Indifferent is not a reaction, it's another type of expression. If it was not, it would be normal and not Indifference.
--
"Aha!" cried Sameer mockingly as the ETF team burst through the door, "who knew we would find the CEO of a multi-million dollar Enterprise in a wife-beater, with his secretary on desk?"
"Well," Rawte mused, casually looking over everywhere and to the CEO himself, as the secretary busied herself to get her clothes off floor and leave the cabin, "when I didn't see the secretary in question outside, I had a tiny amount of suspicion . . . "
The CEO looked out of his game at the circumstances, horrified and ashamed, while the rest of team having laughs at his expense. Everyone was silent for a while, chuckling under breath, until ACP Mukherjee spoke, "What the hell is wife beater?"
"The piece of garment on his upper body." Shree spoke beside her quietly, to which Chotu and Sakshi scoffed. the former's eyes widen at the garment, making the CEO wanting to bury himself six feet under earth, and then she started to laugh hysterically, the kind of laugh that fill your eyes with tears and shake your whole body. the CEO looked more scandalous, and the team looked at one of their own part amused and part surprised, never hearing more than chuckle from her. she continued to laugh for a full minute, still could not stop laughing as she asked, "What is this name?"
"The things society force us males to wear . . . " Sameer replied good humouredly, and Rawte decided the joke has gone too far. he cleared his throat, effectively killing all fun, but she was still red with all the laugh and questions that how on Earth one piece of garment can earn such a name! she sobered up as they confronted the CEO and arrested him, and after descending 24 floors and handing him over to the local Police, when the team was near the SUVs to head back to ETF, Chotu's low well timed comment set her off once again.
It seemed like she was over her anger, Rawte thought in mind as he along with the rest of team came out of elevator. the flashes of that evening clouded his mind, her carefully controlled anger and the way she threatened him, skipping his heart a beat for all wrong reasons. It's been 3 days since then, she took off that night and only came through today in that CEO's office to join the team. she looked same, eyes going everywhere, the same McDonald mug in hand, intimidating yet in total confidence, with sarcasm and snarky comments thrown here and there. she so much as didn't even give a glance to Sakshi, which was understandable, and till now though she and him didn't have any one to one convo or no lonely moment, it looked it was going good.
They barely came out from the elevator when the receptionist ran toward them, telling her to visit the Director ASAP. everyone eyed the ACP, to which she rolled eyes, walking toward the Shree's desk and taking out a file from one of its drawer, to which the IT head frowned, mumbling, "I didn't keep that there."
apparently, she did stop by the office, and the second-in-command's suspicion was only confirmed by the receptionist who sighed and said it's the second time the Director is asking for her.
that night after she left, he spent a good amount of time lecturing the crime journo to stop poking her nose in others matter. while initially she accepted her mistake about background search, she didn't accept it was something intruding as the info was already there, she just did a research. he didn't even want to know what the hell was that damned paper cutting that sent everything out of control, he shouted more and she went red eyed and sniffed a little bit, still adamant about her view but informing she will explain and apologize to the lady officer.
though he was not sure how anyone, let alone her, can explain such a thing. he didnt want to think about the apology part either.
as he headed for his cabin and settled down on his seat, spinning it sideways, he thought once again the literal kill looks on her face that night and sighed once again. can one really get over that much anger?
he shook his head, bracing himself for the impact, while enjoying the calm before the storm.
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"It can't go on like this." the words were out as soon as the door was banging and the whirlwind of ACP Mukherjee entered the Director's cabin, while the assistant of Director shaking her head from outside at the lack of etiquette.
the officer raised her one eyebrow in response. the Director leaned on her seat, leveling her with a look which will look and feel like glare to others but to her? like parent disapproving to their kids, which she never liked anyway . . .
"I knew it will be like this. Breaking protocols, putting others risk. It cant go on like this." she paused, "more than one week earlier, you were diffusing a bomb in middle of a bus stop,"
"which was deserted and I was an expert." the ACP countered.
"And now you take off and don't come in here for 3 days, no leave of application or anything." she continued as if the former didn't even open her mouth, "what is this for you? playground? where you can come and go as you please? It can't go on like this, I won't let you . . . "
"I brought paper work for you." she waved a red file at her, and tossed it on her table next moment.
that has to be the most unusual line to shut someone up. The Director stopped abruptly, brows frowning, maybe she didn't hear her right. then she looked at the file, turned over one page or two, eyes widening.
"Who's work it is?" she asked, even if the familiar handwriting was evident enough. the other smiled politely.
"Mine, Madam Director." for the first time in days. . . months, Director Kapoor heard the designation coming out of her mouth in less than mocking tone. she seemed . . . sincere?
