"Couldn't stay away from me, Kushi?" Arnav asked, leaning back against the chair. The devilish smirk intact on his face.

Kushi pressed her lips in annoyance.

"Mr Raizada, some people do not have the luxury of choice. Nirnay lene ka vikalp humari aukaat mein kahaan hei Raizada saab?" Kushi asked sarcastically, stressing the word aukaat.

(Our status doesn't give us the luxury of choice Mr Raizada)

Arnav slightly flinched as he heard the word that he always used to throw at her, to show her her place.

How is he going to prove to her that her place is in his heart now?

Will she ever believe?

Well, Arnav Singh Raizada is no quitter. He will fight for this woman. Fight with the world and fight with her to win her back.

"Sit, Kushi" Arnav said with a soft sigh

"No thank you, Mr Raizada. If you could please tell me the reason why I was asked to come up, I can get on with my work" Kushi said in a formal tone much to the irritation of Arnav

"Stop with this Mr Raizada thing. It is so damn irritating. Call me Arnav ji. Like you used to. I love to hear that from your mouth" Arnav said, staring into her eyes and was awarded with the much loved expression of hers.

The three zeroes on her face.

Kushi stared at the man in disbelief.

He surely had hit his head somewhere.

Why else would he say things like that?

He is supposed to shout at her. Challenge her. Make her life miserable at work.

He is not supposed to say such flirty things.

Oh God! She couldn't control her heart when he was a monster. How is she going to control when he is set on being a romeo now?

Romeo? Arnav Singh Raizada?

What a joke!!

"Earth to Khushi" Arnav snapped his fingers in front of her face, startling her.

When did that man come here?

Kushi took a hurried step backward.

"Mr Raizada-"

"Arnav ji" Arnav stressed, taking a step forward

"Mr Raiza-" Kushi began to say, as she took another step backwards

"Arnav ji" Arnav stepped forward again

"Dekhiye, aap aage aana band kijiye" Kushi said, realising that soon she will hit the wall and will be trapped like always

(Listen, stop coming forwards)

"Tum peeche mat jao" Arnav said, raising his hand and tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

(You stop moving backwards)

Ye mat sochna ki ek amir aadmi tumhari payal apne seene pe lagakar baitaa tha.

Mujhe iss sabse koi faraq nahi padta.

It doesn't mean a thing

Shayad tumhare liye hoga.Tumhe tho laga hoga tumhari zindagi ban gayi. Mere liye uss baat ki ya tumhari koi ehmiyat nahi hei

Koi maini nahi rakthi tum aur tumse judi koi bhi cheez.

As soon as his fingers touched her face, all those hurtful words rushed into her mind and that was all the strength she needed to push him away.

Kushi placed her soft hands on his hard chest and pushed him.

Arnav yet again, didn't expect this and stumbled back a bit.

"Apne hadd mein rahiye Raizada ji. You are my employer. You are free to make me do any work here. But if you cross any limit, taking advantage of your position here, I will be forced to file a harassment case against you" Kushi said

(Stay in your limits Mr Raizada)

Arnav stared at her in shock.

Who is this woman?

Definitely not the one who bore with all his tantrums in the past. Though she questioned him and challenged him all the way, she always bore with his tantrums too.

He had one too many times manhandled her.

Right from the first meet.

Infact, eighty percent of their encounters had ended with him hurting her physically somehow.

Arnav suddenly felt ashamed of the man he was around her.

To punish her for making him feel things he didn't want to feel, he had hurt her in all the possible ways. Both emotionally and physically.

All he wanted was to get her out of his system. And he believed, once she was out of sight, she would be out of mind too.

What a fool he was to believe such a thing!

Distance had only made him yearn for her.

Once she stopped coming in front of him, he started yearning for her presence.

How is he going to find a way back to her?

He had succeeded in his mission of removing her from his life, and now he was struggling to get her back into it.

What an irony.

A knock on the door disturbed them from their staring match.

"Come in" Arnav called out.

Aman, who had been waiting outside, finally lost patience. He was too worked up about what must have happened inside.

Worrying about who killed who!

Walking in, he was surprised to see an expression less Khushi and a remorseful ASR.

Remorseful?

Did he read that right?

Uh! Possibly not!

It's high time he consulted a psychiatrist. He is definitely hallucinating things nowadays.

"What is it, Aman?" Arnav asked, as he walked back to his chair.

"Uh ASR. I just came to see if the new post is fixed. So that we can start with the works rightaway" Aman asked hurriedly

"New Post?" Khushi asked in confusion

So, ASR didn't talk about it yet, Aman thought. He must definitely have got distracted with some new thing to fight over with Khushi.

"Please be seated, Khushi. Aman will explain to you in detail" Arnav said

"Maybe we shall discuss this in Aman ji's cabin?" Khushi asked, wanting to get out of this man's sight as soon as possible.

Aman ji! Arnav hated it.

"Mr Mathur. Refer to him as Mr Mathur. He is your senior here." Arnav said, his lips thinned in annoyance

"Oh! That's alright ASR. I don't mind being called by name" Aman said earning a glare from his boss

"Did I ask for your opinion, Mr Mathur? I prefer my employees being professional with each other. Now explain things to her" ASR ordered and pointed the seats in front of him.