ArShi SS: In Your Eyes/ Link to thread #2 on page 1 - Page 27

Another fabulous chapter Uthra, totally loved the way you wrote it... Fantastic 👏👏👏

Ahh!! What an absolutely endearing update U akka ❤️

What was that about

Very interesting story... Looking forward to reading more

Originally posted by: Viji79

Teaser

Lunch had passed quietly between the siblings. While the younger one was lost in his thoughts about God knows what, the elder one, forgetting temporarily her own self instigated woes, directed her utmost concentration to try to read every single movement and expression on her brother's face, not only because it was amusing but also very novel. She saw Arnav trying more than once to ask her something but deciding not to just when words were about to tumble out of his mouth. What was bothering him?

Finally Arnav let out a frustrated sigh, threw the napkin on the table and went to the adjoining restroom. Is he unwell?

And that was when something on his table caught her attention. She leaned forward and picked it up. It was a brochure that read

Susheela Physically challenged and Accident victims Rehabilitation Center (SPARC)

She picked up his iPAD that lay besides his laptop and saw the webpage of SPARC open.

Anjali kept back the things in her hand on the table when she heard a brief knock and the next moment she was engulfed in a choking hug from behind, followed by,

"Diii !"

Update Monday night IST

I m here to res 😈 Any chnce of doing it soon Mjhe offline v jana hai 😔

Chapter - 4

"Chutki ! I am getting late !!"

Shyam screamed from the living room in the direction of Puja room where Khushi was stationed for the past half an hour.

"Oho !! Bhai !! Why are you even trying when you know there is no use?"

Shyam turned to the voice coming from the entrance door and rolled his eyes.

"What took you so long Payal? You were supposed to be here one hour back"

"Bhai! I told you I will come here to pick Khushi up to go to SPARC, not before you leave for Chandigarh."

"Payaliya! Looks like your brain cells are diminishing due to your association with people with messed up brains. I asked you to come for breakfast. Buaji was asking for you."

"Don't mock my patients. Yeah, I am here. Its only 10. And I am hungry. What's for breakfast?"

"No breakfast for you. Why are you late?" Payal turned to the stern voice coming from the dining area and saw Madhu Bua glaring at her with her hands on her hips. Payal, turned to Shyam to wink at him and turned again to rush to Buaji to give her a tight hug.

"Buaji !! I missed you !!"

"Liar, it's been a week since I am back and you didn't even call me"

"Sorry Buaji. I was a little busy with the preparations of the upcoming fund raiser and the regular patient counseling. Didn't Khushi tell you?

"Yes, yes, she told me. Now come, have your breakfast. I have made your favorite aloo parantha"

"Mmm. You the best Buaji. Bhai! I think you should get going. Khushi is not happy with your decision to drive down to Chandigarh yourself. So it is better if you leave, if you are getting late. She is not coming from her Devi Maiyya's room"

"Shut up Payal." Payal looked up from her plate to see Khushi coming from Puja room with a thaal in her hand. She saw her making her way to living room towards her brother. Meanwhile, Shashi came down from his room, looking a little weak and tired and settled in one of the couches in the living room after patting Payal's head affectionately on the way. He was down with fever for the past couple of days and Shyam was attending a felicitation function and a builders conference in Chandigarh on his behalf.

"Bhaiyya, drive carefully okay? Call me every one hour, no half an hour. Don't drive while calling me."

"Bhai" Payal called out. "Why don't you clip in your earpiece and be on the phone with your darling sister throughout your journey. That way she will be sure, you are safe."

"Keep quiet Payaliya. Chutki, I will be careful. Don't worry okay?"

Khushi nodded her head and dipped her finger in the tilak on the plate. Shyam guided her hand to his forehead, where she applied a small tika. She kept the plate on the small center table, picked up a sacred thread from the plate and tied it onto Shyam's wrist, before giving him a hug.

"Chutki. Take care. And remember what I told you. Don't ..."