"You never do paper work." the suspicion was on red alert now. she shrugged.
"I thought to make it up, the leave and that bomb stunt." what was this, an apology in Riya Mukherjee version? what this world has come to?
The Director merely stared at the officer, something was off. she looked good, no anger or humor in those eyes, she was looking sincere for god's sake! there was no smirk too, which was so odd, it was like a second skin to her.
nothing looked out of place.
she glanced at the paper work.
something was definitely wrong.
"All okay?" she asked casually, knowing better to ask outright as she will get no answer, good mood or not.
"Yeah."
"Why take 3 days off then?" the frown was back. she shrugged once again, rubbing neck . . . who is this person? some imposter? the idea was so absurd that she shook her head to clear thoughts.
"Wanted some personal time." she replied, her voice serious, "I'll leave a paper next time."
the Director nodded suspiciously, eyeing her. the officer met her eyes.
"Hopefully that," she pointed at the file, "will make up for everything."
after the officer left, the Director jumped at once on the file, tearing apart and checking for anything, a big 'joke' written inside, missing papers, blank papers, hell, something in foreign symbols to make sure it was just a joke from her side. nothing was out of place, everything too damn perfect in the report, and there was not even one spelling mistake.
she always knew if the ACP ever put her mind into report filing, she can achieve it too well. now, she has this file.
she huffed, leaning back on seat, the papers mocking her. it all seemed like a big joke, yet nothing was off. should she dread or wait for the next part of joke?
it was like the first day of college, looking over shoulder to check if there is any prank in any corner.
she growled in frustration, slamming the file shut.
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It was almost funny to watch, the ever to bubbly and cheeky the crime journo, the resident PR manager of ETF, eyeing everything nervously and rubbing her sweaty palms in her dress, not sure how to proceed the ACP whom, when she last saw, wanted to kill by her eyes only. The ACP in question of course noticed her, even though she was playing in her smart phone and trying to appear busy.
the former cleared her throat, and the ACP thought about time . . . "Um. . . Ri. . . ACP Mukherjee? Do you have a minute?"
its astonishing, and amusing, the way people behave when they are on the guilty side. if anyone had said to the officer the crime journo will address her by her surname, she would have scoffed, and now?
she merely moved her eyes from phone, enjoying it too much. she went for calm and normal stare, but something must have been off because the crime journo looked flustered and scared than ever.
its not like the ACP was not angry anymore. but these 3 days helped, and now, she can control her desire for violence. the anger was subdued, non threatening, and she will as far as go to avoid the other woman like she doesn't exist to spare herself from the extra exhaustion. she already has so many things to be angry about, rich parents, dead lover, Raghu sir and his stubborn head, the paper work she did just to stop breaking everything in her apartment because it was too messy and there was nothing else she could break . . . its already taking so much, she wants to keep some reserved for criminals and crime scenes.
"I. . . " the journo cleared her throat again, quite unnecessarily, "I just wanted to apologize. . . for that . . . night." her voice dropped an octave, like its a secret.
she waited for the other to say something, but she merely turned her eyes to her phone, making her feeling stupid and confused at once. she expected some comments, and after several moments, cleared her throat again.
"Need cough syrup?" came the reply.
"I am sorry."
"It was audible." she replied in her same bored tone. the crime journo blinked.
"So? That's it?" she took a step, "you are not going to say anything?"
"Should I?" the officer asked in the same tone. she was frustrated by now.
"Do you want to hear something else? Or long rant about how sorry I am feeling?"
"I don't want anything from you." the officer put her phone down and gave her an icy stare, "Anything." she emphasized with each syllable.
"At least have the decency to say 'Its okay.'" the crime journo snapped. it set off the officer, but unlike Chotu that day earlier. this time, the icy glare was replaced with fire and she turned her chair fully to her, dropping her elbows on table and leaning on it.
"You are the last person to talk about decency, so dont expect anything in return." she continued, leaving the crime journo stunned with embarrassment and the coldness in her voice, like she is someone less than human who is not worth of even talking, "I cant say its okay, because it was NOT. you search about me sitting in here and hand pieces of my past over to everyone, thats not okay. I cant see any decency to expect an 'its okay' for the apology you dont even feel. If I feel even a tiny shift in this team's attitude toward me, just because you handed them over some paper related to me, I swear it won't end well for you." she stared at her long after the speech was over, and the crime journo jumped a foot in air when someone behind her spoke.
"Um . . . did I just walk into some ladies chat?" Shree eyed the two women. the ACP didnt even blink, neither she looked at the IT head.
