Author :
Continuing from the next scene.
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• • •
At Vihaan's House 🏘 :
Seeing Vihaan lost in his thoughts Avinash nudges him and says, "Are you okay?"
"Hm? Yeah! I'm fine!" Vihaan replies dryly and walks faster to avoid his friends which looked like he is running away from them out of the blue.
"We need to talk to him." Manav states.
"Yeah, but not now. At least not today." Says Mrityunjay watching his best friend's back who was too eager to avoid any questions of his friends.
"Will somebody tell me what's going on here? Why he is behaving like that? No reaction?" Asks a confused Rajveer about his all-of-a-sudden-lost friend.
"Don't know. But don't worry, we will find it soon." Mrityunjay says assuring the trio while being worried for his friend.
*
In The Study Room 📚 :
Everyone stands in the big study room. Shreya was the last one to enter closing the door behind.
A big and long study table for 6 people was placed in the center of the room with three chairs on each side of the table. A study table with a drawer was well placed near the window which was built on the opposite wall of the entry door with a wooden chair.
Avneesh (Mrityunjay's father), Dhananjay (Rajveer's father) and Vineet (Vihaan's father) sit on one side of the table facing the crowd of youngsters. The room falls silent as Vineet was in a deep thought. Bhishma clears his throat helping his Boss to come out of his thoughts.
Vineet comes out of his thoughts nodding at his secretary with a serious face. He takes a deep breath and leans forward placing his both elbows on the table as he joins his hands entangling his fingers. He turns in a serious mode as he looks at the crowd of youngsters who were looking back at him and his friends waiting for him to start.
Vineet clears his throat and says, "Whatever I'm going to say, listen to me attentively and you better be careful about my words and not to forget them. Am I clear?" He asks the crowd who was totally confused at this sudden meeting but nods in answer.
"Yes Uncle!" Arushi answers to which Vineet gives her a soft smile seeing the child in her.
Mr. Khurrana again takes a deep breath and starts, "From now on Nishi will live with us which is not a common or normal thing being the daughter of a billionaire for the society as you all know that threats can be dangerous for a rich kid. She came here without any issues but it doesn't mean from any angle that the danger is no more left. Being the youngest kid of the family she will be targeted somewhere by the public or by our known or unknown enemies. She might have lived alone without her family but the security was there with her always and now that she is here, sooner or later people will come to know about her arrival, which is not going to be easy to handle. She has never been in such environment, you know being known to the world as the billionaire's daughter and so, it's obvious that she is not gonna understand the depth of the dangers around her. She is mature enough but still a kid. So I'm not expecting anything from her for her own security but I can only trust you all. I'm not saying to be around her all the time but for the time being I want that no one should know at any cost about her arrival except the close friends and family which means no one is gonna say a single thing about her outside. Pretend as if you don't know anything related with her arrival here, like when will she come back, if she has come or not? Blah blah. Am I clear?" Vineet asks with a serious face asking the last question sternly.
"But Uncle, why do we need to hide about her arrival?" Mrityunjay asks the crowd's unasked question.
"Because people have always been curious about the youngest child of Khurrana family. She just came back to India after a decade and her sudden arrival will surely cause a big news to others, be it common people, media or our rivals in business. You know how the business world works. It will be dangerous if people come to know about her arrival out of nowhere, specially when she doesn't know anything about this town and how the business world works." Dhananjay, Rajveer's father says and Mrityunjay nods in understanding as they all now understand the reason for the elders' worried reaction to her sudden arrival and her security.
"But Sir, what about the media?" Ajeet asks in a professional manner. Some heads turn towards him as he asks the question.
Rohan was in his thoughts, thinking about Ajeet's point. He looks up at Vineet and says with seriousness, "He is right! The media will know sooner than the public and that's going to be a headache for her safety."
"Yes, Sir. Common people are not a problem but the media is a headache. If the news of her arrival gets to the media then it will be a big issue. We have to say something then regarding her sudden arrival otherwise we know how the media works, stupid assumptions and all that nonsense will start revolving around her. And as a teenager it will effect her in a negative way." Ariv says with seriousness.
"We will take care of that Sir!" All turn their heads towards the duo of young women in professional clothes. Shrishti and Kritika. "We have handled cases like these before Sir, so media is not going to be a problem. I assure you!" Kritika finishes Shrishti's sentence which she was going to say and Shrishti adds, "We just need some help from the officers here." She gestures to the trio of the officers.