"... go alone anywhere. Don't talk to strangers. Make sure Payal or any family member is with you always. Wherever you want to go, take the car driven by Bahadur. No going on bike with NK. Eat your food on time. I will talk to you whenever I get time. I will be back before you even know" Payal completed with a mocking grin on her face.

"She is simply jealous bhaiyya, that such caring bhaiyya is mine and not hers"

"Thank you for the nice words about me Shyam Bhai, I will remember"

A young man in his mid-twenties stood at the door in his track pant and T shirt, covered in sweat. He had a charming face and a very enticing dimple chin.

"Speak about the devil"

"Bhaiyya, don't call my NK that. He is such a sweet heart"

"Aaww!! K ! I love you too !!"

Buaji slapped NK gently on his forearm before reprimanding him, "Tch! Tch! What all have you learnt in this city? Is this how I raised you? Now go, take bath and come down for breakfast quickly. It's a surprise that I have not lost weight even after running behind you devils for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Go now, and don't hug me, wash off all your gym sweat first"

Shyam shook his head at this banter and smiled warmly at his loving family. NK was buaji's brother-in-law's son and Shyam's right hand man in business. He stayed with them, while his parents were in Sydney. Having been given charge of a mall construction that their company was doing in Noida, NK was currently put up in their guest house near the construction site, to avoid travel. He had now come to stay at Gupta house for a few days until Shyam's return. Shyam took blessings from his dad and aunt before giving his sister a hug and uttering a few comforting words and left.

------------

Anjali was about to leave her room to go to Arnav's cabin to have lunch with him when her phone rang. The name that flashed on the caller ID invoked a pleasantness in her being.

"Hello Shyam!"

"Hi Anjali ! How are you?"

"I am fine Shyam, thanks. But I am sure you have not called to enquire about me, given that we are meeting in a couple of hours"

"I am sorry Anjali, I am on my way to Chandigarh"

"Chandigarh? You mentioned when you called two days before, that Uncle was travelling to Chandigarh. What happened? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, nothing to worry. Just that dad is down with viral. Since he is being felicitated, he wanted me to represent him. And there is this conference for the next two days. So I had to leave immediately"

"Oh No ! How are they? How will Khushi manage all alone? Not that I doubt Khushi's ability, just asking out of concern. Shall I check on them, if you don't mind?"

She was met with silence for a moment and then she heard him. "Thanks for asking Anjali. I really appreciate the concern. But it wouldn't be necessary. My Buaji and cousin live with us."

"Oh, so we won't be meeting today. It's alright. We will meet once you are back."

"No Anjali, the blueprint is ready. Let me not be a reason for any delay. My cousin Nand Kishore will bring it to you. You can discuss it with Arnav and let him know your changes and suggestions, if any"

"Oh, I see. Fine. I will do as you suggest"

"Okay, now I have got to go. I will talk to you when I am back. Bye Anjali."

Anjali looked at the screen of her phone and ended up doing what she had been doing often recently. Fighting an internal battle about her new found feelings for a certain Mr. Shyam Gupta.

Shyam was not coming.

So what? Why do you feel disappointed?

Is your resolve of never getting romantically involved with anyone weakening or has it already weakened?

Are you finally seeing reason that even if you allow yourself to fall in love, it is not necessary that your love will also meet the same fate as that of your mother's?

Can't you see that Shyam is different? Did it not distinctly strike you how much of a family loving man he is when you met him the first time?

But, but, he doesn't seem to be interested. What if he is not affected by me the way I am affected by him? What if I nurture feelings now only to have my heart broken later?

It was not like he avoided me, isn't it?

Come on Anjali. He had to go. But he was courteous enough to inform you.

Yeah, but he did not take my offer to meet after he comes back. Instead he is sending his cousin. For him, this is probably only business. Who knows, he may probably be in a relationship already.

Stop it Anjali. You are thinking too much. Nothing has progressed between you and Shyam for you to let your thoughts wander in all directions.

