"Hmm, this is good." Ritu hummed while eating. They were only three people sitting at the dinner table. Gyan hadn't returned yet and it was twenty past 9. Shreya was feeding Dev who seemed to taken a liking in eating by himself. He was trying to eat the small bits of luchi, that Shreya had teared for him already. Well, it was an improvement. With an autistic patient, you can do nothing but have patience.

Dona was serving Ritu another round of rice as she seemed really hungry the way she was gobbling down her food.

Shreya smiled to herself as she observed her and Dev. They looked cute while fully concentrating on eating. But her content didn't last long as Ritu suddenly dropped her spoon on her plate. Shreya looked up at her and noticed her shocked face. Her jaw has dropped towards the floor while widened eyes were looking straight behind her. As she was sitting opposite to her and beside Dev, she couldn't tell what made Ritu so surprized. Dona gasped and took a step back looking at the same direction. Shreya's eyes knitted in confusion as she turned and looked behind her back.

AR walked up to the table wearing a sleeveless tee and a pair of sweatpants. Shreya's eyes moved along with him as he pulled the chair back and sat at the head of the table. Since Shreya had joined, she had never seen him eating at the dining table. Shreya gulped and looked down when his eyes shifted and fell on her.

"Dona di," he said, in his flat tone.

"Y-yes, dadababu!" Dona responded. Her voice clearly telling her alertness around him.

"Bring my food, please."

"Sure. I'm bringing immediately," she said and hurried inside the kitchen.

Ritu gasped, "Dadabhai! You're eating at the table?" She was clearly surprized, and it was noticeable.

"Yes."

"Oh- why- I mean- you never-" she couldn't finish her sentence as he said, "Eat your food first."

Ritu blinked, lowered her head and picked up the spoon again. Shreya glanced at her before her eyes shifted to Abhimanyu. His eyes were still on her. Their eyes met as she again blinked and looked down. Uhm- this was uncomfortable. She didn't know why she felt so intimidated by him and at the same time want to talk to him. This was ridiculous.

Dona brought the food a few moments later and served in front of him. Instinctively, Shreya glanced at his plate and was taken aback. Plain rice, dal, jhuri aloo bhaja (crispy potato fries), curd and salad. This was his food? The simplicity made her awestruck as she forgot to take her eyes off for a moment until Dona came round and nudged her. She flinched and craned her neck to look at her. Dona widened her eyes and rolled them before pointing them at Abhimanyu. She did the same gesture for a few times subtly making Shreya more clueless. She frowned then got the idea. She was asking her to apologize for the poha she made.

She made an oh with her mouth and nodded before turning to Abhimanyu.

Okay, she could do it. No need to fear him. It wasn't like he was going to eat her. She took a deep breath and cleared her throat. Abhimanyu was eating his food quietly, and didn't spare her any glance, but Ritu did, with a questioning expression.

How should she address him? Sir? Or AR? Why was she feeling hot again? She was nervous. Great!

"AR!" She called quietly.

He looked up and stared at her fixedly making her unnerved even more. But what else was she even expecting?

"I-I'm sorry."

"For what?" His facial expression didn't change, neither his tone.

"For ruining your food. I used ghee in your poha. I- I didn't know..."

"It's alright. You didn't know, and it wasn't your job in the first place. I asked Dona di to make it."

"Yeah- but I wasn't home-" Dona started but stopped shortly when Abhimanyu held up his hand.

"It's alright. I don't need any clarification. The food was good, and I ate it. End of the story."

Shreya blinked. Her ears suddenly felt hot. She nodded and whispered a thank you as he went back to eating.

Everyone heard and ignored Ritu murmuring, "I feel excluded."

As Dev was already finished his food, Shreya was having hers when the door bell rang. Shreya hadn't seen where was Ram till now, but it was him who opened the door and let a very drunk Gyan enter the house.

Ritu mumbled, "Not again!" while Abhimanyu looked at his brother with an aloof stare. Gyan swayed visibly as he walked over to the dining place and waved at everyone. "Hi!"

"Gyan, you are drunk!" Ritu yelled at him.

"Oops!" He covered his mouth and a muffled voice came out. "How do you know?"

She held her head in her hand and shook it disapprovingly. Gyan glanced at Dev before dropping his hand from his mouth and giving him a wide grin. "Hello Dev. Look what I brought for you." He searched his jacket's pocket and brought out a chocolate bar and stretched his hand towards him. Since Shreya was close to him, she took it from his hand and gave it to Dev.

"Oh, hello Shreya. You're here too. Nice to meet you." He smiled and swayed a little before holding the closest chair to support his weight on it.

Ram was standing close by. When Abhimanyu told him to take Gyan to his room, he reached forward and went to hold Gyan earning a growl from the latter. "Don't you dare!"

He averted his fiery eyes on Abhimanyu and gritted his teeth. "If you want me to go to my room, talk to me directly. You inconsiderate-"

Ritu stood up hastily and grabbed his arm quickly while yelling again, "Gyan! Stop already! Don't make a scene!"

"I am making a scene? I am?" He snorted, "You must be joking right now Ritz! It's his snootiness! I'm tired of putting up with his shit!"

"Enough! Let's go to your room." Ritu insisted and pulled on his arm.

Gyan shifted his glare on Abhimanyu and spat spitefully, "Why? Now you're happy? My twin is siding with you instead of me! That's makes you happy? No? Now you're happy, incompetent?" By now Ritu was already dragging him towards his room. Ram was trailing close behind, in case Gyan faltered and fell on the ground. "You enjoy the favoritism you receive, no??" Gyan yelled from the top of his lungs as Ritu dragged him out of sight.

Shreya turned and glanced at Dona, who looked sorrily at the way they went. She then looked at Abhimanyu, who had already stared eating again. Shreya frowned at his reaction. He behaved as if nothing had happened. As he finished his food and glanced up, he caught Shreya staring at him.

"You should eat," he quietly said, then stood up and left. Just like that.

Author's note: Let me warn you for once. This is not just any boy-meets-girl, hot-CEO-falling-in-love-with-employee story. So, if you're expecting stars, butterflies, violins, fluffs, kisses, and hot sex, then you'll be disappointed. I'm not saying there won't be any romantic encounters, but I can't tell you anything about kisses and sex scenes now. One, I don't want to give you spoilers, two, I don't know how to put them to fit the storyline. This story is complicated with fucked up characters. So, that's that. But I can promise you one thing, you won't face boredom reading this story, and have a closure for sure. I hate open endings. So, keep that in mind and happy reading. I love you. 😘🤗