Arhi FF: Emeralds and Rubies - Ch. 11 updated

Hello all you wonderful people and hopefully future readers! 😃

Being a fairly new (and fairly stupid) member of IF, I previously posted this in the discussion forum. 😳 So if anyone might think you've read this before, I didn't copy it from anywhere, but you aren't mistaken. And congratulations on a good memory! However after my ever so slow functioning brain realized this mistake, I have (probably) corrected it here! 😃

Coming to the FF, this is really just my first go at writing anything for an actual audience and what not, so criticism of any form is hugely appreciated. A side note before the prologue: The characters of this are all the same, just because they're so perfect for the roles! Coming to roles, you may find my characterization of some of the family members involved a teeny tiny bit different (such as Payal, who you'll probably find to be a little more "living it up" type) than those on screen for whichever reason. Anyways here's the prologue, hope you all like it!

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Color.

Wherever her eyes went, all she could see was color.

Yellow, purple, orange, blue, red.

Red.

What a color it was. "The color of love," they'd say, "bridal, royalty, passion."

She scoffed them. All those people. She had seen true red. The red that lurked behind all anguish, despair, misery. It was the color of blood. The color of fire. The color of death.

"Khushi! Hurry up! We really haven't all day. Oh don't bother looking in that shop, we've already been there. Nothing good but rip-off artists and bad quality material. Come on now."

Her soon to be wed cousin's incessant calls broke Khushi out of her dizzying spell.

"Yeah. I'm coming," she mumbled, trying to hold on to all the bags in her hands. She could feel the plastic wearing thin in between her fingers. She never really enjoyed shopping. Sure, she liked all the beautiful materials and suits and jewelry, but she could never bother herself with all this. There were so many other better things to do. Like making jalebis, or frying pakodas. Yes, those were the things she liked. Then there was her recently renewed hobby, one which she had left immediately after her parents' death. Star gazing. No one had the imagination she shared with her father. Just lying there on wet dewy grass, searching the universe, not for answers, no, she hadn't had any questions then for the universe which her father couldn't answer perfectly, but for stories. Stories of the people who lived before them. One time, they saw a couple in a warm embrace. That fateful night, lying on the grass next to her father, she had seen the stars tell the story which was to be the last memory she had of her parents, surrounded by the flames, orange, yellow, but mostly red.

"RED! Why can you not understand?! Sir has specifically told us he wants red! What is wrong with you?!"

The suddenness of the exasperated voice behind her startled Khushi. Her shoulders did a little dance in their sockets, sending jolts down her arms and into her fingers, which uncoiled, sending a load of 12 bags full of materials plummeting to the ground.

At first, Khushi felt relief. "Oh God, if I would've held on to those bags any longer, my fingers would have fallen off! And then I wouldn't even be able to make jalebis! Oh, I could really use some right now," she thought, flexing her fingers and popping her knuckles like some buff roadside hunk.

"What IS this? Pratap, you idiot! How can I take all this material to sir when it's covered in all this dirt?! Pick it up right now!" the previous voice, now full of dread.

Khushi turned around. A man, probably in his forties, with wisps of grey hair, probably Pratap, bowing down at her feet, picking up HER bags, full of the things SHE spent the entire morning AND afternoon buying, for some other person. Now, she was furious. Her head snapped up to face the source of the voice, her blood reaching boiling point.

The man, standing in a suit, completely out of place in the packed collapsible markets of Delhi, was now talking on the phone, fear clearly inscribed on his face.

"Yes sir, this is Aman. Pratap? He's right here, sir. We're on our way sir. Yes yes. We've gotten everything. Burgundy? But sir, you didn't say anything abo--" his face was now paler than before, "Sorry sir. Yes sir. I'll be sure to buy the right thing." He cut the call and audibly gulped, "Pratap. We have to buy one more material."

"One more? We have only bought half the things till now! These are not our bags!"

"No they are not! These are my bags! How dare you try to steal my bags from me?! Thieves!"

And for the first time, Aman looked up to see the girl in the deep blue anarkali standing before him. He noted her big eyes, bubbling over with fury. He wasn't listening to what she was saying, but rather eying her curiously. How could someone so innocent looking, so petite, with such a squeaky voice, be blurting out so many many insults?

"' I am Khushi Kumari Gupta and I deal with you kind of people every day! Ha! Thinking you're so high and mighty in your suits! But you're not getting away with my--" Khushi was cut off by Aman's phone ringing once again.

"Yes sir. We're just walking out, s-- Oh you're' waiting outside? No time? I see. No, of course it isn't a problem. We'll be right out sir." He cut the phone and looked up at Khushi, whose mouth was now shaped into a perfect 'O', "Listen Ms. Khushi, I'm extremely sorry for this confusion. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. It's just that my boss is waiting outside' my boss' see we work for Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada, of AR Design you must have heard of it' anyways, we're in a big hurry. Please, please take this money and here's my card if you need anything in the future' anything at all. Just let me take these bags. These are exactly the things we need. Please." He pushed a bundle of 1000 rupee notes in Khushi's hand, a lot more than all that material was worth, and coaxed Pratap to follow him out, pushing through the hoards of people who had gathered around to watch the spectacle.

