FF- Sparkling Dreams (COMPLETED) epilogue pg 43 - Page 15

The drive back from the factory was long and Arnav was famished. The inspection was complete and he felt relief flooding through him knowing that now all that was left was the paperwork.

He slowed down as he neared Khushi's office, glancing at his watch he noticed that it was almost the end of the day, he was here so he might as well take her along to have dinner, the last time he had seen her was when he had taken her to see his house.

Pocketing his car keys he made his way in and took the elevator. He glanced at the empty reception and decided to make his way to Khushi's cabin. "Arnav bhai, what are you doing here?" Jiya asked as she walked towards him with a big smile and a bundle of files, "Oh I was just passing by, was on my way to grab some dinner so thought I would take Khushi along as well". "Khushi just left, one of our clients happens to be our classmate from university so she went with him just a few minutes back" she said glancing at her phone which seemed to be constantly buzzing, "Bhai, I have some important work, see you later, I'll let Khushi know you had come by" Jiya hurriedly replied before walking away.

Arnav drove to the nearest cafe, a frown playing on his face and his mind churning curiously. Why did it bother him that she was spending time, lots of time with someone else besides him, it wasn't like she was ...his exclusively, she had other friends too. He did not bother staying to eat instead simply grabbed a take away and drove home. Taking a quick shower, he put on his favourite music, making feeble attempts to distract his unsettled mind. He chewed the sandwich, his ears barely registering the lyrics or the music. His phone rang, he lowered the volume of the music system and answered, "Arnav, I'm in town, me and a couple of other guys are heading out tonight, you might know some of them from school, are you free?" Deepak's hoarse voice rang through the phone. "Hi man...yeah sure why not, just text me the time and place" Arnav replied raking his hands through his hair. Deepak was one of the guys from school he was still in touch with, they met up sometimes, usually getting thoroughly drunk and toasting to the good old times. Deepak though a little too enthusiastic was still a good chap and Arnav did not mind hanging out with him occasionally.

He twirled the drink lazily, his eyes tired and bored. The loud raucous laughter at the table only dulling his mood further and the blaring music now getting on his nerves. His mind seemed occupied elsewhere and not even old school stories seemed to cheer him up. He pretended to listen to Amar narrating each explicit detail about his trip to Las Vegas and nodded, laughed occasionally and smiled politely like he was happy to be among them. He bid goodbye to all of them, lying about having an important meeting the next morning. He walked out barely acknowledging the flirtatious glance the lady at the opposite table kept sending his way. He got into his car, knowing he was sober enough to drive, relieved to head back home.

His phone rang just as he was pulling out of the entrance, "Arnav, Jiya told me you stopped by at the office, I'm sorry I had gone out for dinner", "Yeah, that's okay Khush, I met up with Deepak and a couple of other guys from school". "Hey...lets go get some ice cream, I haven't seen you all week" she said after a pause, "Okay, you're at home?" "Yup" she replied, "I'll come pick you up then"he said before disconnecting.

"How was it, dinner with all of them?" Khushi asked, "It was okay" he said quietly, unable to find an explanation as to why he had found it so dull. "Amar is so different now, remember how you used to have a crush on him in 8^th grade" he asked with a smirk. "Yeah...well he always got good grades, he used to read and even played the guitar, I wasn't the only girl with a crush on him" she said with an embarrassed face, "Well bookish Amar has vanished, you would be shocked, he couldn't stop giving us full details on his recent escapades and ermm..Adventures." "Really?...What a shame, I liked the old cute little nerdy Amar who always used to help me in lab class" she said with a silly pout as he laughed loudly.

