ArHi SS: Vertigo - Completed [Sequel link on Page 1] - Page 3

Originally posted by: Maanyita17

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Originally posted by: bookadict303

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Originally posted by: monkeydog18

Oww nice prologue. Please do send me a pm when you update

Chapter 2: Padam Padam

"You care more about your company than you care about yourself or your family," Anjali said handing him a cup of tea without sugar. When her younger brother didn't reply, she asked again. "Didn't you hear me?" He sighed and rubbed his temple, sending out signal of annoyance non-verbally.

"I heard you now and I have been hear this for the past decade," he replied flatly. Anjali rolled her eyes at that. "I like my job," he shrugged. Anjali rested her chin on her palm and hummed.

"I haven't seen you taking a break in a long time," she said throwing her concern out in open. "Maybe you could go on a vacation with your girlfriend?" She asked wondering if she had said the wrong thing by looking at an irritated Arnav. She wasn't surprised when his irritation wasn't verbalized but he merely continued with drinking tea. It was something she disliked in her brother; the way he contained his point of view and his perception about things within himself and allowing the rest of the world to draw conclusions about him. She also disliked the fact that he never questioned or contested with the perception of him - be it within the family or with the rest of the world.

"I'll see you in evening," he said and stood up only to be stop when Anjali caught his arm.

"Can you drop me off at the temple?" She asked smiling, her annoyance already forgotten. He rolled his eyes and sighed at the request.

"Anjali, you have a car and a driver who can take you wherever you want," he said putting on his blazer, his sister assisting him.

"I know. But I would also like to spend some more time with my little brother. Is that too much to ask?" She said running her hands on his back as she smoothened invisible creases. He was glad he had his back turned on her otherwise he would have witnessed disappointment and longing on his sister's face.

"You have two minutes to pack your stuff and get ready to go," he said in fake annoyance.

"It's ready and it's already in your car," she chirped and walked past him. He could hear smile in her voice making him shake his head. Irrespective of what his personal views were with respect to her decisions in life, he was really glad that Anjali was his sister.

If not for her, he would probably be spending time in an asylum.

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She was like a peacock amidst a bunch of pigeons, sparrows and handful of flamingos. His girlfriend, Lavanya, was truly a personification of her name - graceful beauty. It had impressed him immensely when he saw her in a meeting with vendors and contractors where she exuberated with confidence, intelligence and wit. She was one of the biggest assets in his company as one of the chief strategist. It had taken Lavanya few years to rise to her potential and make a mark in Raizada industries. Catching the eye of the CEO had only been a bonus.

It wasn't Lavanya who dressed completely out of the norm for an average official class and wore her emotions and individuality on her sleeve for the entire world to see. It was Lavanya's personal assistant, Khushi, who had thrown him a look of disdain when she thought he wasn't looking at her as he stood in his personal cabin and looked at the office below him.

"How Orwellian of you, Mr. Raizada," he had seen her mouthing when she had looked up to see her boss's boss looking down at the office. He wasn't a guy who cared two hoots about the comments that were passed in his way but he didn't know why but that one comment had haunted him for days.

He saw her strutting around the floor in bright pink and blue dress with golden threads making exotic designs on front. Her long hair, braided, adorned her one shoulder and left the other shoulder bare. He didn't know why it irked him to see her wear her hair that way. It had shocked him one day when he realized that he wanted to smoothed out her bangs and un-braid her hair and leave them open. An unprecedented anger had surged through him at his thought process making him lash out the very woman he was fantasizing about.

Khushi had however held his ground and met eye to eye. Unfortunately it hadn't helped the cause but only made him retaliate stronger. And then the insulting on her intelligence and her background had begun.

"ASR, will you be joining the meeting with our consultants for foreign export? Last night during dinner, the principal consultant asked me if he can have a word with you one-on-one," Lavanya said walking in step with him, simultaneously reading a file.

"Any idea about what his agenda might be?" He asked thumbing at his blackberry as it beeped with incoming mail totally missing the vantage point at the incoming right in front of him.

