Next day..
Raizada Mansion..

Arnav returned home after his jogging. He was going towards his room when Anjali came on his way. He halted on his steps, staring at her with his one eye brow raised in a questioning look.

"Good morning," she greeted him with a small, awkward smile. If he really cares  about her, then it's time she also takes a step forward to make their relationship better instead of just behaving like strangers living under the same roof.

"Good morning," he replied, looking at her weird.

"Voh.." she thought for a moment on which topic to touch to start a casual conversation with her brother, "Yesterday you called me to look after Khushi. She's better now, but unfortunately, she called off her engagement." Anjali said with a sad pity tone.

"Maine pucha hai? (Did I ask you?)" Arnav asked with a tone that hinted that he was not interested in knowing about her friend's private problems, little did Anjali know that he was the one who got detailed information directly from Khushi last night.

Anjali felt embarrassed. She cursed herself mentally for starting a conversation with him. When she turned to leave, his stopped her suddenly. She turned with a hope that he would start a conversation now with her, but what he said and the tone he used made her feel pissed off and upset with him.

"Listen.. I only allowed Miss Gupta to be your friend, not her ex-fiance. I don't want to see you around that guy," he said with a commanding tone, which irked her even more.

She looked at him frowning, "Don't forget that I'm your elder sister, Arnav. You can't order me like this and expect me to follow your rules like a puppy."

"Alright.. do whatever you want," Arnav shrugged, "We will have this conversation again."

"Thanks, but no thanks! It's my fault that I tried to initiate a casual conversation with you despite knowing your cold and cynical attitude," Anjali said irritated. She didn't wait to hear another word from him as she walked away from there.

*****************************************

At the kitchen..

Anjali leaned her back on the kitchen counter as she folded her arms, sulking and sharing what happened to Mohan Kaka, who was instructing the cook what to make for breakfast today.

"See, I tried Kaka.. but he always shows this arrogant, bossy attitude to me, which I don't like at all.. he's the same as Mom and Dad. I don't know why you keep singing praises of him," she said, furrowing her brows.

"Be a little patient with him, bitiya. He just came back recently from London after so many years. Give him some time to open up to you," Mohan Kaka shifted his attention to her as he explained with his usual soft, affectionate tone.

"Kaka, I really admire this quality in you that you're able to see goodness in everyone. But please understand, Arnav is changed now.. he's not the same 5 years old, little innocent boy who used to stay with you. He has grown up to be a ruthless businessman like Dad. He followed Dad's footsteps. Khushi perfectly described him, Rakshas!" Anjali said.

Mohan Kaka frowned slightly as he lowered his eyes, not wanting to disrespect his employer's daughter. He muttered, "I don't believe in all this. I know he's changed, but my Arnav beta is not a Rakshas (monster)."

Anjali sighed, knowing she won't be able to change the elder's man mind about Arnav. He's still stuck in his past only.

*****************************************

AR office..
Sometime later..

Khushi was cleaning Arnav's desk while thinking, "Thank God I reached before Aman in the office. Otherwise, he would have created a scene after seeing me. At least I'm safe here. He won't have the courage to step into this floor after Boss's warning. Speaking about him, I must do something to convey my heartfelt gratitude towards his gestures yesterday night. If I try to thank him personally, then that Rakshas.. ohho.. I promised I won't call him Rakshas anymore. Then what should I call this complicated man who helps people and then behaves coldly afterwards with them? Hmm..  Mr. Cold Light.. yes, I will call him Mr. Cold Light from now onwards."

She chuckled softly at the name she thought for Arnav while a few sticky notes on his desk caught her attention, her smiled widened as she finally found a way to convey her feelings to Mr. Cold light without being interrupted rudely by him.

She quickly grabbed a pen and wrote on the note, 'Thank you for last night :).', attaching the sticky note on a random notebook she found and thought it would be easily visible to him.

Arnav walked in the cabin a few seconds after she was done, giving her a mini heart attack as she resembled a deer caught in the headlight with her wide, fearful hazel eyes walking backwards.

"Are you alright, Miss Gupta?" Arnav asked in his usual stern tone.

Khushi melted while thinking to herself, "Aww, Mr. Cold Light isn't as cold as I thought. He's such a sweet boss. He wants to know about my health condition."

She nodded her head vigorously, replying to him with a smile, "Yes, sir."

"Then why do you look like you still haven't regained your consciousness, and you're sleep walking here?" he asked with a deadpan face while walking around the table to reach his chair.

Khushi face fell when she understood the sarcasm in his tone. So he was making fun of the way she walked backwards with her eyes widened in shock and fear, and here she was thinking he was being kind and gentleman by her asking her about her health.

