It's a chaos, it's a mirage,

When hundred trials fail.

For you to distance yourself from someone,

And you just go on following the trail.

What is it so magnetic?

The push and pull so fierce,

What is this sweet danger?

That the universe has begun to conspire.

.

Patience never really came naturally to him.

And how could it?He never really had to wait after all, for anything in life.

Money, recognition, status, girls, power- all of it came so easily to him, and why not? Being the oldest son of the Raizada empire came with its own offering of riches and rejoice.

But it would be undermining his skills if one had to say, he didn't do anything on his own. For very little people understand that even if everything comes easy to you, it is always difficult to maintain it for a long, long time. And in that, this mighty man called Arnav Singh Raizada did succeed and how.

But then again, patience was never really his key.

He was a self-driven man of substance, and he got what he wanted by hook or crook. Waiting for something or someone was never his cup of tea, but lately everything revolving around his set of beliefs and principles had gone for a toss.

Since when you may ask?

Do you really need to ask?

Well, it was right from the very day, this girl called Khushi Gupta, who can very well be a namesake of extra honey and sugar, arrived in his life like a storm unwarranted, making him think so much about so many things at once, that sometimes his head just throbbed and he felt like shouting out loud to make it stop.

And currently, the situation was no different.

It had been a good twenty minutes that he had been sitting at a lone corner of the much-hyped nightclub: Dusk2Dawn, sipping from his glass of scotch at intervals, but his mind and sight was constantly settled upon the trio who sat not more than 20 feet away from him.

Though they were three in number, ASR's gaze was fixated only on one.

And that was quite obviously her.

Clad in a red dress, that had a V- neckline, plunging down quite a lot, in a way that it gave a slight view of her cleavage, and its length, well, it barely reached her thighs.

Arnav didn't know why, but as much as the sight of her looked hypnotic to him, he was also chiding her from the inside for wearing such a revealing outfit here, where so many people could see her, especially guys.

'Why?'

His conscience had asked him, but like always, he had shunned it off, with the lame reason being, it's a general perspective, not objective about her.

But who was he kidding?

His previous girlfriends had worn much more revealing clothes than what Khushi was wearing now, and he had only rejoiced and never really cared about sparing a look or concern for them, but here, he was affected as if something was pricking him from within at the thought of her being an object of other men's interest.

He brushed every thought away as he took another sip of scotch, and just to avoid her thoughts, given the fact that she vexed him so much right now, albeit unknowingly, he took out his cellphone from his pocket to catch up with some business mails....

Khushi had no clue that when she was sitting with two of her closest friends like any other day, chatting about random stuff, enjoying the music, she was under the constant scrutiny of her boss, Arnav Singh Raizada. Someone who she rather chose to call ''Lord Voldemort with a nose.''

Her days had been a series of ups and downs, all thanks to the same ASR, who had made her question herself every day, not her beliefs or positive thoughts, but the level of sourness that one person can hold within himself!

She sometimes wished they hadn't started off on such a bitter note, given her nature where she truly wanted to do something to help him, at least share with her about what's bothering him so much, that he's so bitter with everyone.

''Not everyone, just you!''

Her conscience had reminded her, and she had to agree.

Yes, he was a rude man by default in office, but no other employee or intern had to bear even half of the rudeness that was allocated to her kitty on a day to day basis.

And Khushi honestly didn't know what in the name of heaven did she do so wrong that he had to treat her this way.

''Oh, Khushi. Don't think about him again! Aly and NK have brought you here to cheer you up, and you're still thinking about him! Relax, Khushi. Breathe in, breathe out.''

She gave herself a pep talk to regain her composure, but she knew that somehow, her arrogant boss was constantly on the back of her head, and she didn't really know why.

She was only getting lost in her chain of thoughts once again when Aly's voice broke her reverie as she said, ''Okay guys, my date is here!''

A smiling Alisha stood up to greet her date for the evening as she went on to hug him, and Khushi smiled as she shook hands with the guy.

In no time, Alisha and the guy had disappeared into the dance floor, leaving only Khushi and NK behind.

NK cleared his throat as if to shoo the awkwardness away, as he stood up and offered his hand to Khushi, asking her for a dance.

Khushi was taken aback for a moment, not because it was awkward or anything, but she somehow needed some me-time to think more about that certain someone inside her head, since he had been bothering her so much. Sometimes physically, sometimes mentally.