"Khushi! What happened? And where are our bags?"

"Jiji' that man.. Aman' in the suit'" Khushi was still in a state of shock.

"What about that man? What are you saying Khushi?"

"He.. he took our bags, jiji," Khushi held up the money in her hands amazed by the amount, "he gave me this money and he took our bags, jiji."

"He WHAT?! And you LET HIM? Come Khushi, we're getting our bags back. And if we don't, then my name isn't Payal Gupta!"

She dragged Khushi by her wrist through the now dispersing crowd, in the direction which this Aman guy went in.

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Well, that's the prologue people. If you really want to read about their (you know who I mean by that 😉) first meeting, you're just going to have to comment with all the critique you can muster up and we'll see how it goes. 😊

I'm back with an official first chapter! I haven't gotten any comments as yet, but being the glass-half-full person I am, I'm keeping a weather eye on the.. forum for any sort of feedback.

I had previously posted this chapter as well in the discussion forum, but I've made a little addition of chapter 2 which was supposed to be a short one, so you'll want to read it till the end. 😊

Anyways, here's the 10 times "proofreaded" chapter 1.

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Chapter 1:

Khushi's eyes shut tight involuntarily.

The 2pm Sun shone intense rays of golden, almost as bright as Payal's golden-yellow sari, heating Khushi's face and arms by the second. She drew her hand forcefully out of Payal's to shade her eyes. When she finally came around, all that was to be seen was the bustling around of people clad in the usual "market attire" and a cloud of dust left behind by a retreating white SUV. No suit-men anywhere.

"Tell me Khushi. Which one was this Aman? I'll have to have a word with him. Khushi, tell me. Which one?" Payal was literally fuming.

"Leave it jiji. We'll just buy everything again. He gave me all this money. And I bet we'll have quite some left. We can buy some jalebis with that to take home! Have you tried the jalebis over here? They're sooo good! I can taste them in my mouth right now. Come, let's just finish our shopping and buy jalebis. You hold the money. I don't trust myself with all that." Khushi really didn't want to go buy all those clothes again. All she wanted were the jalebis. Orange-y yellow blobs of sweet goodness. But her jiji apparently had other plans. She loved the idea of shopping for another few hours, but this? This was too much? Did that man think they were going to go and squabble with all those shop-keepers once again? No way in hell.

Then she noticed it. Along with the bundle of notes was a card. Payal smiled at the sight of it.

"Khushi. Did he give you this card too?"

"Yes jiji. Some AR Design thing. But why are we still standing here? Let's go!"

Payal's eyes widened in recognition as she read the script on the card. Of course she had heard of AR Design. And the famous ASR known for his unyielding, arrogant nature. She remembered joking with her friends back in Lucknow before moving to Delhi that she would stalk the notorious Raizada brothers and threaten them into giving her free lehengas for her wedding. But Khushi was oblivious to this. It had already been 7 months since they moved here. But Khushi, however out going and feminine, she knew, never bothered herself with fashion.

She remembered when a newly orphaned Khushi had first moved into her father's house. Payal had immediately realized her role as an elder sister to Khushi and her efforts to win Khushi's heart and trust began quite early. The day after their first meeting, she had taken Khushi shopping. She had shown her dozens of beautiful dresses and shawls and all the works, but Khushi had only smiled politely, her heart obviously someplace else. And Payal had learnt at least one thing about Khushi that day. Dressing up was definitely not a foolproof way of winning her long lost little cousin over.

"Khushi. Neither you or I are in any mood to go through all those hours of shopping again. We're going to this address and we are demanding our stuff back."

Khushi was about to protest but then realized that Payal was right. Jalebis aside, she truly had no intention of walking around this mucky market all over again. They hailed the first taxi they saw and got in without another word.

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Aman was tapping his foot anxiously while watching Arnav's expressionless face as he was shown all the items they had "purchased" that day. Pratap held up fabric after fabric, Arnav nodding at each, but his lips never left the straight line they were set in. But what else could be expected from the great ASR? He wasn't one to stand up and dance each time his employees did something right. Surely nodding was his way of expressing approval?

Aman raised his eyes to look at Aakash, standing behind Arnav, also paying close attention to the multicolored fabrics on the table. He had always felt more comfortable with the younger brother. He never had to hesitate when it came to speaking about business, at least. It was a lot easier with Aakash Singh Raizada, the younger, more jovial one of the brothers. Still, he was Arnav's go-to man. He couldn't say he didn't love his job, of course he did. Arnav wasn't always merry, he rarely every smiled actually, but he was a great boss. And no one could argue with the fact.

"That's all of them sir." Pratap said, his voice faltering at the expectant look on his boss's face.

