Life Of Rawtes

5) Growing Friendships

Riya sat on her desk, deep in thought over the happenings of last night. The way Arjun had talked to the girl on the phone had overwhelmed her. The Arjun Akdoo Rawte who did not even glance back at someone if they smiled at him, was being sweet to someone on the phone! His words weren't exactly sweet but there was an underlying concern in his tone. And she found it very sweet! Riya shook her head. She wasn't supposed to find it sweet at all. She was supposed to be jealous,yeah! But wait...why would she be jealous over him having a girlfriend?

Sakshi- "Kin khayalo mein khoyi ho, Riya?"

Riya- "Arjun sir ke...I mean tumhe pata hai ki he has a girlfriend?"

Sakshi nearly choked on the vada pav she was eating.

Sakshi- "Deva Deva! Kya bakwaas kar Rahi ho?"

Riya- "Arey ha! Maine kal unhe phone pe baat karte suna tha ek ladki se."

Sakshi stiffened at that. Arjun couldn't have a girlfriend, could he?

Sakshi- "Accha yeh batao kya baat karte suna tha?"

Riya- "He was saying ki it's too late...and he'll talk to her when he comes home! Matlab he lives with his girlfriend...or or maybe wife!"

Riya had just realised the other possibility. Her heart dropped at such a horrifying prospect. All her feelings towards him felt so wrong...so illegitimate at this point. How could she think like that about a married man?

Sakshi sighed in relief and put a hand on Riya's shoulder.

Sakshi- "Woh unki wife nahi ho sakti Riya...he has no girl in his life as of now except one!"

Sakshi was aware of the love Arjun had for his deceased wife. Being a crime journalist, she had done a thorough research on his past. Though she wasn't aware of the practicalities of his life, she knew that his wife had been brutally murdered by a drug lord and that had... disturbed him.

Riya, somewhat relieved over the aspect of not nurturing unauthenticated feelings for a 'married man'- "So he does have a girlfriend."

Sakshi chuckled slightly- "No! That one girl is his sister!"

Riya happily shocked- "What? He has a sister?"

Sakshi nodded- "Yes. A younger sister and a younger brother as well."

Riya- "Oh."

She couldn't help the smile that adorned her face. The fact that Arjun wasn't in any sort of relationship provided some unmatched calmness to her heart. She felt overjoyed. However this feeling of joy somewhere overwhelmed her. Why was she getting happy over something like this?

Meanwhile, Sakshi was observing all this. Being a crime reporter had its own perks. Her ability to make accurate assumption was obviously polished over the years. However, that didn't help in this case. Her feelings towards Arjun were offended by Riya unnatural interest in Arjun's life. She took a deep breath and cleared her head. Riya was definitely not the type of girl to have such feelings towards her boss!

Riya- "Mujhe nahi pata tha ki Arjun sir ki family hai...I mean itne sadu aur adiyal se hai! I thought he must be some loony soul."

Sakshi internally sighed in relief. Riya's words towards Arjun calmed her racing mind and she smiled- "Yes well, Hume bhi nahi pata tha! We got to know three months back. You ofcourse hadn't joined back then."

Riya curiously- "Aisa kya hua tha?"

Sakshi- "3 months back, there was some sort of security breach in our system. The files containing the officer's address and family records were hampered with. Shree got the situation under control as soon as he got to know about it but then again, it was only after a good 5 hours when he got to know about the breach."