Bhumi's POV!

It has been two weeks since the engagement party. Aryamann called me twice, but I wasn't in the mood to give in. And he just gave up after trying twice.

What did you expect from him, Bhumi?

"Are you sure you want to go out now? We have our train in two hours," Arohi asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"I want to go to that bookstore we saw yesterday. I didn't have my wallet with me then, so I couldn't buy the book," I said stubbornly.

We are in Pune now, to attend Bani's friend's wedding. We know the bride through Bani, and she was kind enough to extend an invitation to us. And we all badly needed a break, so we took up the invitation and came over to Pune. We are returning back to Mumbai today.

"Okay, I will come with you, or else you would get lost in the book world and forget all about the train," Arohi said, and I rolled my eyes.

"I don't," I retorted, though we both very well know what she said is true. I forget everything around me when I start reading.

"Oh, you sure don't, sweetheart," Arohi said sarcastically, making me pout.

"You two go. I am too tired to move," Bani said, lying on the bed.

Arohi was looking at me bored when I was surfing through the book aisle. I rolled my eyes at her. She knows nothing about the wonders of reading or the magic of a book.

My phone rang, and I picked it up without checking the caller ID. The signal was weak, and I couldn't hear anything, so I handed over the books to Arohi and signalled her to wait for me.

As I went out, I could clearly hear the voice saying, "Ma'am, we are calling from ICICI bank-" I hung up without listening further and rolled my eyes. Seriously? A sales call.

As I looked up, something strange caught my eyes. Two people dressed in black speed walking with a crying toddler in their arms. Something seems fishy. And my suspicion was proved right when they neared the universal kidnapper's car. You know right, which car am I talking about?

I rushed to them, and my phone slipped out of my hands, which is the least of my worries now. As I neared them and tried to take the baby from them, they pushed me inside the car along with them.

"Mummaa," the baby was crying for her mother, and I snatched her from the kidnapper and glared at him.

"Who are you??" I asked them.

"Do any sane kidnappers tell the kidnappees about their details?" The kidnapper no. 1 said. Let's call them K1.

"Do any sane human beings kidnap a toddler and a young beautiful girl for no reason?" I asked them back in the same tone.

"Who said there is no reason?" K2 asked with a frown.

"So tell me the reason," I asked.

"And why the hell would we tell you the reason?" K1 asked.

"Because you are kidnapping me too," I said in a duh tone.

"Just shut up, okay. We didn't plan to kidnap you. You yourself walked in," K1 said in an annoyed tone.

"That's because you were kidnapping a baby. Do you think I would just leave the baby alone with you two?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

"God!! We don't even have duct tape with us," K2 exclaimed.

"Haww. First of all, you are kidnapping two innocent people, and you have the audacity to bring God in between. How could you?" I said, sending a disapproving look at them.

"You, girl! Just shut up. Or else," K1 said in a threatening tone.

"Else what? And yeah, don't call me girl, woman and all. I have a very beautiful name. Bhumi," I said, flicking my hair in my usual style.

"You do realise right, that you are being kidnapped?" K1 asked, looking at me weirdly.

"Of course, I do. Do I look like a dumb enough not to realise that?" I asked.

"Oh God! What trouble have you landed us with," K2 said, looking upwards.

"Haww! Me? I am trouble? How dare you," I glared at the kidnappers for daring to call me trouble.

Poor little me.

"No no. I was talking about myself," he said, defending himself.

Good for him!

"So tell me, where are you taking us?" I asked and looked at the baby. She is already asleep in my arms. Poor mite, must be exhausted after all that crying.

"To our hideout, of course," K1 said.

"And where is that?" I asked.

"About an hour from here," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Why did you even kidnap the baby? Look how cute she is," I chided them.

"We don't know, our boss orders, and we execute the plan," he said, shrugging casually.

"Are we there yet?" I asked.

"No, we are still an hour away," he said.

After another five minutes, I asked again, "Are we there yet?"

"No."

Another five minutes passed.

"Are we there yet?"

"Shut up. Just shut up. We know what you are doing. Irritating us with your 'are we there yet' plan. No can do," he said, and I rolled my eyes.

You did the kidnapping. Now you just have to tolerate me, buddy.

"Are we there yet?" I persisted.

"Arghhhh!"

******

Aryamann's POV!

I stared at my laptop screen blankly.

It has been two weeks since my engagement. Fake engagement!! I reminded myself.

I had not seen Bhumi after that last talk we had in the Mehrotra garden. Where she asked me to come and apologise when I mean it.

Apologise! My foot.

It is not as if I committed a crime. Okay, I made a mistake. I didn't realise that Bhumi would feel humiliated by my actions. I even called her twice to apologise. Something I never usually do.

Sorry is not a common word in the Aryamann Mehrotra dictionary.

And yet, I tried to apologise. And she had to go ahead and show me attitude. Like hell I will care. I simply let go of the matter.

I don't owe anybody any explanation.

What irritates me more is how Daksh and Gaurav behave with me. Since when did they change teams? They are behaving like overprotective brothers of Bhumi.

