Apple of your eye- Part 27

He was gone! It was a bitter truth. Accepting it was the only option. But she didn't want to do this. She still had hope that he would come back. Love could do miracles, they say. Did this magic work even in real world?

How much ever she would try imagining that he would come back, this was not going to be possible. Nanda felt miserable , looking at her plight. He wished that he hadn't told her. " I am sorry", he whispered , handing her a piece of paper that looked like a bus ticket. It was from Amritsar to Delhi.

She was startled and asked " What is this?" " Lieutnant Saab wanted us to escort you to Delhi where he enrolled you into one of the  Delhi school so you could complete your studies snd achieve your dreams. He also wanted to come with you. Due to serious conditions, he couldn't make it.", he replied.

She cried out loud. Memories of the time when he had said that her dreams were important to him played in her mind. She kneeled down due to hopelessness and weakness. For the first time, she understood the importance of his love in her life. She didn't know that when he was there.

" Can you Atleast tell me the reason that he had to leave me ?",she asked out of blue. Nanda wasn't sure whether she was brave enough to hear his account of Abhinav's death. He looked at her soft eyes. They needed answer and he couldn't say no. " We had an emergency. Mohi- ud-deen had struck again and Abhinav didn't want to lose this battle. He fought him single handedly. He died ... Fighting for you, your family, your sister and every single country men.", he said , remembering the final moments of Abhinav where he had walked bravely into Mohi- ud-deen's house and shot him point blank. But he couldn't survive the attack from Mohi-ud-deen's men.


Nanda left her safetly in custody of his widowed aunty. His aunt was the only family he was left with. However things had turned haphazard at the army base when he had come back. Nanda was arrested for the crime he hadn't done. He was charged for being the mascot of Mohi-ud-deen and Abhinav wasn't given the name for his heroic action. Abhinav's name was blacklisted and held as the shame of the army. Nanda stared at the Major. He was surprised at him. He had served the country only to be deceived by it's own people. Major dialled a number. It was Anish Khan. " Your work is done.  Nanda is arrested and now we will get the girl.", Major said. " Leave the girl! I just wanted Mohi- ud- deen dead and the balance between fear and life maintained . My work is done and you will get your money soon.", Anish smirked. It was ironical that people had to be very careful of people around them.

                       **** the end*****

Apple of your eye - part 26

Soon! He said he would come soon. Days passed by like hours and there was no sign of him. She would ask Nanda about him to only hear that there was no message for her from him. She was wrecked but she never lost hope.

Nightmares and fear that he would be in grave danger would always trouble. However her faith never let her lose the fight against the disappointments. She knew he would come now. He's only stuck up somewhere.

She saw the branches of the tree swaying to the music of wind. It seemed happy , enjoying the music. Everything or everyone  around her looked happy except her. How could she be happy when the only source of her life was lost?

 She had lost everything - her family, her dreams and happy memories. He was the only one whom she could call her own. If he was lost, she had nothing. Her life would be void. There would be no source or hope to stay alive.

She was in her own world when Nanda walked upto her and placed his hand on her shoulder gently. " Aafreen.. I have.. something to tell you", he said softly.  She looked at him with pale eyes begging for good news. Unfortunately his face said something else .. Something that she wouldn't want to hear.

" He .. He's no more!", he said with lot of  emotions and grief. She didn't want to hear this! He cannot be gone. Nanda was lieing. "No!!! I know he isn't gone." , she cried loudly. Nanda knew that she was not going to believe him. But he had to tell her somehow .. the truth that he had kept for many weeks.

( To be continued)

Apple of your eye- Part 25

Love is not easy. It has been widely mistaken for other expressions. He only wanted her to know that his love wasn't fake. It was real and he was always there for her.

The words weren't coming out. She was here. Everything was perfect. His heart beat faster than the time. There was something things to say. But he didn't know where to start. He wiped the sweat from his forehead though weather was cold.

" ummm... Aafreen!! I .. I know you have been through a lot these days. And I don't want to burden...", he couldn't complete his sentence when a four wheeler stopped in front of them. Nanda came out of the vehicle with two other officers.

