Shyam's shop..

"Shyam beta, please arrange that hair oil I asked you.. my wife really needs it," one of Shyam's regular clients pleaded as he was about to leave the shop after he was done with his weekly grocery shop.

"Don't worry, uncle. I'll arrange the hair oil for your wife," Shyam blinked, his eyes assuring at the elder man while keeping the money in the cash drawer. 

"Theek hai beta. Have a good weekend," The man waved him at him, smiling and walking away from there.

Shyam smiled warmly at him, but then Anjali walking in his shop caught his attention. He stopped smiling when he saw her and left the cash counter, pretending to organize a few products on the shelves.

"Hi Shyam!" Even though she noticed he ignored her and walked away when she approached him, she still greeted him with a sweet smile on her face, following him wherever he was going to keep the products in his hands.

"Hello!" Shyam curtly replied and walked to another display rack.

"Won't you talk to me? What happened, Shyam?" she frowned slightly following him, "I guess Khushi told you everything, and you're thinking bad about me now."

"What do you think? My sister wouldn't tell me anything?" he turned to her.

"Shyam, please listen to me for once," she pleaded, "I'm just trying to help Khushi."

"Help? Seriously?" Shyam chuckled in disbelief, "My sister doesn't need anyone's help, Anjali. And especially help from those who are trying to pressure her into giving a second chance and marrying that coward. I am always by my sister's side, even if the whole world is against her. You know what... I'm really hurt by you. I didn't expect this from you, Anjali. You were there with us... you saw everything with your eyes, you are also a woman, and you still think that my sister should give that man another chance."

"Yes, I think she should give Aman a second chance because I believe he loves her a lot. He's changed.. and you know, what he did is actually not a big deal as you're making it to be.. he said those hurtful words to Khushi in the heat of the moment.. he didn't actually mean it.. he was angry, and we all must have said something in anger, which we regret later.. it's not only him. He was hurt that day because Khushi didn't say anything to him that she wasn't going to resign. And you've to agree that if that one person who you love the most in the world and you're going to get married to her soon doesn't share such a big thing about her life then you would be hurt too, Shyam. That's what happened to him.. he just expressed his hurt and disappointment in the wrong way, but it doesn't mean he was wrong in all senses.. and it also doesn't mean he doesn't love Khushi and doesn't deserve to get a second chance. And you've got to admit that it's quite normal for man to express their hurt and disappointment in anger."

"Maybe it's normal for you as you live with two men (Arvind and Arnav) who may share some common traits with Aman, but it's not normal for me as I was raised by a man who taught me to respect women even when I'm angry. My father was never like that, and I've never treated a woman like that when I'm angry or hurt. In my family, we never expressed our anger or hurt by questioning each other's character and mistreating the ladies in our house and we also never expressed our love by banging our heads against the walls, hurting ourselves and crying like maniacs," Shyam said irritated with how Anjali dismissed the entire incident that happened that day as something normal.

Anjali's eyes filled with tears as she stared at him hurt and offended by his words. Shyam instantly regretted including her father and her brother in the conversation, knowing it might hurt her as she wasn't on good terms with them.

He raised his hands to cup her face and wiped the tears in the corner of her eyes with his thumbs gently, "I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry. I didn't want to hurt you. But please understand, Anjali. I won't tolerate you justifying Aman's behaviour. He was wrong, and you just can't keep justifying his wrongdoings by saying he was in anger and he still loves Khushi. I saw my sister shivering in fear that day, I saw her struggling to sleep for days, and I saw her panicking whenever she heard his name. She fell sick. She cried every night, sometimes hiding from me. I don't want this incident to repeat ever again in her life. She is moving on in her life, she's working, she has got a new aim in her life that is to earn money and get our house back from your brother, she's making new friends, she's enjoying these new experiences in this corporate world.. please let her remain like this and enjoy this new and different phase of her life.. don't keep reminding her of her past and pressuring her to give a second chance to Aman."

"This is your problem, Shyam. You think what you're doing is right, and we're all wrong. Do you even realize that Khushi might be hiding her feelings for Aman because she is afraid of you? You are the one she respects a lot and will always obey your decision. You didn't even give her a chance to think properly and then give the final verdict on the matter. You had already decided that she should call off the engagement, and under your influence, she reacted impulsively and broke off the engagement that day. Have you ever stopped to think what if Khushi is still in love with Aman, but she is scared to admit it to you knowing what your reaction would be?” Anjali asked him seriously.

Shyam withdrew his hands from her cheek as he seriously said, "She doesn't have any feelings for him anymore. If that was the case, she would have admitted to you that she's still in love with Aman. After all, you're her best friend. But she didn't, na.."

