MISUNDERSTOOD - an Arylie Story

•23

It was a dusty underground room. The lights were flickering and one could barely see anything ahead—let alone a person.

In the darkness of this very room, a deal was being agreed upon, as two hands shook over the table, in a firmly-gripped handshake.

Aditya Kumar Tripathi shared one hand from it—while the other belonged to "Dir Bhai", as everyone called him popularly.

Aditya spoke now, in a quiet voice—

"What we agreed upon—when can you carry it out—by latest?"

Dir Bhai was now eyeing the person sitting across him with a curious look.

This guy looked like he belong from an otherwise respectable family—a so called "journalist", as informed by his sources, who had reported on many crimes himself.

Then what was he doing here in a place like this?

Dir Bhai spoke, his tone edging like a sword—which took Aditya back by surprise.

"The work will be done—no worries about that. We can plan for it properly later..."

"BUT, most importantly— the sum...the sum has to be paid in full. If not... it will not look too good for you...or any of your family members we may find out about!"

He said this with a malicious grin—now flashing his otherwise crooked teeth at him.

Aditya was bound to let this man know that he always kept to his word—his pride still standing strong by him, undiminished.

"I'll have you know, Mister, that I fully intend on keeping up to my end of the bargain—unless you don't carry out the task properly..."

Dir Bhai shifted in his chair a little—and the two men seated behind him, also shifted from their place at the same time.

It felt very threatening as Aditya quickly straightened up and broke into a sweat.

"Look here...guy....you have some nerve coming to my den and telling ME this!
But I'll have you know...don't take me for granted!
I can be ruthless ....and I can be gracious. Take your pick."

"....And yes, if your tone changes one more time, nobody will know what happened to you apart from a newspaper clipping, labelling a sudden, mysterious disappearance."

He chuckled softly now seeing Aditya's shocked face.

"Ok ok fine! There's no need for us to get worked up! What I meant is—let the job be done successfully and I will be paying the amount in full, without question."

"I can give you more details—if you'd like. Place...timings...whatever you need! Just take care of that man for me, please."

Dir Bhai now was taking a keen look at the picture handed to him. It looked like some business man, some no-nonsense guy who seemed pretty powerful.

He looked up again at him, speaking now in a quieter voice,

"What has he done, eh?—looks pretty decent—how much money is involved—?"

Aditya spoke quickly, "No such thing Bhai...some people are just there to take you for a ride—just wanting to rip a hole in your otherwise peaceful existence. They interfere everywhere and take everything from you!"

"I mean...I have tried to be gracious to this person...talk to him...but he clearly just doesn't get a hint. He's bound to ruin my life—and I won't let that happen. So now, we deal with this the other way."

Aditya knew very well he was a firm believer of the morals and principles his faith had been based on for all these years.

But now, there stood a man in his way—for whom to take a stand against— none of this would have seemed to work.

He had lost so much in his life already that he realised that even if he went by his principles, it wouldn't help him achieve anything in this matter.

All these thoughts had consumed him completely. And now...he really didn't care if they even called him a mad man!

He understood very well, that he couldn't go about the straight, legal path to bring this man down—no, he didn't have the power for that.

It HAD to somehow be this route.

"No...not any serious damage...just enough to make him realise what he has done..." he reasoned quietly to himself, trying to justify his actions.

Dir Bhai passed the photo to the two other guys behind him, telling them slowly,

"Ok, then! Take a good look fellas, this is...Aryan Singh Rathore...."