4

"Why was I not informed of Shruti being hired?" Arjun asked Neil as the brothers sat down to talk with Arjun's visiting agent, Lijo George.

"You didn't need to be," Neil replied. "Shanaya needed help and Arohi said Shruti has an eye for clothing, and since she's on summer break from school, it made sense. I couldn't say no because she's my wife's best friend and Arohi misses her." He eyed his brother. "Does it upset you? You and Shruti seemed to get on quite well at the wedding."

"It's fine," Arjun shrugged, trying to appear indifferent. "Shanaya does need assistance, and I'd prefer it's someone we know."

There was a knock at the door then and Shruti stood before them.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "Um, Mr. George is in the wardrobe room, arguing with Rishabh."

"Oh, shit," Neil muttered, jumping up to hurry to the wardrobe room.

Shruti watched in shock as the usually calm Neil raced away.

"What's that about?" Shruti asked, suddenly realizing she was alone with Arjun for the first time since being hired. "Neil never cusses."

"Hardil inappropriately hits on Shanaya all the time," Arjun explained. "He's happily married, but he knows it burns Rishabh's ass, so he still does it."

"So things are going well with Rishabh and Shanaya then?" Shruti asked.

"Yes," Arjun confirmed. "Arohi also said you were the first to suggest him as my co-singer and he's excellent, so thank you."

"You're welcome," she shrugged. "Arohi said you needed a co-singer and Rishabh hated being pre-med, so it made sense. I'm glad he's working out."

"Sit," Arjun suggested, gesturing to the chair Neil had abandoned. "How have you been? It's good to see you."

"I'm doing well," she replied. "College is going well now that I've switched to public relations. I'm dramatic enough on my own without studying it."

He chuckled. "I think you'll be excellent at PR. I saw how you were at the wedding. You handled everything very well."

"Thanks," she murmured. "So how are you? Good, seeing as you're on a major tour already, but still."

"I'm all right," he shrugged. "Adjusting, I suppose. I didn't grow up wanting the spotlight, so it can be overwhelming at times. It's nice having my family surrounding me."

"They're your entire crew," she laughed. "Neil is your manager, Arohi is managing the tour, Shanaya does wardrobe, and Shivam is your guitar tech."

"Rishabh has also become a close friend, so my band consists of my best friends," he added. "Prince is dying to join us, but he has to finish school first. He begs for a tutor to travel with him."

"I get that," Shruti shrugged. "All of his siblings are traveling together and working on your music and he feels left out. He's already the youngest by quite a bit."

"I know," Arjun sighed. "I just don't trust some random person coming along to tutor him. To me, Prince will always be a boy I need to take care of. He's just twelve."

Shruti nodded. "I get that, too. But it is summer now, so maybe he could come for a little while?"

"We've discussed that," Arjun sighed. "Tour life is hardly the place for a twelve-year-old. I'd want a bodyguard specifically just for him."

"So get him one," Shruti suggested. "Just don't keep him away because you think this life is chaotic. He'll have you guys around to keep him in line."

Arjun nodded. "I'll talk to Neil and Shivam about it later. So, wardrobe?"

"Yeah," she grinned. "I love clothes and Arohi was saying Shanaya was overwhelmed, so I jokingly offered to help out while I'm on summer break, and here I am."

"Well, I appreciate it," he assured her. "I like having as many familiar faces around as I can."

"I'm happy to help," she beamed, checking her watch. "And right now, that means I need to go find your sister."

"Sure," he nodded. "I'll see you later, Shruti."

"Bye, Sunny," she replied as she left the room.

"Has anyone seen my phone?!" Arjun yelled as he walked around backstage two weeks later, tearing through everything. "It has my schedule and I can't find it."

Prince looked up from his handheld gaming device. "I haven't."

"Did you check all your pockets?" Shanaya suggested. "That jacket has several."

"Yes, Shanaya, I checked all my pockets," he sneered.

"Sorry," she grumbled.

"What's going on?" Shruti whispered as she approached Shanaya.

"Arjun has lost his phone," Shanaya explained. "It has his weekly schedule, and since Neil is away, he doesn't know anything."

"Oh," Shruti said. "Hey, Sunny?"

"What?" he snapped, turning to her. "I'm sorry. Yes?"

"Um, your phone is in your guitar case," Shruti told him. "I saw it lying around near the stage and didn't want anyone to screw with it, so I stuck it in there about an hour ago. I tried to find you, but you were rehearsing. And as for your schedule, you call Siddharth Kannan on Tuesday, have a photo shoot with GQ on Wednesday, and a performance for MTV Beats on Friday."

Arjun stared at her. "How do you know all that?"

"Oh, well, I'm very organized," she shrugged, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. "And when I hear something that seems important, I store it away in case someone else needs it later."

"Shruti, you are no longer required for Shanaya's services," he declared.

Her face fell. "What? Is it because I know your schedule? I wasn't trying to impose; I just remember—,"

"I'd like you to work with me," he explained. "I'll get Shanaya the help she needs, but I need someone who works at my side, keeping me in line and taking care of the day-to-day things that Neil is too busy for. It would be a significant pay raise."

