The Wrong Start - Arshi FF - Ch17 Page 24 - Page 9

Why should the girl always feel disgusted ? 

What was kh ‘s fault 

Shyam cheated her , not the other way round 

Poor kh traveling all the way to surprise snakewa 

What a shock 

Ok can understand , she didn’t do background check, & just relied on social media, which is home to rapists, molesters, much married men posing as eligible bachelors 

Oh problem again 

Chapter 11 - Missing

“This is strange…” Lavanya muttered as she tried Khushi’s number once more.

“What is?” Arnav asked as he pressed his foot down on the accelerator. Lavanya had decided on a weekend brunch plan a couple of days ago and told him she had planned to invite Khushi as well. Only that Khushi had been off radar for a week.

“She usually never does this. Her phone is switched off, I’m kind of worried about her. I know she was traveling but she should have been back by Monday.”

“Maybe she lost her phone or something?” Arnav reasoned but privately agreed with Lavanya. People in his field never went off radar. The entire industry relied heavily on insider news and getting to it first.

“I guess that’s possible but a week is just too long to not respond.” Lavanya put her phone down and looked at him.

“Do you want to check on her?” Arnav tried to keep the worry in his voice to a minimal but Lavanya grinned.

“When are you going to admit you have a massive crush on her? Take the next left.” She opened navigation and started checking the route. Arnav rolled his eyes.

“I can go as far as saying that I can hold a civil conversation with her now without ripping my hair out.”

“Aww baby, you blushing? And how are you planning on working with her if you continue to be a lovesick puppy?”

“I’m an adult Lavanya, I can handle a bit of a… phase. And she hasn’t confirmed if she is joining yet so… Also, I think she is planning on moving to Hong Kong.”

“Yeah, her boyfriend is there. I’d ship you guys so hard if she wasn’t committed. There, it’s this building.” Lavanya looked a bit dejected.

“What is this, a TV show where you’re putting together characters?”Arnav shook his head disdainfully and parked the car in an empty spot. He turned off the ignition and turned to Lavanya who grinned and nodded.

“I just love the free entertainment, especially now that am  going to work with you guys.” Lavanya led the way towards the lift.

“How did you even manage to get a job that didn’t exist? And find out about Rishabh’s offer to us?” Lavanya’s resourcefulness continued to surprise him, despite all these years of knowing her.

“What can I say, I am awesome. I just went to one of the other partners and told him I’ll be his legal counsel on his new fund. Which is why I am super invested in making sure Khushi gets to be on the team too,” She pressed the buttons on the elevator. Moments later, they were standing outside her flat and Lavanya was ringing the bell.

“Khushi?” she called out and rapped on the door once more before the door was opened by a haggard-looking Khushi. Khushi looked at both of them in slow motion before finding her voice.

“What are you guys doing here?” she asked flatly, her gaze pointed more at Arnav than Lavanya.

“I’ve been trying your phone for a week and we had a plan to meet up for brunch today. Your phone was not reachable so I thought I’d check on you.” Lavanya explained.

“What’s wrong?” she added as Khushi squeezed her eyes.

“Nothing – I – I’ve just been on a break. And yes, come in and thanks for checking.” Khushi held the door open to let them walk in. Lavanya walked in and held Khushi’s shoulders, looking at her intently whileArnav hovered in the background awkwardly. The moment Khushi had opened the door, he knew something was very very wrong. Her hair had been a mess and she looked like she hadn’t showered in days. Her eyes were puffy and red as if she’d been crying for days. He spotted empty wine bottles on the table. The kitchen,however, was squeaky clean. He suddenly felt like he was intruding her privacy but before he could excuse himself, Lavanya spoke up.

“Are you going to tell me or not? How did you trip to HongKong go?” she asked. Arnav saw her pale as she shrugged herself out of Lavanya’s hold and walked to the couch to sit down.

“Khushi? Tell me what happened?” Lavanya sounded positively panicked now. Arnav felt as if his legs had rooted to the spot.

“It's over with Shyam. He was cheating on me,” she let out in a single breath and dug the heels of her palms into her eyes. Arnav felt an insane rage bubble up inside him and clenched his fists. His eyes were transfixed on her and suddenly she seemed so different from the woman he knew. Her shoulders were slumped, as if in defeat. He wanted to find whosoever this…person was and break him.

“I’m so sorry…” Lavanya spoke up after a few minutes of silence and knelt down beside Khushi to hug her. They stayed like that for a few minutes as Khushi blankly stared out of the window.

“I think I’ll leave you ladies to… talk.” Arnav cleared his throat as he placed a cup of green tea and a glass of water on the table in front of Khushi. He’d seen the bags of green tea on the counter and decided to make himself useful.

“I’ve also ordered some food for you.” He looked into Khushi’seyes. They were brimming with tears and he felt like somebody had punched him in the chest.

“Can’t fight them on an empty stomach, can we?” he tried to smile for everyone’s sake. Khushi looked almost surprised to see him as if she hadn’t really registered his presence while divulging such an important detail of her life. She mumbled a small thanks and stood up.

“I’m sorry, this is awkward. You guys should carry on.” She wrung her arms and looked around the room as if looking for something.

“No, I’d have left anyways, have an afternoon meeting setup. I just dropped Lavanya because it was on the way. Also… it's not your fault.”The words almost felt alien as they came out of his mouth. He saw a sliver of relief pass through her eyes.

He did not wait for her response as he turned around and left. There was no point further embarrassing her and as far as he knew her, she’d be dead before letting anyone near her dignity. At that moment, he wished he’d seen him as a friend. He was hardly a talker and he knew Lavanya would be much better at the job but somehow, he wanted to be close to her… hold her and tell her that it was going to be okay.

Lavanya is a good friend. She is there to lend support. Arnav felt bad for her too.