"It might be possible that she was scared to tell me about this because she thinks I'll say this to you," Anjali said, "Do you really think it's possible to fall out of love with someone she loved so much after you in such a short time?"

Shyam sighed, "I don't know, Anjali. Khushi herself assured me that she had moved on from Aman. I think after seeing that man's true colours, she's unable to love him the way she loved him in the past. I really don't know if there's any possibility my sister would lie to me about her feelings. I'm her best friend. She always shares everything that's in her heart and mind to me. Nowadays, she doesn't even mention Aman's name at home. It's always Arnav she keeps talking about."

Anjali's facial expression changed to an irritated one as soon as Shyam mentioned Arnav, "You better warn Khushi to stay away from Arnav. He's like my father, rude, arrogant, and controlling. You won't believe he wants to decide who I should be friends with or not and who should I talk to or not.. it's getting really annoying and suffocating to live in that house with my parents and him now."

Shyam shook his head, "I can't. Khushi doesn't like to hear a word against him, and I already made her upset with me yesterday. So I won't say a word now about her relationship with her boss. And I agree that I didn't like him much due to his attitude and arrogance, but I can't really ignore the fact that he has helped us a lot. He gave us the opportunity to get her parents home back, and there can be nothing more valuable to me and Khushi than this."

"See the double standards here.. you're willing to forget Arnav's wrongdoing because he helped you get your parents home back, but you're not willing to forgive and forget Aman's one mistake even though he has helped and been there for you and Khushi even more than Arnav ever did," Anjali pointed out staring at him in disbelief.

"Anjali, please.. what do you want me to do? Force Khushi to get back with Aman now.. Khushi already announced her decision. She doesn't want him anymore, and we should respect her decision only," Shyam looked at her getting irritated with her pestering.

"What if I prove it to you that Khushi still has feelings for Aman?" she asked.

Shyam rolled his eyes, "I don't know. I will see what can be done.. I will think about it."

Anjali smiled a little, hopefully, "Okay. Then give me some time, and I'll come back with proof to you that these two are still in love with each other."

"Can we stop talking about this topic now?" he asked, annoyed.

"Yes!" Anjali nodded, changing the topic, "How's life going on now?"

"It's going good except when people like you keep coming and pestering us, not letting us move on and forget the past," he said in a taunting tone.

"Oh.. so I'm disturbing your peace now," she said with a hurt tone, "It's okay.. I'll get going then.. and I won't bother you and Khushi anymore," she forced a smile on her face, then turned to leave when Shyam held her hand and pulled her closer to him.

They were standing close to each other. Anjali lowered her head to hide the tears in her eyes from him. Shyam looked down at her as he tried to maintain his composure, "Dekho.. I'm still upset with you. And I'm definitely not in a good mood after hearing your thoughts regarding Aman. I'm sorry.. I don't want you to go away forever, but I think for now you should leave.. otherwise, I'll hurt you with my words."

Anjali looked up at him with her eyes filled with tears. This is why she can't afford to lose this man in her life. He's so respectful and caring towards her, even now that he's upset with her. He doesn't even know the battles she's fighting to stay with him for a lifetime. On one hand, she will have to convince her parents to marry him, and on the other hand, she will have to reunite Khushi and Aman for him to accept marrying her.

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

AR Office..

Khushi shrugged with a slight frown formed on her forehead and a pout on her lips, staring at the chocolate on her table while muttering to herself, "Why should I go to explain my boss why I accepted this chocolate from Aman? He's free to think whatever he wants about me. I'm not going to explain myself. If he thinks I'm going to melt and give Aman a second chance just because of this chocolate, then let him think that day. Hmph.. The audacity of this man to speak as if he knows me more than I know myself."

She looked up at the camera installed in her cabin set up and glared at the camera, showing her clenched fist as a gesture that she was ready to punch the man who's probably watching her through the CCTV live footage.

"Excuse me!"

Khushi was caught off guard with the voice behind. She immediately put her hand down and turned to face the person, feeling embarrassed. She forced a smile on her face to hide the embarrassment she was feeling, "Yes. Good morning."

"Voh.. Namaste.. Good morning," the lady holding an one year old baby girl in her arms greeted her with a shy, timid smile on her face.

"Namaste," Khushi said, smiling at her, "How can I help you?"

"Voh.. I wanted to meet Arnav Malik. He called me here," the lady said.

Khushi frowned, slightly confused, "Arnav Malik? Maybe you're mistaken.. My boss name is Arnav Singh Raizada!"

The lady smiled a little, "Yes. He's the one I'm talking about. My father works for him and his family as their house servant. That's why I called him Malik!"

"Oh.. are you Mohan Kaka's daughter?" Khushi asked to confirm. She knew Arnav wouldn't call this lady to AR unless if she's related to someone important to him. The only person close to him, who is also working as their servant, is Mohan Kaka.

