Arjun tried to read Rathore’s face, it had a blend of emotions- ‘Nervousness’ being the dominant one. Rathore had settled next to Arjun, he shifted in his chair anxiously, preparing himself. Gathering courage, he opened his mouth, “Rawte! Vo..”, not knowing how to start. Just when the door banged open and Chotu entered.
Rathore looked at him annoyed. “Sir, vo Arjun sir ke liye khana laya hoo. Unko dawai khani h naa.”
“Very good! Thank you, ab jao.”, Rathore almost snatched the food packet from his hand and shooed him out of the conference room.
Rathore handed over the food to Arjun and asked him to finish it. This time he decided to sit exactly in front of Arjun, so that he can analyse his reactions, and for his own safety, of course.
He settled in his chair and saw Arjun busy with his food. “Rawte, there’s something very important I need to speak to you about. You need to...”
The door opened again and Rathore almost pulled his hair in frustration. “What now?”, he shouted. A scared Shree fumbled with words, showing the bottle of water he had brought for Arjun. “Sirrrr, paa...ni.”
He quickly placed it in front of Arjun and began moving out, when Rathore spoke up,” Riya, vo bhi aa rhi hogi?”
Arjun was enjoying all of this. Rathore, the ETF Chief, frustrated over not being able to talk to ‘HIM'. He found it funny.
“Haan sir, vo sir ki dawaai..” stammered Shree and stopped midway seeing Rathore’s annoyed face.
Just then, they heard footsteps and knew Riya was here too. Arjun kept looking at Rathore’s face suppressing his smile, while Rathore just folded his arms across his chest. As soon as Riya walked in the room, she saw the three men staring at her. Arjun stretched his hand in front of her and she handed over the medicine she had brought for him.
“Ek ghante k liye teeno gayb ho jao, aur nazar mat aana", Rathore jumped out of his seat and shooed them out of the conference room just like a herder does to his cattle.
Arjun was just surprised at his eagerness to speak to him.
“Tumhe aise kabhi nahi dekha Rathore!”, he spoke worriedly .
Hearing this, Rathore’s last string of patience snapped.
“Ye hi problem h tumhari Rawte, tumhe kuch dikhai hi to nahi deta. Case k saboot dikhai dena kaafi nahi hota h Rawte zinda rehne k liye. Tum kabhi apne badle mein andhe ho jaate ho aur kabhi apne gusse mein.”
Arjun was shocked. What was wrong with this man. He had been dying all this while to scold him.
An angry Arjun stood up from his chair to leave the conference room, when Rathore began speaking again.
“Haan, walk out kr do. Jaise hi kuch aisa bolo jo tum sunna nahi chahte, to gussa karo aur bhaag jao. Par aaj to tumko sunna pdega Rawte. Tumhe sabak sikhana bhi to zaroori h.”
Arjun’s eyes widened at his last words.
“Riya tumse baat nahi kar rahi, achcha nahi lgg rha naa tumhe? Abhi to sirf Riya nahi kr rhi, bhot jaldi sab baat krna bnd kr denge tumse. Agar tum sabko aise hi dukh dete rahoge. Sb tumse door ho jaenge Rawte. Aur ye mat kehna k tumhe kisi ki zroorat nahi, sb jaanta hoon main.”
His words had silenced Arjun. These were truth bombs he was dropping on him today and he was not clearly ready for it. But what surprised him was the fact that he still knew him inside out.
“Roshni chali gayi Rawte, main janta hu, tum use insaaf dilaana chahte ho, m bhi chahta hu, vo meri bhi dost thi. Par jo tum kar rahe ho, vo galat h. Roshni ye to kabhi nahi chahte hogi. Tum apne aas-paas k logon ko dukh de rahe ho, Roshni ko dukh de rahe aur khud ko bhi dukh de rahe ho. Dekho mujhe, Shree, Riya, Chotu ko, kuch hi log bache h jo tumhari fikr karte h, tumhare aise attitude k bawjood. Aur tumhe is baat ki bilkul value nahi h. Sb chale jaenge Rawte, aur tum sirf pachhtate reh jaoge. Tumhara ego...”