But looking at the waiting face of NK, she knew it would be rude to brush him off, especially when he didn't even have a date for the night, and then, she didn't really see any reason to hesitate or refuse, and so with a smile, she placed her hand in his as he ushered her to the dance floor, and they began a slow dance.

Little did she know that this small move of hers had quite a huge impact on the mighty Arnav Singh Raizada whose dark brown orbs were now blazing fire as he saw that leech's hand placed on her waist, while she placed her one hand on his shoulder and they began to sway to the music.

He perhaps didn't even realize but his fingers had curled into a tight fist in his right hand, while his left hand held his glass of scotch tightly, but a little more pressure and that glass would have broken into puny pieces.

And that would have definitely happened had a certain voice not broken his state of fit and rage right at that moment, pulling him away from that catastrophic quandary.

''Oh my god, ASR! It is so good to see you!''

He shifted his gaze to see a tall woman with long curly hair smiling at him as she pulled him for a brief hug.

It felt as if he hadn't been here at all, since all this while it was only Khushi on whom his gaze remained settled and so seeing someone else right now, was both surprising, but a relief, because if that didn't happen, he would have most certainly created a scene here not less than 10 seconds ago.

''Hi Julie! Good to see you too!''

He greeted formally, as they pulled out from the hug, and exchanged some words for a good two minutes.

Julie was one of his business associates, with whom he had also shared a brief relationship over a year ago.

And while he often forgot about the women he dated, his charm managed to linger on them for long enough. And same was the case with Julie, who couldn't stop ogling at him, so intently, that it felt like she would eat him right away.

Arnav felt awkward under her gaze, for it didn't take a genius to know what that woman was thinking inside her head, and while other times, it would have totally satisfied his big fat male ego, right now, he totally had his mind and matter somewhere else.

''Speaking of which..''

His brain went a little hyperactive as he averted his gaze to the dance floor, but what he saw, vexed him so much instantaneously that his jaw clenched, and insides churned.

The leech was even closer to her as they danced, and if that wasn't enough, the guy was lovingly tucking a tendril of her hair coming in front of eyes, behind her ear.

Arnav didn't truly understand why did ANY of this have to bother HIM out of all the people? It was not like his employees or interns were his property!

Going by the work ethics and principles, he wasn't even entitled to have a share of opinion in whatever his employees did after work hours.

But whenever any of these logical reasons would strike his mind, all that his mind would say was, ''She is young and stupid. She doesn't know anything! I can't let my company's reputation falter, given that she can manage to do that easily with her extra dumbness!''

And at that moment, Arnav himself didn't know how dumb his own reasoning sounded. But now was a man's ego nudged with, and as much as he wanted to go and punch that guy right on his face, he tried to hold himself back, and without wasting another second, asked the ever-so-eager Julie, for a dance.

Like she could refuse!

She readily placed her hand in his as they proceeded towards the dance floor, much close to the couple who had all his attention until now to be precise, and right at that moment, it was the princess of joy aka Khushi Gupta's turn to be shocked beyond definition....

Khushi was dancing for the sake of it, although she was someone who had always loved dancing.

But today, her mind, her mood, her thoughts, were just not in any form of symmetry as she was lost somewhere.

In his thoughts.

Although hate was a huge word for her, that would always make her repel, today she sort of felt something a little close to hate, for herself, for being lost in that monster's thoughts, when all he had done was humiliate her, blame her, wrong her, for things she didn't do.

On one hand, she truly wanted to understand him but on another hand, she wanted to stay miles and miles away from him.

The man was both a warning and a welcome change. Welcome change, because out of all the people whose problems she had solved, he was one who never wanted to try, to hear her out, or to make things better himself.

And like they say, God can only help those who help themselves, and here this man didn't even have the will for anything good.

''Hmph!''She had sighed, unaware of the lost look on NK's face too, but little did she know, she was the reason for it.

The guy was simply lost in her beauty, but so oblivious was Khushi that when he raised his hand to push off the lock of hair disturbing her eyes, she didn't even pay attention to him.

But she was oblivious to even this fact that all of what was happening had the complete attention of Arnav Singh Raizada, who was fuming like fire at this sight and had soon come up on the dance floor, with his unplanned date, a tall woman with long curly hair.

And that's what Khushi saw, as she went aghast on seeing the reason of her haphazard thoughts, standing right in front of her, with that model-like woman in his arms...

