Note: ACP post is equivalent to ASP in CBI. So, consider it ASP only.

"I met him way before, not in the company," Khushi replies.

"Then why don't you say this to Nani. She'll be happy, right?"

And they hear a door creaking open.

They turn towards the door only to see Tomy, a cat, Anjali's pet.Tomy comes inside the room and Anjali gets up, takes her in her arms and locks the door.

"Don't keep this Tomy on my bed, okay? I just made my bed clean," Khushi frowns.

"I'll keep her in my lap, Khushi. Don't worry!" Anjali chuckles.

It's not that Khushi doesn't like pets, it's just that she's too keen on keeping her room and surroundings clean and she doesn't want Tommy to destroy it now. She can't clean again if it happens, HP is on leave already.

"Khushi, I'm waiting," Akash shooks Khushi by her shoulders.

"What were you asking? I forgot!" Khushi exclaims, rubbing her chin.

"Why don't you tell Nani," Akash repeats his question.

"I will, at the right time," Khushi replies.

Akash shakes his head at his sister's right-timing-thing, "And when is that the right time?"

"The case I've been working on for a while now, if it gets closed, then I'll tell Nani about this," Khushi answers, thinking about the case she's been working on for so many years now.

Anjali and Akash look at each other and then at Khushi. They know their sister always takes her profession seriously and the cases and works on the crimes with extreme conscience.

Tomy slowly slips out of Anjali's lap and roams around the room.

"Okay, so, till then, I'll have to wait for my girlfriend's family to say yes?" Akash asked seriously.

"Yes, you've to wait and before getting started with that, find yourself a girlfriend and then wait," Khushi bites her tongue.

Akash frowns. Anjali laughs.

"What if I really have a girlfriend and she has to wait for me?" Akash asked, still a frown on his forehead.

"Well, she'll be lucky till then," Khushi guesses. Anjali laughs and they can hear tomy's meowing in the background, as if agreeing with whatever Khushi said.

This made Anjali laugh more and Khushi giggled.

Akash pouts. And then laughs out loud.

The three of them know about each other's likes, dislikes, and casual affairs. They know when to interfere in each others' lives and when not to. That makes the camaraderie among them easier and understanding. So, they know how they should behave if anyone among the three siblings is in a happy mood, or a sad mood.

Like when Khushi is in one of her bad moods, they stay away because that's what Khushi would expect them to do, stay away and never poke.

And the same goes for Akash and Anjali, when they would be in one of their bad moods, Akash would expect some food, so Khushi and Anjali would cook something, and when Anjali has her turn, she would too expect people to leave her alone and Khushi and Akash would. That's how they would understand each other and give each other needed space whenever they'd want, making camaraderie among them so much easier.

After a few minutes of conversation, Akash and Anjali leave to their respective rooms.

And as they're gone to their respective rooms, Khushi smiles and lays on her bed remembering Arnav Singh Raizada and how she met him 7 years ago.

7 years ago

Khushi Kiran Gupta always wanted to become a CBI officer. It was her dream from the day she saw her mother working as a special investigation officer in CBI, special crime branch. She is her inspiration. So, she completed her graduation in criminology just like her mother and has given upsc exam and applied for DSP Post in CBI, completed levels of interviews after getting a very good rank, and at the age of 22, she was ready for her training at Ghaziabad. For 32-33 weeks, approximately 7 and half months if she could count.

She was excited for her new journey and it has been a few days now that she arrived at Ghaziabad and started her training.

It has been so good until now and now she's here, in her on-campus mess, fighting with a guy, a handsome one at that, but who cares! Definitely not Khushi Kiran Gupta! He is the one who was walking keeping his eyes on his head and dashed into her back as she stood waiting for a few of her friends she made here.

And because of his dash, her only phone fell down and its screen broke.

"What the!" she exclaims looking at her phone which was a second ago in her hands is on the ground lying lifelessly with it's broken screen now.

"Look, sister. I'm so sorry. I did not see you standing here," he apologies, making an innocent face. He was innocent after all.

"Yeah, right!" she sounded sarcastic. And continued, "Why would you see me standing here? You'd have seen me standing here only if you'd walked keeping your eyes at its position, right? But I guess your eyes shifted on your head and you couldn't see me. Am I right or am I right?" she grits her teeth.

"Look sister, I'll get your phone repaired and I've also apologised for it. And I'll apologise again. I'm so sorry. I've not seen you," he apologises again.

"You should have seen, then," she argues.

Everybody in the canteen stops their respective works and looks at them. Including a pair of chocolate brown eyes.

"I'd have if I knew you'be standing here, but I don't," he replies back.