"Where's the burgundy?" Arnav's first words in the past hour since he had reached the office.

The color drained from Aman's face. Before he could speak, Pratap spoke.

"You didn't mention anything about burgundy sir' ?"

Arnav looked over questioningly at Aman. Once again, just as Aman opened his mouth to speak, a commotion from downstairs interrupted him. Arnav, Aakash, Pratap, and Aman looked down from the floor length glass windows of Arnav Singh Raizada's cabin looking out onto the rest of the office. This happened to be Pratap's first proper glance of the view from these windows. He always wondered why anyone would have windows looking into the building rather than out from where one could see the whole of Delhi, a beautiful sight at sunset. He remembered the many times he'd visited the tourist attractions of the city. Souvenir vendors would be yelling around insults at each other for having stolen the other's foreign customers. All the mean while, tourists wore perplexed looks on their faces, not understanding a word being said.

He, at this moment, looking down into the office, felt just like those sightseers, with the familiar scene of a girl in bright yellow sari, simple, yet elegant, arguing with bewildered employees about having something stolen from her. He also just realized the reason behind ASR's cunning choice of the view he wanted. He could see every nook and cranny of the entire office from here, all the way to the entrance at the far end.

Aakash, on the other hand, was almost taken aback by what he saw through the glass panels. This was not any newly discovered view he was looking upon. He had been in his brother's cabin more times than he could remember. Heck, he had helped designing this office with Arnav in the first place! But what really caught his eye and made his heart skip a beat was this beautiful figure in yellow; her sari draped carefully to highlight her every curve; her face practically glowing with, at the moment, ferocity, her brown eyes alive, complementing her caramel skin; her hands almost seducing him then and there as they rose to move stray tresses away from her face. Her lusciously long dark hair, flowing down her shoulders. He shied away instantly when she looked up to where the four men were staring down at her, embarrassed by the kind of thoughts he was having of someone he just laid eyes on seconds ago. But then he looked back at her, facing her with the same confidence that shone in her eyes. Her eyes locked onto his for a moment, before she averted her gaze, and he could just make out the slightest hint of a blush creeping in on her cheeks.

Aakash wasn't sure what love really was, but right then, at that instant, the younger Raizada brother had fallen undeniably, deeply, irrevocably in love with a women he had never seen before.

"Payal Gupta! What in the world are you thinking?! You're getting married in a month, so what are doing thinking about someone else?" Payal was cautioning herself as best as she could, but when her eyes met with that man's upstairs……

"Was he really looking at me? Well of course he was looking at me! I'm the only one down here making such a ruckus, who else would he be looking at? Khushi? Hmm.. maybe, but why would he look at Khushi? She isn't wreaking havoc in his office. I hope I'm looking okay. Oh darn the heat outside, I must look like someone dying in the middle of the desert! But why do I care? Payal Gupta! Behave yourself this instance!" her mind now raced at a thousand miles an hour.

All the mean while, Khushi stood in the background, fidgeting with the dupatta, letting her jiji do all the talking. She never liked attention, not that her jiji was some attention craving person herself. But Khushi always tried to do whatever she could to avoid the spotlight. Instead of getting in the little scuffle, Khushi let her eyes take a tour of the office. Payal had explained to her on their way here how famous AR Design was, something about the owners being real big-shots. She wondered where these owners were.

Her eyes trailed upwards, after having satisfied their curiosity of the interior designing, rather elaborately done, of the ground floor of the office. There, she leisurely followed the ornate designs of paint lining the ceiling until her eyes met an obstacle. Glass windows, was it? She stared directly through them to see the outside world, but the reflection of the lights indoor trapped her vision. Then her eyes adjusted. Those weren't lights indoors. Those windows weren't even looking out.; that was another cabin, but why would the windows be facing inside? She squinted slightly to get a clear view of four men watching the fuss taking place downstairs. Well, there were three of the men staring, bewildered at the actual crowd of employees which had gathered around. She was sure about the two she had met earlier at the market, Aman and Pratap, but there was another, unfamiliar face, which was one of the owners she believed by his looks, who was looking directly at her jiji, his glasses pushed back on his sharp nose, with a look of not only a look of confusion, but, if she weren't mistaken, also a kind of… affection?

She shook away the thought for the moment, as she still questioned herself on whether she was imagining the fourth face or not. She now focused only on the fourth man. He seemed to perfectly fit the description jiji had told her avidly of the eminent Arnav Singh Raizada. His face looked familiar to her, like she had seen it some time, in a dream maybe? No. Maybe just in the background of some picture? She knew she hadn't ever seen him in any magazine; she would have remembered. So where had she seen him? It was like some memory which she just couldn't recollect the whole of…

But where was he looking? She turned to look behind her, just to make sure there was no one else to look at in her direction. Her fingers were practically shredding her dupatta now. Maybe she was hallucinating. Why would the great ASR be staring at her with such intent?

