#2 Arshi FF - The Other Half - 28 Dec - Note - pg 68 - Page 7

Nice update - the plot thickens and can't wait to read how it all unveils.

Loved it

Arnav is doubting and ignoring khushi whereas khushi wants to tell something about shyam.

but arnav isnt listening

Will be waiting for the next update

What is happening between Arshi really curious to know more

Just came across this wonderful story..

Really interesting concept and very well written

Amazing 👏 update next soon Plzz 😊

Originally posted by: Checkmatee

Next chapter on 20th Sept 😊

Oh yeah, uh huh

Khushi spoke into the phone, listening intently. But all she could hear was the dial tone. He'd hung up.

Khushi looked down at her phone disappointedly. She tried calling him a few times, and by the end of the day she'd given him four calls. He'd ignored the first three, and the last one didn't go through because by then he had shut off his phone.

"Arnavji.." Khushi whispered into the night as she went to sleep, restlessly shifting in her bed as she thought about the meeting that Shyamji, his jijaji, had requested, the next day.

~

Arnav stopped himself from grabbing Khushi who was in a hurry to get away from him. How could he blame her though? It wasn't her fault. It had been this way between them for the past two weeks now. She would come into work and did everything right at his personal assistant. Work wise, everything seemed fine between them.

But Arnav knew how strained things were between them. How she made sure not to be alone with him, always avoiding him, never looking straight at him. His throat closed up at what had happened. "Khushi, listen to me, please" He called out to her, catching her just as she was leaving for home.

She stopped abruptly, her fists bunching her top. Khushi looked back at him tearfully, the sight of her watery eyes causing his chest to tighten. "I've heard enough, don't you think?"

Arnav gulped remembering the events over the last two weeks.

~

"Arnavji.." Khushi whispered into the night as she went to sleep, restlessly shifting in her bed as she thought about the meeting that Shyamji, his jijaji, had requested, the next day.

Khushi woke up earlier then usual, an unexplained sense of nervousness making her fidget all night. She sprang out of bed as soon as the sun rays hit her eyes and took less than fifteen minutes to get ready and leave for office. Arnavji expected her to show up at the spare office at 8am. She swallowed the feeling of something big happening.

She arrived at the spare office directly and punched in. Throughout the day, she kept looking at the clock. Time seemed to pass extra slowly today. She stopped by the main office during lunch hour to speak to Arnavji, but he had been out. She tried calling him, but he always cut her calls and sent her a text saying he was busy. Khushi was hurt, knowing he was deliberately avoiding her. What she didn't know was why.

Whenever she did spot him, she couldn't help but feeling a longing that pulled something in her chest. Even if he appeared for just five seconds, it didn't stop her from staring at him even long after he'd walked away to some meeting. She shook her head, wondering why she was so desperate to meet him, wondering why she was constantly looking for him.

By the end of the day, Khushi was beat. Instead of being happy that work hours were over, she was feeling apprehensive as she was scheduled to meet Shyamji, her boss's brother in law within the next half an hour. While she didn't really have a problem meeting with Shyamji, since she had once catered sweets for his office event, and he had graciously praised her; she couldn't help the nagging feeling that she should tell Arnavji about her visit with Shyamji.

After traveling for fifteen minutes, she reached a small cozy caf that was very crowded since it was close to dinner time. She ignored the rumblings of her stomach calling out for food and looked around impatiently. She was on time, she hoped he was too. She wanted to get home soon and rest.

"Khushiji!" Shyam slipped into the caf, moving against the crowd of people who were queuing at the counter for their orders. Khushi gave him a small smile and waited for him to sit. "What can I do for you, Shyamji?" Khushi winced at how she got right to the point, hoping he wouldn't find it rude.

Shyam just smiled at her and asked her if she wanted to order anything instead. Khushi politely refused and told him she was fine. Shyam ordered himself a coffee and Khushi bit her cheek, waiting patiently. Shyam made small talk and when his coffee arrived, he took a sip and looked at Khushi intently.

Khushi squirmed in her seat, wondering if he knew he was making her uncomfortable. Why was he looking at her like that? Or was she just over reacting?

Khushi was almost about to ask him to stop staring at her when his eye averted and his hands pulled out what looked like a photograph and an envelope. Khushi wordlessly stared at them and looked at him questioningly.