"So, you assumed no one would be standing in the canteen?" she questions back, raising her brows.

"That's not what I meant," he said, frowning.

All the while, a pair of chocolate brown eyes has been admiring the lady for her guts to fight for so long and of course her beauty too. He decides to intervene.

"He's saying sorry, right?" she heard a voice.

She turned to look at him.

If she found the guy who has dashed into her, a handsome man, she has found the guy who interred in their conversation breathtakingly handsome. But again, who cares! Khushi Kiran Gupta definitely doesn't. Looks cannot only define one's personality.

"But that doesn't make my phone get back its original shape, you know?" she said, disappointed. So what if he said sorry, can it bring her phone's original screen?

"But he did say he would get it repaired, right? So, what's the problem," he questioned, frowning. It's just a phone and its screen has been destroyed, that's it.

"That still doesn't change the fact that my phone's screen has been destroyed once," she explains.

Well, she looks like someone who keeps hanging on to the past and not letting it go. That explains why she's fighting for a small thing that has already happened. Arnav thought, looking at Khushi.

"What happened has already happened. You can't undo it. He will get it repaired and your screen will get back. Chill," he said, patting the guy's back and looking at Khushi.

Khushi glares at Arnav and the guy, "No, thank you! I can get it repaired myself."

Arnav shrugs his shoulders and the guy, after saying another apology, leaves from there. Khushi turns back to leave.

And as she was walking, she found herself being followed by Arnav, "What?" she stops, takes a pause and asks.

"What what?" Arnav asked, stopping as well.

"Why are you following me?" she asked, irritated with him. Why? Is it because he has won the argument? Khushi Kiran Gupta, tho, has lots of attitude and always likes winning, she doesn't mind failing if it does happen. It's not a big deal if someone wins over her for a valid reason. She does accept it and learns more, to become stronger, not because she will not want someone to win over her again, it's because she wants to win. Compete with herself. Not anyone else! So, when it comes to failure, she accepts it with zero ego, because she believes that's how they grew stronger. Her only drawback is even though she becomes stronger, she keeps on holding the failures too hard, thus, hurting herself. So, maybe it was not exactly the reason she seems irritated with the guy who's been following her. Is it because he has argued with her? Whatever!

"I'm following you? Why would I? I'm just going the same way you're going, it doesn't mean I'm following you," he said passing her.

Khushi sighs in disbelief.

"By the way, Miss Angry Bird, it's not good for your health to increase your adrenaline hormones!" He has received some glares on his way and that did something to his body, her eyes are so powerful that just a look of her can throw daggers in his body from head to toe.

"It's just a suggestion," he adds, composing himself.

Khushi doesn't stop glaring at him.

"I didn't ask for a suggestion. Keep it to yourself," she said, spitting fire.

"I don't take anything back once I give something to anyone, suggestions include too!" He smiles, shrugging his shoulders, very innocently.

"Well, learn to take it back then or just throw it away. Who cares," Khushi rolls her eyes.

"I never throw anything away or take something back. It's bad Manners, you know! Why don't you learn to take in?" he counter backs, teasing her. He guessed this would fume her more. And she did. Khushi fumes more. He smiled in his mind.

"Better I'd have bad manners than taking it back," she smiles sarcastically and walks away.

Arnav Singh Raizada stood in his place looking at the way she's gone and the smile in his mind jumped out and settled on his lips.

She's not the first one who argued with him. But yes she's the first one who argued with him and he smiled or teased instead of arguing back with her.

Khushi on the other hand walks towards her residential hostel. Residential hostel which is of 4 floors and each floor has about 25-30 rooms. Cadets, whether girls or boys, stay here in their allocated rooms. Khushi was given a shared room with another girl.

She went to her floor, and opened the lock, entered in, locked her phone in her cupboard, and went out for lunch, locking the door.

In the canteen, Arnav sat on his chair with a few other cadets having his lunch. Khushi entered the canteen and looked around for her friends who, she assumed, by then would have started their lunch. She found one of her friends waving her hand and she went after taking her lunch from the counter. To her dismay, Arnav Singh Raizada was just beside their table. And she frowned. Nonetheless she went to them, sat, and started having her lunch after greetings, of hi(s), where(s), and why(s).

