Chapter 1

[NOCOPY]

I Do Love You

"Alright guys, case closed. Good job." Rathore paused to look at his team, unable to feign their bubbling excitement. For a minute he almost felt like as if he was a teacher and they were a bunch of high school teens. He squint his eyes as he caught on to the members hushing and signaling something to each other.

"Sameer..." Rathore's ears perked as he caught on that mischievous tone. There was the naughtiest, cutest and loveliest student of all.

Miss. Sakshi Anand.

Toughening his stance, knowing very well that a trick might be up this child woman's sleeve, Rathore returned a quick smile to Sakshi. "Yes Sakshi." The glint in her eyes promised the Sakshi was definitely thinking about something.

Rathore racked his brains in preparing himself for any random verbal attack from Sakshi.

"Coffee." Sakshi gave an oh so sugary' smile, chuckling as Rathore sniffed his coffee slightly.

"Don't worry, kuch nahi daala usme! I know it's not the usual Ayesha ki haath ka banaya hua coffee but it's a good one nonetheless." Ayesha smacked the back of her head with a file and suddenly found the clock on the wall too interesting, completely avoiding Rathore's eyes.

Rathore opened his mouth to retort when he heard a slight shuffle of paper, to his right he found his second in commanding suppressing a grin behind a newspaper. Brotherly affection filled Sameer on seeing Arjun smile after quite a few days.

If Arjun had to be a student, then he would be one of those rough, silent, mysterious and extremely intelligent boys who would have girls swooning at their feet, though his eyes would remain on one particular classmate.

The quirkiest one.

Sakshi turned to high five Shree when her eyes met Arjun's.

Cupid attacks! Red spots appeared on her cheek and she hastily turned aside while Arjun nodded to himself and resumed reading his paper.

Hence the cutest girl of the class fell for the mysterious boy of the class.

Cliched love story # 1.

Poor ETF members, little had they any idea about all the thoughts in Rathore's mind. Even though on the exterior front he did look like a serious officer, mentally he amused himself by reducing them to young lads of sixteen.

Grinning slightly to himself, Rathore brought his cup close to his mouth and took a sip when Sakshi chirped "Waise, tomorrow's Valentine's Day so should I do a romantic dinner booking for you two?"

"WHAT!" Rathore spit his coffee, choking momentarily while an embarrassed Ayesha passed him a glass of water, glaring furiously at Sakshi. "Sir," Ayesha called out to me, and with a little flutter in his heart, Rathore took the glass of water from her hand.

And their fingers met.

Hence the monitor of the class ended up having a crush on the strong, independent girl of his class.

Cliched love story # 2.

Rathore was sure to having heard a grunt and turned aside to find Arjun staring at him, reducing him to dead meat.

Oops, looks like Rathore spit his coffee on Arjun. Giving a sheepish smile, Rathore passed his kerchief to a puzzled Arjun.

"Why is he smiling like this?" Arjun thought and then saw the connection between Ayesha and Rathore. His eyes fell on Sakshi who winked at him slightly, indicating him about the budding lovebirds.

"A wink eh?" Arjun thought and raised an eyebrow stating that he knew about Rathore's obvious liking for Ayesha even before she figured out. And then he gave her a classic barely there smile.

Sakshi blushed, again.

"Kya sir! Sakshi was talking about a dinner plan for you and Arjun sir... aapne kya socha?" If Sakshi wasn't enough, her twin of a friend - Shree, spoke up. Giving a high five to Sakshi, Shree chuckled and scowled immediately as Liza pulled his hair "Shree, you do realise that Rathore sir is your senior, right? A word more and who knows, I might end up with the privilege to dissect you!"

"Kuch bhi." Shree snorted "Liza, to dissect me, I first need to be dead and I don't you want that. Kyunki agar main marr gaya, who will keep up with your bullshit?"

"Dear Specky Sen, of course you don't have to be dead! I mean what will I do without you!" Liza sighed dramatically while the others amused at their expense.

"Keeping you unconscious will be more than enough! Sahi kaha na maine, Rathore sir?" Rathore couldn't stop smiling as Liza raised her eyebrows twice in agreement.

