# 1 FF: THE SEED OF PASSION- Chapters 1 to 8 - Page 18

CHAPTER 1

The Philanderer

Arnav got up with a splitting headache! He had a drink too much at the party last night at the hotel! And why not! The doctor had confirmed yesterday morning that his Di was expecting! That is why she had been feeling sick.

Di had asked him not to disclose the news to anyone as she wanted the father of the baby, Shyam Manohar Jha, to know the news first. But Arnav could not help celebrate. The happiness on his sister's face, that is what he lived for. Everything else for the 23 year old Arnav was superficial and fleeting.

Arnav scrunched his eyes and looked at his watch on the bedside. Gosh! It was 9.30! And he had a meeting at 10! Dadi would be hopping mad and give him another lecture on how irresponsible he was!

"Hey La get up! We will be late for office." Arnav shook the bare back of the girl sleeping next to him.

"Hmmm...," the girl turned towards him and snaked her arms round his neck. Arnav stared at her! This wasn't La! But she was as pretty. And had a fantastic figure. He remembered now. She was all over him at the party last night!

23 year old Arnav was used to female attention from the age of 17. After all he was the only heir to one of the biggest fashion companies in the country. This was eligibility enough to have girls buzzing around him like bees!

On top of that he had another asset! His deadly looks! He was tall and handsome with a lithe muscled body, dark wavy hair and striking brown eyes! He was without doubt the most sought after bachelor in the country.

"I will get back to you later. Give me a call if you are still in this hotel room tonight," he whispered into the girl's ears, and disengaged himself from her and rushed to take a cold shower.

Arnav got dressed in record time and sprinted out of the hotel room. He had just hit the main road in his white SUV when his phone rang.

It was Aman, "Where are you ASR? Dadiiji is asking for you!"

"Shit! Hold the fort Aman. I will be there in 10! I got up late, and have a headache because..."

Aman rolled his eyes and cut in, "I can understand ASR but your Dadiji seems to be in a bad mood!"

Arnav winced. "What's new Aman!" And disconnected the line as he jumped the red signal avoiding the traffic policeman blew the whistle after him.

Outside the AR ten floor office building in the heart of Delhi, he dashed out of the SUV and threw his car keys at the valet who saluted him.

Arnav acknowledged him, "How's your daughter, Sid? Fever gone down?"

Sid smiled,"Yes ASR Sir. The doctor you took me to is very good Sir. His medicine worked like magic and ..."

"Great, great! Will talk later! I must rush now! Or will lose my job!" Arnav winked at Sid and ran up the stairs to the AR office and pushed the huge revolving glass door.

"Hey ASR!" grinned the pretty girl at the reception, adjusting her dress.

"Hey beautiful! Has the meeting begun?" Arnav asked her, walking inside the huge lounge with its tastefully decorated interiors

"Yep handsome!" she replied fluttering her eyelashes at him. "Didn't you have an important presentation for the delegates from Stockholm? Where were you? Or shouldn't I ask?!!" she pouted.

"You can ask sweetheart," he whispered bringing his face close to hers, "but I have no recollection about what I did or with whom!"

The girl giggled as he winked at her and took the lift to the top floor.

Subhadra Mallik looked at her watch for the nth number of time and her temper soared . Arnav was late again and the presentation was being made by Ajit, her younger son, Arnav's chacha (father's brother) who was not making much headway! Subhadra sighed and shook her head.

AR had been started by Subhadra's husband, Arnav's grandfather on the day Arnav was born. Hence he had kept his company's name after the first two syllable's of his favourite grandson's name, AR.

After his death Subhadra Mallik, had successfully taken over the reins of the growing company, with the help of her two sons, when disaster struck...her elder son committed suicide!

Subhadra believed with all her heart that his son's wife, Anjali and Arnav's mother Ratna, was responsible for propelling her son towards his untimely death.

Subhadra maintained that Ratna was a foolish and a weak woman who could not dissuade her husband from seeking physical satisfaction with another woman. If only Ratna had paid half the attention to her husband that she paid to her children...Dadi's heart filled with hatred for her dead daughter in law.

But that was not how her only grandson, Arnav Mallik, the inheritor of the AR legacy, saw things. Dadi knew that Arnav held his father responsible for his mother's death. She believed Arnav had inherited the worst traits of his mother, her foolish defiance and inability to take things lying down.

After sumberging his mother's ashes in the river Ganges, the 14 year boy turned overnight into a self-willed independent man with a "take it or leave it" attitude.

Inspite of her protests, he simply shunned his father's surname and took his mother's maiden name and became Arnav Singh Raizada. And Dadi, however painful it was for her to see her grandson derisive of his father, just had to take it.

She was literally forced to accept what she termed Arnav's madness because she did not want her alcoholic, drug addict younger son Ajit to usurp the huge Mallik fortunes. Ajit was a vindictive creature and had immediately thrown his nephew and niece, out of Sheeshmahal!

Devyani Raizada, the siblings Nani (mother's mother) had come to their rescue and taken them to live with her. However, after a few months, Dadi had brought Arnav and Anjali back from their Nani's house, mainly to use them as a buffer against the growing power of Ajit whom she had come to doubt and fear.

Moreover, when Arnav was only 8, her husband had proudly pointed out to her, that his dear grandson had the great business acumen that he himself possessed. How true were his words Subhadra mused.

It was not only Arnav's Harvard training but something intrinsic to him that made him stand out among the topmost businessmen in the country. He had the business sense and a style of working that many of the elderly and experienced businessmen lacked.

Dadi skimmed the faces of the Swedes. They looked interested in the project but just about. If Arnav had been on the dais they would have been eating out of his hands by now! Arnav had disassociated himself from his father's name but he had grown to be the womaniser his father was and as irresponsible as he was!