Something looked wrong. Nanda's face never lied. It was written clearly on his face that something had gone terribly wrong. " What happened?", Abhinav asked. " Mohi-ud-deen has striked again. He has attacked the busy market in Srinagar. Hundred civilians have lost their lives. We have sent our troops but it was too late.", one of the officers replied.

Abhinav was furious. He folded his fist tightly and raised and then dropped it again in anger. " Why were we not there on time? I don't understand! We had planned that there will enough troops so that we could strike back.", Abhinav said angrily. After moving like a wounded lion, he shot back, " We will not lose any more lives. Take Aafreen back to the quarters, Nanda. And you guys (looking at the two officers) are coming with me." He kissed Aafreen on her forehead and promised her that he will be back soon.

( To be continued)

Apple of your eyes - Part 24

She was in state of agony for days. She hadn't slept or eaten. She constantly blamed herself for everything. She worried about her parents. Did they know about her death? She was sure that her uncle had woven some story over her death to her family.

Safina's death had caused emotional breakdown in the house. Her parents had locked themselves and didn't face the society due to fear of their wrath. They couldn't face Mohi-ud-deen.

Mohi-ud-deen had to bring things under control. His niece's mistake had caused a lot of loss to him. He made sure that he would punish her so that no one would ever think of betraying him. He had washed out her family in cold blood. Her sister's death and public mockery was more than enough for destroying her family.




 Eventually she would come back to see her family one last time and then he could kill her. He smiled at the thought of slashing her in cold blood. Then her love would follow her and get trapped in his own death trap.

Abhinav couldn't bear her pain anymore. He had taken her for drive to clear her mind. He had been doing this for quite sometime. But he failed every time. Then Nanda's idea of proposing her for marriage was the only option. He had kept that aside for long time. Now it was time to use when nothing worked.

The sunset was perfect. The orange sky set the mood of romance even during the time of crisis. The weather was freezing cold and the cold wind blowing time to time had dipped the temperature. She hadn't even looked at him even for  a minute during the whole journey. He had stopped his jeep at the end of road , thinking of words that would bring out his true feelings. He wanted her to smile again..the one that he had seen when he first met her and fell in love with her.

( To be continued)

Apple of your eye- part 23

She was surprised at how her sister was being treated. Did uncle know about this? She had to find uncle soon. She was about to get up and stop this nonsense. But he stopped her and whispered, " Don't go! They might see you."

She blinked at him with disbelief. " My sister is in danger. How can I stand and watch and do nothing? Let me go!", she said , resisting his hold . His grip became tighter with every second. She felt the pain but she couldn't do anything and simply watch her sister being tortured.

Then few minutes of relief came in form of her uncle. At last she was convinced that her sister was no longer in danger. But that was only for few minutes. She saw him grab her sister by her hair and point the revolver on her head.



Her sister saw the last ray of light when she was put to rest forever by her uncle. Her uncle wasn't even moved by her sister death. She wanted to scream which she couldn't do. She was helpless for the first time. The emotions were bursting out and Abhinav knew she would break down any moment.

He rushed her to the army base. They stayed in the jeep for sometime.  " I am sorry! I shouldn't have taken you out. I.. It's okay to cry and I am there for you.", he tried best to consoled her. He was bad at consoling people.. sympathising was something he hadn't learnt to do in life.

She started crying slowly though she didn't want to. She was angry and furious at her uncle but crying only made her feel vulnerable. All that love and respect for her Uncle felt nothing and she wished that she hadn't seen this side of her uncle. "How could he kill his own niece? I hate him!", she cried out her feelings. He held her in his arms and was guilty for showing the real face of her uncle to her.

( To be continued)

Apple of your eye- Part 22

His eyes were wide open at hearing her say Anish Khan's name . “ ANISH KHAN!! They were getting you married to that guy. Unbelievable!!", he said in astonishment. He couldn't believe his eyes that a man like Mohi- ud- deen could go to an extent of marrying his beloved niece to a man who had grandchildren of her age.

