Don and his Roma Season 2 Episode 48

Swara opened her eyes and she was lying on her own bed. She looked around and suddenly it all hit her. She chocked, feeling sick. But Arjun was gone, the carpet on which he had bled to death was gone, the broken bottle was gone, as if she had dreamt it all.

Just then Don entered the room, his clothes changed. He had obviously had to get rid of them, having dirtied them with blood.He rushed towards her when he saw she was awake and panicking

Don:You’re so pale

he said gently and got next to her, putting his arms around her

Don:I was really worried to have left you alone for a while

Swara:How long…?
she could barely speak

Don:Half an hour, I’m not sure…

Swara:Where did you…?

Don:You don’t want to know… Swara…
hetried to make her look him in the eyes

Don:You’re like a ghost, please… try to snap out of it… I’m really worried

She looked at him but she looked as if she was looking through him. Don knitted his eyebrows worriedly and brought her head to his chest and began rocking her slowly and caressing her back

Don;It wasn’t your fault, you have to know that
he said softly

Don:He was going to kill me

She didn’t say anything, just stared in space and barely blinked He looked at her again

Don:You saved my life, Swara. Andit’s not the first time

Swara:But this time it’s different…
she choked again

Swara:This time…

Don:Shhh

he soothed her and brought her back to his chest

Don:Don’t worry.Sam helped metake care of it. It’d all seem like an awful accident on his way from the hospital

Swara’s phone rang. She didn’t even flinch, that’s how anesthetized she was. Don tookit and said

Swara:It’s Ram.

Don:Listen to me, Swara. You have to act as if nothing happened, you know nothing about this ok? It won’t be that hard since he knows you’re sad over quitting your job.

He handed her the phone and she answered

Swara:Sir?…

Ram: Swara… Are you home? I need to come over and… talk to you about something…

Don gestured for her to say yes and she complied

Swara:Haan… ummm… kya hua?

Ram:I can’t tell you this over the phone.
Ram sighed

Ram:I’ll be right over

Swara:Ok…
she then hung up

Don:I fixed the door. Had to replace it actually. I replaced the keys on your keychain as well. Don’t worry it’s all been taken care of. Swara…..

he held her shoulders while he stood up

Don:You can do this, alright? I’ll be gone for just a little while… after this we’ll leave far,far away. Away from it all, alright? I promise

he said gently and she nodded absently

Swara:I love you

he addedand caressed her cheek as he left. She didn’t know where he went butshe didn’t even wonder. She was numbed, paralyzed.

After a while she heard the doorbell and headed towards it, like a zombie. When she opened the brand new door and Ram stepped in she didn’t react much

Ram:I’m thinking it’s a bad idea that I came already…

Ram said as he placed his hands in his pockets nervously she cleared her voice and gestured for him to sit down at her dining table

Swara:What happened, sir?

Ram: swara… I know this is coming at a really bad time… but I know he would have… mera matlab hai… ufff

this was probably the first time she had seen her boss at a loss of words

Ram:… Arjun was in a car accident… unfortunately he is dead

Swara just stared at him and hardly blinked. Ram sat up and came towards her, as she leaned over the counter

Ram:Swara…

he took in a deep breath and then hugged her. She barely reciprocated. When he looked back at her she had tears in her eyes, he was teary eyed as well

Ram:You’re in shock… God, I’m really worried … but I couldn’t not tell you… I know you two were pretty close… and he… he would have liked you to attend his funeral I’m sure but… I won’t allow it. You can’t come, Swara…
Tears were just rolling down her face and she was staring at a point in space while Ram was talking to her softly

Ram:Tum jao yahan se… go to your family in New York…

he was silently crying now too

Ram:Go away and don’t come back for a long while, Swara. You need to get away.

She nodded slowly, tears still rolling down her cheeks while she stared at that same point in space

Swara:I can’t come
she uttered

Swara:I just… I can’t

Ram:I know! I know… but you needed to know… I couldn’t keep this from you…

She nodded and he hugged her one last time

Ram:Take good care of yourself, you hear? And keep in touch…I’m here whenever you need me. Just a phone call away, alright?

Swara:Sure… thank you for everything sir…
was all she could say

Ram:God bless you beti…

he said in a shaky voice and cleared his throat then stepped out of the apartment Swara was just about to say goodbye to Ram when he saw a team of paramedics carrying her neighbor Kiran out her apartment on a stretcher

Swara:Kya hua?

she asked the two men that were carrying her

Man:Do you know her family? She forgot the gas opened and died asphyxiated

Swara swallowed hard and nodded in denial. Ram turned to look at her

Ram;Did you know her?