"Mr. Mehrotra, there is a call for you," my Pune PA informed me through the intercom.

"Shield my calls, Jeeva," I ordered, as I was not in a mood to talk to anyone. I have been in Pune for three days now, and the woman from the other day has been calling me constantly, much to my irritation.

"Sorry, Mr. Mehrotra. She says it is urgent and is about your fiancée," Jeeva said, and my heart started thudding against my ribs in worry. Bhumi? What happened to Bhumi?

"Connect the call immediately," I said, and soon enough, the call was connected.

"Mr. Mehrotra, this is Arohi Sharma. Bhumi's friend," I heard a voice, and a hiccup followed, indicating that she had been crying.

"Yes, Arohi. What's the matter? Why are you crying?" I asked, my mouth going dry in fear.

"Bhumi. Bhumi is kidnapped," she said and started sobbing again.

"What? What do you mean by kidnapped? Where the hell are you? Tell me in detail," I asked, standing up from my chair.

"We are in Pune. We were here to attend a wedding of Bani's friend. We were supposed to go back to Mumbai today. But Bhumi wanted to visit a bookstore. When we were there, she got a phone call and went outside to attend it. As she didn't return back, I went out to check and found her phone on the road. I searched everywhere for her, but couldn't find her. Then with the help of the bookstore owner, we checked the CCTV footage of a few shops and saw her being kidnapped. The cops are here, but we are worried. Can you help us out? I saw in a tabloid news that you are currently in Pune," she said in a breath.

"Of course, she is my fiancée. I will be there immediately. Can you send me the exact location where you are?" I asked, already transferring the call to my personal phone and striding out of my office without paying attention to anything else.

All I wanted was Bhumi safe in front of my eyes.

****

Bhumi's pov!

"You idiots. I asked you to kidnap the child. Who is this additional ticket?" The bulky man with a potbelly, who calls himself boss, asked.

"Hey, pot. Remember my name. It's Bhumi. And if I hear any one of you so much as mention or call me anything other than my name, nobody can be worse than me," I said, glaring at him, and he glared right back at me.

"Will you explain?" He shouted at K1 and K2.

"Don't shout. Can't you see that the baby is asleep? And yeah, it's not K1 and K2's fault. I myself got into the car," I said, feeling pity for the two.

"Who is K1 and K2?" He asked, confused.

"These two only. Kidnapper no. 1 and Kidnapper no. 2. It's the short form. K1 and K2. Aren't I smart?" I asked, grinning at him.

"Arghh! Whatever, just shut up and sit somewhere," he said.

"What? How can I sit quietly? It was my lifetime wish to get kidnapped by a mafia king and saved by my prince charming. I didn't get a mafia king. But it's okay. I can adjust with local rogues too. Now tie me to a chair and take a photo of me while someone places a knife near my throat." I said hurriedly sitting on the nearby arm chair.

"Are you crazy? We are kidnappers. Not your neighbours. You are supposed to be scared of me," pot said and I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah yeah. I get it. First take a photo, then I will get scared." I said offhandedly.

"Shut up and sit there." he said and sat on his chair.

I frowned at him.

"What is your opinion about wolves?" I asked out of the blue.

"What?"

"The wolf, also known as the gray/grey wolf, timber wolf or tundra wolf, is a canine native to the remote areas of Eurasia and North America. It is the largest extant member of its family. It is distinguished from other Canis species by its larger size and less pointed features, particularly on the ears and muzzle. Its winter fur is long and bushy and-"

"What the hell are you talking about??"

"Oh, so you are not interested in wolves. It's okay. I know many other things too. Yeah, let's talk about the largest flower in the world. Rafflesia arnoldii, commonly called the corpse lily, is a species of flowering plant in the parasitic genus Rafflesia. It is noted for producing the largest individual flower on Earth. It has a very strong and unpleasant odour of decaying flesh, earning it the nickname 'corpse flower'. It is endemic to the rainforests of Suma-"

"Enough!!" He yelled in frustration.

"Just drop her off from where you picked her," he ordered, looking at K1 and K2.

"I am not going anywhere. I am waiting for my prince charming to come and save me," I said.

Like hell I would leave the cute little child alone with these people.

Haa. What did you think? Kidnapping Bhumi Basu would be an easy task? No, darling, No!

"Just stick a duct tape on her mouth and tie her to the chair. And let me be at peace," the boss man said, and one of his wingmen came and tied me to the chair and duct-taped me.

Look at his attitude. How dare he try to cross me?

I started tapping my fingers on the arms of the chair to which I was tied. Thanks to my long nails, it makes a very nicely irritating sound. It hurts like a b**ch, but I am fine as long as it irritates them.

"Arghh! What is she made of? Just stop it okay? You want a photo? That's it, right? Someone please take a photo of her," the boss cried out pleadingly.

Now you are on the right track, not-so-gentleman.

They took off the duct tape from my mouth, and one person stood behind me and held a knife close to my throat. At the same moment, the door was opened with a loud thud, and in walked a furious Aryamann Mehrotra.

What is he doing here?

A/N

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