" Why? What is so unbelievable ? Do you know Anish Khan? ", she asked with confusion. She didn't understand about the expression of disbelief used by him. “ Do you know Anish Khan? He is the most wanted man in the world. Didn’t your uncle say anything about him to you?”, he said dryly. She still stared at him with disbelief.

“ No I don’t! Can you be clear? What do you mean my uncle didn’t say anything ? Are you accusing him of keeping something about Anish Khan? Then why don’t you tell me what you know about him?”, she argued. He took deep breath and searched words to disclose the secret world of her uncle to her. He felt guilty of breaking the nice picture she had carried about him.





" (Sigh!) What I am going to say may be heartbreaking to you and I am not asking to believe me totally. But this is a bitter truth. I ... Your uncle and Anish had made a deal to each other that he will provide Anish with everything for power and that included you too. Anish wanted you in exchange of creating a relationship with him. So your uncle shamelessly offered you for marriage to Anish who is three times older than you. This is not enough. There are great tales of your uncle that would change your perspective about him forever.", he said with deep sorrow

She slapped him hard which reddened his fair cheeks. "How dare you speak about my uncle? You have no rights to insult my uncle like that. Whatever you have heard is all false rumours about him. " , she cried. " I knew you wouldn't believe me ! Ok ! I will take you to your uncle  so that you can see the proofs by yourself.", he said.

He dragged her to the stationed jeep where he drove towards her uncle's house. Mohi- ud-deen's men guarded his place with all their eyes watchful over any impending danger. Aafreen and Abhinav hid , making sure that they weren't visible to Mohi- ud-deen's men. Suddenly she saw her sister with Shaukeen. She was overwhelmed for few seconds but it changed into shock instantly when she saw her being dragged and beaten by Shaukeen.

( To be continued

Apple of your eye- Part 21

The letter read-

Dear Uncle

I am sorry for disappointing you. But this is not where my heart belongs. I had given my heart to a man you wouldn’t approve due to him being jawan. I feel guilty of telling you my true feelings now. Trust me, I wasn’t aware of my true feeling until I realised that I wasn’t happy.

I know I have destroyed the family name and everything you made by your sheer hard work. But if I had married the man you chose, no one would ever be happy. You had always thought me to do what your heart says. And my heart says that I would be doing injustice to everyone around me. Thus I am leaving you and everyone without confronting you in person. I wanted to confront you but this is not right time. Don’t worry about me, he will take good care of me.

Please forgive me for being a coward. I will surely come to take your blessings once you approve us with open arms.

Love

Apple of your eye- Aafreen

Her uncle was furious with her sudden disappearance. Her letter was of no help to calm down his raising fury. He tore the letter into multitude of pieces. The apple of his eyes became the cause of his broken dreams. The wedding was called off and so was the deal. It didn’t end there. Her uncle used her sister ( Safina) as a bait to bring her back. “ Bring her sister!”, he ordered one of his man. They bought her to him and he slapped her tight. His eyes were red and his voice was heavy. “ Your sister has no idea of how much insult she has caused to me. I did so much to her and in the end this is the way she shows her gratitude. Now I will show who really I am..”, he spoke loud and clear,

He was having heated discussion with the Major on their plans to bring down Mohi-ud-deen. A lower  rankl official knocked the door , informing him about someone waiting for him. He was confused. Who could it be? Was it one of his informers who had some new information about the enemies? He rushed out to see that his angel was standing in bridal wear. She looked stunning in the red dress though with minimal makeup. She wore a long red salwar that covered her legs completely. Her eyes sparkled with love for him.

He hugged her and asked, “ I am so delighted that you are here. I knew you would come.”. He hugged her once more. This time, he didn’t want to leave her. He wasn’t ashamed of the gaping army officials. The only thing he cared about was her. “ I am sorry for disapproving your love. I was… not sure.. But today I realised that what big mistake I would have made if I married Anish Khan” He looked at her with bewilderment. She stared back at him with the same confusion and fear if she had said something wrong.

( To be continued)