Chapter 9 #4
"Who is this ?", Richa asked quickly, noticing a very familiar tone.
But before he could say anything, Richa turned to Siya.
"Siya bacha... did you call someone from the contacts ?
", Richa asked. The little girl shook her head.
"Hello sir, I'm so sorry, my niece called you accidentally.
.. I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused.
..", Richa spoke into the phone in a hurry to hang up. ..
Shaurya stood shocked. Whoever this lady was must have learned only to speak, and not to listen...
"Will you please listen to me, ma'am ? The call wasn’t a mistake. Siya called me to talk", Shaurya spoke into the phone, and he felt as if the lady calmed down. Richa looked at Siya, who was biting her nails...
"May I know who this is ? And how do you know Siya ?", Richa asked in a stern tone, getting protective of the little girl...
"Oh yes... I'm Shaurya, Chief Minister... I met Siya...", he trailed, but Richa’s cautious and respectful tone interrupted him...
"Sir... I... I'm extremely sorry, I didn’t know it was you...", Richa said...
"No problem, Ms. Richa... right ?", Shaurya asked to confirm if he was pronouncing her name correctly...
"Yes sir, Richa...", she said.
Shaurya explained the whole issue briefly, and Richa said she would get back to him in five minutes if that was not a problem.
Shaurya responded politely and hung up. Richa was impressed with how Shaurya introduced himself humbly; there wasn’t a trace of arrogance in his words.
She realized it the very first time she met him at Dev’s farmhouse.
Thankfully, he didn’t realize who she was, or so she thought. ..
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"Mr. Sharma... get the info about this number", Shaurya asked before getting back to his meeting... He instantly recognized Richa’s tone... He couldn’t forget it, he had heard this voice speak against him and his party several times in the news.
He couldn’t be mistaken, and within the next 10 minutes, Mr. Sharma confirmed his doubts. ..
"Sir... It belongs to Richa Upadhyay... she...", Mr. Sharma started, but Shaurya stopped him...
"I know who she is. Thanks for the info, Mr. Sharma... now let's get back to work, we need to finish this quickly... I need the next few hours of my schedule free", Shaurya said, and Mr. Sharma nodded with a gentle smile, knowing the reason...
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"Siya... now tell me, how did you become friends with him ?", Richa asked, and the little girl narrated the entire story. She also mentioned how her mother had refused her requests to meet Shaurya several times.
Richa knew how much Akansha hated politicians, especially Shaurya, so it was obvious she would not allow Siya to meet him.
But Richa didn’t find anything wrong in Siya meeting Shaurya.
In fact, she felt Akansha’s hatred had gone on for too long.
She knew Akansha had suffered that day because of Shaurya or his party workers, but it wasn’t Shaurya’s doing—he hadn’t ordered it.
Richa had tried to make Akansha understand this several times, but she wasn’t willing to listen.
"Siya bear, how can I send you to him without letting your mumma know ?", Richa asked. But Siya started throwing tantrums, which was a first. Richa was surprised by her reaction; she even cried, and her tears melted Richa’s resolve. She considered dropping Siya at Shaurya's place herself, but then she received a call from her boss to cover a case and had to leave urgently. So she called Shaurya and informed him about Siya’s arrival. Shaurya assured her that his security personnel along with his secretary would pick her up. Being a journalist herself, Richa was familiar with the Chief Minister’s head of security and his secretary, so she was able to identify them.
Richa got Siya ready, and Shaurya’s staff picked the little girl up.
She gave Siya a spare mobile phone and took the contact numbers of Shweta and the head security personnel before bidding her goodbye.
Later, Richa called Shaurya to inform him that Siya had left with his staff.
He responded with a calm, polite “I know.” She was slightly surprised by how down-to-earth he sounded.
She hadn’t expected him to be so attentive or to pick up her calls every time, but his behavior surprised her.
He also informed her that he would have Siya dropped back in two hours, but Richa insisted on picking her up from his residence, and Shaurya agreed.
