ArHi FF: Diamonds & Pearls NOTE on pg.49[7/1] - Page 28

my lovely friends... its finally here! the 7th chapter...

i wrote it after alot of contemplation... cause it somehow sounded different each time i wrote it... hope you find it fair enough cause im still not sure with this chapter... wonder whats wrong with me!!!

okay... this one is for Katie darling {Katelyn}... thanks a ton for sticking up with my story and always encouraging me hon... i promised to post this earlier, but found time only now... here it is and its for You!!!! enjoy the read...

Chapter 7 - Conspiring Reality

The girls decided to crash in together once Saie marched into Khushi's room, colorful curses flying away angrily after her little encounter with her insufferable brother.

Shruti tried to pacify her as Khushi assured that she was alright now and there was nothing to worry about and finally they decided to have a sleepover.

Aman stood there leaning against the door frame as they chatted away merrily and it was Saie who noticed him first.

"Why are you peeping into a girls' room Mr.P.A?" she didn't try to hide her annoyance on his presence.

"Unfortunate for me that ASR isn't keen on sleepovers! So I was figuring out whether you girls would be able to take in this roofless person for the night and offer him some love," Aman was being cheeky.

"Huff! Melz… deal with your twin and chuck him out of my sight," Saie shrugged off as Aman was hit on his face by a flying a pillow from Shruti.

"Oye! You better get out now before I call mom and tell her that you are interested in making friends with girls and shy away from guys," Shruti countered with a straight face as Saie and Khushi cracked up laughing.

"Say all you want. But I know that you all agree that I am irresistible!" smirked Aman as he turned to walk away and was hit by another pillow from Khushi this time.

"In your dreams Mr.P.A." they chorused as Aman huffed and shut the door behind him to drown out their annoying voices.

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Arnav woke up with a pounding headache as the aftermath of his mostly sleepless night. But he had one goal in mind inspite of his muddled brain. Apologize to that pixie cousin of his, kicking and screaming if need be! And he had to do it within that night.

All of his staffs were staying back for that day to rest before flying off the next morning to Paris to begin with the preparations for the Grande Finale of that year's Masterpiece collections from AR Jewels. He had to catch up to her before she slipped away.

With that intention, he walked towards Aman's room to know about the whereabouts of Saie. Without pausing to consider knocking the door, he entered and was rewarded with a pillow thrown at his face. He ducked in time to avoid it and turned around to see Shruti standing there with a bewildered expression, her hands covering her mouth.

Seeing the amused expression on Arnav's face, Shruti's anger from the past night found its way back.

"Are you insane?" she screamed the first thing that came to her mind.

"What the?" Arnav narrowed his eyes at her.

"You came in without knocking the door you old fool!"

Okay! That was the limit for all his musings.

"How dare you call me as old fool Ms.Mathur?" Arnav fumed.

"And how dare you enter a hotel room without knocking Mr.Raizada? Did your sanity strand you once again like last night? Where are your highly bred manners?" Shruti never gave up, especially when it came to arguing with Arnav.

Arnav didn't want another yelling match right now. Not with his throbbing head! So he relented.

"Look! I am sorry alright. I came looking for Aman and never knew you would be here. Else I would have knocked!" He was exasperated with all the tantrums he got from the girls since last night.

Shruti was dumbstruck!

"Did I hear you right? You actually said Sorry to ME! Is the world really ending?" Shruti and Arnav had never been on good terms since their college days. Yes! You heard me right. Arnav, Aman and Shruti went to the same college. Arnav was always civil with her only for the reason that her being his only friend's twin. They could never stand the sight of each other back then. Let alone now!

"Uh... Yes, I did..." Arnav was flustered at his own emotional dive.

"Oh poor you! Hmmm... okay! I am sparing you cause you said Sorry. Now tell me why you want my good-for-nothing brother? I'll pass on the message to him when comes out of his shower," she took pity on him for the first time since she had met him. The man looked terribly troubled.

"You will!" Arnav was surprised at her softer tone.

"Yes I will Arnav! Now tell me before I change my mind," he was annoying her early in the morning once again.

"Right! I wanted to know where Saie was cause... you know... I need to apologize to her for last night!" he mumbled.

Shruti just stared at him with a bemused look on her face.

"Quit staring Ms.Mathur," she was making this hard for him.

"And don't you know it's rude to enter into someone else's room without knocking?" she countered.

"Aman is my P—" he was cut off before he could finish.

"Aman maybe your P.A Arnav. But that doesn't mean you can barge into his room! I'll let him know what you wanted," his ego was gargantuan, thought Shruti. Maybe she should let him suffer from Saie's wrath. Or maybe she should help him sort it out atleast! Her face took up a thoughtful expression. Arnav gave an unbelievable look at her suddenly quiet attitude.

