The Bond of..? (Chapter 23)

Hello!!!
I am finally back with another update!! Link to the previous one: https://www.tellyupdates.com/bond-chapter-22/
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Sana skipped into the kitchen cheerfully. She finally managed to call every single one of the guests and inform them about the change in the Gala. Nisha di and Sia were finishing up the final preparations for the background stage and Saman bro was off to check on the last-minute preparations. Sana was awake almost the entire night trying to call people all over the world which is why her brain was on the edge of exhaustion.

“Where is my popcorn?” she beamed with excitement and she could already feel the butter of her popcorns melt into her tongue.

All the workers in the kitchen shrugged blankly at her which made her very suspicious of the happenings in the house. She knew it, there was a thief in the house who was eyeing her precious popcorn and that could only be… mice.

“We need to get a bug detection done here,” she announced with a huff as she placed tilted her head and placed a hand on her hip.

Her locks moved to the side while she flexed her arms in laziness, she was still in her tank top and pajamas from the night. She glanced at the clock and frowned, it was only 6? It felt like 10 to her.

“Will you stop making me bankrupt?” she heard a husky warning voice from the back, jerking her from her dream of thoughts.

“What the heck did I do to you?” Sana voiced out with bewilderment as he calmed her heart which was racing due to his sudden appearance.

“You made me pay, I repeat made me pay, for preponing the Gala when I had absolutely nothing to do with it,” Aarav drawled out to her patronizing anger as he leaned against the doorframe.

“That’s what you get for spreading rumors about me,” Sana casually mumbled back at him as she continued to search through counters to find her popcorn.

“That rumors were about-” Ansh started to correct her which made her quickly change her words.

“And my company.”

Aarav let out a sigh with disbelief at her weird revenge schemes and commanded in a hazy voice, “Jeff, get me my coffee.”

“Oh, have you seen my popcorn anywhere?” Sana asked him curiously with her eyes glittering with hope and a childish innocence taking over her face.

“If the garbage out of the house counts, then yes,” Aarav drawled out profusely as he stifled a yawn.

Sana froze at his words. He did just say that her popcorn was in the garbage? Rage circulated through her body like blood, a deep fire burning through her chest as she seethed, “What? How. Did. My. Popcorn.Get.There?”

“Sana, clearly it can’t walk there by itself so someone has to throw it in there,” Aarav replied calmly as he eyed Sana freak out at his words.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s what I meant. Who threw my popcorn?” she whined like a 5-year-old and jumped up and down with irritation.

“I did,” Aarav answered patiently as he took his coffee from Jeff and indicated the entire staff to leave the kitchen.

Aarav smiled inwardly as he saw Sana pout cutely with disbelief.

“What? How dare you? Can I please know what enmity you have with my popcorn? And why would you throw it in there?” Sana puffed with anger as she pointed a finger at him.

“That’s a ton of questions, one at a time sweetheart,” Aarav snickered comically at Sana’s sudden transformation into a child.

“Shut up and tell me why you committed such horrible crime,” she demanded with her eyebrows raised as she crossed her arms in temper.

“All I did was throw out the popcorn,” Aarav defended his actions in a mocking tone.

“No, you threw out MY popcorn!” Sana exclaimed as she pointed to herself with a tough look on her face.

“Sounds the same to me,” Aarav retorted with a shrug as he sipped his coffee, the taste of bitter caffeine filling his taste buds.

“Well, it’s not,” Sana whined like a child while Aarav shook his head with disbelief.

By now he should be pinning her to the wall and threatening her to shut up or else he would dump the coffee on her but today some new stream of patience was running through his body as he began to chill out and tease her while she freaked out.

“Why did you throw it out?” Sana complained hysterically as he let out a long sigh.

“You are eating way too much to be true and it is not healthy,” Aarav reasoned as he drank his coffee.

Sana’s jaw dropped as she heard those words. Was he concerned about her? “Stop being my mom. In fact, my mom didn’t do something so stupid like that either.”

“She should have.”

“Stop being mean and get me some popcorn,” Sana snapped as she stomped her foot in frustration.

“Nope,” Aarav repeated in a serene, tranquil voice.

“But I need it to keep me calm, keep me relaxed and help me LIVE or else I will go crazy,” Sana contradicted as she failed her arms all over the place to show the importance of popcorn in her life.

“Why don’t you depend on some other things to survive, such as coffee,” Aarav countered as he extended the cup of coffee in her face while she made goofy faces at him in disgust.

“Oh wow. So you don’t mind me chucking in tons of caffeine a day but you have problems with popcorn. That’s every wise of you Aarav Ross,” she sarcastically said with a fake smile on her lips.

