Arjun

******

I woke up at my usual time and went to check on Dhruv, however, I discovered the room was vacant. I figured he may be in the washroom however he wasn't. At the point when I was going out to check different rooms, I saw a sticky note on the table close to the bed.

Thanks for last night and sorry for troubling you.

----Dhruv

For what reason did it seem like he was a young lady whom I helped? I thought.

Which guy writes, 'Thanks for the last night'

I shook my head forcing those thoughts to fly out of my mind. I presumed my peculiar thoughts were the results of the Korean shows my father used to make me watch.

Without wasting any second after those thoughts had gone I called Chatterjee Uncle and he disclosed to me Dhruv was at home. I decided not to disturb him as I knew he would surely need some alone time.

******

Dhruv

******

I woke up with a pulsating pain in my mind. It felt as though somebody was hitting my head with a mallet. I sat on the bed grasping my head firmly with my hands. I glanced around and found the surrounding was not the one I used to see when I open my eyes every day. It was Arjun's home but I didn't have the slightest idea of what I was doing there.

A few minutes later, some of the events of last night came rushing to me. I couldn't recall a lot, yet I did recollect that Arjun came to get me when I was drowning in liquor.

It was 5 AM and I thought about leaving without waking my friend as I might not want to answer his questions. I called Chatterjee Uncle and he arrived quickly. Leaving a note behind I went home.

I was still not sober as covering the distance from the door of my house to my bedroom took 10 minutes which doesn't even take more than mere 2 minutes on other days

In the wake of arriving at my room, I dropped down on my bed and laid down with the possibility of not intending to awaken at any point in the near future.

******

The girl in the white dress seemed like her to me. I attempted to stop her yet she didn't. In the wake of pursuing her for over an hour, I halted. I was gasping gravely and the second I halted she stopped too as though she needed to be chased.

"Please, turn around for once," I said, trusting that she would concur. I was heedless to why I was feeling as if she was someone I knew, someone I had been waiting for, for quite a long time.

She turned around but I was unable to see her face clearly. The sun was sparkling so splendidly that it made me squint my eyes and the only thing I could see was her beautiful smile. The smile that once used to make my days cheerful. Also, exactly when I thought I would be able to see her face, she disappeared.

I looked for her all over the place, yet couldn't find her. She was gone.

******

I opened my eyes after getting disturbed by the consistent ringing of my phone and that is the point at which I realized the girl in white had appeared in my dream and wasn't real. The alcohol was showing weird impacts.

I picked up the phone without even checking the caller id.

"Thank God you picked up the phone. Where were you? I was so worried about you." I heard little one's voice bound with stress.

"Little One, quiet down. I'm fine. I was sleeping."

"Resting? Till now?"

"what's up in sleeping till 7. I didn't want to go running today so I dozed till late."

"Have you even checked the time?" she asked and I checked it which showed 11 a.m. Now I know why she was stressed. She must have been calling me for a long time and also must have asked Niharika about my whereabouts who herself was unaware.

"Sorry, little one. I was tired and..." I couldn't complete it as she asked,"Dhruv, would you say you are fine?"

"Yes, what will happen to me?"

"You know what I mean. I simply needed to ensure you are alright."

"There isn't anything your brother can't deal with. Also, I am absolutely okay."

"I don't know, you don't seem fine to me. I am coming to you tomorrow," she said, giving me a stun. I didn't want to ruin her and Namit's honeymoon and my sister was too worried for me that I knew she won't be fine knowing I am not doing ok.

"Little one, hear me out. I'm fine. Also, what will you do after returning when I won't be here to meet you?"

"What do you mean? Where are you going?"

"There are a few errands Mr. Kozlov has given to us and I will be occupied with that." I hadn't talked to Mr.Kozlov about it yet, but I knew these challenges would keep me away from thinking about my miseries.

"So you are fine now?"

"I'm. Now, don't take any stress and give the phone to my moron best friend." Giggling at the name I used to call Namit she handed him the phone.

"Hey buddy, how are you?"

"Shouldn't I be the one to ask that?" Namit said.

"Not you too. Little One is already tense. Please take care of her and just divert her mind from all these things. I don't want her to stress herself."

"I will, you don't need to stress over her. I will keep her happy and won't let her think about your issue. However, you too take care of yourself."

"Indeed, I will," I answered while I didn't know if I would be fine.

After hanging up the call I called Mr.Kozlov and inquired as to whether there were new tasks. He informed me there were some new undertakings to be done yet following seven days. I requested him to assign the task to us that day only.

