PART IV

Neil maintained his casual composure throughout the morning as well as breakfast. He left for his work without even wishing a good bye to his wife. 

Avni honestly felt neglected. Her whole day went by fidgeting here and there. She kept on wondering 'what has gotten into him. He was behaving so different.  The guy who always places me first is not showing any interest.'  her mind went to an altogether different thought . ' we had made love for the very first time only two days ago. Did he already lose interest in me. Nai avni, ye kya soch rahi hai. Zaroor kaam ka stress hoga' 

She went to her room and sat down on the sofa, still lost in her thoughts. She picked up the magazine in front of her and started skimming through it. Her eyes fell on their cover story '10 signs that your partner is cheating on you' she quickly looked through the article and thought ' who the hell comes up with this kind of rubbish. Whatever has happened to responsible journalism? Kuch bhi chapte hai aajkal'. Not giving any second thought to the magazine, she decide to go on with her work.

*******

Meanwhile, at the police station, Neil being rather pleased with himself thought ' wifey,  lipstick marks ka badla lipstick marks se'

He called dd into his cabin and removed the white shirt from his bag and chucked it into the hands of an unsuspecting dd. And said " dd ,mujhe ispe lipstick ka nishaan chahiye hai"

dd looked at neil weirdly and said ," sirji, lipstick ka nishaan... Matlab.. Matlab... Mein lipstick lagaoo aur ,aur" he made a pout and brought the shirt close to his lips, clearly looking uncomfortable at the whole idea. " par par sirji," he continued " lipstick launga kaha se?"

Neil looked at him in disbelief ; gave a hearty laugh and said " tum chaho to lipstick lagake, you know (makes a pout) ya fir dusra option hai ki kisi female officer se kaho ki ek criminal ko pakad ne ke liye trap banana hai , aur wo ispe jaroor kiss kar degi. Jaisa bhi tumhe comfortable lage!"

dd felt as if a light bulb had lighted in his head. He nodded, and again nodded at neil and said " sirji , option 2. Option 2 thik rahega. Mein abhi lipstick lata hu... Ummm mera matlab hai lipstick mark. Abhi.. " 

neil gave him a curt nod , and thought ye dd bhi poora pagal hai. 

While dd thought ' neil sir k chakkar me pata nai kya kya karna padega. Kabhi burkha pehna dete hai to kabhi lipstick lagao.. Aj to bach gaya dd."

**********

that night when neil returned home, his inattentive facade was still persistent .He silently went to his room without even glancing at avni and placed the shirt with the lipstick mark in the laundry basket. Then again, he waited patiently for his wife to come upstairs . As soon as she appeared near the door, he again placed the phone on his ear and said " I missed you too, baby! Haan baba kal ka plan pakka hai. See you tomorrow . Nai nai , I promise. I'll make it up to you".

Hearing all this ,avni felt as if she had misheard something. ' baby???? Surely he must have said bebe . Ye kya soch rahi hai avni.' she chided herself . Her eyes fell on that wretched magazine and she thought ' nahi avni, common, this is neil. Wo mujhse bohot pyaar karta hai, wo kabhi aesa kuch toh kar hi nai sakta...Par par.. Par war kuch nahi ,faltu chizein mat soch.'

she quickly changed into her night suit and when she came back she saw that neil was already asleep. She decided all she had to do was talk to him and clear things out. And that would be the first thimg she would do the next morning. She will not jump to any haphazard conclusions.

*********

Next morning when neil ignored her two attempts at making a conversation and went straight out for his morning run, she decided to do some investigation of her own. She went to the bedside table and picked up neil's  phone, only to find out it was password protected.  ' neil kab se password rakhne laga? Wo toh kabhi aesa nahi karta' suddenly a line from the article flashed in her mind " is your partner going an extra mile to hide things from you? Is his behavior rather suspicious?  Don't ignore the signs".. ' nai avni,' she thought to herself. ' tu fir se off track ho rahi hai. Par par wo roses, wo texting, phone calls aur baby? Baby to neil mujhe tak nahi bolta. Nai, shayad har baar ki tarah me overthink kar rahi hu. Neil loves me a lot.  He will never do something like this.' a lone tear rolled down her face. 

Neil who was watching all this from his hiding spot, felt his gut wrenching. He was stressing her out too much. He promised himself " aaj ka last day hai wifey. Iske baad aesa kabhi kuch nahi hoga. It is not worth your pain".

****** 

After neil left for work, avni collected the laundry and saw what neil had very strategically placed . The white shirt with a lipstick mark. This was the last straw. She had had enough . She was really  angry now. She immediately dialed neil's number and said, " neil, aaj please jaldi ghar aana."

To which he replied, " aaj possible nai hai avni, aaj shaam meri commissioner sir ke sath meeting hai."

" meeting, achha,commissioner k sath. Thik hai, try karna hi sake to" she replied . Her blood boiling. 

She cut the call and said, " meeting ,my foot .Abhi pata karti hu."

she called dd up and asked him, " dd , aaj wo neil ki meeting commisioner k sath kitne baje hai?"

to which dd replied " bhabhi, aaj to koi meeting nahi hai. Commisioner sir to chutti par gaye hai. "

hearing this , avni let out a frustated sigh and said " par tumhare sir to kuch keh rahe the, shaam ka plan".

"accha wo, wo bhabhi aaj shaam ko sir ka reservation hai hotel royal plaza me. Par aap bhi to sath hongi naa"

" haan haan...Me bhi sath rahhungi. Zaroor." avni replied .

As soon as he was done with the call, dd gave a thumbs up to his sirji. This time he was on his side. As if he was given an option. 

*************** 

So, that is it. the entire plan is out.What do you think is going to happen next. How is avni going to take in the whole situation?  

Are you excited for the next and the last part ?

DID you Like This One .

Do let me know. 

All criticism accepted WITH LOVE