Yeah... Everyone needs friends! 😊

Arnav is right it’s not her fault she didn’t know that Shyam was a married man so she shouldn’t feel guilty.

Amazing...I love this Arnav...😉

Chapter 12 - Red Flags

Khushi kept her face buried inside her hands as she heard the click of the door closing behind Arnav. It was comforting and suffocating in equal measure. She couldn’t bring herself to say the words out loud that he was married. Somehow, she felt as though her association with him had branded her and there was no way to escape. She couldn’t decide if she liked the weight of Lavanya’s arm around her shoulders or not. The searing hot tears were back again and she was amazed at her body’s ability to translate her sorrow into copious amounts of salty liquid. Except that the sorrow did not seem to be decreasing at all. And then there was the rage that wouldn’t stop pulsing through her body. She had broken every picture frame that had their photos, much to the surprise of her house help. Everything now seemed to make sense – his reluctance around taking photos, how he stuck to their talking schedule like a clockwork, how she had never heard him mention his family, how they had no online footprint anywhere, how he never wanted to meet her friends or go out in groups. She had ruled it out as him being introverted or feeling like a misfit. Just as she did, when she had moved to this city. Or perhaps she had been so desperate for somebody –anybody – to give her company that she jumped at the first chance she got. She lifted her head to see Lavanya still looking at her kindly. This sort of thing would never happen to somebody like Lavanya. The victims were always like her –from small towns and too stupid to navigate the jungle this world was. Maybe her family had been right all along – she really did not have the judgment to survive this and now here she was, crying over heartbreak like a teenager.

“Thanks for checking on me Lavanya. I’m fine really, just need some time to get over this.” Khushi made an attempt to stand up but Lavanya pulled her back.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Lavanya ignored her and handed her the glass of water. Khushi took it and looked at her solemnly.

“It's just a breakup Lavanya, they happen dime a dozen in this city. You just caught me at a weak moment,” She drank the water and placedthe glass back, standing up before Lavanya could protest this time. That part was true. She had just finished packing every single item in her house that was somehow associated with Shyam into cardboard boxes that she intended to burn.Or give away. Whatever people did with this stuff anyways.

“Doesn’t mean it’s any less painful Khushi,” Lavanya stood up as well. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it but I think you've spent enough time cooped up in the house. I’m calling Payal, let us all go out fora movie.”

Khushi felt she lacked the energy to protest. The prospect of seeing Payal seemed nice. She had picked up the phone multiple times but was not able to bring herself to call her. What was she supposed to say? That she had slept with a married guy, who fooled her for years? Also, Payal had been planning to celebrate her 2-year anniversary with Akash and she didn’t want to overload her with a sob story.

Four hours later, they were sitting in a café, playing Sequenceand drinking beer. They had gone for a mindless action flick which had turned out to be quite funny, albeit unintentionally. She had no idea these crappy distraction tactics would actually work but found herself smiling after what seemed eons. Payal smiled as she slid another plate of French fries towards her.

“So what have you decided about Rishabh’s offer?” Lavanya broached the subject carefully and Khushi’s expression sobered immediately. Payal squeezed her hand interjected softly.

“I know it’s a hard time but you need to make that decision now. Rishabh is not going to wait forever, you know. And there are ample of people in the industry who would give a leg and an arm for this chance.”

“I don’t want to go back to Hong Kong. At all.” Khushiresponded flatly as she pulled her hand back gently and wrapped a stray hair strand around her finger.

“I think that can be negotiated. You’re not in the best of states right now but don’t shut down the opportunity for it. Your current firm doesn’t seem to have any room for new partners, despite Rishabh leaving. He’s offering you a very good deal. Don’t blow it up because of that jerk.” Lavanya chimed in.

Khushi sighed and took in both their expressions. It seemed that they had discussed this beforehand.

“You know he just didn’t cheat on me. He is married,” She let out finally as their jaws dropped.

“This isn’t some stupid long-distance where a guy decided to have a side chick. This is a destroyed marriage. And I was blind enough to ignore every red flag I saw on the way for three f*****g years. I don’t trust my judgment anymore and I cannot forget that woman’s face. So no, I don’t want to be anywhere near him. If this had happened in this city, I’d have probably packed my bags and left.”

She exhaled and emptied an entire glass of water. Lavanya and Payal exchanged a look and Payal placed a hand on her shoulder. Khushi looked into her large eyes brimming with kindness.

“I’m so sorry Khushi,” she almost whispered and moved closer. Lavanya handed her a tissue and she realized that the tears were back.

“We are not asking you to move on Khushi. It's big and you should take your time. Just, don’t let that b*****d define your life. This is just bad timing and knowing you as you are, you’ll regret this later. Speak with Rishabh, I am sure you guys can get to an arrangement you all can agree on.”

She nodded and wiped her face. They were right. She had to stop like her life had ended and could only be defined on one parameter.

“I’ll text him now and ask for a meeting now before I change my mind,” she said and whipped out her phone to send a quick email. They finished dinner and she headed back home, feeling lighter. As she opened the door to her flat, she stopped in her tracks. Somebody had beat her to it.

Leaning against the opposite wall in her living room wasShyam.

“Crap, should have gotten the apartment locks changed the moment I landed,” said a tiny voice in her head as she gulped.

NOTE: Thanks to everyone who has liked/ left comments. I realized I'm a bit sloppy in maintaining this PM thing, so I will only be sending PMs to people who have commented on last 2 chapters at the time of posting a new one. Also, will try to be more interactive towards the comments I receive. Thanks for your time and keep safe!

Wow, shyam has the audacity to break into her house, let alone facing her.... I hope she doesn't fall for his lies now.... her friends advice is right...

The creep has the gall to show up at her place? Hope she throws him out before he causes trouble.