As soon as he looked down to see the nervous looking girl in the blue anarkali, a strange feeling rocked through Arnav. Ovals and circles and irregular indefinable orbs of multicolored light floated in front of his eyes. His mouth felt dry; his head heavy, spinning with memories of a day he always struggled to forget. Those memories came alive now, for some reason, at the sight of this woman, eating away at his insides, just like the fire had done to that ramshackle house a decade ago.

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I couldn't fit the first meet in this chapter, but trust me, there is very much a story to be seen soon! And a little hint, it wouldn't be the first time they met. 😉 So do let me know if I should continue! 😃

It looks interesting so far

This is a very interesting story. i am intrigued to know more about khushi's past which involves arnav too. Eager to know more. If you had posted this in ipk forum you would have garnered more hits. But i love it! Awaiting the next chapter

Sweta.

loved it...we can c a brave payal in this story instead of khushi...looks like both brothers r already fallen for the sisters...interesting..really looking forward to read the next update..pls dont stop here...continue soon and pm me thanx...

Firstly, thanks for the comments you great people! 😉

This next chapter is a flashback to give you a picture of what had happened "that night" ten years ago. Hope you enjoy it! 😊

Chapter 2

"Who was it?" Arnav's eyes seethed with fury. "Tell me now or else!"

His unbelievably hostile tone had the maid Savitri snap her head up in an instance. How could she sell out her best friend? She hadn't even known that Amit Sahib was married.

"I… I don't know sahib." She managed with a stutter.

"My foot, you don't know! Listen to me you insignificant cheap peasant! If you don't tell me who was the woman who ruined my sister, my Di's life, who scarred our childhood forever, who's the reason behind why instead of getting MARRIED, my Di is sitting in the mandap weeping to get her parents back, I'll find out some other way and you'll receive the same punishment as the bloody w****! And mark my words, by tomorrow morning, you'll be praying with every cell in your filthy body that you would've told me! So WHO WAS IT?!"

"Arnav babwa please," Savitri sobbed, "she didn't know Amit sahib was married! He had told her himself that his wife died 2 years ago, and that DevakiJi was just another--"

"I'm asking you one... last... time..." Arnav was at breaking point. He didn't want to hear what he knew she was about to say. He had never in his life lifted his hand on a female, it went against each and every one of his virtues, but today... "Who... was it?" a deathly whisper, as he held on to a final thread of sanity.

"Sakshi." She whispered in despair and surrender . There was no other way around it. She knew he would find out some way or another. 17 or older, Arnav babwa was a Raizada. Yes, he would find out. And she would've been equally punished for her friend's mistake. Sakshi would never have forgiven herself for being the cause of Savitri's pain. But how was Savitri going to forgive herself for being the cause of Sakshi's?

"No please. She didn't know that your father was married! Please! Don't do anything to harm her-" she mumbled hopelessly amidst her tears, trying to dissuade Arnav one last time.

But he wasn't Arnav Singh Raizada anymore. He was a brother, who's sister was orphaned because of another woman. A son whose mother had committed suicide because of another woman. He was going to find this other woman, hunt her down, and kill her for the w**** she was.

He took long purposeful strides down the hallways of Sheesh Mahal. All the other servants were pacing around him, in the courtyard, cleaning up after the guests who had all almost left after giving their condolences. He took the keys from a forlorn driver and got in the midnight blue Bentley. Speeding uncontrollably through the streets of Lucknow, he closed in on his destination. He knew Sakshi. She was a new servant; joined only 3 weeks ago and quit very soon after. He hated it now but he knew in himself that he had grown a little fond of her. During the little time she worked for his family, she had, in her simple ways, like by letting him try (and fail) to make sweets with her, or then by teaching him how to fold shirts "the right way", distracted him from all the noise and commotion he hated which came gift wrapped with wedding preparations. The first time he had met her was the afternoon of Di's mehendi. He remembered now how uneasy she had looked coming out of his father's study that day. He hadn't given it a thought and had continued into the study to meet his father fixing his tie. His anger only increased as he put the pieces together, today. He had dropped her home once, as she had had to stay back late one evening for some "work". So now he drove into the ghetto-like compound she lived in. He just missed scraping through the eerily quiet lanes of houses until he came across a fire which overshadowed his own. His pupils dilated at the sight of all the people hurrying to the house which had already been swallowed by the flames with buckets and bottles and cups and mugs and all other possible containers of water. They tried relentlessly to douse the inferno but in vain. His eyes then fell to the side of the house. A girl, probably ten or eleven was being pulled back from the burning building, kicking and screaming and seated forcefully on the ground by a lady who ran off to help put out the fire. The girl, with soot on her face and her dark pink salwar kameez, sat with her knees to her chest, her head in her hands, shaking as tears crashed through her entire being. Then she looked up, determined. She stood on her feet steadily and backed up until she hit a tree. The look in her eyes alarmed Arnav.

