Chapter 5: Arjun Rathore

"Seriously?" Suraj asked to give up on his mission to make the son and mom patch up. They are standing on the opposite side of the room with sulking faces.

"He is a kid. He can be childish and naughty sometimes. You have to be a little more understanding." Suraj advised Ishu as she glared at him with fiery eyes.

"And your mom, I know she is strict sometimes and even careless. But it's your mom, right? Can't you just forgive her?" Suraj asked as Sid looked at him with the same fiery eyes. Suraj sighed tiredly. Both took baby steps towards Suraj as he gulped down his nervousness. Why are they targeting him now?

"How can you call my kid immature and naughty?" Ishu asked, crossing her arms.

"And how can you call my mom careless?" Sid added crossing his arms. Suraj felt as if sandwiched between this mom and son.

"Apologise to my mom" Sid spoke with a glare.

"Before that apologise to Sid" Ishu played along as Suraj kept his hand over his head.

"I shouldn't have come here in the first place to solve your dispute," Suraj exclaimed and stood in the corner with a pout. Soon Ishu and Sid broke into laughter and Suraj joined them.

"Okay fine. I will be leaving for an event. So no fights till I come back" Suraj warned them while they rolled their eyes. Their fight won't last for more than a minute but Suraj tries his best to make them fight so that he can console them.

"Another event," Sid asked sadly. He likes Suraj so much and he can't stay away from him for long. Suraj is one of the richest known businessmen in the city and he often sponsors events.

"Will be back in just two days" Suraj pulled his cheeks making him smile back at him.

Ishu got the ice cream and served it to all. Neha and Suraj joined them and Neha's son ran to them to grab his favourite flavour before Sid could have it. Both laughed and got their flavours and started eating it.

Ishu took the strawberry flavour and smiled to herself. She took another bite and the memories started haunting her as usual. Tears rolled down her cheeks along with a broad smile.

"Thinking about Arjun?" Neha asked to take her seat beside Ishu.

"He loves Ice Cream the same way Sid likes it," Ishu mumbled as she finished the ice cream.

"How can you be so loving and sweet towards that person who left you?" Ishu glared at Neha while she sighed and continued. "Okay fine. He didn't leave you but you both decided to separate your ways. But how can you be so calm?" Neha asked, grabbing her by her shoulders.

"Neha, you can never understand our relationship. Arjun is not just my lover or husband. He was my saviour. He was my strength. He was my everything. And for him, I can't even express my place in his heart" Ishu replied, caressing the ring which she wore. From the look itself, anyone can say that it was a gift from Arjun.

"Okay, now tell me what happened after your small fight?" Neha asked excitedly. She also wants to know if Arjun is worth her love or not. Ishu peeped to see Sid who already set his bed with Neha's son to sleep. She sighed and looked back at Neha who was very curious to know the story. Neha already carried the Diary to their study room and she had some popcorn too. Ishu smiled at her curiosity and joined her in the cushion taking the diary from her hand.

"A week passed by and I got my new card too. I didn't meet Arjun in those days. But I had that intuition that he was keeping an eye over me." Ishu paused and turned the page to the incident.

"I was doing a part-time job in a restaurant. And that day was my first day in Royal cafe. It was a well-known cafe in the city and the customers were only big shots." Ishu remembered that as if it had happened the previous day. Neha smiled seeing how her friend came back alive when reminiscing her old days. The charm in her eyes was something so magnetic and everyone who heard her would be feeling the same vibe she is giving.

2005 Royal cafe.

Ishu hurriedly made the arrangements for some meeting and turned to finish her evening job which is to just supervise the part-timers to wash their vessels and to clean the filter machines. She didn't take hard jobs as she knew that she needed the energy to study also. She is always calculative when it comes to studies. That much she adored her education.

Once she crossed the red labelled special room which is meant for the management team, she heard unusually annoyed yellings of some old man. She lowered her head not wanting to peep inside. Her anklet sound screeched the surroundings and the man stopped yelling for a second making her nervous.

"Get inside" the man yelled and Ishu found herself inside the room with a shivered body. The man carried such an aura that she felt so intimidated with his tone alone. Looking at his white hair, she knew that he is older than 60. But his healthy body showed off his perfect lifestyle and his voice expressed how powerful he is.

"Name?" The man asked for the second time as she seemed to be zoned off a second.

"Ishiita Kapoor" she mumbled, keeping her voice as polite as possible.

"Just look after this guy and make sure he washes every single vessel on the lawn outside." That was a harsh punishment anyone could get. Lawn means it's not the vessels of the cafe alone but the five-star restaurant next to it also included.

"Is that clear?" The old man asked Ishu as she nodded instantly and that's when she saw him completely. He is the founder of the Royal Empire and is known as the richest person in the entire country.

She hurriedly left the room and the guy whom the man pointed to, followed her like a second skin. She stopped at the lawn and paused to take a deep breath.

"You can clean the vessels here. I might come back after half an hour to check on you" Ishu spoke pointing at the sea of vessels there and turned to see the man and her orbs widened in shock seeing him in front of her.

"Hi, sweetheart" Arjun showed his teeth and came in front to see the vessels.

"Why don't you help me a little here?" He asked rolling his sleeve up a little, getting ready to wash those.

She wanted to ask many questions but she knew that she didn't need to know about him or his personal issues. It's not her concern. She turned her heels and went away.

"Stone woman" he mumbled as he started his mission of washing the vessels. She came back right after half an hour and saw that he didn't even complete 10% of his work.

"Don't be lazy and do it faster. I mean, a kindergarten kid too can finish at least this row. But you didn't even start" Ishu yelled at him in an extremely frustrated voice as he jumped in horror. He didn't expect to get scolded by her like that in front of all the servants there. She heard everyone gasping around her but she paid no heed to them as she was concentrated on him.

"I need to finish my shift in one hour and the boss asked me to supervise you. So it would be better if you finish it all within that period" she calmly spoke as he stretched his arms.

"For that, I guess you have to help me a bit" Arjun spoke shamelessly as he slightly made a place for her to join.

"I didn't make any mistakes to get punishments like you." She snapped at him but saw that someone already joined him to help him. Maybe he is an old employee there and made some friends too.

"Good then. Do it fast" Ishu commanded and turned to go to her section. "Did she have to do that for real?" Ishu heard the questions behind her. What's so wrong with that?

"She is new and she doesn't know who he is" that's another comment passed by. She stood there confused as her eyes fell on the certificate having the founder name imprinted in a bold letter.

"Ved Singh Rathore" may be the old man she met before. But why does it sound familiar?

"You guessed it right!" Arjun whispered near her ears as her eyes widened in shock.

"Arjun Rathore?" She gasped as he winked at her telling her that she is indeed right.

"But why did he ask you to do this?" She asked in confusion as he walked beside her like he owned the entire place and it's fact also.

"Are you getting curious about me?" He asked with his charming smile and she turned away instantly realising that she did cross that unseen line that was drawn by her.

"Guess I got my assistant in my workplace too" his words were so dangerous that she felt trapped in a lion's cage. She knew that she can't get away from his clutches easily. And she has no intention to resign from the overwhelming job and search again like dogs on the street.

"Can you get me a glass of coffee in that red labelled room?" He asked more like a statement and walked towards the management room as if he didn't need to wait for her answer. Why has fate played out like this? She doesn't want to get involved with him in any way but seems like God has other plans.