"If you're not sleep walking and you can hear me now, then you're allowed to leave Miss Gupta," his voice reached her ears as she rolled her eyes without getting noticed by him and walked towards the door to leave his cabin. 

When she left, Arnav kept his bag on the desk, and the yellow sticky note attached to his notebook caught his attention. He brought the notebook close to him so he could read what was written on the note. After reading the note, he looked up at the TV screen to see the owner of a clear, pretty unique aesthetic handwriting style focused on her laptop, mostly probably organising his schedule for the day.

"Other people avoid coming close to me, and she looks for a way to communicate with me," he muttered to himself, shaking his head.

Arnav looked down again at her note for a moment before detaching the note from the notebook and took his pen, scribbling something down on her note.

*****************************************

A few minutes later, Khushi was ordered to come inside the cabin with Aina Singhania, who had just arrived at the 15th floor after being summoned by Arnav.

Khushi greeted Aina with a smile on her face as they hurriedly made their way to Arnav's cabin. 

Aina greeted Arnav politely and stood straight behind a chair, waiting for his orders. Khushi was standing next to her, wondering why she was called here in the first place.

"Is he planning to replace me with Aina? Oh yes, it makes sense now. He called me here to inform me that he doesn't need me anymore and Aina is going to take my place as she was already working here as his father's PA. Aiyoo, was this his sweet revenge against me? Anjali Di came to take me yesterday, and I left without informing him. Then he saved me when I fainted, he bought food for me, he dropped me home and accompanied me to the door, he agreed to sell Mr. Sinha's guest house to me so he could finally crush my dreams the next day by firing me from this job," Khushi bit her nails nervously, overthinking. When she noticed Arnav narrowed eyes directed at her, she stopped biting her nails and kept her down immediately.

"Miss Singhania, I called you here because I -"

"Aap rehne dijiye.. I'll myself announce one more misery added to the mountain of miseries happening in my life. I, Khushi Kumari Gupta, am being fired from my job for not having sufficient qualifications and skills for this position. And you'll be replacing me, Aina!" Khushi said with tears brimming her eyes, feeling humiliated in front of them. She was already sensitive due to the recent circumstances in her private life, but she still tried to be strong and wake up for a new day with a new hope and goal in life only to be fired from her job like this. She turned to face him with her accusing filled with unshed tears, eyes, and cute angry pout, "And it's very cruel of you to fire me like this. Why didn't you fire me when I wanted to submit my resignation letter? Why did you make that deal with me and agreed for me to pay you in instalments with my own salary if the next day you were planning to fire me?"

Even hurt and angry with his actions, she was cautious enough not to reveal details of their deal in front of Aina.

Aina stood like a statue, glancing at them awkwardly and clueless in this situation.

"Give me the termination letter.. I'll sign it!" Khushi pouted, extending her hand to him.

Arnav broke eye contact with her as he glanced at Aina, "As you can see, Miss Singhania. This is why I called you here. I'm going to assign you with this task to give proper formal training to Miss Gupta for the PA position. You can discuss further details with the HR Department regarding your remuneration."

"It will be done, sir," Aina nodded her head assuringly. She wanted to laugh at this embarrassing and awkward situation for Khushi, who ended up misunderstanding her Boss's intention, but she remained composed in front of Arnav, planning to have an informal conversation with Khushi at their lunch break later on.

Khushi's mouth opened in a big 'O' shape as she looked at Arnav numbly for a moment. While she was still letting her mind process everything that just happened and the embarrassment and regret for reaching to a conclusion even before hearing what he said was slowly taking over the shock, relief and happiness she was feeling at the moment, Arnav had his eyes fixed on Aina for now as he explained to her what he needed from her during this training process.

"It might just take two months for this training. Miss Gupta already knows the basics, and she's quick to learn and adapt in the corporate environment," he said.

Khushi felt her cheeks heating up with the compliment she received from her boss and the embarrassment she was feeling for acting impulsively and blaming him without even hearing what he had to say.

"Hayee.. Mr. Cold Light, Aina ke samne meri tareef kar raha hai aur maine isko kitna kuch bura bol diya (Mr. Cold Light is praising me in front of Aina, and I said so many bad things to him)," she thought, staring at him guiltily.

"We will start with training today itself. I've a meeting in 30 minutes with the head designer regarding our new clothing line, so I'll need you to accompany Miss Gupta and guide her in the conference room," Arnav informed.

Aina nodded her again, and Arnav allowed her to leave his cabin.

