Arshi FF: A Hundred Flukes. CHAPTER 37; See note pg 82 - Page 17

Originally posted by: cineraria

<font face="Comic Sans MS, Times, serif" size="2">The index is clickable now, thanks to you . Silver jubilee will be reached by tomorrow.</font>😃

Originally posted by: AsmaXx

<font color="#0033ff">amasing!!!</font>

<font color="#0033ff">I think no one in the fanfiction dare to write the actual IPKKND story the way you are doing!!! it's brillant.</font>

<font color="#0033ff">So when will be your next update?</font>

<font color="#0033ff">Thanks</font>

<font color="#0033ff">XoXo</font>

Originally posted by: prpk525

she said in an hour

Originally posted by: AsmaXx

amasing!!!

I think no one in the fanfiction dare to write the actual IPKKND story the way you are doing!!! it's brillant.

So when will be your next update?

Thanks

XoXo

                            Chapter 22: Decisions.

To she, who makes my heart beat

   Am I allowed to apologize for being late again?

   Hoping to make up for it with this little token of affection,

   See you on Teej

love

MJ

She read it over and over again, a thin sheen of unshed joyous tears sparkled in her eyes. Her husband was sure one crazy specie. They had spoken for about half an hour the previous evening, discussed even something as mundane as dinner and he had managed to sound interested. He did sound bored when she started with her brag of social networking sites, her husband did not understand her fascination with the virtual world. He thought virtual presence gave people split personality. She had laughed at his remark. He was shy, just too shy at times.

But then when she broached the subject of Arnav, his girlfriend and their grandmother, she knew he was unable to hide his disinterest. She got thoroughly miffed at that and told him in a hurtful voice that he didn't care. He had sounded apologetic the same instant but she had hung.

She regretted it now. He hadn't picked her call at night, it was a first. Usually he loved to indulge her whims, pampered her with undeserved apologies. But last night, he hadn't. And this morning, he had surprised her again, she fell in love with her husband all over again for who in this age of internet sent letters by post?

She carefully placed the letter back in its envelope that had a handwritten address of Mumbai over its back. She picked up the tiny wooden box covered in blue satin that had come along with his letter. She brushed her fingers over its top lovingly before opening it to reveal a small gold ring with a tiny diamond sitting in its centre. A droplet of emotion finally escaped her eye. Her aunt had been peering over her head to examine the contents of the box, she had shaken her head, muttered something akin to too small' but Anjali couldn't have cared less. She was rather relieved when she left her alone. Carefully Anjali slid the ring in her ring finger of the right hand and picked up her phone to dial him. Her grandmother's call made her postpone her plans.     

****

The evening before

The Singhanias had been close family friends of both the Raizadas and the Malliks. The families had observed rare solidarity for generations but post Pratap Singh Raizada's demise, the relations had weakened and there had been no attempt made from either side for their revival.

Ramesh Chandra Singhania had for the past three years hoped for reconciliation but could never muster the courage to make a start. When Devyani Raizada's phone reached him this fine evening, he felt his luck showering blessings upon him. After the exchange of pleasantries, Devyani proposed the alliance of her grandson and his daughter. Ramesh Chandra Singhania, an industrialist turned politician could hardly contain his joy at the proposal. By the time the call ended he had at least assured Devyani a hundred times that the alliance would be to the best interest of both the families.

                                *****

This morning...

Arnav Singh Raizada didn't like the sight he beheld when he descended the steps to the living room, more specifically he did not like the sight of three extra people sitting in the large couch towards the right, whom he recognized to be the Singhanias- people he had never been fond of.

"Look there comes Arnav" said Devyani excitedly, "Arnav remember Singhania uncle?"

As if he could ever forget.

Devyani ignored his questioning gaze, "Of course you do." she said gesturing towards the man, "Urmila Singhania" she added pointing towards a woman, "and their daughter Apeksha". The three of them looked up at him, expectantly.

Akash who stood two steps away from his brother watched bemused. He looked around to find Anjali, but she was nowhere to be found. He leaned slightly towards his left to take a proper look at the girl and cringed at the plainest face he had ever seen. 

"Where's Anjali?" inquired their grandmother.

Arnav glowered at Devyani.

"Here." He heard his sister's quiet voice, he gave her a worried glance but she smiled reassuringly in return. Devyani did not notice her grandson walk towards his sister and place a protective hand over her shoulders.  

"Since we have the entire family assembled here now," continued Devyani, "I intend to make a very important announcement to you all, let bygones be bygones, let go of whatever misunderstandings that had embittered the two families. I have decided to the best interest of both the Raizada and Singhania families, that our age old friendship shall now assume another intimate relation.  My very dynamic grandson Arnav and the very talented Apeksha should enter a matrimonial alliance."

Ramesh Chandra Singhania and his wife beamed. Their daughter maintained her apparent coyness. Manorma did a virtual jig while her husband remained wary of the situation. Akash and Anjali mastered the art of conveying their disapproval for the girl via sign language whilst Arnav's countenance yet again succeeded in evading expressions.

