[{Enchanted}] ~ An ArHi FF [CH1-PG1]

"Sometimes you think you've found love, when it's really just one of those objects that are shiny in a certain light-- like a diamond. Glass shards, maybe. You've got to be careful, you do. The shine can blind you. The edges can cut you in way you never imagined. It is up to you to allow that or not."

-Deb Calleti, The Secret Life of Prince Charming.

< [ { Enchanted. } ] >

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Chapter I ~ Not Arnav Singh Raizada ~ 119716874

C h a p t e r I

{ Not Arnav Singh Raizada }

It was a pleasant winter morning in Mumbai and Arnav Singh Raizada was out for his daily jog. He had everything that any man his age would want - Power, money, fame but what he didn't have was love. His family consisted of just one elder brother - Armaan Singh Raizada. The two brothers were single and probably the most eligible bachelors in town. Their family was very well renowned in town. After their parent's death, three years back, Armaan and Arnav were each other's support systems and they always had each other's backs.

Arnav loved these morning jogs. It was the best time of the day for him. The silence was soothing and he got time to think and analyse over important matters or business deals.

A girl jogging a few feet in front of Arnav tripped over a rock, twisted her ankle and landed on the ground with a thud. Arnav stopped and went to help her. "Are you okay?" he asked looking at the young lady staring back at him with her big doe eyes, full of innocence and light. She looked confused and a little scared.

"Yes," she said nervously trying to get back on her feet but failing terribly. She held tightly onto her ankle and yelled in pain. Her hair was tied up in a neat pony.

"Let me help you," Arnav said kneeling down beside her to look at her ankle. "No thank you," she said pulling her ankle away. "Just let me have a look, I won't bite!" he said removing her hand over the ankle giving her a glare. What was her problem? He wondered.

He turned the ankle a little but stopped because of the yelling. "OW OW OW OW!" she screamed wrenching her ankle out of his hand. "Okay, okay, it's probably a bad sprain and hopefully not a ligament tear." He said. "And you're a doctor?" she asked with blunt sarcasm.

"No, I'm just trying to help here." Arnav said rolling his eyes.

He helped her up and since she couldn't stand, he helped her sit on a bench nearby. "Can I drop you off at a hospital? Or at your house?"

"No thank you, just let me be." She said a little harshly.

"How will you get home?" Arnav asked with genuine concern.

"Look I know guys like you really well, so don't try to act smart!" she said raising her eyebrows.

Arnav chuckled at her innocence and asked, "You must be new in the city, aren't you?"

"Yes, how do you know?" she asked perplexed. She tried not to look too vulnerable but Arnav noticed.

Arnav extended his hand, "I am Arnav Singh Raizada."

The girl twitched her lips and rolled her eyes saying, "And I am Deepika Padukone."

"Are you joking? You don't believe me?" Arnav asked shocked. He had never met a girl like this before. She didn't believe he was Arnav Singh Raizada!

"Ofcourse I don't!" she said moving away.

"But--"Just because I'm new in the city doesn't mean you can fool me." She said getting up with a limp before he could wrap up another fake story.

Arnav sat there in awe of the girl. He couldn't believe someone had just told him that. Wow, what a girl! He thought. He watched her limp away. The girl turned around one last time and Arnav smiled waving. She frowned and tried to move faster. Arnav had always met girls who would throw themselves at him but she was a first who wouldn't agree that he was Arnav Singh Raizada!

*

Arnav and Armaan both had a laugh about the incident at the park that morning. Armaan couldn't believe what he heard.

"There are such crazy people out there." Armaan said between his laugh.

"She genuinely didn't believe that I was Arnav Singh Raizada." Still taken aback from the incident. He couldn't digest her reaction.

"Maybe she pictured Arnav Singh Raizada to be more handsome and hot." He laughed pulling his little brother's leg. "You know you could work on your muscles."

"Oh please!" Arnav said. "I have been working out." He actually wanted to know why the girl refused to believe that he was ASR. He couldn't stop thinking about her. He wanted to see her again also and ask her so many questions but he knew that he wouldn't see her again. It was Mumbai and he didn't even know her name. Was he supposed to go looking for doe-eyed beautiful girls in the city now?

"Stop thinking about your stinking good looks and go take a bath. We need to reach office in half an hour." Armaan ordered. "Our German buyers and here."

Arnav laughed, shook his head and went up to take a bath. He sighed standing under the shower. Life had never been easy for Arnav but he had always had a positive attitude towards life. He wanted so much from life more from life. His life was monotonous, boring. He wanted more thrill - adventure or even a surprise. He was tired of just existing - he wanted to live.

*

Armaan sat in his cabin watching a game of football when Arnav entered.

"Working hard bhai?" he said grinning.