"I have no idea, but if I were to guess'" Lavanya stopped as she heard groans of a man and a woman as they crashed head on. She looked up as she saw loose papers strewn in front of her along with Arnav and Khushi entangled. She stood still for a moment without knowing what to do - to yell at Khushi first or help Arnav. Her phone rang at that moment and looking at the number, she decided to get away from the scene and let Arnav deal with Khushi.

The office was still mostly empty given how early it was and for that Khushi was thankful. She didn't want to be a spectacle in front of her peers and colleagues all over again. Arnav's face was only an inch or two away from her face and she could easily smell his aftershave and a very mild smell of tea he had at breakfast. She swooshed a breath out as his body weight fell on her chest and closed her eyes at the breathlessness caused by it. He immediately tried scrambling back on his feet only to have his palm slip on her veil making him slip and fall again making Khushi groan again.

"Sir...please..." she whispered, her voice throaty. Arnav didn't know if it was the pain of the fall that was affecting her or if it was his nearness. He nodded, his bobbing head touching the area just below her neck. Memories of the dream she dreamed the previous night came crashing down at that moment making her flush. She exhaled loudly making his eyelash flutter and blink repeatedly.

"Stay still," he ordered as he bunched the veil on her side and giving him palm stability of ground. He ignored the way her palms clutched his arms tightly, her fingernails digging through his blazer and shirt. He also tried very hard to ignore the way her breath danced on his neck as he pulled himself up on his elbows. He was taken aback when he saw her crimson face and glazed eyes. Yet the melancholy in them wasn't completely lost. Without much ado he pulled himself up pulling her along with him.

Once she found her foothold, she let go of his arms and took a step back.

"I am sorry sir. I didn't..." She started but wasn't allowed to finish.

"Are you hell bent on injuring me or is this your way of showing displeasure to the company?" Arnav hissed in cold anger. On any normal day Khushi would respond with some inane analogy which made absolutely no sense to him or she would retort a hurried apology and just run away from the scene of crime before he could properly scold her.

He suddenly felt awkward when she didn't do anything that she normally did but slump her shoulder for a second and bent down to pick up the strewn papers. He stood there amidst the papers and the girl who was collecting them at his feet felling like a big douche bag. Again, on any normal day he would have simply walked on without caring much of an apology or a helping hand but that day was anything but normal.

He bent down and picked up papers along with Khushi and handing them over once done without as much as a backward glance or added insults. He felt a strange sense of restlessness as he climbed the stair of cabin without realizing the looks of surprise he left on faces of two women in his wake.

Khushi was surprised at the non-scolding and non-insulting Arnav.

Lavanya was surprised at the Arnav who had stopped to help the damsel in distress. It wasn't the helping had that shook her heart but the way his eyes had softened at the sight of the woman near his feet collecting papers.

She wondered if her boyfriend's behavior was something she had to worry about. Her mind laughed at the improbability of him being ever attracted to a girl like Khushi but her heart refused to believe the probability of the impossible.

Khushi walked back to her desk and slumped in her chair and demanded her racing heart to calm down. Thinly veiled kindness from Arnav had made her stumble a little.

Her heart secretly desired what she called as blasphemy. Would she find a salvation in these interactions or would she be a target of someone's retribution?

Padam...Padam...she heard the music...

(TBC)

Note:

Meaning of the title - Padam Padam:

"Padam" is an onomatopoeia that mimics the music of a Waltz.
Can you hear that ? Pam Pam Padam, Pam Padam Pam Padam, it is part of the Starwars theme ! Or  21st Century Fox music...

In this chapter its loosely used for the music/beating of the heart that cannot be characterized with the regular lub-dub synchrony.

Awesome update!! thank you so much for the pm! continue soon!

Originally posted by: zafi

Yey Me first!😆

Interesting update. 👏 So Arnav is already softening up to KHushi 😃and red flags are going up in La's head. That was quick in the serial La is so slow to think.😆

Thanks for the Update.😉

Originally posted by: littlemoi

Awesome update!! thank you so much for the pm! continue soon!

Originally posted by: desisweetheart9

Thanks for the PM. Nice.