"Sherbet...really Khush..ughh" Arnav winced as the sour taste spread across his mouth. "At least I am innovative and don't stick to same old chocolate" she said pulling away her spoon from him. "Chocolate always tastes good, it never disappoints" he said closing his eyes as he took in a spoonful of his chocolate and brownie lash ice cream. He watched Khushi wince each time she took a colourful spoonful from her waffle cone, her expression looked painful, yet she always insisted on choosing the most colourful flavours. "Fine, you can have mine" he pushed his bowl to her, she quirked an eyebrow "Faithful chocolate let you down?" she asked mockingly. Pretending to actually like the flavor she had chosen, he rolled his eyes at her and reached for her waffle cone. While she looked at him with a victorious smile as though she had chosen the better flavor, yet her eyes looked relieved that she was saved from having to swallow the sour, sugary dessert.

Khushi hummed softly as they drove back, the song playing being one of her absolute favourites. He watched how she listened and hummed with her eyes shut, her long lashes falling gracefully over her face. He felt so much at peace, much more than he had felt all evening as he sat beside her, listening to her hum softly with her eyes shut and lips lifted in a small smile.

"Khush...you seem to be pretty busy these days, who is this client who used to be your classmate" Arnav asked casually, regretting that he had broken the quiet moment filled by soft music. "Oh its Pradeep, he is in town to supervise the accounting system of his Delhi branch, we used to be good friends in college and he was surprised to know that I was working here, it's been nice catching up with him after all this time" she replied sleepily. She did not notice the shadow that seemed to have fallen darkly over Arnav's face, or the way his eyes looked a little worried. She did not notice the sudden shift and tension seeping into the air, she simply gave him a hug and said goodbye before walking home, totally unaware of a pair of fiercely distant eyes.

Time to let out the green eyed monster!😆😆 So what do you think?

To all my lovely readers thank you so so much for your comments, I'm sorry I haven't had the time to reply to them but I've read all of them and it means a lot that you have taken time to provide such valuable feedback, it really encourages me to write more! 🤗🤗

Tossing around, she wondered why she couldn't sleep. These meetings with Pradeep and all those things he wanted to discuss shouldn't be troubling her for she knew what she wanted and her mind was firmly made up, yet for the sake of old times she had agreed to meet and discuss matters on which she had already taken a firm stand. She told him the truth blatantly, she hadn't hidden the facts yet he was making relentless efforts, sometimes a tiny voice told her if she should just take a leap, it wouldn't be that bad but she chose to ignore it. Not this time. Not once again.

She thought about Arnav, he was smiling, he was happy and she was almost happy too. They had managed to unearth their treasured friendship yet she feared how long this tranquility would last, how long would she feel like she was standing on quick sand, she feared something snapping and sending a whole plethora of disastrous events into motion. Being around him made her feel pleasant and each time a feeling of familiarity enveloped her, she felt almost blissful but change is inevitable. How long would she continue to guard her heart and keep it in chains, she could never expect love from him. Would she able to give her heart unguarded and unbound to someone else when he was still a part of her life, how could she search for anything else when every breath of hers whispered his name unconsciously. She clutched her arms around herself, feeling overwhelmed with fear and worry sending a silent prayer for some harmless solution that wouldn't break her heart.

This feeling of uneasiness was so unnecessary he kept telling himself. She was his friend and even if she was spending time with someone else, it shouldn't bother him, so what if during the past week she had been spending more time with Pradeep? Why should it matter to him? Being a friend, he should in fact be happy for her, happy that she was probably seeing someone. He paced about his room, unable to fall asleep, his thoughts frustrating him and anger flooding through his sleepless eyes. His mind screamed at him saying "you do not love her like that, she is your friend and this shouldn't be bothering you, even if you did love her, your love would never be enough, it would still be incomplete" while his heart wept, feeling like something that was his was being snatched away.

Khushi felt bad, she had said no to Arnav for dinner a couple of times already because of having to meet Pradeep, she had also promised that she would make up for it so she gave him a call.

"Hey Arnav, let's go bowling today na? It's been so long, maybe we are a little too old for it...but what the heck" he heard her rambling on the phone. Forgetting the whispers of unease he smiled genuinely and muttered "Too old? Speak for yourself Gupta, I still have the skills" promising to meet her at 7.

