63

"No...!" Dhatri wailed and got up suddenly.
"Dhaa.....!" she didn't stop even at the desperate call.  Dhatri ran out of the room and out of the house. 

"What's wrong with her?" Dr. Salil gaped at her vanishing figure.  

She again was on the road, like she was when her parents confessed that she was an unwanted girl child.  She broke into a run....!

:No.... She can't do this to me...!" she again sat on the stone bench on that secluded road, staring blankly...!!

"Papa?" Disha came in.  Dr. Salil was looking at the open door. The house was bustling with the wedding preparations... The wedding was just a week ahead...
 He turned.  "What happened?" she asked confused.
"Nothing... beti....!" he turned and forced a smile on his face.  Disha walked past him, shrugging. 

"Papa...!" Rini came to her papa for support.  He looked at her.  "What's wrong?" he asked her.  She shook her head hopelessly. 

"She is upset with me..!" she said hanging her head.

"Upset with you?" he was surprised.  Dhaa could never be upset with her Rini Didi.
"Why?" was the next obvious question.  Rini fidgeted.  "Umm... nothing much...!" she avoided the question and went in.  She must wait for her Dhaa to return...!! Dharini had not told anything to anyone... It was her Dhaa's previlege to know it first....!! But Dhaa...?


"How could she do this to me?" Dhatri sobbed hiding her face in her palms.

  "Rini didi...!" she wailed.  "No...! My answer is a big NO!" she stood up determined to return home.


Dharini waited at the door for her Dhaa....!! 


************  **********

"I was desperate when I heard about your encounter with terrorists..." he broke the silence.  She merely looked at him.  "And your injury..." he added.

"That was a minor injury..." she blurted clutching her bullet hit arm and then coming back to her stance asked Vinit, sternly...!

"That is not the answer to my question... who are you?" he looked at her tentatively.  "MI (Military intelligence) ... but that is not important..." he added hurriedly.  She shook her head.

"You have told me this..." she said testing his patience.  "Dharini....!" he really was desperate....! She looked away.  Now it was her turn ....

"I will tell you who he really is....!" Vikram couldn't stop himself and pulling a chair at the table he settled himself.  He was watching them from the distance and realized that they were going nowhere.

"This bugger... snatched you away from me...!" Vikram said with bitterness.

"Hell...No... what are you talking about?" Rini raised her voice.

"See? She said NO..!" Viky winked at Vinit.

"Shut up...!" Vinit had clutched her wrist again.  She struggled with pale face.

"Ms. Dharini... once for all tell him that its a NO from you...!" Vikram looked at her with hope...  She winced...

"No..! I mean... Yes... I mean...!" she closed her eyes to remove the confusion.. "What is all this?" she finally asked the sensible question. 

"Can't you see? He has fallen for you... Completely... Flat..." Vikram thumped on his shoulder and Rini's cheeks changed color. 

"Look at him, Dharini! ....Anytime... he would go down on his knees... begging....!" Vikram said winking.  She somehow managed to look at Vinit's reddened face.

"Shut up!" he twisted Vikram's arm.  She gaped at their friendship.

"Stop it...!" she yelled finally and everyone in the Officers' mess stopped at once.  She looked around apologatically and turning to the duo pleaded them to stop...

"Dharini... He is a Hawk... has no boundaries...KOI SARAHAD ISAY ROK NAHI SAKATI....!" He delivered a filmy dialog...

"In his career in MI, in last six years he has crossed the border five times... Alone... Unarmed... and returned unhurt everytime....!!" Vikram said seriously and Vinit looked away embarrassed.  Rini gaped with dropped jaw. 

"With Success... Every Time!" Vikram stressed seriously.  She looked at Vinit.  "... You are too junior to know about field intelligence.....!" Vikram added gravely.

"Viky.. Go!" he ordered and this time Viky obeyed...!! He moved away leaving them together ......

"And ... you did all that stunt ... only to hear an yes from me?" she looked ghostly.  "Yes...!" he said seriously clasping her palm....  She suddenly fell silent.  He waited patiently.... this time...!

"What is he?" she didn't know...! "Is this his HAWK style?..." She wondered... "This is how the Hawk's lure their females...?" Something chruned in her heart....! Her face glowed pink....!! He was watching the changing expressions on her face....!

"This is how.... the courtship of Hawks.... A dangerious, deathly... romance....? I should ask Dhaa... She knows about birds..... Dhaa? Dhaa!!" She shuddered at the thought of her Dhaa.  She withdrew her hand and he looked up in shock....

"Dhaa...!" she blurted.  "What?" he was confused....!

"No.. I mean... Dhatri... my younger sister....!" her throat went dry... she drank water like a thristy person...! He looked on...!

"What about her?" he asked.  Dharini suddenly turned serious... Her decision can't be only hers... She should ask Dhaa first... and what if she says no?" Rini winced. 

"Umm... I mean..." she struggled for the right words and looked up at Vinit's face... She had to make a decision... She stared unfocused and then making up her mind holding his hand, said in a grave tone...!!

"Its my younger sister, Dhatri.... I will have to ask her.... She is everything.....!" she wet her drying lips with her tongue... he stared at her pale face...

"Maj. Vinit.... No matter, how many times you take me to the other side of the fence... if she says no to this ... Its a no from me too....!"  Finally she said it all highlighting the place of her Dhaa in her life...!

Vinit still held her hand looking deep into her eyes... she gazed looking lost... he understood....

"Dhaa and Rini are inseparable... Dha-Rini...!" he said with a line of smile on her face.  She gaped... It had never occured to her...!! Dha-Rini...!!

How beautifully he had defined her relationship with her Dhaa.....!! She smiled. 

"I will handle..." he said confidently.

"No... For god sake... Don't try your extreme measures on her... I will tell her when the time comes....!" she said desperately and he grinned with his eyes emitting happyness....!!  Rini lost herself in deep thoughts... She was not sure about her Dhaa.. this time!!