Authors POV
"Don't know let's just walk", she replied and took his hand, showing him the way.
"Is there something going on? Why is there so much crowd?" he asked Naina, walking beside her on the market street while holding her hand.
"Don't talk like you have never visited a market in your life", she said, but who is gonna tell her that he really never visited such a place in his whole life of 26 years.
"This is a wholesale market so, most of the people come to this place to buy necessary items for low cost," she answered his question, nevertheless.
"Wow", Naina mumbled in a daze, looking at a cozy gown which was on the mannequin in the mall as she stood outside the mall looking at the mannequin through the glass wall.
"Do you like it?" he asked.
"I do", she replied, still looking at the dress.
"Let's go and buy then", he said, taking a step forward to go into the mall but she stopped him holding his hand. He looked at her with raised eyebrows asking why.
"Dude, my dad is not Ambani", she stated as she dragged him back.
"Huh".
"That is a famous mall and they have very expensive clothes. Only rich people can buy those dresses and I am not that rich", she explained.
"I will buy it for you, come on", he said.
"You know, that dress can cost more than my existence," she laughed.
"Don't say that. Trust me, your existence is a lot more than you think and no one can define your worth", he said, making butterflies dance on her little tummy and she smiled.
"Oye Hero, that was a nice line. Can I use that in my book?" she asked playfully.
"You have to pay me then", he remarked and they both laughed.
"Let's go, now", she commented and started walking.
"But, the dress", he asked as he followed her.
"Forget it," she stated and he nodded in disbelief.
"Let's go into that store", she remarked pointing at the toy shop not far away.
"You go in, I will come after taking a call", he said and she walked in.
After confirming she left, he called his assistant peter.
"Peter, there is a mall in the market street...", he told the mall address to peter.
"It is a black gown which is on the mannequin. I don't know what you do but I want that dress", he said to Peter on the call.
"Ok sir", he replied.
Arnav went in after disconnecting the call and searched for her. After five minutes, he found her in the stuffed toys section.
"What are you doing?" He asked her.
"I am thinking," she replied simply, looking at a toy.
"What are you thinking?" He asked again.
"Is Dora dumb or blind? That's what I am thinking," she replied and looked at him.
"Who is Dora?" He questioned, not understanding what she was saying.
"Dora the explorer," she remarked in disbelief.
"Who is she? Your friend?" He asked, making her dumbfounded.
"Are you kidding me? Or you really don't know?" She exclaimed.
"I really don't know her", he stated.
"What about Doraemon?" She asked, and he nodded negatively.
"Shin-Chan? Pokémon?". He nodded negatively again.
"Are they your friends or any celebrities? their names are little weird" he remarked.
"Have you ever watched cartoons?" She asked in disbelief.
"No", He replied lightly.
"What?" She yelped in shock and left the toy in her hands and it fell down.
"Tell me the truth, Arnav".
"I never watched cartoons as a kid and as an adult I dont have time to watch", he stated and picked up the toy which fell down and neatly arranged it in its place.
"Dude, your childhood was no fun" she remarked and he nodded. It was true though, he thought.
"This is Doraemon, my favorite", she showed him a Doraemon stuffed toy.
"Look at this, this is Pikachu. Isn't it cute?", she remarked looking at the toy.
She put a stuffed toy of Doraemon and Pikachu in the cart. Moving forward she put four small teddy Bears and panda stuffed toys in the cart. Then she put small toy cars and a small mickey mouse toy in the cart.
"Why are you buying all these small toys?", he asked.
"They are cute, aren't they?" she remarked looking at her toys fondly.
"Wait, I will pay", she said when he was about to pay for the toys.
"No, butterfly. I will pay, I want to buy them for you", he replied as he took out a card from his wallet.
"You can buy me a book later but let me pay for this", she stopped him forcibly and she paid the bill.
"Oh god, stop sulking, Arnav", she exclaimed, walking behind him. He was sulking for the last 20 minutes for not letting him pay for the toys.
"Why didn't you let me pay then?", he asked still sulking.
"Oh, my boy. You are cute while sulking", she commented and pinched his cheeks making him smile shyly.
"Smile suits you better and I have a reason for not letting you pay", she said.
"What is the reason?", he asked.
"I will tell you later", she replied and started walking.
"You don't really have a reason, do you?", he asked as he ran to her and started walking beside her.
"Trust me, I do", she shrugged.
They are walking, talking random things and occasionally Naina teasing Arnav. Finally, they reached the beach and sat on the sand.
"I wanna play in the water too", she pouted looking at the kids playing on the water.
"Then play. Who stopped you?", he remarked.
"My periods", she stated and he alerted.
"Are you on periods? Are you alright? Does your stomach hurts?", he fired many questions with concern.
"Relax, Hero. I am that one lucky bitch who doesn't get stomach aches on periods. My back hurts a bit but it's my third day so, it won't hurt much", she replied assuring him and he nodded in relief.
His grandmother told him about periods when he was 11 and he also saw girls in his school crying with pain. He introduced a new scheme for female employees to take days off on their periods. And he gives importance to mental health mainly. There is always help available for his employees to discuss their mental health with a therapist. For him health is important, if employees are healthy then the organization will also be healthy, that's what he believes.
While they were talking, Arnav's phone rang and he excused himself to attend the call.
"What Ajay?", he asked as he picked up the call.
"Dev is here for you", Ajay replied immediately.
"What? Why?" Arnav questioned.
"Don't know. He just came here and asked for you. I told him you are not here and asked him to leave but he is not leaving. He said he will wait until you come", Ajay explained the situation.
"Ok. I will come", he replied and disconnected the call.
"Butterfly", he called softly and she hummed in response, looking at the waves of the ocean.
"I need to go", he said slowly and she looked at him.
"They called from the office, so I need to leave for the office", he said apologetically.
"It's ok, Arnav. You can leave", she replied gently with a smile.
"I will drop you at home first", he commented.
"No, Arnav. I can go by myself, you go first", she replied but he didn't agree.
"No, butterfly. How can I leave you here", he stated and they both walked outside.
They called a taxi and she climbed in.
"I will go, Arnav. It's ok", she remarked when he was about to climb the car and he hesitated for a minute not understanding what to do.
"Are you sure?", he asked.
"Of course," she replied and he nodded.
"Here", she muttered and extended the bag of toys which she bought earlier. He glanced at her confused.
"I bought them for you", she smiled.
"That's why you didn't let me pay for this", he asked as he took the bag from her.
"Yeah... it's a gift from me", she smiled cheerfully and he thanked her.
"Bye, butterfly. Take care and text me when you reach home", he said and she nodded.
"Take her safely, sir", he said to the driver in a warning tone.
He called his driver who is following him closely, after sending her. His driver came shortly after the call and climbed down from the car and opened the door of the passenger seat. Arnav prefers the passenger seat if he is not driving. He doesn't like to sit in the backseat if it is not necessary.
He took out the toy cars and the small mickey mouse toy and arranged them neatly on the car dashboard. The driver looked at him shockingly as his boss never buys something like that.
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