E - market HQs,
New Delhi...

Ananya and Deepika were working as interns under E market's legal advisor Mr. Singh, as the part of their final year curriculum...

Mr. Singh asked them to go through the books and left with Arjun for some work...

Ananya was not a very big fan of reading like her brother Ved was, so after few pages she closed the book and sighed

'This book is so boring... ' she whined

'But we have to read it... ' Deepika said adjusting her specs not looking up from the book

'I am not reading this... ' Ananya pushed the book away and got up from her seat

'Where are you going...?' Deepika asked

'To look for something better to read..' Ananya said going through the files in the room

'It's a corporate office, you won't find any romance, mystery or fiction books here... ' Deepika joked

Ananya goes through the files and sighs
'Yeah there's nothing... Wait I'll ask Ved Bhai, if he has something... ' she said walking towards the door

'I don't think you should disturb Ved right now, he must be working... ' Deepika said

'Ooo stop acting like his wife already... There's lot of time for it... ' Ananya rolled her eyes and Deepika sighed

'Go...! Do whatever you want... It's your office anyway... ' she said and Ananya grinned

'Good girl... ' She said and walked out of the cabin

Ananya walked through the cabins searching for Ved's cabin, and the staff was greeting her and she was smiling politely at them...

She spotted the door which addressed 'VED THAPAR, GENERAL MANAGER' and dashed inside it

'Bhai do you have a copy of P. S. I Love you here with you... ' she said getting inside and Ved looked up from his file, adjusting his specs, while his staff controlled their smiles

'Oops sorry... ' Ananya apologised

'Why will I have a copy of P. S. I Love You...?' Ved raised his brows and his staff resumed their work, trying not to laugh

'Because it's your favourite movie...?' Ananya said innocently

Ved's cheeks turned red, he got embarrassed as his sub ordinates looked at him amused...

He removed his specs, maintaining an even face
'It's not my favorite Ananya, and this is a office, no one carries books like those here... ' he said

'Damn... ' Ananya sighs

'Why don't you read the law book Mr. Singh asked you to read...?' Ved asked

'It's so boring... Deeps will read that for me... Do you have something else...?' Ananya asked

'We are working here Annie, and why don't you read this...?' He takes out a random file from his drawer and gives it to her

'E market's Plan...? What will I learn from this..?' Ananya asks looking at the file

'You'll know about our office, different departments and their functioning... But be careful with this file and return it to me when you are done... ' Ved said wearing his specs back

'Okay... Thanks bhai... ' Ananya smiles and leaves his cabin

She walks back to Mr. Singh's office, where Deepika is reading their assignment

'What did you get...?' Deepika asks

'This...' Ananya shows her the file

'Hmm.. E market's plan... Nice... ' Deepika comments

Ananya opens the file, and flips the pages

'Business Development, Sales, Quality control, IT, Customer care, Processing,  Warehouse, Product management..... Boring.... Boring... Boring.... ' Ananya comments turning the page and Deepika chuckles

'There is no game room here... ' Ananya says

'This is an office Ananya, why will they have a game room...?' Deepika asks

'Google, Amazon are offices too, but they have game room and chill centres for their employees.... Google has freaking slides Deeps... ' Ananya exclaimed

'They are business giants Ananya, E market needs time to reach there...' Deepika said

'Whatever Deeps, employees satisfaction is the key for any business to flourish.... ' Ananya said

'True that... ' Deepika agreed with her

'I'll suggest Bhai to make a game room for the employees... ' Ananya said

'Where will he make it...? There is no space... ' Deepika said going through the file

Ananya takes the file from her hands and flips the pages and stops at the page called Office Map

She goes through the map and finds something...

'Deeps..! See here... There is a basement just below the canteen... ' Ananya shows it to Deepika

'Oh wow... I think it's used for storage... ' Deepika looks at the map adjusting her specs

'No the storage house is 5 blocks away, at Maa's office... ' Ananya said

'Why there is a red cross over it...?' Deepika asked

'I don't know... ' Ananya replied

'May be it's sealed... ' Deepika says

'Why will they seal it...?' Ananya asked

'May be Uncle thought that the place was of no use to him...' Deepika comments

'I think the basement is as huge as the canteen, It will make an excellent games room...!' Ananya said excitedly

'You still hung up on that playroom idea...?' Deepika chuckled

'Games room, Mrs. Grey... Not your playroom... ' Ananya teased and Deepika throws the file on her

Ananya laughs and gets up
'I am going to have a look on the basement...! Wanna come...?' Ananya asked

'I don't think Uncle will like us roaming in the office, rather than working... ' Deepika said nervously

'Ooo come on Deeps, he is my Paa...! He never scolds me... ' Ananya said

'You go...!  I'll read the text, Singh Sir asked us to read.... ' Deepika said

'Okay scaredy cat... I am going... ' Ananya grinned and left the cabin

Half an hour later...

