Author's Pov

After two days

"Yes yes, I will send you the mail."

Aratrika was spreading the washed clothes on the ropes of their terrace when she heard the familiar voice behind her. She turned around to see Suporno entering the terrace while talking on his phone.

Yesterday Suporno had returned from Bangalore. Aratrika hoped that he would come to meet her but it never happened. She was hurt..very much hurt .But still keeping that hurt feeling aside, she tried to talk with him but he ignored her coldly. Still she won't lose hope.

"This is the chance, Aru. Talk with him." Her inner voice encouraged her.

Aratrika waited for Suporno to cut his call so that she could talk to him.

As soon as Suporno cut his call, Aratrika stood in front of him which made Suporno startled. He was so busy in his call that he didn't notice Aratrika's presence on the terrace.

He was avoiding her as he was hurt. The reason was Aratrika's refusal to start studying for her Masters course . He was thinking that she was afraid of her family and that's why she didn't want to study.

But what he doesn't know is that the reason behind her refusal is their family's manipulating nature. He doesn't know how Aratrika has been manipulated in the name of Suporno's love life and his dream --- his business. He doesn't know that she is thinking about his well being before hers and for him who is like a God to her, she was ready to sacrifice her dreams and well being.

Now seeing her in front of him , he wanted to talk to her...his little sister who was his life. But he couldn't let his determination break.. he wanted to show her how much hurt he was due to her decision and wanted to make her realise that she was making a mistake by letting go the chance of studying again. That's why he decided to avoid her.

In this process of making her realise her mistake and show her how hurt he is, he is hurting her beyond imagination Unknowingly.

Also he isn't aware of the humiliation she has gone through and the drastic step she took, unable to take the pain.

He turned around to leave her when Aratrika called him from behind.

"Dada," Hearing her voice,he closed his eyes to control his emotion.

If he would have turned around, he would have been able to see the teary eyes of his sister who was crying due to his ignorance.

"Amar saathe ki r kotha e bolbe nah ? (Won't you talk to me ever?)" She asked him softly. Suporno didn't fail to notice the pain in her voice.

Without saying anything to her, he left from there before he lost his control and get overwhelmed by his emotions, leaving a heartbroken Aratrika behind who started to sob loudly.
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"So, how are you?" Aratrika heard Saptarshi's voice.

It was around 1 am...they have been talking for the last one hour. It was their regular time of chatting with each other over phone calls. After the incident , they have come more close to each other. The formality which was there in between them has started to vanish slowly but steadily. Saptarshi has become a great support system to Aratrika. He motivates her, cheers her up when she is in her low and Aratrika has started to welcome it heartily.

Yes, sometimes an overwhelmed Saptarshi blurts out something which shows his feelings which he has for her, but Aratrika chooses to ignore it. To her surprise she becomes uncomfortable. She doesn't know why but she never feels uncomfortable whenever Saptarshi says something like this.

But she feels something which confuses her a lot. She isn't able to pinpoint those feelings. That's why she ignores his words.

Saptarshi doesn't mind it. In fact He feels happy that she is becoming closer to him. They are progressing.

"I am..am fine. You tell me." Saptarshi frowned as he heard her voice which was full of uncertainty and sadness.

"Aratrika, what happened? Is everything okay?" He asked her tenderly.

At first Aratrika was determined to not tell him about Suporno's ignorance. She didn't want him to bore him with her sob story.

What if he gets bored and irritated with her? What if like everyone he also stops talking to her after realizing how weak and cry baby she is?
She has gotten used to with their midnight talks. She doesn't want to lose a friend like him who has become her strength.

But hearing his tender and caring voice, she couldn't help but break down. Her determination was long lost.

"What happened? Why are you crying? Do they again hurt you? Are you unwell? Please tell me." A frantic Saptarshi started to ask her the possibilities of her sudden outburst.

Aratrika heard how Saptarshi was panicking. To not make him more panicked she hurriedly wiped her tears and told him how Suporno was avoiding her.

Hearing everything, Saptarshi sighed but didn't say anything.

After some time he said, " First of all, Wipe your tears and stop crying. "

Aratrika wiped her tears immediately.

"Aratrika, Suporno loves you. Trust me. I know that I don't know much about him but whatever I have heard from you about him ,from that I can assure you that he loves you...cares you a lot.
He is just hurt...umm upset to be precise that you choose to refuse to get admitted for your Masters course.

So listen to me and go talk to him . Talk to him about it. Conversations are really important in this kind of situation." Saptarshi told her calmly.

Aratrika listened to him clearly. She knew whatever Saptarshi told her was absolutely correct.

But she will not be able to tell her brother if he asks her why she took the decision.