"Khushiji, it's no secret that you are a very good sweet chef. I know Arnav has given you the sweet order for the prayers happening in our house in two days. Plus you are his assistant at work.." Shyam trailed off. Khushi nodded, not knowing where he was going with this.

"This is my wife, Anjali. You must remember her from when you came to our house, right?" Shyam held out the photograph and Khushi's eyes fell onto the photo of the beautiful woman she had come to adore. Anjaliji was very sweet.

"Yes, I remember her." Khushi smiled at how pretty Anjaliji looked in her elegant saree. She looked up to see Shyamji looking at the photo fondly. That eased her a little. Well, it seems she was overacting before. It was clear that Shyamji loved his wife.

"Well, our anniversary is coming up. I will be throwing a surprise party for her. I was wondering if you could take up the sweet order, if you don't already have too much workload." Shyam asked considerably, knowing ASR must be keeping a tight leash on his staff.

Khushi lit up at the thought of a surprise party being held and assured him that she could handle it. Besides, she would love to have a hand in doing something nice for Anjaliji. They chatted about the party, the sweet order and other things. He handed her an envelope. She looked at it with hesitance.

"This is the advanced payment for the order. You'll get the rest once the delivery is done. Deal?" Shyam smiled at her encouragingly. Khushi tried to refuse taking an advance, since she never did that. With sweet orders, she believed in producing first, payment later. She was credible that way.

Despite her reluctance, Shyamji insisted on giving her the advance then and there. To confirm your booking,' he'd joked. Khushi relented and accepted it, her heart jumping at yet another order. Her business would soon flourish enough to take on bigger clients, she thought.

They left soon after and Khushi went home with a smile on her face. She felt much lighter; the earlier sense of doom nowhere to be seen now that Shyamji had given her good news. She felt giddy with excitement about the surprise party and couldn't wait to see how Anjaliji would react. After dinner that night, she and Payal went out to get some ingredients needed for the Shantivan prayers happening in two days. They had a huge order, but Khushi held off buying the ingredients beforehand since she wanted to get them fresh.

The next day, Khushi's mood fell slightly when she didn't get to see Arnavji the whole day. She'd caught a glimpse of him on her way to the main office during lunch time when she went to retrieve a file. But what she saw made her feel uneasy; Arnavji's face reflected a storm.

He was brooding more than usual, and he seemed to be yelling at the staff more frequently. She pitied them, feeling slightly lucky that she was still stationed at the spare office, which was weird because she was his assistant and yet she hadn't been assisting him for the past few days since he decided to send her here.

Before she could start analyzing his behavior and find out why he was being so strange, her phone rang and her heart sped up with a shiver of anticipation running down her spine. "Hello? Yes, don't worry. I set up everything in Arnavji's room that day, remember? He saw me on my way out and insisted on sending me home, but I didn't think I could stand to be near him without spilling out the truth. No, no don't worry. He doesn't know anything. If he knew, he would have said something by now.."

"He is acting strange though, but I think its work related. Yup, it's all going accordingly to the plan. Have you done your part? That's great. The prayers is going to be a hit. Well, the after prayers at least, which is when all the fun will start. Arnavji won't know what hit him!" Khushi laughed. "Okay, okay, I have to go now, lots of work to do. See you soon!"

The smile lingered on Khushi's face long after the call had ended.

That night, after going home and vigorously preparing the sweets with full passion and dedication, her hands almost shook as she saw her phone flash with Arnavji's name on it. She almost took a double take. He had been avoiding her to the fullest extent for what seemed like forever, and now he was calling her? He was reaching out to her? Well.

"Hello-"

"Khushi, bring your family to the prayers tomorrow. See you." Arnav cut her off and hung up, leaving Khushi's mouth open as she stared at her phone in confusion. What just happened? How was he such a big businessman when his phone manners were nonexistent? He was so rude, cutting her off! She huffed and blew her fringe away from her face and then paused. Well, he was a busy man. And he extended an invite to her family members too. He didn't have to do that. Did that mean that he was finally over his angry young man mode? She smiled, shaking her head. She could live for hundreds of years and still not figure him out.

