Arnav looked up from his recliner as Mami ran in to his room.
"Arnav bitwa, she is missing."
Arnav stood up, "Mami, who.. ?"
Mami put her hand on her chest as she tried to control her breathing.
"Anjali bitiya, Anjali bitiya." Arnav opened his eyes wide in shock, as Mami continued. "She isn't picking up my phone. Mohan said she isn't at the temple either."
Arnav ran out the door, followed by Mami. "Akash", he screamed, as he ran down the stairs. Nani and Dadi looked up as Arnav ran across the living room. Khushi appeared from the kitchen, just as Akash entered the living room.
"Akash, Di.. Di is missing. We need to find her."
"What?" Nani exclaimed. "Anjali bitiya? She went to the temple, right."
"Yes, Nani." Arnav said, looking at Nani. "But she is not picking up Mami's phone and Mohan said she is not at the temple. Akash," he turned to Akash. "You go with Mami to the hospital and see if she is there. I.."
Khushi interrupted him, "I will go with you Arnavji." Everyone looked at Khushi, but Khushi looked at Nani. "Go, bitiya. Go quickly and find her." Nani said.
They hurried out, leaving a worried Nani and a confused and angry Dadi behind.
"Mohan, did you talk to the auto drivers?"
"Yes, sir. They said she went to Lotus Cafe."
"What?" Arnav screamed and put down the phone.
"Arnavji?" Khushi asked. "What did they say?"
"That Di went to Lotus Cafe. Why would she go there without telling us? Why would she go there alone?" Arnav said, confused. Suddenly both Arnav and Khushi raised their eyebrows and looked at each other.
Arnav pressed his foot on the gas pedal, as Khushi shook her head. "No, Arnavji, there is no way Di would be meeting him. No." Arnav ignored her, as the car raced to Lotus Cafe.
The hostess tried to stop an angry Arnav as he ran across the front entrance of the cafe, with Khushi at his heels. Arnav stopped and looked around. Khushi's eyes widened as she saw Anjali laughing, sitting across the table from a man. She touched Arnav's arm; he turned to look at her and then followed her gaze; his eyes widened. He ran towards the table, as Khushi followed him. Anjali looked up and saw Arnav and her smile disappeared. "Chotte?" her eyes widened and she looked at the man sitting across from her, fear flashing across her face.
Arnav reached the table, his face fuming with anger and lifted the man up from his seat, grabbing his shirt collar. "How dare you.." he started, through clenched teeth and suddenly he stopped, his expression changing from anger to disbelief. Khushi looked at Arnav and then at the man, confused and then her eyes widened too.
"Aman?" Arnav finally found his voice. "What' why.. ?" He controlled himself and asked, through clenched teeth. "What are you doing with my sister and that too at a cafe?"
"Chotte.." Anjali started saying, but Aman looked at her and smiled.
"Anjali, it's ok. I will.."
Arnav moved closer and said again, through clenched teeth. "Ma'am, Aman. Call her ma'am".
Aman looked at Arnav and said slowly. "ASR, I love your sister. I want to .."
Arnav's eyes shot wide open, "Excuse me?"
Khushi opened her mouth wide. The awkward silence was interrupted as Anjali spoke. "Chotte, Amanji, this is not the place to .."
"Di, this has nothing to do with you." Arnav said, still looking at Aman, his eyes red with anger.
"Chotte, this has everything to do with me. This is my life. Please, let us talk about it outside." Arnav ignored her, still staring at Aman.
Khushi grabbed Arnav's arm and moved closer. "Arnavji, please, listen to Di. Let us go outside". She looked at Aman with pleading eyes. "Amanji, please.."
Arnav turned around and walked outside, ignoring glances from the people around them. When they reached outside, Arnav grabbed Aman's collar again and said, "Aman, how dare you even think... ?" He pulled him close and said, through clenched teeth. "She is my sister, Aman.. my sister!"
