Cold Love (11 page)

Let the Games Begin

Later in the afternoon, Riya
and Puja catch up, as planned, for a game of tennis. The other members of the
family have gone to Rakesh’s home for a traditional puja ceremony. The girls
are spending most of their time on the bench or across the nets, gossiping and
talking about Rakesh. In the midst of all this, when they were actually playing
tennis, Arjun walks in. Puja rushes over to greet him, excited to see him back
early from his Delhi trip.

“Bhaiyya! How did you come a
day earlier? Has the sun risen in the west today?”

“Very funny Puja! I had to
come early due to an important matter arising in court.”

Arjun had his de-briefing
meeting last night with Lieutenant General Khanna. The evidence, after
yesterday’s operation was overwhelming, and the PMO used it immediately to
launch a massive diplomatic offensive against their Pakistani counterpart. The
prosecutor also lodged further allegations against the ISI lieutenant general.
However, everything was underpinned by Riya’s evidence and her statement in court.
Without that, the ISI lieutenant general would have been immune from any
proceedings on Indian soil owing to his diplomatic status. In court Arjun was
asked to testify in support of Riya’s evidence. With the latest incident in
Jammu and Kashmir, it seems the scales are tilting swiftly in the case towards
a landmark verdict.

“Court? Is everything all
right bhaiyya?” Puja enquires.

“Yes, nothing special; just
the usual procedures! I need to testify further in support of Riya’s evidence.
That’s because this is not a regular civil court but a special military
tribunal; we need a serviceperson to ratify a civilian witness. I need to speak
to you about it, Riya.”

“Oh! Do you want to discuss
it now, Arjun?” Riya asks him eagerly.

“Not now bhaiyya please! After
the game, OK?” Puja moans and intervenes immediately, conscious that she will
lose her friend for a good hour or so if Arjun gets on with his boring case.
“You need to first listen to what I have to say!”

“OK; what is it Puja?”Arjun
concedes.

Puja shows off her ring.
“Ta-da! Rakesh proposed to me last night!”

“Oh wow! Congratulations!
This is great news!” He lifts his little sister in a big hug. 

“Papa, mummy, uncle and aunty
have gone to Rakesh’s place for the puja ceremony. Rakesh’s parents want the
engagement to take place quickly. … So get used to it bhaiyya, your little
sister is going to become a stranger soon!” She poses dramatically with her
hand on her head.

“That’s even better news,
isn’t it? I’ll finally be able to get rid of this crazy girl!” Puja throws a
tennis ball at him in resentment. Arjun catches it. “Anyway, you girls carry
on. Since I’m a bit early, I will watch your boring tennis!” Arjun is prepared
to sit and wait for his discussion with Riya. For now, his sister’s happiness comes
first.

Riya suddenly feels conscious
that, if Arjun is going to be watching the game, her sports skirt is perhaps
too short. She speaks to Puja in a hushed tone, “Puja, my skirt is so short!
I’ll go change and come back in a minute!”

“C’mon Riya. It’s just
Arjun!”

Riya reluctantly agrees to
continue. The girls start playing and after a few games, during the break,
Arjun approaches the girls.

“You know several Bollywood
movies are now stealing the Matrix style stunt these days?” The girls could
sense the sarcastic banter in his tone. “Everyone is shooting in slow motion …
it’s so common now that you see it everywhere!”

 “You had better get your
eyes checked bhaiyya!” Puja answers back immediately taking offense at his
mockery of their slow game.

Arjun continues with his
mischievous sarcasm. “No, seriously! Keanu Reeves is working on the next Matrix
movie where he plays tennis in slow motion with two people at the same time…
and… sips a coke from the other hand! … You know you two should try the screen test
as well!”

“Oh really? Very funny Arjun!
Since you have recently become a coach for every sport in the world, why don’t
you show us then?”

“Really? Should I play with
just my left hand to give you girls a chance? Seriously girls, why are you not
killing the shot when you have an opportunity?”

 “Why don’t you show us your
game then Arjun?” Riya throws a challenge. Both Puja and Riya nod together,
waiting for Arjun’s response. 

