THE PRETEND WORLD

CHAPTER 5

Note: In India, the offense of stalking is governed under Section 354D of the IPC where stalking is defined as the act of following, contacting, or attempting to contact a person persistently despite their clear indication of disinterest or through any other means of communication, causing fear or distress in the victim. Section 354D(2) of the IPC deals with stalking punishment in India which is imprisonment for a term that may extend to three years and with a liable fine for first conviction. For a second or subsequent conviction, the offender is punished with imprisonment for a term that may extend to five years and with a liable fine.

As per the instruction of his boss Aman Gupta made sure the letter and the copy of 354D of IPC reached Karan Singhania.

As it was informed to him that this letter needs to be read only by Arnav Singh Raizada he goes and gives it to him at his residence who had just gotten up and excited thinking of the reaction Khushi Gupta would have seeing her cabin full of flowers, when Karan Singhania reached there with the letter making him even more excited to see what she had sent!

He opened the letter to see a copy of section IPC 354D, which left him confused, but a handwritten letter was attached.

Mr Arnav Singh Raizda,

I clearly stated last night that I am not interested in dating you, but I believe you have hearing issues or might have forgotten your hearing aids yesterday. Whatever it is please get your ears fixed.

Second, sending flowers to my office will not make any difference to me, so you should stop this now.

Third, if this continues then I have already attached a copy of the section and I will go ahead and file a case against you for stalking and take action legally. I know no law can touch you but the issue will be more than enough to create a ruckus in your dad's business and circle. If you don't understand the section you can read it again and ask any friends to help you understand.

Goodbye
Khushi Gupta

Reading this Arnav Singh Raizada not only felt depressed but also felt sad that all his plans about taking her on a date went in vain. Thinking of distracting himself from the hazel beauty he headed downstairs to have his food and look for ways to woo her.

It was afternoon and ASR couldn't help but go back to her thoughts and her face kept flashing before him now and then, He felt irritated and called his friends and decided to go clubbing at one of the pubs he usually visited to get drunk and thought might distract him for a while.

Khushi was busy working like a maniac like always and her phone kept ringing with caller ID NK making her irritated, she turned her phone to mute and continued her work.

In the next 5 minutes, Aman entered his cabin.

"Mam, Mr. Nandakishore is on the line and he is telling me it's an emergency".

"Ya, right!" she told sarcastically - and took the phone from him.

"What the hell NK? Why are you calling me like a madman? I just spoke to you yesterday".

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"So, I told you right I will be there and what is the need to call again and again? I don't even know why I agreed to this stupid plan of yours".

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"Look I don't need anything let's just get over with, don't know when I should keep doing this drama for both of you!
Don't call me again, see you at 7 pm!"

Arnav had entered the pub with his friends taking a secluded corner and taking his drinks for the past 30 mins where whereas his friends were busy talking to new girls and enjoying and laughing their hearts out having fun by themselves. But today he was in no mood either to drink or to have fun.

Hey Arnav! someone calls out to him

He turned to look at Nandakishore his maternal cousin who is his mom's elder brother's son. They both were of the same age and had been very close when they were young.

But after Arnav lost his mother in an accident the connection with them didn't continue like before and NK was more career-oriented where Arnav completely lost track of his life after his mother's death making them go in different directions. NK had completed his Masters in USA and had been working as a costume designer at AR for some time now and they met occasionally in family parties and gatherings and stayed in touch.

Both greeted each other and asked about each other well well-being - NK told him he was meeting some of his friends from his university in the US and would be spending time here and they went to their respective places.

After some time Arnav started feeling bored and started walking around the club when he saw the guy who was with Khushi Gupta entering the club. He knew with the looks that he was security in charge of Khushi Gupta, so thinking she might as well be here, he rushed inside to see her meeting NK and his friends and NK hugged her tight more like in a tight hug like long lost lovers making him feel dejected.

He also saw Khushi smiling and whispering something in NK's ears to which NK nodded smiling which made him realize that they were pretty close.

On the other side, Khushi was excited to meet her friends and hugged NK who was also her friend who hugged her tightly, she then whispered in his ears "Don't push it too much or overact NK, we are doing this only so that Lavanya gets jealous and confesses her love for you if you don't stop getting on my nerves and act like a fool, I don't mind punching you on your face right here!"

She could see Lavanya get uncomfortable, Lavanya and NK were seniors but had met in Harvard in a dance club and had hit it off instantly NK had proposed to Lavanya at the university but had been rejected so it was all NK's plan to make her feel jealous making her feel him and Khushi are together so that she confesses her love to him.

Soon they all moved to the dance floor with NK dancing with Khushi and Lavanya dancing with other friends but still uncomfortable seeing NK and Khushi dance together. Khushi took a break and asked NK to go and ask Lavanya to dance so that there might be a chance for her to talk if she is uneasy seeing them together.

Arnav noticed everything but still thought NK and Khushi might be together and didn't want to go after the girl who might be the girlfriend of his cousin. Trying to calm his breaking heart he kept looking at her from afar who looked gorgeous in her dress even though sweat tickled off her face because of dancing.

There was another eye that was looking at Khushi lustily from the moment she entered and that was Rohan, another rich spoiled brat who was infamous for forcing girls to sleep with him, seen with escorts and all kinds of sex scandals. His father was a rich politician so the cases never got registered.

He came to Khushi and asked her for a dance, to which Khushi politely refused aware of his reputation. He kept on insisting her to dance with him but she kept refusing - Ray was standing next to her to intervene when necessary.

He pulled her forcefully on the floor and Ray stepped up to teach him a lesson.

"I will handle this Ray, Leave this to me" - to which Ray nodded and went back to his position and kept an eye on her.

"Why don't we go to some corner and you know? I could see it in your eyes Rohan" - she told seductively

Rohan was more than ready to go with her as that was his intention to get her in his bed,

They reached a secluded corner near the back door of the club where before Rohan could digest Khushi had twisted his arm punched his face kicked his groin and stomped on his foot making him twist in pain on the floor. "Next time if you try doing anything like this, I will feed you to the crows! " she hissed angrily.

Ray came to her side and helped to clean her bloodied knuckles and sighed looking at the man who was still on the floor in pain.

She went back to the party and behaved as if nothing happened and continued her party.

However, she didn't notice that Arnav had followed her and seen her break his arm and punch him and stood gobsmacked with her mouth open thinking if she was a kitten he thought or she was more like an angry Lion!