"We will!" Rohan says while nodding at the two females making Ariv and Kabir nod with him.
*
In Nishi's Room 🧑🌾 :
Meanwhile, Anshuman opens the door of Nishi's room and enters with Nishi's heaviest bag in hand with Nishi following him with her remaining luggage. Anshuman puts her bag on the left side of the bed and Nishi puts her one bag on the floor near the washroom and her hand bag on the bed which had no quilt on it. She stands up taking a deep breath and turns to have a look at the room.
The room had a small window on the left side of the entry door which was made up with the combination of two long windows, having glass doors. The entire living room could be seen through the window.
A thin and a bit long wooden table was well placed in between the window and the door to place things like flower vase, photo frames, few books, etc., i.e., anything but not too heavy.
Then there was a second window built on the left side wall of the room which was built with the combination of two long windows letting the fresh air enter the room to fill it with different sweet and pleasant smell of different types of flowerplants from the garden. The garden could be seen through the window not completely but clearly as rest of the garden was on the backside of the house.
A wooden study table was placed nicely in front of the window with a drawer and a chair.
The bed was situated just in front of the door at a good distance with two side tables on each side of the bed and a book shelf on the right side of the bed in the opposite side of the entry door of the room near the washroom.
Just on the right side wall of the door, a bathroom was attached and a walk in closet was built between the bookshelf and the bathroom. There was a hanger behind the door on the right wall near the bathroom door.
The room was neither too big nor too small, just as she likes it. It was not a small but still it gives her cozy vibes.
She sighs with relaxation being satisfied with the room. Her mind signals her lips to stretch into a smile as she likes the room which is her own room. She looks at the second window wall which is painted with light green color. Then her gaze falls on the wall opposite to the entrance which is painted with white color. She notices the opposite walls' colors are matching.
Meanwhile, Anshuman switches on the brown coloured fan which is hanging from the white ceiling. He checks if the lights of the room are working properly or they need to be changed. He walks towards the bathroom door to check the switches attached near the hanger at a safe distance.
"Hm. . . .except the night bulb every light and switch is working properly." Anshuman explains to a smiling Nishi who is happy with the room.
She looks at her cousin brother and says smiling like a kid, "It's okay, Bhai! I don't need it anyways!"
Anshuman hums hearing her words without looking at her as it feels a bit strange hearing Bhai from the kid who came home after a decade.
"Do you need anything else in the room?" He asks her scanning the room to avoid the odd environment he was feeling in the air.
"Yeah! A door mat, a quilt for the bed, a small couch and a table lamp. That's it!" She says casually counting the things on her fingers like a kid.
He looks at the study table and asks narrowing his eyes at the table, "Don't you think you need two table lamps?"
She follows his gaze with her gaze denying, "No!"
"Why not?" Both of them turn back to look at the door hearing a soothing familiar female voice. Her mother enters the room with a broom in her hand, stern face yet happiness radiating from her eyes. "You need two table lamps. See, one for the study table, one for the bed side table." Karuna points out.
Nishi notices what her mother is referring to and what her cousin brother was trying to point out a second before. "No Mom! I don't. I can use one table lamp for both purposes." Nishi says not liking the idea to buy another table lamp when she doesn't need to.
Her mother sighs and says sternly while walking towards the second window with a broom in her hand, "You need two table lamps, so we will buy you two table lamps. That's it! End of the discussion!"
"But Mom-"
"No means no! That's it!"
She pouts and looks at her cousin brother asking for help with her eyes. He doesn't know how to react as he is interacting with his youngest cousin sister for the first time in all these past years. So, he just gives her a nervous smile for the first time since she has entered the house.
Suddenly, Nishi turns to her and notices that Karuna is brooming in the room. Nishi's eyes widen in realisation and she quickly runs towards her mother, snatches away the broom from her hand and says, "Who told you to do this? I told you na Mom! This is my room! So it's my responsibility to make sure it's clean and clear. Now, you go do whatever you were doing. I'll do it myself!"
Karuna looks at her daughter with tiredness and asks strictly, "You are already so tired from the long journey and your legs are also hurting then why are you being so stubborn?" Then she adds smiling softly at her daughter, "And I want to clean it myself, that's why I didn't tell anyone else to do it."
Anshuman who looks at the duo blinking not knowing what to do and feeling stucked he looks at the ceiling with a sigh.
