“"What the hell are you doing here, Aman?" ASR roared at the poor man, who was gobsmacked by what just happened.

"I- file- Khushi-" Aman stammered.

"Get out" ASR roared and Aman ran for his life.

Aman barged into Akash’s cabin without even a knock and Akash was shocked for a moment.

“Aman? What happened? All okay?” Akash asked, adjusting his spectacles, as he took in the very confused and lost Aman.

Aman plopped on a chair and took deep breaths.

“Water..” Aman got the words out somehow and Akash quickly opened the mineral water bottle and passed it to Aman.

Aman gulped down half the bottle of water without a break and Akash stared at him with mouth open.

“What is it, Aman? You look so lost” Akash said.

“ASR..”

“What happened to bhai?” Akash asked with a frown.

“I don’t know. Something really happened to him. Or maybe something really happened to me. I am confused” Aman said, confusing the hell out of Akash.

“Aman, don’t confuse me by talking in circles. Tell me what happened?” Akash asked in exasperation.

“ASR is behaving weirdly. Totally out of character” Aman said and Akash looked at Aman in worry.

What could have happened to his brother. Even in the morning when they left home, he looked absolutely fine.

“He behaves in an odd way whenever Khushi is around. Earlier, whenever she is within a mile radius, he would scream his head off, giving her hell. And now..” Aman trailed off, not knowing how to explain.

Akash sagged in relief.

“That’s it? You scared me, Aman” Akash said with a chuckle, as he leaned back into his chair with a sigh.

“You wouldn’t sit like this if you saw how he behaved. You would be more shocked than me” Aman said.

Akash chuckled. More shocked? No way! He got the shock of his life that night when his brother indirectly and unknowingly confessed in front of their entire family that he is so madly in love with Khushi ji. Nothing could shock him more.

“Well, Aman, gear up then. More shocks are awaiting you in the near future,” Aman said with a chuckle and a knock on the door garnered both their attention.

“Come in” Akash called out and Payal walked in with a file in her hand.

“Payal ji” Akash greeted with a bright smile and a vague blush on his face. Aman stared at Akash in wonder.

“Akash ji, here are the designs you asked me to submit” Payal placed the file on the desk.

“Oh, I told you to submit them tomorrow, Payal ji. You didn’t have to hurry” Akash said.

“I will be on leave tomorrow, Akash ji. So, I thought I will submit them today itself” Payal said and Akash’s face fell.

“Leave? Why?” Akash asked with a long face.

“We are visiting a temple. There’s some pooja and fasting arranged by bua ji” Payal said.

“Which temple, Payal ji?” Akash asked and Aman clutched his heart for a moment. He was having a deja vu moment.

“The one near the huge banyan tree” Payal mumbled awkwardly. She was not comfortable with Aman staring at them as if they were aliens who just landed in their spaceships.

“The one where we met on teej day? When you wore a green saree?” Akash asked with heart in his eyes.

Aman felt like he would faint any moment.

What’s with these Raizada men, teej and the Gupta girls…

Definitely time to book a bed at the Agra mental asylum.

Payal mumbled some excuse and hurried out of the cabin, and Akash sagged against his chair sadly. When he looked up, he saw Aman staring at him in shock. He had actually forgotten Aman’s presence in his cabin.

“Why are you still here?” Akash asked the same question his brother asked a while ago, but in a much milder way.

“My thoughts exactly. Why am I still here? It’s high time I reached Agra.” Aman mumbled and left the cabin, leaving Akash confused.

****

NEXT DAY

Arnav stared at his laptop with a heavy heart.

When he takes one step forward, Khushi is taking two steps backward. How is he going to make things alright between them?

He felt like pulling all his hair out.

The man who wrote his own destiny, he thought with a scoff.

A knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts.

“ASR? Are you free?” Lavanya asked.

“Yes, Lavanya. Come in. What’s it?” Arnav asked.

“Here’s the schedule for our new calendar shoot,” Lavanya said and extended a file towards Arnav.

Calendar shoot reminded him of that day when he first felt his heart skip a beat. That moment when his heart finally recognised its pair.

“ASR?” Lavanya called out seeing a zoned out ASR.

“Go ahead with the schedule” ASR said, quickly composing himself.

Lavanya got up to leave, but stopped when Arnav called out for her.

“Yes, ASR?” Lavanya asked curiously.

“I.. I am sorry, Lavanya. For everything” Arnav said and meant every word of it.

Lavanya was shocked. Not once during their so called relationship, had he ever uttered these magic words. Not even when he had hurt her beyond anything. And now he is apologising. And she knows very well who is behind it. The only person in the world who can make ASR do things he doesn’t actually want to do.

Khushi Kumari Gupta.

“It’s okay, ASR. You had always told me you didn’t believe in marriages and committed relationships. It was me who broke the rules of our relationship.” Lavanya said softly.

Arnav cringed.

How is he to say that he now believes in marriage and committed relationships. And it’s not her who he wants all that with..

Khushi is right. It has only been a few weeks since their break up. How will Lavanya take it when she comes to know that he is in love with Khushi and that he proposed marriage.

Will she start hating Khushi once again? Will it break the beautiful friendship that was formed between these two girls who were poles apart in everything.

Maybe it is better if she came to know from him, rather than anyone else. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was startled when someone opened the door and barged into his cabin.

“What the..”