"Shit." Realization pricked Arnav's mind as to what this girl was about to do. His anger forgotten, he lurched the door open and made a dash towards her, just as she made a dash for the house in flames. His feet flew, he elbowed anyone in his way, desperate to reach her before she reached the house. He got to her in the nick of time, just when her face began to redden due to the proximity of the flames.

"NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" he shouted at this stupid suicidal girl.

"AMMA! BAUJI!" she shrieked, her cheeks stained with tears which kept surging down her face.

That's when Arnav understood. This girl's parents were in the house. His eyes teared up as he looked on at what was now just a fallen apart mound of partly burnt wood and ash. There was no way anyone trapped inside would still have been alive.

"Khushi beta! KHUSHI! WHERE ARE YOU?!" a familiar voice resounded through Arnav's ears. He looked up, knowingly.

The girl Arnav was struggling to keep on the ground in safety bolted toward the lady.

"Sakshi Bua! Amma…. Bauji… they're in the house! Please save them! They're in the house Sakshi Bua!" she cried in Sakshi's arms.

"I know beta. I know. But… but…" Sakshi's voice trailed off into tears when she looked behind Khushi to see Arnav stand up to face her. Her tears immediately stopped. She froze, but still held Khushi in her strong embrace, protecting her from the incoming storm. But what she saw in Arnav's eyes was not fury or rage, but sympathy.

"Arnav babwa…" She stammered.

Arnav was not the typical 17 year old reckless teen. He thought out his actions carefully before applying them. He knew that there was always a time in a person's life, no matter how bad or cruel that person was, there was always a time in a person's life, when they really had it. It was truly it for them. This lady had ruined his family, his childhood, and he had come to give her what she deserved, to ruin her life like she had ruined his. But now he realized his job was already done, albeit not by him, but done. Her brother and sister-in-law were obviously in that fire. She had lost everything, except for her niece. And for this niece, only for the sake of the niece, he would let her go. She had to raise this girl, orphaned just like himself, she had to put food on the table for her niece, and maybe send her to school. So he would let her be. But he didn't say anything now, but rather just looked on as Sakshi consoled her still weeping niece.

Arnav stayed until after the firemen came and left, confirming not a single survivor in the incident. He helped Sakshi deal with the little media which had gathered around; most of the paparazzi would still be interrogating at Sheesh Mahal, and he had gone undiscovered in between all the other spectators.

While they were seated in a neighbor's house, Arnav, who had been forced to stay, spoke to Sakshi directly for the first time that night, "What are you going to do now?" partly out of curiosity.

Sakshi held back a fresh stream of tears, knowing that if she would cry now, she would wake up Khushi, sleeping soundly in her lap. The poor girl, losing her parents at such a young age. She had been asking herself the same question since the fire was doused. What was she going to do now? She thought of and then ruled out almost all the possibilities. Sakshi knew she'd get a job somewhere somehow. But there wasn't only herself to worry about. Khushi's father, Suraj had never had a problem supporting his family, including his sister, but Sakshi had wanted to help. That's why she'd taken up the job at Sheesh Mahal in the first place. Now, with her brother, Khushi's father, gone, there was a real pressing need for income. There was food to be kept on the table. There was a roof needed to protect Khushi. And then there was Khushi's education. She wouldn't think of having Khushi work from such a young age, but she knew she couldn't ensure her niece even the basic necessities one needs to survive comfortably, if not luxuriously. Reluctantly, Sakshi reached a decision. She loved her dear niece to the core of her heart, and before today, she never thought she'd ever be able to have her darling go away from her. But this was for Khushi's good. And that's what mattered.

Sakshi didn't realize she was thinking all this out loud, and then she spoke consciously, "I'm going to send Khushi away. To her mother's family. She's never met them before; they only saw her once when she was a baby, but she'll meet them soon. Tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow. And everything will be alright. They'll accept her as their daughter and everything will be alright." trying to convince herself more than Arnav.

"So you're not going to let her stay with you?" came Arnav's hoarse reply. He looked down at the sleeping girl. "She looks so peaceful sleeping," he thought.

"Well no. She's only 10. She needs to go to school and lead a life as normal as possible under… under such circumstances," Sakshi's lips started quivering again.

They both sipped the tea which was kept in front of them on the oak table, the hall they were seated in wore a deathly pale hue, from the white light given by the one, dying lamp in the room.

Sakshi was still absorbed in her thoughts a while later; making plans for the future, strategizing how she would confront her sister-in-law's family. She had met them a few times, a nice lot of people, but Khushi had never seen them, except for when she was 1 year old maybe. They had moved away soon after that as the father kept getting transferred. And they just came back to Lucknow some 2-3 months ago, and neither them, nor Suraj was able to arrange an actual, proper meeting.

It was nearing midnight when Arnav got up to leave, not disturbing Sakshi who was still deep in thought, just as he could see a look of utter despair come on Khushi's face as she began to wake up to the grief which had eclipsed her world so suddenly, just like his own.

