ch 54 dinner and chaos
Then he exhaled sharply, finally losing the last thread of patience.
Aarav hit the brakes, the car screeching slightly as it halted right in front of her path.
She froze mid-step, startled. Before she could turn away again,
he was already out door slammed, long strides eating the distance between them.
She tried to sidestep, but his hand caught her wrist,
firm but not rough.
"Enough,"
he said quietly.
His voice wasn't loud , it didn't need to be.
The air itself stilled around them.
Her lips parted, ready to protest, but the look in his eyes silenced at heat,
frustration, worry, all tangled together.
"You can sulk, throw your tantrum, ignore me for hours if that helps,"
he said, tone low, "but you don't walk out like that again."
He took a breath, the edge in his words softening.
"You think I didn't notice? You get jealous, angry, and instead of telling me, you run."
Ashiana looked away, her wrist still caught in his grasp, her heartbeat fluttering wildly under his fingers.
Aarav leaned closer, his voice a near-whisper now. "You have no idea what you do to me when you look at me like that and then walk away."
Then Ashiana huffed, glaring up at him.
"Ho gyaa aapka? Leave my hand! I'm getting late,"
she snapped, trying to pull free.
"Aapka kya h, aap to boss ho... you can go to your office whenever you want.
But as an intern, if I got late, my salary will be deducted!"
she said without even looking at him, still struggling against his hold.
He didn't say a word at first just watched her with that infuriating calmness
that made me even angrier.
Then, in one swift move, before she could react,
he bent slightly, grabbed her by the waist, and lifted her right off the ground.
"Aarav!" she gasped, hitting his back with her fists as he threw her over his shoulder effortlessly.
"Put me down right now! I'm serious!"
He just smirked, walking toward the car with infuriating ease as if she weighed nothing.
"You talk too much when you're angry,"
he said casually, opening the car door with one hand while still holding her.
Arushi's eyes went wide from the front seat, her lips parting seeing them.
meanwhile
"Aarav Malhotra, I swear—"
Before Ashiana could finish,
he gently set her down on the passenger seat,
his hand pressing on her shoulder to keep her there.
"Seatbelt on," he said with that maddening authority in his tone.
Ashiana folded her arms, huffing again, glaring at him but deep down, she could feel the corner of her lips threatening to curve.
He caught it too the faintest ghost of a smile in her eyes and smirked as he got into the driver's seat.
"Good girl," he muttered under his breath, turning the ignition.
Arushi silently goes towards back seat and sits there pretending to busy in phone.
Ashiana looked straight out the window, lips pursed, muttering under her breath,
"Hmph... ayi badi.. chipkali kahiki .. mere aarav pass baithegi.. issi kya pata aarav ko control karna mujhe ache se ata h ..."
she said with victorious smirk.
Aarav's lips twitched barely. "Kuch kaha tumne?"
She shot him a glare. "Kuch bhi nahi kaha, sir."
He hummed low, the sound soft but knowing. "Good. Keep it that way."
MALHOTRA ENTERPRISES
Aarav's cabin was humming with files and phone calls.
kabir and raghav was sitting on couch discussing a project ,
aditya was sitting across aarav's desk chair going through some files.
Arushi saw them and crossed her arms,
'' what guys.. the day I returned you guys are buried in work only.. lets do some fun.. okk.. lets go to a family dinner.. we all and Prerna and Meghna too.. with our little Raj''.
Kabir leaned back in his chair with a lazy grin. "Outing? Arey wah, Arushi ji, finally someone said it. Hum log toh kaam... meeting ... kaam mein buddhe ban gaye hain."
Raghav chuckled. "Hmm, family dinner, haan? Sounds good. But pehle boss se approval lo." He nodded toward Aarav, who hadn't even looked up from his file, pen moving steadily across the page.
Aditya crossed his arms, smirking. "He won't say yes that easily. Tum jaanti ho na, kaam aur Aarav inseparable pair."
Arushi pouted dramatically, leaning slightly toward Aarav. "Oh come on, Aarav. It's just dinner. You need a break too. We'll all go somewhere nice, quiet no business talk, I promise."
For a second, he didn't respond.
Then he looked up, eyes calm, that signature hint of a smirk touching his lips.
"Family dinner, hmm?" he said slowly.
"You sure you can handle this family, Arushi? They're... unpredictable."
Kabir laughed. "Unpredictable? Bhai, that's your polite way of saying 'mad'."
Arushi giggled.
"Mad or not, I like all of you. It'll be fun. Come on, Aarav, please?"
Raghav raised a brow, teasing, "Kis tone mein 'please' bola hai, Aarav... I don't think you can say no now."
Aarav sighed faintly, closing the file at last. "Fine. Dinner it is."
Kabir whooped, "Bas! Record this moment. Aarav Malhotra actually agreed to fun."
Arushi beamed, clapping her hands. "Perfect! I'll make reservations. Everyone's coming, okay?"
Aditya nodded, chuckling. "Everyone, haan. That includes someone who's going to set the whole table on fire when she sees you sitting next to Aarav."
Arushi blinked, confused. "Who?"
Kabir grinned wickedly. "You'll see tonight, Arushi ji. You'll definitely see."
Raghav murmured with a smirk, "Aur hum popcorn leke baithenge."
Aarav just shot them all a silent warning look but somewhere deep down, even he knew the dinner wouldn't be as simple as Arushi thought.
AT DINNER
Table was arranged beautifully kabir sitting beside prerna, Meghna beside Raghav raj was sitting beside meera, then ashiana she moved past aarav not looking at him once and sits beside aditya.
arushi sits beside aarav.
''aditya bhaiyaa.. this place is so beautiful.. right..'' Ashiana said softly looking at aditya beside him
Aditya smiled, noticing your pointed tone but playing along instantly.
"Haan bilkul, princess," he said warmly, leaning back in his chair.
"Beautiful view, good food, perfect company."
He glanced at you knowingly, a teasing glint in his eyes. "Bas kuch logon ka mood thoda off lag raha hai."
Ashiana scoffed softly, stabbing her fork into her pasta.
"Mood? Nahi bhaiya, mera mood bilkul perfect hai. Mujhe kya lena dena kis se... aur kiske saath woh baithe hain."
Across the table, Aarav's jaw flexed subtly as he cut into his steak,
eyes flicking toward her for a brief second before looking away.
Arushi leaned a little closer to him, laughing at something Kabir said.
Kabir caught the tension immediately and smirked. "Arre wah, aaj toh sab couples opposite sides pe baithe hain. me aur prerna, Aarav–Arushi, Raghav–Meera. Perfect balance."
ashiana glared at Kabir, her spoon clinking against her plate.
ashiana crossed her arms with a huff. "Jo bhi ho."
Then turning sweetly to Aditya again,
"Aapko pata hai bhaiya, London se aayi hui kuch logon ko India ka weather adjust nahi hota. Shayad isi liye thoda... chipakna padta hai for support."
Kabir almost choked on his drink.
Arushi blinked, unsure how to respond, and Aarav's fork froze midair his eyes snapping to her sharply.
He leaned back slightly, voice calm but edged.
"Careful, Ms. Sharma," he said quietly, that familiar possessive undertone in his words. "You're walking on thin ice."
she gave a sickly-sweet smile, tilting your head. "Oh, I'm not walking, Mr. Malhotra... I'm just enjoying the view."
The table fell silent for a moment before Kabir muttered, half under his breath, "Aur yeh dinner ab officially interesting ho gaya."
—