Arjun gets up from his seat,
always up for a challenge “OK then! Let’s see. Let alone a full game, if the
two of you get up to 40 points, I’ll concede that you have won!”

 “Done! But … but… you won’t
hit any smashes bhaiyya!” Puja is quite scared of Arjun’s fast smash shots.

“OK, I won’t hit any smashes.
I’ll only place the balls across the court in the ‘Matrix slow motion speed’”
he chuckles, as Riya sticks her tongue out to mock him.

“OK. Should we play then?”
Puja and Riya start walking towards their end.

Arjun nods and smiles at the
crazy girls, as they start playing tennis. Arjun is toying with the girls; he’s
winning easily by simply placing the ball around the court. He races to five
games to nil. A shot from Arjun, even though not a smash, hits Riya on her
thigh and she falls clumsily on the court. Arjun comes running across. Puja is
still at the back end of the court as Arjun reaches Riya first.

“Are you OK?” he asks,
concerned.

“Ah!” Riya cries in pain. “I
think I’ve developed a cramp!”

“Puja, do you have the pain
spray in the bag?”Arjun asks his sister.

“I am not sure!” Puja looks
at Riya, who points at the sports bag.

 Arjun goes to get the spray
from the bag. There’s an ointment instead, but it should work as well. He
returns and immediately starts to apply it onto Riya’s leg. Riya gets extremely
conscious, as she had expected Arjun to hand it over to her or Puja to apply
it. While Arjun applies the balm, Riya cringes shyly, gently pulling her skirt,
feeling very awkward with Arjun touching her leg. Puja notices, as the girls
exchange glances with each other. Oblivious to it all, Arjun is still keenly
applying the ointment to her thigh and hamstrings.

‘Oh! My silly brother!’ Puja
says to herself, seeing her best friend so uncharacteristically nervous and
shy.  

Arjun looks up at Riya. “Any
better?”

 “Yes,” Riya nods meekly and
pulls her skirt lower. “It’s all right now.”

Riya slowly gets back on her
feet and they start the game once again. After a few shots, Riya twists her
ankle a bit but recovers. Arjun loses his concentration looking at her and misses
an easy point. Puja walks over to Riya and she can see that her friend is ok.
She couldn’t help tease Riya, “Looks like your cramp is now cramping someone’s
game my dear!”

“Shut up Puja!”, Riya is
embarrassed at the mischievous comment from her best friend. The girls continue
chit chatting in the middle of the game for a few minutes, much to Arjun’s
annoyance and impatience. 

“Girls, if your kitty party
is over, can we play please? I know you like slow motion games, but others have
got work to do!”

The girls ignore his banter.
The match gets underway soon. Suddenly Arjun notices that a button is off
Riya’s t-shirt; he gets distracted and loses a point. However, he recovers on
the next point, so it is 30-30.

Suddenly Puja’s phone starts
ringing and she rushes to pick it up. She speaks inaudibly on the phone and
after putting it down, calls out to Arjun, “I need to go bhaiyya; Rakesh is
calling me. He wants to meet me now!”

“But what about our game?”
Riya moans. Puja runs over to her friend.

“My dear Riya! Now you’ve got
to win for my sake!” Puja exclaims in a melodramatic joking tone, “You have to
fight against this cruel world all alone! But I know you will definitely
succeed! All the best my sweetheart! I’m off!!”

 Puja leaves immediately;
Arjun and Riya have little time to respond and they rightly decide not to
intervene whilst the two love birds plan to meet up together.

 “Should we continue the
game?” Arjun asks Riya. He has plenty of time now with Riya.

“But … me… alone?” Riya
responds coyly.

“All right, let’s see. I will
only hit in one half of the court.”

They start the game again,
Arjun is 2 points from the set; Riya is one point from securing 40 points which
will win her the match. She serves; Arjun returns and notices that Riya’s
t-shirt has another button off now and is showing her bra seductively peeking
out. Arjun still returns the ball placing it deep in the court. Riya in turn
manages to return it, though very poorly and Arjun is about to kill the point,
as he simply needs to play a simple drop shot. At that very instant, Riya
twists her ankle and falls awkwardly down on the court. Arjun is distracted,
misses the shot, and runs across the net to Riya immediately.