It would be wrong if he said he didn't enjoy her reaction. Arnav couldn't help the smirk that surfaced on his lips on seeing a stupefied Khushi who looked like she had seen a ghost as she saw him and Julie together.

Well, Arnav didn't know why but it gave him a kind of sadistic pleasure on seeing her spellbound for a while, so much that the leech landing with her was asking her, ''What happened?''

Khushi didn't answer anything for a minute, but when the sound of music went one notch higher, her reverie broke, and she gave a faint smile to NK before resuming her dance with him.

Arnav was enjoying it all...

Amid all this, if someone was having the best time, it would be Julie and NK, with their respective partners after all. But the poor souls didn't even know, that though their partners were dancing with them physically, inside their head, their thoughts danced in sync only with and for each other...

NK twirled Khushi, making her giggle like a little kid, and that caught Arnav's attention once again as he frowned looking at the guy, and that stupid girl too, who looked like she had the best company in the world.

And so, he pulled Julie closer, taking her by surprise, and taking it as a sign of intimacy, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him extremely closer to herself, as she whispered, ''I was thinking, we should do something tonight that we did over a year ago, what do you say ASR?''

For Arnav, that was the last thing he wanted, as she got extra close to him and that proximity bugged him. Not because it was something immoral for him, but because this was not his agenda right now. Had it been any other day before, he wouldn't mind the proposition, but today, no.

''Well, I would have loved to Julie, but I have other plans. Sorry.''

He politely whispered into her ear, due to the loud music that made hearing difficult there. But this little exchange of words between them looked like an intimate kiss for onlookers, Khushi to be precise, as for a second the sight and the thought of it, rendered her speechless. She didn't know why she had suddenly stopped dancing, leaving even NK confused, and when he asked her what happened, she lied that she had to call Nancy as the latter would otherwise sleep in some time.

NK nodded with a smile as Khushi quickly descended the dance floor and went towards the other corner of the club, which was somehow the bar...

She honestly didn't know why whatever just happened bugged her so much. The guy was nothing but a nightmare for her from day one, and no matter how much she tried, he had always rebuked her for something or the other.

It was not like she didn't know about his lifestyle, about his beliefs. Then why suddenly was everything bothering her?

Up until now, he was someone who was only hell-bent on making her professional life miserable, and now, she had unknowingly given him the access card of twisting her personal life too.

And that made her really sad.

And so, without a second thought, like one of those chick-flick movies that she loved to watch, she asked the bartender for a series of vodka shots on the rocks.

Arnav had only refused Julie for her proposal of ''having it'' tonight by whispering his answer into her ear before pulling back when the sudden sight of her absence from the dance floor greeted him.

To say he was shocked, would be an understatement.

And what intensified his shock was the fact that even that ''leech'' was missing. His blood boiled at the thought of what this could possibly mean.

Them missing from the dance floor, together.

And he didn't have any reason for the lamest thought that greeted him next.I have refused one of the most beautiful socialites right now, and here, this stupid girl is missing with that leech!

''What happened ASR? All good?''

Julie asked, seeing him a little lost.

To which, he replied quickly, ''I got to go Julie. I have to meet a friend.''

''Oh okay! It was nice bumping into you today ASR. Hope we meet soon again!'' She kissed him on the cheek, while he just gave her a faint nod, before descending the dance floor.

.

.

''One more!''

Khushi asked for another shot, and anyone could tell, the petite girl was already high.

Guys were pretty obviously staring at the beauty she was, and anyone could lose their heart pretty instantly, more so at the sight of a drunk Khushi, who was extra cuter than her usual self.

''Yay! Khushi hates drinking, but she's drinking today! Khushi has become a bad girl!''

She started talking to herself, a little too loud for others to hear, that too in third person, and somehow, many found it extremely endearing...

Arnav had the vilest thoughts going inside his head about that leech and Khushi and he would have slammed anyone on his way right now, but suddenly the voice of Khushi caught his attention, making him halt on his tracks as he stood there with wide eyes before averting his gaze and there she was...

Tipsy, talking to herself, in the third person, like a two-year-old, while men looked at her with lusty eyes.

His nostrils flared at the whole sight and before he knew it, she gulped down another shot of vodka.

''This crazy girl!''

