ArHi FF - Aftershock: Chapter 9, Pg 26, 23 September - Page 10

Originally posted by: madhu1210

just read the 5 chapters in one go sounds too good..

the way Arnav took khushi;s interview then meeting with Nathan then the way Khushi present the details at board meeting then Arnav's confrontation to ANjali and jha..

wow arshi was great friend then what happen??

eagerly waiting hope u will update it soon

Thanks. Yes they were good friends. Things took down turn and now they aren't that way anymore :)

Chapter 6:

"Weren't you supposed be on a flight or something?" Khushi recalls Arnav's words from the meeting and throws it out. Arnav shrugs.

"It was cancelled," Arnav says helping a large portion of steaming flavored rice. "Something about bandh, I hear?"

"Yes, that's tomorrow and I guess it would have hindered with your return flight," Khushi agrees. "Great food," she says looking at Arnav and then shifting her eyes on to Anjali who hasn't acknowledged Khushi. Intellectually Khushi understands Anjali's animosity towards her but the juvenile treatment to the said animosity was more amusing than hurtful; not to mention a bit irritating after a while.

"Help yourself some more," Anjali sneers, her dislike for the new VP even more evident. "I will promise you, it's not poisoned." Khushi stops eating then and the ease in her eyes dies. Anjali is gone after uttering the words that's meant to hit home and Anjali doesn't wait to see the extent of her damage.

This isn't the first time Khushi has encountered a vile insult mixed with polite conversation. This isn't also the first time a person who was once a near and dear did it to her. She felt she was never prepared enough to be in a position where comments thrown at her about her past could bounce back from her skin without leaving a whiplash. Unfortunately it wasn't so. Even after close to a decade, the words still hurt.

The two finish the rest of their dinner in silence. Arnav talks a lot about Brazil and their farming communities. Khushi listens to him with all the concentration she can muster because all she wants to do right now is just sleep and wake up in a world where her name doesn't carry a burden of hundreds of families. She desperately wants to prove innocence of her parents where they were mere bystanders to a greater plot that was unfurling under their very own nose. She doesn't have much evidence to prove her theory nor does she have any support. She declines coffee when Arnav offers one before she leaves and the tension between them suddenly evolves.

The last summer they had spent together had held many promises and had planted a seed of affection that would grow in her heart to a massive tree in a small course of time. There was enough nurturing this affection - regular letters, odd phone calls and a photo that they had exchanged for fun. She wants to sit down with him and talk like the adults that they were, why things went down so badly between them. From promising her a future together to ignoring her in the halls, Arnav had rapidly climbing up in the list of people who had disappointed her the most. She wasn't new to the vitriol people had in them but to be on the other side had taken a beating out of her.

"You invited me to piss off Anjali didn't you?" Khushi inquires, curious. At Arnav's sheepish look, she swallows unhappily. "Thank you for a lovely evening," she graciously accepts his silence as a response and slides into the back seat of her car. "Next time you f**k with me like this, it will not be a pretty sight to behold." She slams the door and barks an order to her driver.

After all these years it shouldn't hurt this much. But it does. She hadn't expected an open armed warm welcome into Arnav's life but the invitation for dinner had come as a small surprise. She had jumped at the request without thinking the invitation through or make an effort to hold back on her excitement. The cold shoulder from Anjali damped her spirits a little. Anjali was less cold than most people around her after the incident and had even sat with Payal when Khushi was running around and getting information about what was happening to them. But their friendship didn't last the heavy blows thrown at the Gupta family from few of their friends and almost everyone else. The friendship between the children tethered, broke and finally turned to blatant animosity when Anjali started dating Shyam. Shyam's influence was evident in the way Anjali cocked her head and looked at Payal with a smirk, in the way she ignored Khushi's smile and her presence entirely when they saw each other in following days".

After that Khushi consciously stayed away from their path for a greater part of her teenage years, jumping at the chance of studying abroad when the settlement of their company came through. Something twisted in her stomach when she saw the name "Gupta" being replaced by "Raizada". The deal was done fairly, her father's friend Venkat spearheading the transitioning and ensuring the girls weren't cheated in the process.

Venkat met Khushi's father, Mr. Gupta at a symposium that had botanists, chemists and horticulturists come on a single platform and tackle a common idea from various perspectives. Mr. Gupta had developed a mild case of man crush on Venkat in the way he carried himself and spoke about genetically modified organisms and conservation of soil quality. Mr. Gupta offered Venkat a job which Venkat denied with his signature polite smile. He offered Mr. Gupta his friendship instead. Venkat worked in research labs around the world and never stayed in one place for more than few years. He said it kept his perspective fresh and he could implement his ideas better and gain traction to the industry at large. With that he gained respect of several governments when he implemented his technique to increase the yield of some crops that could bring about an improvement in export income and give lower strata people a chance to improve their lifestyle. With the changes he made, he incurred enemies of his own.

When he heard the news of death of Mr. and Mrs. Gupta, he had resigned without a notice to his employer - a plush research facility in Rio, growing economy that heavily relied on agriculture, and taken a flight back home.

The single man found himself in middle of his best friend's funeral and his friend's two daughters wondering who should light the funeral pyres as apart from the pundit, there was no one else. The scene was too heartbreaking for a man who thought nothing could ever shake him. The news of his friend's death hadn't hurt him as much as the girls standing dressed in white stressed out about logistics of the funeral than the tragedy that had struck them. It was irony, contradiction and a sick a society forces children to grow up faster than they are supposed to, robbing them of the experiences of gentle side of humanity and tender emotions that it evokes. The Guptas, with who people once hoped to be seen were alone in their death; so alone that except for their two children and their best friend, the entire area was void of any human activity. Of the three present on that evening, two of them cried for the loss of love, for the loss of time to be spent in future with them, for the happiness that they would never get to see when their daughters succeeded and for the way they were truly alone in the world in all the sense of its word.