"But Saptarshi, I can't tell my brother about the reason behind it. If he comes to know about it ,he will be devastated and In anger he will fight with Jethu. And I don't want my family to fight against each other just because of me." Aratrika told him, wiping her tears.

" I know that you don't want your family to fight so I am not telling you to tell him about it also. What I am telling you to do is to tell him about your decision to do an online job.
You told me that you wanted to earn so that you could study with your money.. tell him about it without hurting his emotions.
I am sure after listening to you he will not be able to stay upset with you." Saptarshi advised her.

Saptarshi knew that her family was manipulating her. They didn't want her to study for some reason so they took advantage of her weakness which was her brother. They knew that Aratrika would do anything for her brother's happiness...that's why they took the advantage of it.
But her naive mind was unable to see the tricks and evil intentions. She got convinced with them thinking about his brother's happiness.

Saptarshi wanted to say all these things to her and show her their real face but he couldn't. He didn't have the right to do so. Moreover she won't believe in him and the situation could get worse.

He couldn't help but get angry at the Mukherjees. When he met them for the first time, he thought that they were very good people. But slowly he started to understand that they were anything but good.

"You are right. I will talk to him now itself. " Aratrika said enthusiastically.

Saptarshi let out a throaty chuckle and said, "Really? Now? At 2 am?"

Aratrika bit her tongue and smacked her head.
"I didn't notice the time." She said letting out a nervous laugh.

"You should sleep, you know. You have your duty tomorrow. " Aratrika said to him.

Seeing her care for him, Saptarshi felt a giddy feeling inside him. He grinned.

"Yes yes, why don't you say directly that you want to sleep?" He said with fake sadness in order to tease her.

Hearing his sad voice, Aratrika said ,"No no.. I didn't mean that..I am not sleepy, we can talk." She didn't like him being upset because of her.

Saptarshi laughed out loud and said ,"Relax , I was just teasing you." He couldn't help but feel happy seeing how she tried to make him happy after hearing his sad voice.

Aratrika huffed and said ,"You are so bad...you tease me always like this. I won't talk to you...bye."
Saying this she cut the call. She was embarrassed thinking how he was laughing because of her foolishness.

Saptarshi was about to apologize but she cut the call already. He chuckled..

It always happens. Whenever he teases her, she being naive falls in the trap. Then she cuts the call, being embarrassed.

After sometime Aratrika laid down on her bed when her phone pinged.
Saptarshi : " I am sorry....I was just teasing you. "

Unknowingly a small smile crept on her lips as she typed playfully :" It's okay. You are forgiven."

Saptarshi chuckled while reading the text. He knew that she wasn't offended at all.

The next message from Saptarshi made her giggled.
"Oh Thank God...you don't know how lucky I am as you have forgiven me. I am so blessed. "

"Good night, drama king." She typed, shaking her head.

"Good night Aratrika. " Saptarshi typed back the message with a smile.

And just like that Aratrika's upset mood got lifted which was by Saptarshi only and Aratrika is well aware of the fact.
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After three days

"Tui kokhon asbi barite? (When will you come home?)" Saptarshi heard his mother.

He kept the file aside and concentrated on his phone call with his mother.

"Maa, It is just 7 pm now. Maybe around 8 pm I can return...I don't know, it depends. If a new case doesn't come or I have to attend a meeting, I will be back soon. By the way ,why are you asking?" Saptarshi said.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just asked you casually. " Piyali said and Saptarshi nodded.

"Okay, now bye. I will see you in the evening ." Saptarshi said and cut the call.

"Sir," Saptarshi looked up to see a constable standing in front of him.

"What happened?" He asked.

"As per the instructions, we raided the hotel but couldn't find the culprit whom we were searching for . I think he escaped , somehow he got the news of our raid beforehand. " he said.

Saptarshi clenched his fist in anger. Damn!! Once again they failed to catch him.

He took a deep breath to calm his anger.

" How much he will run!!! We will catch him today or tomorrow... I am sure about it. Anyways ,you can leave now." Saptarshi said.
But the constable didn't leave.

"Do you want to say something?" Saptarshi asked him, seeing him unmoved.

"Umm..Sir, when we raided the hotel, we came to know that it was not a normal one..it was ,you know what I mean. So we caught the people ..the customers, the staff , manager who were there. They are here only." He said.

Saptarshi nodded.

If his name has been linked with the hotel, that means from these people he could come to know about the culprit.

"Good, you can leave. I am coming after you." Saptarshi dismissed the constable who left the cabin.

Saptarshi got up and walked out of his cabin.

He reached the room where the people were kept. He looked at them sternly.

But his stern expression turned into a shocked one when his eyes landed on someone .

Why?

Hmm, suspicious isn't it?

Any guesses?

Let's see what happens.

How's the update?
Let me know for sure.

Next update will be Tomorrow. (Hopefully)

Stay safe and Healthy.

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