HWGA Chapter 4: The Girlfriend I Never Wanted

St Clair’s Hospital

After 2 hours in the hospital staring silently at Khushi whist each holding one hand, the father daughter duo decided to go.

“I have to go to America tomorrow.” said Karan, (Amba’s father).

“I know, don’t worry I’ll take some time off work to keep an eye on her. Or I’ll give Logan time off. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to get a small holiday.” Said Amba.

“Are you sure you’ll be ok?”

“Dad, I’m 22 years old, I’ll be fine.”

“Weren’t you meant to call Logan to tell him how Khushi’s doing?”

“Yes but I like him worrying unnecessarily, he’s very cute when he’s worried.” She smirked at her father’s scowl.

“Yes well you behave while I’m away.”

“Don’t I always?”

“No and that’s what keeps me up at night.”

“Dad I’m sure that’s not the only thing that keeps you up at night.” She winked at him and turned to leave a very shocked Karan Malik near Khushi’s bed.

Dear Lord my daughter’s a vixen. What happened to the sweet innocent baby that I once held in my arms? He thought and glanced at Khushi.

He held her and spoke, “Everything’s fine and you’re going to be fine. Just come back to us quickly butterfly.” He kissed her forehead before picking up his jacket and leaving.

St Claire’s parking lot

Before Amba got into her car she checked her phone. She wasn’t surprised to see 20 missed calls and 15 texts from Logan. She rang his phone before getting into her car. She had barely started it before he picked up and started screaming at her. She rolled her eyes, barely paying attention to him, and drove off.

“Amba, Amba! Are you even listening to me?!” He screeched.

“God, you’re like the girlfriend I never wanted!” But as soon as the words left her mouth she regretted it. She never Logan got really sensitive about his masculinity. There was a long and awkward silence and she could tell Logan was trying to keep his cool.

Nice one Amba! Why do you never think before you speak?

But luckily for her Logan was taking the high road today for two reasons. One; he’s meeting with Mr Raizada had gone surprisingly well even though he was insulted so many times he had lost count. And two; he knew if he started getting angry at her, she’ll torture him even more about Khushi’s incident.

“Amba, why is mum in the hospital?” Ever since Logan’s real mother died, Khushi had become a perfect replacement mother and he was scared to lose his mother again.

Amba could sense the panic and decided to put the poor guy out of his misery. It had barely been a year since her mother had got out of the hospital and the fact she’s in again is obviously concerning.

Logan took her silence to mean something else and he went into a full panic mode. “Is it-”

“No. She got into a car accident.”

“What!”

“Yeah, she’s-”

“How is she? Is her condition stable? Is she paralyzed? Memory lose? Is she even alive?!”

“No need to be hysterical, she’ll be fine-”

“What do you mean she will be? Isn’t she fine now?”

“She’s unconscious now. The doctor’s said-”

“What did the doctor’s say?”

“Logan you interrupt me one more time and I swear!” She snapped.

“I’m sorry.”

“Her brain has swollen because she bashed her head because the airbag system didn’t work. They may have to induce coma if she wakes up too early but they’re sure she’ll make a speedy recovery. If she wakes up, no when she wakes up, she might have memory lose or a personality change. All we can do is pray and wait.”

When she finished there was a long pause. Amba wasn’t the type of person you could go for comfort so she didn’t know what to say to him. She always felt really uncomfortable in these situations but she always gave it a try.

“Logan-”

“Can I go see her?”

“Sure. Take the rest of the day off. I was planning on staying and doing some extra work anyway.”

“Thank you. The write up of the meeting is on your desk. Call me if there’s anything else you need.”

“I’m sure I’ll manage.”

With that said she turned her car around and headed straight to work.

Well I guess that’s a no to a long hot bath and a glass of wine, she thought, Oh who cares. Working has always taken my mind of things better than a bath and alcohol ever has.

HWGA Chapter 3: Breakdown

After having a brief conversation with the receptionist, Amba was on her way to the A&E ward. As soon as she stepped in she saw her father. He looked like a mess unlike how he normally is. His designer suit was all crumpled, he’s tame hair was sticking out in all direction and he looked so old. That’s when Amba started to panic a little. In all her years she’s never seen her father so dishevelled. He was an OCD freak, he liked everything to be neat and now he was the exact opposite. Before Amba could over think some more and send herself into a total breakdown, her father noticed her and rearranged himself to look presentable.

That’s the problem with our family, she thought, we never show our true emotions and we’re always hiding something.

“Where’s Logan?” He asked her but she chose to ignore him and go straight to a doctor.

“Hi I’m inquiring about Khushi Kumari Gupta.”

“She should be coming out of the operation theatre in about 2 hours time.”

“Thank you.”

She turned back towards her father and said “He couldn’t make it”

He looked at her questioningly before he caught on that she had chosen to answer his previous question. That was the thing about Amba, she always followed her own pace regardless of anyone.

“Really? She’s like a mother to him, I’d of expected him to arrive before you.”

