Chapter 21

varanasi

@varanasi

All the readers who are with me on this journey thank you so much personal life was a mess and sorry for the delay.

Chapter 20

"Ms. Gupta, Ms. Guptaa, " he searched all the floors she was no were to be seen then where is she? the restrooms were also checked, there was one more floor to be checked, maybe she is there. All the doors were open except one and he was sure she is in there.

"Ms. Gupta, Open the door" shouting at top of his voice he started banging the door. But there was no response from the other side. Left with no other option he started to break open the door by pushing it with his shoulder forcing all his strength.

...

"The cool breeze from the window is playing with her bangs, her mother cuddled her closer, kissing her cheeks, her father while driving the car with one hand held her mother's hand with other and kissed it, her mother suddenly turned red and was looking elsewhere, she wanted to ask if her mother was feeling cold due to the wind ...and they felt a jerk, a jerk which resulted in everything turning black"

With that dream playing in her mind, she jerked, there was noise everywhere, someone was calling out to her, she wanted to hear her mother's voice, she was calling her "Khushi" wait where was her father, she tried hard to hear her father's call among the other sounds. "KHUSHI" this time she heard it above all, but it wasn't her father's, the call became louder forcing her to open her eyes and respond to it, she tried going back into the dream, her parents were calling out to her, but this voice was forcing her to come to present.

With a sharp breath she was awakened from the subconscious state, once she understood that there was no scope for her to return home the panic attack worsened and she tried hard to control it by deviating her mind to something positive but as time flew she started sweating, the breathing became shallower, eyes turned red and she fainted.

"HElp" she tried to shout but it came as a meek call, someone was banging the door, someone came to her help, she tried focusing, dragged herself towards the door but all in vain. Holding the desk beside her she tried standing up and the exact same moment Arnav finally opened the door.

"Arnavjiii" relief spread over her nerves, finally, she will be out from this trauma, she wanted to walk towards him but her surroundings turned blur and she fainted again but this time in the waiting arms of MR. ARNAV SINGH RAIZADA.

...

After multiple attempts, he, at last, was able to break open the door and there she was trying to hold herself one second calling out to him, the other she fainted into his arms as he rushed towards her.

"Khushi, Khushi open your eyes" he tried waking her up but there was no response from her side without further delay he rushed downstairs holding her in his arms.

...

"I will take care henceforth" pushing his hand away Payal rushed behind the team of doctors who were taking her little sister into the ward. She didn't mind giving him a heated glance before walking away. He is not to be spared but her sister comes first hence she let him out for the moment.

Akash and she were working when Akash's phone rang, after speaking few minutes on the call the man came back with an unsure look on his face and requested her to accompany him out without questioning further. Once they reached the parking lot of the clinic she started getting worried and questioned their sudden visit here and her continuous pleas to know the reason behind them being there was answered with Khushi lying on a stretcher and ASR standing beside her both looking like they came out from a war field. ASR moved towards her to say something but she didn't wait for him to speak anything, she understood the present state of her sister is due to him. Hence saying she will take care she walked away.

...

Akash saw his brother walking back and forth in front of the room in which Khushi was being examined, he and Payal were working on a Project when his brother called him asking to not say a word but just listen to him. He explained how Khushi got stuck in the building and fainted and was being taken to the clinic, he didn't want Payal to freak out assuming her sister's condition and hence she was to be brought there without letting know the happenings. He requested Payal to come along and kept mum all through racing his car towards the destination. This was the first time she was sitting beside him in his car but he cursed how he was not able to enjoy the feel nor the ride would be memorable for her as a special one. He is not sure how and when but being close to her makes him alive, he looks forward to her morning wishes, little chat every evening, it may only last for few seconds, it may only be related to work but still, those were the times when they would be alone without others presence. Those will be the moments which he reminisces in the night, the way she calls him Akash, her dressing, he so loves to see her in traditional wear not that she wears anything too modern but working for a fashion industry would need her to dress up accordingly and she was always seen with a full sleeved shirt tucked into the straight cut pants, sometimes a blazer would accompany too but she only wore this twice or thrice when they had calls with the international brands. Other than that she mostly prefers Kurtas. Somehow his wish of seeing her draped in a saree increased these days. Will she look as he imagined? He was brought back into the present when his brother called him. What the hell was he thinking of sitting in the corridor of a clinic? This girl is surely going to make him do so many unexpected things.

...

"Di?" Arnav was surprised to see his whole family standing out there searching for them.

"Chottey? How are you? Why didn't you tell me anything? " Anjali started looking for something which would suggest his current state of looking horrible and his presence in the clinic.