Anjali pulled Arnav's arms away. "Chotte, I love Amanji. I.." Anjali smiled and Arnav looked at her, surprised. He noticed a faint blush appear on her cheeks as she continued, "In fact I think I have loved him for a long time now. We became friends because of you. I used to call him to find out about you and we used to chat a lot. Remember when I told you I had spies everywhere, the time I found out that your cafeteria was closed, I had heard that from Amanji. I don't know when I started getting close to him. When Shyam wasn't around, I used to talk to Amanji about my worries and he used to console me. He was there when I needed him, unlike Shyam. But then Shyam came back and I felt guilty. I tried to ignore Amanji, but he still continued to act normal with me. He was still there when I needed him, as my friend. But the day after what happened at the clinic, I got scared. I had to talk to someone, so I called up Amanji and we started talking. We started meeting regularly after that.". Khushi raised her eyebrows. She remembered Anjali talking to someone behind the tree on the day of Rakshabandhan. Anjali turned to Aman and took his hand in hers. Aman smiled. "Initially I was scared to tell Amanji how I felt about him. I didn't want him to think that I loved him just because I needed a man in my life. But Amanji guessed my feelings and he expressed his love towards me. Chotte, I love Amanji. I need him in my life". Anjali smiled and looked at Arnav. "Chotte?" Anjali looked at him, her eyes wide with shock. Khushi was confused at Anjali's expression and she turned to look at Arnav and her eyes widened with shock as well. Anjali had expected Arnav to be angry, but there was a faint smile on his face.
Arnav grabbed Khushi's hand and turned around. "Let's go, Khushi." Khushi and Anjali looked at Arnav shocked. Arnav walked a few steps and then stopped and turned around.
"Di, I hope Aman will drop you home after you are done with your tea." Arnav smiled and added, "You can ask him to stay for the puja too, if you want." He had a wide grin on his face as he continued walking towards the car. Khushi, Anjali and even Aman had their mouths opened wide with shock, after hearing with Arnav said. As they reached the car, Arnav bent down to open the car door for Khushi.
"What?" He asked, with a smile, as he saw Khushi's puzzled face.
"You are not angry? You.. Arnavji.. you.." Khushi stammered.
Arnav smiled, folded his arms and leaned against the car. "I was so worried about Di all this while, worried about how her life will change once she knew about Shyam". Arnav shook his head, unable to control his smile. "And to think.. and to think, all this while Di loved Aman. Did you see how happy Di was?" He added with a chuckle. "Aman is terrified of me, so he will take good care of Di." His smile disappeared, "If only I had known earlier, I would have thrown Shyam out ..." He looked at Khushi, who seemed to be lost, looking far into space. He touched her arms and shook her,startling her.
"Khushi? What are you thinking?"
Khushi looked at Arnav and smiled. "I am so glad Amanji found someone. I was beginning to worry'."
"Excuse me?" Arnav raised his eyebrows, with a confused look on his face.
Khushi giggled and said. "You are always on the phone with Amanji. I was beginning to doubt your relationship."
Arnav asked, "What?" and burst into laughter.
Khushi laughed, seeing Arnav laugh. Arnav put his arms around Khushi and pulled her close and placed a kiss on her forehead. He helped her get in the car and closed the door. He walked to the driver's side, still laughing.
Anjali and Aman watched the car speed away. They looked at each other and smiled, holding hands, their fingers intertwined.
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Thanks again, Avi64. This idea popped up into my head, while I was talking to you today morning. I wanted to actually make a funny OS highlighting that Anjali was cheating on Shyam while Shyam was cheating on her and that Anjali was actually meeting her boyfriend and not Shyam as we all expected.. but I ended up writing it as an emotional OS! What to do, sometimes, I'm an emotional fool! 😆 Btw, the cafe where Arnav and Akash had met with Mr. Roy while Khushi thought Arnav was making Akash sign the divorce papers.. that was the same building that Anjali was shown to be in .. that's why I wrote it as the same Lotus Cafe!
Hope you enjoyed the OS! Please leave your comments! Thanks!
Ok, after reading a few comments about an old Aman :
We were first shown Aman in the sangeet episode.. the same extra who played as an audience member in the Heer-Ranjha play as well.. then we were shown an old guy as Arnav's manager who Khushi had called.. PH doesn't realize that we watch the serial so closely, we notice every extra as well.. so there is still hope.. PH might find a new hot (could never be as hot as Arnav!) guy to play Aman!!
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