Intertwined Fates -- An IPKKND FanFic

Dawning Realizations

"Aren't we going home first?" Payal asked as they passed the entrance to the highway that would lead to Lakshmi Nagar.

"No, Payal Didi! You're coming to my house. Buaji's there, too."

Akash smiled. "That's good."

"Don't get too excited, Jiju Ji," Khushi said. "It's only until lunch. After that, we take her back home with us."

Akash turned red. "I know that."

"Don't tease him so much," Arnav scolded.

Khushi stuck her tongue out at him.

"I can't believe you're a lawyer."

"Not just a lawyer, Mr. Raizada. A very good one."

"You're the best, Khushi Didi!" Aarav cheered.

"Thank you, sweetie. Take lessons, Mr. Raizada. This is how you treat a lady.'

Arnav scoffed. "A lady--and you? Didn't you once eat a whole box of jalebis by yourself in one sitting?"

"How did you--" her eyes narrowed at Payal. "Traitor."

Payal grinned sheepishly. "Sorry Khushi."

"How about I even the odds?" said Anjali. "When Chote was thirteen, he told me about this girl--"

"Di!"

"Shush, Chote. I'm telling a story. Where was I? Oh, right. So he told me about this girl in his class. He said that every time he saw her, his heartbeat picked up, his mouth became dry and his stomach felt funny."

"Aw, Mr. Raizada had a crush!"

"That's the normal conclusion, right? But Chote had made up his mind that he was allergic to the girl and he wanted me to talk to his teacher to move the girl to another class."

Irritated that they were all laughing at him, Arnav scowled at Khushi. She always caused problems when she was around.

***

The twenty minutes since Arnav had stepped back into his home had been pure chaos as everyone enthusiastically greeted each other. Mamiji, as per usual, had been the most dramatic. She'd hugged each of the foreign returns at least three times.

Arnav would have laughed with everyone else at Mamiji's theatrical tears, but all the noise was overwhelming him.

"I'm going to freshen up," he said finally and escaped to his room.

Shutting the door behind him, he leaned back against it. "Finally. Some quiet."

He'd stay up here until the guests left. By that time, Mamiji would have calmed down, too and it would be exponentially quieter. Satisfied with his plan, he went to take a shower.

***

-Outlet locations: London, New York, Los Angeles

-Budgeting

-Marketing

-Designs

-New Hirings

There was a knock on the door. Arnav ignored it. Based on the success of the fashion show, he thought it was the right time to expand their business abroad. Currently, he was working on a basic list of things that needed to be planned and he hated being disturbed when he was in the zone.

The person on the other side knocked again, more persistently this time. "Who is it?" he barked.

That was apparently an invitation because the knob turned and in walked Khushi. "Mr. Raizada, everyone's waiting for you at lunch."