She knew her father was teasing her but that didn’t mean his comment didn’t sting slightly. But she kept her mask on. “I stuck him with a client.”

“Wait what?! You. You gave your client to someone else. Are the women in this family trying to kill me with shock?” She could feel the shock mixed with sarcasm of his speech.

“Well I had to come over here-”

“Don’t give me that. When you found out I was having an operation you still went on your business trip to America. Just admit you found someone you can’t control.”

“That’s not fair, it was a very important business trip. I don’t try to control people! People just generally do what I say. But this guy was just so infuriating! I just wanted to rip his head off. He kept on questioning my authority and challenging me.” She threw her hand up in frustration and planted her self on a chair.

“You know you’re mother used to tell me about a guy exactly like that. His name was-” But before he could finish the sentence the doctor’s wheeled Khushi into the ward. On of the doctor’s approached them.

“Are you relatives of Mrs Khushi Gupta?” he asked.

“Yes we are. How is she?” Amba’s father asked.

“Well Mr Gupta-”

“Malik.”

“Well Mr Malik, she’s had a good bashing to the head because her airbag system failed to work. We’ve done everything we can and now all she needs is bed rest to calm down the swelling. If she wakes up before the swelling is gone we’ll have to induce coma. But prepare for the worst.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that she’s in a fragile state and the brain is a fragile organ. So don’t be surprised when she wakes up and she has a change in personality or she can’t remember something. Just pray that everything will be fine. We’re doing all we can.” With that he left the father daughter duo stunned. They both looked at each other and knew this was the hardest thing they’ll face together.

HWGA Chapter 2: 60 on a 30 road

Lawson’s Limited car park

Amba wasted no time in rushing out of the building even in her 6 inch stilettos. As soon as she got into the parking lot; she found her Porsche, dialled the number she needed, put her Bluetooth on and started her car.

“Pick up, pick up, pick up!” She muttered in frustration.

“Are you speeding?” Came the reply on the other side as soon as the phone was answered. Amba glanced at her speedometer and saw she was doing 60 on a 30 road.

“No.”

“Amba.”

“Dad.” There was a moments silence before Amba broke it. “Ok fine I am speeding now will you please tell me the hospital you’re in because I’m driving around aimlessly.”

“First promise me you’ll slow down, I don’t need two accidents to happen in one day to my family members.”

“Dad just tell me the damn hospital’s name!”

“St Claire’s-” But before he could say anymore Amba cut him off and set her SatNav to St Claire’s. Amba had barely gone 5 meters before her phone rang again. She glanced at it and recognised the number. She debated all the pros and cons of not answering but knew if she didn’t answer now, there’ll be hell to pay.

“What!” She barked into her Bluetooth.

“Did you tell Mr Raizada that I’m a barely qualified teenager who is beneath you?”

Logan could be such a drama queen sometimes she thought.

“Is that what he told you?”

“In harsher terms, but yes. Why would you say that?”

She smirked, “Oh did the big bad man hurt Logan little feelings?” she said in a baby voice. She could practically feel him fuming on the other end.

Logan put aside his rage for later and got serious again. “How’s mum?”

She sobered up too before answering. “I’m at the hospital now, I’ll call you when I know the details.” She cut the call, parked the car and rushed into the hospital.

HWGA Chapter 1: Barely Qualified Teenagers

London: Lawson’s Limited

“WHAT!”, the bark was heard all around the office and everyone in the vicinity flinch and tried their best not to go near the man who was currently shouting verbal abuse down his phone. It was safe to say Mr Arnav Singh Raizada was not having a good day. First the incompetent secretary of his new business partner messed up his schedule and so he arrived 3 hours early for a meeting. The poor girl had left in tears and was still shaken. Then he finds out that his business partner has had to go to the hospital and either they reschedule him for next month or he could have a meeting with their “most trusted employee”.

Like hell I’m going to wait another month! he thought.

“I demand to see someone right now!” he yelled at the secretary.

Before the unfortunate woman could utter a word, someone cut in before her.

“It’s ok Susan, I’ll take Mr Raizada from you.” Susan gave a sigh of relief and smiled at the new comer.

“Who the hell are you?” Arnav demanded.

“I’m in charge of this project until Mr Lawson recovers,” she said calmly, “If you’d like to follow me Mr Raizada, we can finally discuss your proposition”.

She led Arnav into her office and instantly Arnav could tell what kind of worker she was. Every thing was in it’s right place. The stationary was neatly arranged on her desk, paperwork was stacked neatly or put in the filling cabinets, there was not a mess in site. He also noticed there wasn’t a picture on her desk or plants in the office.

She must like keeping her business and personal life separate, he mused and then smirked slightly. I like her already.

Arnav didn’t wait for her permission before he sat down and got himself comfortable. He could tell this irked her and smirked again before he started to analysis his associate. She looked very young, too young to be given a project already. Her hair was tied up in a professional looking bun, her glasses were hiding a pair of beautiful hazel eyes. She looked awfully familiar and he couldn’t help but let his mind wonder. His associate noticed the far away look in his eyes and cleared her throat. That seemed to bring Arnav back to the present and he was full on ASR mode. He gave her a cold and composed look and before he could start his famous ASR speech she cut in.