"Yes. Do you know my father?" Payal looked at her surprised.

Khushi nodded her head, "Yes. We first met here, and then fate made us meet more times, and that's how we became friends. Your father is such a good-hearted and sweet person."

Payal smiled, agreeing with her, "He surely is."

"I wish we could talk a little more, and I could play with your cute baby girl.. but my boss must be watching me, and if he finds me talking to you, then my job is at risk.. so you can sit here comfortably while I go and inform him that you are here," Khushi said with an apologetic smile as she stood up from her chair and took a few steps towards Arnav's cabin.

Payal nodded at her and then found an empty chair near her desk to sit with her daughter, who was playing with her mother's duppata even now.

Khushi hurried towards Arnav's cabin as she knocked on the door twice and heard his voice allowing her inside. She opened the door of his cabin and took a few steps forward, "Sir."

"Speak Miss Gupta!" he said in a commanding tone while typing something on his laptop.

Khushi narrowed her eyes at him, thinking to herself, "Look at him.. he's treating me differently now. He's not even looking directly into my eyes right now. It seems he is still angry with me because I took the chocolate Aman offered me. I don't know why he is being affected because of this. That's my problem. He has nothing to do with it. I am the one who will deal with Aman the way I want. Why is he getting mad at me now?"

"Miss Gupta, do you really think a PA who stands dumb in front of me is of any use to me?" Arnav looked up at her, irked with her silence.

"He's speaking as if he doesn't know why I came here. He clearly saw everything through the cctv live footage and still acting dumb," Khushi thought, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at him.

"Voh.. Mohan Kaka's daughter is here. She said you called her here," Khushi informed him.

"Mohan Kaka's daughter?" he raised his one eyebrow and asked in an intimidating tone.

Khushi gulped, "I'm sorry. I forgot to ask her name."

"I think I'm wasting Miss Singhania's time because it is clearly noticeable that you didn't even learn the basics in training. You can receive chocolate from your ex in my office. You want to punch your boss in the face through the camera. And you can even get the information that the lady standing outside my cabin is Mohan Kaka's daughter. It seems like you have a lot of time to spend on your stupid things. But when it comes to work, you forget everything!" he said in a taunting tone.

Khushi's eyes widened. She almost let out a gasp when she realized he watched her making gestures like she wanted to punch him on his face.

However, she quickly composed herself as she was standing in front of her boss, lowering her eyes ashamedly, "Sorry, sir. I won't repeat it again."

"Really?" Arnav asked mockingly, "I'm not your genie, Miss Gupta. Don't take me for granted. You need this job. Take this seriously. Otherwise, it won't take me long to replace you with something worthy of this position."

Khushi wanted to say many things to him. She wanted to make him realize that he was exaggerating in his reaction, not because of her lack of professionalism in these two situations, when she forgot to ask Mohan Kaka's daughter name and when she wanted to punch him through the camera, but he was venting his anger on her because she accepted the chocolate from Aman.

But since she was talking to her boss right now and not her genie called Arnav ji, she kept quiet and nodded her head with lowered eyes.

Arnav got up from his seat and walked out of the cabin to meet Payal. Khushi followed him and walked to her desk, muttering to herself, "I'm the one who lacks professionalism. Why doesn't he look at himself first? Why is he commenting on my personal life? If I accepted the chocolate or not from Aman, it's my problem.. not his. As my boss, he doesn't have any right to comment on this, but still, he concluded that  my heart is melting for Aman because of this chocolate. And instead of doing his work in his cabin, he has time to watch my every move every time through that TV installed in his cabin. I wish I could say it all on his face and make him shut his mouth. Cold Light kahika."

Payal immediately stood when she saw Arnav in front of her. She smiled nervously at him, "Namaste Malik."

Arnav frowned, "Seriously Payal? Is it Kaka who taught you to call me Malik?"

Payal blinked her eyes with a faint smile, "Things have changed. We grew up, and now I understand the difference between us."

Arnav shook his head in disbelief, and then his eyes fell on the little baby girl in her arms. He looked up at her questioningly.

Payal understood his expression, and she nodded her head, smiling, "She's my daughter."

"What the.. Kaka didn't tell me anything," Arnav expressed his shock on getting to know his childhood best friend is a mother to a baby girl now.

Khushi shook her head, watching his curse in front of a kid, "No manners at all. Look what he's teaching to a kid," she muttered to herself.

"Oh.. maybe he forgot," Payal said.

"I admit that he is getting older now, but I don't think he has reached a stage where he has forgotten his granddaughter's existence," Arnav said sarcastically with I-don't-believe-you look.

Payal chuckled lightly at his comment.

