Tangled | ArShi FF |Thread #1| Link for Thread #2 in Index | Pg 1 - Page 49

Originally posted by: roops82

Very nice story and we'll written... A different concept..

How will their reaction be when they get to know that they were texting each other!!!

Eagerly waiting for next chapter

Originally posted by: KaverInks

Just read all the chapters in one go. I absolutely love, love, LOVE your story! It's so interesting and different from what I read before. Looking forward to when they realize who they are texting. Also, I dislike Sheetal so much, so I think you did an amazing job fleshing out her character. Good luck!

Originally posted by: amadea

awesome update

Originally posted by: rosalineak

Just started reading and I love it.

Originally posted by: dv19

sorry for late comments.

I wanted to a picsq on barun shirtless. Could not mk it.

But something I made long time bk on similar context.

I'm posting it here. I loved the writing and the chapter. So this for all of sobti fans.

Shirtless raizada.

[Youtube]https://youtu.be/Pbmj6XO1kso[/youtube]

Chapter 10 - What are we doing?

The end of 2nd week of June brought some respite to Khushi. It was Friday evening and she was to meet Payal, Akash and Arnav for dinner later that night. She had a breather and decided to use the free hour to catch up with her stranger.

(Friday, 16 June)

-Khushi- 5:10pm || Hello stranger! Have some time for your poor friend?

-Unknown- 5:12pm || Look who finally texted! You've forgotten me. :(

-Khushi- 5:12pm || I could never. It's the usual story- work. :(

-Unknown- 5:13pm|| Your employer is lucky to have you.

-Khushi- 5:13pm || I am my own employer :D

-Unknown- 5:14pm || Huh. Now it makes more sense.

-Unknown- 5:14pm || Your drive to work... You remind me of someone. A girl I know at work.

-Khushi- 5:15pm || Is this the same girl whose aloofness was bothering you?

Khushi recalled the conversation she had with him regarding a certain colleague of his- who's respect and attention he'd desperately wanted. He talked very highly of her. Khushi had asked him outright if he liked her, and he had denied.

-Unknown- 5:16pm || Yes! That's her. We're friendly now.

-Unknown- 5:16pm || By the way, I am amazed that you remember. That was... more than a month ago.

Khushi reflected at how time flew. She had been interacting with him for a month and a half now. Granted they hadn't spoken each day during this time period, yet whatever interactions they had, were etched in her mind. It was something she hadn't done before- maybe because she never found anyone like him- a stranger, connected to her because of a wrong number. Life could be so unpredictable sometimes.

-Unknown- 5:19pm || Are you there?

The ping noise woke her up from her thoughts. She scrolled through the string of messages that they had sent each other- up till the first message. Sighing, she asked him a question- something that was in her subconscious mind but now boring it's way to her consciousness.

-Khushi- 5:23pm || What are we doing?

-Unknown- 5:23pm || ??

-Khushi- 5:24pm || I mean... what are we? Are we friends?

-Khushi- 5:24pm || Or just 2 people who like talking to one another?

-Khushi- 5:25pm || Or 2 people who flirt occasionally... what is all this?

-Unknown- 5:26pm || Honestly, I don't know...But do we need to define?

-Khushi- 5:27pm || Definitions give stability.

-Khushi- 5:27pm || What if tomorrow one of us simply stops talking? How is the other one to cope with it?

-Unknown- 5:28pm || I am NOT going to stop talking to you.

-Unknown- 5:28pm || I relish these chats that we have. I like talking to you...

Three dots blinked on the screen as the stranger typed, deleted and re-typed something.

-Unknown- 5:30pm || I like you.

-Unknown- 5:31pm || I know it can sound silly or unbelievable but I do. I really like you.

The proclamation did surprise Khushi but in a manner that made her smile. She liked him too- unusual as it was... She didn't know how he looked, what he did, but these small insights that he had given her and she had allowed him, slowly became something more. It wasn't love because that was a much deeper feeling- something that could grow if she let this attraction proceed.

-Unknown- 5:33pm || Don't leave me hanging here.

-Khushi- 5:34pm || Do I really have to type it?

-Unknown- 5:35pm || Hey now, you were the one who wanted to define this relationship.I honestly declared my feelings. It's your turn now.

She decided it would be fun to draw out the tease.

