Hola Everyone,

It's Tuesday and I am here with the first part of this story. Thank you for your votes and comments on the Prologue. Means a lot.🙂🙂🙂. My sincere apologies for the delay but I was caught up with my work.

Without further ado, here is the next part of this story. Hope you like it :-

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As the bike screeched to a halt Inaya got down from it and bid Armaan a goodbye as he left for his work, after having breakfast at her favourite food joint in the city she had gotten back home knowing very well that by the time she reached home her dad would have blown his lids off over her refusal to use the car sent by him to pick her up from the airport but she seldom cared about it.

As she entered she could hear her Dad's loud voice "How dare you return without Inaya when I had clearly instructed you. I had asked you to do one thing and you could not do that. Get out from here" he blasted the driver who had gone to pick up Inaya, he had hung his head down as he listened to him knowing very well that his fate was very much decided when Inaya had refused to come along with him in the car.

"Mr. Kapoor, it was me who had asked him to return. Why are you scolding him when he has made no mistake? Stop blaming others for your mistakes" said Inaya as she entered her home as her Dad glared at her, he did not miss the jibe she had made at him. The driver meanwhile looked at Inaya in surprise, he could not understand her sudden change in behaviour. She had scolded him incessantly when he had gotten late but now seeing her defend him before her father had befuddled him to no end.

Reaching the duo Inaya spoke "You go and get back to your work" she said to the driver who hurried out before either of the father or daughter burst out on him again, thanking his lucky stars that his job was still safe. On the other hand, Inaya's father was fast losing his patience seeing her daughter. Though she had returned after two years there was no hint by either him or Inaya that they missed each other.

"Inaya, how dare you talk to me like that" said her father, Mr. Rajdeep Kapoor, in his late 50s he was one of the top businessmen in the country. Known as a ruthless & a fierce competitor in the business circles, he always made sure that he got what he wanted but one thing which he could never gain was his daughter's love. Before Inaya could reply someone interrupted her.

"Raj, darling why are you shouting? You know it's not good for your health" said a lady in her mid-30s entering the living room as both Inaya and her father looked at the person. While a smile played on Rajdeep's lips a frown appeared on Inaya's face. It was clear that she hated the person who had entered.

"Oh Inaya...you have returned. It's so good to see you" said the person as she was about to hug Inaya, but she put her hand out and stopped her from doing so as she spoke "But I don't feel good at all to see you again Reeta" said Inaya as Reeta's face fell. "Inaya..." screamed her father as he continued "How many times do I tell you to talk to her properly, she is your mother" he finished as Inaya gave him a withered look as she spoke "And how many times do I tell you that she is not my mother. You separated me from my mother when I was 4 years old Mr. Kapoor" she shouted at him and ran to her room as tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

"Did you see that Reeta, how she spoke to me? Is this how a daughter speaks to her father?" he said angrily as Reeta spoke "Don't worry about her Raj, anyways you have already fixed her marriage. So, once that is done she will not bother us again. Now forget all this and come with me, I have planned something special for you" said Reeta as she held his hand and took him to their room. Reeta Agarwal Kapoor, a lady in her mid-30s, a small-time actress who had come to Mumbai with high hopes but had failed in doing anything significant with her acting career but what she did manage was get into the right contacts and high-end Social circles. It was one of these social circle's that she met Rajdeep 7 years ago, Rajdeep himself at that time was going through a bad-divorce after he had known about his third wife's infidelity. What started as a friendship soon turned into a romantic relationship and after a year they married making her Rajdeep's fourth wife. Yes, that's true Rajdeep had married four times, Inaya was his daughter from the first marriage which ended after 5 years as he felt Inaya's mother Mrinalini Saxena Kapoor was not someone he could introduce in his business circles and someone who could not adopt his high-end lifestyle. He married a couple of times after that, but those marriages ended quickly before he finally married Reeta. Till date this was the longest that he had been in a marriage.

Inaya on the other hand, had become a recluse after her mother was thrown out after divorce. As she grew up her hate for her father kept increasing, never having gotten her mother's love after the initial 4 years of her life she was filled with bitterness, her father had seldom time for her busy with his works and parties. And the women he married never could give her the love of a mother. All these years though there was only one person who was with her through thick and thin, her childhood friend Armaan Jhaveri. Belonging to an Upper-Class Gujrati Jain family he was the only one who knew and understood her. Though his family had their own garment business he had chosen a career in hospitality industry for himself. Armaan along with his family were the only ones whom Inaya could call as her family. They had given her the love of a family, but she always missed her mother's love and the hate for her father was so strong that it could not remove the bitterness that had filled her heart.