“Sana Sen Ross quit annoying me,” Aarav bluntly said with his patience slowly draining out. This girl was honestly impossible to deal with.

“That’s not my last name,” Sana picked up another point and started to whine uncontrollably.

“Really? Don’t you want to join it or something?” Aarav asked her in shock as he acted neutral.

“Umm no, why do you think that?” Sana questioned him puzzled at his statement.

“Because you are crazy,” Aarav said with a huge grin on his face while Sana groaned in a heavy, displeased tone.

“Aarav,” Sana warned him in a threatening tone with anger brewing inside her.

“Sana,” Aarav mimicked her voice while Sana glared at him.

“Aarav.”

“Sana.”

“You are so mean and rude and jerky and arrogant and annoying,” Sana blurted out in defeat as she collapsed on the counter.

“Tell me something new,” Aarav joked humorlessly while Sana stared at him with dull, cold eyes.

“Why can’t you give me my damn popcorn and get this over with,” Sana whined again as she passed him a few death glares.

“You eat like 10 packets a day,” Aarav explained in an alarming tone.

“How do you know?” she asked him with suspicion and passed him some creepy glares.

“I watched you on the picnic day,” Aarav stated subconsciously as he drank the coffee to reduce his head which was running a marathon.

“You were not even ther- you were stalking me!” Sana accused him in the firm, disgruntled voice.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you eat popcorn like meals,” Aarav smartly diverted the topic.

“No, I don’t, I eat only 9 packets a day,” Sana corrected his facts with pride.

“Exactly and it is not good for you.”

“I am 20, I am grown up, let me live alright,” Sana barked at him in a high-pitched voice and crossed her arms in a huff.

“Stop barking like a dog or I am going to get you a pet house,” Aarav taunted amused at her childish actions.

“I am not barking,” Sana replied lamely in a persistent tone while Aarav rolled his eyes.

“That’s exactly what you are doing now,” he stated matter of factly with bored eyes at this never-ending drama.

“I hate you,” Sana mumbled at him in disgust and extreme hatred.

“I never said I love you,” Aarav remarked the obvious in a more softened tone, finishing his cup of coffee.

“One day you will and when you do, I am not going to say it back,” Sana blurted out bluntly as her eyes slid down to the floor subconsciously.

How could he take away her popcorn? Sana kept thinking before she heard Aarav drop his coffee mug which hit the marble floor and burst into pieces and it is then she realized what she said.

Crap! Aarav’s mouth dropped at her confession while Sana felt the hollow space with the burden removed from her chest. Thousands of butterflies grew in her while the warm feeling was back in the pit of her stomach. An awkward silence floated in the atmosphere as Aarav glanced at her in total shock while she nervously fiddled with her fingers.

She was not supposed to admit anything. Her stupid anger and her big mouth.

She averted her eyes gaze and went back to staring at the ground while she could feel his bewildered gaze on her, searching her soul for answers while she wanted the earth to swallow her up.

Both of them got back into the trance when Aarav cleared his throat and Sana changed the topic, “Uhh..get me some popcorn or else I am going to act like this in the Gala and embarrass you.”

“You can try doing that,” Aarav challenged still amused at her words from before.

“Aarav, you know me, I am serious, I will actually do it,” Sana kept on alerting him to back off.

But of course, he didn’t listen either, “Fine do it.”

“Aarav.”

“Sana.”

“Give me the popcorn, please,” she begged with extreme desperation for the last time.

Aarav smiled as her voice showed her extreme desperation and he finally agreed, “Finally you understood the meaning of manners.”

Sana wanted to yell at him for looking for manners while she was on the edge of dying from hunger and tiredness but she was way too weak to argue anymore. Aarav strolled across the kitchen and took out a cereal box from the back drawer and threw a popcorn bag at Sana from the box.

“Oh my cutie pie, did you miss me? I did too, it was so long since I saw you,” Sana started talking to the popcorn bag yearningly as she hugged it tight with adoring eyes.

“You weren’t kidding when you said you will go crazy did you?” Aarav remarked in a scornful voice as he glanced at her.

“He is just jealous,” Sana growled back and opened the bag cautiously as if she was holding a real baby.

“About you talking to a popcorn bag?” Aarav sarcastically said as he flings out his phone to take a picture.

This conversation was just starting to get interesting.

“Bro,” he heard Arhaan cry from the middle of the stairs.

“There comes the other psycho,” Aarav mumbled in a gravelly tone, “What do you want?”

“When are we leaving for the Gala?” Arhaan asked him with glittering eyes.