Yes. That's it. I am not a teenager to constantly keep thinking about a man who I have known only for a few days. I will not let this affect me. This is just my hormones playing havoc on my senses.

Anjali leaned back on her chair and closed her eyes in an effort to calm her mind.

"Is everything alright di?"

Anjali snapped her eyes open to meet the scrutinizing gaze of her brother and struggled to school her face to as emotionless as possible before asking,

"Yes, Chote, why do you ask?"

"Because its half an hour past our usual lunch time and you are still here."

Anjali quickly checked her wrist watch and her eyes widened in shock.

"Oh My God ! Sorry Chote, I kept you hungry. I had received a call from Shyam to inform me that he wouldn't be able to come here to discuss the final blueprint and that he is sending his cousin."

Arnav raised his eyebrow as if to question why should that be a matter of concern. Anjali realized her slip of guard and made desperate attempt to save herself from being found out by her over shrewd brother. She hurriedly explained while sorting the papers on her table, "He was saying his dad is not well and he had to represent him in a conference in Chandigarh. That's where he is going now, you see. I was thinking how Khushi would manage her dad in his state of health and in the absence of her brother" She let out a relieved sigh at having concocted a convincing explanation to her state when he had walked in and looked at her brother to gauge his reaction. She got up from her seat to join her brother to go to his room, fully expecting Arnav to have more creases on his face at her pathetic excuse of a clarification, but her brother's handsome face had concern written all over. What am I missing?

--------

Lunch had passed quietly between the siblings. While the younger one was lost in his thoughts about God knows what, the elder one, forgetting temporarily her own self instigated woes, directed her utmost concentration to try to read every single movement and expression on her brother's face, not only because it was amusing but also very novel. She saw Arnav trying more than once to ask her something but deciding not to just when words were about to tumble out of his mouth. What was bothering him?

Finally Arnav let out a frustrated sigh, threw the napkin on the table and went to the adjoining restroom. Is he unwell?

And that was when something on his table caught her attention. She leaned forward and picked it up. It was a brochure that read

Susheela Physically challenged and Accident victims Rehabilitation Center (SPARC)

She picked up his iPAD that lay besides his laptop and saw the webpage of SPARC open.

Anjali kept back the things in her hand on the table when she heard a brief knock and the next moment she was engulfed in a choking hug from behind, followed by,

"Diii !"

A bright smile graced Anjalis' face. She relieved herself from her strangler and turned around to meet her other brother, the strikingly handsome Akash Singh Raizada.

"Where were you? Arnav is cross with you that you missed the weekly meeting"

"I missed you too Di ! To sever all sorts of interaction with that robot of your brother is the need of the hour for you. You are becoming like him and I don't like it"

Anjali affectionately smacked him on his head and laughed.

"You returned last night from Agra and what held you back from work?"

"Di ! Please, I am a growing young boy and I need my share of sleep"

Arnav entered the room closing the restroom's door behind him and replied his brother.

"You can't afford to grow beyond this height and you didn't over sleep, you had hangover"

"What? NO !"

"Denial is not going to change the fact that you were too drunk to even realize that it was me who opened the door to you yesterday and led you to your room"

"You make me sound like a drunkard. We returned from Agra late in the evening and I was invited to a party and that's where I went straight to. I just had a little alcohol. Since I am not used to too much alcohol, I guess..."

Akash ran out of excuse and shut his mouth at the pointed one brow raise of his brother, which always meant "Oh! Really?"

"Okay enough you two. Did you eat anything?"

"Yes yes, I had lunch"

"I have left some sales statistics on your table, go through them and give me your opinion ASAP. And yes, Di's design studio's final draft of blueprint will be arriving in an hour. Make yourself available for discussion." Arnav said in a rather stern voice.

"Hitler bro" Akash muttered under his breathe and turned to leave.

"I heard that"

"Good for you" and he was gone.

"Why do you keep fighting with him Chote?"