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As Inaya entered her room she slumped down on her bed as she cried remembering her mother, something which she did every day. She took out her diary inside which was a picture, it was torn only showing half the face of her mother, she still remembered the day when her father had torn the picture when she was 5 yrs old but she somehow retained the half picture, though the photo was not complete it gave her the solace, she held the picture across her heart as she spoke "Why did you leave me? Why did you leave me Maa? I remember you every day? Please comeback, please come back for your Sona..." she said as she took the pen and started writing in her diary.

You don't always need to be joyous, its ok to be sad too.
You don't always need to succeed, its ok to fail too.
You don't always need to be calm, its ok to be angry too.
You don't always need to be surrounded, its ok to be alone too.
You don't always need to be extreme, its ok to be mild too.
You don't always need to be outspoken, its ok to be a reticent too.

Yes, to the outside world Inaya Kapoor might have been a spoilt rich girl but within her own world she was this reticent who found solace in being alone and writing her feelings in the form of poems. Hoping that one day she would be a reticent anymore, hoping that there will be a day when she got the love she so yearned for. Holding the diary close to her heart, she closed her eyes as sleep overtook her, the long journey finally taking its toll on her.

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Inside the kitchen of THE HILTON the activity was hectic, preparations were being made for the day inside the kitchen of one of the most famous hotels in the country. And why would it not be, for it housed the best restaurants in the city which included a 3-star Michelin restaurant The Brasserie and all this was due to the efforts of one person who was very particular about his kitchen. He could make or break the careers of young chefs aspiring to make it big in the cooking world.

"Guys, He has arrived. He should be here in another 15 minutes" said a person in her late 20s entering the kitchen as she continued "Vinay, has the chicken been marinated" she asked one of the chefs who replied "Yes Nazz, it's done. I am on to the duck now" he said as the girl nodded her head, she moved around to monitor the work that was being carried out in the kitchen. Nazreen Irani, a girl in her late 20s belonging to a Parsi household was the Pastry Chef at THE HILTON, though her specialization was in pastries she had doubled up as an assistant Chef as well.

"All right, I am going to the CRYSTAL LOUNGE to check the arrangements there, Vinay make sure that everything's done before he arrives. You know he does not like if something is out of place" she instructed as Vinay nodded his head in agreement as she left.

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While the kitchen was buzzing with activity inside a room on the ground floor we see a man in his late 20s removing his jacket which was wet due to the rains and hang it on the hanger. Discarding his clothes one by one he took a fresh set of clothes from the cupboard. Donning them he took out the neatly ironed Chef Coat, his pride from the almirah. He put it on as he caressed the words embossed on it ABHIMANYU- EXECUTIVE CHEF – THE HILTON. Yes, the person was none other than ABHIMANYU the 28-yr Old executive chef at the HILTON, the youngest executive chef in India and the reason for The Brasserie to be conferred with a 3-star Michelin rating. A person who hated lies and late workers. Under his leadership each of the restaurants at the hotel had been voted among the best restaurants in the city. Caressing his name once again he came out of the room when his vision fell on a couple of people. The people who had become his friends and family outside his family in UJALA, the NGO where he was brought up.

"Hey Nazz, Armaan. How are you guys doing today?" he asked them as they greeted him "We are doing great ABHI, how are you?" they replied as Abhimanyu came forward and hugged them. Just then he saw Armaan in his casuals instead of the Hotel attire as he asked "Armaan, you late today?" as he replied "Yes ABHI, had to pick up a friend from the airport" he said, the person was none other than Armaan Jhaveri, Inaya's friend and the Manager at the hotel. He was a close friend to Abhimanyu and Nazreen as well.

"Oh, Alright. Naz, we need to get going" he said as the girl nodded her head in agreement. They both left for the kitchen to get their day started as Armaan went to change as well and start his day at work.

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It was late in the afternoon when Inaya got up from her sleep, she had light lunch as she had a less appetite because of the heavy breakfast and then the happenings of the morning with her father and step-mother. She needed to get out of the house as she felt suffocated in there. She called up her only friend Armaan to meet him and then later his family. But Armaan was caught up with his work so he had asked her to come to the hotel from where both would go to meet his family.

At around Six in the evening Inaya arrived at THE HILTON, she called Armaan who asked her to wait at the CRYSTAL LOUNGE, Inaya had ordered a latte for herself and immersed herself in her phone. Since it was evening the lounge was buzzing with crowd and residents of the hotel who had come for their evening coffee. Inaya looked up from her phone for a moment looking around to see if her friend was arriving or not.

Suddenly her vision fell on a six-feet tall Man, donning impeccable chef whites he was walking upright reading a book in hand. But what stuck her was the face of the person, It was same man whom she had seen at the signal this morning as a smile formed on her lips and the words escaped her mouth.

"MR. HANDSOME, I SEE YOU AGAIN"

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Done.

Please ignore the grammatical mistakes.

The credits for the beautiful poem go to @Meghu196. Thank you very much for letting me use your lovely poem dear.

PRECAP - WILL ABHIMANYU & INAYA MEET ???🤔🤔🤔