**AWARDED**
Arhi OS:Double Face
This OS is inspired by two of my favourite characters in two different FFs that I'm closely following in the forum. The writers are doing a stellar job with their characterizations and storylines.
<Eccentrica> and <Mitra> - you guys inspire me.
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Aman was on indefinite leave. When ASR called him yesterday, his Man Friday was nearly in tears. "ASR my wife is threatening to leave me. When I asked her why she.."
Oh God! Was the idiot crying? "Go on man. Out with it."
"She said - I'm not your wife, he is!" The he in question wasn't amused. What the... Where do I come into the picture?
"ASR she's gone to her parental home. I will somehow manaofy her and bring her back. The bigger problem is my father-in-law who never liked me from the beginning. I've been watching Dilwale Dulhaniya le jayenge non-stop all night and am now on my way to Lucknow. Biwi gayi maike, chali gayi neende...
Then for the first time in his life Aman cut the phone line on his boss Arnav Singh Raizada who by then was reaching for an Antacid. If this is what marriage did to men, he wasn't going to sign up. No way, even if di was on his case all the time.
What in the world was he going to do? He needed an assistant urgently. His brother Akash walked into his room then.
"Bhai what's the problem? Is everything ok?"
"NO! Nothing's good. That idiot has just left me high and dry. Now how am I going to find someone?"
After being around his brother for so many years, Akash could easily connect the dots. Ah, its time to show Bhai what little brother is capable of.
"Just you watch Bhai. I'm going to get rid of this hiccup and fix the problem."
The next morning ASR was grumpily looking at the pile of files mounting on his desk. The phone had been ringing since morning and he hadn't even had his black coffee. In short ASR was ready to blow a gasket and the staff were walking on eggshells around the boss.
When the two men in black suits and white shirts walked into the building the women simply stopped to look at them. Some discreetly smoothened the non-existent creases on their skirts and brought out their vanity mirrors to take a quick look for any lines on their faces. They also did the 10-second make-up and hair check while a few even contemplated a quick dash to the washroom. The men were baffled and debated on who the newcomers were. Were they clients or competitors? Whoever they were, the MIB (men-in-black) cut a dashing figure and could easily fit into the Khan club of the Bollywood world.
"Good morning. We're here to meet Arnav Singh Raizada." MIB-1 roved his eyes over the pretty secretary sitting outside the CEO's office. Is he actually ogling my breasts? What a creep!
"Why don't you give him our card? He'll be happy to meet us." MIB-2 smiled pleasantly at her while handing her a business card. Is he trying to be friendly? What a charmer!
Then the secretary looked at the card and rushed into ASR's office.
She saw the look of surprise on his face when he read the names. Then he nodded his head and asked her to show them in.
"Come in. Rudra and Vishwa?"
"Your brother Akash Raizada called us yesterday. He said you needed someone to help you here." MIB-1 aka Rudra scanned the room carefully with hooded eyes. Hmm this was going to be interesting.
MIB-2 aka Vishwa looked at ASR in the eye with a relaxed air. Hmm so you're the chosen one.
Arnav had a premonition that things were going to change with the arrival of these men.
An hour later ASR had a gobsmacked expression on his face. His two assistants were working in tandem. Not!
While Rudra shouted and showered profanities, Vishwa mediated and soothed tempers. When it appeared that the client would get on the warpath with MIB-1, the same client did a volte-face when he spoke a few words with MIB-2.
Then the oddest thing happened. When Slimy Shyam tried to renege out of his deal with ASR, Rudra stepped in without consulting the boss. Slimy Shyam knew that he was outwitted by a master strategist and gave in gracelessly. Vishwa silently watched from the sidelines.
Arnav got irritated. "Who am I then? A piece of furniture? Why did you not give me the phone? What if we had lost the deal?"
Rudra flashed his eyes at him for a moment. ASR swore that he saw a flash of red emanating from those powerful eyes which made him uneasy.Then Rudra replied. "I never ever lose."
Vishwa bit his lip from laughing out loudly. ASR saw him and frowned. Was the guy mocking him? Vishwa spoke quietly. "I like to tease." OMG - now he's a mind reader too.Where's the black coffee?
His secretary walked in at that very moment bringing a cup of black coffee and some ginger biscuits on a tray.
