Soul of a star : Chapter 15 : The Lost 2 pages #celebrateblogging #teamwordweavers

TEAM WORDWEAVERS

Soul of a Star

Read the previous chapter here :

Chapter 14 : The First Key

Chapter 15 : The Lost 2 pages

Present day just after Jennifer has the talk with Shekhar ..

(Putting down the phone and speaking to herself)

No…this cant be happening…Taaraaaa… Jennifer shocked to hear the news could barely utter these words. She wanted to cry at the very moment but putting up a brave face she dialed:

“Hello, Kingfisher Airlines….."



Day 2 after Tara goes missing

Welcome to Mumbai Airport. 

Few hours later an announcement in the flight pulled Jennifer
out of her thoughts.

“What a perfect welcome. My friend is missing, her husband is going crazy finding her , my darling Roohi is hospitalized and the airport expects me to enjoy my stay..what the hell…!!”

Jennifer was mumbling as she got down at the Mumbai airport and hailed a taxi.

“Shekhar must be going crazy. He cant live without Tara and Roohi. Why is this all happening with the sweetest people I know?” She was furious with all this and seemed to question God for all that which was happening in Tara`s life. She had seen how happy were Dutta`s and now suddenly the recent turn of events seemed to have uprooted all that happiness in one go. She called up Shekhar.

“ Hello Shekhar”

“ Hi , Jenny”, Shekhar replied in a low tone.

“ Listen , I have landed in Mumbai and have some work. Once I finish it I would be there with you and Roohi asap. How is she right now?” , she asked

“Ok Jenny. She is the same as before, ill.”, came the reply.

The dry and sad tone of Shekhar told Jennifer what was going 

through his mind. He was a strong man who had endured many 

hard times alone but loosing Tara right now had completely 

shattered him. She was his pillar of strength. Jennifer finished 

her work at the earliest. She wanted to talk with Aryan for a 
little while.

The only other thing which had kept her a bit sane and composed from all this mess going on around her was Aryan. After their first meeting at Tara`s home, they had started chatting late at night and Jennifer`s so called night schedule of “working” late had gone for a toss completely. All those night hours of work were now spent with Aryan. Just meeting one person can turn things around in an instant. Aryan Ahuja, the man who didn`t have time for networking applications had started using them just to talk with Jennifer and those chats had now moved to the messengers like  Gtalk, whatsapp etc. It was a phase of getting to know the other person without seeming much obvious that there was something in the other person`s heart.

With these thoughts in mind, she called Aryan at night.

Jennifer : “ Hi , Aryan”.

Aryan : “Hello Jeans…I mean Jennifer. Sorry to call you by 

that name. I heard that name at Tara`s house so I thought it was 

easier to call you by that name.” (thinking ..Idiot, come up with 

a better line. The man who owns a company is tongue tied infront of a woman).

Jennifer : (thinking: Poor guy. C`mon speak..I want you to call 
me Jeans. I love it). “No issue. I don’t mind when the people whom I like call me by that name” ( did I just tell him that I like him? Stupid me….)

Aryan: "Like? Do you like me?”

Jennifer : (oh gosh..) “Yes. You are a nice person and why 
wouldn’t I like you? You are not my enemy. Are you?”

Aryan: (laughing to himself) “No way. I do know when I strike a 
chord with people. Ok listen. I want to meet you.”

Jennifer ( asking him teasingly ): “Why?”

Aryan: “I am a little free tomorrow so I thought that I might see 
you if you are in Mumbai and we could catch up. (I so 
desperately want to meet you Jennifer..) By the way I forgot to 
ask in all this talk that when are you coming to Mumbai?”.

Jennifer : “I am in Mumbai for a few days. Lets meet at Costa 
Coffee.”

Aryan: “Why that place”?

Jennifer: “That’s where Tara and Shekhar had first met and I 
love that place.”

Aryan: “See you tomorrow then. Bye”

Jennifer : “Bye. Good night.”

Day 3 after Tara goes missing.

The following day Jennifer decided to do some shopping so that 
she could meet Aryan. It was a way to distract herself from the 
thoughts of Tara. Some time for herself might help her keep her sanity. She even bought a new pair of denim.. Meanwhile Aryan was also nervous as to how he will meet Jennifer. He was nervous not to say the least. Finally they both meet at Costa Coffee.

Aryan : “You look gorgeous.”

Jennifer: “Thank you…You too look dashing in a tshirt 

and jeans. Wow.”

Aryan: “Is your work over?”

Jennifer: “Yes. I am staying for some more days.”

Aryan: “For ?”

Jennifer: “Shekhar and Roohi. They both need me.”

Aryan: (with a sad face): “Yes. That must be tough on the poor 
Shekhar. I wonder how he would be coping?”

Jennifer: “Have you met him ? How is Roohi?”

Aryan: “No… I was so busy that I did not get the time uptill 
now. I really want to meet them both.”

Jennifer: “If you don’t mind come with me after we finish this 
coffee.. I am thinking of going to meet them.”

Aryan: “Sure.. We can take my car.”