Swara:Haan…
Ram shook his head

Ram:I’ve never believed in kismet before … but there’s something not far from an evil eye here, Swara. Do as I say and leave. Go away, far away.

swara woke up and felt something strange so she stood up rapidly. Don immediately followed

Don:Relax, it’s me

he said in a soothing voice but she was panting already and pushed him away

Swara:Don’t… don’t…

Don;Swara…

Swara:I can’t live with myself,

she turned and looked him in the eye. In the moonlit room she could see his eyespiercing hers and she could see compassion in them. Something she hadn’t seen before. And she hated herself for loving him, now more than ever

Swara:I can’t believe I did this
she said in a high pitched voice, as she felt like suffocating

Swara:I killed him, Don!

Don:You saved me. That’s what you did. You’re an officer Swara, you very well know what self defense is!
he tried to make her see reason

Don:It’s not like you cold bloodily killed him.Like I would have done. You stopped me from doing that. You don’t know how happy I am you did. Else you would have hated me forever.
She looked at him for a long while then said

Swara:That’s just it. I think I would have loved you anyway. And that scares me a lot. You have no idea

she whispered the last sentence in a shaky voice and Don could do nothing but slowly hold her and take her into his arms caringly

Din:Swara… I know what you’re going through

Swara:… Don… you have no idea…

Don:Just listen…
he said softly then added as he took in a deep breath

Don:I don’t have friends.I don’t believe in friendship. Want to know why?
She looked up at him as he held herto his chest

Don:Because I had to kill the only friend I had
Swara furrowed her brows and waited for him to continue He cleared his throat

Don:Vivek was my friend. We had become friends in the orphanage. Hewas my only friend, mostly because he taughtme a lot of what I know, and so I needed him for that. He was older and although I’ve never been inferior to him, he introduced me to the underworld and that made me his protégée in a sense. I quickly gained credibility and acclaim amongst the dealers and I could see our friendship turn a little sour as the power shifted to my side, but nevertheless I valued it. He hadn’t been just my ticket to this path I chose, but we were friends beyond business. We had known each other since I were 14 and he 17.At that age, that’s quite a difference. He taught me a lot, granted, but our friendship was based on much more. Long story short… is that I had to kill him. My boss told me that Vivek was so jealous of my success that he allied with someone else, competition basically, and that he also knew for sure that he had been assigned to kill me so that they could conquest the black market.

Swara realized she had been holding her breath in anticipation when he continued, sighing

Don:I was infuriated. He had betrayed me and he was going to kill me for his own welfare. So I cornered him and killed him without even blinking. It was the first time I had been betrayed. Kismet had betrayed me since birth but no one ever dared go against me like this. Especially the first and only friend I ever had, the only person I trusted. But I felt terrible. I felt I shouldn’t have done it. Because he was my friend,my only friend. Knowing fully well he would have killed me had I not. I eventually learned to live with it and went on doing business for that shark. I eventually found out, later on, that I had been set up. Killing Vivek was just a test they had made me go through in order to see how determined I was to do this. So I killed them all, premeditated it all and no one even suspected what was coming their way. I didn’t even think of it twice. I took over the business and so I was on my way to becoming …the king.
he smirked

Don:But I was already planning on taking over for a while… but I regress. My point was that I killed my friend. It was an innate reaction. I was either going to be killed or kill him myself. Once I found out that I had wrongly killed him… I felt something very bizarre
he furrowed his brows

Don:I’d never felt like that before… empty

Swara closed her eyes tight. That was exactly what she was feeling like

Don:You killed him because he was going to kill me. There was no two way about it
he looked deep into her eyes

Swara:And even though youknowyou did the right thing you feel terrible for having killed someone that… cared for you. So what I related isn’t completely similar, but the thing is, I did whatI had to.And so did you
he then raised an eyebrow questioningly and asked carefully

Don:Do… you regret it?

Swara lowered her gaze and he asked a different question

Don:Had it been someone else in his place, would you regret having killed him to save me?

Swara:No
she replied immediately

Don:So you see. You only regret it because he…
he closed his eyes trying not to say something inappropriate

Don:…cared for you

Swara didn’t meet Don’s gaze, as if contemplating his words carefully

Don:And, come to think of it…that’s the very reason why he wanted to kill me.

She looked up to him. The sudden realization hit her full frontal. He was right. Arjun wanted to kill him because he loved her. She was the actual motive. And she was the only one that could save him. She wastyhe reason Arjun hated Don so much. He had been in love with her ever since they had started working together. And he had been there, witness to her every downfall. He had grown to hate Don and seek vengeance. Don pondered her changing expressions carefully and then whispered

Don:Don’t let this get to you. I promise you won’t find out one day that what you did was wrong, like I have. He was going to kill me, Swara. And you stopped him. I never knew you loved me so.
he finally added caressing her cheek She did!

And she had almost lost Don because someone was so in love with her that he was ready to kill him. She felt sorry for Arjun. That was all she felt anymore, sorrow. But she now knew in her heart that she had done the right thing.