Hello!!
Missed me? Well I missed all of you! I cannot believe I haven’t been here for almost a month. I am super busy with all my projects that I didn’t realize where the month flew away.
Link to the last update: Chapter 30
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Aarav left the gallery with the painting in his hands, the painting which he payed a fortune for. The damn old man was persistent in buying it till Aarav raised the his bid to a million dollars. It was like Sana was thinking about him while painting the picture, without words expressed, he knew she was conflicted at his sudden appearance and he was no less. A yearning passed through him as he traced the contour lines, a sudden urge to touch the painter herself. One year was a torture staying away from her but being this close yet so far was a complete different story.
But he can’t. He couldn’t be with her when she was his wife and he can’t be with her now that she was somebody else’s wife. Guilt swam in his eyes as he glanced at the painting of the heart. A sensation of hope hit him hard when he saw her eyes drunk with the notion of love. Aarav didn’t regret his decision. Not one bit.
He let out a long, depressing sigh as he placed the picture in the trunk before dashing to his hotel room. He gathered his belongings, tossing them aimlessly in his bag, preparing for his departure to the Ross mansion. He was going to go home. Arpi Di’s chatter, Arhaan’s smirks, Amay’s giggles were something he truly missed and after seeing them at the auction, there was no holding back that he needed to go home.
He checked out of the hotel in a quick blur and sat in the back of his car, waiting for his driver to make a move. Aarav knew that it was time he set everything right, it was time he let go of his past mistakes and make an effort in mending them, it was time he set aside his blazing emotions and be practical, it was time he let the truth present itself.
“Send me the papers, as promised, I am going pay the money,” he spoke in an ice cold voice.
“You really are in love with her, aren’t you?” he heard a deep chuckle from the other end.
“That’s none of your damn business. You already caused all the trouble, just take your money and let’s close the deal,” Aarav snapped in a threatening voice, already planning the guy’s death after the deal.
“The deal will only close when she comes to me with the money.”
It was Aarav’s turn to laugh in a brittle bitter tone, “That’s where you are wrong. The deal will close when you get the money by my hands.”
“I don’t want it from you though,” he retorted back cooly.
“Does it matter? I know very well that there is no such condition. Just send me the stupid papers,” Aarav barked brutally before flinging the call shut.
He needed to sort everything out before Sana learns anything.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“So, are you coming?” Arhaan drawled out, begging her to come to some sort of a competition.
“Of course not! Unlike you, I am a busy person,” Sana blunty declined as she sagged back on her chair, looking at the file before her.
“But you are my only supporter! How am I supposed to win if I have nobody supporting me?” Arhaan yelled at a bucked up voice, clearly not helping his case.
“You managed to convince all my cousins, your siblings and your cousins to come watch you. That is nearly fifty people and how does that make me your only supporter?”
“Okay fine! You are not my only supporter,” Arhaan grumpily mumbled causing Sana to smile in triumph, “But you are my favourite one!”
“Is this even a legal competition?”
“Are you trying to say I am bluffing or I am participating in illegal things?”
“Stop being over dramatic. I never heard of this before,” Sana calmly mumbled back.
Her body in a tired state, she couldn’t sleep all night, various thoughts engulfing her mind about Aarav. Her emotions were constantly contradicting themselves, leaving her in a very confused state of mind. It would have been so much better if they had a mature talk about all the happenings and sorted things out but instead they had one minute conversation which ended in them yelling at each other.
“Exactly! So you should definitely come and see what the fuss is about,” her chain of thoughts was interrupted by Arhaan’s persuasion.
“What will I get for this?”Sana bargained, on the verge of giving in.
“I will buy you popcorn with my prize money,” Arhaan mused which did the trick. Due to Sia, popcorn was strictly banned and salads filled the shelves making home a nightmare for Sana. Sana was at such a point that she would do anything for popcorn.
“What time should I be there by?” she jovially asked back, her mind already planning what flavour she should get.
“Sharp ten,” Arhaan said exuberantly, chuckling as to how easy it was to bribe Sana.
She let out a mini squeal before grabbing her phone and her sunglasses before heading to Saman bro’s cabin for them to leave. Sana was so engrossed in the world of popcorn that she completely forget the real situation.
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“This is it?”Saanvi asked dryly, the boredom evident in her voice as she glared at Arhaan.