After this, Payal requested to use the washroom, and after getting permission, she gave her baby for Arnav to hold.

Khushi watched him holding the baby in his arms reluctantly and petrified. He didn't move an inch and kept staring at the baby as if she were an alien. Perhaps he was scared if she started crying for her mother after realising she's in a stranger's arms.

Khushi suppressed her lips to stop herself from laughing at him for holding a baby as if it's a pipe bomb and not a baby in his arms.

She watched him sweat as the little baby began to cry upon realizing that her mother was no longer near her. Khushi rushed to help him as she took Aman's chocolate from his table and walked towards them. She signalled Arnav to give her the baby to hold. Arnav sighed in relief as he quickly handed the baby to Khushi. He felt like a big weight was lifted off his arms.

Khushi smiled teasingly as she gently rubbed the little baby's back to calm her down, whispering sweet nothings to her.

"I wasn't raised around babies, that's why I'm unexperienced in handling them," Arnav shrugged, providing a justification to her after noticing her teasing look.

"I can see that," Khushi pressed her lips, resisting the urge to make fun of him and laugh at his face right now.

Arnav instantly changed the topic to cover for his embarrassment, "Make her stop crying now," he ordered.

Khushi pouted, narrowing her eyes at him as she rocked the baby who was sobbing in her arms, "I'm trying!"

"Yeah, yeah. I can see that," he said sarcastically, copying her line.

Khushi shook her head and then shifted her attention to the baby. She started waving the chocolate near the baby's face, and this trick worked as the colourful chocolate wrapper caught the baby's attention, who stopped crying and gazed intently at the chocolate in Khushi's hand. The little baby raised her tiny hands to grab the chocolate from Khushi's hand.

Khushi gave the chocolate to her, staring at the baby fondly, and kissed her chubby cheeks.

She glanced at Arnav, who had his eyes fixed on her and the baby in her arms till now, "It's take a chocolate to melt babies heart, not mine! They're innocent, and they fall into our adult tricks. But I'm not going to fall into Aman's tricks anymore."

Though he didn't say anything and stared at her with a stoic expression on his face, his heart did melt at the way she chose to make him understand her thoughts.

Seedhe Saadhe Saara Sauda Seedha Seedha Hona Jee
Dear, all deals should be simple

Maine Tu Ko Pana Hai Ya Tu Ne Main Ko Khona Jee
Either me to get you or you to lose me

Payal came back, and she walked straight to her baby, staring at Arnav and Khushi apologetically, "I hope she didn't bother you two."

"No. She cried when she realised her mother wasn't around, but then the chocolate managed to keep her distracted," Khushi explained, smiling as she gave the baby back to her mother. The little baby giggled, flaunting the chocolate to her by waving it on her face.

"Oh.. this is why she's so happy now," Payal said.

"What's her name?" Khushi asked.

"Roshni!" Payal replied.

"Cute name like the owner of the name," Khushi said, pinching Roshni's cheeks. Roshni giggled, jumping in her mother's arms excitedly.

Arnav decided to break silence from his side and asked Khushi to bring tea and snacks for Payal. Payal denied saying she just came to visit him and she was leaving now, but he insisted that she stay back and have tea before leaving.

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

When Khushi came back to the 15th floor with a tray filled with tea and snacks for the guest and a special black coffee for Arnav, she found Arnav, Payal and the little Roshni sitting in the lounge chairs near her cabin. The awkward silence was visible between them. It's mostly due to Arnav's nature. He doesn't open so easily to anyone. That's why he was finding it difficult to get into a simple normal conversation with Payal.

Khushi walked to them and kept the tray on a small circular shaped table. She asked Payal to make herself comfortable, and then she picked the coffee cup from the tray and extended her hand to Arnav, handing the coffee to him. She stared at him with her loving, captivating hazel eyes, whispering to him, "Arnav ji.. your coffee!"

Aaja Dil Ki Kare Saude Baazi, Kya Narazi
Come, let's do this deal of hearts. Why are you upset?

Arey Aa Re Aa Re Aa
Come on, dear

Arnav took the coffee cup from her hand. Their fingers brushed, and their eyes locked for a brief moment. Her handmade coffee acted like a sweet balm that soothed his heart and made his anger vanish into thin air.

Khushi didn't need words from him. She understood that they were okay from the moment he accepted the coffee she made for him. She walked back to her desk with a sweet smile playing on her lips.

Payal observed how even after Khushi went to her desk, Arnav didn't take his eyes off her while having his coffee. She couldn't help but think if there was something going on between these two.

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

The update took a long time because the first part had more of Anjali & Shyam. And I didn't want to make you wait for a long time to have less of Arshi in the update. But here it is.. I hope you guys like it. Do comment your thoughts and press the like button 🩷.