Chapter 16

The bodies of at least 60 have been recovered from the sites of twin bombing reported not more than 2 hours ago. As you can see behind me, the firemen are still trying to put out the fire. The extent to which the factories and official buildings in the area have been damaged is still unclear. The police official at the scenes said...

The voice of the reporter faded as Shayam muted the TV and fished out his ringing mobile from his pocket. He grimaced seeing Anjali's name on the glowing screen.

He took a long and deep breath and cleared out his throat, as he hit the green button on his phone.

"Anjali"

"Shayam...oh my god! I just saw the news. Where is Akaash and NK ? Weren't they in the same area? Are they ok Shayam? Oh god how is Arnav?"

Shayam closed his eyes and buried his emotions the best he could before replying, hoping with all his might that his voice sounded normal.

"Anjali, calm down. Akaash and NK are on their way. They are perfectly fine, not even a scratch. And Arnav is fine too. We are just trying to get more information on what exactly went down there. But, it is all good. We will figure it out"

"Do not try to handle me Shayam. I am not one your client. Give it to me straight. Is everything really ok?"

He gulped painfully as he continued, "Sweetheart, I am not trying to handle you. I am telling you what it is. Everything is under control. Arnav is right now in a call with our PR team. But, I will get him to give you a call in some time. For now I need to you to calm down, please"

"Fine", he heard her exhale loudly, "Ok, I will calm down. Just, tell Arnav to give me a call. Please"

"Of course sweetheart. Now let me get back to this meeting with the PR guys. I will talk to you later. I love you"

"Yes. Thanks Shayam. I love you too"

The moment he hit the red button on the screen, he bit out a frustrated curse. He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes shut again, fresh wave of guilt slamming into him.

Every single word that he spoke to her were straight out lies.

He looked up through the glass wall of the small office he was standing in, his eyes travelling across the hallway to Arnav's office which still had its blinds and door drawn wide open - Arnav thought it would reassure his staff and will give them enough confidence to walk in to his office if they needed to tonight.

Shayam could clearly see him pacing back and forth, his Bluetooth headset fused into one of his ear, lips moving and frown marring his entire face.

And even from that distance, Shayam could make out his expressions enough to tell that they still had no clue on what the hell exactly happened at the bomb site. On the other side of Arnav's room he saw Khushi occupying one of the sofa, her fingers and eyes moving furiously over her laptop. She too had been trying to get hold of someone from Wasim's team. But just like everyone else was coming back empty.

He then moved out the office he was in, and looked at the floors below. The executive floor where they all sat on was designed to form a s-shaped flank over lower two floors. Which allowed them to see the floors below when they stood in the hallway.

More than two dozen employees had decided to stay back and do what they can to figure out this sudden crisis that they were all thrown into. But they all too had a constant look of fear and disappointment on their faces.

He gave out a bitter laugh, remembering his own words to Anjali - "Everything is under control".

How far off the reality was from this sentence.

They still had no clue where Akaash or NK were. They tried calling them so many times, but every single time, they were bounced off to their voice mail with a "no network" message.

Shayam took another breath shakily as he proceeded towards Arnav, trying to keep his own fear at bay for now. They all needed to be strong. They needed to have hope.

---

"What do you mean there is nothing more? Yes, I heard all this on TV twenty minutes back. Are you telling me there has been no development since then?.... You know what never mind"

And bang.

Arnav ripped away the Bluetooth headset from his ear and threw is against his table, which sent the glass water bottle crashing on the floor. He then slammed down his phone, and spun to brace both his hands against the floor-to-ceiling glass window. He then drew in some much needed oxygen. Long steady breath that he hoped would calm and centre him. But faces of Akaash and NK streaked past his mind, and he lost it again.

"Fuckkkk"

Shayam flinched as he entered Arnav's office.

"Arnav"

"Jiju. Argh, No one, no-freaking-one has any damn information on what the fuck is going on at the bomb site. How the hell they can't know? They are standing in the middle of it and all they can say is there are lots of bodies and fire all around. I feel like I am talking to bunch of kids. Khushi, anything at all on Akaash and NK?"

