Chapter 2

9:15 AM, KV Technologies:-

Writer's POV

Sitting on his chair completely dressed in a navy blue formal suit he was typing something furiously on his laptop with a hard expression on his face and full concentration on the screen.

"Bring me my coffee!" Aakarsh ordered his secretary on the intercom.

Aakarsh Verma, a 23-year-old guy turning 24 in a couple of months, who last year finished his studies and since then has been handling his dad's business. Currently, he is the CEO of KV Technologies. Despite being 23, he is very mature for his age. He is always in a serious mood. He hardly smiles let alone laugh.

"Sir, your coffee." his secretary Vivan came with coffee and placed it on the table.

Aakarsh just gave a curt nod and asked about today's schedule.

"Sir, meeting with Mr. Mehra at 11 then a routine meeting with all the department heads at 3 pm, and lastly a video conference at 4:30," Vivan informed him.

"Okay, bring me Mehra's file and also mail me the final presentation," Aakarsh asked Vivan.

"Sure, Sir" Vivan replied and was about to go when Aakarsh called him again.

"Vivan, make sure no one disturbs me till 10:30. Don't transfer any call until it is extremely important. And no visitors are allowed today." Aakarsh ordered in a firm tone.

"Alright, Sir" Vivan replied but was still standing there.

Aakarsh noticed his frown.

"What… wanna say something?"

"Yes Sir, actually Sir… I… no I mean Mrs. Verma… I mean..." He was stuttering which irked Aakarsh.

"What the hell is this Vivan? If you want to say something then speak up clearly otherwise you can go. I don't have a whole day to waste." He shouted due to which Vivan flinched.

"Actually, Mrs. Verma, your mother, asked me to set up a date for you with Miss Nayana and ordered me to get you there at any cost," Vivan said in a low voice wiping the tiny drops of sweat that appeared on his forehead.

Scared of his reaction, he didn't dare to meet his eyes with the cold gaze of his boss.

Aakarsh groaned in frustration. Clearly, the idea didn't go well with him.

" You can go now, I'll handle it and dare you do anything stupid like that," he said Vivan in a warning tone.

"No Sir, I was already scared of your reaction to it, that's why I told you everything beforehand," Vivan said timidly.

"Okay, go now, and don't let anyone disturb me" he ordered Vivan.

Vivan left from there. Aakarsh took his phone and dialed his mother's number.

She received the fifth ring.

"Hello," his mother answered from another side.

"What is this Maa?"

"What, what is this?" She asked in confusion

Aakarsh was already frustrated with the whole plan his mother made and on top of that, she doesn't find it important to even inform him which irked him to the core.

"Maa, I have told you so many times to stop arranging dates for me, why can't you understand?" He said furiously gritting his teeth yet in a low voice, trying not to disrespect his mother by any means.

"And, I too have told you, stop wasting your life for nothing." His mother replied calmly.

His hold on the phone tightened. Some flashes, some hurting memories clouded his mind.

"I have said this not once but thousand times, I don't need anyone in my life, I'm okay the way I am. Neither I'm interested in anyone nor I need anybody." He replied with unusual calmness in his voice which his mother sensed clearly. But, being the mother, how could she let her only child suffer?

"Son, I'll only say that it's high time you should move on now. This journey of life is too long to walk alone; if I am saying that it can't be travelled alone, then it is for a reason, Krish."

"We need someone to hold us, someone to love us, someone whom we can trust with our closed eyes and we'll be knowing that this specific person will never let us fall. I am not asking you to waste your precious time for nothing… but you must know the treasure of love and trust by investing it in the right person."

She tried to make him understand the importance of a life partner. The importance of love and trust.

He chuckled sadly hearing her words. He didn't want to make fun of the words he heard his mother speaking, but his bitter past wasn't letting them make any sense for him.

"Love, trust are good words Maa but, just words, no strings of real feelings attached." He replied, releasing a sad chuckle.

"Krish… " his mother tried speaking when he cut her words in between.

"Maa, I've taken this decision already, and about living the life alone as you said, then it's not necessary that everyone will get a companion in this journey, some travellers walk the way all alone. Not everybody is destined for someone to share these feelings. So please, don't do any kind of such arrangements from now on. I have a meeting ahead, see you in the evening." He said to her in a low but determined tone.

With this, he cut the call and got up to move out buttoning up his navy blue blazer which was making this angry young man a complete hot-handsome-killer male species.

******

Writer's POV:-

Nakshatra, Delhi

**The Vermas have named their home as Nakshatra.**

Writer's POV:-

Krishna Verma is a soft-hearted woman, and it really pains her to see his only son slowly slipping into loneliness. She tried many times and it resulted in nothing.

All she wants is just to see Aakarsh happy in his life, again. She huffed and threw her phone on the bed. She sat there for a while, pressing her head with two fingers, she kept her head on the bedpost and went down the memory lane.

*Flashback*

"Maa.."

"Maa.."

She heard his 17 years old son, Aakarsh, whining for her attention, while she was giggling silently and stirring the curry, ignoring him.

"Maa, listen na" he again whined, shaking her hands.

"Hmm...Speak up, I'm listening," she answered, sounding uninterested intentionally, and continued stirring the curry.

"I'm not telling anything, you're not paying attention," he complained and crossed his arms on his chest, puffing his cheeks he made a sad pout scrunching eyebrows.

"Okay baby, now I'm listening with FULL attention, speak."