Nice update...they both have gone through soo much in their past...im really interested to know wt happened to khushi after the incident??did she really go and stay with her mothers family???pls continue soon ...

superb story... for a change payal is not such a timid person but khushi is... do continue... don't lose heart for less comments.
At the start, it itakes time for people to find and read this FF. The more you write, the more people will see it and also recommend it to their friends.
Cheer up and plz add me to ur pm list.

Okay.. 1. Thanks for the encouragement from all of you. Its always appreciated!!! 😃

This one here has got some more lip action than the previous chapters. 😉 But don't get your hopes up readers, (unfortunately?) this isn't the kind of lip action you might be hoping for... 😆 So without anymore delay, I give to you,

Chapter 3:

"Bhai," Aakash tapping his shoulder repeatedly snapped Arnav back into the present, "Bhai, I'm going down to see what's wrong."

"Aakash, I want you to first go down there and find out what's wrong. What's their problem? And who the hell do they think they are to come into my office and make such a scene?" Arnav, befuddled by all the emotions which had risen inside him, taking to the one he knew best, anger.

Aman broke in, "Actually sir, I think I know why they're here." Both Arnav and Aakash looked up to, waiting for a clarification. Aman gave a nervous glance to Pratap, who stood there with a mournful look on his face, and explained to them the earlier encounter he and Pratap had had in the market with the same 2 women. Arnav listened intently, understanding and contemplating on how to deal with the "visitors". Women, he knew, were like mine fields. One wrong step could lead to utter chaos. And he would have to manage both the ladies with great caution, seeing that the previously quiet one had also had enough of the employees' stalling and had decided to join her accomplice in their mission to retrieve their belongings. However, no matter how hard he tried to think clearly, the look on the face of the girl in blue scared him. Even from this distance between them, Arnav could see her eyes shared the same deadly determination as he had seen in that girl, Khushi's eyes all those years ago.

Khushi had had as much as she could stand of the staff's 'what's and 'where's and 'but's and confused looks. She knew Payal was very capable. She could handle anything from crying baby to a busy intersection at rush hour to a crisis situation on an airplane, not that either of them were actually in such situations before, but she knew her dear jiji could do it. She just knew. Yet, when it came to demanding something from another person, even if it were very much rightfully hers, her sister slacked. Khushi wasn't the type to go around telling people to do this or give her that, but she was definitely the type to take a stand when she had to. She wasn't someone a person could just run over, or in this case, take 12 bags of material from and she absolutely wouldn't let anyone who did get away with it. So now she stood next to her sister, having a heated argument with another of her own sex in a white button down shirt and grey pencil pants, a face cull of freckles and brown hair highlighted with blonde tied up in a neat ponytail. "Hmph! She thinks she's so smart with her English in these clothes! I'd like to see her play holi in those! Or make jalebis! HA! I doubt she'd be able to "risk" dirtying them!" Khushi thought mockingly of the female in front of her.

Her eyes then travelled back up to the cabin she had seen the four men in earlier. There was only one up there, ASR. He was still staring at her, with the same concentration, and even a slight smirk playing at the corners of his lips. Her own lips once again molded into an 'O'.

She looked back down to face the girl standing before her, an incredulous look in her eyes, Arnav could see, and began throwing insult after insult, quieting even her partner in the yellow sari. However disquieting, Arnav found it to be an amusing sight really, watching the girl in blue, so traditionally dressed, appearing to have been brought up with the perfect Indian protocol of kindness and compassion, modesty and equanimity, be yelling out such profanities, they took away even his breath.

Aakash was on his way down, with a skip in his step, to finally come face to face with the goddess in yellow he had seen from above. He chuckled to himself at the irony, thinking that she should be the one descending down from the seventh heaven, to solve HIS problems, not that he really had any major issues going on in his life…

Pratap and Aman followed at his heels, nervously swallowing nothing in particular. The fiery Khushi was waiting to devour them and now she had a companion. Aman's feet carried him down each step unwillingly as he prepared himself for whatever insults were to come his way.

The trio finally entered the lobby, where the employees stood baffled by Khushi's vocabulary.

"Okay, okay. What in the world is happening here?" Aakash broke Khushi in the middle of her record. The entire staff visibly relaxed, partly because Aakash Sir was here to sort this out, but mainly because it wasn't Arnav Sir. Unlike Payal, whose breathing hitched on seeing this man, Aakash Singh Raizada she knew, close up, Khushi seemed unaffected by the fact that this was the part owner of AR Designs and was just about to speak up when her sister beat her to it.

"Sir. We've been standing here from so long asking to speak to someone and your employees have not exactly been helpful."

Aakash was blown away. "WOW! Her voice… her VOICE!" he thought to himself. Being a Raizada, he was quite capable of masking his emotions and took on a serious tone straight away, though his heart continued its attacks on his ribcage. "Well, I'm here now. So what's the problem?"