"He is too laid back for his own good Di"

"He is not and you know that too. Just because he loosens up once in a while and you don't, doesn't make him a bad person. Besides, he is too good in his work. I have not missed the look of admiration for his work in your eyes"

"Whatever di ! I have work now. I will see you in the conference room for the meeting with Shyam's cousin"

"Sure Chote ! I only wonder if your work has anything to do with research about Susheela Physically challenged and Accident victims Rehabilitation Center' a.k.a SPARC."

With a satisfactory smile at the expected outcome, Anjali left a baffled chote alone in his room, with his thoughts.

---------------

Lavanya checked her wrist watch once again and let out a sigh. The day had been draining so far. But that was nothing when compared to the emotional exhaustion she has been undergoing in the past few days after her breakup with Ronit. She leaned back in her chair in the conference room where she has been waiting for the others and the person from Gupta Constructions and thought back to the night at the club with Ronit when he had made advance on her. When she discouraged his attempts, he belittled her saying she should not be talking about values when her lifestyle, profession and choice of attire suggested otherwise. She had slapped him and broken up with him. She felt disgusted at narrow outlook the society had about women, constantly scrutinizing, judging and criticizing their choices.

Incoming message alert on her phone interrupted her thoughts. It was from Anjali asking her to come to her cabin. She opened the door to go out when she bumped into a hard form. She was about to trip and fall which was stopped by the person she bumped into. She looked up and got lost into a world which held the most handsome face she had ever seen that had an enhanced charm due to a dimpled chin. The hard and toned muscles of his hand that felt beneath her palm as she held on to him for support did not match with the innocence that was oozing out of his facial features. Not that she was complaining. Only she couldn't comprehend how and why she was registering all these in less than a fraction of a second or has it been hours? She was finally brought out of her reverie when he steadied her and asked,

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah ! Yeah ! I am fine. Thanks"

"Umm. I am here to meet Ms. Anjali Raizada. I was told the meeting is in conference room"

"Oh! And you are?"

"Oh! I forgot. I am NK, I mean Nand Kishore. I am from Gupta Constructions. And you are Ms.."

"Lavanya Kashyap. Head designer here"

"Nice to meet you Ms. Kashyap"

"Same here Mr. NK. This is conference room. Please make yourself comfortable. The meeting would begin in a few minutes."

"Sure. Thanks"

And with that Lavanya turned on her heels and headed towards Anjali's cabin, trying to understand why her heartbeat rate had suddenly escalated.

NK settled himself in one of the chairs in the room and tried to calm himself.

What the hell happened just now?

---------

The meeting went well between NK and the Raizada siblings, not to forget a very distracting and distracted Ms. Kashyap. After a few questions from Arnav and Akash and convincing answers from NK, the meeting was wrapped up. NK was collecting his things to leave when Anjali struck a little chit chat with him, enquiring about Shashi's health and his own family. And NK spoke like an unstoppable express train. So collectively they came to know that NK was buaji's brother-in-law's son, born and brought up in Sydney, that he used to spend his vacations at Gupta mansion ever since buaji came to live with them after her husband passed away, that Shyam was his role model and wanted to be an engineer just like him and moved to Delhi for studies and had been staying with the Guptas ever since. His parents still lived in Sydney with his younger brother who was studying.

Arnav sat through the banter with detached interest scrolling through his mailbox in his phone and Akash didn't have any qualms showing his disinterest in his face and turned to his whatsapp friends, both the brothers courteous enough not to walk out of the unnecessary conversation their sister was striking with the chatter box. The same could not be said about Lavanya, she was quite amazed at how different was NK from the men of his age, no pretense, no forced suaveness.

"How is Khushi?"

That unexpected question attracted Arnav's attention, while still pretending to focus on the phone.

"K? Oh she is fine"

The nickname which was an indication of the closeness of this man with Khushi, didn't go down well with Arnav that reflected in his closed fist and didn't go unnoticed by Anjali. And it was only Lavanya who noticed that NK threw an unfriendly look at Arnav.