"No Genius, our crime journo was just heading out."
Shree frowned back and forth at the ladies, which only deepened when the crime journo nodded and hurriedly exited the room. his gaze met the ACP, who merely shrugged. he could swear there was something off in her eyes and her breathing, but then it all was gone and she was asking him lightly, "whatcha got?"
For the rest of day, nobody saw the crime journo in ETF building.
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"What's up?"
Sameer Rathore was the observation-ist of team, if there is any term. He sees too much, observing people's behavior, their movement of eyes and body language. while its good for cases, it can be pretty annoying when tested on actual humans.
from past three days he was noticing the shift in his team. while all looked pretty normal, as normal as it can be considering the work they all do, he could feel something was different, and surprisingly, it involved the bubbly crime journo, the on and off ACP and the second on command himself. if he was a dreamer, he would have think it as a triangle of love with two beautiful women, but when one woman in question doesn't look slightest bit interested in anything . . . organic, so that was a moot point. he noticed how Sakshi was quiet these days, avoid eye contact or chiming in with the ACP, and he noticed Arjun noticing the two women, noticing the former more if he is being exact. Riya also avoiding any direct contact with the second in command, no interrogation trips with him or verbal bickering.
yes, something was off.
He was never the one for mysteries, and damn him, if the latest-but-not-newest-anymore ACP Mukherjee is no less than an enigma herself, contradictions-brooding-play full-open-closed off, all thrown into a blender. so he asked her straight one afternoon as the woman sipped machine coffee of ETF, offended at the smell and taste.
she looked over head and answered seriously, ''the ceiling, and lights."
he rolled eyes, "I didn't mean that. What's with the subtle tension with our in-house journalist and Boss?" his tone was just like her when she used to call, before . . . well, before.
she gave a look, and he rephrased.
"Okay, you never liked Sakshi, and the feeling was mutual, no offense." he continued, "what about Boss then? why no verbal war which can equal world wars?"
"Didn't know someone miss those." she murmured dryly, making face as she took another sip.
"Trust me, everyone does." he assured, "so, what's up?"
"I just realized talking to him did wonders to my hormones." she replied deadpanned. if he didn't know better, he would have thought her answer was serious.
"Oh please."
"This one is better." she finally gave up on the coffee and threw it in dustbin, "I realized I have a crush on him, and my impulse needs some work."
he gave her his classic dont-BS-me-look which he mastered over years, giving them often to Arjun, "Yeah right. anything else? are you going to tell me you are an alien? Superwoman by night? Assassin hired to kill PM? A Nerd with crazy fantasies?"
she just stared, which said he is not getting any answers from her, not that he was hoping any. he wanted a hint, and his BFF needs more pestering in that area, he thought he can work one or two hints if the female throw at him. turned out, both of them are stubborn in that way.
"If you are serious," he hopped on the nearest table, "you don't have to control your impulses."
"Oh?" she raised her eyebrow good humouredly.
"I am sure he won't mind," he paused, thinking if he should stop now, but then realized she is the last person to gossip or rub people off the wrong way with their personal details, this much he can count on her, "with his recent singlehood and all that."
''Does that mean I have your blessing?" she asked mockingly, crossing arms over chest. he nodded.
"Totally. Go for it, he won't even know what hit him."
"Thanks." she quipped, smirking. then the moment was broken as Chotu was calling them for case discussion and both of them were heading that way.
At least Sameer Rathore has two mysteries to solve now.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Patience, Riya." Raghu sir replied calmly, which only added to the irritation.
"I am not exactly known for patience." she tapped her fingers on glass wall, "How far are you? when I can have him?"
"We are getting there."
"Sir." she gritted teeth.
Raghu sir gave some replies like she will soon get he chance, they are halfway there, Johny is stubborn. she was only half listening, and had to control the urge to hurl the phone across the room when he cut the call. she took breaths, one two three, and found the irritation level was slightly over.
Of course, she had to pull a temper tantrum in middle of case discussion. never the one for subtlety.
she was stubborn, and wrong, ignoring the second in command for days now. it was not effecting cases or anything, but today, he seemed extra agitated, already shouted at receptionist because she sent the wrong file and talked quite rudely to the Father of the victim who was, surely, a pedophile, judging by his internet history Shree dig out. she cant blame about the father, but hey, that receptionist was not his PA.
if he thought he can get away doing that to her . . .
The case was simple, actually, Pedophilic father, estranged mother, a drug addict son who killed someone with his car while he was on high. the driver took the blame, if only one of these three crack under their interrogations and confess that son was not home for party that night and was busy driving around city until he ended up killing someone. simple, but frustrating.