“We are not here to watch a FIFA game, Saanvi,” Sid mocked, wrapping an arm on her shoulder and dragging her away before she faints of boredom.
“Really? The last time I checked it said that it was one of the tourist attractions in this town,”Saanvi failed her arms at the abandoned streets surrounding her, “Instead, it seems more like a pass time for useless people.”
Sana chuckled at her exaggeration and proceeded inside with Arhaan as he announced with triumph, “You guys haven’t seen the full of it.”
“Woah,” Sana breathed as she saw a giant stadium, people filling every corner of the bleachers, cheerleaders dancing on the stage while the screens were displaying the points of teams.
“What is this competition again?” she asked Arhaan as she saw various people cheering for each other.
“There will be a series of different tasks which need to be finished in order to win the competition. The team with the most points will win,” Arhaan replied nonchalantly.
“Woah! Woah! What do you mean team with the most points will win? Isn’t this individual?”
“Nope, it is a group game ranging from two people to four.”
“Who is in your team then?” she enquired boggled as she saw the rest of their gang find seats a few rows infront.
“You are hilarious that I forgot to laugh,”she heard a sarcastic voice snicker from behind her causing her to turn around.
Her breath hitched in her throat as she saw the person the statement was directed to. Instead of a scowl or a smirk, he was smiling at her. A genuine smile as he shook his head in disbelief which caused a fire to burn in Sana.
“Why is he here?” she snapped at Arhaan, tugging his shirt gently.
“Anvi! I didn’t know you were going to be here,” Arhaan ignored her and went ahead to give the lady beside Aarav a hug. The genuine smile Sana noticed a few seconds ago was replaced by his blank, dull face.
“Do you even know your own birthday?” the unknown lady joked as she hit his head.
“You are…Aarav’s wife, Sana right?” she directed her gaze towards Sana with a warm smile spreading across her face as she gave her a surprising hug, “I am Anvi, their cousin, it is good to finally see you.”
“Likewise,” Sana mumbled, shocked at her politeness.
“Participants please report to the front line,” they heard the speak squeak, breaking Arhaan from his daze and grin jovially.
“That’s a call for us to go! Wish us all good luck,” he spoke to noone in particular while grinning like a maniac.
“Who is us?” Saanvi yelped from behind, voicing out Sana’s confused thoughts.
“Me, you, Sana and Aarav.”
“I did not sign up for this,”Sana shrieked violently, shaking her head in negative.
“Well I did so let’s get moving,” Arhaan shoved her to the front line.
“Arhaan, are you out of your mind? Why did you involve all of us in this stupid competition?” Aarav demanded hotly, just on the edge of killing someone with his death glares.
“They need a person who had strength, which was you, a person with good looks, me of course, we need somebody who is smart which is Sana.”
“Where do I fit in?” Saanvi mused from behind, raising her eyebrow at Arhaan.
“They are both are most likely going to rip each other’s throats while I do the task, I need someone to control them,”Arhaan blabbered offending all the three of them but never letness grinned widely.
“Geez, I don’t feel used at all,” Saanvi muttered as she followed them down the bleachers to the so called front line.
“I am not doing this,” they heard Aarav bark from behind, causing Arhaan to sigh while Sana to mumble, “Welcome to the group, dumbo.”
“I’m sure there is a running competition you can win with your experience,” Sana blurted out bluntly, staring at him as a smirk plastered on her face.
“You know what? We are going to do this,” he ordered as he stomped his away over, grabbing Sana by the arm and dragging her down the stairs.
“Who are you to decide for me?” she winced as his grip tightened on her arm.
“I think you already know the answer to that question, darling,” he startled her by calling her by her nickname. Her entire body froze as he passed her a wink and continued to walk them to the front line. What does all this mean?
“What do you want from me Aarav?” she breathed out with frustration, mentally groaning at how weak her voice sounded.
“If we win this competition, you are going to stop judging me based on my past actions. Deal?” he bargained smugly while Sana gawked at him as if he lost his mind. Was this all a joke to him? After running away for almost a year and then asking her to stop judging him about it based on some stupid competition, he was talking as if this was some prank.