"Sir, I was wondering if I could go home early today...the weather report says there's going to be a storm coming".
ASR knew that his secretary Lavanya was a single mother and was struggling to make ends meet.
"No problem Lavanya. You can leave now. I'll handle any calls here - besides these two are more than enough for me." Truer words never spoken.
Rudra looked outside the window and the darkening skies. He felt a rush in his loins when the wind gained strength. Now the games would begin.
Vishwa had closed his eyes. He could see the light glowing at the far end. It was getting brighter and then the most beautiful face graced by a pair of hazel eyes and pink lips appeared. Destiny had finally revealed her hand.
Then the skies opened up. The torrential downpour unleashed a devastation so great that the people were terrified and running for their lives. The homeless, the orphans and the infirm ended up under the same roof. Rudra yearned for his dancing shoes while Vishwa searched for his healing wand. ASR was oblivious to the world outside and the thoughts running in the minds of his new assistants. He looked at figures, pondered on clauses and thought of new deals and strategies. There were times that he would rage at the underhand dealings of his opponents. A quiet word by Vishwa would set him thinking on rational lines but then Rudra would egg him with a sly innuendo while stroking his ego.
ASR never realized that he was being played by not one but two of the most brilliant minds in the history of the universe. One was a destroyer while the other was a fixer.
The knock on the door went unanswered the first time. Then came a louder knock. Three heads swiveled towards the door. Who could it be in this time of the night? That too in this weather?
Vishwa opened the door with a smile. There was an enchanting girl standing there with a beautiful smile on her face. Hazel eyes, dimpled chin, rosy cheeks...the lines of a ditty came to Arnav's mind. He remembered his mother singing to him the lines when he was a five year old, except that the eyes were a unique hazel.
Then a reedy voice began to whisper began in his ears or was it his brain? - the opening lines of a poem by one of the most romantic poets, Lord Byron.
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
Arnav Singh Raizada fell in love. It was the same feeling that Romeo had for Juliet, Majnu for Laila, Shah Rukh for Kajol in DDLJ.
"Sir, I'm sorry for being late but there was a reason..." The girl stopped when she realized that the man with the chocolate brown eyes was fixated on her . Then she looked at the two other men in the room. The first one with the broad shoulders and come-tither look in the eyes gave her an uneasy feeling. The second one gave her a comforting nod and encouraged her to speak up.
"My appointment was for 9 o clock. But there was such a traffic jam and I got held up."
Then ASR's phone started ringing. It was his sister Anjali. This was one call that he couldn't ignore otherwise the hounds of hell would be after him. He motioned for the girl to sit down and walked to the far corner of the room. As he continued to grovel and plead with his sister for running late, the girl's eyes started getting wider. Haw! He looked so stern in the beginning and now he's like a chotte for his sister.
She tried not to guffaw as he whined on the phone and came up with several excuses, imaginary or otherwise. When his sister finally hung up, he sighed audibly. Then the phone rang again. It was his brother Akash. What did the idiot want now?
"Bhai, bhai. I'm so sorry. The girl sent by the agency got delayed in the traffic pile-up en route to the office. She should be there anytime now. I'm told she's the right person for the assistant's job." Then Akash mumbled that the line was quite faint and slowly hung up. He had had a long day and was not ready to face the ASR onslaught.
Whaat? Arnav was confused. What on earth was going on? Then he turned around. The girl was sitting there on the chair with a beaming smile on her face. But the men in black were not there.
"Where did they go?"
"Who?"
"The men in black?"
"I don't know. I was looking at you all along."
ASR searched every room in the building. Zilch. The men had completely vanished into thin air. Then he came back to the desk looking for the card. There was no card there.
He was flummoxed. Was it all a mirage? Who were these two? Then he looked at the girl and asked her. "You saw them too didn't you?"
"Who?" This was ASR? The man is losing his marbles. Thanks to Devi Maiyya, I showed up in time.
ASR gave up at that point. He could call Lavanya, harangue Akash, grill the security. Nah! It was too time-consuming. Besides the replacement looked smarter and prettier.
As he picked up the files, he turned to her and smiled. "So what's your name?"
"Khushi Gupta." soon-to-be-Raizada.
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Rudra in the Rig-veda is referred to as the Storm God and akin to a wild ferocious animal, later he came to be known as Siva
Vishwa refers to the all-pervading one
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