“Yes, Ayan….I answer the call while Nandana again gets busy with her pets. His agitated voice and words temporarily freeze me. He is blabbering like a confused soul. In between, I pick up the main matter. Those two goons were handed over to Pappu and he was instructed to shut their mouth forever. When he was taking them to his hideout; one of them dodged him and fled from his captivity. Pappu immediately killed the other one, however, the fugitive felon ducked his grip. I glance at Nandana and come out of the room. I whisper on the phone, saying Pappu to be underground. I instruct Ayan to say to him to not contact us by any means. Because I don’t want him to get under police surveillance. He assures me. I cut the call and come to the room again. Nandana is not in the room. Where is she? I roam my eyes around and call, “Nandita.” There is no response. My heartbeat races. I head to the bathroom and barge inside. The place is empty. Sweat beads form on my forehead. I swallow a lump of my fear to lose her and dash out of the farmhouse. NANDANAAAAAA…….I scream like a lunatic. Bhaoooowwww….suddenly someone startles me from behind. I flip and see the most heart soothing sight. Nandana is standing in front of me. A smile of mischief is there on her beautiful face. The next moment I don’t know what I did. When I gain my sense, I find myself embracing her like a kid and continuously blabbering… “Where were you? I was so scared. Don’t go anywhere like this. It kills me. Don’t go…don’t go.”

Aditya’s abrupt breakdown makes Nandana shocked a bit. She softly reciprocates his hug and starts fondling his back.

“Aditya…Aditya…I didn’t go anywhere. I was in the garden only. Sorry, sorry I made you tensed. I am here….look at me. I am here. With you only. I won’t go anywhere. Please…calm down.”

Nandana keeps on trying to pacify him. Suddenly Aditya musters his sense. He withdraws himself from Nandana’s hold and steps back.

“Sorry…I….I was a bit tensed. I thought you must have….you must have fainted and fallen somewhere. Your….I mean you are not well. You shouldn’t stroll like this under the scorching sun. Let’s go inside.”

He tries to get a grip on his emotion. Deep down, he himself is surprised to see his reaction. What was that? Care, concern or love? He jerks his head and tries to wave away the thought. Both come under the roof.

“Ummmmm…..Nandita, I have to go to the office to attend a meeting. But don’t worry. I will be back after 2 or 3 hours. In between, you can watch the TV or listen to music. You can even swim in the pool. But don’t go outside of the farmhouse. There is a forest in the backside. So, it won’t be safe for you. Wild animals often come to this side. The landline is there. And take this mobile too.”

Aditya says and takes out a mobile from this pocket. He continues.

“Although I will try to come as soon as possible you can call me in between if you feel.”

He says while giving the mobile to her.

“Aditya, this house is so deserted. I mean in your bungalow there are so many servants. Then why don’t you keep any house help in this place? Who cleans and mops the floors? I mean it looks so maintained but I haven’t seen any person here.”

Nandana asks with hesitation. Aditya keeps on looking at her for a while. This girl is really logical. A naughty smile gradually appears on his lips.

“Are you doubting that you have to do dusting, mopping, cleaning and washing for this entire house? Ha…ha…relax. This is my farmhouse. I don’t need 24x7 house help here. Neither does anybody want to stay over here 24x7. I have a contract with a company which provides professional workers to clean the whole place. They come biweekly. They have just done their work yesterday. So, for the next two weeks, there is no need for any cleaning. And for food; I order it from different restaurants. More of this, if anything is needed like tea, coffee or snacks then everything is there in the kitchen and I am a good cook. I won’t let you die in hunger. Ha…ha…”

Aditya sounds amused. Nandana frowns at him with a cute pout.

“I didn’t mean it. Even I can cook…I…..”

All of a sudden, Nandana keeps mum. It seems that she is lost somewhere. Aditya observes and nears her. He snaps his fingers in front of her face to break her reverie.

“What happened? Where did you get lost?”

He asks. Nandana gazes up vaguely.

“Aditya, how do I know that I can cook? I have never cooked since my accident then how can I say that I know how to cook? And you said to me to swim in the pool but do I know swimming? Aditya, what kind of puzzle is this? I can’t even remember my habits, my instincts and my qualities. Aditya, it’s so frustrating. My life is blank like a white paper. I know that something is written on it but I can’t read them. It’s… it’s so daunting.”