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Siya entered holding Shweta’s finger, but as soon as she saw Shaurya waiting for her in the hall, she ran into his arms. Shaurya knelt on the floor and pulled the little girl into his embrace...
"I missed you so so so much uncle...", Siya squealed...
"How much ?", Shaurya asked, and Siya stretched her arms wide...
"This much", she said, making him chuckle...
"Well, I missed you more than that... this much...", he replied, stretching his arms even wider than hers...
"Cheating... this is cheating", she said, and he laughed at her cuteness...
"God! Siya... you are so cute...", he said, making her smile shyly. ‘Your family and mumma are very lucky to have you, Siya bacha,’ he thought to himself.
Shaurya then took her to his ground-floor office, which was more like a large hall where he held meetings with government organizations, union leaders, and others. Both of them began spending time together, but Mr. Sharma interrupted as he had something important to discuss with Shaurya.
Siya was lying on the floor with color books, palettes, color pencils, crayons, and other items scattered messily around her. Shaurya didn’t want to disturb her play by holding a meeting in the same room, even though it was large, so he walked to the door and spoke to his Principal Secretary there.
Siya finished her drawing and waited for Shaurya to come and appreciate it, but he seemed to be in a deep conversation.
So she decided to explore the room on her own.
She reached Shaurya’s mahogany plywood desk, and the slightly ajar drawer caught her attention.
She opened it and what she saw surprised her—it was her mumma’s photo, and Shaurya was beside her, holding her shoulder, both smiling at the camera.
Siya waited for Shaurya to ask him, but he was still talking to Mr. Sharma.
Shaurya saw Mrs. Sudha walking towards his office with Siya’s chocolate shake and snacks.
"Siya... Mrs. Sudha is here with your favorite shake. Have it bacha, you can play later...", he said from the door without noticing where she was.
Siya quickly placed the frame back inside the drawer and ran to the entrance for her chocolate shake, forgetting about her mumma’s photo and wondering why Shaurya was in it with her.
Mrs. Sudha handed her the chocolate shake and snacks.
While walking away, she noticed the drawer keys hanging and the drawer slightly open.
She feared Shaurya would get upset, as he always ensured the drawer was properly locked and the keys were kept away from everyone’s reach.
She realized she had forgotten to lock it after cleaning it in the morning.
She quickly locked the drawer, placed the keys back safely, and left.
Shaurya walked in after his discussion with Mr. Sharma. He smiled seeing Siya enjoying her chocolate shake. On seeing him, Siya suddenly remembered the photo.
"Uncle... how do you have my mumma’s photo ?", she asked, shocking Shaurya...
"Huh ?", Shaurya was confused...
"You were also there in the picture...", Siya added.
Shaurya smiled at the little girl. His ground-floor office was filled with photographs from public interactions; there were hundreds of images from various events he attended, including school functions.
In fact, the picture with Siya’s school staff was also among them.
He assumed Siya had noticed her mother in one of those images.
"I’ll tell you, but you have to show me where you saw your mumma, hm ?", Shaurya asked.
"Thele (there)", Siya pointed.
Shaurya looked in the direction and saw the framed pictures Shweta had recently hung behind his desk. It included his picture with the NPS School staff as well.
"Oh! That was when I came to your school, Siya", Shaurya answered.
"But mumma looked vely (very) small in it", Siya said while sipping her shake. She meant “young,” but couldn’t express it properly. Shaurya interpreted it as “small” in size since she was among a group of people, and thought she was upset about it. He laughed at her words.
"Okay, you can show me your mumma in the picture and we’ll get it big. But before that, have these snacks...", Shaurya said.
Looking at the snacks, she remembered her promise to her mother.
"Fluits (fruits)... I plomised mumma I’ll eat fluits...", Siya said.
"Oh! Not a problem... I'll cut fruits for my Siya bacha... come with me", Shaurya said, picking up Siya. He walked to the kitchen, forgetting about the picture... only if he hadn’t...