"Di, I'm completely fine and why did you guys come here? " He was shocked that his family knew about him being here.

"Arnav, what's the matter and Akash why are you standing like a rock?" Manohar spoke looking at his children.

"Papa, we are fine it's just one of our employee is not fine and we had to bring her here," he said not revealing much how she landed in this place due to his brother.

"How is she now?" both Nani and Anjali asked together. Anjali was speaking to the family doctor when she mentioned that the recent reports of Arnav will be discussed with him directly as he is present in the clinic at the moment which raised a red flag in Anjali's mind leading the whole family to rush to the clinic to check personally.

...

"Thankfully nothing serious," Payal said coming out.

She looked towards the entrance to see if her Bua is here and turned towards the Raizada's.

"I'll be back" saying so Arnav moved towards the room hoping to have a look at Khushi but Payal blocked his way even before he takes the second step.

"It is advised to let her rest and not disturb" she controlled herself not wanting to say anything in anger to her boss in front of his family.

"Hai re NK, Payalia, where is Sanka Devi? Is she ok? " Even before Arnav could say something in retort to Payal's unsaid fury Madhumathi made her presence known.

"Madhumathiji?" All the three Raizada women surprisingly looked at the hefty lady who appeared looking worried speaking to the employee.

"Devyaniji!?" Madhumathi gave a shocked look to the elderly lady.

After that all was chaos, everyone trying to introduce each other families once everything was settled they sat discussing and letting others know how they were part of the same Satsang. Payal just smiled looking at them and excused herself to go to the desk for settling the payment.

...

"Mam, the bill is paid " the receptionist smiled sweetly to her denying the payment.

"But"

"Bhai did" Akash answered this time, seeing her move towards the counter he went along not wanting to be in the middle of people who started discussing everything in life once it was confirmed that there was nothing serious.

"I'm sorry Akash, but " even before she could say further Arnav was standing in front of her.

"Payal, I "

"Thank you, ASR, for your concern but I can take care of my sister, it wouldn't look good if I let the person pay the bill who is the reason for her current state." with that she was gone to speak to the doctor for knowing when she can take back her sister.

...

He stood in front of the mirror holding the torn dupatta piece and the pearls in one hand. Why is everything so complicated with this one girl? KHUSHI... He was the one who sent her away because she raised red flags, she was able to read his situation, ASR has hidden all the emotions perfectly well behind the power, arrogance, rudeness and mostly anger. But he for a second was shocked when she was able to perfectly make out something was wrong with him but would he simply be called ASR if he let her know further hence in an attempt to protect his image of stone-hearted person he simply spoke whatever rubbish he could spell and threw her out so that she would stop showing the fake concern towards him, stop reading too much into him which is not her business. But never in his wild dreams did he expect her to get stuck in the building like this, he didn't expect all this to happen nor he wanted something ill happening to her.

It was good that Payal assumed it is due to him Khushi is in that state, his image of a ruthless businessman who cares less about others would be kept intact, she would even suggest Khushi be in her limits around him but why isn't he liking the thought that Khushi would assume him to be the cause of her distress, maybe because whatever has happened he never knew it would turn out this way, maybe he never knew something like this would happen to her this drastically. He just simply sent her away from him, didn't mean it to turn like this.

The moment he understood she was not traceable his senses stopped for a second, he drove through the streets like a man possessed hoping her to be safe, his heart skipped a beat when there was no response from the other side of the door, he didn't knew what came on him when he went for breaking open the door, when he could simply ask the watchman to get the keys, the wish to see her safe overpowered everything, he carried her in his arms all the nine floors down, placed her in the car, secured her tightly with the seat belt and drew towards the clinic his family visits regularly.

He could have handled everything but as a second thought called Akash to inform his whereabouts asking him to bring Payal over just in case of an emergency not that he would let anything happen to Khushi he would rip the doctor alive if he would have said she was not fine, what are doctors for then? isn't it their duty to make the patient fine? He so wanted to have a look at her once everything settled out but in the meanwhile, his family has to intrude and Payal took this as an advantage to make him stop from entering the room, even while paying the bills she had an issue with him doing it for Khushi, he doesn't mind her thinking him to be the reason for her sister's state, but will Khushi too think on the same grounds? Is she fine now?

...

All the readers who are angry with Arnav's behavior thank you so much for connecting to the story on such level, we would only feel the emotions when we are connected, trust me the story takes time to move forward and Arshi will take a lot of time to take a step together, they will move one step forward and take few backward until their heart and mind both stops them from moving back.

PRECAP-ARNAV'S FIRST CALL TO KHUSHI

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