Arnav Singh Raizada noticed the girl he had been mesmerised with as soon as she entered the Canteen and started looking around. Fortunately for him, it's CBI Training Institute and for every activity, they have a dress code. For Sports, for class rooms, for physical activities, dress codes are different. So, he saw her and her name on the first day itself. Khushi and number 76! She didn't notice him or anyone that much for that matter. They're in the same batch and have come for lunch after their 1 hour 15 minutes class that started at 11:45 AM and ended at 1:00 PM. It's their lunch break now and their classes resume at 2:30 PM again. Even in class, she was so much attuned to the teachings the trainer has been teaching. She's not a nerd but studious and engages with people here when necessary. It's just that she's more of a no nonsense type. Arnav Singh Raizada observed that. He's been observing her from day one.

Arnav Singh Raizda, only son of Ratna Singh Raizada, is not interested in becoming a CBI Officer. His only aim was to become a great fashion designer. So, he did his bachelor's in Fashion Designing course and was just about to apply for a University Paris to grab a Masters in Fashion Designing and Business Finance when his Mother literally forced him to join CBI. So, at 21, when he was supposed to apply for Masters, he was thrown into SSC CGL Competitive exams that year. He wrote them. He's really good at Maths, Current Affairs, Aptitude, General Awareness, and Finance. He so badly wanted to write nothing right but he did, mother's sentiment. He completed his tier-I, tier-II, tier-III and tier-IV parts of the exam and was sent to training here for SI in CBI at 21.

When he was getting ready for training, he tried a lot of things to change his Mother's mind but she was adamant on seeing him as a CBI Officer. So he came to the training and now his only aim was to complete 32-33 weeks of training and get out, reject the posting, and tell his Mother he wasn't qualified in the training, get a job in Pearls Fashion House, his dream company and do his Masters privately. That was his goal. After coming here, he understood others' passion towards CBI and he wasn't that passionate. His goal was his passion. But he's liking this. He will be learning Krav Maga and some of the important lessons even if he couldn't join CBI after this. No loss and it seems like there's more gain here in the form of Khushi.

At the thought of Khushi, he smiled. She's such a firecracker. Tigress. Arnav Singh Raizada is firm in believing that he likes Khushi, maybe more than that. At the end of the 7 months, who knows if they'll be a couple. He smiles at the thought.

Arnav, number 35 and some of his friends finish their lunch and go for a walk inside their residential campus. Arnav has a shifting process to start with for another room too. Before going out, he looks at Khushi who was engrossed in eating. As if someone will come and snatch her food. He chuckles and gets out of the canteen.

Night in the residential suite,

10:00 PM

Khushi and her friend, Aliyaah were just about to sleep after they were done with playing snooker, when they heard a door knock.

Aliyaah and Khushi look at each other. Khushi went to open the door as she's very close to the door.

"Hi," a man in his night suit greets her.

"Hello," she doesn't smile.

That man who doesn't get a smile in return fumbles, "Actually we just shifted from the 2nd floor to this floor and I don't know why I'm not able to use our campus's this floor's wi-fi on my friend's laptop. Uhm, can you help us? Please?" he asked.

Aliyaah, who was listening to the conversation, hops in front of the man and says, "Sure, why not?"

"Thank you. Our room is just in front of yours," he said. It's the 3rd floor and the room in front of them has few other girls till morning.

"What happened to the girls?" Aliyaah asked, walking with him towards the room. Khushi follows them after turning off the lights and fan. Although all of the rooms in the hostel are air-conditioned, they have fans.

"They requested our in-charge for the shift of the room as they have their friends just beside our room. We agreed and shifted after lunch," he said standing in front of their door now.

He opens and they enter the room. Khushi followed them when Aaliyah said, "Actually, I don't know how to solve the problem." She smiles sheepishly.

That man looks at her weirdly.

"But my friend, Khushi knows. So, don't worry," she said smiling again.

Khushi nods her head.

"Hey, got someone?" Khushi recognises the voice just as she enters the room. The guy who she had an argument with in the afternoon. She didn't see his name or roll number. She sighs! Again!

Arnav Singh Raizada looks up after asking the question and his sight goes to the hazel-eyed girl, Khushi, roll no 76.

"Yeah, they can try helping us," Sandeep replies Arnav.

Arnav, who was lost in Khushi, looks back at her.

"Yeah, okay."

Aaliyah gestures to Khushi to look into the laptop as she is weak on the technical side. It's Khushi who started helping her with debugging the computer or laptop when it's in trouble.

"Laptop?" Khushi asked after coming ahead.

Arnav gives her his laptop and Khushi sits on a chair that was present there.

"Is your laptop working?" Aaliyah asked, looking at Sandeep.

Sandeep nods, "Mine is working."

She tries connecting the laptop to 3rd floor wi-fi and she doesn even find it. She tries opening some websites but it shows no internet.

"Have you tried turning on flight mode or network reset?" Khushi asked.

