Part 24 Arnav's Decision

Lavanya was confused by Ratna's gesture. Before Lavanya asked anything,

"Chotte, today is Khushi's birthday too..."

"I know..." Arnav said.

"Do you know?"

He nodded yes.

"Didn't you think of anything?"

"I did... and it's nothing like that..."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I inquired her too..."

Ratna was disappointed.

"What are you guys talking about?" Lavanya asked.

"Today is Khushali's birthday too..."

"Oh... is today September seventeenth? How did I forget it...?" Lavanya hit her forehead and asked,

"Do you think Khushi can be our Khushali?"

Ratna looked at Arnav. He nodded no as he didn't want to keep them in HOPE. he was not ready to conclude anything until the ONE PERCENT doubt of him cleared.

"Would not it be so pleasant if Khushi is our Khushali...?" Lavanya said excitedly, at the same time sadly.

Ratna sighed whereas Arnav thought about Rohan. Though somewhere in his mind he believed she could be Khushali he feared to believe it to the fullest because he didn't want to get disappointed. It would be the biggest heartbroken if she was not Khushali because Khushi was a nice girl anyone could get, he supposed. So, he didn't want to grow his expectations in her matter.

Taking her phone, Lavanya called Khushi. She attended the call who was in a sleepy mode and said,

"Hello..."

"This is not fair, Khushi" Lavanya shouted.

Khushi sat on the bed jerking.

"Lavanya...? What happened?"

"Anjali attended your birthday party and Aman ate your birthday special food but I'm unaware of your birthday..."

Khushi bit her tongue.

"I'm sorry, Lavanya. I didn't invite anyone other than Anjali. She came to A2 today and wished me. So, I invited her"

"Oh, will you invite me only if I come to A2 and wish you?"

"Not like that, Lavanya... I'm sorry... according to me, this is a normal day"

"Oh... this is a normal day and you celebrated it grandly," she asked sarcastically.

"It's not me but my parents who always celebrate my birthday, inviting my friends"

"If it is your parents who invited everyone and celebrated your birthday, how did Anajli attend it?"

Arnav looked at Ratna who was listening to Lavanya.

"I'm sorry, yaar..."

"I'm highly disappointed with you because you don't consider me as your friend"

"No, Lavanya..."

"Go, you just talk... that's all. You don't give me a place in your heart"

"Wait... tell me what do you want me to do to make you believe I accepted you as my friend?"

Lavanya smiled.

"Come to my house tomorrow evening"

"For?"

"See, you are asking for a reason to meet me"

"Ok, ok... I will come"

"Will you surely come?"

"I will surely come... promise"

"That's it"

"How do you know it's my birthday?"

"Anjali told me"

Khushi sighed, Anjali...!

"By the way, Many more happy returns of the day"

"Many more happy returns...? How? Just like, you scolded me a few seconds ago?" Khushi chuckled.

Lavanya laughed.

"Of course, we will be friends forever just like how rightfully I fought with you today"

"So sweet of you, Lavanya"

Lavanya looked at Ratna who asked her to pass the phone to her.

"Khushi one minute... Mom wants to talk to you"

"Mmm"

Lavanya gave the phone to Ratna.

"Happy birthday Khushi"

"Thank you, Aunty"

"I'm also upset with you"

Khushi scratched her forehead.

"I'm sorry, aunty... I will definitely invite you for my next birthday"

"You don't have to invite me"

"I'm sorry Aunty. Please don't be angry with me"

"I said you don't have to, because, I will come to your birthday party without an invitation as I got to know your birth date"

Khushi was stuck.

"Khushi... are you there?"

"Will you come without an invitation?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"You are a mother of my Boss..."

"I'm not only a mother of your Boss but also a mother of your friend Lavanya"

Arnav smiled inwardly.

"But, you have status..."

"Not everything can get through status, beta... there are many more things in this world... one of them is friendship"

"I have never seen a down-to-earth person like you, Aunty"

"By the way, did your Boss wish you or not?" Ratna asked looking at Arnav.

Arnav who was listening to her talk, pretending to be looking at his phone, raised his head and looked at her.