“At 5? Why?” Aarav asked skeptically as he glanced at both the lunatics in the house, one was hugging the popcorn while the other was fluttering his eyes like a girl.

“I am going on a date,” Arhaan sing sang and raced out of the house before Aarav could stop him.

He shook his head and proceeded to leave the room before yelling over his shoulder, “Oh and there are only 2 bags in the box for today.”

Aarav’s lips twitched into a wide grin as he heard his wife mumble something along the lines of keeping the popcorn with her at all times. He hated to admit it but she was damn cute.
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Sana took in a sharp breath as she watched all the arrangements fall into place. The place looked stunning with the lights, fireworks and the 3D effects on the stage while the Arena was lit with artificial candles. The background of the stage had pictures of the past events and the each block was in different shape, sort of a like puzzle. Nisha di and Sia spent a great deal of time working through all these preparations and Sana could see that it paid off really well from all the appreciations they were receiving. All the business partners and all her parents’ friends were here at this huge event of the year.

Sana was currently standing along in her chain of thoughts when she heard Saanvi enter with a huff, she was wearing a black knee length simple dress with some jewelry and absolutely no makeup on.

“Is he here?” Sana asked her in a tense tone at Saanvi who was busy huffing over her dress.

“I practically had to drag him out of bed, doesn’t he sleep at night?” she bellowed while Sana raised her eyebrow in amusement while she saw Arhaan wander at the back with sleepy eyes.

“No idea, I don’t go around stalking people like some people do,” Sana stated grumpily as she eyes Aarav who was talking to a bunch of people at the other end of the arena.

“Well whatever but he needs to seriously organize his room. I had to fish through thousands of blankets, clothes and socks on the bed to find him,” Saanvi sighed as she glared at him half sleep walking.

“Why were you sleeping anyways?” Sana enquired with confusion as Arhaan walked up to them while rubbing his eyes.

“I just faced a heartbreak,” Arhaan concluded with a dramatic sigh while Sana rolled his eyes.

“Was your heart ever joined in the first place?” Saanvi mocked comically while Arhaan glared at her straight in the eye.

Sana threw her head back and laughed hysterically at their bantering, she would be shocked if these both didn’t end up together.

“Geez, you are way ruder than you seem like,” Arhaan snickered in a professional voice which added more effect to his words.

“Hello guys,” they heard an excited tone from the back to see Arpi Di dressed in a stunning frilled navy blue gown while Amay was elegantly dressed in a tuxedo and was clapping his hands as he saw Sana.

“How are you doing? And how is my little spiderman?” Sana cooed as she forwarded her arms so that Amay could crawl into them, his face lit up into a huge smile while Sana beamed sniffing his baby smell.

“You both look gorgeous,” Arpi Di complimented both the girls while Arhaan groaned to be excluded.

‘Don’t even pretend, if this would look gorgeous then there would be no such thing as elegance,” Saanvi countered with a smile while looking disgusted at her dress.

“No, you truly look gorgeous,” Arpi di stuck to her words while Saanvi rolled her eyes but Sana couldn’t take her eyes off the cute baby playing with her curls, his little eyes sparkling with excitement and he looked so cute in his tuxedo.

“See, I told you it would pay off,” Sia popped up from behind.

“Oh please, nothing could pay off the harassment I went through to put this dress on,” Saanvi grumpily said while Sia smacked her arm playfully.

“Same way nothing could pay off the harassment I went through to get here,” Arhaan mimicked her low pitch voice in his girly style earning a laugh from the others but a kick from Saanvi.

“One sec,” Arpi Di excused herself from the group when her husband, Neeraj showed up. Sana instantly turned to see Aarav whose face changed into a scowl when he saw Neeraj walking with his sister.

“Oh my cute little baby,” Sana played with Amay’s chubby cheeks while he continued to play with her earrings, necklace, and her hair.

“He is so damn cute,” Sia said as she started to tickle him slightly.

“She!” Amay blurted out with excitement as he pointed to a group of girls.

“She! She! She,” he began to jump up and down in Sana’s arms while she kept pointing to the girls.

“Woah, I thought I was flirty but this little guy has eyes on girls right from birth,” Arhaan beamed with joy as he watched his nephew follow his path.

“He is your nephew after all,” Saanvi mocked while she pulled Amay’s cheek.

“Stop bullying the poor child,” Sana scoffed at them and turned Amay around, “You are a good child, aren’t you?”

“If he is good he is mine, if not he is Neeraj’s,”Arpi di came from the back and took Amay back.

“How convenient,” Arhaan snickered his sister while she stuck her tongue out at him.