"And how are the preparations for the fund raiser going on?"

"Very well. K is planning a lot of things with the kids like...Upp. No I am not supposed to say anything, K will just murder me if she comes to know that you guys know what you are going to see"

"You seem to know your K so well NK"

"Of course, we have literally grown up together and there is no one who knows K more than me"

Annoying,... irritating,... frustrating,... Arnav was busy trying to figure out which one of these adjectives suited the impossible man in front of him and concluded that all of the above' was the best option. Lavanya on the other hand, didn't know what to think. Akash was unable to decide what was more amusing, a forwarded joke he received on WA or the speeder than light change of expressions on his bro's face. He was aware of the drama that happened in his brother's cabin few days back and their subsequent visit to the Guptas. It wasn't difficult for him to understand that the current conversation was about the girl who was Shyam's sister and the recipient of his bro's infamous anger. But the difficult part was, why was his brother showing all signs of wanting to murder the guy who has been blabbering away for the past few minutes. Damn! I should have paid attention!

Anjali who noticed the restlessness of her chote, played the card she was holding up her sleeve ever since she started this dialogue with NK.

"Oh I see ! Its wonderful to be able to grow up with cousins, isn't it? I must say Khushi is quite lucky. Oh and that reminds me, I haven't spoken to Khushi since I met her in your home. In fact, I don't even have her number. Can you please give me her number?"

"Sure. You must be having Shyam Bhai's number". When Anjali nodded in affirmation, NK said, "If you replace the last digit with 6' that's K's".

"Thank you NK. I have ordered some snacks, please sit down."

Oh No! Not anymore, Arnav thought. Courtesy can go to hell. He mumbled an "Excuse me", shook hands with NK, albeit with reluctance, which was reciprocated in equal measure and walked out. God was certainly not kind to him as he had an extraordinary hearing power and therefore NK's words poured into his ears like molten lava.

"Oh thank you Anjaliji, but I am afraid I have to decline. K will be waiting for me to be picked up. Some other time"

And then Arnav prepared himself for the inevitable onslaught all over his skull with gusto. Headache.

------------

Devyani Raizada, the matriarch of the Raizada family, was watching the exchange between her grandchildren over the dinner with much amusement. There was something akin to mischief in her Anjali bitiya's eyes and some undecipherable look on her chote's face. After toying around his food for the entire time, finally Arnav dropped the spoon on the plate and addressed Anjali,

"Di ! Give me Shyam's number"

Anjali feigned surprise and asked, "Why Chote?"

"What why? I have a few things to discuss with him."

Nani didn't miss a little nervousness that seeped into her granddaughter's being upon the mention of Shyam. The family was aware of everything that transpired between the Raizada and Gupta siblings a few days ago.

"What do you want to discuss? If you haven't forgotten, its my design studio and I have been interacting with Shyam right from the beginning."

"Then what were Akash and I doing in that awful meeting today?"

Akash finally looked up from his plate at the mention of his name.

"Haaw! I just wanted your inputs too."

"Yeah right. That's what I am doing now. Giving my inputs. Now give me the number"

"But should I not know what..."

"Forget it Di. I will get it from Aman. So much ado about nothing"

With that Arnav got up from his chair and turned to leave, while taking his phone to dial a number. Anjali snatched his phone and said

"Nothing? Okay baba, don't be angry. I have left my phone in my room. You go to your room. I will SMS the number. Make a list of your inputs' in the meanwhile"

"Arnav Singh Raizada never makes any list. He records everything in his mind" and walked away haughtily.

Akash guffawed silently and shook his head at his Di. She smiled too and left for her room.

-----------

"So, how was it?"

"Disastrous"

"What happened?"

"Their son had too many plus points and I have too many minus, that's what happened."

