“Nandana…Nandana…from a distance, I am listening to his voice. Panicked and perturbed. I am trying to open my eyes but they are too heavy. Someone is caressing my cheeks, my forehead. I know this touch but I can’t hold that hand. Suddenly some flashes cloud my mind. A man is aiming his gun at Aditya. He is laughing insanely. Aditya is retrieving towards the abyss. I am trying to scream. I am trying to alert him about the sure death. He is slowly approaching the edge of the cliff. Now, only one step back and he will disappear into nothingness. All of a sudden, the guy runs towards Aditya and pushes him into the abyss. A sky-shattering scream escapes my throat…ADI…TYA…AAA…. And I sit with a jerk.”

“Relax, relax, Nandana…I am here…nothing happened…you just come down.”

Aditya fondles her back and tries to pacify her fear. Nandana looks here and there, trying to sink into the situation. It was a nightmare…was it a nightmare? She thinks and fixes her timid eyes on Aditya.

“Aditya…that guy…I…I…you are okay…right?…What happened to that goon?…I pu..”

Aditya immediately stops her blabbering.

“He ran away. The police came and he disappeared in the jungle.”

He tries to convince her. Only then, Nandana observes that they are not alone in the place. SP Bhosle, Ayan and two other police officers are encircling them with eager faces. SP Bhosle comes forward and squats down to maintain the height with Nandana who is now sitting on the ground reclining her upper torso on Aditya.

“What happened, Mrs Oberoi? How will you come here? Do you know how much it could have been dangerous?”

He sounds vexed. In reply, Nandana keeps her wide eyes on his face. Aditya immediately intervenes,

“If she hadn’t been here then the man would have killed me.”

“Because you gave him the chance. May I know why did you abruptly leave your bungalow? Didn’t I request you to not do so?”

SP Bhosle mouths with exasperation. Aditya arrogantly replies,

“I was upset and now don’t ask me why. It’s my personal matter.”

SP Bhosle parts his lips to counter when Ayan interrupts,

“I think we should go back to the bungalow. It’s not safe here.”

“It’s not safe anywhere until your Sir follows our instructions. So, it’s better to return to Mumbai. At least he won’t find any jungle over there to roam around.”

Bhosle sounds irritated. Amidst this seriousness, Nandana chuckles to see Aditya’s expression. However, suddenly something passes her mind. Now, she can clearly recollect that she only pushed the goon into the abyss. Then why did Aditya tell a lie? She looks at Aditya again and mumbles,

“Aditya…that goon…I…”

In reply, Aditya utters in obstinance,

“It’s over. He left. Now let’s go to our house.”

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

Two days passed. Aditya and Nandana have returned to Mumbai. In between Nandana has tried several times to talk to Aditya about that incident. She knows that she killed a person and according to her, it’s necessary to inform the police about it. However, every time he avoids the topic. Fortunately, Aditya is quite better now. His bandages have been removed, however, doctors still instructed him to rest. In the last two days, Nandana went to meet her parents and unexpectedly Jaya tried to convince her to reconcile with Aditya. Nandana doesn’t know what triggered her to forgive him but it seems that she is only thinking about her daughter’s future. Manvi is happy that she doesn’t have to leave her job for Nandana. Rishi was, as usual, excited to have Nandana with him. He has a child’s brain and fortunately, children are devoid of complexity. However, the thing that surprised Nandana the most is her father’s approach. Although he never tried to impose his decision on her he was never in the favour of this reconcilement. He came to know that Aditya indirectly helped him by owning the press where he works. If he had been her old father, Venkatesh perhaps would have resigned but on the contrary, he only uttered,

“It’s your life. So, the choice is yours. However, all deserve a second chance. He may be a devil for others but he loves you. Give him a chance.”

Nandana still doesn’t know why Aditya went to that place where he was attacked again. It is evening and Aditya is doing his office work in the study. Nowadays he speaks very little to Nandana. It seems that he has created a wall around him. Nandana sees the butler approaching the study room. A cup of hot coffee is kept on a tray. She immediately stops him and takes the tray from his hand.

“I will give him. You go…”

She insists. The butler nods and leaves. Holding the tray in hand, Nandana knocks at the study room door.