Khushi gave a pained expression to Arnav, before shaking her head. She had visited every website she could get her hands on, and had asked some of the IT people to trace anything and everything they could find about the bombing. AR's security team too was coordinating with their police contact on site. But, two hours later they still had nothing. She looked up at Arnav again, who had one of his hand holding the back of his neck, while the other already dialling another number. He looked so furious and helpless at the same time, that it tore her apart.

Giving out a loud groan, as the number he just dialled returned a 'No Network' message, he collapsed on his chair. Suddenly feeling terrified with the thought of what might have happened to both his brothers.

"Arnav", Shayam spoke softly, keeping his hands on Arnav's shoulders, desperately trying to calm him.

"They are ok. Nothing has happened to them, right. Nothing can happen to them"

His voice carried so much pain, and was so un-Arnav-like that Shayam had to blink back his tears before responding.

"I am sure they are ok Arnav. They too might be trying to get in touch with us. You know what, let me get some coffee for us all"

Still staring at his mobile, Arnav nodded a yes, scared that he might just break down if he uttered any other word. As his office door closed shut behind Shayam, Arnav looked up toward Khushi. She had been sitting in that corner of his office from the moment the news of this disaster broke. Her eyes trained on her laptop so intently, almost as if all the answer they had been looking for were written there.

But as he continued to stare at her, he noticed one of her finger tapping on the table, almost as if commanding the screen in front of her to present her with some helpful information. He could see her body was locked tight in impatience. His focus then travelled to her beautiful eyes that looked glassy, horror etched across her face. And suddenly he realized that even she was worried for Akaash and NK as much as he was. The only difference was that she didn't know how to voice her concern or seek comfort in these situations. Realization dawned on him that she never had anyone to share her pains almost her whole life and therefore didn't know how to lean on anyone other than herself in crisis.

He knew that she just got off the phone with Payal few minutes back and like all of them, even she lied to her that Akaash was fine. But, the awareness of having no faith on her own words made her go completely silent after that call. Any other normal person would have spoken their heart out or at least cried on this sudden ridiculous situation, but Khushi didn't even know how to do that properly.

He took a deep breath and prepared himself to go and talk to her, but before he could do that, Shayam came back with a huge tray full of three coffee mugs and snacks and almost on a cue, his landline buzzed to life.

Gingerly he picked up the call, praying that it was not another bad news.

"Yes?"

"Bhai?"

"Oh my god! Akaash", he stood up, his eyes going over to Shayam and Khushi, as they scrambled toward him, "How are you? Where are you? How is NK? Are you both ok?"

"We are both fine Bhai. The main office we were in was just outside the blast radius"

Arnav let go of a shaky breath, "Thank god! We have been trying to call you both from two hours. We were so scared."

"I know Bhai, and I am really sorry for not calling you sooner. Right now too I am calling you from a petrol pump. We were in the middle of signing the papers when this happened. And then we got stuck with Wasim's team. I tried to get in touch, but I think the blast knocked out most of the cell towers in the area. Anyways, we are on our way now. All the roads here are blocked by the police, so it's going to take us couple more hours to reach."

"Ok, that's fine. We are all here. One more thing Akaash, did you hear anything about Aman?"

"Yea, he was taken to City hospital. Luckily he was half hour late and so he was just outside the area when the blast went off. I talked to the doctor, and he told me that Aman has sustained around 20% burns, and he will make full recovery"

"God! Ok, I will talk to the HR. I need to make sure he gets whatever he needs. I will also call his family. What about Creative Artwork?"

There was a long pause, before a pained voice sailed through the phone.

"Bhai, let us come back and we will talk"

"Ok, fine. Drive Safe"

---

"Fuck"

Arnav cursed for the umpteenth time that night. He still couldn't believe this was happening. How did a well planned day turned into this?

As Akaash went over the details of the blast site, all of them cringed with pain. The bodies burnt beyond recognition, the factories destroyed to the point of no return and fire that was still in no shape of extinguishing.

