OH MY LEELA

Chapter 10

Hari prasad POV

I arrived at the coffee shop that Leela mentioned and called her a few times. She didn't pick up, so I decided to grab a table and wait for her. As I scanned for the empty tables at the shop, my gaze fell on Leela, who was engrossed in talking to a boy . I felt a pang of jealousy but quickly brushed it off, as I am no longer her boyfriend. I made my way over to them, trying to hide my disappointment. Since they hadn't noticed me, I tried to get their attention by clearing my throat. Leela looked at me in disbelief.

"Hi Hari prasad.. Satya " she stammered, clearly surprised to see me. I forced a smile and greeted them both, trying to act casual.

"Hey Leela, Is it your friend you were going to have a meeting with?" The guy next to her asked

"Yes, this is Hari prasad, the police officer in Mr. Tilak's case " Leela replied, introducing me to that guy.

"Oh, hi, Mr. Hari prasad, Nice to meet you, I am Satya." He extended his hand, and I shook it firmly, returning the greeting.

"I guess I have to leave now, Leela it was a great time with you... Thank you so much for your time. Can I get your number to keep in touch ? " Satya smoothly transitioned from the introduction to asking for Leela's number. I tried to hide the jealousy bubbling inside of me. They both exchanged their numbers.

"I am sorry, Satya. I really enjoyed our interaction, but I got caught up in work," Leela explained to him, which made me annoyed.

He rose from the chair and gave her a warm smile. "No worries, Leela. I understand. see you soon" he said before leaving the cafe. I took the seat across from Leela, her eyes glued on Satya's retreating figure.

"It looks like I interrupted a moment between you two. I am sorry, but the matter I want to discuss is more important. I said, trying to divert her attention away from Satya.

"Tell me " Leela said , finally tearing her gaze away from the door.

"Leela, we have found the person who caused your accident, his name is Rakesh, and he is none other than..."

"Mr. Tilak's son?" She interrupted, her eyes widening in shock.

"Yes, do you know him personally?" I was surprised by her reaction.

"Nope, I have just seen him in photos. Mr. Tilak told me that he ran away from the house at a young age. what is the motive behind this? "

"We are still working on it, and I think he is also behind Mr. Tilak's death. We have found Tilak's phone inside the van, the driver claimed that it was Rakesh's phone and might have left it there. "

"This is getting more complicated than I thought," she muttered, shaking her head in disbelief. "I can't believe Rakesh would do something like this to his own father."

"Yup, we are doing everything we can to track him down. Hopefully, we will have some answers soon." .... Leela nodded positively.

"And about Mr. Rana, we could not locate him, but I found he stayed in their relative's house in Pavla City 3 years ago.  maybe we can get some information from there" (an imaginary place). I said.

"Pavla City? I think I should go there and see if I can find any leads. Thanks for the information," Leela replied.

"Leela, it's 700 km away. If you'd like, I can follow you. People are reluctant to talk to strangers about personal matters, but they might open up if a police officer asks them to," I suggested.

"I can handle it, Mr. Hari prasad, No worries" she said, looking into my eyes. I can feel the hatred and determination in her eyes.

"Alright, I will send you their address. Have a good journey. That's it from me." I was going to stand up from my seat .

"and Can I ask you one thing?" I gestured for her to go ahead.

"Why did you choose this case? Any particular reason?" Her question made me smile. is she gonna believe me if I say the truth? i decided to tell her what made me to chose this case.

"Leela, since you asked me, I will tell you the reason; it is up to you whether to believe it or not. I chose this case for my lalee, for her protection. To amend the mistakes I made earlier. I can't live with the guilt of hurting my lalee every day. I wanna see her happy, her happiness will  give me peace and free me from the guilt I feeling till this moment., Don't think that I came to bother you. I promise, You would not have any problems because of me" I poured out everything on my mind.

Leela froze in the place. I took a deep breath

"Okay, I think I have to move...Take care" i left the place before she say anything... I need to give her space to process everything I just said. 

I was driving to my home. My past slowly dwelled on me.

FLASHBACK

"Saddu, stop the car; I don't want to come with you," Leela screamed at me after I fetched her from Mr.Tilak's house.

"Leela, let's settle it once we reach our home." I tried to convince her, but it failed. I knew that I had messed up. I should not have misbehaved and chased her from the house. I searched her like a madman. I thought she would be standing in front of my door but she went to Mr.Tilak's home..Thank god my friend helped me to traced her location...

"Correction, it's yours now," she said with tears in her eyes. We reached the house. Leela got out of the car without saying a word and walked straight to the door.

I followed her, feeling regret for my actions. She started to pack the things that belonged to her, indicating that she was serious about leaving.

"Leela, wait. Listen to me once. I promise I will change and make things right," I pleaded, hoping she would give me another chance.

" I can't be with you, You broke my trust" she replied, her voice filled with disappointment. My heart sank at the moment. She continued,

"The possessiveness made you a psycho saddu, I can't tolerate it. I am leaving." Leela's words hit me hard.

"I love you a lot Leela, it's hard for me to live without you, Please don't go. If you had not lied to me, none of the things would happen, Leela... "

"Don't justify your mistake. saddu, you not gonna change, I can't stay in a toxic relationship anymore," Leela said firmly, her eyes filled with tears.

As she turned to walk away, I pushed her inside the room and locked the room door to stop her from leaving. I heard her screaming to open the door, and I stood outside, feeling a mix of regret and desperation.

"I am sorry Leela, i don't have any options to stop you from leaving...have some sleep..i will make it up to you tomorrow " I shouted back from outside and went to kitchen have some alcohol to ease my heart.

The sound of my phone brings me into the reality. I saw messages from Leela saying,

" I have found something related to the stone."

" I need your help to find out about Satyajit, the guy accompanied me to the coffee shop!"