"Rathore sir ki chamchi!" Shree sneered while Liza pouted "Not chamchi. Waise what was your plan? To get Rathore sir and Arjun sir together for a date, Chotu... aisa hi kuch kaha tha kya?" Liza gave an evil grin to Shree and Sakshi as poor Chotu found himself stuck in between friendship loyalty.

Arjun and Rathore looked at each, grimacing at the very thought of a "romantic" date. "Are you crazy?" They both replied, while Shree paled drastically.

"I hate you hate you hate you..." They both glared at each other.

Hence the duo born to be enemies will make sure they end up marrying none but each other.

Cliched love story #3.

"Ok, class dismissed!" Rathore got strange looks at his direction when he realised that he had just verbalised what he thought.

Awkward

"I mean you all are behaving nothing short of sixteen year olds!" Sameer clarified and left the conference room.

"Ab jaa!" Sakshi pushed Ayesha while Ayesha whacked Sakshi once more. "If Rathore sir doesn't drop you who will!" Shree piped in while a highly embarrassed Ayesha ran out of the hall to save herself from further teases.

"Since my scootie's broken I'll take Shree's. Oh also I have many things to take toh none of you can join me... am sure Arjun will be happy enough to drop you home." Sakshi burst into peals of laughter as Liza, Shree and Chotu looked like they had been asked to consume poison.

"Arrey, darr kyu gaye! Arjun is barely a monster!" Sakshi pouted innocently while the others gaped at her and coughed when Arjun looked at their blanched faces.

"Sakshi! I need to use my scooter today..." Shree picked up his files while Liza hastily took her bag "And I won a bet against Specky, so he has to be my driver for the next two days!"

"And I am taking the bus, tu chali jaa na sir ke saath!" Chotu quipped and left while Sakshi laughed her heart out, clutching her stomach as she the laughter ceased to stop! "Danger maal ho aap!" Arjun frowned and quietly checked his own reflection for a second.

Was he that scary?

Chiding himself for taking her words literally, he got up and took his files. "Do you want to be dropped home?"

"Neki aur puch puch!" Sakshi jumped and followed him, making Arjun wonder the reason of her excitement.

---

"Woh, in the office..." Rathore started while Ayesha cleared her throat "It was just a prank sir, don't take it too seriously."

"Everything was a prank?"

Ayesha turned to look at the windows, blushing ever so lightly as she realised that Rathore was hinting at the blossoming love between the two.

As they reached her building, Ayesha invited Rathore for a cup of tea - out of decency.

Rathore got a bit flustered seeing her parents and tried to excuse himself but her family was warm and the typical Punjabi type.

"Maa, Papaji, this is Sameer Damsingh Rathore. He's the chief of Emergency Task Force." Ayesha introduced while her father shook Sameer's hand with a puzzled look on his face.

"Beta, was you father Major Rathore? By chance was he at the Kargil War?" Sameer's eyes widened as Ayesha's father recognized his own "Yes uncle, but how did you..."

"Ah! He was such a good friend of ours! A few of us used to call him Muchchad sahab due to his never ending love of moustache and that seems... to be genetically passed to you as well!" Amanbir Kapoor laughed heartily and patted Sameer's back.

Ayesha felt a sudden flutter in her stomach as she saw her father and Sameer gel like two old friends.

---

"Driver! THIS was your excuse to get rid of Arjun sir's drive back home? Meri bas ki baat hoti toh abhi tereko iss scooter se phek deta!" Shree rambled as Liza motioned bakwaas' bakwaas' with her hands.

"Focus on the road! I know I am irresistible but that doesn't you keep on talking about me!" Liza sneered at Shree while he cursed his luck for dropping her home.

"Once again Miss. Liza, I HATE YOU!" Shree snapped while Liza laughed "Yeah yeah, I love you too!" Her hand flew to her mouth and Shree braked immediately, whipping his head to find Liza shutting her mouth.

Their hearts beat traitorously due to those three words.

"K.. kya?" Shree asked but before Liza could say anything, horns blared at them.

The ride continued with a significantly quieter Shree and shy Liza.