Exaggerating the word 'full' she replied and finally turned towards him giggling.

He got happy again getting his mother's undivided attention on him.

"Maa, my friend's birthday is on upcoming Sunday, so I was thinking of giving something unique, but I don't know what to gift.?" He said innocently.

Being a momma's boy, Aakarsh was always too attached to his mother. He shared all his happiness, sorrow, confusion, conflict, even the minute details with her. She was not only his mother but his best friend also.

"Whose birthday is it?" she teased him.

Though she knew it already, still she was asking just to tease him a little.

"You already know Maa!" he replied as the red colour appeared on his cheeks.

She laughed at her son's innocent and pure shyness and seeing her laugh he also smiled shyly, hiding his face in her hair as she hugged him like a child.

*Flashback ends*

She was startled and came out of her thoughts due to a sudden interruption. It was Mrinal Verma, her husband and Aakarsh's father standing in front of her.

"Where have you lost Krishna? I've been calling you for the past 5 minutes. What happened and why these tears?" He asked, wiping the tears from her face.

"I'm unable to fix anything no matter how much I try, Mrinal. Our son is leading towards darkness." She sobbed.

"Are you thinking about that?" He asked, taking her in his embrace. She said nothing, just kept her head on his chest, and sobbed softly.

"If it was in our hands, we would have fixed it long ago, Krishna, but this is the harsh reality that not everything is in our control. What do you think, don't I feel bad seeing our only child becoming something like this! But I'm helpless, Jaan, I'm unable to do anything." He said ruffling her hair trying to console her.

"We are definitely feeling bad for all this but you too know it very well that we can only help Aakarsh when he is willing to take our help. But he had just made himself distant from everyone. He works like a machine, complete workaholic so that he doesn't have to talk or meet anyone unnecessarily." He poured his heart out in front of his wife.

All these years it pained him but he kept it inside just for the sake of his wife so that her sensitive heart doesn't break again. But today, he just couldn't control himself, after all, he was also a father.

"So is this the way everything is gonna be forever, Mrinal? My child...my child will live his life in such suffocation...with all the pain he doesn't deserve?" She asked him in a painful tone.

Her heart pained at the mere thought of such a situation. Their beloved son, who was brought up with so much love and care. Who once was a jovial soul, had now turned into a complete workaholic rude person… all because of his bitter past incident.

"No, leave everything on time, time is the ultimate relief of every pain...time is the ultimate healer. Who knows, from the darkness we are today looking at, comes a light which will make our son happy, contented and lively again." He said with hope.

She nodded as they pulled apart from each other. He wiped her tears and kissed her forehead, giving her assurance.

"Everything will be all right...hmm!! Now give my aching heart some relief by your lovely smile," he asked lovingly and she in response nodded shyly, smiling at his words.

"Ohh woman...you made me forget the work which I was looking for." He said playfully.

"What?" She frowned.

"See, how lovely today's weather is!! How romantic!! I was thinking that you and I are here in our bedroom..." Before he could say further she interrupted.

"Shameless man, you don't have even an ounce of shame in you, no! Your son is going to be 23 and you're still thinking about romantic weather." She slapped his shoulders lightly and scolded him in a fake-anger tone, showing her eyes. But, in reality, she was shying away from her own husband who was her everything; lover, friend, companion, her biggest support… everything.

He laughed at her reaction and held her hands in his. Circling his arms around her lovingly he started his beautiful wife, who despite her mid-age, was looking all the way more adorable to make his heart flutter like a newbie, who fell in love for the first time in his life.

The red hue on her slightly wrinkled face was revealing the secret of her endlessly pure and passionate love she had for him, in the depth of her heart.

"Whether my son is going to be 23 or 60, it won't affect me okay? And I don't need any excuses to be romantic with you, love. How a person wouldn't be romantic if he has such a beautiful person with a heart of gold, as his wife." He teased her with a wink.

She blushed and looked down with a shy smile.

"And I wasn't saying this. What I was actually saying was that since it's amazing weather, why don't we see our favourite movie? It's been so long since we sat together feeling each other's warmth. We both usually are so busy every day, today as we are free, the weather is also nice, we should have our 'we' time.. what say?" He said lovingly kissing her left cheek making her go all red.

So many years, still their love was like the fresh flower bud which was just blooming.

"Then you should have told this earlier. Why were you twisting the words?" she again hit his shoulder playfully.

"Ohh my life, you don't know how much fun it is to tease you. And when you blush like this, your cheeks don't look any less than the rose." He teased her.

"You're never going to stop teasing me." She replied blushingly.

"No, never, this is the fun of life." He said and laughed. She too joined him.

"Okay, now your search for the movie, I'll be back with your tea and some snacks," she told him and moved away from his arms.

He nodded and she went out of the room to do the preparation.

'I wish I could make everything alright, Krishna, my heart cries thousands of times seeing your tears. My child would have been happy in his life too, today, if all that never had happened, that day. That dreadful day snatched the precious smile of our son… and I, like a helpless old man, couldn't do anything to protect my child.'

He said these words to himself remembering the past. Little did he know the past is all set to become the present, soon. Very soon.

*******

KV Technologies:-

Aakarsh was checking some mail on his laptop when his phone started ringing.

"Hello," he answered the call, still eyeing the laptop screen.

"Hello baby boo," someone said from another line.

His eyes widened in shock; he got alert hearing that voice from the other end.

"You!!"

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