When realization dawns

The day becomes path breaking

When you know where you went wrong

The results can be intimidating.

So muster up some courage

And just go with the flow

Because if you don't mend it right,

Your guilt would just never go.

.

And guilt is exactly what he felt at this moment.

For Arnav Singh Raizada, that emotion was something he had never witnessed before and now, at this very moment it felt like he was being pulled further and further into a quandary, which was a quicksand oozing with guilt.

''But it is not your fault! Who asked her to take someone else's blame?''

The prudent side of his conscience echoed, but for some reason today, the mighty ASR was not letting that side of his innate thoughts dominate his mind completely, because something from within him was constantly pricking him and ushering him to say something to her.

Something that he could never possibly imagine in his wildest nightmare, but it was just there.

Something like, ''I am sorr-''

''Damn it!''

Arnav muttered under his breath, his nostrils flaring as he recollected the scene from the office in the afternoon for the nth time now, and all he could see in front of his eyes was, her tears, her sad face, and the way she just simply ran away from the AR building, without saying a word.

He didn't really know why it was bugging him so much. The rationale that his mind was decked with in full swing told him that this is not the first time he had spoken rudely to an employee, and here she was just an intern. But then again, he himself couldn't deny that in the past few weeks this girl, Khushi Gupta had been a constant target of his perennial rudeness and anger, and somehow even he didn't know why it was so.

A part of him did know the reason though, but then again, the brutally arrogant person in him never wanted to verbally confess it to himself that he felt envious of the fact that she had something, something too precious, something that he had once considered his everything, when he had recently lost it all, and in the process, lost a huge part of himself too.

Brushing all the haphazard thoughts aside, Arnav simply made up his mind, thinking of it as the most legit thing to do, as he quickly took out his iPhone from his pocket, and dialed up Ana, his secretary.

She picked up right after three sings.

.

''Yes sir?''

.

''Hi Ana, I want Khushi Gupta's mobile number.''

.

''Umm, but sir, it is 8.30 PM now, office is long over. I-''

.

''That is NOT my problem! You have 5 minutes. Text me her number right away.''

.

And with that he just hung up the call, letting out a frustrated sigh.

He knew he was being unreasonable. Way too unreasonable, and this was not the way to speak to anyone let alone his secretary. Office hours were over long ago, and he himself was in his penthouse at the moment.

But..

''Hmph!''

He sighed in agitation yet again, raking his fingers through his hair, as he tried to calm down a bit. He didn't really know why he was even doing this. He could easily speak to her next morning.

''If she comes to office that is after whatever you did.''

Again a voice echoed inside his head, as if it was hell bent on making him feel all the more guilty for whatever he did.

Before he could just get up and smack the huge flower vase on the table in frustration, his mobile beeped and the incoming message showed a text from Ana.

Without wasting another second, he quickly unlocked his phone and read the message, and there it was.

Khushi Gupta's contact number.

.

.

It had been a completely bad day, and today Khushi just didn't feel like doing anything.

And when princess of joy, aka Khushi Gupta felt something like that, all she could was sit in her PJs, with a huge bucket of ice-cream, load it with chocolate sauce, and binge on it as if there's no tomorrow.

And so, today was no different.

.

.

''Khushi! I think you should stop! Too much of ice-cream is not good, you know.''

Alisha said to her, while Khushi royally ignored her best friend and kept relishing her ice-cream, and this made NK chuckle.

The girl was adorable.

.

''How is the preparation of the skit going, NK?''

Alisha asked her cousin, who was too busy watching Khushi, when he finally shifted his gaze to Aly and said, ''It is going just fine, dude! Don't even know how it would actually be!''

The mention of the word skit instantly grabbed Khushi's attention, as she looked at the cousin duo and with a mouth full of ice-cream, averred, ''Wow! Skit! Where? When? How?''

At that sight, NK couldn't hold is laughter anymore and in no time, he burst into giggles, his insides screaming, ''This girl is just super, super cute!''

Seeing him giggle, even Alisha starte laughing, and soon Khushi followed suit, not knowing the reason of this hilarity but joining the bandwagon anyway, as she always believed, whatever you do, more the merrier.

When he finally couldn't laugh anymore, NK finally regained some normalcy, and said looking at Khushi, ''Well, our company is doing a fundraiser event next month, so for that we are organizing various events, and I have been given the responsibility of the skit, but problem is I have to act in it too.''

''Then how is that a problem? I don't understand!'' Khushi replied, honestly.

