Chapter 1

There were not many things that evoked humbleness in Arnav. See, owning one of the biggest fashion conglomerates in the world at the mere age of thirty three would do that. He was successful, had his name registered as both 'Man of the Year' in Times & 'Most Eligible Bachelor' in Vogue and had enough clout in the corporate world to get things done as and exactly how he liked it.

He was one of the very & rarely found best - and he knew it.

So, every morning when he sat down with his family for the simple activity as eating his breakfast, he cherished it. These were those few people in the world that didn't care about his stock price of the day, nor gave a damn about his latest venture. He was just Arnav under these roof, or more affectionately & usually called as an indication that he was about to get emotionally manipulated - Chote.

"I need the designs in front of me by lunch today Aman. I am not sure what is taking the design team so long. hmm, yes... yes....no... no...I don't think so... yes... but.." before Arnav could continue his monosyllables any further, he heard a loud cough & felt narrowing eyes on him & decided its time to end the call.

"Ok, lets pick this up in an hour"

"Good Morning Nani", he said bending to his side to give a side hug to the occupant of the head of the dining table, hoping to escape the bashing that he knew was coming.

"How much time do you spend at this table or inside this house for that matter Chote?"

Arnav winced as the statement came suffixed with his childhood name.

"Nani..."

Devyani pulled her hand up, effectively shutting Arnav up.

"I just want you to be here, when you are here. I know you do important work, but everyone at this table does that. And I like this time to be just ours & not about your work"

Arnav nodded his head like the obedient child, sparking a suppressed but very audible chuckle from Akaash. He covered it up with a cough, patting his chest earning a scowl from Arnav & frown from Devyani.

A stunned silence of solid two minutes followed.

"So, anyone saw our stock price this morning? Crazy trajectory - what do you think Bhai", spoke Akaash in a controlled voice while buttering his toast.

And, everyone except Arnav started laughing including Nani, who then lovingly cupped Arnav's face.

Arnav rolled his eyes & shook his head regretting he even owned a phone

"Moving on... Di, where is Jiju? Thought he was coming back last night"

“He did. But, he had an early meeting, so he left. But he told me to tell you that he will be in AR by 11 am” Anjali replied with a smile & that dreamy look that she always got whenever she spoke about her husband.

Arnav was very close to Shayam too, who in addition to having a private practice as a corporate lawyer also headed the legal advisory division in AR. He was one of the very-very few people whom Arnav trusted blindly.

“I am done. Akaash you are coming with me?” Arnav asked his little brother who was still unable to get over the morning berating that Arnav received from Nani

"Umm, you carry on Bhai. I have to drop Payal today", and he laughed again

"Seriously! Tell me you would have stopped reliving these last few moments by the time you enter AR?"

"What? I am not...", he laughed still not even bothering to complete his statement

Arnav rolled his eyes, "How come he is dropping you today?", he diverted his attention to Payal now

"My car - it wont start! I have asked Prakash to take it to the garage though", Payal replied as she looked at her husband, who was still sniggering.

"Be careful Payal.. all these giggles coming from your left side might make you late. Didn't you have that surgery?"

Akaash laughed again, but this time got an elbow across his ribcage from his wife earning a smirk from Arnav "Enough already. And Bhai is right, I cannot be late"

"How about walk & laugh Akash. Might take you few attempts before you can start driving & I need you in office in one hour"

This made Akash's laugh disappear as he almost ran toward the main door.

Arnav hi-fi-ed with Payal and bid his goodbye to others with a chuckle.

---

Two hours in - Arnav gave out a tried sigh. He wanted to go over the details of Acme Inc. that was sent to him and that too by 11 am. He wanted to finalize it so he could devote his time on other crucial meetings that were choking his calendar. But, he had this nagging feeling about Acme. It was still a young company of mere seven years of age, who recently launched their IPO and were already climbing the list of 'one to watch' manufacturing companies. They seemed spotless. The deal they were offering AR looked all genuine, but Arnav’s instincts were holding him back and so this was the third time he was going through the same documents, hoping to find some loophole to confirm his suspicion.

He didn't realise for how long he was at it, but a loud knock brought him out of his deep concentration.

“Yes”

“Bhai, do you have a minute?” Akaash asked as he entered Arnav’s cabin

“Of course”

“Here you go - details of the teams we are using for the summer fashion show. I have included all the details of the fabrics, our manufacturers, contractors, retailers and our advertising team.”

“What about the locations for the final show? Did we get the necessary permissions?”

“Yes Bhai, out of Paris and London, we are getting maximum sponsors in Paris. I think we should go with it”

“Agreed. Finalize Paris. Talk to the distributers and organizers there. Tell them we will release the dates of the final events by next week”

“Done! And Bhai, Ms Gupta is here. She is down on the fifteenth floor with HR completing her joining formality”

Ripple of excitement zipped through Arnav. "Ask her to come in here once she is done"

Once alone again, a feeling of restlessness settled over Arnav. Something he was not very familiar with. He was a shrewd business man. He valued intelligence & passion, and most of his senior staff, in fact big percentage of his entire staff embodied this too. He was surrounded by high performers. But, every time he talked with Ms. Gupta, or heard her name, a feeling of awe filled him. For reason unknown to him this particular woman was one of the most revered. She was put on a fast track of her career in AR. The business acumen she had was rare and therefore in mere nine years, she had successfully climbed the hierarchy of AR and earned endless praises from every single client and colleague she worked with.

Her innovative ideas, especially the last two multi-million dollar deals she successfully completed, were the recent feathers in her cap. She needed to be promoted to the position of CIO - a decision that was unanimous & was hailed by almost every single executive. But from the moment this decision went through to the days that followed, Arnav felt restlessness settle over him. He mulled over it, but terribly failed to come up with any logical explanation for it. And now finally he will be meeting her. Arnav hoped that meeting in person with her would put an end to this misery & unexplained excitement.

---

“Khushi”!!

“Mr. Raizada! How are you” Khushi smiled shaking her hands with Akaash.

“Please, call me Akaash. How was your trip? All formalities went smooth?”

“Yes, Akaash. Trip was good. Can’t wait to get started - in fact I didn't sleep a wink in last twenty four hours just knowing I will be here”

Akaash smiled, somehow feeling confident that she will fit in her new role well.

“If you are done here, lets go to my office; I have your laptop with me. Also, Arnav wanted to meet you before you get busy”

Khushi felt the all familiar jolt on hearing Arnav’s name. She almost frowned to herself, trying to get her heart beat to normal as she nodded & followed Akaash to the elevator all the way chanting to herself that this almost deafening sound that was coming from her ribcage was nothing but excitement to meet her CEO, someone she admired so much.

Content with the explanation to herself, she proceeded towards Arnav’s cabin unknown to the fact that all her explanations, all the boundaries that she had set for herself were soon going to be challenged and her life would be changed forever!