"I'm here now… he sounds so heroic," Payal thought dreamily.

"Problem? PROBLEM?! Well, where can I start Mr…?" came Khushi's reply.

"Aakash Singh Raizada" came a reply from the bearer of the name as well as her jiji, who only smiled, blushed, and looked down, not meeting his gaze.

"Mr. Aakash." Khushi however, simply continued, "Maybe when this Aman startled me and made me drop all my bags on the ground in the market? Do you have any idea how difficult it is to remove stains, and from a new fabric? You want me to start scrubbing the life out of my new fabrics?!" She was pissed. Really pissed. "Or how about when he stole the same bags when I was in shock? He took advantage of me! Don't tell me he didn't, because he did! THAT is what's the problem." Khushi heaved, out of breath. All she wanted to do now was go home, have dinner and snuggle into bed. She didn't like all this commotion, and she definitely didn't like a certain pair of eyes burning into her skin. She took a quick glimpse upwards to find that that certain pair of eyes were no longer there. Confused, she plainly looked back to Aakash.

"Now, now, let's not jump to conclusions yet shall we?"

Everyone turned in alarm to see the Arnav Singh Raizada striding across the glossed marble tiles, the slight clicking of his shoes as they kissed the ground elegantly each time he took a step was the only sound to be heard. Even Khushi was intimidated, slightly, but intimidated nonetheless.

"Wh-what…?" Khushi replied, almost weakly, not being able to think straight under his penetrating gaze, examining her inquisitively.

"Well, you say Aman stole the bags from you, right?"

"Right." Khushi snapped back into composure when he spoke a second time.

"Then why did you take all that money from him?"

"Be-because… See now Mr. I don't care about the money! I know what I saw! I saw that I was in shock and he just handed me money while I wasn't in the right mind and he took my bags and disappeared! And if I saw wrong, then my name isn't Khushi anymore!"

Arnav almost flinched at hearing the name. His left eyelid started to twitch. His hands involuntarily tightened into fists and his jaw clenched. But he recovered from this heavy blow in a matter of milliseconds. He couldn't have his workers catch him effected by a simple name like this.

"He paid you! You took the money! You didn't protest when he walked away! And NOW YOU'RE SAYING HE STOLE YOUR BAGS?!" Arnav wasn't sure why he was getting so furious. Actually he did have the faint idea at the back of his head that it was okay to get a little mad when someone barges into your office and causes a scene, but this much? That faint idea questioned him, but he didn't want to think of the real answer.

"This could be her," he thought, "this could be that Khushi. I-I-I have to take her... I have to take her to meet-"

"Bhai. How about you let me deal with this one? I'll take care of whatever problem they have. You just go and do what you have to." Aakash interrupted Arnav's thought.

"Yeah… yeah." A surprisingly subdued reply, as compared to the outburst Arnav had seconds ago. He looked up to see Khushi with tears welling up in her eyes. For the first time, he noticed her appearance. Somewhere, he heard Aakash tell everyone to go do their respective work, like there was nothing to see here. But there was so much! This ethereal Aphrodite-like goddess was standing in their lobby! How could there be nothing to see?! Her lips, painted a soft pink, quivered as tears threatened to break the strong faade she put up. Her alabaster porcelain-looking skin contrasted with her chocolaty dark hair, tied in a french braid coming down the side of her neck. Her neck, such an eternal span of perfection, at the base of which, he could see a small black spot, the size of full stop. His eyes trailed up her slender nose and high cheek bones to her eyes, now pooled, half closed to stop the tears from flowing. He could just make out the dark hazel brown orbs set in their sockets, not too deep, not too shallow, just perfectly to complete her flawless face.

"Khushi. I want you to wait here while I go talk to Aakash sir, okay?"

"Jiji, I have no intention of standing in this office a second longer. I'll wait outside." Khushi turned to Payal, much to Arnav's dislike.

"At least I can talk to her outside without anyone prying us," Arnav thought.

"Aakash, I'm leaving. Aman, cancel whatever meetings there are today. Tell them I'm sick."

Khushi looked up at him in disgust, "Who does he think he is? He's practically eating me with that stare." She thought. "Forget it Khushi. It's better to stay away from such arrogant people."

She headed out of the office, walked down, taking the stairs instead of the elevator to avoid Arnav, very irritated that he too conveniently decided to take the healthier option, across the parking lot, past the security, and out the gate. She wasn't intending to come this far out and stand out on the main road, and she would've gone further, but that stupid Arnav Singh Raizada was following her like some raakshas. She stopped abruptly in the middle of her tracks. Arnav, close behind, stopped, too. He had almost started having fun seeing how far she would go out onto the road to get away from him. Now she turned around, enraged as to why he was first scrutinizing her, and now following her around like some stalker.

"What do you want?!" she spat.

The seriousness returned to Arnav. He was here for a reason. "Are you Khushi Kuma--"

He was cut short, "What's it to you? Do you want to file a case against me? Do you?!"