“Hmmmm…come in…”

The virile voice commands. Nandana carefully twists the latch and steps in. Aditya is working on his laptop. His eyes are secured on the screen. Without looking up he instructs,

“Keep it here and close the door before leaving. I won’t have anything for dinner. So, don’t disturb me.”

“Doctor said you to have food properly. You shouldn’t disobey his words.”

Nandana mouths determinedly while keeping the coffee mug on the desk. Aditya stares up and pierces her with his arctic look.

“As if you obey everybody and never lie.”

His voice is razor-sharp. Nandana gets puzzled. After a long time, she smells the previous venom in his tone. She astonishingly asks,

“What did I lie about?”

Aditya keeps his penetrating eyes fixed on her face for a while which gives an uneasy shiver to her.

“You already planned to leave. Still, you convinced me that you will stay with me forever. If it’s not a lie then what is it? Your smart way to fool me?”

Aditya utters every word with lots of ferocity. Nandana crunches her brows. She still doesn’t understand anything. Without breaking his eye contact Aditya mouths in a grave tone,

“You applied for a teaching job in a school in Arunachal Pradesh. You got the job. Congratulations! Now, would you like to tell me when are you planning to leave? Or it would be a secret too?”

The sarcasm hits her mind. Now, she realises what is bothering this brute. Perhaps this was the reason for his abrupt visit to the jungle. She applied for this job before she met Aditya and this stupid didn’t bother to verify the date. Unknowingly a smile creeps on her lips. Let’s irritate him a bit more. A mischievous thought peeks in her mind. With an innocent face, she replies,

“How can a person keep a secret when a secret digger like you is there? And you say that you love me. That means I am always in your heart. So, I am here or in some other place; how does it matter? I will always stay with you, in your mind and heart.”

She chuckles but was not ready for his next action. Aditya springs up from the chair and rushes towards her. In a blink of an eye, he clutches her in his strong arms and hisses out,

“Don’t try to play with words. Don’t forget I am the same brute of yours. Nobody dares to fool me. You want to leave me, right? Fine…go. But don’t forget you killed a person and the police are still investigating the case.”

Aditya’s words scandalise Nandana to the core. Is he really the same brute? Didn’t he change a bit? Unknowingly the words come out of her mouth,

“Are you blackmailing me? Are you trying to say that if I don’t stay with you then you will inform the police that I killed that goon? Bravo! Mr Oberoi. You again showed your true colour. By hook or by crook, you know how to dominate and manipulate people.”

Aditya keeps looking at her with wide eyes. It seems that he is trying to sink into her words. Gradually a sarcastic pale smile peeps on his lips.

“And again, you showed that how much I beg for your forgiveness, how much I try to change myself, you will never accept me as a better person. Yes, I am a brute, I snatch the things that I want…by hook or by crook but that doesn’t mean I will blackmail you and let you go to jail. Instead, I will prefer to sacrifice my freedom. Don’t worry! I will never tell the police that you were the person who pushed that guy to the abyss. If they find out his dead body then I will be the first person to acknowledge the crime. I won’t let you get a scratch on your body. That’s my love, Mrs Nandana Oberoi. Selfishly selfless. You will never understand.”

He shoves her and steps back. His eyes are tired and vacant. Nandana observes him for a long. She is not being able to gather her words for this insane man. He is even ready to destroy himself for her. But how can she let it be? Slowly she sits on the sofa and mouths in a grave tone,

“What do you want?”

Aditya walks forward and stands nearby her. Nandana looks up to meet his eager eyes.

“I want you to be happy. For that, if needed I will walk away from your life.”

His voice is profound. Nandana looks into his intense eyes for quite a long. Her heart is swaying between yes and no.

“And if I want you in my life forever?”

She asks with a quivering voice. Hope flickers in his brown orbs.

“Then we have to leave this country forever where we can start our new life. That will be our paradise.”

He sounds determined. Nandana bends her head with a sigh. She rests her hands entwined on her lap and keeps mum for some moments.

“That means I have to tell that school authority that I am not joining.”

She utters with a flat tone while staring up to meet his perplexed eyes. A mischievous grin is glinting in her doe eyes. Aditya gapes in surprise. It takes some seconds to grok her twisted words. Suddenly he grabs her by her shoulders and lifts her like a doll. Nandana gasps in astonishment and lets out a suppressed cry,

“Adityaaa…”

Slowly he puts her down and nears her face to his.

“That means this Brute will be his Angel’s….forever.”