Arnav muttered under his breath before going towards her, but she was like this little mouse, who just ran out of the door in the blink of an eye, leaving not just Arnav but everyone else around stunned.

''Damn it!''

Arnav cursed as he too followed after her..

.

.

''KHUSHI!''

He shouted out loud as he was now at the parking area, but there was no sign of the girl who had been a reason for his turbulent thoughts for so many days now.

Perhaps even he didn't realize, that he was calling her ''Khushi'' so causally, instead of ''Miss Gupta'' like he always addressed her before.

''KHUSHI, where the hell are you?''

She shouted once again, but there came no reply.

''Ye ladki mujhe pagal karke chodegi.'' (This girl would really drive me insane). He mumbled to himself before suddenly spotting her sitting with her back against a wall, and her long legs were placed straight on the floor..

.

''Khushi loves the night sky! The night sky loves Khushi!''

''Khushi loves the stars! The stars love Khushi!''

She mumbled cutely to herself, as her hazel eyes twinkled under the moonlit sky. At that moment, two things happened.

First, Arnav breathed a sigh of relief on finding her safe.

Second, he rolled his eyes, courtesy, her dramatic words, and how much of a bad drunk she was...

''Khushi wants to go home!''

She said to herself, and Arnav couldn't help but chuckle at her. For some odd reason, her talking in third person looked strangely endearing to him.

He stepped towards her and was right in front of her, when she lifted her gaze to meet his eyes, and she instantly went rigid, and the words that left her mouth after that were pretty spontaneous.

''You scare Khushi. Khushi is scared of you.''

.

.

''What the!''

Arnav cursed, as the chuckle from a second ago wiped off from his face, replaced by a look of shock and annoyance, as she admitted that he scared her.

''Lord Voldemort with a nose scares Khushi. Khushi is scared of Lord Voldemort with a nose!''She admitted, and Arnav knew completely who this ''Lord Voldemort with a nose'' was and as much as it made him want to snap at her for disrespecting him, he knew it would be of no use, given that she was not even in her senses.

''Get up, Khushi! You are miserable right now!''

She gave her his hand as he said that, while Khushi refused to accept his help and held the wall for support and tried getting up herself.

''You hate Khushi. But Khushi can't hate anyone.''

She said nonchalantly, not realizing her words were heard by him clearly, making him tongue-tied all of a sudden.

''When did I say I hate her?''

He muttered to himself with a frown on his face, but he got only too little time to ponder, as the miserably drunk and tipsy Khushi started uttering something yet again, trying to get up from the floor.

''Khushi loves everyone. Everyone loves Khushi. Khushi loves Kunal too. But why can't Kunal love Khushi?''

.

.

The mention of the name ''Kunal'' made Arnav's eyes go wide in shock as he watched her struggle to get up, but his mind was suddenly caught in a haze, as her words reiterated in his ears, making his chest clench, for reasons unknown.

''Who is Kunal?''

He asked himself, but quite obviously he didn't have any answers.

But in all means, he could only come to one conclusion inside his head, courtesy her words, Kunal was someone she loved, who didn't love her back?

The thought itself was gravely infuriating for him, but little did he know that she was referring to her elder brother Kunal, but Arnav was not in a state to be calculative about anything right now, and the next thing that happened took both of them off guard, as Khushi's balance stumbled, and in a reflex, Arnav caught hold of her, from her waist, which his arm now encircled tightly, preventing her from falling, while all he could see was her face, her milky white complexion, glowing under the starry sky.

Her hazel eyes locked onto him, and for the first time ever, he saw something strange in them, something close to hurt and pain, but holding back so much, and before he knew it, her eyes closed as a tear trickled down her cheek, and she lost her consciousness, but not before whispering, ''Why does Kunal Bhai hate me so much?''

.

..

Arnav was in a state of daze, as she went unconscious right in his arms. He looked at her visage, that looked nothing but pure, nothing but serene, nothing but innocent, and nothing but beautiful.

Even with her eyes closed, she had the ability to hold anyone captive, and he was no different.As he finally lifted her in his arms and she cradled close to him like a baby, for the first time in months Arnav felt something.

Something that was inexplicable, but irreplaceable.It was something he had never felt before, in happiness or sadness.

He had been intimate and slept with his own share of women before, but never did he feel something like this, when any of them had been in such close proximity with him.

'What was this?'