"I'm not being stubborn, Mom! It's nothing! I can do it on my own. Please leave it na!" She requests her mother who is not ready to listen to her daughter and is now getting pissed off. Anshuman gulps hardly seeing his Chachi (Paternal Aunt) in anger.
[Chachi means father's younger brother's wife in Hindi Language.]
"You will not listen to me! Will you?" His Chachi asks his cousin who moves her head in a 'No!' Karuna looks at her stubborn daughter then sighs deeply and leaves the room while heading towards the living room shouting, "सुनो! देखो ये-" Karuna shuts her mouth and gets confused finding no one there.
[Translation : "Listen! Look she-"]
The mother turns towards the kitchen and asks Sukanya who is helping Anuradha in cooking, "ये सब कहाँ चले गए? अभी तो यहीं थे?"
[Translation : "Where have they all gone? They were here just now?"]
"स्टडी रूम में हैं सब।" Anuradha informs her.
[Translation : "They all are in the Study room."]
"स्टडी रूम में?! वहाँ क्या कर रहे हैं?"
[Translation : "In the Study room?! What are they doing there?"]
"Emergency meeting!" Sukanya states while going to use the juicer.
Karuna nods in acknowledgement and heads towards the study room. She opens the door wide open.
All heads turn in her direction. She looks straight at her husband knowing where he would be sitting and asks with a stern look, "Are you done with your work, Mr. Khurrana?"
*
In the Study Room 📚 :
"We will!" Says Rohan while nodding making the other two officers nod with him.
Suddenly, the study room's door opens widely. Every head turns in the same direction to see who dared to interrupt the meeting knowing well that Vineet held this emergency meeting. The mystery solves revealing the wife of the owner of the house, Karuna. She looks straight at Vineet and asks him with a stern tone yet anger mixed with motherly love in her eyes, "Are you done with your work, Mr. Khurrana?"
All of them are surprised seeing her there barging in the study room without knocking it knowing well that the meeting is going on and Vineet doesn't like any interruption in his work. They are surprised as she never behaved like this before. Some smiles can be seen as they know what is the reason, of course, only one reason, her daughter, her Nishu.
"No. Why? All okay?" Vineet wanted to smile but then a question in his mind stopped him from smiling making him question her that what it was that made her barge in the study room, more over like that.
"No! Nothing is okay! Your daughter is not listening to me! She is hell adamant to clean the room right now on her own! And how can I let that happen? She is so tired after a long flight and her legs are aching too but she is not listening. Come and tell your daughter to leave the room and broom now! So that I can clean the room." Karuna blabbers.
Vihaan smiles for the first time all this while seeing his mother's antics which makes his friends smile too.
Vineet bites his lower inner lip to hide his smile and says with a professional yet surprised face, "This is your important?! I thought something more important made you come here like that."
This makes others chuckle and his friends laugh with Arushi and Gia.
She gives a glare to Arushi and Gia which shuts their giggling. "This is not important? Yes, this is important! Your daughter has come back to her home after a long time, and here you are busy with your meeting instead of meeting her properly!" She throws her anger this time at her husband with an angry look and tone, adding, "Now, come with me first and tell her to rest while I'll clean the room!"
Vineet sighs while being happy with everyone looking at him with curious looks and says to his secretary, "Bhishma, please go and handle her, will you?"
"Sorry Sir, but she will not listen to anyone, not even me." He says while looking at his Boss who looks at him with surprise to which Bhishma shruggs before turning to Karuna and says, "Karu, she will not listen to anyone. Just let her be."
"No! Never!" She exclaims at Bhishma.
"You and your friend are of no use!" Karuna says making others shock with her behavior and leaves Vineet with a tired face. The two mother figures heard that which makes them laugh out aloud.
They all look at Vineet while Vihaan, his friends and cousins try not to laugh with an already giggling Arushi and the two lady doctors and others smiling at Karuna's childish behavior. No one can talk to him like that except his Karu.
Vineet sighs deeply and looks at his best friend on left side and says, "Wow! From now on this Mahabharata will happen almost everyday in this house!"
[The Mahabharata is an ancient Indian epic in Sanskrit where the main story revolves around two branches of a family - the Pandavas and Kauravas - who, in the Kurukshetra War, battle for the throne of Hastinapura. Interwoven into this narrative are several smaller stories about people dead or living, and philosophical discourses.
Mahabharat name is often used among Indians as a saying in the name of War.]
