"Ved, look at this photo. She is very pretty. She is an interior designer. You both will look together." Ved looked up at his grandmother in frustration.

How many times will he have to repeat that he isn't interested in marriage. Marriage and love are only for fools. Look at his mother. His father had destroyed her. All for love.

His mother's love for his father and his father's love for other women! It was a total disaster.

"Dadi, please don't spoil my mood in the morning." Ved said through his clenched teeth as he glared at the photos spread in front of him, wishing his eyes had the power to burn them down with a single stare.

"Oh my god! How can the faces of these pretty girls spoil your mood, Ved? They would only brighten up your day." His aunt, Daya said with a teasing smile.

"Aunt Daya, you know I am not interested in marriage. Stop forcing me for heaven sake. Please.." He pleaded looking at his aunt and grandmother and stood up to leave.

"Mayur, I am leaving for the office. Will you be joining me??" He asked his younger brother, who was still leisurely having his breakfast, enjoying his elder brother's misery.

"Of course of course I am coming," he said and they bid bye to the two ladies and also to his mother who was coming down the stairs.

She had stopped drinking after her husband's death a few months ago. And Ved hopes like hell that she wouldn't start again. He has had enough with his mother's addictions.

"Bye Maa," the brothers kissed their mother on the cheek before going out of the house.

"Karan bhaiyya called," Mayur said.

"How is bhabi's brother??" Ved asked. Karan and Naina had gone out of town for two days to visit Naina's younger brother, who is staying in a boarding school, doing his twelfth grade..

"Hale and healthy. He said they would return tomorrow evening," Mayur said.

"That's great."

Late Rajvansh Khuranna and Kalyani Khurana had two children. Dhatta Khuranna and Daya Khuranna. Dhatta got married to Ambika and Daya was married to Alok. Daya became a widow at a very young age and after her husband's untimely death, Daya returned to her parent's home with her young son, Karan. Ambika gave birth to Ved a year after Karan's birth and then to Mayur five years later. The three boys grew up together as Khuranna boys.

*****

It was four in the evening and Ved felt the beginning of a migraine.

He pressed his fingers against his forehead and started massaging it to relieve the pain. It was slowly getting unbearable.

"Are you okay?" The sickeningly sweet voice reached his ears and Ved gritted his teeth in annoyance, seeing his PR head Tanya Kapoor making sheep eyes at him.

She's damn good at her work or else he would have kicked her out of his company long back.

"You want something, Tanya??" He asked in his usual cold voice he uses with people outside his family.

"I just came to show you the response to our new Villa project. The PR campaign we did in collaboration with the Talent Eye Ad Agency is a success. The bookings have already started." Tanya said smugly. Of course, the PR campaign was her idea and she would look damn smug when it got a success.

"Good," he said in a dismissive tone. What is there to be smug! He is paying her a huge amount for the work she does.

"Do you need something VK? A coffee? A painkiller? Or a massage??" Tanya asked and Ved looked at her icily.

"I need some peace which I am sure I will get once you get out of my office," he said in a dangerously calm voice.

Tanya scrambled out of his office faster than an express jet.

"I think I should just go home." Ved mumbled to himself and stood up from his chair, collecting his things.

*****

Ved had taken a detour into a pocket road to avoid traffic.

He stepped on the break harshly when a whirlwind of yellow came in front of his car.

"What the hell!" He cursed as he unbuckled his seat belt and came out to see a young girl standing in front of his car, her fists clenched together and head bent down.

"Didn't you get any other vehicle to commit suicide?" He asked angrily. He was already having a headache and he didn't want to add more to it.

The girl looked up and all breath left his lungs at once. He felt a breeze skim through his skin and heard the sounds of a bell ringing. He literally felt the cupid's arrow strike square at the centre of his heart.

"Oh my god! You are so tall. And you are wearing a suit. Just like the hero in my serial," the girl said and her voice felt like music to Ved. Then he frowned as he processed her words.

"What?" He asked, confused. Serial?

"Oh lord. It's half past four already. How will I reach home in half an hour?" She talked looking backwards and that's when he realised they are in front of the Lord Shiva temple his grandmother and aunt usually comes to.

Of course that's where the bell came from, Ved. His subconscious mind said sarcastically and he ignored it.

"You need to be somewhere in half an hour urgently?" He asked curiously.

"Yes yes. It's very important that I reach home before five. But it will take more than half an hour to reach my home." She said with an adorable pout.

Ved opened his mouth to respond but she didn't let him.

"It's all because of that Munnu. He hid my sandals and I only got it now," she complained about some Munnu and Ved could only stare at the pretty girl talking to him as if he was her next door neighbour.

"Uh! I can drop you home if you want," Ved said awkwardly. He was shocked by his own words. He had never offered a girl a lift before. Not even to any acquaintances. And here, he is offering to drop a strange girl home.

"Really? You would?" He was awarded with a heart blinding smile.

"Haa," he said, quickly nodding his head.

"You are so kind," she said, looking at him with so much gratitude.

Kind? Me? Ved blinked his eyes in wonder.

"Not at all like the hero in my serial, though you both are tall, wearing suits and have big cars," she said happily skipping towards his car.

Hero in the serial? What the hell!

And how can she be so naive to get into a car with a total stranger.

What if she gets trapped with the wrong people.

Ved felt his heart stop for a moment at the thought of his sunshine girl in danger.

Your sunshine girl? How the hell did this girl become yours? His alter ego asked sarcastically and Ved again ignored it.

Ved quickly opened the car door for her and she looked up at him sadly.

"What happened??"

"I don't know how to drive a car," she said with a pout.

"It's okay. You don't have to drive," Ved said.

"Then who will drive??" She asked curiously.

"Of course I will."

"How will you drive sitting here," She asked pointing at the passenger seat and that's when it clicked Ved that she thought he opened the door for himself.

He chuckled and asked her to get in.

"Where is your home?" He asked once he got into the car and she gave him the directions. On the way, she talked nonstop, without taking a break and Ved for the first time in his life, enjoyed listening to nonsense.

They stopped near a housing colony.

"Thank-you so much. If you hadn't dropped me home I would have missed the retelecast of yesterday's episode. The thing is we have load shedding here at the time my serial is aired, so I couldn't watch it yesterday," with that said she got out of the car and skipped forwards and got lost in the crowd of people.

Ved stared at her disappearing figure in disbelief. Retelecast of a show? That was her emergency? He chuckled and then cursed himself when he realised he didn't even ask her her name.

"Damn! How will I see her again!"

A/n

Here goes the first chapter of my new story!!

Guys check out my more chapters of this story on stck.me...

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Love,
SF