He questioned himself, but the answer was far, far away.If only he knew, that the answer he was seeking for, resided right within him. It was his heart. The same heart that he felt was dead. But someone was here to join his broken pieces and revive him from the land of despair where he considered his life was all gone.

As he began walking towards a bench, with her in his arms, there were too many thoughts spiraling inside his head.

Out of which, one was about her words about ''Kunal.''

While the initial inference of him being some lover of hers had stabbed him, the relief of him being her brother soon came to his rescue.But despite that he felt anything but relieved, as her last words before losing consciousness played in his mind.

''Why does Kunal bhai hate me so much?''

..

So for the first time, this nonstop express of positive vibes had displayed a small chink in her armor, and he honestly didn't feel good about it.

Up until now, he always wanted to see her suffer because she had everything he didn't, but with her small confession in a drunken state, it did look like she had more than what met the eye.He sighed as he finally placed her down on the bench, sitting right beside her, holding her from her back so that she doesn't lose balance in her unconscious form.

He stared at her for what felt like an hour, but were only a few minutes, and he himself didn't know why, but the next words just escaped his mouth on their own accord.

''I don't hate you, Khushi.''

..

It was not a clarification, it was not a confession, and he didn't even mind the fact that what he said was going unheard as she was not even awake.

But it was a small assurance for himself, because it had irked him when he had heard her say that she thinks he hates her.

That was the last thing he could think of doing.A small smile adorned his face, as he was a little gratified on letting her know he didn't hate her, and himself too, but that was short-lived as in the next second, he heard two voices and saw the source of it too, as that ''leech'' and another girl came running towards the bench, their faces full of concern, as they held Khushi.

''Oh my god! Is she fine?''

It was Alisha who asked first and Arnav only nodded, before saying, ''Umm, yes. She had fainted after drinking so much. But she's fine.''

Both NK and Alisha looked relieved, while Arnav glared at NK making the latter confused as to what did he possibly do wrong.

''Thanks for taking care of her, Mr.-''

''Arnav. Arnav Singh Raizada.''

Arnav completed it for Alisha, while she gave him a smile before it rang the bells inside her head and she said, ''Oh, you're ASR, right? Khushi's boss? Owner of AR?''

Arnav simply nodded at that, before asking her in return, ''And you are?''

''I am Alisha! And this is my cousin NK. We are Khushi's best friends and she stays with us in my apartment here.''

She replied.

Arnav acknowledged that newly learnt information with a nod although he didn't quite like the fact that this leech called NK was also living in the same apartment as Khushi and this girl, and the next moment his anger resurfaced as he saw NK going closer to Khushi trying to lift her up, and he averred instantly, ''Wait!''

NK halted in his tracks looking at the man with a heating glaze and saw him take out his coat and wrap it around a sleeping Khushi, her low cut neckline of the red dress now covered, and if NK thought his state of shock was over, he was mistaken, as the next moment, Arnav said, rather curtly, ''You look drunk too! Your balance is dicey! Let me carry her to your car.''

Alisha found it really nice and gentlemanly, and inside her head, she was already planning to tease Khushi on being pampered by her extra-handsome boss, while NK was perplexed beyond measure, as he hadn't even drunk a drop of alcohol today.

But he could do or say nothing as he watched the tall, good-looking man lift a light, sleeping Khushi in his arms as Alisha showed him the direction of where their car was parked.

Arnav slowly placed Khushi on the backseat while Alisha was going to get the driver's seat, before Arnav stopped her and asked her to go behind with Khushi, and NK should drive the car.

Alisha had no problem with it whatsoever, given that she was already going ga-ga over sharing a talk with the handsome, most eligible bachelor in town right now, and she quickly, stepped inside the back of the car, keeping Khushi's head on her lap, while NK had to take the driver's seat.

Inside his head though, NK was wondering about how he deemed her to be drunk and he couldn't carry Khushi, but right now, he was allowed to drive despite being drunk?

He didn't get much time to give wings to his confusion though as Arnav disappeared from the site, waving them a formal bye, and Alisha only said, ''Oh, come on NK! Start the engine, for god's sake! I am sleepy!''

And so he did before the car sped away from Dusk2Dawn.

And for Arnav Singh Raizada, this became the first night after so long, that made him feel something, he could never put in words.

With a sigh, he too put his key into ignition as the engine of his SUV roared into life and he drove off from the nightclub.

**