Abhinav sat in the backseat of his Rolls Royce  as his driver Vinay was riding through the streets of Udaipur to Abhinav's residence. Vinay was suprised to see his workaholic boss who during the car rides kept himself busy by either talking to someone or working on his laptop now deeply lost in his thoughts.

" Sir,  is everything fine?" Vinay questioned in a concerned tone.

" Yeah, all fine " Abhinav passed a little smile to his trusted aide looking through the rear view mirror.

But his heart knew, not everything was fine.

17 years ago, when he was just 10 he lost his father in an car accident.  Coming from a royal family based in Kasauli , money was never an issue to them.  But once his father died, he had seen how his relatives, the so called vultures,  had tried to snatch their property pretending to help . Some attempted to get his mother's signature on stamp papers , while some attempted to steal valuables right under their nose.  Heck, one even proposed remarriage to his mother so they could lay hands on the inheritance.

But his mother Gayathri Sharma, knowing their intentions distanced all of them. Fearing if they stayed in Kasauli there may be attempts on his life , she moved closer to her paternal home in Udaipur. Overnight , he had to let go of the child that he was and transform into the man of his house,  standing up to protect his mother, elder sister and grandmother.

Right from that day, he had only one goal , to expand his family buisness.  He completed his degree , and took on the reins of Sharma industries from his mother. He even started his own venture, Sharma constructions which is now the leading architect firm in all of western India.

Everything was going smoothly on his life as he had planned, until one day his mother started pressurizing him to marry. He tried to delay as much as he could,  but after a year she started becoming adamant and giving emotional threats. He had to give in atlast , afterall his mother meant the world to him. If she hadn't stayed strong and tried to run the Sharma empire on her own , they might have simply lost everything.  He was forever indebted to her.

Coming to the matter at hand , he was getting engaged tomorrow to the girl she chose for him. Doctor Aarohi Goenka. His mother had shown him her picture , and truthfully,  she looked pretty and obviously being a doctor brainy too. One more thing he liked about her was that since she was a doctor,  she would also be busy with her profession,  not troubling him much .

He had spoken with her two weeks back on the phone before conforming the alliance.  She was a girl of few words,didn't seem overly clingy or desperate.  She just answered his questions in brief, never even asked anything on her side. He felt weird,  but pushed the thought to the back of his head thinking she must have been shy .

His mind was now having a whirlwind of emotions. After his father's death, he was never able to believe anyone other than his immediate family. He did date a couple of girls at college , but all of that was just a fling nothing serious.  Now getting committed to a girl for life , seemed to an uphill task.

Will he able to accept her as a part of his life? Will she be able to get on grips with his hectic life? What would be expected out of him ?

His thoughts were broken as Vinay pressed on the horn as his car passed into the gates of the Sharma mansion.

" Beta.. come in.. look Muskaan arrived today morning " Gayathri said as soon as he reached the main door.

" Hi di... where is jeeju?" Abhinav asked his elder sister who had come for his engagement from the states.

" Well,  he asked to convey his apologies . He  has an important meeting this week , he will join for the wedding " Muskaan said sheepishly .

" No worries di, I understand work always takes priority . Champ, come here give Mammu a hi- five" Abhinav said and moved on to playing with Muskaan's three year old son .

" Abhinav.. get ready .. we have to go shopping.  With engagement tomorrow,  you still don't have a suit " he heard Gayathri's voice coming from the other side of the hall.

" Really mom? Do I have to accompany you? Please get anything of your choice or even better I will wear any of old ones. Who will notice?" Abhinav tried his best to escape the situation but one glare from his mother and he knew he had no choice.

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" Aaru di..."  Akshara walked into her sister's room hoping to have some sister's time. After her Mimi, if she was close to somebody in the house it must be Aarohi. Kairaav and Akshara had a gap of 10 years between them , so they never gelled. But with Aarohi it was off and on. Aarohi was super independent from her childhood but shared a good rapport with Akshara in their childhood.  Akshara also used to admire Aarohi as she excelled in her academics and was the star of her parents eyes. Once Aarohi left to medical college , their bond began to break. Their conversations were minimal and eventually they grew apart.

" I will call you later" Aarohi cut the call in panic as  she saw Akshara walking into her room .

" Akshu, learn to knock when entering other's room" Aarohi said sternly .

" Sorry di . Where you in a call? Did I disturb? " Akshara apologized.

" It's fine." Her reply was short.

" Aaru di, actually I thought as tomorrow is your engagement , i still have to get my dress .we can go shopping today as well as to the parlor.  What say, girl's time?" Akshara asked eagerly .

"O...k..." Aarohi words stretched when her phone pinged and she checked it.

" Actually,  I have some important work,  why don't you go with Mimi ?" Aarohi passed a smile to her sister, hanging a bag around her shoulder left the room in a haste.

Akshara too left her room behind her , her face crestfallen .

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" Really .. i thought we were shopping for me?" Abhinav showed the countless number of bags he had been carrying going from shop to shop at the mall .

" Awww.. younger brother.. Get used to it now itself.. will help you in future" Muskaan playfully pulled Abhinav's cheek making Abhinav's face scrunch in dislike.

" Betu, take a breath, we have completed all of shopping . Just need to get your altered suit from the shop" Gayathri assured him.

" Mom.. im hungry " Viaan , his nephew whined clinging to Muskaan.

" Ok champ..let's get some food into you.. you guys proceed to the food court. I will keep these bags in the car , get the suit from the shop and join you in a while. " Abhinav pulled out his phone to call his driver to pick up the bags.

Dropping the bags with Vinay, he was proceeding to the suit shop checking the emails on his phone, when he felt someone crash into him. Out of hindsight,  he could see the person loosing balance on collision and instinctively his hands wrapped around the person trying to break their fall.

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Akshara  went  to the mall and got  herself a deep blue  lehenga for the function at the mall. After purchasing, she got herself a iced coffee and was making her way to the jewellery  store where Suhaasini was waiting for her, when she felt like she hit on a hard object and was tripping down when a pair of hands saved her by clutching her wrist.

She opened her eyes to see a deep pair of hazel eyes staring back at her. The owner of the eyes she noticed wasn't an Greek God or anything but looked so handsome in a regular way.  Dressed in a white button up shirt with a biege sweater on top he rocked the casual outfit with ease. Everything about him screamed elegance. 

" Why do you think God gave you eyes?" Abhinav's angry voice broke her trance as he steadied her to stand.

" Huh?" Akshara didn't get his question.

" Here I thought you only had a problem with your vision.. but seems like your ears are also of no use !" Abhinav's condescending tone reached her ears.

" Hello Mr.. I can hear and see fine. If anyone is to blame here, it has to be you. You were the one who was walking in a crowded mall with your head buried inside the phone" Akshara pounced back.

" I was just simply walking with my coffee ..." she looked down to check the contents of the cup now half empty.

Abhinav's eyes followed the direction of hers as it landed on his sweater. His eyes widened in horror.

His beige sweater was now drenched with coffee.

" You... look what have you done " Abhinav tone changed into anger.

" It's all your mistake. Try to walk with eyes on the surroundings next time" Akshara shrugged and walked off.

" Arghh.. stupid girl " he stomped his off to the restroom to clean .

Akshara heard the comment but decided to let it pass not wanting an another confrontation with the stranger.

" Akshu, what happened.. you look disturbed?" Suhaasini asked concerned as soon as she walked into the jewellery shop.

" Nothing Mimi..  just some Akdu insaan....  Leave it " she brushed the matter off trying to concentrate on the work in hand.

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Stupid and Akdu.. a tashaan first meet.. how do you think these two would have their second meet? 😉

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