"We have asked our sources in network to keep us in loop. They will call us if there is any major change. But, right now there is something much bigger that is our concern"

Arnav turned towards the round-table of the conference hall, where Khushi, Shayam, Akaash and NK were sitting with their laptops and papers sprawled all over.

The tone of Akaash voice was enough for him to keep his anger aside for sometime as he knew something worse was about to come.

"Go on", Arnav nodded his head, and Akaash took a big gulp of the water in front of him.

"Our entire fabric, which was supposed to be delivered to us today, is gone. One of the bombs was so near to Wasim's factory that nothing is left on that land anymore. Every single brick of his factory has been wiped off. We have nothing left Bhai. Last few months worth of hard work is all gone up in smoke"

Akaash tried to rush through his narration, refusing to feel any more disappointment than really necessary. But as he took in the painful expression of everyone around him, he almost bit his tongue.

He could have been more considerate with his words. May be he should have chosen some better synonyms while explaining the whole situation. But he also knew that using mellower words would not change the basic fact that AR was in deep trouble. He then looked up and his eye connected with Arnav's who had yet to react.

"Bhai?"

Arnav felt his blood run cold as his mind registered what Akaash just said. His chest feeling like it had been filled with concrete. The damn day kept getting worse and worse.

He then looked around the table, everyone looking at him as if he had some hidden otherworldly solution that would make all of this disappear, but even he was not powerful or arrogant enough to believe that was a possibility in this situation. So he got up from his chair again and walked towards the wall that overlooked the streets of Delhi.

"Do we have any options?"

"No Bhai, I am afraid not. Even if we think of another vendor - bidding, signing contract, entire production cycle, all of it will take at least two months. In three months we have our event. We just have no time"

"There should be some way out of this. Let's try to go over the list of our regular vendors? That should cut down some of the bidding and due diligence time", Khushi finally spoke, her eyes shining with both conviction and fear.

Before she could continue down the path of her solution, Arnav again came back to the table. This time his voice strong with no room for doubt.

"It's done Khushi"

"What do you mean by done?"

"I mean, this is it. Whatever we do, whoever we try and give contract to, no one can help us right now. Even if someone works for us twenty four by seven, they will still not be able to produce the quantity we need. Its over"

"You need to stop saying that. It is not over", Khushi exclaimed.

"Yes it is. We need to cancel our entire event"

Khushi gasped, as everyone else around the table cursed.

"This is going to be a huge loss for AR. Not something that we can recover from easily Arnav. We have to think of another option"

"Khushi", he closed his eyes in frustration, "I know that. But, we have no other viable option. We cannot contract another company and add to our financial and reputational loss, if they cannot deliver within two months", he then turned toward Akaash, "What kind of financial loss are we looking at?"

"We do have event insurance. But it will cover only 60% of the total cost. I have to go through every element and then I can give you an estimate. But, beyond financial repercussion, we are going to experience a huge fall in share market. Once this news gets out, our shares are going to a take a nose dive"

"What if we issue a statement tonight. AR couldn't have predicted this freak accident ", Khushi screamed, while knowing very well that what she just asked was rhetorical. This is how corporate world worked. Some one had to be blamed and with Creative Artwork up in smoke, the only one the market could blame was AR. Especially because they were now on the verge of cancelling one of the most anticipated event of the year.

"Our PR team is already on it Khushi. But, we need to be prepared"

Akaash was still going through their event checklist in his head, when suddenly he remembered another damaging entity in all of this.

"What about Acme? If we are cancelling this event, we have to inform Suraj to stop his production. Not that it will make much difference. But, their payments and reimbursements are going to be huge."

Taking a deep breath, Arnav straightened his back and spoke in a confident voice.

"Ok, let's do this step by step. Jiju, can you please arrange a meeting at around mid day tomorrow, with all the finance executives around the globe. I want the exact estimate of the total financial damage that AR is looking at. And if we need to close down few of our smaller factories to recover from it?"