Ved enters Mr. Singh's cabin and finds Deepika reading the text...

'All alone...? Where is Annie...?' Ved asked startling Deepika

She adjusted her specs and closed the book

'She was bored, so she is roaming around the office... ' Deepika said as Ved takes the seat beside her

'Did you find the text interesting...?' Ved asked

'Yeah... I mean, company's laws are bit complicated I realised, as lawyers we are supposed to know only the basics, Singh Sir said... So yeah... Whatever I read, I found it interesting.... ' Deepika said

'Good... I see you will become a very good lawyer Deepika ' Ved smiled

'Hopefully...' Deepika smiled and Ved looked at the file lying on the ground

'I told Ananya to be careful with this file, she is very irresponsible... ' Ved said picking up the file

'It's my fault actually, she was teasing me so I hit her with it... I am so sorry...'  Deepika said getting up from the seat

'You guys should grow up now... ' Ved chuckled

'But she called Me Mrs. Grey...!' Deepika blurted out and then covered her mouth, cursing herself

'What...! Why...?' Ved started laughing

Deepika felt embarrassed, her cheeks turned red and she looked away...

Instinctively, Ved pulled her cheeks...
'You look really cute when you blush... ' He said and Deepika looked at him shocked..

Ved then realised what he did
'Uh... I... I mean.... Why did Ananya called you Mrs. Grey...?' He asked changing the topic

'Actually Ananya was planning to make the basement below the canteen as game room for employees, but I accidentally called it playroom.. That's why... ' Deepika said

'Basement...? We don't have a Basement...!' Ved said

'There is one... See below the canteen... Right here... ' Deepika showed him at the file

'Oh wow... I didn't know we had a basement....!'  Ved said looking at the map

'Yeah.. Ananya went downstairs to check it...!' Deepika said

'WHAT....' They heard a very angry voice and saw Arjun looking furious and Mr. Singh and Sash horrified

Deepika got scared and held Ved's hands for support

'Where did Ananya go...?' Arjun asked Deepika dangerously walking towards her

Ved got confused at his father's behavior and supported Deepika by asking her to relax

'Papa.. There is a basement in the plan, Annie went down to see that... ' Ved said on Deepika's behalf

'WHY DID YOU LET HER GO THERE....' Arjun scolds Ved and Ved takes a step back, he has not seen his father this angry before...

'Bhai... He has no idea about it...' Sash held Arjun by his shoulders

'The basement is sealed Mr. Thapar... Please calm down... ' Mr. Singh said

'Yeah Bhai, it's locked, Ananya can't get inside... ' Sash said

Just then Arjun's assistant came running inside the room...

'Sir the basement is been opened, the sensors there gave an alarm of someone being inside...' He said showing the tablet to Arjun

Arjun saw Ananya's figure entering the basement and smashed the tablet on the floor...

Everyone looked at him horrified...
'Sash help me take her out from there... ' Arjun said and left with Sash following him frantically

Ved and Deepika look at each other scared and followed Arjun and others

Arjun was walking swiftly towards the basement, pushing anyone who came on his way...

Ved followed his father, and Deepika running behind them..

They reached the basement, Arjun's pace slowed down and he started perspiring, Sash looked at him worriedly and Ved got more and more confused

He wiped the sweat and took a deep breath, and walked inside..

His hands and legs turned cold as he entered the room, he remembered the incident, where Naina was almost killed in this very place...

Ananya was staring at the place, carefully analysing how it can be converted into a games room

She saw Arjun, staring at a corner with a scared expression on his face and excitedly went towards him

'Paa... See what I found... Cool room isn't it...? Let's convert..... ' He began but Arjun looked at her angrily that scared her...

'What are you doing here...?' He gritted

'Paa... I... ' Ananya wanted to speak, but words ceased to leave her mouth, she never saw her Dad so pissed off...