"Yes, I did. Flight mode, network adapter, network reset, troubleshooting but nothing happened," Arnav explains, shrugging.

Khushi goes to settings and looks at the saved network, she tries forgetting the campus network and tries connecting to it again, but nothing happens. She then goes to Network and Connections and disables the wireless communication and enables it again. She can find the network, connect to it and still get the same result.

Meanwhile Aaliyah and Sandeep were already in a low conversation, knowing each other's names, hobbies, and so on. What a time to discuss hobbies!

Khushi sighs and then opens the command prompt, types some instructions to check whether they have a connection to the router or not. The result is positive, so she runs the command prompt with instructions to reset TCP/IP stack, release and renew IP address and furthermore instructions. She then restarts the laptop, connects to the wifi, enters a password and tries opening a website. It opens.

"It's done," she said and got up from the chair, giving his laptop back to Arnav.

"Really?" Arnav asked.

Khushi nods, Arnav checks and finds it working, "Thank you so much, Khushi"

Khushi gets surprised and then realises he might have seen her name on the T-Shirt she wore in the afternoon.

"My Pleasure," she plainly replies.

"Aaliyah, let's go," Khushi turns towards Aaliyah and sees her and the guy discussing something seriously.

"Aaliyah?" She frowns.

Aaliyah stops the discussion and looks towards Khushi and smiles.

"Done?"

"Yes, and we should go," Khushi replies.

"Sure. Bye Sandeep! Bye Arnav!" Aaliyah, who by then got Arnav's name from Sandeep, bid them goodbye.

Khushi sighs, "Good Night!" she said plainly and walked away with Aaliyah and in the background heard a Thank you and Good Night.

Next Morning

5:30 AM

Residential Hostel

Arnav hears his Alarm ringing and gets up with a frown. The only thing he hates about this training is waking up early. Thank god it's winter and they have their physical exercise from 6:00 AM to 6:45 AM. If it has been summer, he'd have to wake up at 4:45 since it would be from 5:00 AM to 5:45 AM.

Their time table is always as it is, strict and at its par,

Physical Exercise: 5:00 AM to 5:45 AM or 6 AM TO 6:45 AM depending upon the season.

Physical Drill: 6:00 to 6:45 AM in summer and 7 AM to 7:45 AM in winter.

Breakfast: 8.00 AM to 8.40 AM.

Classes: 9 AM to 10.15 AM, 10.30 AM to 11.45 AM, 11.45 to 01.00 PM, 2.30 PM to 3.45 PM, 4.00 PM to 5.15 PM [1.15 hours for each lecture, in between 15 minutes break for tea and 1.5 hours break for lunch]

Sports: 5.30 PM to 6.30 PM.

Roll call: 8.00 PM

Dinner: 8.00 PM to 9.30 PM.

This was their time table. And Arnav hates only one thing, waking up at 5 or 6. Why can't they start late? He always thinks that. And then again, he thinks that he's thinking in that way because he was not passionate. If it had been a fashion event and he had to wake up at 5, he would have woken up at 3 itself. These thoughts comfort him and he gets up, has his shower, wears his specific uniform for Physical Exercise and both Sandeep and Arnav leave for physical exercise.

Arnav, before going, looks at his opposite door and as expected, finds it locked already. She's fast. He observed each and everything about hers.

Campus Ground

6:00 AM

Their trainer instructs them to warm-up and they start.Arnav is just a person away from Khushi when she sees him warming up. Arnav too looks at her and smiles. Khushi looks away frowning.

Arnav doesn't stop smiling but looks away and starts warming up.

Soon they start their work on the instructions of their trainer. Arnav gets tired after a while and when the trainer's attention is on the other side, he sits huffing and puffing. He was never a gym person. He jogs, he walks, and he runs. That's it! These types of Exercises are new to him. And it's winter. He is sensitive to cold. Exercises and the cold made him tired.

Khushi, on the other hand, who's already a pro at Karate and these types of exercises, it was like putting a cherry on cake for her. She likes physical activities. So, she is doing it with more enthusiasm. That's when her gaze fell on Arnav who sat looking at others.

"Sir," she calls out loudly and Arnav gets up and starts exercising again.

Trainer who's an ASI at CBI turns towards the voice, "yes?"

"I'm done with this particular exercise, can I move to the next one?" Khushi asked.

"No, continue for some more counts," he instructs.

"Sure, sir!"
Khushi starts her exercise again, once giving a look at Arnav.

Arnav releases a breath and understands that she purposely called Sir to keep him on edge. He frowns and smiles. At least, she interfered. So, what if it's in an indirect way?

Very soon their exercises get completed.