“Hey! Are you OK?” Riya must
have noticed her t-shirt buttons by now as they are closed. She tries to get
up, but has a cramp again. Arjun offers his hand to help her. She holds on to
Arjun’s hand and gets up. Arjun supports her as they walk towards Riya’s room,
limping together. By the time they return to the house, Riya’s cramp has eased
off and she is walking better now. She walks to the wardrobe to grab her
clothes to change. Arjun stays back and waits for her.

He picks a booklet on Riya’s
desk. “Oh! Is this the new case study for the strategy class?”

“Yes it is! You would know if
you attended the class, mister!” Riya mocks him, obviously knowing well the
reason for his lack of attendance, “The notes are more relevant though. Wait,
let me show you.” She opens her laptop and also her note book.

“Do you mind if I read
through?”

“Yes I mind! Do you need to
ask? You take your time, I’ll take a quick shower in the meantime and we can
then talk about the case you wanted to speak about.”

“Sure!” Arjun is happy to
wait and reads the booklet for a while as Riya goes for the shower. Meanwhile,
Arjun gets a phone call from Lt Gen Khanna,  who has called him to discuss the
court case.

“Yes Sir; I realize that as a
serviceman I need to testify. …Yes, I was nearest to the event among the
agents. I saw agent Vinod fall down on the ground as Riya shrieked and about a
fraction of a second later I also saw the ISI lieutenant general with his gun
at the car window. So technically speaking, I only missed the fraction of a
second that the bullet was in its flight path hitting agent Vinod! …Yes I will
go through the incidents again with her. I understand Sir.  Yes Sir, I realize
the significance of this case. … OK Sir, bye!”

In a few moments Riya is out
of the shower dressed in a lovely floral summer skirt. She hands Arjun a track
suit and t-shirt from another wardrobe.

“Coffee?” Arjun nods yes.
They continue together to the kitchen and while Riya is preparing coffee, Arjun
kick-starts his discussion.

“Riya, can I ask you
something?”

“Yes? Go on, you wanted to
discuss the case, right?”

“Do you mind narrating to me
what you saw when the ISI lieutenant general shot the agent?”

 “Sure! I clearly saw him
with my own eyes point the gun out of the car window and shoot the agent.”

Riya narrates all the precise
details to Arjun yet again.

“Riya, you see, as it’s a
military court hearing, I need to testify as a serviceman over and above your
testimony. Mr. Banerjee has already got so many loopholes in play, complicating
this case. But don’t worry; everything is in control. Routine procedure I’d say.
Anyway, I had better be going,” he smiles gently after finishing his coffee and
stands up.

 Riya stands up as well but
just as Arjun is about to turn to leave, she boldly asks him with a disarming
look on her face, “Arjun! Do you trust me?”

“Absolutely. Please do not
get me wrong… I mean…”, Riya interrupts him.

“Arjun can I say something?
You know before having met you, I used to think that I was involved in so many
philanthropic activities, helping disabled kids, education, charity and so on.
But after meeting you… I mean… what you have done for this case… for our
country… you never once thought about yourself!” she looks straight into his
eyes.   

“Hey, c’mon now stop
flattering me!”

“Arjun, you are fighting this
battle alone to bring these criminals to justice. But today, you came to see me
to make sure before the court hearing, right?”

“No, it’s not that Riya.”

Riya ignores his interjection
and continues, “Arjun, we think so many times about right and wrong. But do
these barbarians ever take a moment to think when killing innocent people…
children, women…. Tell me Arjun who will end this war against our country?”

“Hey, I know everything; it’s
OK, Riya!”

“No, it’s not OK, Arjun!”
Riya shouts emphatically, “So many people die every day in India in terrorist
attacks. But does anyone care? I mean look at Kasab,” she shakes her head in
disgust. “The whole world saw him live on television! But he was really a
puppet, isn’t it? The real criminals behind that attack are still walking free
on this earth. Our Government has still not been able to do anything against
them.”