“Please take your seat, we are about to start,” Hoff, the MC for the night announced which made everyone rush into their seats.

Sana followed her family to her seat after she checked to make sure everything was in the set. The minute she made sure everything was perfect and the event was ready to start, relief washed over her face and she sagged back into her chair while she saw all the people next to her pull their phones out.

“Oooh, I know I need a phone too,” Sana muttered in a whiny tone while Saanvi scowled at her.

“Sana, we are not broke, I think you can afford one on your own,” Saanvi taunted as she added everyone to the game.

“Mine is at home but I am not going through his torture alone,” Sana mumbled back as she bugged Saanvi for the next minute to do something.

“What do you want me to do then?” Saanvi gave into her demands in defeat.

“Ask Saman bro his phone,” Sana ordered her while Saanvi with great difficult twisted her head sideways to the side to ask Sid to ask Sanay to ask Sia to ask Saman his phone.

“I am not giving you my phone,” Saman bro hissed at Sana while she pouted with agitation.

“Don’t act like a dad, give my baby your phone,” Nisha di complained and hit Saman bro on his shoulder.

Saman bro let out a few curses under his breath as he gave Sana his phone while she gave him an apologetic smile before typing the password and drowning in the world of games. Business parties, meetings, awards never really interested her in anyways, she only came here to meet her parent’s friends and receive awards. All the speeches, performances were really not her thing and sitting at the far corner of the second row did have its perks. She didn’t want to be mean by not paying attention but it was at least better to stay awake. A few years ago, she was here without a phone and she and Saanvi feel asleep in the middle of the show. Sana brushed the thoughts of her mind and continued to play Super Mario’s on the phone as she competed against Saanvi, Sanay, Sid, Sia, Arhaan, Neha, Vinay, Nisha Di and Arpi Di.

Sana groaned inwardly as for the 13th time Saanvi won the game, they kept playing continuously for over 50 times in the past hour and a half with Arhaan winning 12 times, Sanay winning 15 times, Sana winning 10 times. The rest of them decided to give up after the first hour and switched to another multiplayer game.

Another game? She received a notification from Saanvi which she accepted immediately.

“Sana, go,” she heard Saman bro hiss at her while all the crowd stared at her with excitement and applause filled the air.

“Go where?” Sana asked boggled at all people in the entire arena staring at her.

“Were you all playing games again?” Maasi asked her in a clipped tone.

“Yes,” Sana admitted sheepishly while Maasi came forward and gave her a hug.

Umm Okay.

“What is going on?” Sana asked again while Maasi patted her cheek in disbelief.

“Dumbo, you just won an award for the favorite boss, now go get it,” Saanvi squealed at her with delight.

“Oh,” Sana lamely said as she walked up the stage with a huge smile plastered on her face like she actually knew what was going on.

“Congratulations Mrs.Ross,” Mr. Morris handed her the award with a pleasant, warm smile.

“Thank you so much,” Sana said in a jovial tone as her hand traced the gold plated award in her hand. It felt precious. Very precious.

“A few words please,” Hoff said as he gave the microphone to Sana while the entire crowd exploded with cheers.

“I must say this was very unexpected as I was not anticipating such an honor. I will definitely want to thank all my employees for all their feedback and such tremendous support with all my decisions! ” Sana warmly thanked all her employees and handed the microphone back before giving Mr. Morris a sideways hug.

“Thank you,” Sana said once again while a photographer showed up to click a few snaps before Sana proceeded back to her seat.

Her entire family attacked her with bear hugs while a wide grin reached her eyes. “Look at my child! If only you didn’t keep playing games, I would have been happier for your achievement.”

“Sorry,” she apologized as she handed her award to her chachu to take a look.

“Now no phones and pay attention to the final awards,” Maasi ordered in a stern voice which made everyone instantly nod at her words and focus all their attention on the stage.

Sana watched with a thrill of elevation washing over her as she held the delicate award in her hand, favorite boss. Wow, she knew people in her company adored her leadership style but she didn’t know it was so amazing. The awards kept moving on from the best executive team, newly established business, entrepreneur of the year, etc.

“Ladies and gentlemen, hold your horses as we are now are going to announce the final set of awards,” Hoff continued which rose sudden sparks of excitement through Sana’s stomach. The final ones were the most important.

“Great, now we all have to go up,” Saanvi winced at the thought while the other shushed her up.

“Don’t jinx the moment!” Sia exclaimed with worry.

“Come on, I’m sure we will win the top business of the year as we do every single year,” Saanvi boasted with pride while the other glared at her to shut up.

