Part 2 The girl again

Arnav was driving the car. He was going to meet the old owner of the company he bought as that day was the final settlement. He was driving the car, following the location shared by the old owner. When he entered the particular area, he saw a small boy rushing, looking behind, turning his head again and again fearfully. The boy looked so cute but why does he look scared? That's when Arnav saw a man following him.

Arnav wanted to help the boy immediately... he felt to protect the boy at any cost. He didn't know why. He stopped the car and blocked the man, getting down from the car. The boy who was running saw the scene and stopped running.

"Who are you? Why are you chasing the boy? Arnav asked.

"Sir, it's none of your business... he is my relative. We are just playing" the man said.

"No, sir... he is lying" came a soft voice from behind Arnav.

Arnav looked behind and found the same boy saying.

"Is he not your relative?" Arnav questioned the boy.

"No, sir. He is not my relative..." the boy said firmly.

"Why does he follow you?" Arnav asked.

"He is not a good man, Sir. He troubles my Mom a lot" the boy said angrily.

"shut up... you little creature..." The man tried to reach the boy.

Arnav clutched his caller and looked at the man loath fully.

"Don't you have shame? A little boy is complaining about you... and you are trying to show your arm power on him..." Arnav said gritting his teeth.

"Why are you losing your temper, sir? Who the boy is for you? I have been following him for many days... no one dared question me ever before..."

"So? So what if anyone questioned you ever before? I do... I will definitely do. I will call the police if you do it again" he warned.

The man shrugged his hands off and walked away.

"thank you, sir..." The boy said.

"Mention not. What's your name? Where are you going?" Arnav questioned him.

"My name is Abimanyu. I went to play with my friends as today is a holiday. No, I'm going back to my home" he said.

"Shall I drop you home, Abimanyu?" Arnav asked with concern.

"No, thank you, sir" he dined that wondered Arnav.

"Who is the man? Why did he follow you?"

"He is not a good man, sir. He follows my mother too..." he said annoyingly.

"Don't your Dad know about him?" Arnav asked.

"My Dad is not with us..." he said in a feeble tone.

"Oh... is he working somewhere away from Delhi?" Arnav asked him another question.

He nodded no.

"Sorry, sir... my mom scolds me if I say anything about my dad to anyone. She is very strict..." he said feeling sad.

"Your Mom must be right somehow. You should obey her words... at least you have Mom..."

"Don't you have?" Abimanyu asked.

Arnav nodded no.

"Are not they alive?"

"Don't know whether they are alive or not" Arnav never liked to talk about his parents. He doesn't know why he was talking about them to the little boy.

Abimanyu looked at him pitifully.

"Ok, don't leave home alone. Take someone with you to avoid such problems" Arnav advised him.

"I have no one except my Mom, sir" he felt sad again.

"Oh... ok, go home carefully"

"Ok, sir. Thank you for your help"

"You are welcome," Arnav said.

He got inside the car and waited until Abimanyu vanished from his sight. He felt something in his heart for the first time, seeing the boy. He felt like he was seeing the LITTLE version of himself. The boy looked like HIM. his attitude, speaking style, his smile, everything looked like him. He thought something and shrugged off his thought. Starting the car, he left the place.

..........

The final settlement of the company got over. Arnav and the old owner of the Marco Software company signed the documents.

"All the best, Arnav" The old owner shook hands with him.

"Thank you Mr. Sethi" Arnav smiled.

"What's your plan?" Sethi asked.

"I would like to change the company's name to UNIQUE Software."

"Ohh... that's nice" Sethi appreciated.

"Thank you and... I have been decided to continue with your old staff" Arnav said.

Sethi's face lightened.

"Wow... I will be thankful to you for the decision. You know Arnav, I was so worried about my old staff. I so wanted to settle them in some ways... thank you so much for the decision. Don't worry. The workers are really hard workers. It was me who made a few mistakes and faced loss" Sethi talked genuinely.

Arnav nodded yes.

"As you are going to continue with the old staff, I would like to say about a few of them. Firstly, my PA Khushi Gupta. I don't want to say anything about her but want you to witness her talent by yourself. She is so talented but a little rude... talks very less but positive. Your day will be refreshing if she is around you"

"Is it?" Arnav said thoughtfully and obviously, he thought about the girl he met in the hotel.

"Yeah, secondly, Aman, the manager. You can never find such a dutiful and loyal worker ever. These two are enough to make you feel your decision right" Sethi said hopefully.

"As you say, Sir"

"May God bless you to get all the happiness, Arnav"

"Thank you, sir"

Arnav took his leave. He came out of his residence thinking about Khushi and Aman. He wanted to meet them. He felt strength because he knew nothing about his new company staff. Now, as per Sethi's statement, there are a few good workers in the company. Let's see.

That's when he got a call from a house broker. He attended it.

"Yeah..."

"Sir, there is an apartment, up to your expectations sir"

"I don't want an apartment. I want an individual house" Arnav said.

"Then no problem sir... there is a house for sale. You can see that"

"Share the location. I will be there"

"Ok sir"

They disconnected the call. Arnav waited for him to send the location. He started the car, taking U-turn. He came to the same area in which he met Abimanyu in the morning. He saw the house that was told by the broker. Arnav liked it.

"I like this house. I will take it. will do the registration after I got the encumbrance certificate" Arnav said.

"Ok, sir... as you say," the house owner said.

Arnav left the place with satisfaction. He rode the car with a smile as he liked the house... Buying his own house was his dream. It's going to come true. He stopped the car pressing the brake as he saw the same girl he met in the hotel. He rushed to her and stood in front of her, folding his hands. She jerked and composed herself. She looked here and there.

"What are you searching for? Policemen?" Arnav asked teasingly.

"Won't you get the sense even after I taught you a lesson?" she asked.

"Lesson? What lesson did you teach me? the policemen didn't even touch me you know" he said with a soft smile.

"so? Do you think you can escape all the time?"

"Escape? Am I an accused or what?" he asked mockingly.

"What do you want? why are you behind me?"

"I just want to offer you a job..."

"Job?" she asked unbelievably.

"I heard you talking on the phone about losing your job. So, thought to offer a job"

"I had never seen such recruitment ever in my life... only you can recruit a staff in the middle of the road." She said sarcastically.

"yeah... it's because I don't want to miss an optimistic girl like you"

"Thank you so much... but I don't want your job" she took a step away.

"Hey, listen..."

"Mister... go away from my path. Seemingly I'm a nice person, but I'm a worse person you can imagine..." she warned.

Arnav noticed her hand opening the bag. He frowned, seeing her doing that.

"Are you going to hit me with pepper spray?" he asked.

She was horrified because that's what exactly she was supposed to do.

"I will surely hit you with the pepper spray if you don't leave" she warned.

Shrugging his shoulders off, Arnav moved away, giving her space to go. He stood all smiling, looking at her retreating figure. She was rude but it's not wrong. Trusting a stranger is not good but raising a pepper spray is not too much? Arnav walked to his car smiling. Don't know why he felt bad for missing the girl. He already had a crew. Still, his mind wandered the girl.

To be continued...