The blooming Magnolia

Chapter : 8

The door clicks open. Anika looks up to the person who had opened the door.

Calm down, Heart. Everything is fine. He doesn't recognise you. It's okay. It's absolutely okay. She keeps on chanting these lines in her mind.

"Please come in, " comes from a very familiar voice, from a not-so-familiar man greeting her. That baritone , the exact same one, that drove her crazy during their initial days, used only to quarrel and argue with later being silent, those eyes, once filled with anger and agony, now had only gentleness in them. That smile,that she had not seen in a long while. It was so hard for her even to look at his eyes. But still, she didn't blink for a few seconds when she saw the 5'11'' man standing in front of her door greeting her as if it was their first time. Anika blinked a few times getting back to her senses before putting out a cordial smile towards him. She entered the 5th floor-posch apartment, at the HSR layout, of Vansh Arora, one of the heirs of the restaurant-chain giants The Aroras.

.......

The Aroras have been into this line of business for more than 60 years. The first restaurant or dhaba "Dil bole Bhatinda" to be precise was started by his grandfather in Bangalore which was taken over by his only son Dushyant Arora about 30 years ago. The Aroras made sure that Dushyant married an equally efficient woman to help him with his business. He married Supriya Goyal,another intelligent business mind who later became an investor in DBB. The hard-working couple took DBB to a whole new level with their excellent vision and entrepreneurship. Their equally efficient children Vansh and Vanshika joined them too.They now own more than 10 outlets throughout Karnataka and 5 other outlets in TN and Andhra Pradesh. Vanshika Arora, 28, is in charge of the outlets outside Karnataka. While Vansh Arora, 33 had other plans. Besides looking after the restaurant chain, he, under the Aroras started a separate chain of cafes ''The Beany Affair '' in Bangalore 10 years ago. In mere 5 years, he was able to set up 3 outlets in Bangalore itself. But his accident temporarily halted his dreams for opening 2 more. But now as he recovered he was slowly regaining his old self and was slowly getting himself in the race..

........

She walks inside the 3 BHK apartment and is greeted by Kritika Rao,his fiancé standing up graciously to greet her guest. She is an example of elegance and quirkiness at the same time.

"Hey, it's such a pleasure to have you here. Did you get wet in the rain? This weather is so bad tonight. The weather reports say its low pressure near the coast. Where's Ritwik by the way?"

"No, I came by a cab so I didn't get wet. And Ritwik, he said he will join later. I think he had some urgent work to be finished. This is for you, Miss Rao. Thank you for having me here." Anika hands her the bouquet of pink roses.

"Wow, roses are special. Thank you so much, and Anika , meet my would-be-hubby, Vansh Arora. Vansh this is Anika Tripathi, our beautiful wedding planner." She held Vansh's arm while she talked.

"Hello" he said in a low tone.

Anika was astounded to see Vansh's lean figure. He had lost weight, his eyes looked so tired and dark circles were visible. He was not the same anymore. Blank, dark eyes that stared at her. His smile seemed heartless. But nevertheless, he was still handsome.

"Hello, Mr Arora." This sounded so weird to her. But she made sure not to call him by his name.

After the brief introduction, all of them sat in their living room making general conversation with each other until Kritika went to the kitchen to bring some snacks for her guest, leaving Vansh and Anika alone in the living room.

Do they live together? Anika thinks seeing Kritika comfortably moving around the house like it was hers already.

Even if they do, that's none of her business. She thinks to herself.