"Yeah! But a sweet one!" Bhishma says earning smiles which makes Vineet turn to his secretary cum friend and smile while nodding and he sits straight again.
Bhishma's words make Vihaan roll his eyes.
Vineet turns serious which makes others serious too. He talks further, "So, Rohan, Ariv, Kabir?" He asks pointing at the trio getting their attention. "You can take care of the media with Shrishti and Kritika?" He asks pointing towards the duo of lady security working for his company.
"Yes Sir! We can!" The trio says in unison making Vineet nod at them.
"Okay! So now, all we have to worry about is......" He trails off while turning his gaze slowly towards Arushi, making others giggle.
Arushi blinks looking at Vineet then at others giggling while staring at her and then back to Vineet. She asks with confusion, "What did I do, Uncle? मैंने तो आज कुछ भी नहीं किया।"
[Translation : "What did I do Uncle? I didn't do anything today."]
She says dumbly with a baby face which makes someone smile at her with something in his eyes.
Gia sighs, folds her hands and says looking at the book shelves behind her Chachu, "That's the issue! No one knows what will you do and when? We are surprised that you have not done anything today!" She says the last part while looking at her bestie with eyes narrowing at her making Rohan smile at her pose.
[Chacha means father's younger brother in Hindi Language. Chachu is used among youngsters and kids these days to call their father's younger brother with more love.]
Arushi groans like a child and some laugh while some smile at her childishness, leaving someone smiling at her with adoration in his eyes finding her adorable.
"Gia!" Vineet warns Gia trying to look serious while he hides his smile at Gia's words.
"Chachu you don't know her, she is a whole media channel in her own. एक बार को मीडिया कुछ नहीं करेगी लेकिन इन मैडम के मुँह से कोई सीक्रेट न फूटे, ये तो हो ही नहीं सकता!" Gia says with dramatic expressions glaring at her bestie while gritting her teeth and leaning towards her on her own last words.
[Translation : "Uncle, you don't know her, she is a whole media channel in her own. Media will not do anything for once, but no secret should come out from the mouth of this madam, it cannot be possible!"]
"No Uncle! Of course not! She is just exaggerating." Arushi says while glaring back at her bestie. "I promise! I will not utter a single word about her arrival!" She says further with determination looking at Vineet who doesn't look so satisfied with her words.
Gia humphs dramatically and says, "Hmph! As if I'm not aware of your promises!"
Arushi blinks at her bestie when Vineet's words gain her attention, "Arushi, beta please listen to me carefully! Nishi is still a kid and she has come back here after a long time. The purpose of this meeting is her safety. So, your single word about her arrival now, may lead her to danger as you never know whom to trust? It's just a few days secret to keep, can you do that?" He asks her the last part with seriousness.
"Yes Uncle! I can! Because it's about her safety and you can trust me with this. I promise, I will not utter a word unless you tell me to." Arushi says with seriousness and determination in her voice and eyes to which everyone turns to her. Gia blinks at her bestie with amazement as if Arushi has a unique light coming from behind her head while someone is smiling looking at Arushi finding her antics cute and adorable.
"I'm trusting you!" He says pointing his finger towards her.
"You can Uncle!" She smiles which he returns saying, "Good!"
"Okay then......make sure the news doesn't go out of the house and tell the closed ones too to not to utter a word about it. Am I clear?" He asks the crowd standing up slowly with his friends with seriousness to which they all nod.
"Dismissed!" He says and leaves the room with the crowd leaving the room behind him.
*
In the Living Room :
"What's wrong? Why are you sitting like that?" Asks Vineet to an irritated Karuna who is sitting silently on the sofa with hands folded, eyebrows knitted together.
"Bhishma Bhaiya is right! She is more stubborn than you! She didn't let me do anything!" Karuna says flaring her nose angrily making Vineet hide his smile at his wife's cute little nose which flares in anger, for which he fell for her years ago.
"It's ok. If she doesn't like anyone doing her work then let her do it on her own na!" Says Vineet sitting on the skin colored sofa while his two fellow friends sit with him too on it.
All the young men stand around the sofa set with Gia, Arushi sitting on the dining chairs while Shreya, Smriti and Trisha help the two women in the kitchen.
"Exactly Dad! But your angry bird wife is not understanding such simple thing!" Says Nishi coming out of her room with some garbage mixed dust filled newspaper in her hands while walking towards the living room. "Where is the dust bin?" She asks simply to no one as her full concentration is on the garbage in her hands.