----

"Um... thanks." Sakshi's eyes popped out and she gaped at Arjun. 

"WHAT?"

"You know very well!" Arjun snapped back while Sakshi wiggled her eyebrows "Itni meherbaani kyu?" Arjun shook his head and sighed "You kept your distance, till I finished off Sikandar." Sakshi softened and smiled a little.

"So that means you figured out what I sort of feel... as in..."

"Yes."

The duo shared a strange silence.

Arjun looked aside while Sakshi fidgeted with her dupatta "And you're ok with knowing that." A slight frown settled on his face as he heard her mellowed voice.

"I won't belittle you for that Sakshi. Being rude and arrogant is in my forte but humiliating your feelings, no, these things mean a lot for a person." Sakshi stared at Arjun's face in wonder and reddened as he caught her looking at him.

"Yaar! This wasn't supposed to happen! Hot couple se boring couple bana diya re!"

"Excuse me!" Arjun parked at his car and turned aside, "What?" Sakshi feigned innocence, giggling at the puzzled look on his face. "Did I just hear a ridiculous dialogue out of your mouth? What was that hot couple, boring couple?"

Sakshi's eyebrows rose and she moved her hands slightly "Arrey woh! See usually you are supposed to be insulting you and I am supposed to be loving you in spite of that and then there will be bohot saara jhagda where I won't be able to get over the attraction... you see some fitoor wala love! Or an angry wala love!" Chuckling slightly, she looked at a shocked Arjun who just shut his eyes.

"You know you're not real, right?" Arjun looked on while Sakshi shrugged her shoulders "Exactly my boy! But... on a serious note, I felt I would be demeaning the sanctity of your and Roshniji's relationship if I exp... you know what I mean." Intertwining her fingers, she looked around nervously while Arjun softened slightly.

"So that's why you suddenly stopped giving me chais, placing flowers on my desk and interacting with me." Arjun told while Sakshi looked up "You figured it out?"

"Everyone did."

Tucking a lock back in place she looked up again at Arjun who returned to his wheel "You know Sakshi, you should find a good guy and settle with him."

"Found one."

Arjun rolled his eyes "Not me, idiot."

Sakshi laughed "Not you, idi... ahem, nothing."

Yet his grip tightened on his steering on hearing that. Keeping a fake smile on his face he stiffly nodded "Who's he?"

"You want to meet him?" Sakshi asked, feeling all too excited. A non committal reply from Arjun was all she got. Smiling ever so lightly at his irritation, Sakshi decided to clear the air a little bit. "Arjun, ab kya karoge?"

Arjun sighed slightly as he manoeuvred the wheel. "I really don't know..." He confessed. Stopping his car below her apartment, he continued "Before I at least knew what I have to do... ab jine ki koi wajah bhi nahi mil rahi hai..."

"Hey! To live you need to find the motive Arjun, wajah tumhare paas nahi... tum wajah ke paas jao." Sakshi's smile faltered seeing him slightly depressed. Apart from her and Sameer, no one had been aware that Arjun had been diagnosed with major depression disorder post Sikandar's murder.

The loss of Roshni became even more evident when Arjun finally got out of his revenge and saw his own life.

"Arjun..." Sakshi placed a comforting hand on his shoulder while Arjun snapped up, clearing his throat. "Chalo, you wanted to meet the man of my life na? Come with me, he's the reason why I am able to be the happiest person in the world!"

"Nahi."

"Arjun, trust me the meet will be worth it! Aur koi nahi jaanta about him, you're the first. Please, please, pretty please!" Sakshi pleaded and dragged a reluctant Arjun to her apartment.

"I promise I'll give you cutting chai! Just like the one in office." Sakshi jumped while Arjun tried to hide his smile at her bribing'.

After searching through her voluminous handbag she finally pulled out a bunch of keys and tried each and everyone of them, praying whichever would turn out to be her house's. As Arjun stifled a smile, his hand paused mid air, thinking of the fact that he smiled so much nowadays.

He looked on to Sakshi's patience, it had been three long years with Sikandar out of his life... though two had been immersed in depression. As strange as it may sound, Arjun was grateful for having that particular disorder. No doubt the days were hellish, but it bridged the gap between Sameer and Arjun.

