Read Online Cold Love by Amieya Prabhaker - Free Book Online

no one is looking; fortunately for him it’s quite dark
already and everyone around is nodding as well. Arjun looks back at her and
notices a tuft of her hair getting onto her eyes; this time he gently moves her
hair slowly conscious not to wake her up. Wow… she is looking so beautiful, he
tells himself.
    The car races on with Arjun
and Riya in it together, up and close to each other.
     

 
     
    ACT 3: KICKOFF…EUPHORIA FOR REACHING THE
SKIES & THE REALITY
     

     
    2 months ago
     
     
     
     

Day in Court
     
    Eventually, the momentous day
arrives. Arjun is outside Riya’s room to take her to the special court. They
are getting late for the court as Riya is still in the bathroom.
    “Riya, will you please come
out quickly?”
    “Arjun please wait!” She
eventually comes out, wearing an elegant white suit.
     “So will it be like a court
as we see in the movies Arjun?” Riya asks smiling. Arjun does not bother to
reply; just shakes his head and smiles back at her. He walks to the car and
opens the passenger side door for Riya. Arjun starts the engine but shuts it
off immediately. “Riya, I wanted you to know that…”, he pauses and hesitates.
    “Yes?” Riya is busy looking
into the side view mirror on the passenger side, making the final touches to
her makeup.
    “I think you have a right to
know who it is that you are testifying against. The man you saw pull the
trigger that day, is ISI Lieutenant General Mohammad Khan. He is the second in
command of the ISI Executive wing.”
    “ISI, you mean Pakistan
Intelligence?”
    Arjun nods yes.
    “Oh my God! So what was an
ISI official doing there?”
    “I cannot answer that… but
you are a smart girl… Riya if we win this case, we will have a big diplomatic
victory in our fight against terrorism!”
    “I’m with you Arjun,” she
holds his hand reassuringly, and continues with a smile. “You will see; we will
definitely win.”
    Arjun however, is still in a
somber mysterious mood. “Riya, you will provide testimony in a special military
court. Government and opposition lawyers will ask you several questions. You
should state just the facts and what you saw. Also sometimes in such cases, it
gets nasty as well, I mean with useless questions … but you shouldn’t get
nervous… and…”
    Riya interrupts him, “Arjun
it’s OK! I am not nervous. You are with me, so I’ve nothing to worry about,
right?” She moves her hand to tidy up his hair and ends up cupping her hand
around his cheek. “How about you? Are you OK? Nervous?”
    Arjun shrinks his nose, and
tries to smile back “Yes, a bit!”
    “Shouldn’t we go? Aren’t we
getting late now?”
    Arjun hesitates, wants to say
something more, but starts the engine and revs on. While Arjun and Riya are on
their way, journalists wait outside the court. In a startling overnight
development, Pakistan’s diplomats and media have let the news out, claiming
that their diplomat is being held and tried in India illegally. They filed an
official request with the Indian government, requesting his immediate return to
Pakistan.
    Meanwhile, an Indian
journalist outside the court recapitulates the story to date. “Today we are
outside Mumbai’s special court where ISI Lieutenant General Mohammad Khan is
being tried. We do not know the charges yet but we do know the ISI lieutenant
general was arrested immediately after operations during which the Indian
narcotics bureau seized a large cache of drugs. We have with us our legal
advisor, Ravi Bhalla. Bhallaji, please tell us how this special court is
different, and how the ISI lieutenant general came within Indian jurisdiction?
Did he not have diplomatic immunity in India?”
    “This is a special military
court,” Mr. Bhalla explained, “You are right, diplomatic immunity is available
to Lt Gen Khan, but this immunity can be overruled in two circumstances.”
    “What are those
circumstances, Mr. Bhalla?”
    “First, in a case of critical
national security, under