"Well! Then I'll be on my way. Tell him to come and see me in the gym once he is done showering," he turned around to leave but what she said next stopped him mid-step.

"Maggie will not forgive you even if you apologize Arnav!"

He turned back towards her, "What do you mean?"

She looked away from him and out of the French window into the Marriott's garden below.

"It's not Saie whom you need to apologize to Arnav. And I am quite sure you know that too!" was her distinct reply.

"I don't know what you are talking about! Just give the message to Aman. I need to talk to Saie before you guys leave to Paris!" he wanted to pass it off once more but she stopped him again.

"You need to apologize to Khushi. Till then Saie will definitely not hear the end of your speech. Are you going to step down from your high pedestal and do it? Or else lose your cousin because of your ego Mr.Raizada?" she looked back at him square in the eye.

"Look! I don't know what you guys see so special in that Secretary of mine. But she was the one who stomped on my foot and she should be the one apologizing. Not Me! And why the hell would Saie push me away because of Her!" all these talks were frustrating him endlessly.

"She has a name Arnav. It's Khushi. And she had a pretty good reason to do what she did to you? Did you even know what that girl went through after you left? She was as cold as death itself. We got to her somehow and calmed her down. I and Saie stayed the night with her to make sure she'll be alright. Do you want to know what happened later? She was crying in her sleep! And I am sure you don't want to know the details because you don't care. Ofcourse! How dumb of me to tell you all this? Go ahead! You actually don't need Aman's help on this. Maggie is in Khushi's room. But I assure you that you'll get another round of screaming and nothing will be anymore glad to me than that. Now get out!" she bit out the last part of her ranting.

It was Arnav's turn to be speechless.

Aman came out of the bathroom after hearing the commotion and froze on seeing his fire-breathing twin and her prey, his boss, immobile at the door.

"I said GET OUT!" she finally screamed and that jolted both the men out of their reverie.

Arnav's cold look came on and he was out of the room without another glance.

"What just happened here Melz?" Aman looked at her petrified.

"He was totally asking for it!" Shruti shrugged off.

"Seriously!" Aman raised his eyebrows at her.

"Uff...He just wanted another round of Maggie-fury-attack! Sooo... I thought of giving him one of mine. Why should Saie and Khushi have all the fun?" she winked back, leaving him more confused than ever.

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Arnav was immersed in his thoughts while his legs moved on their own accord towards Khushi's room.

She hadn't reacted atall when he... kissed her! But after her little stunt, though he was in pain, he hadn't failed in noticing her flushed cheeks.

But why had she reacted like the way Shruti described after he had left? That's something he couldn't grasp. She was fine. She was more than fine. She was actually in her spit-fire self! So what the hell happened after that!

Shit! He was still thinking about her. He cursed his slipping self-control and the girl who was the reason for it.

He should forget everything about her. He was going to his Secretary's room only because he had to apologize to Saie who chose to take refuge in there.

Yes! That's it and nothing more. He was definitely not going there to check whether She was alright now or--

What the? Where did that come from? Forget her Raizada!

Recollecting his bearings and putting on a stoic face, he knocked on the door.

"Come in!" sing-songed Saie's voice.

He halted a moment before opening the door. Was he doing the right thing?

'Yes! You have never been wrong. Forget Shruti! Forget Khushi! You don't need their pearls of wisdom. The pearl you need is only your sister!' was the reply from his currently ruled-by-ASR's mind.

Saie stopped brushing her hair as she saw Arnav standing there, at the door, as cool as cucumber. As though nothing had happened last night! For a minute, she wanted to hurl the brush at him for her own satisfaction. But she put it down not wanting any violence. She crossed her arms at her chest and gave him a questioning look.

As soon as he saw her, his face turned into a beseeching expression.

Saie's heart softened at the sight, but not her stance. He was direly in need of a lesson to learn. And she was not backing away until he submitted. She had never cared about how he behaved to other people all these years. But now she was sure that he didn't as much consider them as human beings to the least. Let alone see them as his equals! He was deep into his self-centered world. And it was upto her to pull him out of it. Even crash his delusion if need be! She will do it for bringing back her caring older brother. If she could just catch glimpse of his former image, she will hold on the reins and pull him out forcefully, securing him back.