Arnav crashed into the board room and met his grandmother's stern eye and tried to look apologetic! Dadi shook her head and sighed again.

Arnav slumped down on the only empty chair, next to Lavanya Kashyap and grinned at her.

"Where were you last night?" Lavanya hissed.

Arnav shrugged his shoulders. "You know me. I have my father's genes!" he said nonchalantly.

Lavanya turned away her face and blinked back her tears. She had met Arnav in a party in London when he had gone there on a business trip. She had a degree in fashion designing . She had fallen in love with him in London and had therefore immediately accepted his offer to work at AR in India.

Arnav liked her but he had told her in no uncertain terms that he did not believe in love or marriage or fidelity. However Lavanya hoped secretly that ASR would fall in love with her one fine day.

Arnav," Dadi gulped down her anger and addressed her grandson. "Do you want to add something to your uncle's presentation?"

The Swedes were undecided about the merger. This was his chance thought Arnav. Arnav nodded and rising up said in a determined voice, "If you permit me I would like to make a few points gentlemen." He went up to the podium in a few long strides and stood besides his uncle, much to his uncle's annoyance.

But within half an hour Arnav proved his worth as a top notch businessman and the deal was bagged by AR!

It was a happy proud Arnav that returned to the Raizada mansion. He had done it again! Maybe soon he would be able to fulfil his dream of setting up his own company. But since he could not see his beloved grandfather's company go down in doldrums he had agreed to work for AR after returning from Harvard with an MBA degree.

Anyway, Dadi had paid for Harvard and other expenses for his and his Di's upkeep for so many years. So he had to pay her off and once he did that he would be free of the Malliks forever!

At least with his part earnings at AR, he had fulfilled his dream of building a house for himself and his Di!He looked around the Raizada mansion that he had built brick by brick proudly!

Every moment he had spent in Sheeshmahal, every breath he had taken there had strangled his heart. He had died umpteen number of deaths in that mansion in Lucknow with his self-centred Dadi and his selfish uncle.

He would have run away from Sheeshmahal, had it not been for his Di. He could not bear to see her out in the streets. In Sheeshmahal there was no love but there was a roof for Anjali and Arnav.

As Arnav stood at the doorstep of his house lost in thought, Hari Prakash, came running to take his laptop bag, "Coffee laa doon bhaiyya?" (Shall I get coffee for you?")

"Hmm..." Arnav murmured. "Where is Di?"

"Anjalidi market gayein hain! Abhi aati hogein!" (Anjalidi has gone to the market. She will be back soon.)

"What the! Why didn't you go yourself ?"Arnav shouted at HP.

**Tumhaarein haathon main mehendi lagi hain kya?" (Do you have mehendi/henna on your hands that you can't work?)

*"Lagi to nahin hain bhaiyaji laga le?" HP said blushing.(No I don't have mehendi on my hands. But should I apply some?)

"What crap!" Arnav roared and HP ran towards the kitchen almost bumping into Anjali who had just entered the house.

"Arrey dekh ke HP! Kya hua Chottey? Kyon isko daant rahe ho?" (Watch your step, HP! What happened Chhotey? Why are you scolding him?)

"Di, the state you are in, you should not be going out at all! Why couldn't HP go to the market?"

"I went to the temple on my way back from the market, Chhotey."

"Why Di?"

"Today is Naniji's birthday Chhotey."

Arnav gritted his teeth.

""h! And so you went to pray for Nani! Have you forgotten that she disappeared from our lives without so much so as a goodbye eight-nine years ago? She does not care for us Di."

"That is not true Chhotey. Maybe it's you who have forgotten that when Ajit chacha threw us out of Sheeshmahal after our parent's death, Nani, Mama and Mami took us under their wing for months till Dadi took us back to Sheeshmahal."

"I remember that Di. But why have they not kept in touch with us after that. We don't even know why they shifted out of the town overnight and where are they till date. Have you even received a phone call for them in all these years?"

"I don't know where Nani is. Par unki koi badi majboori hogi warna wo kabhi humey chhod ke nahi jaati." Anjali's eyes welled up with tears.(There must be some big reason why she left us and disappeared).

Arnav wiped Anjali's tears and hugged her.

Anjali's phone rang and she smiled at her brother, "Its your Jijaji." And moved away from his embrace to receive the phone.

Arnav shook his head and smiled as he heard his sister scold his Jijaji on the phone, "When will you come? Tomorrow? Sure? I have something very very important to tell you."

Arnav was secretly glad that Jijaji's work as a lawyer took him to different parts of the country to meet his clients enabling his Di to stay with him at Raizada Mansion. But with a baby on the way Jijaji might finally decide to buy the house he was planning to for a long time.

"Di promise you will never leave Raizada mansion. What will become of me if you do?" he blurted out as soon as she finished her call.

"My Chhotey," she said lovingly, handing him over the cup of coffee HP had placed on the table, "I can't live with you forever! Your wife, the love of your life, she will look after you when I am gone, Chhotey!"

Arnav rolled his eyes. "Not again Di ! You know there is no chance of me being overwhelmed by the foolish emotion called love. And marriage! I don't believe in it!"

"You will Chhotey...when the right woman comes your way!" Anjali said in a voice full of belief and hope.

"And where is this girl Di? Why haven't I met her?"

"Maybe one fine day she will just drop down from the heavens into your lap, Chhotey!" Anajli giggled.

...A pair of large scared hazel eyes flashed before Arnav's eyes.,,,

"What crap!" he muttered.

But the image of a pair of moist pink pouting lips rose unbidden in his mind!

Sorry, to know more about Khushi you will have to wait for the next update. 😛

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**credit: dialogues taken from movie 'Maine Pyaar Kiya'⭐️