The second in command was more on edge, maybe because of what Rathore said, Love does shitty things when its getting away from you. But then, you cant yell at everyone for that. Total hypocrisy, coming from her, but then she was always selfish like that.
she was trying to appear busy with her phone, in middle of case discussion, unprofessional and enough to set him off. and it did.
"Its a case discussion." he was using that loud voice, "Put the phone down."
she never liked people shouting at her, and suddenly it was a contest who can show more anger. she didnt move the phone a bit, just gave him a look as she said, "I am listening."
"Its distracting."
"Then dont get distract."
every one of them was giving her a look which said dont do this and then changed to lets see how this goes.
"I said put the phone down." he was growling now. she tilted her head.
"Or, what?"
"Can you just not create a scene while we are discussing a case?"
"Can you just NOT yell at everyone?" she countered, slamming the palm on table, "frankly, its distracting."
he gave a look to others, and everyone hurried to exit the room, not want to be collateral damage in middle of cross fire. she stood as well, as he took some steps toward her.
"I get that you are angry at me for that night." he spoke, voice low but the anger was evident, "But that doesn't mean you have a right to take it out in front of whole team."
"Trust me, if I was taking it out?" she paused, leaning forward slightly, "you would have known."
he looked around, to calm himself down or divine intervention, she didnt know, "There was no fault of mine. I was just at the wrong place at wrong time. Your anger is totally misplaced."
"Did I ask?" she questioned rhetorically. he threw his hands up in frustration, making others outside jump.
"So what do you want? A written apology? Verbal one? Tell me what is it do you want and just spare me!"
"Dont. Shout." she gritted her teeth, "I am not the receptionist to take it quietly, and I dont want anything from you."
"So what is this, really?" he took another step, invading her personal space, "why this anger? or its just your way to make me feel guilty even when there was no fault of mine?" he took a breath, trying to calm himself down, "so this will continue?" he gestured with hand, "this antics in front of team? disobeying me?"
she didn't answer, just merely locked her eyes with his. he exhaled another breath.
"If this happens ever, and I am serious, I will be forced to include the Director."
she laughed at it, eyes going cold, "She is not my Mother or someone to put collar around my neck."
"Its a team, Riya." he replied, "you need to respect it."
when she didn't reply, he decided it's time he showed her who's the boss, "as long as you are going to disobey me, its better if you don't join field work."
she gave a look, which said she didn't really believe him. he sighed.
"I am serious." he caught her wrist, to warn her or show her serious he was, or maybe both. as usual, it had the opposite reaction, as she caught his own wrist with the same hand and was groping him rather painfully.
"Like I said, she is not my Mother." she forced his hand to free her wrist, "and you are not someone who can order me around. as far as team goes, my disobedience is not creating any obstruction for them, so it should be enough." she took a small step toward him so that their nose was almost touching, "And Don't. Yell. At. Me. I am not going to bear your BS like others."
and then she was walking out on him once again. he saw her until she disappeared, looked around in the room once again, and found himself on the edge of his emotion. he was never the violent kind of person who throw things and start a brawl when he gets angry, but if there was a time for that, it would be now.
he ran his fingers in hair, suddenly more exhausted than angry. she was right though, about the yell at others thing. ever since his break up with Roshni he was agitated, trying to cover it up with work and harsh behaviors. of course, he should have known better to use his loud voice with her, the female who pushed him off his normal emotional zone more than often. now, if he comes to think, maybe she wanted to give him a piece of mind in her own twisted way. not that he didn't deserve it, but a showdown in front of team could have been avoided.
The break up was not unexpected actually. only so long you can hang out with your GF and not take the next step. for months, this damned 'next step' was the only thing between them, she was expecting it and he was running from it. she asked about it 5 days ago flatly, and he was unable to give her any satisfactory answer. so she said it can't work between them anymore.
his frustration and anger was more on himself. he invested 7 years in this relation, and he was not an idiot to not know the standard steps in a relationship. courting, dates, gifts, meeting the parents, anniversaries, and finally, the ring. it was long time coming, and somehow he always ran from him. its not like he is a commitment phobic, but he could not see himself with her taking that step. it was all him, getting cold feet, and not her.
what pissed him more was he knew the pros and cons, he knew what he should do, he knew she was the girl and its time. yet somehow, he could not. he is an utter lunatic to even suspect if she is the one, because Duh, she was there for 7 years, what else one person needs to know that? he could not see himself doing that because, in some twisted way, he could not see himself with her in some abstract future.
which was totally weird. 7 years, and this!
he stopped the urge to pull his hair, and found himself sitting on the same chair Riya always does, head between his knees and both hands on neck. he looked up at the smell of coffee, and saw Sameer, "That didnt go well, I assume?"
he took it, sighing, "You bet."