-Khushi- 5:36pm || Do I like you? Hmm... Lemme think.

-Unknown- 5:36pm || Can you not torture me like this?

-Khushi- 5:37pm || You did call me a little minx.

He sent her a laughing emoji and she smiled. She had to give him an answer- to tell her side of the truth- that she had a crush on him, that she liked him. While trying to gather the nerve to tell him, it dawned on her that they hadn't even exchanged names yet- the most basic thing.

-Khushi- 5:38pm || You confessed that you liked me yet you don't even know my name.

-Unknown- 5:38pm || Irrelevant. Knowing your name wouldn't change my feelings for you.

-Khushi- 5:39pm || You're fine calling me a stranger for the rest of your life? :D

-Unknown- 5:39pm || I would love to get to know you- without this technology masking us.

-Unknown- 5:40pm || But we did shake on a pact- of not revealing what we deemed uncomfortable.

Khushi's heart flipped a bit when she read the his 2nd last text- without technology masking us. It meant he wanted to meet her in person... The thought of being face to face with him made her stomach flutter.

-Khushi- 5:42pm || Pacts can be reneged on ;)

-Unknown- 5:43pm || I like the sound of that...

Khushi clutched her iPhone tighter- she was going to let him fully in now- no walls, no hiding behind a wrong number. She began typing a message asking him his name. Before she could send it, an urgent knock on the door startled her.

"Lavanya?" she looked at her PA who seemed troubled, "What is it?"

"Erm... Sorry to disturb you," Lavanya apologized.

Khushi locked her personal iphone and slid it in the pocket of her blazer. "It's alright. What happened?"

Lavanya took a few steps and stood across the table from Khushi. She cleared her throat, "Khushi Ma'am, I just got a call from the Bank Manager's PA about the land deal meeting that you had asked me to schedule for Monday. Well... It's been cancelled it. And the bank was instructed by Magnolia that there wouldn't be the need for a loan since this deal is off."

All the happy feelings that Khushi had from chatting with her stranger were displaced by anger. She was going to discuss the land deal with the bank on Monday. The loan was to buy the land and expand the factory- thereby increasing production, maybe even venturing into new segments or age groups. And now... someone had cancelled it.

Khushi had a gut feeling who it was- the same person who had been trying to undermine her ever since Sunil Kapoor gave her the reins of Magnolia.

"Sheetal," Khushi didn't ask, rather stated the name.

Lavanya bit her lip and shook her head, "It was Arnav Sir."

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Khushi had never been this angry in her life. Ever. The employees she crossed while making her way to Arnav's office cowered when they saw her. She didn't need to go till his cabin because she spotted him, standing near the cubicle of a marketing employee, going over a file.

"Khushi," he said, surprised, when he saw her approaching him. She didn't want to create a scene in front of the entire floor and so she grabbed his arm and dragged him to the nearest room she could find. It was the men's washroom.

Ensuring the 3 stalls in the washroom were not occupied, she locked the door behind them.

"What the hell, Arnav!?" she yelled before he could say a word, "You went behind my back and cancelled the meeting with the bank? After I made sure to include you in all the development! Why would you do that?"

"I... I..." Arnav stammered.

Khushi gave him a stunned look, "How can you not have an answer for that? What are you hiding, Arnav?"

Arnav closed his eyes and massaged his forehead with his hand. "Now is not the time, Khushi." He finally spoke. "We are meeting Payal and Akash for dinner in a couple of hours. Can we do this later?"

"NO," she stated firmly, "You have to tell me now why you'd take such a step. I could expect this going behind-my-back from Sheetal but you... I thought we were becoming friends."

"This is for everyone's benefit," he spoke calmly, "A massive loan at this stage would be a big mistake. If I had not cancelled it, Sheetal would've."

Khushi narrowed her eyebrows, "What does that mean? Why would expanding be a big mistake?"

Arnav pinched the bridge of his nose. Khushi could see that he was in a dilemma. She could feel that he wanted to tell her something but debated if he should.

"Tell me the truth Arnav," she wanted to sound strong but it came out as a plea.

He exhaled through his mouth. "The deal is not lucrative. The Central Bank is going in for a major monetary policy overhaul. The prediction is the rates can be more competitive in future."