"He did, aunty"

"Is it?" Ratna raised her brows, looking at Arnav.

"Yes..."

"That's nice to hear... by the way, it seems your parents are very interested to celebrate your birthday?"

"Yes, aunty... they are always like this. When it comes to me, they won't compromise"

"It seems they love you so much"

"Yeah, after all, they are my parents"

"Mmm... I'm passing the phono to Lavanya"

"Ok, aunty"

Ratna gave the phone to Lavanya.

"Don't forget, you should be here at 6:30 tomorrow" Lavanya said.

"Sure sure..."

"That's it... good night, darling"

"Good night sweetheart"

They disconnected the call. Arnav stood up to go to his room.

"Arnav, please make sure, Khushi starts from A2 on time"

Ratna waited for his reply. Arnav nodded and left. Ratna smiled.

Arnav was on the bed thinking about Khushi. He wanted to confirm whether she was Khushali. Until he found it out, he could not concentrate on any work but would be thinking only about her. He had to do something about it. He got an idea and decided to implement it the next day.

The next morning

Arnav came to A2 and headed to Aman's cabin straight.

"Hi, ASR..."

"I want to talk to you about something" Arnav said.

"Yeah, tell me"

"I would like to INTER CHANGE our PAs"

"Whaaaaat?" Aman stood up from his seat.

Arnav folded his hand shrinking his eyes. Arnav wanted to find out about Khushi. He thought until he stayed away from her, he could not get a chance to get the truth from her. He believed Khushi would give him some clues to find about her.

"Didn't you hear? I would like to..."

Cutting him,

"Interchange our PAs?" Aman asked.

Arnav nodded yes.

"But why suddenly?"

"I heard Akash's wedding fixed"

"So?"

"I don't want him to struggle in the office being my PA. He will be tensed if he is my PA. I noticed him overreacting... So, I decided..."

"Decided to get Khushi as your PA?"

Arnav nodded yes. Aman could not believe Arnav wanted to interchange the PAs only for Akash because Arnav was not a man who would care about others. He should have other reasons for it. Did Khushi do anything that touched his dirty ego? That was why he wanted to revenge on her. Aman thought many things as he knew Arnav's nature.

"But, ASR... you and Khushi are not on good terms..."

"She is our employee... she has to do what's assigned to her. More than that, she was my PA at first. For some reason, she became your PA"

"Not for SOME reason... it's because of you. You insulted her, fought with her..."

"So what...? She is still fighting with me..."

"Then how do you guys work together?"

"I will take care of it. you don't have to bother about it"

"I will bother about it because Khushi is Anjali's friend. I don't want to disappoint Anjali"

"I too have responsibility for Anju. I'm tolerating Ms. Gupta only for Anju. You know that"

"That's what makes me worried. Why should you tolerate her? Why will she work with you having differences?"

"She has to because she is our employee..."

"This is why I don't want her to work with you... your attitude...! Please, understand, ASR. Akash never felt hard to work with you. He will cope with you"

"I'm talking about Ms. Gupta...not about Akash"

"But, you said, you want this interchange to happen because Akash is getting married..."

"Yeah... it's the main reason..."

"ASR, why are you messing thing that is going smoothly?"

"What's the point?"

Aman sighed.

"Ms. Gupta will decide better than you I suppose," Arnav said. That surprised Aman.

"Is it?" Aman raised his brows.

Arnav rolled his eyes.

"From when Ms. Gupta became better than me in your eyes?"

"You were so worried about us as we are not on good terms... right? So, feel happy about it"

"Ok, I will feel happy if Khushi is ready to work for you"

Arnav tried to say something, but Aman stopped him.

"Sorry, ASR... I don't think we have the right to force her to do something she doesn't like because a peaceful working environment is very important to anyone. I don't want to make Khushi stressed. Give me some time. I will talk to her and let you know her decision"

"I will talk to her"

"No, please... you will definitely mess it up because if she talks teasingly, you will lose your patience. So, please don't do it. I promise. I will surely take your side and make her accept the offer"

Arnav sighed. He had no choice other than to wait it seemed.

To be continued...