Part 12

Arnav was sitting in the meeting room, where some of key people of his design team and marketing team were briefing him about the upcoming launch of their new festive collection. But his mind was occupied with the thoughts of his estranged wife who was currently in the same office premises but mentally galaxies away from him. It had been a week since she stepped a foot in AR and had started to flutter around like the iridescent butterfly she was.

However, with that also came another attribute of her personality that evidently didn't change after her memory loss, and that was her clumsiness, her sanakadevi avatar in buaji's words!

So, within this one week she had managed to drop a cup of hot coffee (thankfully neither on herself nor others), topple over a chair that was not really on her way, and open the fire/emergency exit door which sounded an alarm. These were some of her achievements so far!

All these events of course reminded him of the past when she started working at AR for the very first time and her clumsiness had led to similar incidents. From the time she accidentally activated fire alarms and then the water sprinklers, drenching him in an unwanted shower to the time when she landed in his cabin and hid under his table! There was never a dearth of entertainment when she was around. Only if he was not so blinded by his hatred for her back then or he would have acknowledged his attraction to her beyond his ego, he wouldn't have lost so many days with her.

But what he couldn't do back then, he certainly made up for it now. He fully 'supported' her shenanigans!

Albeit he did worry at times about her safety and her skills of landing herself in trouble. She could wreak havoc in his office or in his life, he didn't care a damn but if she hurt herself, he wouldn't tolerate that. Thus, he was legit wondering if he should 'Khushi-proof' the office, like how new parents 'baby-proof' their houses to cover the furniture, lock stairs etc. to save "the child" from hurting himself.

The thought brought a smile to his face and one corner of his lips twitched.

"ASR? What do you think?"

His wandering mind was brought back to the present when he heard his name being called. Pam, his old employee and former assistant to Lavanya, now working as an assistant to the design head, was asking him if they had his approval for the designs. To his surprise, she had reformed in the past 3 years from her former mean self and when Aman specifically instructed her about never mentioning to khushi about her past, she willingly agreed to provide any support they would need from her. She was one of the only few people in AR who were here from the time khushi worked here 3 years ago and had to be alerted for them to not utter anything to khushi from her past that will contradict with her present.

"So ASR, are you ok with the designs?" Pam asked again. She needed his approval on them so she could pass them on to the Sewing and stitching team to get them started.

Even though Arnav had been absent minded for most of the part during the meeting when designs were presented, he had taken a look at them beforehand when they were shared as pre-read material to him. And he had no major changes to suggest.

So, he nodded and turned to his laptop to digitally sign off on each of the designs. And then realized, he forgot his laptop's wireless mouse in his cabin. Sure, he could use the keypad but since there were quite a few designs to sign off one by one, he preferred having the mouse.

"I will be back in a minute." he said, getting up and pushing his chair back.

.

.

Khushi had a secret these days. One that she felt embarrassed to admit to even her own self. And that was she was obsessed with Arnav's cabin! That place pulled her towards it, it attracted her, intrigued her as if it held some treasure, some rare diamonds that she was to possess! And thus, whenever she came to AR, her eyes automatically went towards this glass-walled cabin on the first floor. The fact that the owner of that cabin was also a part of that aforementioned treasure may or may not have any significance. Or another fact was that she was oblivious that the cabin indeed held a treasure, of memories as precious as coveted diamonds!

So, when she saw Arnav leave his cabin, she found her way to the empty room.

She caressed the walls, the round table kept in the center, the chairs around it with a fond smile, as if these were things that had life in them... and of course, her subconscious knew why these things were special to her. As these objects were witness to when her heart was getting entangled with his and his heart had slowly synced their beats!

Suddenly she heard footsteps. She had not realized, when she had reached to a 'blind spot' in this cabin from where neither could she see outsiders, nor someone could notice her.

When she heard the knob turn, she panicked and not knowing where to hide, she slipped under the table!

Arnav couldn't believe this was happening. When he opened the door, he instantly felt her presence in the space. Her perfume that still had floral notes as essential component was in the air.

His sharp eyes scanned the place and soon enough, he saw her dupatta peeking out from the space beneath the table.

Holding his breath, he walked near the table and sat on his one knee. And sure enough, there she was. Khushi. The picture she made, eyes closed, lips quivering, hands tightly fisted over sides of her kurta, made him look at her awe-struck...

She sensed his presence near her, instantly, for his warm breaths touched her face in a warm caress. There was no escape now. Trying to control her erratic heartbeats, she slowly opened her eyes. And seeing him so near, looking at her in this way, she felt defenseless. His eyes were calling out to her heart, and she felt as if this was not the first time, she had felt this way. She felt as if she had been in this position before, along with him. This moment felt like a key to unlock a container of memories in her brain. But she was scared to know what she would find out.