"I can't marry your daughter Mr. Singhania." he said bluntly after a moment's silence, his words dropping like meteors over the middle aged gentleman's head.

"Arnav!" Devyani chided.

"Look Mr. Singhania, there's no point in us wasting our time by going any further into this discussion. I have nothing against your daughter, but I just don't want to get married, so please excuse me folks."

Urmila Singhania's face contorted with embarrassment as she caught her girl's hand and trod out of the room, "You should have asked your grandson before calling us." she grunted. Her husband followed suit.

 Once they left Devyani stared hard at Arnav, "What sort of behavior was that?" she demanded.

"I could ask you the same." he retorted.

"You should have shown some respect for your grandmother's decision."

"You should have not called the Singhanias. You should have shown some respect for my sister."

"Your sister is my granddaughter. I had informed her about this and she had no problems with them coming over. She has moved on unlike you Arnav." She asserted fiercely.

Ouch that hurt.

"But you forget to have my opinions over it." He snapped.

"Your opinions? They are derisive of social norms, they are unacceptable to me."

"And your orthodoxy is unacceptable to me."

"I am wiser in experience Chote. I don't want you to do something you might regret later in life."

"Even if I do regret, it's my life and my headache and I don't want any more discussions over it." he announced and marched out of the room, shutting up all arguments for now.

                                                                         ****

When 'Glitters' didn't make it to office till lunch break on Day #4 of the contract, the water cooler discussions became charged with the proposition that the inevitable had happened. The new kid on the block had lost to the warlord and given up on the job in three days, technically speaking, four days. Since the warlord hadn't inquired about her absence, it was evident that he possessed complete knowledge of the subject, which disappointed the eager employees to say the least. They found it anticlimactic that the girl who had entered with much drama had made an exit without a trace of it!

ASR overheard one such assertion being made by his girlfriend while he crossed her cabin's door. Lavanya sat gloating in between with her two minions, oblivious to his presence just outside the door. What irked him was the tone they used while speaking of Khushi, something he had no regard for a couple of days ago. He barged in unannounced and caught them red handed. The minions stood up erect, their 'good morning sirs' going completely unacknowledged by the Chairman. His sharp glare was meant to unnerve Lavanya which it successfully did.

"I am well aware of the jobs you have been assigned but I have been greatly disappointed to find that what you people are doing is far from what you are supposed to do." he said critically.

"ASR, I mean...Glitters was..." Lavanya tried to say.

"Ms. Lavanya Kashyap, you and your subordinates should make sure that I do not hear that word again in this office." he said raising his voice, "She has a name, Khushi Kumari Gupta," he said enunciating each word of her name with emphasis, "and you will address her with that. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes." Lavanya bit her lower lip.

"Say it then."

"Khushi Kumari Gupta."

"That's better." he said and stormed out. Lavanya couldn't as yet digest that he had scolded her for that 'Glitters'!

Arnav raced angrily to his cabin. Khushi had begun to affect him in ways he had never imagined to get affected by someone. He sank in his chair, drowning himself in a file when a frantic phone call from home reached him, "Arnav...Anjali...she collapsed." an utterly tensed Manorma informed in a shaky voice. Every damn thing in the world was forgotten. He even couldn't cut the phone, he simply sprinted out.

                                                                 ****

Although Khushi woke up with a start, she stared at the alarm clock for long, rubbing her eyes, checking the time from different angles to make sure if it appeared the same from each position and that it was indeed eleven in the morning. The first thought in her mind was of Laad Governor doing a break dance on her head. No, not the Hritik Roshan kind of break dance, basically it was her head breaking under his rebukes that danced in her ears.

The second thing that happened was the reality dawning upon her as her eyes ran along the lengths of her bruised arms. Most of them had subsided, but not the one over her wrist.

Third she lazily climbed down her bed and gazed out from the window, the busy street, a combined ecosystem of human and cattle species, and the howling street dogs that competed with every two-wheeler that passed. At a distance were the hawkers and local small time vendors, their harsh voices struggling to beat down the beeps, honks and other 'natural' sounds on the street. A smile came to Khushi's lips, how much had she missed this scene in the past four days. The smile vanished remembering the reason she had missed it and she straightened her back to get ready for office. Some decisions had to be made today.

When she stepped out of her room in a neat, ironed salwar kurti and hair tied in a neat braid, the three pair of eyes sitting in the small living room cum drawing room cum dining room of Madhumati's house, stared at her in astonishment. "Do you plan to join work again?" the lawyer was the first person to speak.

"No need for that Khushi, you are not going there again." said Payal firmly. Madhumati lifted her portly frame and stood in front of her, arms folded, she flung her braid to the other side, "I have given my word to your father, you will go to your office over my dead body."

"Buaji, don't say that please. I'll have to go..."

"Why Khushi? What will that Raizada do? Drag us to the court, demand compensation money? Let him, we too have Shyamji with us, we'll lodge a case against him, isn't it Shyamji?" said Payal.

"Uh?...huh...yes..yes ofcourse" began Shyam, his eyes for once, lacking the sincerity of his words, "but I don't really think that man is going to court for such a trivial matter. Take it from me Khushi, it's we people who are taking this contract so seriously, he wouldn't care one bit for it."