"Here!" Dr. Smriti says pointing towards the dustbin which is placed near the kitchen.
Nishi nods and throws the garbage in the dustbin closing the lead. She looks at the gallery near the dustbin between the kitchen and the study room leading to a closed door.
"Where does that door lead to?" She asks Shreya who looks at her and answers, "Backyard and garden." Nishi nods.
"You are not listening to your mother! Shouldn't I be angry?" Asks her turning back some faces with her to look at the just arrived teenager.
"I'm just doing what I should be doing. What's there to be angry about? It's my responsibility to clean my room. You should be telling me to do my work on my own instead of stopping me to do it and sit there getting mad at me like an angry bird. Don't you think so, Mom?" Nishi says quickly while wiping her hands on her clothes making others amused at her accent and speed of talking and her antics which looked Indian only. (😂)
She stands still folding her hands, making her right leg take all her weight while leaving left leg rest freely looking at her mother while Karuna says further, "I'm not stopping you from doing your work, I'm just saying that you are tired so let me do it for you for just today?" Her mother says calmly.
"Tired not dead!" Nishi says casually to which Karuna shouts at her angrily surprising all, "NISHU!!"
Anuradha and Sukanya snap their heads towards the duo with other young women from the kitchen.
*Pin drop silence.*
Nishi looks at her mother whose eyes are filled with tears and her father Vineet who doesn't react but goes blank. Vihaan looks angrily at the kid for making his mother cry once again as he just wants to see his mother happy and smiling.
To everyone's surprise Nishi looks puzzled saying, "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?" She asks the crowd who fell silent and doesn't reply but blink at her.
Bhishma sighs and looks at Nishi informing in a weak voice, "You should not have said that about yourself!"
She looks at him being more confused to which he narrows his eyes, "You said, 'Tired, not dead!' You should not talk like that about yourself!" She was still clueless to which he glares at her saying while gritting teeth, "They are your parents!"
The teenager finally realises her mistake and nods at her next words, "Oh! I'm sorry for that! And by the way, are all the beds in the house are of the same size?" She asks casually without looking at her mother who is hurt by her action but looks at the house to observe.
They all look at her stunned by her casual behavior after causing a little havoc.
"Why are you asking?" Gia asks with her confused behavior.
"I need a quilt, so thought of using one from any other room which is not in use. I mean for few days I can adjust but I need to settle the room as soon as possible." Says Nishi trying to avoid the environment she just made a while ago.
'This still doesn't make any sense, you always slept on the floor mostly. Did not you? Or should I say you waited for the sleep to hug you which never happened?' A voice asks her but she just ignores it to concentrate on the present situation at hand.
"Just use any other room. In fact you can sleep in G's room. She will go back to her home anyways." Arushi says chirpily.
"Sleeping is not an issue for me I can sleep in any other room, it's just that I liked my room so wanted to rest in there. However it's still fine with me without any quilt, it's just that I think the bed size is neither double nor single. How?" She asks with confusion.
"That's because it's your room and Chachi wanted you to be comfortable with the bed, neither too big nor too small." Says Shreya with a blank face blinking at her.
"Oh! Thanks Mom for that! I have to say, it was the best decision!" She says smiling brightly at her mother as if nothing happened. Karuna looks at her daughter and smiles seeing her happy with her choice making others smile with relief including her son and husband.
"But how can you sleep without any quilt? I can't sleep without quilt!" Arushi says with an irritated face.
"Always being comfy is also not good, you never know where life will lead you to and you have to adjust. Better to learn it in advance." Nishi shruggs while adding, "Plus, I'm not comfortable always sleeping on something like मखमल का गद्दा (makhmal ka gadda). It always makes my neck sore." She makes a face to which Arushi gets surprised with others.
[ Translation : Velvet Mattress. ]
"What do you mean by 'You never know where life will lead you to and you have to adjust.'?" Arushi asks dumbly but her question grabs the youngsters' attention.
'Amazing!' A voice taunts her as the elders fall silent at the question.
*End of the chapter.*
Author :
Hey guys!
Finally my exams are over but classes have already started without even one day of break!
This is JUST NOT FAIR!!😭😭
Anyways, Thanks for waiting.
Hope you guys are enjoying the story.
Any confusions? Just feel free to ask.
By the way, who is becoming your favourite character?😶🌫️
Lemme know in the comment's section. 😉
Thanks for reading!
Smile please!
:)