"I get what she did, the phone thing, was wrong." the second in command could sense a 'but' coming from his best friend as he took the opposite seat, "but frankly, you are giving hell to the staff from days. hopefully the showdown with her will calm you down or something."
the statement earned a wry smile, but then, it was true. he felt a lot calm, which is weird because who feels calm after a shouting match? "I was wrong to take my frustration out on staff." he agreed.
"as long as we don't get another repeat show in here." Rathore gestured, "not that I dont enjoy those heated arguments, but don't want to give heart attacks to the juniors and our crime journo."
"Don't mention her." his voice went icy. frankly, its all her damned fault anyway.
"Okay." the former drawled, "at least I got a reaction. is this a good time to ask what's going on between you three?"
"didn't your new found best friend give any info?" he asked lightly, not angry or judgmental.
"never knew you for the jealous type." Sameer quipped, "and to answer your question, No."
"Best friend No or Info No?" he asked with a small smile.
"second one No, first one . . . I will answer later." the senior officer got up as the former made a face, "As there is no way I am getting my answer now, lets restart the discussion, shall we?"
"hopefully w/o another showdown." he cocked his head, giving his mug a shake to give an imaginary cheer.
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Frankly, her . . . sometimes, crazy yet amusing (?) antics comes rather handy, Rawte thought as the culprit, the drugged son was being pulled away by the police. The father cracked during interrogation, which they were able to conduct after the shouting match and rather tense team discussion, where she was mostly quiet and thankfully, w/o her phone. He had to fight the urge to smirk, remembering the father and him and Sameer and her in the same room, both the male officers staring him down while she took out her gun, touching it and looking over like she was all alone and not trying to scare the man to death. when the father looked startled, and asked them both if they cant see she is inside with a gun, Sameer replied they are willing to overlook many thing, not too subtly saying they can overlook if she does something with that gun that helps solving the case, and then manipulated the man into confessing by saying his wife already gave a statement that he was the one killing the girl.
smooth, really.
sometime, its really easy to overlook his annoyance with her, but the next day, when they got a call about some new case and they all noticed her still seated in her chair, spinning on it casually, he could feel the annoyance creeping again.
"You are not coming?" Shree asked, frowning like others.
she looked rather smug as she answered, "Na, I will pass." and then gave a look to him, "besides, I am not allowed for field work."
while he was rather busy to feel several emotions at once, surprise, pissed, and frustration, the third one he feels quite often around her, he completly missed the surprise and unhappy look on most of his team, besides the crime journo of course. wait, when his team became such a big cheer for her?
he could still feel their look on his neck as they headed for crime scene, leaving her busy with her phone and mischievous look in eyes and smug expression.
it had to be one of the most bizzare crime scene the team witnessed, like ever. old abandoned factory in the outskirt of city, a rather overused place for haunting experience or serial killer cases, but today, there was no body or guts spilling all over place. rather it was only blood, which he was not sure to be real blood, some pieces of wires and metals. thats it, no body, no DNA, nothing that can indicate a man or woman was slaughtered here and not some animal for voodoo sacrifice.
and oddly enough, w/o her frowning over clues and adding theories with him, the place looked awfully empty.
"Well, black magics dont have wires include I think." Chotu said as Liza held a wire in her palm, looking puzzled as rest of them.
"There is something . . . unsettling about this place." the crime journo looked sick, looking around, "like it was house for slaughtering pigs or something."
"Doesn't they all look the same?" Sameer scoffed, "though its really weird, old abandoned building, nobody comes here anymore. I checked, the owner is long dead." he looked over the crime scene, "nobody saw anyone around here, and only blood in crime scene? and wires? so weird."
"obviously someone was here." Rawte replied dryly, eyes glued to the crime scene.
"maybe we would have more theories to discuss if we had extra pair of eyes." it was uncharacteristically Shree to jab, and that too directly to the second in command himself. they leave the family relation in home when they come for work, but looks like all those Genius really paid him off.
The second in command in question just glared in response.
"Oh, good you brought that up." Damn Sameer Rathore's timing for the most ill-times convos, "why she is not allowed for field work?"
"Later.'' he tried to dismiss, but of course the team was going to gang up on him on this topic. they looked giddy with anticipation.
"I want to know now." He pressed. before he can tell him to get off his tail, suddenly the ground shook beneath them, and several microseconds later there was a loud sound of explosion.
suddenly he was very happy she was not here for that.
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