''That's because I have stage fright Khushi. And I can't back out of the responsibility assigned to me, since my colleagues would blast me for being such a chicken!'' NK admitted.

Khushi stood up from the spot, her attention to her favorite ice-cream all faded as she came and sat exactly close to NK, and said in a voice full of conviction,

''Well, first of all, you won't back out! Not because if you do so, your colleagues will think you are a chicken, but because this event is for a good cause, and if you think your stage fright should stop you from doing it, then you should consider those unprivileged people who live with the fright of everything, because they are not as lucky as us. They fear even waking up the next day, not knowing what to eat, what to wear, or if they will even live another day, because of poor health. So, NK.. your stage fright or any of our fears are much less compared to the misery of these people! So don't be afraid and it will all go good, okay?''

.

.

Her words were like magic to NK's ears, who for a second forgot completely that he even had any stage fright.

Was this what Aly always said about Khushi being this epitome of optimism, who could turn a dull dark day into a bright and lively one?

''Definitely.''

He said to himself, making Khushi quirk her brows, to understand what he meant.

NK only shook his head with a smile and looking at her replied, ''That was.. that was amazing Khushi. Really. Thanks! It really motivated me. Hope you will help me out though. In preparations for the skit?''

''Of course! That's a given NK!''

And with that Khushi flashed him her million dollar bright smile, before heading towards her room, leaving a sheepishly smiling NK behind.

This girl, was really, really special.

.

.

Khushi had only entered her room when suddenly her phone started ringing, flashing an unknown number.

Normally she never received calls from unknown numbers, but now that she was working as an intern, she knew she might get calls from some people about work.

And so with the fifth ring, she finally picked up.

''Hello?''

.

For some odd reason, Arnav's heart skipped a beat as soon as he heard her voice.

He had heard that voice so many times, at office, yet at this point, when he knew that she was yet to know it was him on the other line, her voice just felt.. different.. something so melodious, something so soothing.

.

.

''Hello?!''

.

She repeated but there came no reply.

'What the hell Arnav? Speak up!'

His conscience admonished him, but no matter how much he tried to open his mouth, he just.. couldn't.

'All you need to do is say sorry, and keep the phone!'

His conscience yet again screamed, but on the exterior, he could do nothing.

.

''When you don't want to talk, then why are you even calling? Or are you a confused soul who wants to talk but can't talk, wants to say something, but can't say something? Make up your mind!''

.

'WHAT THE!'

He screamed mentally.

'Kya cheez hai ye ladki? Ise kaise pata, ki main yehi soch raha hoon?' (What is this girl? How does she know what I am thinking?)

He asked himself quizzically.

''Hello?!''

She reiterated.

And before he could finally open his mouth, he heard some other voice on the line say something,

''Hey Khushi! Something wrong with the phone?''

He heard a female's voice ask Khushi on the other line.

''No Aly! Some confused soul wasting his time! Shayad ghar mein maa-behen nahi hai!'' (Maybe he doesn't have mother or sister at home!)

.

''What the!''

This time Arnav averred verbally on the phone, but a busy Khushi talking to Alisha totally missed his words.

Before Arnav could say anything further, he heard the same female voice say to Khushi,

''Ah, don't waste time with such people then! Anyway listen, we are going to Dusk2Dawn Night club. Richard insisted it to be our second date. So you also come, because NK is saying he will come only if you come.''

.

To Khushi, it was a normal friendly conversation, that was very common between her, Alisha, as well as NK, but for the mighty Arnav Singh Raizada, it proved to be a little prick for reasons unknown, as he heard the words from some ''Aly'' as Khushi referred to her, which still continued to echo in his head, ''Because NK is saying he will come only if you come.''

And that made his blood boil.

Why?

He didn't know.

.

''Okay, cool. I will come. Let me change.''

And those were the last words from Khushi that he heard on phone before she completely disconnected the line, making a sudden eerie silence take over the air, as he blankly stared at the walls of his grand room inside the penthouse.

Letting out a deep sigh, he once again dialed a number on his phone and as soon as the person on the other end picked up, he said politely, ''Hi, Mr. Johnson. I am sorry I won't be able to make it to your dinner party today, I am not feeling so good.''

.

After exchanging few more words, he hung up the call, and dialed another number.

The person on the other end picked it up just at one ring, and Arnav commanded, ''Get the car ready driver.''

Hanging up the call, he picked up his Armani jacket, as he looked at his reflection in the mirror, before exiting his room, to go to a certain nightclub called 'Dusk2Dawn.'

**