"Of course"

"Khushi and Akaash, fix a meeting with Suraj after lunch. NK, I need you to work with AR's PR team. Set up a press conference for morning tomorrow. I want to release an official statement about this before some stupid rumour makes this worse than it already is"

They all nodded their heads in acknowledgment.

"Let's", he exhaled, suddenly too tired to think, "let's just go home right now. We will deal with this tomorrow with fresh minds. Ok?"

They all started to get up from their chairs, when the shrill ringing from the phone sitting in the middle of the table blared through the room.

Akaash first looked at the wall clock which showed 12am and then he looked at Arnav with raised eyebrows.

Arnav nodded at Akaash and clearing his throat Akaash answered this very unexpected mid night call.

"Hello?"

"Oh, No its ok. Yes, thank you. Umm, I would have to check. Give me a minute"

Pressing the mute button on the phone, Akaash looked up at Arnav again, his eyes wide with shock.

"It's Suraj. He wants to talk to you"

"For the love of god!", NK couldn't stop the irritated growl that erupted from his lips, as Khushi chimed in, "Damn!"

"Should I tell him you are not available?

"No, let me see what he wants"

"Ok. Here you go"

"Hello. Yes Suraj"

"Thank you. Yes, even we are in shock. Right. True. Hmmm. Ok. Right. Ok. Hmm, alright. Umm, Suraj, I will get back to you on this. Thanks for calling. I will speak with you tomorrow then. Night"

Stunned still, Arnav returned the receiver back to its place.

"Well?", Shayam asked worriedly.

Arnav looked up from the phone and then asked in a strange tone.

"Remind me something, did we ever sign the original contract with Suraj?"

Confused and not sure where this was going, Akaash shook his head.

"No Bhai. We sent them a copy with our terms and conditions, but before we could sign it, we changed it"

"Right! So, now tell me if there is any reason, which I am of course not seeing, that even before signing the contract, Suraj's company will begin the production of the fabric, which at that point, even we were not sure of using"

"I don't understand. What did he say?"

Giving out a bitter laugh, Arnav spoke sarcastically.

"He said, he just saw the news and he was very sorry for our loss. And then very graciously, he offered me a deal. Every single inch of the fabric that AR is in dire need of, he has it"

"WHAT!!". Akaash shouted, almost crushing the coffee mug in his hand.

"Yup. In his words...they were being "proactive" when they started the production. And even though we never gave them the contract, they still carried out the entire production. And now, he is generously offering us the old deal back. He says that if we are ok with it, he can get the consignment ready in two days"

"What the fuck!!", NK rubbed his eyes, unsure if he had it in him to take any more of the weirdness this day was dishing out to them.

"Exactly! Who the hell gets into producing tons of fabric when they don't even know if it will ever be put to use", Arnav roared in confusion and anger.

"Well, if we think about it, we finally have the only option we need if we want to save AR from immeasurable loss", Shayam spoke painfully.

"Isn't this all too much of a coincidence?", Khushi finally spoke

Arnav turned toward her with his eyebrows raised.

"I mean, have a look at the site photo. There were lot many areas where the bombs could have been planted. I mean if this is all part of terrorism, then aren't the so called terrorists suppose to plant a bomb where they can expect maximum losses of human lives? But, what they are saying in the news and what our sources are telling us, one of the bombs was planted right next to Wasim's factory. Doesn't it seem like the bomb was meant for this factory? And now, the only person who could supposedly benefit from this whole thing, himself calls us and offers us exactly what we lost in the bombing? I mean something is not adding up here."

"I might have something that might support to your doubts"

"What is it NK?"

"Here, check out the latest news flash..."

Breaking News: Key suspect in the Industrial area bombing in Delhi, arrested

A suspect, Rajendra Singh, alias, Raju, has been placed under custody for allegedly planting the bombs in the industrial area in Outer Delhi. Police have secured the remote detonator from him. They are still searching for any co-conspirator, but for now "Extremism" and "Random Terrorism" is said to be the motive behind the blast. We are still waiting for the official statement from the Delhi Police on this.

NK switched off the TV and simultaneous groans, and curses flew across the table.

