Wooing Ms. Raizada

Be A Boss

Placing the bowl of kheer on the table on the poolside, Yara sat next to her father dipping her legs in the pool. She looked at Arnav who was looking up at the sky.

"Di shouldn't have said that" she said.

Arnav didn't reply and Yara asked, "Are you angry at me too?"

"Why should I be?" Arnav asked.

"Because I kept quiet when she insulted you" Yara said.

"Doesn't matter!" Arnav said.

"It's not like I agreed to her" Yara said, "She is wrong. But at the moment no words came up my mouth and I...."

"You don't have to justify yourself Yara. I'm not angry at you. I can never be!" Arnav said.

"Then have the kheer" she said smiling and took the kheer bowl.

"Badam kheer, sugarless, just the way you like" she said and Arnav smiled. "Ah you smiled" Yara said happily.

"Even Khushi used to do this" Arnav said smiling, "When I was upset, she used to make me kheer. Di too!"

"I know. I've been taking tips from bua" Yara said laughing.

"How's Esha?" he asked.

"I don't know" Yara shrugged, "She slammed her door shut and never opened!"

"She must be crying" Arnav whispered.

"I like Adil" Yara said, "He is so good at his work and very kind too. Why does di hate him?"

Arnav smiled and said, "He hurt her ego. And the greatest thing Esha possess, other than her anger, is ego!"

"Why does everyone compare you and her dad?" Yara asked, "Why am I compared to mom?"

"Nobody is like another person Yara. Esha is arrogant and ruthless businesswoman. Her brilliance resembles mine, that's all. She is a completely different person And so are you. You have Khushi's cheerfulness and interest in cooking. But beyond that, you're a person of your own!" Arnav said,

Yara smiled sadly and asked, "Do I cook well? Like her?"

Arnav tasted the kheer and said, "Not bad. But not too good! And like her.....well I haven't eaten anything that tasty after her death!"

Yara took a deep breath and said, "Sometimes I feel jealous of di and Varun bhaiyya. They saw mamma. They have memories of her while I have none! All I have is her photograph and the stories you have told me!"

"Jealous of Esha" Arnav chuckled sadly, "She watched her mother die."

"How did she die dad?" Yara asked.

"We told you right? Accident" Arnav said his face becoming hard, "We were returning home after your birth. You were on Esha's lap in the backseat. Khushi was next to her. A drunk driver with his lorry came across us and before he could crash our car, Khushi pushed Esha, and you, out. Due to the impact I fell out of the car but she got stuck up inside it. I lost consciousness since I hit my head on a rock but Esha...she watched the car burn into flames."

"Is that the truth?" Yara whispered.

"Yeah" Arnav said.

"It doesn't feel so" she said and looked at her father's face. His usual charm had faded away and was replaced by a pale colour.

"That's only you have to know" he said hoarsely and looked up at the sky.

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