ArAkshi OS: Pyar ka izhar

"Arjun kaha hai, woh apna phone kyun nahi utha raha?" Sakshi asked Shree as she entered the conference room. She had asked this same question millions of times since she worked for the ETF, but every time he didn't pick up she got scared, since she knew about the dangers his job brought with it.

And he had not returned yesterday with the team when they came back from a case in Pune, she hadn't gone with them since she had been on a leave. Yesterday she didn't have the time to ask the rest of the team about it, since everyone was so excited about the Diwali party and the fact that they were back just in time.

Diwali was the only festival they celebrated together, for the other festivals they got time off to spend with family. But Diwali was celebrated dhoom dhaam se, since it signified the win of good over evil. And even though Arjun was never really part of the festivities, he had never missed the party, except for this year that is.

"Woh to humare saath nahi the" Shree said. " Maine socha ke tumhe pata hai."

"Nahi, mujhe nahi pata tha, kyun? Woh hai kahan?!She pretty much shouted at him.

"Mujhe nahi pata!" Shree yelled back.

"Nahi pata kya hota hai? Shree maine tumhe kuchh poochha hai, uska seedha seedha jawaab do!" Sakshi was starting to get impatient.

"Dekh Sakshi, mujhe kuchh zyada nahi pata, bas itna ke Arjun sir ko Pune mein ek naya job offer hua hai, aur woh udhar hi hain, you know, set things straight. Mujhe samajh nahi aya kyun, mujhe to yeh bhi nahi pata ke woh party kyun nahi attend kar rahe aur yeh bhi nahi ke woh is waqt hain kahan."

"I guess mujhe pata hai ke uska matlab kyat ha, aur woh is waqt hai kahan." Sakshi mumbled to herself and almost ran out of the office.

She entered the mandir and wasn't surprised to see him as the only person there. He was sitting there with his legs crossed and hands folded under his chin. Sighing he opened his eyes and looked at the murti, then shaking he put his head back on his hands.

"Arjun, pata hai na ke bhagwan ko koi farrak nahi padhta, if you don't know how to pray, all that matters is that you do." Sakshi said, while settling down next to him.

"I never knew ke tum detective bhi ho miss Publicist, idhar bhi mujhe dhoond liya." Arjun said, with a tiny smirk playing on his lips.

"Abhi main kya hoon yeh tum kya jaano Arjun babu?" She asked playfully.

Then there was silence, she was waiting for Arjun to tell her what was wrong. She knew that pushing his boundaries would mean that he wouldn't say anything. If he wanted to tell her he would, otherwise she would just sit beside him and make sure he wasn't lonely. No one should be alone on Diwali.

"Kya hua, tumhara boyfriend nahi aaya?" He asked.

Sakshi gave an inward sigh "Achha, tumhe kaise pata ke woh nahi aaya?" She asked him shrugging her shoulders.

"I am sure ke agar woh aaya hota toh woh tumhe yahan aise akele mere paas na aane deta."

"Okay, woh nahi aaya, he's gone to London for some business."

"Kya tumhara koi jhagda hua hai?" Arjun asked.

"He wanted me to quit ETF, and my friendship with you." Sakshi said sighing.

Arjun couldn't stop himself from boiling with anger. Wasn't it bad enough that waste of air had grabbed his chance of happiness with Sakshi, did he also have to make him loose her as a friend as well?

"Mere khyal se woh jealous hai." She said shrugging.

"I was offered the Pune ETF's chief position." Arjun said, trying to change the topic, he really didn't want to know her decision.

"Haan, Shree bata raha tha, kya tum accept karo ge?" Sakshi asked, turning towards him to study his face.

"Haan, shayad."

"Oh." She replied, and turned her face back to the murti again.

Arjun detected some sadness in her voice. "Tumhe pata hai na ke main kabhi tumhare aur uske jhagde ka karan nahi banna chahta tha. I think ke uski jealousy sahi hai, even you have to admit that our friendship is way more than just platonic friendship. Issi liye main tumhara kaam thoda aasan karna chahta hoon, I'll leave."

"Tumhe yeh nahi pata karna ke maine usko kya jawab dia?" She replied, turning her head to look at him.

Arjun wasn't sure if he did, so he chose to remain quiet.

"Main usse bahar tak chhod ke ayi." She whispered, saying so she took his hand in hers. "issiliye woh party mein nahi tha Arjun. We broke up more than 2 months ago.

Arjun wanted to say something, but at the end decided against it. He didn't know what to say. To say that he was happy was inappropriate. And to say he felt bad would have been a lie, and if there was one thing he didn't do, then that was telling lies.

"Sach hi kaha tha usne, tumse zyada koi aur mere kareeb nahi hai, na hi koi tha. I guess... I don't want to lose that, lose you Arjun."

Arjun kept staring at her for a few moments before replying:"Maine abhi job ke liye haan nahi kahi hai Sakshi. Agar tum.. Agar tum chahti ho to main reh jaata hoon."

She took his hand in hers and looked him straight in the eye. His eyes told her the words he couldn't say. Taking a deep breath she said:" Ruk jao Arjun, main tumhare bina ek aur din bhi nahi rehna chahti hoon."

The only thing he could do was smile, he wanted to kiss her, but didn't do so, after all they were still in a mandir. So instead of doing that he gave her hand a tight squeeze and asked: "To abh idhar se kahan jayenge?"

"Uhm ghar? I believe that we have a lot to discuss." She said shrugging.

He nodded and they were lost in each other's eyes for a few minutes. Sakshi could hear the crackers go off in the streets, announcing the fact that good had finally won over evil.

Smiling shyly she gave him a soft, long and touching kiss.

When they broke the kiss Arjun squeezed her arm and smilingly said: "Happy Diwali Sakshi."

Bending her head slightly she smiled and said: "Ohh I'll give you a very happy Diwali ACP."

Laughter erupted from Arjun, nodding his head slightly he bent forward and said: "I have no problem believing that miss publicist, no problem at all." Saying so he captured her lips with his again.