Love knocks again (Arnav Khushi Fan Fiction)- Completed

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

'It better fits'

Arnav Singh Raizada thought to himself as he added a dress pants in one size higher than he usually prefers to his online shopping cart. All the 'not leaving house unless the floor is below is flooded or the floor above is falling' has put on extra pounds here and there on his body. So, he hoped that the new clothes that his HR, Radhika was making him purchase for the 'not happening without the project head' meeting fits him well.

Grudgingly he made online payment for his shopping and sent the screenshot to Radhika as good humor. She replied with a smiling emoji, but Arnav knows she would be nothing close to smiling when it was about anything regarding him. Arnav and Radhika had mutual professional detestation for she, every month, filled his mail box with complains about his lack of physical office hours specified by company policies and he, relentlessly, played his most skillful employee who bagged the US clients card to his VP to get away with ridiculous work from home requests he keeps making. Well, eventually, it was always he who gets his way, thanks to all the hard work he put to this one company for the past twelve years since he graduated. Now, at 34, Arnav has earned the privilege of developing multi million dollar software from the comfort of his house wearing boy shorts and wife beater*.

When Radhika learned about the important meeting that the team is going to have with clients from the US, she took it upon herself to make everyone believe that the meeting isn't going to be successful with Arnav, the brain behind the entire project. Even ever supporting VP insisted that Arnav cannot get away with this one.

Personally, Arnav knew they couldn't do it without him. He was hired by a goose and he hired bunch of dolts. It is a surprise that everyone is working properly without him breathing down their neck. If rumors, that he keeps track about even though he has reduced his social life to nil, are to be believed, then Arnav might as well become VP by the end of next year. VP meant more money, influence and less office visit and, if he could manage to crack the deal with Chinese company, then complete goodbye to India. At least, then he wouldn't have to live a life confined to the four walls of his house.

Arnav, from time to time, wonders if he should leave the life of hermit that he has taken up on himself. Then, he would think about the high stakes he would be playing at for desiring something as trivial as social life and immediately curb into comfort of his couch and click on another episode of Breaking Bad. Not everything about staying home can be bad, you know. At least now he knows how the series that he always wanted to watch ends.

***

"And then what do you do at home?" asked Akash who was best friend of Arnav once upon a time when Arnav reached the office first and left last. Now, for old time sake, Akash kept him Arnav Company whenever the latter comes to office and also moonlights as gossip monger for Arnav.

Arnav sighed behind the coffee mug he was sipping from. It never ceased to amuse Akash that Arnav stayed home most of the time.

"I do... stuff... you know... around the house." Arnav said. "Some work. Some hobbies. " he shrugged casually.

"That must be..." Akash scrunched his nose. He was thinking something abrasive but was willing to say a polite word so that he doesn't appear rude.

"I know." Arnav prompted saving Akash the effort of surfing his vocabulary.

For someone like Akash, who couldn't help but exploit every opportunity to stay away from his house and over the top wife, Arnav's self infected house arrest seemed appallingly strange. Though Akash knew the reason that lead to this eccentric behavior of Arnav, he couldn't understand the need for such harsh decision.