Together Hamesha❤

Chapter 21

Everyone's heads turned in the direction of the voice. The person who stood at the entrance, left all of them, except Manik, in a state of bewilderment. Mukti stood there like a statue, staring at him. She felt as if her body had forgotten how to react. They all had lost count of the number of shocks they had received in a day and they didn't know if they could survive another one of those, if thrown their way. Little did they know that the most dreadful of those awaited them.

Mukti : Tu.. Tum yaha? 

Her voice was almost inaudible but Manik caught her words. The person walked towards them. He came and stood in front of the Inspector. The Inspector's eyes had widened in confusion. 

Inspector : Yeh aap kya keh rahe hai? Hume Mr. Malhotra ki jali hui gaadi mili hai aur uske paas ek jali hui body bhi. Waha se thodi hi duri par hume unka phone bhi mila hai. Agar aap Mr. Malhotra hai toh woh body kiski hai? 

It was the person's turn to be puzzled. 

Person : Nahi nahi, Inspector sir. Aap galat samajh rahe hai. Mei Manik nahi hu. (Turning towards Manik and pointing towards him) Yeh Mr. Manik Malhotra hai. Mei toh Abhimanyu hu. 

The Inspector glanced at Manik who came forward. 

Manik : Yes Inspector. Mei hi Manik Malhotra hu. Aapko koi misunderstanding hui hogi. Woh body meri nahi hai. 

Inspector : Lekin hume aapki gaadi highway par mili thi aur uske paas aapka phone bhi mila tha. And when we ran the number plate in our database, it was registered on your name. Agar aap Mr. Malhotra hai toh woh body kiski hai? Aur jab humne subah Miss Mukti ko call kia tha tab unhone hume kyu nahi bataya ki aap zinda hai? 

The Inspector questioned Manik. 

Manik : I'm sorry Inspector. Actually kal raat ko mei apni gaadi lekar highway par gaya tha aur waha mera ek chota sa accident hogaya tha. Shayad tabhi mera phone waha par gir gaya hoga. Aur ussi waqt waha mujhe Abhimanyu mila tha. Wo hi mujhe farmhouse lekar aaya tha. Aur humne meri gaadi waha highway par hi chod di thi.

All heads turned in Manik's direction at this new piece of information. Everyone stared at him in astonishment except one person. Mukti. She gaped at Manik in disbelief. Her mind wandered back to the conversation that took place between Manik and her after he had returned the previous night. "Why didn't he tell her that Abhimanyu was alive when she was crumbling to pieces yesterday? He, out of everyone, knew how much she missed Abhimanyu and he still chose to hide the truth from her? Why?" These were her only thoughts. She lowered her head and stared at her feet.

Inspector : Toh kisine phone par kyu kuch nahi bataya?

Manik : Actually mei subah bahar gaya tha aur maine kisiko inform nahi kia tha. Aur unhe mere accident ke baare mei bhi nahi pata tha. Isliye jab aapne mere phone se call kia toh inhe laga ki jo aap keh rahe hai wahi sach hai. I'm sorry aapko itni pareshaani hui. 

Inspector : That's not a problem Mr. Malhotra. Yeh toh hamara kaam hai. In fact I'm sorry ki subah subah maine aapke friends ko ek itni devastating news di jo sach bhi nahi thi. 

Manik : No Inspector. Ismei aapki koi galti nahi hai. Aap sirf apna kaam kar rahe the.

The Inspector smiled and nodded. He removed Manik's phone from the plastic bag in his hand and handed it over to Manik. 

Inspector : Yeh lijiye aapka phone.

Manik took the phone from his hands.

Inspector : Also, kya aapko koi idea hai ki woh body kiski ho sakti hai? 

Manik : Nahi. 

Inspector : Okay. We'll look into that matter. Thank you for your time. And once again, sorry for the inconvenience.