A guilt ridden Sameer hadn't known how to approach Sikandar after Arjun had proven and killed the aforementioned man. In his power, all he did was clear off Arjun's name from the killing.

Yet the old anger bubbled when Sameer stumbled across the fact that Arjun had been digging on Sikandar, solo, a year before Roshni had died. If Arjun had confided in Sameer then this would have not occurred.

Shuttling between his volatile emotions, a concerned Sakshi had dragged Sameer away and pointed at Arjun's odd behaviour. The man who had got angry at the drop of a hat seemed lifeless, staring at the wall time to time. Sakshi worried about the increasing dark circles and unhealthy weight loss.

If the friend in Sameer had not sprung up in alarm, rushing into Arjun's home after Arjun refused to pick up for the fourth time... the knife would have slit across Arjun's veins.

Arjun was grateful to both, Sakshi and Sameer. Even though first Sameer slapped the wits straight back into Arjun, neither Sakshi nor Sameer belittle Arjun for attempting to suicide. For all a person needs during such a phase is immense love, he's just crying out for help... nothing more.

Over the course of two years when the friends came back together, it barely mattered.

A fond smile etched Arjun's lips and he was once again, grateful that Sakshi never spoke about that night. Arjun was lost, facing suicidal tendencies and completely unaware of what to do. Sakshi recognised his signs and kept him continuously on her call, rushing over to his home as soon as possible.

Later, Arjun remembered that Sakshi took him to her house and gently pampered him for the whole night, caressing his hair as if he were to be a child. A wave of awkwardness and shy embarrassment filled Arjun when he got up to find himself on her lap.

Guilt, too.

But Sakshi reacted as if nothing had happened at all. Her nonchalant behaviour normalised everything but it left Arjun restless. Did all these moments mean nothing? That's when he noticed the distance Sakshi deliberately put between him and her.

And that hurt Arjun.

No matter if he spoke the contrary. Arjun couldn't fathom as to why a sinking feeling arose in his stomach as Sakshi excitedly took him to meet the man of her life.

But she deserved it... probably Arjun was late, he always was.

As Sakshi opened the door of her bedroom and tugged Arjun along, his mouth remained open as he looked at the person Sakshi wanted to introduce.

"And here's the love of my life!" Sakshi smiled, her eyes softening as her man grinned back at her.

----

"Papaji main..."

"Sure, sure... escort Sameer till his car. And Sameer bete, next time do bring bhabiji with you... at least paaji ke kuch meethi yaadein taza ho jayegi!" Amanbir patted Sameer's back while Sameer took the blessings of her parents and waited for Ayesha to pull on a sweater.

"World is such a small place! I never knew Kapoor uncle was your father! Babasa used to talk about him during my teens." Sameer chuckled while Ayesha nodded in agreement.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Sameer asked while Ayesha frowned "What's amazing?"

"That in spite of being miles apart, how close people become." Ayesha smiled in accord when Sameer raised his hand to tell her he had more to say.

"Yet, there are a few people who are so close... yet so far. Three years, eh Ayesha?" Sameer sighed sadly while Ayesha bit her lip in tension. But, there was a fright in her... a fright of getting into a relationship.

Sameer looked at Ayesha's stoic face and smiled sadly, probably he was the only one who felt it.

Just as he was about to leave, Ayesha gently held his wrist and stopped him. Sameer's eyebrows shot to his forehead, and he turned around to get a pleasant surprise. "I am not too good with words Sameer, but just that... if you think what you're feeling is one sided, then you're wrong."

Ayesha fiddled with the edge of her sweater while Sameer gave her a tiny grin.

"Looks like I'll get masa to meet with your parents... for old time's sake, what did you think?" Ayesha turned a violent red as Sameer flicked her nose.

Ayesha felt strange, having always been the man of the house, the sudden teasings and cares were getting the better of her.

As she waved Sameer a bye, she suddenly had the urge to wear something in the shade of love - red.

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PLAGIARISM PUNISHABLE BY LAW