Arhi FF:Mirage Note pg 158 for next thread link - Page 25

Khushi and Lavanya finally stood up after ten minutes of convincing Mr. Kashyap.

"Uncle! Karthik won't be coming there. It is a girls only party and hangout. Anyways, Lavanya has been getting good grades recently for the past few exams. I think she deserves to party around for some time. Please Uncle, Please!" Khushi requested Lavanya's dad.

"Ok, Fine! If you are requesting so much, I will give my permission. But remember Lavanya!" he said turning towards her. "I'm only allowing you because Khushi asked me. You should seriously thank her for convincing me." He said in a serious voice. But Lavanya was too overwhelmed to hear what he had to say.

"Seriously Papa! Can I really go? I love you so much!" she said and hugged him tightly.

"Ok, ok! Now you guys better get going home. I have to go girls. Got some important work. Bye!" he said and moved away.

Khushi was about to turn around when her cell phone suddenly slipped out from her hand and landed with a thud on the floor. Hearing the noise, Mr. Kashyap turned around and saw the phone lying on the floor and bent down to pick it. Khushi followed him and bent down beside him.

"It's ok Uncle, I'll..." she was left hanging mid sentence, when they suddenly heard  a bullet swoop above Mr. Kashyap's head and the glass window behind them shattered into a million pieces.

"Papa!" Lavanya screamed out loudly as she ducked down under the table. Chaos erupted as people around them began to flee for cover.

"I'm fine Dear!" he said pulling her and Khushi closer to him and hugging them. The bodyguards immediately surrounded them trying to locate the source of the bullet.

"From there!" Khushi said suddenly standing up and pointing to the top of the Regal building. "I'm sure it was from there!" and the guards ran towards the direction pointed by her.

o0o

The deafening crash of the glass window was enough to alert Arnav that his mission had failed. He stared with disbelief and shock at his missed target. He couldn't believe what had happened. This was the first time ever that he had missed his target. He continued to stare at the scene in shock, when he felt Aman's hands on his back, shaking him furiously.

"Bhai! Bhai! We have to leave now. His guards are coming towards us." Aman said completely stunned at the turn of events. They quickly packed up the sniper rifle and after making sure that they were no traces of their presence left behind, they went downstairs taking the elevator. Getting out of it, they saw that the bodyguards had already arrived at the lobby of the building.

"Shit! They are here." Shyam muttered under his breath. "Quick. Diversion." Arnav whispered and the three of them acted normally and went in three different directions. Arnav managed to go down to the basement and found his way out through the car exit. He waited at the place where they had parked their car and soon within few minutes, the other two joined him. Aman got into the driver's seat and they sped off the car.

"This was not supposed to happen! Dammit!" Arnav shouted banging his fist on the dashboard. He clearly knew the consequences that were going to follow this.

o0o

"How did this happen?" Arnav heard Khalid Bhai's voice thundering across the room. For a minute, Arnav felt like a small kid being scolded by his mother for disobeying her.

"Khalid Bhai, there was a distraction. Two girls whom we had hitherto not expected, were present at the scene. Hence we couldn't carry out the mission as we had initially planned it." Aman spoke out for Arnav who stood still without uttering any word.

"Do you know how fast this news has spread? Mr. Goenka called me up and threatened to severe our business ties for failing to do his task. He was very upset. He should be. Afterall, it is going to be next to impossible to assassinate Mr. Kashyap now. He would have tightened up his security and is now alerted of our presence." Khalid Bhai said glaring at the silent man in front of him.

"But after half an hour of convincing him, I finally managed to calm him down. I have promised him that I would hand over those classified documents to him. Now I don't have any idea how we are going to get hold of those papers. You, Arnav!" he said pointing his finger at him. "You are going to get those papers for me. I don't care how you do it. I need those papers in my hand. Within 30 days because exactly after a month, we have come to know that Mr. Kashyap has scheduled an appointment with the Finance Minister's Secretary and Mr. Goenka is quite sure that he would be exposed in that meeting. Now Leave the Room!" he blared at both of them.

Arnav and Aman dejectedly left the room and went out to their car, speeding off to their house.

"Arnav Bhai! Don't worry. We will come up with some plan. You always do that." Aman said trying to cheer him up. But Arnav sat quietly on the driver's seat, without responding to anything he heard. His mind was busy hatching a plan to get him out of this mess.

o0o

Lavanya had been lying on her bed quietly. She doubted if her father would allow her to go to Shimla, especially after the attempt on his life. She had instantly noticed the changes in her house. The security had been increased, with more guards patrolling the compound since yesterday evening. And tomorrow, she had been scheduled to leave to Shimla with Karthik.

She was busy pondering over her plans, when she heard someone knocking at her door.

"Come in!" she shouted in a lazy voice.

"Princess! Why are you so sad?" her Dad entered the room and went and sat beside her on the bed. "Still worried that your Dad won't allow you to go to Shimla?" he asked placing his hand on her shoulder.

"I won't allow my daughter to live in fear of anybody in this world. I have enough power to provide security to her wherever she goes. And I won't allow anyone to come between you and your happiness. You will go to Shimla, if you want to. Nothing can stop you. I have given you my word and I stand by it." He said pulling her into a tight hug.