They went for a break.

Drill started and ended.

They went for a break.

In between that got yelled at by trainers.

Started for classes.

Had lunch.

Resumed their classes.

Went to sports.

Had dinner.

Went to sleep.

Woke up again.

Repeat.

And they know this will continue for next 7 months.

Sundays are holidays. They're expected to be a fun day with all the activities. They'd watch TV in their hostel. They have a big LED TV for the same purpose. They have a pool to play snooker, a swimming pool, chess, carroms, and gym and a lot more to have fun.

After a few days, this was the day they were waiting for. Cadets are happy. It's Sunday. They can get out passes and go out to the nearest market. They can swim, they can play, they can watch TV.

Khushi's phone has been repaired as there's a facility provided inside the campus itself.

Cadets are in the playground in the hostel playing a Talent Round. Khushi, Aaliyah, and a few other joins.

Cadets showcase their talents one by one. Someone sings, someone dances, and someone mimics. Arnav, Sandeep, and a few other of his friends are already hooting and clapping for every talent they're getting to see.

Soon it was Khushi's turn, Khushi had no hobbies other than reading mysteries, solving puzzles, doing maths, or watching documentaries. Her talent is only Karate that she can showcase. So, she did exactly that. She had a black belt in Karate when she was in school. And she practises it everyday.

Everybody claps at her performance. It's only Arnav who has his mouth and eyes wide open.

What would happen to him if he marries her? He gulps at the thought.

No doubt she has such a stiff body. No fat on any of the body parts. Karate's courtesy! He chuckles imagining his future, he has to be careful, if at all she gets angry at any of his words or actions, he's sure he'd find himself in the ICU the next day.

He didn't even make friends with Khushi or even knew her full name for that matter and here he is, already on the line of marriage. A break is needed for his superfast express's thoughts. He sighs! Next was Sandeep's turn. He twisted his tongue and that was his talent. Next was his turn, Arnav was a pro at painting, So, he painted a 5-minute-art.

He made a beautiful face of a woman, who was looking at the moon. Everybody is impressed, including Khushi. Arnav bows down thanking everyone, giving a wide smile.

He's such a happy-go-lucky person! Khushi thought.

The day ends with many more fun activities to remember for life-time.

Khushi and Arnav are still not friends. As the days pass, Arnav keeps on smiling whenever he looks at Khushi or Khushi looks at him. Khushi just keeps a normal face whenever she looks at him or he looks at her. It's always a smile from him and frown from hers. Sandeep and Aaliyah interact more now and they could be called one of the best-friends in the hostel. So, fortunately for Arnav and unfortunately for Khushi, they tag along Sandeep and Aaliyah, sometimes, playing snooker, sometimes volleyball, and sometimes some other.

One day, Aaliyah and Sandeep are playing snooker. So, Khushi choses to play chess alone since everyone has partners including a few other friends and she's the odd one. Arnav joins to make her even.

"Are you playing chess?" he asked, coming towards her, starting a conversation.

"No. I'm playing carroms," Khushi replies sarcastically, moving one of the soldiers from the opposite team.

"I can see that," he replied, frowning.

"I know you've eyes," she replies.

"Chess needs another person to play, you know?" Arnav informs.

"I'm playing it by myself and it can be played single too. Update your knowledge," she replies, moving the horse from her side.

"Okay. But I want to play and I don't like playing alone. So can I join you, please?" Arnav asked, hoping for a positive reply. With Khushi, you can't be sure.

"Fine. You can play," she agrees. She wants a partner too. It's just that it should be from one of her friends. Arnav is not her friend but Aaliyah's. So, she gave in. Aaliyah is her friend too.

Arnav sits in front of her. They play the game. Arnav is not a pro at chess but Khushi is. And as expected in the end, Khushi wins. Arnav doesn't get disappointed, instead he was so happy as if she's not the one who won, instead he was the one who won. She has never seen someone so happy for her win except her close ones. She's always seen the jealous ones, cunning ones. It's not the first time she has seen him happy for someone else's win. His nature is like that. But in her case, she can observe it's over the top. She doesn't want to indulge in such thoughts now.

And then they play carroms, both are pro at it, in the first game, Khushi wins. In the second game, Arnav wins and Khushi fails.

Khushi makes a sad face.

"It's okay, Khushi. You will win next time. Let's go for the 3rd round," Arnav comforts her.

It's the first time someone other than her family comforted when she failed. She has seen many laughing at her, mocking her when she failed in school, when she lost her parents and was in depression, people laughed at her, back-talked her. When she's at her low phase in life, nobody except her family has been her support.