Relationships are like rings. They will hold us tightly as long as they stay on our fingers. And when they leave, they leave back the impressions that are bound to make us feel their absence. The loss of their Di had scarred them both, deeply. Especially Arnav, as he had his whole world spinning around her alone since his parents' demise. Saie made it out of the suppressing loss she had felt during that time and was on the conception that Arnav had made it out too. How stupid of her to not have seen all the signs before? He was still suffering. More than ever. If their sister had been here, she would have made Fixing-Arnav her top priority, which she should be doing! Which she will be doing right then! ASR was on her hit-list now as she had to bring out the Arnav, hiding behind him. For that, she would be requiring some external aid too! She smirked to herself. The help she needed, was very much in her affinity. 'ASR's Head Gonna Go Rock n Roll!!!' she wanted to shout out, but successfully maintained her faade of indifference.

Though her heart was splaying between varied emotions, none of it showed on her face. She was a master of masking her true emotions. Afterall, she learned it from her brother himself!

Seeing no loophole in her demeanor, Arnav decided to surrender.

"Saie... About last night I—"

"I don't want to hear anything about it Arnav! You have decided to be your stuck-up-self best. So let me be the way I want to and I don't want you superimposing on me. I am no longer your innocent little sister! I know my ways to go by my own rules. Hope I have made myself clear!" she turned her back at him. That was a verbal slap and Arnav almost staggered.

"I came here to apologize Saie. Please..."

It was a good thing that she turned away from him. Else he would have clearly seen the little tear in her mask and would have used it to his advantage. She took a deep breath in and turned to face him.

"Do you really think I care for your apology Arnav? I should warn you though, that they will be falling in deaf ears and all your efforts put to waste!"

"Look, Saie! Hear me out! I really want to make it up to y—'

"Then you should apologize to Khushi!" Saie took her chance in filling Shruti's shoes and that brought back Arnav's simmering anger.

"What the? Seriously now—"

"She was the victim for your deeds Arnav. Not me! So you should be apologizing to her if you want to get back on my good books. Else the door is right behind you! You may feel free to walk out cause my time is too precious and I don't want to waste it on cold-blooded deniers," her eyes never let his, to make it clear to him of how serious she was.

Crap! He ran a hand through his hair messing it up more. What was he to do now? Lose his reputation or his beloved sister!

Right on cue, Khushi walked in through the balcony doors with a towel in her hands, freezing on spot when she saw him as all the color drained from her face.

Don't panic Khushi! Be cold, just like him. Fight the monster girl!

"Good morning Mr. Raizada. Would you be requiring anything?" she asked with a straight voice as she focused her eyes on his collar buttons.

Arnav saw his silver-lining that instant.

"Yes! Forgive me now!" he ordered her.

Saie and Khushi almost took a double-take and stared at him forgetting all the animosity.

"There! I asked her. Will everything be fine from now?" he turned towards Saie, who fixed him with an unforgiving glare.

"Fine! I am sorry!" he spat out at Khushi who turned towards Saie unsurely. The look in Saie's eyes told her this was not a dream and she caught up with the act.

"Pardon me, Sir! But I didn't quite clearly understand what you were saying!" she plastered on an innocent face and a coy smile.

"I said I am sorry... for what happened last night!" he mumbled the last part.

BINGO! Saie did a mini victory dance in her mind.

"I forgive you Mr. Raizada!" Khushi smiled truly this time. The poor guy was suffering because of her two friends. She thought of putting him in ease. And he looked quite alluring with that cute pout on his lips. She might lose her currently swerving mind if he continued to look like that and end up doing something much more stupid than just swooning at him. She regained her color, heightened twice in its intensity as she realized her overriding thoughts.

Saie looked at Khushi as those words left her lips. The girl had a dazed look in her eyes with a faint blush. 'Unbelievable!' she shook her head. But she gained a new knowledge out of it. She had to go and talk to Shruti about it ASAP.

Arnav relaxed after hearing Khushi's words and turned to Saie with a winning smirk and was baffled to see it mirrored on her face. She immediately turned it into a sweet fake smile that unnerved him. What was she upto now? It frustrated him to no end.

Without waiting to think, he nodded at them and walked out of that room to work out his pent up anger at the conspiring world.

As soon as he was out of the door, Saie's gaze zeroed upon Khushi.

"You let him off the hook easily Cindy!" she accused.

"Whatever! I didn't want him standing there and ordering me to forgive him," Khushi hid her face in the towel making some excuse and walking into the bathroom.

'Check and mate darlings!' Saie was ecstatic at the direction her brother and Khushi were heading to. She almost ran to Aman's room in her excitement to fill in Shruti about everything that happened and plot for more such planned accidents.

Though they both may deny it, she knew that Khushi and Arnav might be the 'meant for each other' kind. She hoped for it to be true!

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DONE!

though **NOT PROOF READ**

how was it guys... do like and drop in your views and comments...

after two weeks from now, i.e., from the end of this month, there will be regular updates... cause my internship will get over by then and i have a whole month for myself...

~~~ sam xoxo