So Aryan called his chauffeur Ram singh in the parking lot  and told him,  “Baba. Take the day off and have rest. Come tomorrow now for the office. Give me the keys , I will drive.” And handing him a 1000 rupee note he took the keys from him and got in the car with Jennifer and drove to the hospital where Roohi and Shekhar were. On the way Jennifer aked him, “Baba? Why do you call him that?”

Aryan: “He has been with us since the time of my father. He has 
seen me grow up all through the years. I am just like his son and he is the most eldest person in my life and the one who is highly respectable. He`s been there for me at any time of the day or night”.

Jennifer was amazed at how this man Aryan Ahuja treated people who were much lower in ranks than him and she was both awed and had a feeling of respect towards this man she had started to know. Although the ice had been broken between the two long back but still when both were in 
proximity with each other, silence made them both uncomfortable and while they were both stuck in traffic Aryan asked Jennifer , “Music?” and on getting the  affirmative nod from Jennifer turned on the music system to hear the lyrics “ Jhuki jhuki si nazar beqaraar hai ki nahin” …the ghazal from 

Late Jagjit singh. Jennifer stole a glance towards Aryan to 
see him enjoying the ghazal with his eyes closed, humming the 
lyrics and tapping his feet on the clutch and accelerator. Here was a man who knew how to enjoy music.

Just out of curiosity Jennifer asked him, “You listen to ghazals in the car?” 

Aryan replied, "Baba listens to them. He lets me manage the company the way I want and I let him manage the car the way he wants. It’s a mutual understanding. Although I like rock and pop music as I was telling you that day but I am not aversive to ghazals at all. Infact they are just like incense sticks which burn and let the scent of emotions and poetry flow. Should I change it?” 

To which Jennifer replied, “ Let it be. I like it. It`s not everyday you get the time to listen to Jagjit Singh”. Was this ghazal going to be the new song in their lives just like Tara and Shekhar had “Chalo ek baar phir se ajnabi ban jaayein hum dono" in theirs?? Only time would tell.

They reached Apollo hospital and upon enquiring from the reception headed to room no. 167. They saw that it was a children`s room allotted to Roohi. Pista coloured walls had various cartoon characters painted on them – Snow white, Cinderella, Jasmine, Ariel, Mickey, Donald duck and many more. Shekhar was reading something on a piece of paper and on seeing both of them , he pocketed it and stood up.    

Aryan: “Hey Shekhar how are you man and how is Roohi”.

Shekhar: “Hi Jennifer. Thanks for coming Aryan. Roohi is 
taking a nap right now as you can see. Doctors have put her under observation. She complains sometimes of headaches and sudden weakness, blacking out in the process. Otherwise she is perfectly fine. I don’t know what is wrong with her all of a sudden. The only thing she hasn’t lost is her appetite.”, he said 
and forced himself to smile.

Jennifer: “Don’t worry Shekhar . She would be perfectly fine soon. Look at yourself. It seems you haven’t slept in a longtime. You should rest now. Aryan why don’t you take him to the cafeteria for some coffee or tea? It would be a change for him while I sit here with Roohi.”

Aryan: “Sure. Come on Shekhar. Lets have some tea and some 
fresh air. Even I haven`t had tea in the whole day”

Winking to Jennifer he went away taking Shekhar along while 

Jennifer baby sat Roohi for the time being. Roohi was sleeping 

peacefully oblivious to the happenings around her. Her angel 

face reminded Jennifer of Tara. With much difficulty she kept 

her tears in check. 

Aryan and Shekhar returned after some 45 minutes. When they returned Aryan asked Jennifer , ”Shall we go now? Its getting late. Let Shekhar rest.” He turned towards Shekhar and said, “In case of any need Shekhar remember that I am only a phone call away. Don’t hesitate in any way.” and Shekhar nodded. 

Jennifer asked him, “Any news of Tara?"

Aryan`s phone rang and in the meantime he picked up the call she saw Shekhar nodding a no but his eyes had a different gleam of hope in them. She knew that maybe he knew something which he wanted to tell but in the current circumstances with Aryan around he dare not speak.

Bidding both of them a goodbye Shekhar returned to the room 

and settled down in the chair. He wanted to decipher more 

clues but his state did not allow him to be awake any longer , 

plus he was having a splitting headache. He decided to close his 

eyes to let go off the physical pain. 


What followed was a dream- a flashback all mixed up of his past.

He saw Tara proposing before him bending on one knee, 

walking behind him. Just then lightning seemed to strike and 

everything seemed to turn around- Now when he turned to see 

Tara walking behind him, he did not see Tara anywhere. The 

images of him ransacking his study for those 2 pages flashed 

before him. Tara and Roohi had become those 2 most 

important pages of his life now. The Shekhar in his dream 
started to shout , “Where are they??Where are they?”. 

Bathed in sweat from his latest nightmare Shekhar opened his eyes wide with horror to see the second page lost ….ROOHI WAS NOT ON THE BED…   

Read the next chapter here: Chapter 16 :  The Name Game

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