Arnav was an outsider. He could laugh at her, mock her, and be proud that he defeated her. But no, his nature is not like that. He's a better person than her. It's the first time she has genuinely accepted that Arnav was a good person.

She is prickly. She is always on guard. She's sometimes rude. But she's not someone who laughs at people when they are at their low. She's not someone who back-talks. She's not someone who mocks someone's weakness. It's just that she shares the easy camaraderie with her trusted people. Arnav is the opposite of hers. He has no guards on. He can be good to everyone which she can't.

She for the first time genuinely smiles at Arnav and goes for the 3rd round. That's how they slowly started their friendship. Arnav was making a place for himself in her heart. Even though it is at a snail's pace, at least their relationship was progressing.

They share their hobbies, likes, dislikes, and so on as the days pass. And there comes a day when Arnav shares with her about his dream of becoming a fashion designer which he did not even share with Sandeep till now. Khushi saw his passion as he talks about him being a fashion designer. Likewise, Arnav understands her passion to become a Cop.

Khushi is surprised when she comes to know that Pearls Fashion is his dream company and lets him know that her grandmother, Devyani Singh Rathose along with her cousins Akash and Anjali are heading the company. He then connects the dots. He's always heard about Devyani Singh Rathode. Akash and Anjali were new to the business world. So, he never knew much about them. He knows about Amit,Sumit, and Kaushi as they were famous during their time in Pearls Fashion House.

Khushi then tells him that she's the daughter of Nandini Kiran Gupta and Amit Kiran Gupta. She becomes sad remembering them. Arnav slowly diverts their conversation towards food, games, and she gets diverted.

And it's been like 20 weeks they've been friends now.

"Khushi, I've to tell you something," Arnav said.

"Yeah?" Khushi asked, engrossed in her laptop. They're in their hostel's backyard, sitting on a bench. Khushi is working on something in her laptop and Arnav was just giving her company, admiring as she kept on typing.

"I Love You!" he confesses.

Khushi stops typing. She expected this. It's always her instinct that Arnav somewhere has some feelings towards her. Her instruction turned out right in the end.

"I know this is so sudden, but it's been 22 weeks since we've joined her and we know we will be going to the local police state for a week as a part of training. What if we got different police stations? I want to confess before going there, I know it is sudden but that is all I feel for you. I'm in love with you," he explains.

Khushi hesitates for a moment, "Arnav, look, I respect your feelings but I'm not sure if I could reciprocate those feelings towards you. But yes I do like you. Love, I can't say," she replies, looking into his eyes. She is being truthful. She doesn't love him the way he does. She doesn't admire him the way he does to her. She respects him, admires him for his nature. He's a good person. On the other hand, he's like lost in her when he looks at her, he's like pouring love out of his eyes when he admires her. She doesn't feel that way towards him. She likes him. She doesn't get lost in him. Love doesn't pour out of her eyes when she admires him. It's the difference between him and her.

"That's okay. At least you like me, right? That's enough for me. And there's a possibility of this like turning love, isn't it?" he asked smiling, looking at her.

"Maybe!" she whispers.

"That's more than enough for me," he smiles.

"But I can't be in a relationship now when I'm not sure-" Khushi was cut off by Arnav.

"confessing my feelings towards you doesn't mean we've to be in a relationship. You know I love you, that's enough for me and I can wait till the day you say you love me too and that day, we'll be in a relationship," he explains. Khushi smiles at his understanding towards her. She is so lucky.

And the training passess as 7 months gets completed and in the final test, both of them pass and get their postings. At 22, Arnav gets posted in Delhi as Sub-Inspector(SI) while Khushi gets posted in Delhi as DSP. She applied for that post to start with.

As Arnav thought he rejects the posting and goes back to his home and tells his mother the truth, though he wanted to lie, he told the truth and Ratna at last understood that no matter what he'd nott get interested in CBI at all. It will be injustice towards himself and the CBI if he doesn't work with passion. She thought he'd develop a passion towards CBI if he started his training but her assumption went wrong.

He applied as a fresher in Pearls Fashion House and got selected as an intern. That was the first step. His journey of becoming a Fashion Designer and its head. He made a permanent place in the Pearls Fashion House. He knew he could easily step in if he would ask Khushi for a recommendation. But that's not what he would like to do. He wants to climb the ladder on his own. There's so much mre for him to learn yet. He wanted all of that. Khushi never suggested that option as she knows he's too passionate and when they're passionate they would never like another's help or recommendation. Khushi could have been directly given a job if she had taken her mother's name and it's one of the government's rules too. She did not need to write the UPSC exam for that and could have directly gone to training. But she didn't want that. She was passionate and she wanted to learn. Climb on her own towards the end.