Khushi gulped once she was left alone in the cabin with Arnav. She was already getting ready to apologise to him as she opened her mouth to speak, when he shouted at her angrily, making her flinch.

"What is this behaviour, Miss Gupta?"

"I'm.. I'm extremely sorry. I thought - " Khushi said, lowering her eyes. Her heart was beating fast now.

"Shut up. Keep your stupid excuses to yourself," Arnav cut her off rudely, "Didn't I tell you to behave formally in the office? And next time, don't show me your tears... you're not a child anymore. Learn to control your emotions and your mouth before I regret my decision to keep you here."

Khushi nodded her head with head lowered ashamed of her behaviour.

"Take this to scan and send via email to me and leave," he said, handing a few documents over to her. Khushi took it from his hand, and she walked away from his cabin upset. She just wanted to run to her bhaiya and hug him tight, and cry in his arms. For someone who has been pampered and showered with love all her life, it's so difficult to mask her emotions and be tough while dealing with this different world from her choti si duniya.

As she was about to place the document on the scanner, she noticed her sticky note attached to it. She took it note of the document and squinted her eyes, trying to read what was written below, "Hain? What  keede makode handwriting is this?"

She expressed herself loudly without realising Arnav had just walked out of cabin and heard her describing his handwriting as 'keede makode'. He narrowed his eyes at her coldly to hide the offended face he had before she noticed his presence.

Khushi wanted to disappear from earth now with the increasing number of blunders she keeps committing in front of her boss and inviting a termination letter to herself now.

She bit her lips, hiding the sticky note between blank paper while she hurriedly started to scan the documents he asked for.

Arnav walked around her desk as he reached near the glass wall that had around one metre distance from her desk and from where he could have a beautiful grand view of Mumbai city.

Khushi discreetly peeked to see what he was doing behind her. When she confirmed he wasn't checking on her or had his eyes on her, she turned back to focus on her work. He was just appreciating the view. She thought.

Arnav took out one cigarette from his packet as he lit it and placed it in between his lips, staring at the city through the glass wall with his emotionless dark eyes.

Khushi started coughing when the smoke odour hit her nostrils. She looked behind at Arnav frowning slightly, then looked ahead at the printer, shaking her head disappointed to see a young man like him prejudicing his health like this by smoking.

Standing on the same position, facing his back to her, he turned his face sideways when he heard her cough. Sighing, he walked near her desk, standing behind her as he threw his unfinished cigarette into the silver steel dustbin and kept his cigarette packet on his pant pocket.

Khushi was feeling nervous when she realised he was standing close behind her. When she turned to look at him and saw him throwing his cigarette in the dustbin, she looked up at him and asked indignantly,  "Aapne padman ka ad nahi dekha kya? (Didn't you watch padman ad?)"

"What?" he frowned, making it clear he had no idea about the existence of such an ad.

Khushi shook her head, reminding herself she had no right to lecture him on the ill effects of smoking. She whispered, "Kuch nahi.. sorry."

"Unbelievable," he muttered to himself as he walked away from there, heading towards the elevator.

When he disappeared from her sight, Khushi searched for her sticky note again, giving up on trying to figure out what was written there. She took a picture of the note and sent it to Shyam's WhatsApp chat,

Khushi: Bhaiya, please ask the pharmacist near your shop to read this for me! 🙈

Shyam: Whose handwriting is this?

Khushi: Mr. Cold Light, aka my Boss. I don't understand anything he wrote with this keede makode handwriting. Maybe the pharmacist will be able to read this as they're used to reading doctor's prescription 😂😅.

Shyam: Titaliya
.. seriously 🤣
Shyam: It will look weird and embarrassing to ask a pharmacist about your boss handwriting note. But let me try to see if the person I'm acquainted with is there or not.

Khushi: Thank you, bhaiya 😁🙈🩷.

Shyam: You okay, na? Are you feeling weak, dizzy, or something? Don't lie to me!

Khushi: Yes, I'm fine, bhaiya. Don't worry about me.

Shyam: Aman? I hope he didn't bother you.

Khushi: No. I've not met him yet. I reached first and I'm on my floor since the time I reached. He can't come here because my boss has already warned him not to create a scene here.

Shyam: But don't stay hidden or afraid of him Titaliya.
Shyam: You have not done anything wrong. He's the one who should feel ashamed to face you.

Khushi: Ji bhaiya.

Khushi kept her phone aside as she focused on her laptop to finish the remaining work before they head to the meeting. She was still thinking about the recent incident that took place in Arnav's cabin. And the more she thought about it, the more she felt bad and ashamed.

