IPKKND FF: Trial by fire Part 33 updated on Pg 84 - Page 2

Part 3: Trial by Fire

Khushi stared at his back, in a numb state. "He cant even bear looking at me now", was her last coherent thought.

"Dil mera ...churaya kyoon

Jab yoon muh mod na hi tha..."

********

Arnav was speechless as he stared out of the windows unseeingly. How had he become so irrational? The idea that Khushi was suggesting was so ludicrous ...Of course, this baby was his. "I was her first and only", he thought. It must have been minutes...it felt like hours. He lost track of time and wondered how he had lost faith, lost trust...what had come over him momentarily? He thought of all the times Khushi had come through for him ...feeding him jalebis when he was dizzy, drinking the doctored juice so that she got an infection as well, crying noisily after hurting him by flinging hot tea, crying after breaking off her engagement with Shyam's deception. "How did I get so bad that I lost faith in my own heart? How will I ever win her back after this outburst?", he wondered and turned around to do whatever it took to apologize, hug her and make it up to her, make it up to their baby and the love they shared.

Khushi was not there .. "how and when did she leave? i have to stop her" he thought. He reached out to phone the receptionist on the ground floor to stop Khushi. It was at that moment he noticed, neatly arranged on his desk - a pair of intricate gold kangans that had graced her hands, her phone and the mangalsutra. He was shocked...He knew how much importance the mangalsutra held for her. He lifted up the bangles...He felt that he could still feel her warmth on it. "What have I done...How did I do this...How could I be so out of control...I am beyond redemption now...How upset must she have been to do this...I have to stop her", he thought as he dialed.

"Did you see my wife come downstairs, can you ask her to wait?", he asked.

"No sir. I didn't see Khushi madam after she went up to meet you and I have been here all this while.".

"Okay, let me come downstairs. Please dont let her leave if you do see her.", he said just before rushing out to the elevators. As he pressed the "Down" button and wondered what he would say to her, he was reminded of a similar incident.

**** Flashback to Khushi's office days in AR Industries ****

Khushi was talking as she walking out with Mrs.Braganza, AR's head of PR. She did not realize that Lavanya and ASR were right behind her walking towards the elevator as she declared "Devi Maiya ne hamein do per diye hai jo theek thaak hai ...Tho main yeh nahi samajhthi ki sab acche khaase log hamesha kyon yeh lift lete hai jaise woh booddhe aur apahij ho. Chalna, sehat ke liye accha hai". ASR felt that this was a definite rebuke at him for always taking the lift. "Does she even realize that I workout so much in the morning?" he thought as he summoned her when he was waiting for the elevator to arrive. " Yeh nahi samajhthi ki elevator or naye zamaane ki luxuries is liye hai kyon ki time save ho jaaye aur woh zyaada value-added kaam mein lagayein? Tho tum yeh soch thi ho ki tum hamse zyaada fit ho? Isi baat pe shart ho jaaye..You can start walking down the stairs to the ground floor. I will even give you a head start. Let us see who reaches downstairs first. When you lose, you can add 5000Rs to the money you owe me or work an extra week." Khushi miserably wondered why she had even opened her loud mouth and looked at him and the elevator, tried to explain that she had not meant to taunt him. After looking at his implacable face, she started running down the stairs. After running down at breakneck speed, without breaking her neck , she reached the ground floor breathlessly to see ASR waiting there with his hands around Lavanya's waist. She felt helpless in the face of this injustice as she saw his smirking face. "Congratulations on winning yet again Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada. One day though you will stop after after running so long and hard, turn around and see that you have lost the people that matter and that there is no one left to compete with and win against."

********

Her words from almost a year ago echoed in his head when he reached the ground floor and waited. It had roughly been 20 minutes since Khushi had come to his office he estimated. She should have come down by now. There was only one main entrance out he thought as inklings of fear began creeping up. "Where is she?", he wondered fighting down the panic that was threatening to build up.

Well done on the start! Nice job considering it's your first FF. :) Continue soon!