Innocence has an indefinable beauty

For it never shouts out loud.

As easy as it is on the surface

It lets the deepest emotions count.

Your resolve starts to break every moment,

When you let the truth come to you

Until then it is an intricate mirage

And someday it will bind you too.

.

''Okay, Khushi. That's enough for the day.''

Alisha told an upset Khushi as the latter binge watched Netflix, with a bowl of popcorn, simultaneously shedding some tears that were now almost drying.

She sniffed as she looked at Alisha, Aly as she liked to call her and with a sweet little pout, she averred. ''Yes, you are right. I feel like my tear stock would end at one go today. I have to keep some intact for the time I get married and leave my maternal house.''

Aly rolled her eyes at her words and though she knew whatever happened this day at AR was not a good thing and for once she wanted to punch that ASR or whatever by herself, but listening to the hilarious words from the every-dramatic Khushi's mouth, made it hard for her to stifle her laughs.

But hey, that was Khushi.

She couldn't really stay upset over something for so long now, could she?

''Okay. Now go to sleep as soon as you finish watching your show, all right?''

Aly told her while Khushi nodded at her closest childhood friend with a smile and turned her gaze back to her laptop screen.

When Aly left the room, Khushi was quite engrossed in whatever she was watching until some flashes from this morning, when her monstrous boss had humiliated her in front of a crowd full of people.

She instantly shut her eyes tight, as if that would help her evade that bad, bad memory that was slowly getting etched to her mind, something she didn't like happening to her.

''Come on Khushi. You can't let this morning incident become a part of your memory canvas. It is your memory, and only you can choose what should be painted on that canvas. You had done this before too, then, what is the problem now? Don't let that Lord Voldemort with a nose get inside your head. It is as harmful as parabens in face washes!''

She gave herself a pep talk and let herself relax for a bit before she finally opened her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

When she knew she had settled herself, she once again looked into her laptop screen and averred mentally, ''It is all good. It will always be good. It is in my hands, after all.''

And the princess of joy was resuscitated from the little dark moment that the crude ASR had ensnared her in, this morning.

Because if his attitude and rudeness screamed volumes, her determination for retaining happiness surpassed all the demons.

However, unfortunately, for a certain Arnav Singh Raizada, happiness didn't really come easy.

Or maybe, he was too stringent on never even trying to find it.

And so, as another hour in late evening passed, he gulped down yet another shot of scotch from the glass, and poor Aman could only watch his boss cum friend torment himself with every peg he took.

.

.

''ASR! Isn't it enough already? How much will you drink?''

Aman couldn't stop asking, in a tone louder than his usual pitch.

But he was disappointed for the umpteenth time now as Arnav only spared him a glance before concentrating on his drink again.

They were sitting in the bar inside the Raizada Penthouse, which was magnificently decorated, and spoke vividly about the taste of its owner.

It was class apart, sleek, and the colors chrome, white and black dominated its interiors, however, the darkness that dwelled in Arnav's life and mind at the moment, every color, no matter how beautiful, could get overshadowed by it.

Aman felt horrible seeing him in this condition.

He knew everything that had happened since this morning, and he could see a live example in front of his own eyes about how Arnav was dealing with the news of his parents' divorce.

He also knew from the employees at AR how he had blasted Khushi in front of everyone, called her adjectives like ''incompetent'' and the poor girl had broken into tears before running away from the office.

Aman felt like he had to speak to Khushi to at least know if she was okay, but right now, his priority was his friend. He very well knew that the reason for Arnav's outburst on Khushi was the news that had pushed him to insanity and the way he was tormenting himself with drink after drink at this moment, he just wished there was something, or someone that could just restore his sanity.

''ASR! Please! It's enough!''

Aman spoke once again, this time in a low tone , deliberately to make a bigger impact and maybe he succeeded in his objective for this time, Arnav kept his glass on the counter and looked at him.

His otherwise emotion less eyes now emoted extensively—his pain, his agony, and his helplessness, along with his anger of course.

They were red and his hair was messy.

He raked his fingers through his hair in frustration and spoke in a voice that was loud and clear, yet etched with pain and rage.

''Why did it happen to me, Aman? Why do people LIE?! Why is everything in this world which you once considered to be real, so FAKE?''

Aman lowered his eyes knowing very well where he was coming from and he wished fervently that he had some answer to it. But Aman in general was a person who barely thought about life and its intricacies let alone speak about it.

But now, when he was in dire need of some words to pacify this friend of his, he was tongue-tied. He honestly didn't know what could bring back his best friend. The arrogant yet fun-filling guy who if not anything, at least cared about himself and those he loved.

But the man in front of him right now, was just a callous individual.

He was indifferent.

Because neither did he care about others nor himself.

So you couldn't even call him selfish.

Aman was only too lost in his thoughts when suddenly the loud sound of glass breaking greeted his ears and he instantly became alert and watched in horror as he found Arnav breaking the fine symmetry of glasses placed on the counter by throwing them harshly on the floor.

''ARNAV!''

He screamed out loud as in a jiffy he was next to him and held an exhausted Arnav by his shoulders, helping him stand straight, since the alcohol was making him dizzy.

''Leave me, Aman! I don't need anyone. You too can leave me, like my bloody parents.''

He spoke in a voice barely audible as he began to lose his balance slowly but Aman still held him to keep him steady.

Aman wished for some miracle to happen to pull ASR out of this miserable condition and without saying another word, he helped him walk towards his room, while Arnav kept murmuring something to himself, reeling in the negative impact that his parents' impending divorce made on him.

.

.

When Aman finally made him lay down on his bed, telling him to just sleep and nothing else, he could hear the sound of lightning outside the French windows and just wished in his mind with full dedication, ''Please let this storm pass from Arnav's life, quickly god. This guy doesn't deserve so much pain.''

He turned his gaze to look at Arnav, whose brows were still furrowed, as if he was miffed even in his slowly creeping unconsciousness state, but little did Aman know that the reason for his troubled face was not his parents this time, but a flash of a teary eyed Khushi from this morning, on whom he had shouted mercilessly in front of everyone.

''These designs are RUBBISH. Do you hear me?''

''You, Miss Gupta, are incompetent. So, if you don't want to hear some more words of appreciation from me, you can leave.''

.

His own words repeatedly reverberated in the back of his mind and with that came the constant flash of her crying face, something that he resented seeing in front of his eyes, the reason for it, even he didn't know.

And before he could even try to solve his dilemma, alcohol made its presence thoroughly felt as he lost his consciousness and drifted into a deep slumber.

**