“Stop being so over-confident,” Sid hissed back at her.

“I am dreading over the fact and you think I am over-confident?” Saanvi sarcastically said which made everyone crack up into fits of chuckles.

“Here come the results, let’s start backward this year,” Hoff cheerfully said which made the entire Sen empire groaned hardly at the news.

“Let’s start from the Male CEO of the Year.”

Sana leaned back into her seat, fiddling with her fingers in boredom, just announce the Top Business and she will be out of here.

“The award goes to,” “Aarav Ross from the Ross. Inc,” Hoff announced while Sana froze with shock and extreme amazement.

“Oh wow,” Saanvi whispered from beside her while Sana kept staring at the Ross family seated a few rows behind.

“Congratulations bro!” Arhaan cheered while Aarav smiled at his brother with pride.

He felt a wave of relaxation wash through him as he climbed up the stage to receive the award from Mr. Morris. Finally, his work paid off!

“This is an absolute pleasure and surprise to have! After the Ross empire being the best partner for years and not winning the award this year was a complete disappointment but this award definitely made up for it! Thank you! ” Aarav said in a professional and persistent voice.

Sana’s stomach sank at those words, he won the best partner for years? How come she never noticed him anywhere before? Boy, she sure should pay more attention to these awards.

“Now if you can stay here for a moment as we announce the Female CEO of the Year,” Hoff continued while Sana kept lingering on Aarav winning the award.

Was he that good? It was not that easy to win the awards here. A pang of guilt hit her when she realized all the loss she caused him due to her silly assumptions and the curt words she spoke on the other day. She gathered up the courage to lift her sullen head and glance at his eyes. What amused her, even more, was that the minute she lifted her head, his blue eyes bore into hers, they were shining with a golden streak in between. Those were the eyes she could spend a lifetime looking at.

“The Female CEO of the Year goes to,” “Of course, when the husband gets the award, so should the wife. Sana Ross, the stage is all yours.”

“Sana,” Saanvi hailed in radiance and rich pleasure while Sana kept dazing at Aarav’s eyes.

“Huh?” Sana mumbled baffled as she saw all her family scowl at her.

“Which world do you live in? Got get your award,” Saanvi barked at her as she practically grabbed Sana by the hand and dragged her towards the stage.

“I already did,” Sana replied lamely while all her family shook their head in disbelief.

“OMG! Sana, you won another one, now go already,” Sia exclaimed thrilled at her winning and shoved her towards the stage.

As Sana made her way up to the stage with her heart pounding against her chest so hard that she felt it might leap out any second while she heard her maasi mutter what was wrong with her. A nervous feeling jittered in her stomach as she glanced right through Aarav’s eyes, lethargically heat passed out of her body as she went up the stairs. A familiar feeling of giddiness was drowning through her body as she put on a tight smile as she received the award and could sense Aarav’s intense gaze on her.

“Thank you soo very much for this, before I take all the credit for the award, I want to let you know that Sen empire runs with 3 CEO’s, me, Saman Sen and Sid Sen. So, I want both of my brothers to come here to accept the award as we make all the decisions collectively,” Sana announced as she indicated Saman bro and Sid to come on the stage.

“Great way to become the star, sister,” Sid sarcastically teased her as both of her brothers came to stand next to her.

“May we get two more awards please,” Mr. Morris ordered and instantly a woman popped through the curtains with two more awards.

“Thank you,” all the three of them beamed with happiness as a thunder of applause eliminated the arena.

All of them posed for a quick picture while Hoff continued with the last award of the evening which was the Top Business of 2015 and as always it went to the Sen Empire which resulted in the immense amount of fireworks and streamers as the entire family stood to take the award. After previous experience on how big their family was, the organizers made sure to give each of them an award.

“And night belongs to Aarav Ross, Sana Ross, and the entire Sen empire,” Hoff concluded the event while Sana bit her lip in a fuss.

She was so dubious about everything. Whatever was happening was wrong. Very wrong. But no matter how much ever she tried to avoid these sensations. They came back.
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How was the first part? I had so much planned for this Gala that it won’t all fit in the same chapter. Advaita, you wanted some cute ArSa scene right? is this good?

When I was in page 12, I gave up and had to stop but I seriously can’t wait till the next chapter, I promise you guys are gonna love it!! Now that I did finally grant you ArSa scenes, everyone reading this COMMENT!!

Oh and I was originally going to make this light, funny and businessy but I am going to change the entire plot. I am going to speed up the pace and add a huge mystery in there so buckle up for a huge ride of suspense! If you read my stories before, you know how seriously I take my suspense, so serious cliffhangers from next chapter!