and normal like the rest?’ Saanchi brushed Maithili’s hair and said, ‘Shhh. Everything will be fine. We will find a way.’

Dr. Mihir Sen stood in the dark in front of the other person. He said, ‘I don’t understand.’ The person standing in front of him said, ‘Really? You don’t understand?’. Mihir said firmly, ‘No, I don’t. What are you talking about?’ The person in front said, ‘You are a charming gentleman. Girls go gaga over you. I don’t understand despite that why are you single? All the same this is your choice. But, why is it that every time I like someone, she has to be snatched away from me?’ Mihir said, ‘I still don’t understand what are you talking about?’. The person said bitterly, ‘Yes, you won’t understand. You will never understand. I don’t have a family. I stay in the hostel. Sneha left me because she felt I was over possessive. Sunita left me because she too felt I was over possessive. And now that I like Maithili, you all are trying to snatch her away from me?’. Mihir looked at the person in front of him with hatred and said, ‘How can you even think of such a thing. Maithili is my student. I will never do this. But, shame on you. You are her teacher too. How can you stoop to this level? How can you?’. Sohum Awasthi smirked and said, ‘Love is blind. Everything is fair in love and war. She is one wonderful girl I have come across. Her smile, her voice, her understanding nature, I love everything about her. Had you pesky boys been not there, I would have won her. First Sunit, then Kartik, then Raghav and now you. Pheww.’ Saying that Sohum Awasthi took out a surgical knife from his pocket and was about to attack Mihir when something came and hit his hand so hard that he screamed in pain and fell down.’ Mushtaque had shot him with his gun which had a silencer fixed in the nozzle. Mushtaque came closer to Sohum Awasthi, knelt beside him and smiled and said, ‘Not so soon Sohum Sir.’ Saying that Mushtaque handcuffed Sohum Awasthi and said, ‘You shouldn’t have hurt the boys. You are a teacher. This was least expected from a teacher and a doctor.’ Sohum cackled and said, ‘Now you will teach me what I should do and what I should not do? Yes I attacked Sunit, I attacked Kartik, I would have killed Raghav too. But that guy did not have dinner that day. I had poisoned his food thoroughly. I would have killed this Mihir too. But, you pesky fellow came in. By the way, you are next. You are also close to my Maithili, aren’t you? Taking her for long drives, dropping her at college, picking her up from college. You are having a merry time with her. How many times have you slept with her?’ Mushtaque slapped Sohum Awasthi so tight that the sound of the slap reverberated. The slap was so strong that Sohum Awasthi’s right cheek started bleeding. Mushtaque then smiled and said, ‘I am ACP Mushtaque Khan. I had traced all the numbers from which Maithili got those weird messages. They all belonged to someone in this campus. Further tracking led me to the hostel where you live. Yes, Raghav too stays in that hostel, but after I met Raghav, I realized that he is not cruel. I realized you were the meddler when I was informed that you used to interrupt anyone who would talk to Maithili. That’s when I started following you. Even in social media, there was someone stalking Maithili through out. And the IP address belonged to none other than you.’ Sohum Awasthi said savagely, ‘So, what will you do? Put me behind bars? You can’t do anything. You don’t have any concrete evidence.’ Mushtaque smiled and said, ‘Don’t worry about that. I will figure that out. Now come with me to the police station.’ Saying that Mushtaque dragged Sohum Awasthi to the car and drove to the police station.

After reaching the police station, Sohum Awasthi was locked in the lock up. Mushtaque then shared all the details with the officer in charge, the female officer who had recently joined was there. She was the one who had helped in tracing all the details of Sohum Awasthi. While she completed all the formalities for the criminal charges on Sohum Awasthi, Mushtaque stepped out to call Parvati. When Parvati received the call, Mushtaque said, ‘Yes Boss. All done. I am sending the details of the lady officer right away.’ Parvati said, ‘ Please do. I will send her an appreciation mail.’ Parvati received an SMS from Mushtaque. The name of the officer was Shalaka…….’

To be continued…………………….