He then flicked through his mailbox and opened the email he just received from one of his journalist friend who was covering this whole blast.

"My friend just emailed me few details about this arrest. They are saying that the CCTV camera just outside the industrial area caught this man's face carrying some strange looking briefcase. And then, when the police looked more into him, they found him hardly five miles away at a petrol pump, where instead of paying cash, he used his credit card and got located. So, a supposed terrorist, who just blew up one of the major area in the capital city, is what, dumb enough to get caught on camera instead of going completely underground. And then, as if that was not enough, he does the stupidity of using his freaking credit card. This makes no sense?"

"What are you saying NK?"

"I am saying Bhai, Khush might be right. There is something going on here. I mean come on, when has a suspect been apprehended within couple of hours of the crime. I mean, even in TV thrillers things doesn't happen this quick. And this Suraj calls up offering us one thing which he knew we cannot deny."

"Are you suggesting that Suraj might be involved in this bombing? Isn't it a big leap", Akaash asked

"I don't know Bhai, this man doesn't seem normal to me"

"So what we don't take the fabric from him and opt for going in loss?" Akaash asked again.

"I don't know Akaash. But, if NK and Khushi's doubts prove to be right then we have much bigger problem in our hands. You know what, I cannot think anymore. Let's talk about all this tomorrow. And Khushi, I just got a message from Payal, she wants you at home with us, Buaji is also there."

---

It was almost 3 o'clock in morning by the time everyone retired to their rooms. It took half hour more for Khushi, who stayed back talking with Payal. Still pretty shaken up with whatever happened in last few hours, Khushi finally hugged her good night, and decided to try and get some sleep. She knew the next few days would be the longest ever. They all tried to discuss what Suraj's offer meant, but they were still nowhere near to any concrete decision.

Tired and suppressing a loud yawn, she finally shut the door of the room she was sleeping in. It was the same one she stayed in last time. Inhaling she walked over to the attached balcony to open the glass door, desperate for the cold air outside.

She then stepped out, welcoming the chill and silence of the night around her. She took another step toward the glass banisters, and peered down to look at that beautiful river-like pool she discovered when she stayed in that same room last time.

Small smile almost made its appearance on her face, but as soon she saw faint glow falling on the deck floors of the pool, she frowned instead. She remembered that area being completely dark last time. The light she could see dancing on the deck meant only one thing, the occupant of the room beneath hers was either awake, or had suddenly developed the strange love for cold night air like her.

She closed her eyes commanding herself to walk back inside and go to sleep. She had no business thinking about him or worrying why was he still awake. She had made that very clear to him and herself.

Memories of the night when she did that was still fresh in her mind. In fact, it was so strange that she could still feel his touch on her skin. She still clearly remembered the exact moment when she realised that he was beginning to mean more to her than she ever wanted him to or that she no longer felt in control around him. The fear that ripped through her in that moment was something she knew would haunt her forever. And, so she did what she knew best. She ran. She pushed him away. That night, when she stood below her shower, she hoped to wash away the weird sensation that always seemed to surround her, chuckling humourlessly through her tears, knowing that she had already lost that battle.

When she saw him the next day in office, a gut wrenching pain clenched her entire soul. The uncontrollable need to make him get out of her life before she breaks down completely overpowered her and in next second she found herself in a deep argument with him. She needed to stop what she was feeling and she needed to make him stop looking at her with so much emotions in his eyes. In her experience, people very easily switched between liking her and completely disregarding her existence, so she knew that moment won't be long when Arnav would be at that stage too. She might as well hasten that journey for him. And so she contributed her fair share in all the arguments they had since then. Irrespective of the topic in hand, every conversation between them turned dark. And she was ok with it as long as it kept her from getting hurt or hurting him in process. But, then today seeing him so broken, she forgot all about her resolve. The need to comfort him, to take away his pain was something she had never ever experienced before.

She didn't realise when she started moving down the staircase, but suddenly she found herself standing in that beautiful deck. The black & silver beauty of a telescope in front of her.

