AryLie FF - Aryan&Imlie - Epilogue Page 32 (Dt. 13 Mar) - Page 3

So, a fair warning, the story updates would be rather fast in the weekends than on weekdays. There would be some on weekdays, when I find the will to write them, but the rapid updates are reserved on the weekends.

Here is one...

Ms. Lavanya Sethi, another intern (mean girl, queen of gossip) at Bhaskar Times.

Lavanya was not used to being seen through, she was the popular girl anywhere she goes and she had thought that would continue when she joined somewhere to work. Her confidence was not unfounded, she was pretty, smart and knew how to find the right people who could take you to the right places.

Mean Girl was a tag she had worn rather proudly in her college.

She had thought that things would continue to go as they always had in her life. But then she got an internship at The Bhasker Times, and wow, do the people here not see how awesome she was. She had style, she knew how to please her seniors, she could talk to anyone and she was smart as hell, but then none of her articles made front page, did they?

That was Imlie.

To be honest, when she came to know about Aryan Singh Rathore, she had thought of him as a damn fine specimen. That man was a tall cold glass of water on a hot hot day, and she wished she could pour him upon herself. That man was a hot wet dream, one she wouldn't mind having forever.

But Lavanya was also honest with herself, and the way Aryan Singh Rathore behaved with his staff, she knew that she had no chance with him.

But that Imlie, that Imlie brought out the Aryan Singh Rathore none of them knew.

It was unfair, what it was.

She already had Aditya Sir wrapped around her little finger. Aditya Kumar Tripathi is what happened when a journalist met a TV Show. Classic Crush Material.

So Imlie had two of the hottest men in the office, always on her side. But then Aditya Sir changed and the mean girl in her vibrated in excitement.

At this point, Lavanya thought, it would have been better if Imlie was not Imlie and just some spoiled brat who was here because her father was threatening to cut her off if she didn't stop the partying.

She could handle a mean girl.

She could not handle this fiery little chit that was sassy when anyone insulted her, and a crybaby when Aditya Sir insulted her. She hated that she could answer back to almost anyone except Aditya Sir. She could not handle this little ball of energy that took everything that was dished out to her in a stride. She knew what had transpired at the Tripathi house because she may not be there, but she ran the f*cking gossip.

And while that Article was f*cking amazing, she was one of the people who thought that it should not have replaced Aditya Sir's on the front page. Most of that was jealousy, but some of that was incredulity too, how was it even possible, first ever article, already on the front page.

And then this girl kept getting opportunities and while she failed some spectacularly she passed some with flying colours.

She didn't have a problem with that. She had a problem with the sheer number of opportunities that Imlie was granted. So when Aditya Sir posted his condolences in the newspaper, she gave Imlie the tag of Gold Digger.

And she was entirely unapologetic about it too.

She was using both, Aryan Sir and Aditya Sir. They both did stupid things when it came to her. Aditya Sir ran away to a warzone, switching one problem to another, and Aryan Sir followed her to save Aditya Sir from the same warzone.

And it was at that time her perception about Imlie changed, because as stupid as it was for Aditya Sir to take on that assignment, it was expected of him. Because as stupid as it was for Aryan Sir to go to Pagdandiya, his employees' safety was his responsibility.

But Imlie, god Imlie was an idiot to go there. Sure it was her village, but one does not jump into literal fires when there were firefighters there to save everyone. Imlie jumped into the situation even when the Police and ATS were already there.

And maybe Aryan Sir would've gone to Pagdandiya anyway, but that day, she saw with her own eyes that Aryan Sir would've followed Imlie anyway. That Imlie had something in her that inspired Aryan Sir. That Imlie was someone from whom Aryan Sir got inspiration from.

After that she started seeing more, observing more, discovering more. She saw Aryan&lmlie.

It took her a long time to admit it, but she saw it and accepted it.

But she didn't let go of the Gold Digger tag until much, much later.

It was when she came to know that Imlie was the daughter of Dev Chaturvedi. It was a shock, because she did not know sooner. Most of the #Adini Wedding Crew knew, and they didn't tell her. She came to know when Anu Chaturvedi came and created a scene in the Bhaskar Times Office, something about Aditya Sir being too busy spending time with the half-sister of his wife.

And that was enough for her to dig, and dig she did. Apparently, for her at least, it would be justified if Imlie robbed everything the Chaturvedi's had, and she could do it legally too. But she didn't, she didn't even acknowledge any connection with that family.

She should've guessed, a girl like Imlie obviously had more pride than what was practical.