He watched as she stood there in a dark blue T-shirt and jeans, her messy hair pulled properly away from her face in a haphazard bun, how did she look so effortlessly beautiful he wondered. With her feet slightly apart and tongue out in utter concentration she swung the ball, wincing as she missed two pins.

With a smirk he walked ahead, "Now watch how it is actually done" he said confidently before flinging the ball and earning a strike. "Show off" she muttered and ignored his victorious smile.

As the game progressed Arnav was surprised to see that Khushi put up a pretty good fight, her scores only a little lower than his. When they had been younger Khushi had occasionally beaten him and then he had to listen to her brag about it for months.

"I almost kicked your ass" she said with a laugh as she pulled off her bowling shoes. "Almost. But you did not" he said watching annoyance flood across her face.

"I am so famished!" Khushi exclaimed, glad that they were having a buffet. "I could eat everything" she said, her eyes scanning the endless rows of food. "Easy there Khush, take it slow or I'll have to hold the barf bag to your face like before."

"Nuh-uh, this time I am going to have a little of everything and save enough space for dessert" she said, her eyes gleaming with mirth.

A little while later

"Oh my God, a buffet was such a bad idea, I haven't even had dessert yet" Khushi moaned, she hated it when there was a lot of food and she was helpless and unable to eat. Arnav laughed as he watched her lean her head against the table, "I'm not done yet, and looking at all the things I still haven't tried, we will be here for a while and I'm sure you will have place for dessert by then" he said reassuringly as he chewed lazily on the endless variety of starters.

"Hi Khushi" a male voice interrupted them. Khushi looked up, her face lifting in a smile as she said "Pradeep, what are you doing here?". "Just here with a couple of friends" he replied. "Pradeep this is my friend Arnav, and Arnav ,Pradeep and I went to university together and he is also our client" Khushi introduced as she absently twirled her fork over the plate of noodles. Arnav nodded as cordially as he could and tried not to frown. "Okay Khushi good to see you here, I'll head back to my table now, nice meeting you Arnav" he said pleasantly and walked back to his table at the end of the restaurant.

He continued to eat his food, donning a perfectly blank expression. "Pradeep and you were in the same class?" he asked casually. "Yeah, we shared some common major subjects, he asked me out on a few dates back in college but it was just silly and awkward" she said nonchalantly as she took a sip of her lemon and mint refresher. Arnav did not know why but that piece of information irked as well as pleased him a little, it annoyed him that Khushi had once dated this man but he was pleased to know that she had brushed it off as something awkward. Pushing his sulky thoughts aside he laughed softly as she ranted about how she wished these buffet places would allow takeaways.

"I'll go get some of that lasagna and drizzled shrimps, you need anything?" he asked Khushi as he got up to refill his plate. "NO! Do I look like I can eat anymore, these people trick you with the appetizers" she moaned as he walked away in amusement.

Arnav reached for the lasagna, noticing that Pradeep was standing at a counter beside him. He smiled tentatively in acknowledgement. "You must be Arnav Singh Raizada right?" Pradeep suddenly asked, noticing Arnav nod he continued, "I read about your factories and business plan in an article, seems like you have something pretty impressive up your sleeve" he said in appreciation while Arnav politely said "Thank you". He settled the shrimps neatly on to his plate while Pradeep continued to talk about his business. "Even we've been setting up new branches, in fact that is why I've been in touch with Khushi, she is so talented, she must have told you about my offer to place her as our Senior Accounting Executive in our Mumbai branch right?" he asked before reaching for the chicken salad. Arnav's face visibly darkened as he looked away and muttered "No". "Nice meeting you Pradeep, good luck" Arnav tried to politely bite out, ignoring the confused expression on the other mans face as he speechlessly made his way to the table, not uttering a single syllable throughout the meal. He simply nodded his head blankly each time Khushi asked him if he was alright, his eyes shielded and hiding hostile thoughts, perfectly veiling a brewing storm.

😛😛 So what do you think?