She blinked slowly, effectively breaking the spell.

Arnav was very sure she was also feeling it, she was also able to recollect the connection of their past in this moment. And then she blinked her eyes and ceased the pursuit of memories her heart was having. Sometimes he felt like asking her if she was deliberately pretending to have forgotten her memories and this was her way of torturing him, punishing him for leaving her alone at that airport 3 years ago, for not believing her pleas, for hurting her, for accusing her of unimaginable crimes. And if she indeed was pretending and this was her way of giving him punishment, he would perhaps live with it but at least he wouldn't have any false hopes that she may recollect their past one day, both good and bad and give her verdict of their future...

However, amidst all this, one thing was sure, that they both were written in each other's destiny. Which is why she had defeated death, and he had defeated his demons to find their way to each other.

The realization was both empowering and scary, that he could not change his destiny, let alone someone else's. What is written in your destiny will come to you no matter what. You could be singing from the rooftop or hiding in a basement of your house- or under the table in their case, if you are supposed to meet your soulmate, they will find their way to your life in any way.

Taking a deep breath, Arnav moved back and slowly got up. He then extended his hand to her.

She looked at his hand, his offer for help and kept her hand in his. The moment had become awkward as it was, she didn't need to add more to it by refusing his helping hand.

She got up and ignored the instant sparks she felt as soon as her hand touched his. With borrowed courage, she spoke, "Woh- actually, I dropped my earing somewhere, so I was just looking for it...I didn't mean to barge into your cabin when you were not around."

Luckily, she indeed had not worn any earrings today, so this excuse came handy.

Arnav glanced at her ears and even when they were bare, he knew she was lying. But he didn't point it out. "It's fine, khushi. Just be careful around the furniture, you could get hurt."

Like always, the concern in his voice touched her. Just what was happening to her with this man? Earlier, when she didn't know him well, she used to wish she could spend more time with him, and now that she was and getting to know him more and more, she was feeling scared of her own feelings.

She saw him reach around the table, pick his wireless mouse, and leave.

And she sank on one of the chairs...

--*--

Inspector Sameer was happy as today seemed like they had gotten first breakthrough in their search for absconding criminal Shyam Manohar Jha. Their undercover agents were able to get some clues to his whereabouts and apparently, he was in Lucknow. There were some illegal lottery stalls there, like in many cities, and shyam was seen there. Since the undercover agents are directed to not make any move, rather to keep their pretense until it's an emergency, they wouldn't blow their covers. After all, Shyam was not the only criminal they were chasing in their disguise. They were after many bigger criminal gangs and had infiltrated them. So, all they could really do was keep tabs on shyam's movements and inform Sameer.

And today, with their help, Sameer had managed to tap into a telephone conversation between shyam and one of the pre-owned cars automotive dealer in lucknow who was on their radar since long. Shyam had enquired about purchasing a second-hand car.

Although this could be a clue towards catching shyam, Sameer was puzzled why was shyam suddenly looking to buy a car? And where was he going to bring money for that? Importantly, what was the use of this car?

--*--

Khushi was on her way home with Kashish that evening, while Aakash and Arnav had some more work, so they had stayed behind but khushi suspected if arnav avoided going with her as he was giving her space after what transpired between them today.

She felt guilty. It should have been her giving him space. In the past few days, she had made things awkward and embarrassing enough for him.

Why was she doing this? Earlier, she would go out of her way to find out anything and everything related to him and felt disappointed when only his professional life was covered in media, nothing on his personal life. Except for an old article from 3 years ago about his engagement with Lavanya Kashyap, she had found nothing. And now, when he himself had told her he wanted to talk to her about his separation from wife- presumably Lavanya, she didn't want to know. She didn't want to know anything when he himself was telling her about his life that she was so curious about until recently...

But then what exactly was she afraid of whenever they both were alone? Why could she not continue holding his gaze when he looked at her? Why did she not want to let him tell her about himself? Heck, why did she stop her own brain from trying to clear the fog around whatever it was that she was feeling that moment when she and arnav were lost in their little bubble?

She had no answer.

However, a key person linked to her past had landed in Delhi that evening.

Lavanya Kashyap was back in Delhi after 3 years.

--*--

A/N - The moment you all are waiting for may not be too far now, but we'll see. Please do read n review, always eager to hear from you all. Even the ones who feel shy to comment, your votes are precious, thank you ♥

p.s. I'm traveling for the weekend for belated rakhi celebration with my brother, but will try to draft something by sunday night if you convince me :P