Her eyes moved toward his room which as she suspected was wide open. But, she couldn't see him anywhere. Frowning she moved further inside that beautiful sanctuary and that's when she saw him.

He stood at the far corner facing the swimming pool, his back toward her. Both his hands fisted inside his track pant pockets and his eyes trained straight ahead, he looked lost in his thoughts.

She felt her heart ache again seeing him so troubled. Gingerly, hoping not to startle him, she inched her way toward him.

He stiffened at first, sensing the sudden intrusion. Without bothering to turn, he opened his mouth to tell whoever it was to leave him alone when faint vanilla mixed with something citrusy made its way to his nostrils, and he frowned. He didn't want her here. Actually no, he needed her here. But, he was in no mood to argue or fight at this time of the night. But before he could prepare himself to turn and tell her to leave, her palms came resting on his shoulders.

"You ok?"

He exhaled loudly and closed his eyes. His head hanging down.

"I am fine Khushi. Lets talk tomorrow"

She knew he was pushing her away. And she was the biggest hypocrite to feel the stung of it. But, refusing to prioritise her own feelings she pressed on.

"Why are you awake then if you are fine. Tell me what you are thinking and I can help"

"Who says I need your help", his clipped voice was meant to shred her, but she took another step toward him.

"You don't. But, I am still asking. We can go over all the pros and cons tomorrow and decide if what Suraj is offering is even worth it. May be what NK and I are suspecting is wrong. May be this all is a big coincidence. May be what Suraj is offering is genuine"

He gave out a sarcastic laugh, that immediately made her recoil and withdraw her hands off his shoulders.

"Are you really trying to cajole me like a child? Stop telling me what you think I want to hear. That is not what I pay you for"

She flinched. Simmering anger stamped on his tone. He was furious. And not just with the day they just had. But, she knew that when she came here. She needed to take emotions out of this. She needed to say what she would if he was anyone else, and then walk away.

"Fine", she inhaled deeply, "What I really think is that Suraj is an opportunistic bastard who might very well be the orchestrator of this disaster. But, in reality, the police investigation will take weeks if not months before they would be able to confirm anything. That too if he was stupid enough to commit a crime this big and leave clues for us to find. And we all know he is no where near stupid. Now may be NK and I are wrong. Or may be we are right. But, in no circumstances that gives us any solution. Our solution at this moment is only one. And that is to sign the original contract with Suraj and except his fabric. But, yes you are right, lets talk about this in morning when we are thinking more clearly"

She waited him to say something, anything, but she was only met with deafening silence. His face still turned toward the pristine blue water.

Hiding any disappointment she felt in that moment she continued, this time her voice soft. Not even bothering to hide whatever her quivering voice might reveal about her inner turmoil. "I am really sorry about this whole day Arnav. I know this is an impossible decision. But you have teams of experts to lend you their advice. I am sure you will figure something out"

Another wave of silence greeted her, and she decided that it was time to walk away.

"Try and get some sleep if you can. I will see you in morning. Night Arnav"

She barely moved, when his hands jutted out and curled around her wrist.

She gasped, finally coming face to face with him. Specks in his dark eyes glinting with anger and desire equally.

'Fuck it', rattled off his lips softly as he hauled her into his arms.

"Arnav" she sucked in a breath, cursing at her traitorous body which instantly moulded itself in his warmth.

"Shhh". His arms wrapped tight around her waist, he nestled his head against the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply, "Please, let me hold you. We can resume our war from tomorrow. We can go back to biting each others head off when the sun rises. Whatever you want. But, for now I need a time out"

Blinking back the moisture in her eyes, she nodded her head against his chest. And ignoring the critical warning sign her mind was throwing at her, she erased whatever distance they had between them, clutching his t-shirt tight and, letting go.

---

Note for Readers:

Hello peeps! Hope you are doing well and staying safe.

Thank you to everyone who liked my previous chapters.

Special thanks to especially those who took time out to write their comments! You lovelies are the best and it gives me so much joy to read your thoughts🧡

Until next time!