"Really Papa? I Love you! You are the best Papa in the whole world." Lavanya replied back reciprocating the hug. "But for a minute, I was really scared for you. What if something had happened to you? What if Khushi hadn't dropped her phone at that very moment?"

"Nothing is going to happen to me Princess. You needn't worry about me." He replied reassuring her.

"But did you find out who tried to attack you yesterday?" Lavanya asked curiously.

"Lavanya, A person like me is always surrounded by a sea of enemies. So it isn't really surprising if people want to hunt me down. I haven't found out about him yet. But I will make sure I will hunt down that person." He said looking distantly outside the window of her bedroom. "Speaking of Khushi, Why don't you take her also along with you? She may also enjoy with you. It is going to be a different and new experience for both of you all. And with her around you, I can trust you not to involve yourself in any trouble."

"Oh! That's a great idea. Even I wanted her to come along with me. We will have so much of fun." She said with glistened eyes, but it was soon replaced with disappointment. "But Papa, I don't think her Bua will agree. She isn't that modern with her thinking. Even if Khushi wants to come, she won't allow her to stay away from her in another place, that too for three days."

"That you can leave it to me. I can atleast do that much for her for saving my life." He said chuckling with delight seeing his daughter happy. To him, his daughter's happiness was his priority in life. Afterall, he had established such a big business only to provide her with all the possible comforts in this world. That was the least thing he could do for her.

"Ok Lavanya! I got some work. See you at dinner." He said and left the room.

Reaching downstairs into his study room, he picked up his cell phone and dialled a number. "Hello! I need some guys to be sent to Shimla for my daughter's security. Apparently, she has no idea about it and hence, I want all of them to be in civilian dress. I don't want to scare or disturb her or her friends. And one more thing. I want someone to keep an eye on her 24x7, especially about all her activities with that boy Karthik and report to me. Yeah, I don't trust that boy even for a second." He said chuckling mischievously and kept down the phone.

He had instantly known the truth behind Khushi's lie. But he couldn't blame that poor girl for anything. He knew she was just playing the role of a true friend to Lavanya. "Kids these days!" he muttered to himself rolling his eyes.

o0o

 Arnav sat on the sofa in the living room, his legs resting on the small glass table at the centre. He had been waiting for Aman to return back from the past one hour. He looked at the door once again, to check if he had arrived yet. Maybe he didn't find the information, he thought to himself disappointedly.

Just when he was about to give up, he heard Aman storming into the room.

"Bhai! I got the information." Aman said excitedly.

Hearing this, Arnav placed his feet on the floor and sat straight, eagerly waiting for Aman to continue.

"Apparently, I came to know from a secret source that Lavanya Kashyap, daughter of Hari Kashyap will be leaving for Shimla tomorrow morning, with her boyfriend Karthik Saxena. They will be staying at Panchi Hills estate resort, where Kunal Bhatt, son of industrialist K.J. Bhatt has organised a huge party for all his friends. It was supposed to be a small gathering of fifty. But now it seems that around two hundred people are going to end up over there. You know, the whole thing where one friend invites another and that another invites another and so on." Aman said pausing to look at Arnav who had been carefully listening to everything.

"But Mr. Kashyap has made sure to send his guards in civilian dress to keep an eye on her. Now it is going to be very difficult to approach her without raising any alarm, but this is our best shot to infiltrate into her territory. And here is a picture of her to identify her." he said handing over a photograph of Lavanya.

Arnav nodded, contemplating deeply on what he had said and stood up, clutching the photo in his hand.

"Pack up Aman! We are going to Shimla." He said and strode into his bedroom.

o0o

Khushi looked with disbelief at her luggage bag which she was supposed to take to Shimla. It contained three pairs of clothes and her toiletries for the three days, they would spend over there. Apparently, the eighth wonder of the world had occurred and her Buaji had actually permitted her whole heartedly to go along with Lavanya. She wondered what on earth Hari uncle had said to Buaji to convince her.

All she knew was that Buaji had strode into her room with a happy face and told her that Hari Uncle had requested her to send her along with Lavanya.

Now Khushi hadn't been really excited with this idea. She had never liked parties especially the ones with involved rich spoilt brats getting wasted enough to not remember their own names. But there was also a positive side to it. She would get to visit Shimla. Ever since her childhood, she had always heard so many wonderful things about that place and had dreamt of visiting it atleast once in her lifetime. Atleast she was happy that her dream was coming true.

She was busy lost in her thoughts when she heard the sound of car horn blaring outside. The next minute she saw Lavanya hopping inside the living room. "Ready?" she asked to which Khushi nodded.

"Thank you Buaji for allowing her to come along." Lavanya said hugging the stout middle aged female standing with a huge smile in one corner.

"Have fun both of you all. And Khushi, don't forget to call me as soon as you reach." She said hugging Khushi and the two of them bade her a goodbye and stepped outside.

Getting inside the Black Audi, Khushi waved back at her Buaji through the open window as the car moved away from her house. She turned back to look at Lavanya sitting beside her with excitement all over her  face, as the driver rolled up the black tinted window. Maybe this was going to be fun afterall, she thought to herself.

CHAPTER 7