“First of all I’d like to apologise for keeping you waiting for such a long time sir. Susan is new and is still trying to figure out the system.” She explained.

“Mr Lawson should hire competent employees.” He replied snidely.

“I’ll be sure to pass on that message when he comes back.” She replied coolly.

He hated the fact that she didn’t even bat an eyelash to his comments or behaviour.

He was a man that liked to think he affected everyone so he tried to push her again.

“Are you even qualified to handle this project?”

“Mr Raizada I assure you that if I wasn’t qualified you wouldn’t be speaking to me right now. But I can sense your lack of faith in us and I think we shouldn’t move forward unless you fully trust us, so good day.”

She got out of her chair and started to move towards the door.

“How dare you?!” He got up and march right to her. “I didn’t fly all the way from India to be told that MY project will be postponed by some teenager who looks barely qualified to handle anything! I demand to speak to Mr Lawson’s son.”

Now it was her turn to smirk, “Unfortunately I am his senior and he is unqualified to handle this according to Mr Lawson. But if you want to deal with more ‘barely qualified teenagers’, go ahead. But know this, Mr Lawson wouldn’t have made me head if he didn’t think I could handle this and as you can see by the way I’m handling you Mr Raizada, I can handle anything”

By this time Arnav was highly impressed and frustrated. How dare this girl talk back to him like that! But he was truly impressed by her backbone. Hardly anyone stood up to him now a days and he felt the rush again, a rush he hadn’t felt in years.

“Look here Miss…”, Arnav realised he didn’t even know her name and turned back to see the plaque on her desk. “Miss Amba Singh-”

“My name isn’t Amba Singh it’s Amba-”

Before she could complete her sentence the door opened and they both saw a flustered looking secretary. She was about to say something before she felt the tension in the room and hesitated.

Amba sighed and massaged her forehead, “Julia, I told you to only contact me in emergencies when I’m with a client. If you accidentally spilled coffee on the reports do them again!”

Maybe Mr Raizada is right, she thought, we really need to start hiring some intelligent employees.

“I know Ma’am, but Mr Malik is on line 1 and he says it’s an emergency. I told him you were with a client but he’s very persistant.” Julia gave her an apologetic look before exiting.

Arnav saw a range of emotions that flitted across Amba’s face as the conversation ensued; from anger, to confusion, to sheer panic. As soon as Julia exited Amba took long strides to her desk. As soon as she picked up the phone he noticed a brief change in her personalitiy before her mask was on again. Arnav couldn’t be sure about what is was but he sensed it was fear. She put down the phone after a while, looked at him and smiled. Arnav could tell it was forced.

“Looks like you’ll be getting you’re wish after all sir,” she said before she picked up the phone again and pressed a number.

“What do you mean?” he asked but she completely ignored him and started taking on the phone.

“Logan, come to my office immediately, you’ll be discussing the project with Mr Raizada, it’s your chance to show your father you can handle this so get up here pronto!” she yelled.

Arnav could tell her composure was slipping by the second and it was only a matter of time before she lost all her professionalism.

“What is going on here?” Arnav demanded.

“Logan Lawson Jr is going to handle this meeting as soon as he gets here as I’m needed else where.” As soon as she finished her sentence a man walked in and looked at her questioningly. “And here he is.”

“What is wrong with this company?” Arnav remarked incredulously.

“A lot as you’ll soon find out,” she said before she turned to Logan and said “Mum.” Before taking her coat and bag and leaving.

Arnav noticed Logan’s eyes widen in fear before he composed himself and started the meeting.

What have I gotten myself into, Arnav thought.

Here We Go Again: Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own IPKKND or it's characters. However I do own the concept of this story.

Here We Go Again: Prologue

London

On a particularly rainy day, Ms Khushi Kumari Gupta was driving home. Having a sunny personality she much preferred the bright sunshine to the dull wetness that London seemed to offer.  Oh how she hated the rain. But she put up for it for one person. The only person that has been keeping her alive all these years after what she had suffered. The very reason of her existence loved London, rain and all. While she herself craved Lucknow and the warmth is offered. But Ms Gupta was a tolerant person and that is exactly why she was still here and not running back to her home town. Khushi let her mind wonder off to her past and gives herself a mental shake.

“Come on Khushi!” she thought, “Don’t let the past dampen your day, even if the rain does.”

That was the last thought before Khushi’s car crashed into another. She felt the car spin out of control before it finally came to a halt. In the back of Khushi’s mind, she remembers driving past a red light but not thinking too much about it as she was so absorbed in her past.

The last thought she had before blacking out was, “Hey Devi Maiya, can this day get any worse?”

Hi Guys

I'm new to all of this and I really love IPKKND, so I've decided to stop being a silent reader and start commenting and writing. So I've decided to make a Arnav and Khushi fan fiction.