“Or you could just explain me why you committed your past actions and I can stop judging you?” she seethed, the pain and rage swirled in her voice as she crossed her arms over her chest. Sana didn’t know what to do, not one bit. He was taking this so lightly that she wondered if they ever had anything between them other than hate. Was she the only one to assume that there was more to them than just hate?
“I don’t want to explain so this way is better,” he winked at her before yanking her to the table and Sana sighed, giving in. She needed time to think about her feelings and when she was ready, she was going to him the talk of his life.
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“Why are we winning?” Sana fumed with vexation as she saw their twenty points added to their score. Despite losing two of the games, thanks to Sana, they still managed to be the in lead of the competition. The rest of the group was extremely determined in winning, Arhaan due to the fact that he wanted the winner title for the fourth year; Saanvi as she hated to lose and Aarav due to the little deal they had.
Sana was visibly amused when she saw all her friends take part in this competition, all of her business partners and friends were enjoying the games. It was like the annual business picnic to be exact and Sana wondered how she didn’t know about this any sooner.
“Because that’s what we should be doing?” Saanvi stated the obvious, giving her an amused glance.
“This is so unfair,” Sana mumbled as she saw Aarav lean back into his chair with a smug smirk. Well, he can’t really control her feelings anyways so what was the point of the entire deal? No idea.
“We now call one of the team members for repairing trucks,” they speaker broke her thoughts as she grimaced to watch another round of winning.
“I’ll go,” Aarav sternly said as he stood up, stretching as if he was running some marathon.
“There is no one else who wants to anyways,”she sourly said, the acid taste lingering in her mouth every time she looked at him.
He gave her a death glare before jogging to where the trucks were placed. This was not at all what she had planned every day she thought about meeting him after his little stunt of running away. She had always hoped they would clear out their differences or hoped he would explain his actions but never in the million years did she think that he would seem like everything didn’t matter in the first place. Hell, she was even prepared to face rejection but clearly he had something else in mind.
“The participants will be give exactly five minutes to fix the engine of the trucks. However fixes the most will win!” they heard the rules for the round and with that the whistle rung and she saw Aarav scurry away to the nearest truck. He quickly examined the truck, glancing towards the sides and fixing some screws in the tires before moving onto the next one.
“Why are you in such a gloomy mood?” Hina asked her, narrowing her eyes at Sana’s dull face.
“Isn’t it obvious? I am neither interested in this competition nor the people surrounding me,” she retorted back with a sigh while Hina smiled at her discomfort, gently squeezing her shoulders in comfort.
Sana let her gaze wander off to Aarav who was on his fourth truck, widening her eyes in shock. She had averted her gaze for exactly a minute and he fixes three trucks? She scowled as she saw him turn on the engine and work on the fifth one. The engine let out a roar and before Aarav could move, the hood of the truck snapped open, shooting a black smoke and a liquid substance out. She smirked in delight as she saw his shirt drenched with yellow liquid.
His annoyed, electric blue eyes met hers, causing her to deepen her smirk and bat her eyelashes in sympathy. He looked at her for a good long minute before reaching for the hem of his shirt and pulling it off.
“Oh my god! Are you kidding me?” she gasped with fright as she saw the other girls in the arena have a complete different reaction than her. The entire arena shot up with screams and wails, turning into lovesick teenagers while watching Aarav work. Her jaw literally dropped when he completed the fifth one and splashed some water on himself.
“He has an eight pack? That was unexpected. Did you know?” Saanvi asked in amusement from next to her.
“Egoistic Jerk,” she mumbled as she saw his tanned muscles flex to the cold water hitting them. Aarav’s eyes locked in hers, dancing in pleasure at her indignated figure, ready to pounce on him for the attention he was seeking. The smirk fell off her lips and travelled up to his as he went back to fixing the remaining trucks before the round ends.
She loathed him now.
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“We need two people from each group for the limbo,” the speaker announced making Sana want to rip it into pieces and shred it off. The damn thing had been barking out list of games for the past few hours and Sana doubted if there was an end but Arhaan kept assuring her that it was going to end soon. So was her patience and she was desperately hoping that they would lose but that seemed like an impossible task when she had three maniac perfectionists in her group.
“Team One?” they called out and two people walked out of team one.
“And start,” they called out before the girl had to literally rest on the boy for them to pass through the pole without touching it.
“Who is going from our group?”Aarav asked and Sana wanted to murder him for asking that question, already knowing the answer.