Khushi had held her sister and her father's best friend as they cried. She just stared at the pyre burning bright in the dusk, her mind drawing several conclusions about humanity.

She didn't need much convincing when Venkat suggested if she wanted to study abroad. She knew exactly what she wanted to be as a professional as she had discussed it several times with her father and Venkat didn't question it further. He ensured his now adopted daughters wouldn't be cheated out of what little inheritance they deserved and stood by them as a father figure when the girls grew up.

Now standing in her lush apartment, she still feels the same loneliness she felt years ago when she lit the pyre to her parents bodies. The pundit had looked at her in horror, voicing vociferously how wrong the idea is. She was adamant. She didn't offer him any explanation nor did she allow him to take this right away from her. That day she was a child who had every right to perform the last rites to their parents with the respect and love they deserved. She wasn't going to deny her parents this last hope before their physical bodies cease to exist. She hasn't unpacked the things she packed from their house right after her parents' death. The memories are still fresh, the laughter of her parents still rings in her ears and the fresh jasmine her mother wore that morning swells her head every time she closes her eyes. There is a folded photograph of their family under her pillow. During restless nights, she would slip her hand under the pillow and her palm curl over the photograph. The frail edges of dream would smooth over and the restlessness would dissolve into crevices of her mind.

The loneliness isn't because of lack of friends, she knows that. The clenching of her gut has become a regular occurrence since she started to work at Raizada industries. The name felt foreign on her tongue, bitterness coating the roof of her mouth. She washed it with a glass of cold milk, ignoring the twinge in her gut. Arnav had done a good job with the company but the way shit was going down was a pattern she had already seen before - the days leading to the death of her parents.

When Payal and Venkat had asked why she was joining Raizada industries, she gave them a well-practiced answer about being near where her father envisioned a bright future for her. Venkat had thrown her a look of disappointment fully knowing she was lying. Payal was still innocent about the ongoing of the world. She had offered a soft wet smile and hugged it out.

Without bothering to change, she threw herself on the bed, her shoes falling off from her feet with a soft plunk on the floor. She had promised Venkat in private she would tell the real reason for joining Raizada industry when the time was right. She had also added that she wasn't doing it for vengeance or revenge.

It was more personal. Arnav's life depended on it. There was still a part of her that hadn't let go of him. Men had come and gone out of her life but there was a portion of her heart dedicated to that whiskey eyed teen who had whispered naughty jokes in her ears by the lake, their feet dangling in water and her white veil dancing in the wind.

She hates herself a little for caring about a man who had studiously ignored her presence for decades. She falls asleep after that, memory of summer soothing her fragile bones, the distant hum of air conditioner lulling her to sleep.

I wanted to comment on the earlier chapters too but before I could do that the new chapter came up. So here goes my comment on Aftershock so far...

amazing .I thoroughly loved it

You can feel khushi's loneliness ...awesome

Glad you are continuing the story. Anjali is a piece of work in this story. wants to have her cake and eat it too.

Originally posted by: AquaSandhya

I wanted to comment on the earlier chapters too but before I could do that the new chapter came up. So here goes my comment on Aftershock so far...

Food security is a huge issue in the world today and more so in developing countries. Hence, the fact that you are addressing something that is related so closely to our way of life is a brilliant. I love that.

The mystery angle ...what's not to love. As the story unfolds...you are going to see loads of guesses on you may have been involved. The thrill of mystery is...it could be anyone who did this...and was involved in Khushi's parent's murder. It could be Jha's father or it could be Venkat...and I love guessing all the way through ...so bring it on...

Childhood friends, sweethearts who drifted apart...due to terrible circumstances.

In the earlier chapters...I felt sad for both Khushi and Arnav that they didn't stand a chance because they were victims of circumstances.

But after this chapter...I'm a little...not a lot mad with Arnav.

To have hurt the girl who was a victim in the past was one thing. passing by in the hall as if she were a stranger would have been bad enough but he gave her the work. But how could he invite her to dinner to spite Anjali...duffer💔

People like Anjali are more common in the world than we like. Sooo I don't have much to say about her. But Arnav...🥱

It isn't new to see food poisoning during mid-day meal program where a lot of children get hurt. I am taking one such incident and using it as a means to convey larger meaning for the parties involved. Almost every time the blame lies with people who run the show - they use sub-standard goods and profit off the resources given by the government.

Arnav is an asshole (till now I guess) and that's what he is. Maybe he has his own reasons. Maybe he really made a mistake. We will know that soon :=)

Anjali is self centered and her world revolves around her husband. It isn't new character but a reflection of many I have seen in my life. Of course Anjali here is more ruthless than some but no one becomes the person that they are unless we really go back in time and understand what made them so.

Iam extremely glad to have found this story...!! :)

Originally posted by: -Ishtar-

It isn't new to see food poisoning during mid-day meal program where a lot of children get hurt. I am taking one such incident and using it as a means to convey larger meaning for the parties involved. Almost every time the blame lies with people who run the show - they use sub-standard goods and profit off the resources given by the government.

Arnav is an asshole (till now I guess) and that's what he is. Maybe he has his own reasons. Maybe he really made a mistake. We will know that soon :=)

Anjali is self centered and her world revolves around her husband. It isn't new character but a reflection of many I have seen in my life. Of course Anjali here is more ruthless than some but no one becomes the person that they are unless we really go back in time and understand what made them so.