"I don't believe you; you are saying you fought with Raizadas to give job to Preeto di, iss liye unhone job diya (that's why they gave her a job)?" Chintu, a colony kid of 12-13 years and one of Khushi's friends asked her with widened eyes
"Aur nahi toh kya Chintu? I said to that Arnav Singh Raizada, 'Don't you dare make my sister sad, she deserves this job and if you don't give her job, I will go to all TV channels and say Raizadas are cheaters'. fir kya, dar gaya woh (then what, he got scared)!" She replied, keeping one hand on her hip, and flicking her nose with other, showing off her 'power'!
"Kya keh rahe ho didi (what are you saying didi)? Aap Arnav Singh Raizada ko jante ho (you know Arnav Singh raizada)?" Pinky, her other friend asked with dreamy eyes. Everyone had heard of Raizada empire and had heard that their only son Arnav who was called 'Prince', had returned from foreign, recently. But no one had seen him yet...
"Aur nahi toh kya (what else)? are sirf janti nahi hoon (and not just know him), he is now my friend too." she said boasting some more. But it soon boomeranged on her...
"Wo don't believe you." One boy said, and other chimed in, "If he is really your friend, bring him to meet us, today evening. or else, we will not play with you" they said in unison and started walking away, making Khushi panicky with a prospect of losing her 'friends'. Who will play cricket with her if they don't?
"Arre, Pinky, Chintu, wait. ruko toh. I promise, I am not lying."
"No means no didi, bring him to meet us, then only we will agree..." saying so they all dispersed, and Khushi started biting her nails in worry. Her main support Preeto too must have left for her first day at AR, leaving her alone...
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The day passed by very quickly and as sun started setting, Khushi's worries began increasing. she was sitting on the steps of her babuji's bookshop which was a few meters away from their house, when a certain someone came in her view... at first, she didn't recognize him. But when he smiled at her radiantly, as he spotted her, an identical smile spread on her lips too. This was Sahil, her new friend at her jiji's office!
"Saahilji, aap yahan (you're here)?" she asked, getting up and walking to him
"Erm..yeah, actually that job, --err at your father's book shop... is it -is it still open?" he asked nervously. Truth be told, this was the first time he was asking for a job, so he didn't know how it went. And then, it was HER, his new 'inspiration' in front of him. So, he was fumbling with words.
"Arre ha (oh right! )!. it is of course still open. Please come. Actually Babuji has gone out for some work, but he will be back soon. Then you can talk to him. Don't worry you will get the job hmm?" she said patting his shoulder in casual manner and he looked surprised at her friendly gesture.
But soon he noticed, smile on her face vanished and she looked lost in thoughts, rather worried.
"Hey, what happened? everything ok?" he asked in a hope to do anything in his power to alleviate her tension. Like that one thing he had already done this morning by giving her sister a job at his company.
"Nahi woh-" Khushi tried to brush it off, not sure how sharing her worry with Sahil will help her, until she noticed him carefully. He was good looking-could easily pass off as one from wealthy families, wore good clothes and no one had seen Arnav Singh Raizada in their locality. Yes! She could take him to pose off as Arnav in front of her friends. she got up with excitement and clapped her hands
"What happened?" he too got up, albeit worried for her sudden change of mood
"Sahilji, you have to help me with something. If you do this, hum babuji se keh kar aapko zyada pagar dilayenge (I will ask babuji to give you even more salary)" she said, holding his hand and Arnav already nodded without even listening... it was as if she was weaving some magic, where one pleading look from her, one touch of her hand, and he will do anything...
--*--
When Khushi and Arnav(sahil) reached the area, Arnav was shocked to see a group of few 12 to 14-year-old kids playing and Khushi indicated them as her 'friends'.
"Pinky, Chintu, Neelu, come here, see who is here with me. Arnav Singh Raizada" she called out to them, proudly linking her hand with Arnav's
And soon enough, Arnav was surrounded by her friends, trying to pull his attention to each one of them, cheering for him. Generally, he wouldn't like this much attention. But there was something about these innocent kids that melted his heart and he happily spent time with them.
Finally, after 15-20 minutes, they let him go when Khushi told them he had some work and will meet them later.
"Thank you so much Sahilji! You saved me today." she said, grinning widely
"You are welcome. By the way, it's not good to lie you know." he said, pulling her leg
"Accha? Have you never lied?" she asked, and he froze. How should he tell her, he had been lying to her from their first meeting itself. What will she do? How will she react?
But she continued, "and any way, if it helps to make someone happy, if it helps to save someone's heart from breaking then its ok to lie." and saying so, she unknowingly lifted a burden from his chest!
"But don't forget, you are not real Arnav Raizada" she said, as they reached her bauji's book shop making him chuckle! He shook his head, feeling entirely amused by her antics...Only khushi could tell Arnav Singh Raizada that he was not Arnav Singh Raizada!
--*--
Precap - Khushi had gone to Raizada towers to give a lunch tiffin to Preeto. And by mistake she entered Arnav's cabin!
Arnav was shocked and scared seeing khushi barge in, he would be caught!
"Hey Devi Maiya! Sahilji! What are you doing in Arnav Singh Raizada's cabin? What if he saw you?" she asked as she spotted Arnav sitting on the 'Boss's chair'!
--*--
A/N - There we go :D Thank you for patiently waiting for the next chapter of this story. I had only a few occasions to update during my 1.5 month break and I took those to update CSD and NSIV once. But now that I am back, this one will also have regular updates :D in fact, next few short stories are also lined up, so I am in hurry to start them too. Grateful for all the love on Bikhre moti during this break and keep it coming ❤🙏