"I don't know what happened to me that I acted so impulsely and immaturely in front of Mr. Cold Light. Urghh.. Devi Maiya why does this happens to me everytime? That too in front of him.. you know how much I'm trying hard to impress him to save my job.. but still I'm failing miserably. I just don't know how to control my mouth, I always end up saying what's in my heart in front of others without thinking with whom I'm talking to. Well.. at least, he praised me and didn't scold me in front of Aina, that's a bit less embarrassing!" she thought while sending the scanned documents to his email.

*****************************************

Sometime later..

Khushi and Aina were making preparations in the conference room for the meeting. And soon after they were done, Arnav and the head designer, Sheetal Kapoor with her PA, Aman Mathur entered the room.

Khushi was getting uncomfortable and disturbed by Aman's presence. She almost forgot he's assistant of the head designer of AR. She looked at Aina and started discussing about the previous meeting notes to prepare the minute of the meeting to avoid any kind of interaction with Aman.

While Aman kept staring at her like a love sick puppy, he approached her and took a seat beside her chair, calling her with a urgent desperate guilty tone, "Khushi."

Khushi looked at his side and shifted in her seat uncomfortable, she moved a bit away from him while warning him with eyes to not create a scene in their workplace. 

"Miss Kapoor, isn't it better for you to ask your PA if he will assist you during the presentation or if he wants to sit and watch you handle the presentation alone?" Arnav asked sarcastically to Sheetal.

Sheetal looked at Aman incredulously, signaling him angrily to come forward and help her.

Khushi sighed in relief and concentrated on what Aina was explaining to her during the meeting.

*****************************************

When the meeting ended, Arnav was the first one to walk out of the conference room, followed by Sheetal and Aina who had an urgent task to complete.

Khushi also collected her phone, laptop and notebook and hurriedly walked to leave as she realised everyone left and she was alone in the conference room with Aman.

Aman came on her way when she was about to leave, he closed the door behind making Khushi furrow her brows as she looked at him angrily, "What are you doing? Open the door Aman otherwise I will scream, create a scene and you will lose your job."

"Please I beg you.. listen to me first, Khushi," he joined his hand in front of her with moist eyes.

"I DON'T WANT TO LISTEN TO ANYTHING YOU HAVE TO SAY.. OPEN THE DOOR NOW!" Khushi shouted. Yes, she was feeling scared of his sudden act of closing the door of the conference room with only the two of them inside, yet she was acting tough and fearless in front of him.

"Okay.. okay.. don't shout.. I'm opening the door.. calm down.. I won't harm you," Fearing that she might create a scene that will cost his job, Aman nodded his head vigorously while quickly opening the door for her.

Khushi glared at him before hurriedly walking out of the conference room. But he didn't give up yet, he came running behind her, "Khushi.. I'm really sorry yaar.. at least let's be friends.. you might need my help to face this corporate world."

It was this moment, Khushi mentally thanked Arnav for sending Aina to train her and she won't even have to take his help to understand how things work in office.

"I don't need your help," Khushi replied while walking forward without even looking at his face who was walking fast trying to match up with her steps.

"I didn't mean it like that Khushi.. now you're taking wrong meaning of everything I say.. I'm not a bad guy, trust me please.. everyone makes mistakes.. so did I. Why are you punishing me so severely like this? Can't you give me another chance? At least accept my friendship.. I'm not any Rakshas for you to hesitate to give me another chance."

Khushi halted on her steps, irritated with his clingy and stalker behaviour, "Don't you know how to give time for the wounds to heal Aman? Do you really think we can normally behave like friends after everything that happened? I don't know about you, but I can't fake and pretend everything is alright between us. I need some time alone. So please, for God sake, stop following me and trying to talk with me, especially in my workplace."

Aman nodded his head and he said with a soft pleading tone, "Okay. I promise I will respect your space. But you also promise me, during this time, you will think properly about us.. you won't give up on us so easily. Take the time you need to heal your wounds. I'll be waiting patiently for you."

"And you will respect my decision?" she asked.

Aman nodded his head, "Yes. Of course, I will respect your decision. But please don't make hasty decisions. Take your time to think about us, the bond we shared is too strong and beautiful to end like this."

"I'm glad you said you will respect my decision," Khushi said and he smiled a little like a good boy, "Because trust me Aman. I'm still firm on my decision. I thought about this carefully and no one influenced me to break off our engagement. It's true that I loved you a lot.. but I love myself more. I cannot spend my life with a man like you. I'm not saying you had to be perfect, of course, like every human, you also committed mistakes. But it's upto me to make a decision, if I want to accept the good and bad qualities in you as my life partner or not. And I chose to not accept it. I chose to not accept a man who questioned my character. I chose to not accept a man who manhandled me. I chose to not accept a man who can hurt himself to emotionally blackmail me into agreeing to what he wants. I chose not to accept a man who cares what society will say about a girl whose engagement broke. I chose not to accept a man who thinks he will easily find another girl to marry but I will suffer to find a suitable partner for myself."