The reason she was perturbed was, if not pleasure, then what was Aryan Sir getting from Imlie to give her so much, because let's be honest, people gained inspiration from f*cking paintings, and that was not a good enough reason for her.

But one day, one day she found it. She found the answer, and it had been so obvious. It burned the jealous part inside her, because that was what she wanted to have with someone too, someone who challenged her in one breath and then comforted her in another.

Because that's what Imlie did for Aryan Sir.

It was another day, another scandal, another argument, another opportunity.

It was a murder case, of a rich businessman, with more money than he knew what to do of, more mistresses than what bordered on nymphomaniac, a dead wife, and a righteous son, who thought that he was better than everyone. The only thing the guy had was his amazingly good looks, and a friendship with Aryan Singh Rathore.

One of the mistresses was the prime suspect, and while Aryan Sir had wanted to go with the flow, Imlie had some doubts.

They lashed out in the middle of the office, and Imlie asked him for time to prove her theory, and she didn't back down when Aryan Sir told her that she had until prime time, which was three hours away.

Three f*cking hours away.

But she found it, she got a piece of evidence and proved that the actual murderer was the son, and that mistress, that he conveniently made a prince suspect, was someone he loved and he did it because she wouldn't agree to be with him.

The TRP for their channel was off the roots.

It was a defeat for Aryan Sir, but a victory too.

But it was after prime time, when everyone had left already, and she was leaving, she saw something in the newsroom. It went like this.

Imlie entered, a hand behind her back, and with mischief in her eyes, she sang, "Hum toh kahe the tumka, hum toh kahe the tumka, tumka galat prove karke hi manegi yeh Imaliya, tumka sach dikhayegi ee detective Imaliya.(I would say I told you so, I am saying I told you so, I would prove you wrong, and I did, didn't I, I would show you the truth, and I did by being a detective.)"

Aryan Sir raised a single eyebrow, and rolled his eyes hard. Then he huffed and looked away from her.

Imlie sobered up and brought forward the hand she had behind her back and it had a protein bar in it. She brought it in front of Aryan Sir's eyes and he looked at it, and then huffed a chuckle, and took it from her.

They both were silent then, but silence was overrated when Imlie was there, and she began again, "Hum tohar se maafi maange khatir aaye hai, uu kaisan bhi rahe, par tumre dost rahe, aur hum ee baat bhul gaye rahe, aur uupe seedha ilzaam laga diye rahe. Sorry.(I came here to apologise, however he was, he was your friend, and I forgot all about it and blamed him, I am sorry.)"

Aryan Sir sighed, and then said, "Haan woh tha mera dost, but usne galti ki hai Imlie. Tumne nahi. Tumhe joh sahi laga, tumne kiya. Tum sahi thi, that's what matters. Tumhe sahi hone ke liye sorry nahi bolna chahiye. I am not Mr. Tripathi.(Yeah, he was my friend, but he did it, he made a mistake. Not you. You did what you felt was right. You were right, that's what matters. I am not Mr. Tripathi.)"

Imlie snorted and repeated, "Tum Babu Saheb kabhi ban bhi naahi sakat ho.(You can never be Babu Saheb.)"

Aryan Sir looked at her with hurt in his eyes, but Imlie was lost in thought and she didn't see him at all. She continued after a second, "Uu toh humka seedha galat bolke humri baat ko ingore kar dete. Aur phir jab hum uuke khatir sabut laate, toh woh usse bhi barbaad kar dete.(He wouldn't have even listened to me before declaring I was wrong, and then would've ignored me. And then when I would've presented him with the evidence, then he would've destroyed it.)"

She smiled sadly at him and then patted his forearm, "Tum uuke jaisan naahi ban sakte, tum uuse bahut bahut ache ho. Ab ee gur shakkar ki pati khao, aur phir humka ghar bhi toh jaana hai.(You can never be like him, because you are much, much better than him. Now eat this protein bar, and then we'll leave for home.)"

She smiled genuinely at him and then left the newsroom, and if she was aware of the gaze Aryan Sir had on her, she didn't look like it.

And that brought on the realisation for Lavanya that while Imlie challenged Aryan Sir, she was there for him when he lost, to make him realise that he was not alone.

But Aryan Sir, Aryan Sir did much more than that for Imlie, Aryan Sir did not condemn her when he thought she was wrong, and Imlie, Imlie was the exact kind of woman who would let the blame fall on her even when it was not her mistake.

And together, together they were Aryan&Imlie.