'You are here as an intern Ananya Thapar, you are not supposed to enter the restricted areas of the office, even your brother can't come here... ' He yelled at her

Ananya's eyes filled with tears and Sash held her
'Bhai... Please... She is a kid... She doesn't know... ' He said

'Take this girl out of my sight, Shashank... All of you... Get out from here...!' Arjun yelled and everyone followed his instructions

Arjun took one last glance of the basement and walked out of it..

'Who gave her the keys of this room...?' he asked his assistant

'The Receptionist Sir... ' He replied

'Fire him... ' Arjun said angrily

Ved looked at his father scared and his secretary was confused
'Sir...?' he asked again

'Do as I say, or I will fire you' Arjun threatened him and his assistant nods scared

'Lock the damn place.... ' he ordered and angrily walked away from there and everyone looked at him shocked

Ananya was sobbing holding Deepika who was trying to calm her down...
It was the first time ever that her father yelled at her...

'Deepika beta.. Take Ananya back to the house and Ved you come with me... ' Sash said

Ved caressed Ananya's hair and looked at Deepika...

'Drive safe... ' he said and Deepika nodded and walked towards the parking lot, holding Ananya...

Thapar's residence
Evening...

Ananya was still crying holding her teddy bear

'Beta don't cry, You know Papa didn't mean it...  He loves you, you know that... ' Naina said caressing her face and wiping her tears

'But I just opened the basement Maa, I didn't break or damage anything... Why did he yell at me like this... ' Ananya sobbed

Naina didn't reply at this...

'Sometimes I don't understand what's wrong with Paa... I mean it's just a basement... ' Vansh said

'There must be some reason bro, Big dad doesn't get angry without any reason... ' Aayan said

'I won't talk to him... ' Ananya cried

'Ananya... Don't say like that... ' Naina said trying to calm her down, but she continued crying

'Why were you trying to become 007....?' Aayan said

'I just wanted to see that place... ' Ananya said

'There are lot of places in Delhi, you can see... Why that stinky basement...' Aayan argued

'I wanted to make it a game room for employees so that they enjoyed working in our company... ' Ananya countered back

'What if you met your long lost brother in there...? The Basilisk....' Aayan argued and Vansh, Deepika chuckled

Ananya puts her teddy aside...
'You mean I am a snake... ' Ananya said angrily

'I didn't say it explicitly but you accepted it.. ' Aayan smirked

'Maa... See... He always says mean things.... ' Ananya complaints to Naina

'Atleast you stopped crying... ' Vansh said and Ananya realised he did it again...

She looked at Aayan who smiled and she smiled back, wiping her tears

Arjun walks into her room, followed by Ved and Ananya holds Naina, hiding behind her

'Tell him to go away Maa...' Ananya said slowly

Arjun felt bad for his behavior and also that his princess was now hiding from him

'Princess I came to say sorry... ' Arjun said

'I don't want your sorry.... I won't talk to you.... ' Ananya hugged Naina tightly

Arjun looked at Naina helplessly and she gave him an assuring look...

'Princess, please listen to your Paa for once... ' she said kissing her forehead

Ananya looked at her mom, who smiled wiping her tears and then at her father who was hopefully looking at her

'Listen Ananya, I know I shouldn't have shouted at you like that... But you shouldn't have gone inside that basement... That place is.... *Looks at Naina, who holds his hands* Not good... '  he said holding Naina's hands

'Why ? What's wrong in that place...?' Ananya asked

'Something very horrific happened there.... *holds Naina's hands tightly* Before you guys were born... Just remember that, the basement is out of bounds understand....?' he looked at all the kids there

They had so many questions to ask, but didn't ask because of course Arjun was not ready to talk about it...

'I am so sorry beta, I promise I won't be angry on you ever after this... ' Arjun said caressing Ananya's tearstained face

'You don't know, how much it kills me inside when I see you like this...' His voice cracks

Ananya hugs her father tightly and others smiled

'I love you Paa... ' She says

'I love you too my princess... More than anything else in this world... ' Arjun said kissing her head

Vansh looked at his father and sister and tears formed in his eyes..

It's been years, that Arjun hugged him like this...

He was not jealous of Ananya, but wondered what went wrong, That his father left him like this...

He quietly walked out, wiping his tears, without anyone noticing him..

Arjun looked at Vansh's retreating figure and whispered
'I love you too my kid... ' and wiped his tears...

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A/N
Hey guys
What do you think is Arjun's problem...?
Do let me know in comments section
Love
ASM