Khushi finished with a determined tone as she walked away to leave feeling proud of herself that she had courage to face him like her bhaiya advice her to.

Aman covered his face on the verge of breaking down, "What will I do to bring you back in my life, Khushi? I need you. I can't live my life without you by my side."

He punched the wall angry with himself, "Why couldn't I control my anger yesterday dammit? If I had controlled my anger, then Khushi would still be mine."

*****************************************

Khushi reached 15th floor and headed towards her cabin, she took her seat and sighed, thinking about what just happened. Rubbing her chest to calm herself down, she muttered to herself, "Calm down, Khushi. You did the right thing."

As she was about to grab her bottle of water to drink, her phone beeped with a message notification. Dropping her idea to drink water, she picked her phone from the desk and read the message Shyam sent to her. Looks like he found the pharmacist who could read Arnav's handwriting.

'Miss Gupta, if you don't stop annoying me then you'll have to pay each instalment with interest to buy the guest house from me. Don't forget to come to my cabin to sign the contract before you leave work.'

Khushi read his message and shook her head smiling, "Cold Light kahike!"

Then she read the next message Shyam sent to her.

Shyam: Khushi sab thik haina? Why is he saying you'll have to pay with interest? I'm not getting good feeling about this deal.

Khushi: Yes, everything is alright bhaiya.
Khushi: Don't worry. We can trust Mr. Cold Light bhaiya.
Khushi: It's his way of talking.. he's always in his sarcastic mode 🤪.

Shyam: Fir bhi.. be careful please Titaliya. Don't trust anyone this easily. Be alert!

Khushi: Ji bhaiya. Thank you and your pharmacist friend😊. 

*****************************************

At Shyam's shop..

"What did she say?" Anjali asked.

"She says that we can trust your brother," Shyam replied.

"Khushi is innocent. I'm afraid what is Arnav's intention behind this. What will he gain by selling your parent's house to Khushi? My brother doesn't do anything without a solid reason," Anjali said worriedly. 

"I don't know, Anjali. But this is probably the last chance we have to get our house back, Khushi won't give it up so easily," he said, "And Khushi told me that when he made that deal with you and asked you to choose between friendship or Khushi's job, he was actually doing that to test Khushi's loyalty towards you. She said he cares for you. Then why are you thinking like that of him?"

"I don't know if he really cares for me or not. He doesn't even respect me as his elder sister. He has this arrogant bossy attitude which I hate because he looks like Mom and Dad when he starts ordering me what I have to do about my life. Now he wants to choose my friends too. He wants to decide who's good friend for me or not. It's feels suffocating to live with Mom, Dad and now Arnav," Anjali complained, upset.

"I understand your situation," Shyam said in a consoling way.

*****************************************

The office hours ended and Khushi was walking towards the elevator to leave when she heard a loud sharp voice, "Miss Gupta," that made her halt on her steps abruptly as she turned behind to look at the owner of the most intimidating voice she has ever heard!

"It's seems like you're not interested to sign the contract of your house," he narrowed his eyes, annoyed that he's the one who had to remind her about this.

Khushi gasped with wide eyes unable to believe she forgot she had to sign the contract before leave to home, she ran behind him, slapping herself on the way to his cabin.

Arnav handed the contracts for her to sign, it already had his signature on it.

Khushi took the papers from his hand and was about to sign it hurriedly but stopped when sternly ordered her, "Read the contract before signing, Miss Gupta!"

"I trust you," Khushi said trying to convince him let her sign the contract now.

"You're in hurry, you don't trust me," he corrected her.

Khushi pouted, "It's already late. I won't find rickshaw available to take me home."

"Take the documents home then. Read carefully before signing it. Tomorrow you'll give me one signed copy of it and keep the other with you," Arnav said as he turned back to sit on his chair.

Khushi looked at him smiling overwhelmed, "Thank you so much!"

"Do you want me to add another clause in the contract that includes interest as a payment term?" he asked sarcastically.

"Nahin!" Khushi chuckled, escaping from there with the documents in her hands.

A small smile appeared on his lips when she left.

*****************************************

Thank you so much for the response on previous chapter 😊 🙏. Tell me your thoughts about this chapter. Hope you're enjoying the pace of the story.

Any guesses for the reason Khushi gave Mr. Cold Light nickname to Arnav? 😅😅