A Web Of Fate ……

Please read chapter 2 here                                   Please read chapter 4  here

Team Name: Vijeta

Chapter 3

Mumbai

“I desperately need this vacation, much more than Shekhar can even imagine” sighed Tara. No one knows how much she wishes to run away from her current predicament ….

She shuddered. “If only Shekhar knew what I was dealing with at work. But not now. I cannot involve him in this murky affair for his sake and for Roohi’s sake.” Tara mouthed that promise to herself and shut down her laptop.

“I have to apply for leave and talk to Tarun about it.” Tara gets up to walk to her boss’s office but her mobile rings.

“Hello Tara? Tarun here. Can you come over to my office right now, please?”

Tara froze for a moment. “I hope it is not about the matter involving the politician”. Her mind went back to the events at work a month ago…

A month ago, Tara had come to know about a shady affair regarding a very political person of one of the states in the southern parts of India. The affair is full of mystery and such that without any solid evidence the newspaper could not publish it. But the nature of the events has become very difficult for Tara to ignore it as well.

Tara has always respected her profession as a senior media person and has believed in a certain professionalism and ethics of work. However, this current conflict has brought her onto a crossroad and she has not been able to figure out what to do. What made it worse is that, her boss, Tarun would like her to hush up the matter and not pursue it any more.

Tarun, in no uncertain terms, has even told Tara a week ago that pursuing this investigative line of reporting may not be very good for Tara.

Tara heaved another heavy sigh and noticed that she had been doing that a lot lately. This has always been her habit under stress ever since she was a teenager. She reluctantly started walking towards Tarun’s cabin. “I have to speak to him about how I feel about the matter”, promised Tara to herself. The cabin door was slightly ajar. Tara lightly knocked on the door and took a step inside. Instantly, her smile evaporateed. The politician in question – Mr. Mani – was sitting on the sofa opposite Tarun. They had been talking animatedly.

“Come in Madam. We were just talking about you.” smiled Mr. Mani. Tara felt slightly choked but took a step inside nonetheless.

Delhi

Jennifer knew that Cyrus would not be able to ignore her. The whole idea of coming to the party was to befriend him. Ever since she discovered  the bundle of letters in an hitherto old box, she has not slept well at night.

What she has not been sure of was how much Cyrus would be able to help her. Did Cyrus even know that he was implicated in the whole thing?

The hum of busy Delhi streets passed them by. The coffee finished. Time to say goodbye perhaps? Jennifer pulled out her camera and took a profile shot of Cyrus. He was caught off guard. His stern face slowly spread into a smile, but were the eyes smiling? Jennifer wondered as she put the camera back into her backpack.

“So, when do I get to see you again?” Cyrus asked rather directly.

Jennifer did not quite expect this question. Averted both his eyes and questions, Jennifer faced towards the busy street. The day light is threatening to dim finally.  Time to go…

“I have to find out who Shekhar Dutta is and why was he mentioned in those letters?” she tells herself as she turned her back to Cyrus after saying goodbye. She clutched her mobile hoping that she had taken down Cyrus’s number correctly.

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