At the end of the training, Khushi and Arnav were never separated. Both stay in Delhi, an hour away from each other.

They wondered why they didn't meet earlier when they were just an hour away. Arnav gets reminded of their conversation during their training.

"You know what Arnav, I'm 6 months elder to you," Khushi says, biting on an apple in the canteen.

"I know that. How many times will you remind me of that? And so what anyway?" he asked, frowning and knowing what's on his way next. He was cutting the apples into pieces for him to eat them.

"So, you're younger to me and I'm your senior," she says again.

"So? Should I touch your feet and take your blessings?" He looked at her feet.

"I don't mind you doing that!" She keeps her feet aside for him to come and fulfil his words.

"No thank you! Your feet might smell and I don't need your blessings either. Keep them to yourself," he makes a weird face.

Khushi hits him with her feet on his legs, glaring at him.

"Oww!" he screams. Khushi grins.

"Lord governess," he mumbles.

Khushi heard that and glared at him again.

"Didn't you get any better nickname than that?" She makes a weird face. When the first time she heard this nickname for her from his mouth, she stared at him for a while with her mouth open and burst out laughing after that. She laughed and that didn't mean she liked the name. It just means that she can't believe Arnav could be that crazy to come up with such weird names. Although she knew somewhere in the corner of her heart, the name suits her. But never would she agree on his face.

"Yeah! Darling, Sweetheart, Pri-" Khushi cut him off.

"Lord Governess is still better," she mumbles. Arnav chuckles. He knows she never likes the lovey-dovey talks. Soon he would change that, he promised to himself.

"You know if you and I both would be in the same school, we'd have met a long time ago," Arnav suddenly says.

"Yeah. We could have but I'm still a senior and six months older than you," he points out.

Arnav pats his head.

"How can I ever forget that? Thank god you still didn't start ragging me on that basis," he sighs.

"I'm a to-be-cop. I am strictly against crimes," she said, finishing the last bite of her apple.

Arnav keeps on cutting the pieces. As if he never heard her.

"You know, you and I both bought these apples together and you're still cutting them only and look at me I finished my apple," she exclaims.

Arnav stops for a while and starts to cut them into smaller pieces.

"Any thoughts on making Apple Keema here?" she asked and Arnav smiled, finishing with his cutting the apple into smaller pieces. He starts eating them and Khushi sighs.

"Khushi," Arnav calls for her after a while.

"What?" Khushi responds looking at her phone.

"You're done with your apples, right? Can you go and bring some more apples for me?" he asked.

Khushi widens her eyes.

"Please," he makes a puppy face while still eating the apple.

"So you could start your apple keema again?" she asked.

"I'll do it fast and into bigger pieces this time. I promise," he keeps that innocent face.

"Okay, wait!" She frowns, gets up, and buys some apples from the canteen.

He comes out of the thoughts and chuckles, continuing his work.

It's been two months since Khushi joined in her posting and a month since Arnav joined Pearl Fashion House. They were busy and couldn't meet each other. It was just the phone that kept them going, mainly Arnav as he is the one who loves Khushi. Khushi didn't develop the same feelings towards Arnav yet or maybe she did, who knows!

Few more days for September 17, the day Khushi was born. Arnav thinks again. He had to do something special. He's earning from his internship and he always wanted to buy something for Khushi on his earned money.

He remembers Sandeep and Aaliyah surprising him with a cake and birthday celebration he didn't expect. He was born in March and after two months of them starting their training, he turned into 22. Khushi too wished him and fed a cake piece. It's been a few weeks since they started being friends and weren't that close before. It's one of those rare moments which brought them closer. And after it, Khushi always finds this a reason to tease him when he starts teasing her. She reminds him she's his elder. And there comes a day when she teased him on her own without him teasing her. That's how their relationship has progressed towards the end of the training.

He comes back to the present and starts thinking of what to buy.

17 September,

Arnav calls Khushi at 12:00 AM and she gets out of her deep sleep.

"Happy Birthday, Khushi!" He wishes her as soon as she lifts the phone.

Khushi smiles, "Thank You!"

She expected his call but who could stop their sleep? She slept at her usual time.

"When you're free tomorrow?" he asked.

"Evening!" she replied.

"Good, then. We are meeting at this restaurant. I'll message you the time and place. Sleep now and Good Night," he said in a single breath and cut the phone.

Khushi sighs and keeps the phone aside, sleeping again. She's too sleepy anyway.