"I don't understand Payal"

"Khushi, Amog is a resident consultant at AIIMS and I am a visiting consultant at a private hospital. He makes obscene amount of money and I don't. For him time is money, I do free service. I am not a prized possession that they may want to show with pride in their society and still they were ready to be magnanimous enough to ignore all my limitations' for a price."

"What? Dowry? Even at this time and age"

"Sadly, yes"

"It is all my fault isn't it? You had such good opportunity to go to the states for your higher studies, but you didn't, because ..."

"Because I didn't qualify"

"Enough of the lies Payal. I know that you didnt want to leave me behind and go. Bhaiyya too didn't go for doing his Masters in the US because of me. And you turned down so many lucrative offers from renowned hospitals because you wanted to dedicate most of your time in SPARC which is again for me"

"Stop it Khushi. I will say this only once. So listen carefully. I agree that you are an inseparable part of my life, but my decisions in life were not taken because I had to, for your sake, but because I wanted to, for my sake. I felt doing my masters and to gain practical knowledge here would be more meaningful that doing in the US since this is where I would have ultimately returned. And as for the remuneration is concerned, what can one possibly do with so much money Khushi, you tell me?"

"But this is proposal didn't work out in your favor because of your choices."

"It has worked out in my favor Khushi. I can't possibly imagine living a life spent in earning money every second of my life. I will feel suffocated and possibly be unable to sleep or even eat peacefully, not doing what gives me happiness for the rest of my life."

"But just think what Uncle and aunty must be feeling"

"Nothing, in fact, Dad was the one who did the honors of showing them the door. Mom is relieved that I escaped from a narrow minded, money thirst family"

Khushi threw her arms around her best friend and stayed in the comfort of her embrace thinking about how Payal became so important in her life. She thought back to the time when Payal's family had moved next door. A young Payal had noticed a young girl sitting in her garden leaning against a tree facing their house. She waved at her many times but got no response. A young girl herself, she had taken offense at the cold shoulder and had walked into Khushi's garden to demand an explanation for her rude behavior. She had downright asked Khushi if she was blind to have ignored her. A startled Khushi had morosely replied that she was indeed blind. An utterly shocked Payal, was disgusted with herself and had broken into sobs in front of a confused Khushi. She had repeatedly apologized to a very easily forgiving Khushi. Over a period of time, both the girls found a sister in the other and they became best friends. Payal made sure to spend time with Khushi every day, helping her in her studies and reading out her lessons. She was very good in studies and had always wanted to become a doctor. That said, she had always been a surprise package as well. While everyone thought she would opt for specialization in ophthalmology after MBBS, what with her friendship with Khushi, she surprised everyone by choosing psychiatry. When Khushi thought she would take up a lucrative offer at a renowned hospital after her MS, she again threw a googly by offering to join SPARC as a counsellor, taking up a part time visiting consultation offer at one of the new hospitals in the city that was located near SPARC.

Khushi's thoughts were interrupted by the talking mobile software installed in her cell phone that announced,

"Incoming call from number +91-*********1"

She couldn't recognize the number, yet accepted the call.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Hi Khushi, Anjali here. How are you?"

"Anjaliji? What a surprise? I am fine. How are you?"

"I am fine too Khushi. I spoke to Shyam this morning and got to know that he is out of town and uncle is not well. Just called to check if he is better and if you need any help"

"So kind of you Anjaliji. Dad is better. Buaji is taking care of him. And my friend Payal is staying with me."

"Okay just let me know if you need any help. I will be happy to help. By the way, this is Chote's number. My phone is being charged. My number has 9 for the last digit instead of 1 in chote's number. Have it saved and call me anytime you think you would need me"

"Sure Anjaliji. Thank you. That's so thoughtful"

"No problem. Khushi, hold a minute. Chote wants to talk to you."

"What? Anjaliji?"

After a few moments of shuffling sound, Khushi heard the husky voice that had given her goosebumps and unexplainable impact on her senses, not so long ago.

"Khushi? Hi !"

To be continued...