"But still I'll have to go to submit my resignation na, otherwise people will think that I lost."Khushi gently argued.

"Let people think what they want to, we know what you are, how hard working you are and under what extreme circumstances you are quitting the job. Just say over phone that you'd be quitting, or better still, don't say anything at all, let them figure out for themselves, by then we'd be gone to Lucknow." said Payal firmly.

"No jiji, I am not scared of anyone, I'll go, hand Arnav Singh Raizada my resignation and come back. I don't care what he does after that, Devi Maiyya is with me and I can face it all." she rested her case.

The remaining three people in the room realized that there was no point in furthering the debate, for she was not the convincible specie.

She wrote the letter on her own, for the first time in her life, she did not require Payal's assistance for words flew out of her pen on their own. She placed it in an envelope and asked for another cloth bag from Madhumati, as her own was, well history now.

She reached the imposing tower at 2:30 pm and met with surprised glances been thrown her way. She did not care, she first went to the canteen to see the cafe operator for the last time, with her blessings she headed straight for the uber stylish glass cabin on the first floor. Once up, she peered through the glass but found no one in sight. She knocked but received no response, she gritted her teeth, clenched her fists and climbed the stairs to the second floor and barged inside a door marked 'Manager'.

"Where is Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada" she demanded in a raised voice.

The Manager looked at her bemused, such tone was used in this office only by the man in question himself. "Do you need a glass of water?" he asked.

"No I need to see ASR."

"He's not here. He left for his residence an hour back."

****

An hour back everything had been normal at Raizada mansion. Akash sat lazily over the kitchen counter while Anjali was experimenting with an Italian dish. They both needed a distraction from the morning's events, which led them to their usual pass time, chit chat on any darn thing, ranging from American Presidential elections to the latest rom-com, everything inadvertently leading to his pathetic progress with Ms. Kailash Matching Centre in his four day old, one sided love story. Anjali gave him the ultimatum that if her brother failed in fixing her meeting with KMC in the coming week, she'll publically announce that her brother is very much in love, quite in the same fashion as Devyani had announced Arnav's now-nixed marriage with Singhania's daughter. They shared a light laugh as Akash mimicked the various expressions from the morning, before he left to receive a call.

When he returned to the kitchen, Anjali was found lying on the floor.

Fortunately though, she regained conscious after a few minutes but complained of dizziness. When Arnav reached home, she was sitting upright on her bed, the doc had blamed fasting to be the reason of her state of general weakness. Arnav requested her to end her fast which she stubbornly refused so he suspended all his meetings for the day, stating he'd be her watchdog.

"Now look who's fussing." she teased.

"Why don't you eat something and put an end to my misery?"

"I can't Arnav, its Teej tomorrow and my fast begins from today. And see I am doing pretty fine now." she said smiling.

"Fine, I'll call Jijaji and tell him that you are not listening to me." he said taking out his phone.

"Arnav please," she entreated, holding his hand, "he'll fret unnecessarily." Arnav sighed, and after a long silence, finally said, "Why is Nani behaving like this Di?" His eyes were a curious mix of resentment and hurt thinly veiled in practiced nonchalance.

"Because she loves you a lot." Anjali affirmed, "and the way you talk to her, it hurts her Arnav, you are way too rigid. Both of you. And that's the problem, none of you is ready to adjust." Arnav looked away, he was not convinced.

"I wonder at times," Anjali continued, "if only somebody could handle all this, I am unable to..."her voice choked slightly, gradually losing its vigor, "I am unable to handle the tension between you two, unable to handle you, your anger...I am failing in what was my responsibility." her voice now reducing to a hushed whisper, "if only mamma and papa were alive...they would have settled all our troubles."

Arnav's jaw tightened, fists clenched, pain crept like a thousand sharp arrows piercing his heart all at once. "Arnav, mamma had always known to..."

"Di" he said meeting his sister's gaze, his eyes moistening up, he took her hands in his, his fingers finding hers. A lone tear tumbled down her cheek- a sight that wrenched his heart. He could see atrocities without twitching a nerve but Anjali's helplessness was his undoing.

"You have never...never ever let me feel their absence in my life." he said unable to avoid a break in his voice, he gently lifted his hand to wipe her tears, "Ma and papa, you have played the role of both of them in my life Di. You are my family." She was indeed, his strength, his weakness; her lap was often his peaceful sojourn and she his solar plexus.

Anjali gazed at her brother for long, motherly love and affection that flowed from her, silently soothed her younger brother. No more words were required. She ruffled his hair slightly asking him to go back to work which he refused. He got up and went to the study to retrieve a file, there were some matters he could sort while staying at home. The cord less in the study rang, he answered the call. "Sir, a Ms. Gupta here wants to see you." said the security man's voice. Khushi? he wondered and his heart reacted strangely. "Send her."

                                                ****   

Originally posted by: tomriddle

<font size="1">Anjali seems to have a history with Singhanias. Is the epic 'I resign' scene comin in nxt?</font>