The next day, she arrived sharp at 8am and punched in. Mid day, Amanji came to see her and ask her if everything was okay. She replied positively and he looked at her silently. Khushi asked him what was wrong but he just shook his head. He told her that Arnav requested her presence in the main office. Khushi hide a smile, excitement fluttering deep in her belly at the thought of finally seeing him properly. Her heart sank the next moment when she thought he only wanted to meet her to discuss about the sweets for tonight. But it turned out to be worse than that; he wasn't even in the office.

According to Amanji, he had stepped out for a meeting and wouldn't be back in the office all day. Khushi turned away and blinked furiously, trying to make the sudden sheen of tears disappear. She exhaled, not believing that she was tearing up just because he was once again not there.

Not realizing when or how, but his presence had become to mean something deep for her. She smiled weakly at Aman and rapidly took in his instructions. For the rest of the day, Khushi kept herself busy and distracted, telling herself to cheer up as she would be seeing him later that night, where finally he wouldn't be out at some meeting, where finally they would have a chance to talk.

Reaching home, she saw her jiji and Buaji packing up the sweets they had made with love. Khushi jumped on them and took them in a tight hug, the aroma of sweets filling the house and her anticipation of seeing Arnavji drastically lifting her mood. She pushed them to their respective rooms and commanded them to get dressed since they had to leave in 20 minutes; the prayers would be starting soon.

Within minutes, Khushi was shooing them out of the house and Buaji pulling her ear. "Sankadevi! Itni jaldi kahe hai tumka? Zara dheerey chalo, varna hum phisel jayenge." Buaji twisted her ear to which Khushi squealed and pulled away.

[Sankadevi! Itni jaldi kahe hai tumka? Zara dheerey chalo, varna hum phisel jayenge - Sanakdevi! Why are you in a rush? Walk slowly otherwise I might fall]

"Oh ho, Buaji. Waise toh jab dekho aap thumka lagati phirti hai. Aaj jaldi chalne mein dikkat kaisi?" Khushi teased while giggling and ran as Buaji huffed and puffed while chasing her.

[Oh ho, Buaji. Waise toh jab dekho aap thumka lagati phirti hai. Aaj jaldi chalne mein dikkat kaisi? - Oh ho, Buaji. Anyway you're always swaying your hips along, but today you have a problem walking?]

They reached Shantivan just in time to set up and Khushi watched with delight as Arnavji's warm family welcomed hers. Khushi folded her hands and met them too but couldn't stop her eyes from roaming around, wishing desperately to spot the man who had been occupying her mind for such a long time now.

She looked to the floor, trying to understand her deep need to see him, to know he was around. She caught her reflection in the mirror opposite her and she gasped. It was the same look she'd seen on Shyamji's face when he was looking at Anjali's photo; the same look that spoke of how much he loved his wife.

Love..

Could it be?

No!

How could it? What did she really know about Arnavji to love him? All she knew were the basics. He was successful, rich, bipolar, arrogant, confident, always frowining.. Even his staff knew that. She didn't know anything special. Well she did know he was kind, caring, sweet, funny; even though he smiled only once a year.. but then, he had displayed a nicer side of himself to her on several occasions, and even laughed full-fledged when she'd jumped into his arms in a hug when she mistook a can for a rat.

She laughed to herself, her eyes glazing over as she remembered him. She coyly looked up to study her reflection again. What else did she know about him? Apart from the fact that he was good looking.. handsome.. looked great in a suit..

She felt her cheeks heat up and she slapped her palms against her cheeks, hoping to cover them. Anjali called her over and she cleared her thoughts of Arnavji and went off to do her work.

But soon, the invisible cloak of happiness with which she'd come to Shantivan slowly started evaporating as the evening proceeded, causing her heart to shrivel up from pain she never thought she would receive; her heart pounding away as Arnavji had finally made his appearance, as he finally found out the truth about what she had been doing.. which was nothing compared to what he had done to her.

~

And since then, two weeks had passed the same way with Khushi dutifully carrying out her responsibilities at work but otherwise staying away from him completely.

"Khushi, listen to me, please" He called out to her, catching her just as she was leaving for home.

She stopped abruptly, her fists bunching her top. Khushi looked back at him tearfully, the sight of her watery eyes causing his chest to tighten.

"I've heard enough, don't you think?"

NO PMs - look out for the title + date for latest post please. 😳

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😕
he foundout the truth?
so syam is good guy

Amazing update