II

♪♫ Tere khayalon mein,

Beete yeh raatein

Dil mera maange ek hi dua

Tu samne ho

Aur karun main baatein

Lamha rahe yun thehra hua

Pehle to kabhi yun

Mujhko na aisa kuch hua

Deewani leheron ko

Jaise sahil mila...♪♫

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Armaan had been used to getting people to do whatever he wants but he had been fairly surprised when one of the top writers had time and time again declined him to come and work from the office.

Rivaah had always declined the idea and he couldn't understand her deal, and the fact, that she had always refused to give him a reason had frustrated and intrigued him at the same time.

It was the day she would come to the office for the second draft. She always came to the office in the morning but it was evening now and she hadn't shown up yet.

Rivaah was a successful writer for a reason—she was talented and had a unique way with words, she was also strong on the creative side.

He had stumbled upon her debut book a little over three years ago. It was so good that he had completed it in one sitting and had decided that he would do anything to sign the author for his firm. At the time, Rivaah had only one condition—she would work remotely and come to the office only when it was needed.

He agreed without much thought but over the years he fell in love with her writing—her books and stupidly developed a liking towards her too.

Rivaah was beautiful, there was no denying the fact, anyone with eyes would agree to that but that wasn't it. She was also ambitious, thoughtful, sophisticated, and had a lot of character in her; but she had been private about her personal life all this time, and meeting her twice a month for only twenty minutes wasn't enough for him anymore. So, he started asking her to come and work at the office in hopes that she would agree and he would finally get to see her some more.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a knock. Rivaah entered after he gave the permission. He was quite surprised to see her in an oversized t-shirt and mom jeans. She never comes in anything but formals or semi-formals.

She put the file gently on the table in front of him. "The second draft."

No greetings then.

She was ready to bolt out as soon as she put the file before him—she seemed to be in a hurry, what for, he had no idea. He sensed something was off so he decided to not say anything and let her leave.

It was already late so he decided to leave for home. He packed everything, along with the file which Rivaah gave, and left the office.

He drove out of the parking lot and onto the busy road of Mumbai but slowed down at seeing Rivaah standing near the bus stop.

He stopped the car near her and rolled down the window. "Can I give you a ride somewhere?"

She shook her head. "It's alright. I'll manage."

He wasn't having any of it. "Get inside Rivaah, I'll drop you wherever you want. It's getting late."

He saw her hesitate for a minute but she finally made up her mind and got inside without another word.

He started driving after she gave him the address. He glanced at her every few minutes—she was looking outside the window but she was continuously biting her lip, rubbing the back of her hands, and bouncing her leg—she seemed worried.

Was it him, she was worried about, or something else, he didn't know.

"What happened to your car?" he asked in hopes that she would relax.

She whipped her head at him and answered after a few seconds. "It broke down this afternoon."

He nodded in understanding and again asked, "Is everything fine?"

"Huh?"

"You came to the office in the evening for the first time, today. Is everything fine?" he explained.

"Something came up. Everything is fine." Her answer was brief. It felt like she was afraid she would share more than she intends to if she'd say anything more.

He wanted to ask more but kept quiet for the rest of the ride to not make her uncomfortable with constant questions.

He stopped the car in front of a skyscraper apartment building which was located in a quite nice area.

Rivaah turned to him, thanked him for the ride, and got off the car. He waited for her to enter the building before he drove home but he still couldn't shake off the feeling that something was off today with her.

He entered his house—more like a mansion; and was greeted by his younger brothers—Veer and Viaan. They were twins and non-identical at that, Veer being five minutes older than Viaan.

"Bhaiya! (Brother)" Viaan exclaimed excitedly to which he chuckled. "Did you meet her? Any progress?"

Armaan sighed at Viaan's question and walked to sit on the sofa across from them. "I did meet her but no progress yet."

His brothers knew about Rivaah and how he likes her. When they got to know about it, they pestered him to go and tell her but he knew that wasn't the best way to approach her. She hadn't opened up in three years and he knew she wouldn't do it after his confession—he was also afraid that he'd scare her away if he acts on his feelings.

"Don't be disheartened Bhaiya, some or the other thing would work out." Veer tried to cheer him up, he smiled looking at his brothers and the way they always support him.

"Okay, I won't lose hope." He saw as his brothers' faces lit up at his response. "Now, let's prepare some dinner because I don't know about you two but I'm starving."

All three brothers made their way to the kitchen.

They cooked, ate, talked, laughed, and finally went to their respective rooms after calling it a night.