"Catching the game." Armaan said rolling his eyes. "I just finished speaking to our German agent and he said that the client has agreed to buy it all and at our rates!"

"Dad taught us well," Arnav said.

"This was his dream." Armaan said, "I wish he was here today, he would have been so proud." He added.

"He is." Arnav said, sitting down on the sofa to watch the game too.

Armaan and Arnav now headed ASR International Private Limited, which was the biggest Diamond manufacturing and exporting company in Asia. The dream was to make it the biggest in the world and Armaan was hell bent on making that happen.

The two brothers had lost their family and that too at such a young age. They had learnt to stand by each other. It was the two of them against the world and no one, not anyone, could break this bond.

*

"Are you going home yet?" Arnav asked Armaan. "It's 10 o'clock and Christmas eve. Can we please atleast go somewhere and get a drink?" he asked. Armaan looked out of his laptop screen just for a second, "Let's just do that tomorrow? I need to finish two more quotations and send the companies our last rates. Everyone wants them cheap. I just don't get it. If you want cheap then just buy the synthetic ones." Armaan grumbled.

"Bhai, goodnight. I'm going home and making myself a drink. I'll catch you later?" he asked.

"I'll be home in an hour." He said.

Arnav had very few friends and after his parents died he distanced himself from almost everyone. He drowned himself into his father's business and forgot how to enjoy life. By the time he realised what he had done, it was too late and he was alone. Armaan was too enthusiastic about business and made that his passion while Arnav was lost, searching for what he wanted from life.

He was just on his way back home when he saw her entering a bar. She was here, again! Arnav pulled over near the bar and watched her enter. She looked so different now. She wore a pink dress that stuck to her body giving it the perfect shape. Her hair was open with soft curls. And it sat so perfectly on her shoulders. Arnav was tempted to go behind her. He sat in the car contemplating with himself.

I should definitely go. You don't meet someone so hot everyday. But what if she feels like I'm stalking her? I shouldn't go. She is just a girl and plus, she didn't even know who I was. She thought I was lying. I should go clear things up now actually. I have my card and I have proof now. I am Arnav Singh Raizada and she should know that!

Arnav hid the actual reason from himself also. He wanted go inside just for the raw attraction he felt towards her.

He found himself inside the bar in no time and looking around for that one girl who had him smitten like a kitten.

Arnav found her sitting at a table busy texting someone or reading someone's messages. Did she have a boyfriend? Arnav wondered. Such a beautiful girl dress like that... she definitely had one. Too bad, I came here first.

Arnav walked up to her. "Hi, remember me?" he asked sitting down in front of her. Her face turned red and she looked shocked. "Arnav Singh Raizada," she uttered. "Oh, so you did look me up then?" He asked. She

shied away. "And are you stalking me?" she asked cheekily. "Do you think I would?" he asked throwing the ball back in her court. "Buy me a drink and maybe I will tell you." She said with a small laugh. Arnav grinned and got up to get the drinks. She blushed a little.

He came back with cranberry vodkas in his hands. "Listen, I am really sorry for today, I really didn't know you were ASR, plus I was hurt and my head was really fuzzy. I thought you were just trying to--"Act smart?" he asked completing her sentence with the words she used in the morning. She looked down and bit her lip. "Yes." She said. "Don't worry, it's all good." He said.

"So don't you think it's only fair if I know your name also?" Arnav asked. She giggled again and said, "Khushi." "Happiness, nice name!" he said smiling. Arnav loved the way she laughed. Her laugh had a certain ring to it and so he cracked jokes for the next 10 minutes just to hear that laugh again and again.

"So whom were you waiting for?" he asked. "A friend, who stood me up," Khushi said looking around. "It turned out for the best, didn't it?" Arnav winked. He did know how to flirt a little. Her beauty enchanted Arnav. He watched her drink vodka and run her finger through her perfect hair.

"So," he asked, "What brings you to Mumbai?"

Khushi smiled, "My friend stays here, I'm from Ranchi actually. She got me a job here so I moved."

"I hope not the friend who stood you up?" he asked.

Khushi laughed again, "No." she said.

"So your family is still in Ranchi?" he asked.

Khushi shook her head, "I don't have one. That's why it's so easy to move. I just have myself to account for." She smiled.

"Interesting," Arnav said. He realised how her life was so different. She could move wherever she wanted. She could travel; do whatever she felt like, whenever she felt like. Arnav could never think of moving or maybe he could?

They sat silently for a while before she said, "I'll see you around I guess, I should leave."

Arnav stood up too. "Around?" he asked. He definitely wanted to meet her again.

"Well, you know that I go for a jog every morning." She said winking, catching Arnav completely off-guard.

*

So yes, that was Chapter 1 of my new FF. Please leave a feedback and let me know what you think about it. Thank you so much for taking out time and reading this. It means a lot to me.