She laments and bends her head down. Tears brim her eyes. Aditya places his index finger and thumb under her chin and lifts her face to look at her eyes.

“Nandita, why can’t you consider my eyes as your eyes? My heart as your heart and my mind as your mind. See your blank paper through my eyes. Read them with my mind and feel them with my heart. Then you will realise there is no puzzle in it.”

His words synchronize with teardrop rolls down from her eye. She nods with a pale smile. Aditya cups her cheeks and osculates her forehead.

“You will be okay….right? Shall I postpone the meeting?”

Aditya sounds doubtful. Nandana wobbles in negative.

“No, you go. I am fine. I will be waiting for you.”

She mouths determinedly.

“That’s like a good girl.”

Aditya says affectionately while pinching her chubby cheeks. He is about to turn on his heel when Nandana asks.

“Aditya, why were you calling me Nandana that time? I thought you were calling some other person. But you know that time I felt that, No, you are calling me only. Who is Nandana, Aditya? Why this name seems so familiar to me?

.............................

“Officer, I am her father. You can’t hide anything from me. I know you got some clue from the sketch which Rishi described and I want to know about that clue. Please, I beg of you. Don’t keep me in dark. This is the matter of my daughter’s life.”

Vivek Basu sounds persistent. The SP keeps quiet for a moment and then replies in a grave tone,

“Okay, Mr Basu. If you are insisting. But promise me, you won’t share this with anyone. Like anyone. I am investigating this case on a personal level. Many of my authorities are not fully aware of this because an influential political person is involved in this matter. So, you can say I am taking a high risk on my career and job.”

Vivek nods in approval.

“Well, the sketch that was made according to your son and the CCTV footage that we got from that Mall, both are indicating that Mr Aditya Oberoi is somehow involved in your daughter’s case. As he is a rich businessman along with having a strong political background, I can’t directly charge him or interrogate him on the basis of these clues. We need more and solid proofs.”

The SP spills the bean. Vivek squints his eyes as he is trying to recollect something. He unmindfully mumbles,

“Aditya Oberoi…Aditya Oberoi….”

Suddenly his eyes beam.

“Oh, yes, Sir this Aditya Oberoi came to Nandana’s school for some survey. She told me that HM Prasad approached him for some donation and regarding this, he visited the school.”

Vivek reveals, which the SP bobs in positive at.

“Yeah, I know. HM Prasad told me that but this information is not sufficient. He is a politician. He may visit so many schools and colleges for attending functions and donation matters. There he may meet many students and teachers. Perhaps he met Nandana there but it doesn’t prove that he knows her and is involved in Nandana’s kidnapping. No, we can’t prove it.”

The SP says in doubt. Vivek also nods in agreement.

“Mr Basu, can you remember anything that your daughter told you about that day when Mr Oberoi came and survey the school? I mean any incident…any particular information. Please try to recollect. It’s very important. I want to know if Nandana had interacted with him and whether she had some impression about him.”

Vivek remains silent for a moment. It’s about one month now. The memory of that day is not very vivid in his mind.

“Sir, I can only say that Nandana was very excited about that day because she was thinking that if Aditya Oberoi donates some money to the school fund it will be a huge help to renovate the school building and especially for the school library. She was very passionate and caring about her school, Sir. However, when I met her in the evening, she was looking very tensed, depressed and hapless. That excitement and happiness were not there on her face. I even asked the reason but she didn’t say anything clearly. But somehow, I could feel a disappointment in her words. She was definitely disheartened after any matter. But that time I didn’t pay much attention to it. My fault. I wish I could have insisted her to say about her tension.”

Vivek sways his head in despair. He sounds very helpless. The SP sighs and replies in a convincing tone.

“Relax, Mr Basu. We can’t do anything by repenting of our past mistakes. We have to think logically now and try to gather as much information about Aditya Oberoi. This time I am not gonna do any mistakes. Now, you go to your home. Let me handle this. Keep faith in me. I will leave no stone unturned to solve this case. At least, we know that Nandana is alive and she is fine. The rest will be revealed very soon.”

Vivek looks up and closes his eyes. Maybe he prays to his God for the well-being of his daughter. It is truly said that faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable and receives the impossible.