His explanation made sense. If they waited for the RBI's changes, they could've a more beneficial deal. But there was something amiss in his explanation. "Is that the only reason you cancelled the deal?" She asked outright, albeit in a soft voice.

Arnav averted his eyes and sighed. After a pause, he said with some certainty, "Just give me sometime... I want to figure things out. It has become a mess, in here." He pointed at his head.

Khushi furrowed her eyes to comprehend his words- mess? Time to figure things out? What was he talking about?

"Please can we just let this night pass without any issue? For Payal and Akash?" He pleaded.

Khushi took a deep breath to calm herself down. He was right- tonight was not the time for any upheaval.

She nodded at him. "We can talk later. I know we are not the best of friends or very close but... if you need any help... figuring things out, you can tell me." Her offer was genuine.

Arnav looked at her and gulped, a slight tint of guilt evident on his face which was quickly masked by a small smile. "Thanks."

He unlocked the bathroom door and exited. All alone, Khushi turned to face the mirror. Anger had colored her face a light shade of crimson. She splashed some water over her face and patted her skin dry with a napkin. She was about to walk away when the reflection of something in the mirror caught her eye.

It was the wall- grey in color with small red and blue rectangle patterns splashed over it. The ladies washroom had a different peach colored one yet something about the wall texture felt familiar- like she had seen it before.

She had never been to this or any other men's washroom before today then where had she seen it... She stressed her brain to think and suddenly it hit her. She fumbled in her blazer pocket and took out her iPhone. Unlocking it, she opened the text window of her stranger. Scrolling up with haste, she stopped when she found it- It was the picture that the stranger had sent, the one with his unbuttoned shirt.

She had observed each detail of his photo so many times that subconsciously she had it memorized. She zoomed in on the pic, past his abs and shirt, into the background. It stared back at her from the phone screen- the grey wall with small red and blue rectangles.

Her eyes wavered from the background of her stranger's photo to the wall in front of her. Her heart started racing. The stranger had taken his picture in this washroom- maybe another one in the office.

A undeniable thought burrowed in her mind- her stranger was someone from the office.

---------

Khushi was in a daze as she made her way to the restaurant for dinner. Payal greeted her with a warm hug and Arnav and Akash made small talk with her but she wasn't registering anything. Her mind was stuck on one thing- her stranger was someone from the office... She had been texting someone who may have been a few feet away from her... maybe they interacted on a daily basis... who could it be?

Payal nudged Khushi with her elbow and it jolted her out from her thoughts, "Sorry, what?"

Akash was saying something and she had completely spaced out. He repeated, "I was just asking if you had to cancel other plans to make room for us. Arnav here is accusing me of hijacking his Friday night."

Arnav laughed at his cousin's remark and Akash looked at her expectedly.

"Umm..." she stuttered, not even a little bit interested in engaging in any conversation tonight, "No."

There was a lull since the other 3 people sensed that Khushi was not in her right frame of mind.

"Erm..." Payal's voice filled the awkward silence, "Khushi would have had her weekend's busy if she listened to me! I have given up now but for a long time I tried to set her up with one of my friends. She never even texted the guy."

"So you do that to everyone?" Arnav grinned at Khushi who didn't show any response even via facial gesture.

"Everyone?" Payal asked, amused, "Who else has my little sister ignored?"

"Me, for one," Arnav responded. He looked at Khushi while answering, "It must have been a month and a half back, I had just joined Magnolia and wanted to have a civil relationship with her so I went to her office, gave her my personal phone number but," she took a sip from the beer bottle, "Till today she never contacted me."

"That's Khushi," Payal stated and they all chuckled. Except Khushi.

Tonight was not her night. None of those stories made her smile. Her mind desperately tried to solve the one puzzle that had been hounding her for the past few hours-

Suddenly she halted her thoughts.

"What did you say?" she asked staring at Arnav.

"Ummm..." he quirked an eyebrow, "Just that I gave you my personal number all those weeks back and you never texted me."

The memory came back to her- Arnav had come to her cabin, written his number on a page and left it on the table. Later that day, Lavanya said that she had left Mohit's number on her table. That night when she thought she was texting Mohit, it was a wrong number- but it shouldn't have been because she had taken the page from the table. The number should have been-

Suddenly she felt a shiver down her spine. She raised her eyes and looked at Arnav.

Oh my God!

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