“You both for sure,” Arhaan stated as expected causing Sana to groan and slump back into her chair.
“Absolutely not! I am not doing that with him,” she spat venom at his direction.
“We don’t have a choice,” Arhaan bickered back.
“Yes, we do,” she argued back, “We can always drop out,”
“We are not allowed.”
“Sana, it is going to be awkward if any other combination goes up there to do that,” Saanvi hesitantly agreed while Sana shot her an incredulous look.
“And you think this combination wouldn’t be awkward,” Sana incredulously asked her.
“Yeah, but-”
“Wait, why aren’t you saying anything?” Sana snapped at Aarav, realizing that he was just sitting there without saying anything for the past few minutes.
“You think I really care about doing a simple limbo with you?”
And that did it, she declared evasively, “Let’s do this.”
“Round One! Good luck to you guys!” the speaker announced making Sana want to stangle it again.
A familiar warmth shot up her body as Aarav slid his hand around her waist, pulling her back against his chest. His minty breath fell on her neck as a shiver ran down her spine at the movement. Her mind was drunk with his scent, the manly cologne she was so used to having around. The minty breath tingling her neck as they moved closer to the pole but all she could focus was on their actions. It was like before, just like before.
“Sana, bend,” she heard Aarav mumbled into her ear, causing a blush to rise up her skin as he laid her back on his chest as they passed the first pole.
“Round One clear, heading on to Round two!”
Her mind was running in thousand different directions, hardly having anytime to think and hardly understanding what Aarav said, “Are you going to bend this time or do you want me to bend you?”
She gave him a confused expression to which he chuckled, his eyes beaming and yet again, she felt herself admiring his picture perfect eyes. Boy, didn’t she miss those eyes. He pulled her back against his chest and both of them bent for the pole.
“Round Two clear. Round three!”
Thus, they continued to finish the next few stages of limbo successfully which irked Sana. She even tried to trip Aarav several times but he was wise enough to dodge her moves and keep them up. Sana was beginning to think that he was enjoying her squirming under his grip as her entire body was flushed against his chest. They were on the last few rounds and the entire stadium was cheering for them. Or more for him after his little show back at the truck race.
“How many more to go?” she questioned one of the females who was holding the pole up.
“Only two more rounds are left.” she replied back with a smile which caused Sana to scowl.
“Do you want to kill me?” she suspiciously enquired.
“Excuse me?” the young girl looked horrified at her sudden accusation.
“None of the other games were this long. The one game I participate after almost an hour just happens to be this long eh?” Sana scoffed in heavy displeasure.
“She must have bent her head too much which caused her screws to loosen up,” she felt Aarav bluntly cover up before dragging her back to their position.
“I hate you,” she said aggravated at all the happenings of the past two days. She couldn’t think straight and Aarav’s actions were confusing her even more.
“Glad you feel the same,” he shot back his signature line causing her to almost hit him in the head for behaving so bipolar.
“Go ahead,” they heard the speaker yell at them.
The pole was hardly above the ground and Sana wondered how they were going to make it across that, she sighed and sagged back into Aarav’s chest and she felt him stiffen under her. She rolled her eyes and they continued to move under the pole, when they were almost crossing it, Aarav lost his balance and pulled Sana along with him. The heard the entire audience let out a breath in dejection as both of hugged the green grass.
She felt her body straighten when she glanced at her position, her face was inches away from Aarav who was gawking her with intense emotions in his blue eyes. She swallowed before jerking away from the posture, snapping him out of his daze and rushing off to Arhaan and Saanvi who were cheering for them. She sighed, brushing off the grass from her jeans when she saw light sparkling on her finger. She raised her hand to see her engagement ring glistering in the sun’s rays. Sana frowned at the ring, unable to comprehend when she put it on.
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Any idea on what Aarav is upto? I feel Sana’s frustration, don’t you? the poor girl was expecting so much from Aarav and he is so bipolar. All of you hating him now?
Anyways, how are you all? I will update in two weeks FOR SURE, that’s a promise. I know I am ignoring this A LOT and most of you forgot about this BUT DON”T LEAVE!! Most of you are my age and know the pressure of studies and writing almost twelve pages is not easy. So do have a little patience and I am really thankful for all your support.
I am going to have some more ArSa’s scenes next update so keep reading and tc!