Chapter 14 A : Sameer as Sahil Shristi version

Here is a polished, dramatic version of the scene. I have tightened the dialogue, heightened the tension, and added vivid stage directions to give it a sharp, cinematic feel.

Arora delivers a stinging slap across Tawde’s face. The crack echoes through the room.

"You saw Sameer and Shristi together at the airport?" Arora demands, his voice trembling with rage.

Tawde, nursing his cheek, nods frantically.

"And then," Arora advances on him, "you shot at them, tapped my landline, and chased them down?"

"Yes, sir!" Tawde stammers, desperate to share the blame. "But... but Pradhan was with me the whole time!"

Arora’s gaze whips over to Pradhan, sharp as a blade. "Pradhan. Did you see Sameer with your own eyes?"

Pradhan swallows hard, shaking his head. "No, sir. I didn't actually see him."

"Sir, listen to me!" Tawde interjects defensively. "By the time we got there, they had already vanished into thin air again!"

Mehta steps forward, scoffing openly as he confronts Tawde. "Oye, explain something to me. How exactly does a dead man just show up at an airport? You’re hallucinating. This is the liquor talking."

"Sir, how can you blame my drinking?" Tawde protests, his voice cracking. "Am I blind? I know what I saw! I saw him with my own two eyes!"

Smack.

Mehta slaps him down, cutting him off entirely. "Shut up! If Sameer were alive right now, every single one of us would be rotting behind bars!"

Arora steps back into the center of the room, his anger turning into cold, heavy dread. "And because of your absolute stupidity, Shristi still isn't home."

Tawde opens his mouth to speak again, but Arora cuts him off with a lethal glare.

"What are you looking at me for?" Arora growls. "Take the entire police force if you have to. Just bring her back home!"

*

Sameer and Shristi are walking down the street, their footsteps hurried. Suddenly, Shristi spots something ahead. Gasping, she grabs Sahil by the arm and yanks him sharply to the side, pulling him behind a large, thick tree for cover.

Through the leaves, they spy Pradhan and Tawde standing directly outside Shristi’s house.

Pradhan pats Tawde’s shoulder, trying to reassure him. "Don't worry, we'll find her. She can't have gone far."

Peering from behind the trunk, Sameer whispers urgently, "Shristi, look... those are the exact same men who were following us earlier!"

Shristi’s eyes widen in confusion and fear. "But what on earth are they doing outside my house?"

Just then, Pradhan kicks his motorbike to life and rides off. Panicking that his headlights might catch them, Shristi and Sahil press themselves flat against the bark, hiding deep in the shadows until he passes.

Before they can breathe a sigh of relief, a rugged police jeep screeches to a halt right where Pradhan had been standing. A handful of men in civilian clothes pile out. They immediately flank Tawde, who begins barking orders and pointing to different corners of the street, positioning the men to secure the perimeter.

Watching the trap being set, Shristi’s voice trembles. "It looks like they’re putting the house under surveillance... Oh god, Sahil, is my daddy in danger?"

Sahil looks at the plainclothes officers, his expression grim. "I think we're way over our heads. We need to inform the police right now."

Shristi nods quickly, terror in her eyes. "Yes. Let's go."

*

INSPECTOR PARAM is in agony. Sweating profusely, clutching his stomach, and walking with his knees pressed tightly together, he shuffles desperately toward the station’s single toilet.

Just as he reaches the door, a CONSTABLE steps out, adjusting his belt. Relieved, the Constable snaps a sharp salute. "Jai Hind, Sir!"

"What? Haan?!" Param roars, his face twisted in pain. "What on earth were you doing in there for so long? What did you eat for breakfast? A brick?!"

Param lunges for the door handle, but right at that exact microsecond, a female visitor darts past him and slips inside, clicking the lock into place.

Param freezes, his eyes wide with horror. He knocks frantically on the wood. A woman's voice yells from inside, "Occupied!"

"Alright... alright... dynamic emergency," Param whimpers. Whining under the sheer pressure of his constipation, he does a agonizing penguin-waddle back to his desk, desperately trying to find an angle to sit that won't trigger a disaster.

Just then, Sameer and Shristi rush up to his desk.

"Inspector, please listen to us," Shristi says urgently. "We need to file a major complaint. Yesterday, when we were leaving the airport—"

"Airport..." Param groans, a delusional, envious laugh escaping his lips. "Ah, the airport... Such a beautiful place. So many high-class facilities for the public, na? If you want to stand, you stand. If you want to sit on a clean commode, you sit. It's pure enjoyment!"

Suddenly, a sharp cramp hits his gut. He snaps his head toward the restroom and screams, "AYEEE!" at the closed door.

Sameer slams his hand on the desk to get his attention. "Inspector! Please, we are in serious trouble here!"

"Trouble?" Param gasps, clutching his lower back. "You think you have a problem?"

He suddenly stands up, drifting to the side of his desk, performing a series of bizarre, robotic yoga poses to keep his bowels under lock and key.

FLUSH.

The sound of rushing toilet water echoes through the station. It sounds like music to Param's ears. Realizing the woman will step out any second, he makes a blind dash for the restroom.

Sameer steps right into his path, blocking him. "Inspector! We've been trying to tell you something critical for five minutes ! Are you even listening to a single word?"