The task was to be completed by only 4 of the Ace as Namit was in Greece.

I texted Arjun, Hredhaan, and Kiaan and informed them concerning the assignment. There was another mafia who was developing step by step. He was going to smuggle little kids and we needed to guarantee their wellbeing. After getting ready, I picked up my gun and went to the location Mr.Kozlov delineated for us.

Hredhaan, Kiaan, and Arjun looked concerned for me but I assured them that I was doing well. We got out of our cars and went inside the deserted building before we connected our Bluetooth and split up.

I punched the ones who were guarding the front entryway and headed inside. Concealing myself from different men, I began to look for any indication of kids. As I was pushing ahead I heard, "Who are you?"

Before he could call his men, I made him unconscious. Kiaan informed us that he found 4 kids and he was taking them out of the place. Hredhaan joined Kiaan and Arjun after handling the goons he found came to me.

"Did you discover anything yet?" Arjun asked.

"Not yet, but I heard some of the men talking that there are a few children who are in the room in the basement."

"You go there, I will deal with the men till at that point," Arjun said and I moved towards the basement. The cellar was watched by in excess of 10 men. After dealing with them, I went inside the lone room which was there.

When I opened the room, I found not only children but girls too. That was unexpected, and then I understood why there were so many guards at that place.

All of them were scared and looked terrified and it took me a while to convince them that I was there for their help. Honestly, Arjun was of much help as it was easy for him to convince them after all he didn't become a criminal lawyer without any efforts.

We called the NGO where we usually used to take the children we save from the mafia. They arrived and took the kids with them. I decided to take the girls to my NGO.

It was the NGO where my mother used to work. Grandpa bought that NGO and named it after my mother, Seema Hope NGO. It was earlier named Hope but grandfather added mom's name before it, in her remembrance.

The vehicle of the NGO came to take the girls. I followed it in my car. I went to see the head of the NGO Mrs. Maria and lied to her that the cops found those girls.

Not many people knew about me being a member of 5 Ace and it was better that way. Mrs. Maria assured me that she would take good care of them. I asked her to send me the progress reports of the girls who were brought there 3 months back.

Every girl brought to my NGO was treated with the best doctors appointed by us and it was our responsibility to treat them well and send them back to their respective homes. If someone doesn't have a family our NGO tries to make them independent and make them stand on their own feet.

After Mrs.Maria said that she would send me the reports by evening I was leaving the NGO but was distracted by the commotion across one of the rooms.

"Find it fast, otherwise she won't listen to us. You know how she is." I heard one of the staff.

"What the heck is going on here?" Mrs.Maria asked the staff to which she answered inconsiderately, "She lost that piece of garbage and is presently making a wreck. Others are frightened because of her."

"Find it then and Sophia, behave nicely."

"I don't know what is so special about it." whining about something the staff named Sophia went away.

"What's going on?" I asked Mrs. Maria after seeing everything.

"Goodness, it's nothing. One of the young ladies named Rose has lost something valuable to her. That thing is unforgettable to her and she will not tune in to anyone until she has that certain something."

"Can I meet her?" I needed to ensure she was fine and how Sophia was discussing her was not giving me good vibes. Exactly when I was going to go inside the room my phone began to ring.

It was Vishakha so I picked it up. She needed to meet me however I disclosed to her that I can't as the journalists would inconvenience her which I didn't want. Yet, she said that it will be the last time she will meet me before going to California.

"Are you going to California?"

"Yes, Dad had agreed to help me in opening my art gallery, so I am going to California as I want my art gallery to open there."

"Well, that's nice. Congratulations."

"Much thanks to you. I need to meet you before leaving. It happened all because of you and I want to thank you. Please don't say no."

She was pleading and I couldn't deny her. Yet, I wish I would have denied it. The second I arrived at the location she needed to meet me, I regretted my decision.

She wanted to give me a treat but before that, she took me to one of the art galleries. There were a lot of people because of the exhibition and when I asked her why she called me there, she told me she wanted me to meet her inspiration because of whom she became a painter. She wanted me to meet the famous painter Saavi Bhatt.

I went numb just at the mention of her name.

"You know she is such a great painter and she came here with her husband."

"Husband?"

"Yes, they married last month and they look so good together."

"Vishakha, I need to go, I suddenly remembered about an urgent meeting. I am sorry." I said and moved out of the gallery as fast as I could. I took a deep breath after coming outside and started laughing thinking about how my fate played with me. People were staring at me and whispering but I didn't care.

I didn't want to face her as I Would Rather Die than see my love with someone else.