Evening on the next day, Khushi reaches the place Arnav messaged her in her casual jeans and shirt. She looks around for Arnav and finds him waving at her. She walks towards him and both of them order for their dinner. Arnav wishes her again.

After their dinner, when they were about to have a complimentary wine, Arnav stops her and takes her to a gazebo. It was simple, slightly decorated and had a cake in the middle. Just the way Khushi likes it.

Arnav then makes her cut the cake, she asks for a wish and cuts the cake. They both feed each other. Arnav brings out his present and gifts her.

"Thank you!" Khushi opens the gift and finds a beautiful bracelet.

"It's so beautiful," she exclaims. She likes bracelets and if they're black, she loves them.

Arnav takes the bracelet out and puts it on Khushi's wrist. It compliments her skin and the white shirt and black jeans she's wearing.

Khushi thanks him again. And they eat the cake and go back to their table for complimentary wine.

"For your 23," he clink his glass with hers.

Months pass and they talk, they meet in the same restaurant whenever it's possible for them. They celebrate two more birthdays. One, When Arnav became 23 and two, when Khushi became 24.

When Arnav becomes 24 after 6 months, Khushi confesses her feelings. She was sure about her feelings and reciprocated Arnav's love. Arnav's 24th birthday was the best birthday as that gave him a beautiful confession. Their confession wasn't that romantic but yes it was heart-to-heart confession and souls becoming one. It was nothing beyond that.

At his 24 and her 24, they were in a relationship. And decided to explore their relationship and kept it under wraps, courtesy of Khushi's profession. She started working on some heavy cases and she didn't want anyone to target her loved ones. Arnav agrees with her.

They both are happy in their relationship and she celebrates her 25 too, and on that day Arnav introduces her to his mother. She was happy and excited to meet his mother.

That was until she came face to face with Ratna Singh Raizada, mother of her boyfriend, Arnav Singh Raizada. Her excitement dies!

She doesn't know Ratna. She know Suzzane, she met her once, in a hospital, where Dev, a 28-year-old man, was the doctor and Ratna aka Suzzane was there with her Mother, Nandini who saved some babies, and some girls from human trafficking. She still remembers one of the babies was given such a drug that it damaged her brain and she went into a coma. The girl who was a baby then is now a 14-year-old girl and still in coma, growing, but just as a body. On that day, she got to know from her mother that the woman with her is Suzzane, an undercover cop. She knows undercover cops get a false identity and so, she doesn't know her false identity as Ratna, which was true once. She knows her as Suzanne.

It has been just two days since the hospital scene, and she receives the news of her mother's and father's death. That shatters her heart.

It wasn't just her identity as Suzzane she knows, her mother, Nandini, has given her a file and told her to pass it to Suzzane if something happens to her. She was in grief and depression and forgets that for months. When she has recovered from her depression, it's just her name and her face she remembers. And she's a 15-year-old girl, she tried finding her till she could but no results.

And now when she's in front of Suzanne, there's no use giving her file because she has already opened it and is investigating the case personally.

Suzanne has seen her as a teen, she remembers her. How can she forget Nandini's daughter? She just knew her name as Khushi and she was fierce then. And she can say she hasn't changed much.

"Mom told me to give that file if something happens to her but I wasn't able to find you," Khushi explains and Arnav was all the while confused as he knew nothing and all the conversation was headless for him.

"That's okay, Khushi. You can give me that file now." Ratna smiles.

"I've already seen the file and studied the case, Aunty," Khushi replies.

Ratna widened her eyes and was curious.

"Who was Mallik?" She asks only one question.

"Karan Mallik!" She utters his name.

"I guessed that. I-" Ratna exclaimed and was about to continue.

"But there's something else, Aunty," Khushi interrupted Ratna.

"Karan Mallik has sent instructions to Karan Mallik on all those crimes he had done and had to do," Khushi said and this confuses Ratna. To Arnav it was headless anyway but Karan Mallik was his step-father who turned out to be a criminal. So, he was still listening. Khushi is a CBI Officer so she can talk about such cases, it's normal for her. What's his mother's role in it? She's a housewife and sometimes looks after business helping his grandmother, after all.

"You meant to say either there are two Karan Malliks or Karan Mallik has sent those instructions to himself?" Ratna asked.

"That's what I'm investigating right now, personally!" Khushi shrugs her shoulders. 

To be continued..,

What do you think about the update?

It's 7K+ for part C and there's a part D too, and that's the last. Part D will be longer than Part C. I'll try to update it tomorrow. 

Today work wasn't that hectic, so here's the update!

Let me know what you think about ArShi and their moments! 

Do you want more of ArShi or just a climax revealing the true Mallik?