Param places a heavy, trembling hand on Sameer’s shoulder, his eyes pleading. "My dear boy, I am currently not in a physical or mental condition to listen, understand, or process human speech. I have never controlled a force this powerful in my entire life. Now, what is it?!"

Hoping to speak fast, Sameer blurts out, "Yesterday, we were coming out of the international airport and—"

"Param! In my cabin, now!" Tawde's voice barks from across the station.

"Wait here! Don't move!" Param wheezes to Sahil, using the distraction to quickly shuffle into Tawde’s office.

*

Inside the office, Tawde is holding a photograph of Sahil and Shristi. The moment Param shuffles in, Tawde drops the photo onto the desk.

"Get in here," Tawde commands. "Look at this photograph. This is Shristi Arora, and she ran away with this guy, Sahil." He taps the photo aggressively. "Make copies of this immediately and blast it to every single police station in the city. The moment these two are spotted, they are to be arrested on sight!"

Param, shifting his weight from one foot to the other in a bizarre, frantic dance, bends down to get a closer look at the photo. His eyes go wide.

"I... I think I just saw them somewhere..." Param stammers.

Tawde leans forward, instantly alert. "Where? Where did you see them?"

Param drops into a deep squat, trying to hold back the impending disaster. "I'm just... thinking, sir..."

"Then think faster!" Tawde shouts, slamming his fist on the desk.

"Don't shout, sir! Please!" Param cries out, squeezing his eyes shut. "I am in such a volatile condition right now, any sudden vibration could cause a national catastrophe!"

He opens his eyes, looks at the photo again, and then looks out the glass window of the cabin. Shock hits him. "Sir! They are right there! Outside! At my desk! Come with me!"

*

Tawde and Param burst out of the cabin—but the space in front of Param’s desk is completely empty. Sahil and Shristi are nowhere to be seen.

Param blinks in disbelief. He spots the Constable. "Where did they go? The boy and the girl who were just here?!"

The Constable shrugs. "They left, sir. You told them to wait, but then you ran into the cabin, so they walked out."

Tawde turns on Param, his face reddening with fury. "Param! Are you absolutely sure you saw them, or is your brain rotting?"

"Yes, sir! I swear on my life, it was them!" Param insists.

Tawde gets right into his face, screaming at the top of his lungs, "Then look properly next time! Use your eyes!"

The sheer acoustic shock of Tawde's scream shatters Param's last remaining defense. His face goes completely blank. The tension leaves his shoulders. A look of profound, terrifying relief washes over his features as a distinct, heavy sound fills his trousers.

Tawde freezes, sniffing the air as a horrific odor instantly fills the room. He looks down at Param, disgusted beyond words.

Without saying another syllable, Tawde turns on his heel and storms out of the police station.

*

Sameer and Shristi run for their lives, their breaths ragged and desperate. Behind them, the wail of sirens echoes through the narrow lanes. Two police jeeps are hot on their trail. At a frantic intersection, one jeep veers off to cut them off from the other side, but the primary jeep—with Tawde leaning out of the passenger window—stays glued to their heels.

Up ahead, a loud, somber melody fills the air. A massive funeral procession is moving down the main road, crowding the street with mourners.

Seeing no other choice, Sameer grabs Shristi’s hand. "In there! Move!"

They dive into the thick of the crowd, instantly blending in with the sea of weeping people. Tawde’s jeep screeches to a halt at the edge of the crowd. Tawde scans the mass of bodies, but the sea of mourners completely swallows them up. Frustrated, he slams his hand against the dashboard. They’ve lost them.

Deep within the procession, Shristi tries to catch her breath, her eyes darting around in sheer panic. "Why were the police behind us? Sahil, what is going on?"

"I don't know," Sameer whispers back, his heart hammering against his ribs. "I don't understand anything anymore. First it was goons, and now the police are hunting us too."

At the front of the procession, leading the brass funeral band, is Kabir. He is blowing into his trumpet, eyes downcast in respect. But as he turns his head to pace the crowd, his eyes land squarely on Sahil.

Kabir freezes. His fingers lock up on the valves. A horrific, screeching, discordant note wails from his trumpet, tearing through the solemn air like a dying animal. His face pales as if he has just looked straight into the eyes of a ghost.

Sameer notices the sudden silence and the intense stare. Panic flashes through him. He nudges Shristi. "Come on. Let's get out of here. Now."

They quickly break away from the crowd and duck into a quiet side alley.

"Sameer!"

The voice cracks through the alleyway. Sameer and Shristi freeze.

"Aye, Sameer!"

Kabir comes running toward them, throwing his trumpet to the ground, completely unbothered by the instrument clattering on the asphalt. He throws his arms around a stunned Sahil, tears instantly streaming down his face.

"Where did you go, Sameer? Where did you vanish?" Kabir cries, his voice breaking with a mix of overwhelming joy and deep agony. "Tell me! Do you have any idea how much we wept for you? You tortured us, man! Why did you do this to us?"

Sameer stands completely paralyzed, his arms stiff at his sides. He throws a bewildered, panicked glance at Shristi. Shristi looks back at him, her jaw dropped, completely breathless.

Kabir pulls back, grabbing Sahil by the shoulders, his face choked with emotion. "And Rohan... your little brother, Sameer... when he heard the news of your death, the shock completely broke him. He became mute. He hasn't spoken a single word since that day. Imagine how he’ll feel when he sees you! He’s going to be so happy. Come on... come on, let's go home!"