"No, I just--"

"Because if you do, let me tell you, I know people! I may not seem like I do, but I know people!" she lied, holding tightly at her purse ready to bash this guy up.

"Can you just listen to what I have to say?!" This girl was testing Arnav's patience.

"Why should I? I don't see any law that states that I have to listen to the great Arnav Singh Raizada. Going around stealing my clothes. Ha! Jiji will show you!"

Arnav was just about ready to tape this girl's mouth up to make her listen when very inconveniently, her phone started ringing. The 1950s Indian music blared as she took her handset, which looked even older than the music sounded, out of her very traditional colorful bag and rejoiced visibly as well as vocally. Her eyes widened almost into the O her mouth would shape into when she was shocked and her face lit up with a smile so beautiful, even Arnav couldn't help but smirk inwardly.

"Jiji! What happened? Did you get our bags? You did get our bags right? Why aren't you answering me? Jiji!" Khushi excitedly said into the phone, not realizing that she was the only obstacle her sister was facing from giving her an account of what took place in the office. Suddenly, her smile dropped, and so did Arnav's heart, for no plausible reason he could find.

"What do you mean you didn't get the material? How could you just let someone keep our material? I knew I should have stayed back with you!" the reason for Khushi sulking. And then she lit up again, "REALLY? That's amazing! Are you serious?! I can't wait to see them now! It'll be so exciting!" Arnav wasn't sure why, but this girl's dynamics confused him. Maybe it was just seeing someone happy one second sulk the next and then happy again put him in a sort of… jetlag? Like he couldn't keep up.

She pouted now, "okay jiji. Now come out. I'm tired of waiting. I'm waiting outside the front gate." Nope. No way Arnav could keep up with all that. She cut the phone and put it back in her bag. "Ha! Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada, believe it or not, your brother not only agreed to return our clothes, but also insisted to design our suits using them! For free! What do you have to say about that?!"

"What the-" Arnav couldn't care less what Aakash wanted to do with the material. He just needed a minute, a SINGLE MINUTE, to clear things up with Khushi. Why wasn't this girl just listening to him?! Couldn't she just hear him out once?! He needed her to listen. He needed to talk to her while he still could. He needed to know if this was the Khushi that--

"What the? Is that all you can say?!" Khushi gloated, "HA! 'What the'. You should be thanking me for not taking this to the police!"

Arnav now lost his patience. He had been trying for the past 10 minutes to keep his temper in check, but this girl… He focused all his energy into his hands. He took hold of her roughly by her arms to get her attention, "KHUSHI, LISTEN!" his eyes violent, almost changing color with rage. He would have shaken her to the core now, but the look on her face stopped him. The color had literally drained out of her face. That little tinge of red which permanently painted her cheeks was no longer there, her eyes shone, but that sparkle was… gone. Looking into those eyes, he remembered something he never really acknowledged before. Looking into her petrified eyes, he saw just a hint, just a hint of what he had undoubtedly seen in that girl's eyes, standing just meters away from that burning house.

He closed his eyes to clear his head, calm his mind, control his thoughts from carrying him back to that day. He counted backwards from 10 and reopened his eyes to find Khushi's face, ever so close to his own as he had in the process of grasping her to shut her up, pulled her closer to himself. Her eyes were shut tight to hold back the tears.

"Khushi. Please, please don't start crying. I just need to talk to you for a minute, and I need you to listen very carefully. But first, I need you to answer my one question, Khushi. Just one question." His voice softened a bit.

Khushi had zoned out back to a night. A night when she had been held with the same vice-like grip she was held in today. She wanted to run that night. She wanted to save her amma and bauji. She wanted to get away from it. She felt the same right now. She wanted to get away from this man, holding on to her so tightly, her arms started hurting under his fingers. Why was he doing this to her? What did he want from her? She just wanted him to leave her alone. WHY WOULDN'T HE?! Then she heard his voice, a little softer and slightly husky, but the frustration was still very much present. "Question?" she thought, "He's been running me up a wall all for some stupid question?" She opened her eyes to see him staring at her sternly. Pulling her lips into a straight line, closing her eyes to concentrate on what he was about to ask, she nodded her head, motioning him to shoot.

"Khushi. This is extremely important. I need you to give me an honest truthful answer. Are you or are you not Khushi Kumari, daughter of Suraj and Bindu, niece of Sakshi?" he asked at point blank range.

Her eyes flew open. Somewhere, a trucker wildly horned. She heard a dog barked at some passer-by. The crows' screeching seemed louder in her ears. But her mind went into a ghostly state of calm. Khushi was, without a doubt, shot.

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Criticism of all forms is always appreciated! As I said mentioned in the note, I'm a little busy lately so updates could take some time... and I've lost track of how many of you want PMs, so if you do, please do mention in comments and ye shallth receiveth PMs as I update (Oh the power of PMs!) 😛