"What about college? I'm going back in just over a month," she reminded him.

"Oh, right," he remembered. "Well, it will be your summer job then. When you finish again next May, you'll return."

"So you're taking away my assistant to make her yours?" Shanaya demanded. "I don't think so."

Shruti frowned at Shanaya. "I love clothes, Shanaya, but this job isn't for me. Keeping track of various pairs of Tom Ford jeans just doesn't do it for me. I think I'm gonna take Arjun up on his offer here."

"Oh, fine," Shanaya grumbled. "Hardil said he has a friend named Divya who would be a good costume assistant."

"Shruti, come with me," Arjun requested. "Neil left behind my travel paperwork and I've made a real mess of it."

"All right," she agreed. "See you later, Shanaya."

"Uh-huh," Shanaya murmured, already focused on sewing a pair of pants Anmol had ripped.

Arjun reached for Shruti's hand and pulled her down the long hallway of the arena he was performing in that night, trying not to think about the warmth that spread through his entire body at the softness of her skin.

"Your room is cleaner than I expected it to be," she noticed once inside. "Boys tend to be messy."

"I can be," he assured her. "You should see my studio back home in Mumbai. I suppose I just never quite have enough time around these places to do much."

"When will Neil return?" Shruti wondered as she sat down to sort through his travel papers.

"Tomorrow," he explained. "I usually feel like he's babysitting me all the time and yet, when he's gone, I fall apart." He shot her a look. "Don't tell him I said that."

She made the motion of zipping her lips and throwing away the key. "Tell him what?"

He grinned. "Thank you for coming with me. I'll have to come up with an appropriate title; I don't like 'personal assistant' as you'll be so much more than that. It will get to the point where I can't function without having you next to me."

"So I'll be your right hand," she joked.

"Yes," he confirmed. "Shruti Sarnaik, my right-hand. I like it. It sounds more important than ''assistant."

"How do you know that's what I'll be?" she wondered.

He eyed her. "I just do."

"Great show tonight," Shruti complimented Arjun as they made their way into his Mumbai home late Thursday night near the end of her first summer with his team. "Your best I've seen yet."

"Thank you," he murmured. "I like performing at home best. There's an energy in the air that's palpable."

"There was," she agreed, stifling a yawn.

"You're tired," he noticed. "I appreciate everything, but you're welcome to return to the hotel if you'd like."

Shruti bit her lip. "I will soon, but this is technically my last day on the job, so I wanted to make sure everything was tied up."

Arjun, who'd been bending over his guitar case, shot up. "Last day?"

"I start my next semester on Monday," she reminded him. "I sort of have to be in the university for that."

"Right," he breathed. "But we've been working so much lately that I haven't even considered that summer was just about over and you'd leave."

"I'll be back in nine months," she pointed out.

"That's too long," he whispered.

"Arjun," she warned. "We've talked about this. I'm not giving up college for this."

"No, I understand," Arjun nodded. "It's just, I've become so used to having you here." He laughed humorlessly. "You've become my best friend."

Shruti softened at his admission. "I know. Don't tell Arohi or Rishabh, but you're mine, too."

"Can I persuade you to leave Saturday morning?" he asked suddenly. "I'll pay the exchange fee on your ticket. I just want one day with you without any work obligations."

"Okay," she nodded. "I think I can manage that. What are we going to do?"

"You'll have to wait and see," he smirked, already planning. "If you'd like, you can sleep in my spare room tonight and I'll have Rakshit bring your things over from the hotel. That way we can wrap stuff up and you won't be getting back so late."

"Sure," she yawned. "I did want to organize your studio."

"No!" he cried quickly. "Um, no need. I like it a particular way."

Shruti raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's suspicious."

"I promise," Arjun told her. "It's fine."

"Okay," she murmured, knowing she shouldn't believe him. "Well, then I don't know what you want me to do."

"Just hang out," he requested. "Let's watch a film. We've had so little time just to be lately. I've officially decided you're on hiatus until May now; no more work."

"Fine," she grumbled. "What are we watching?"

He smirked. "You know what."

She thought for a moment before frowning. "Oh, man. Fight Club?"

"Yes," Arjun confirmed, leading her to his bedroom. "We have to watch it in here; this is my only television."

"Why?" she complained, kicking off her shoes to crawl into his bed.

"I'm here so infrequently," he shrugged. "These days, it's mostly just to sleep, so I watch just a little television in here before bed."

Shruti got under the warm duvet and settled back onto a pillow. "This is a nice bed."

"I like it, as well," he agreed, lying down next to her.

Much to her surprise, Shruti liked the movie. It was smart and intriguing and starred two beautiful men. Arjun was smug throughout the entire thing, knowing she liked it.

"What?!" she cried at the end. "Edward Norton is Tyler Durden?! This movie just became a serious mind-fuck."

"That's what makes it so good," he argued, stifling a yawn himself now.

Shruti rolled her eyes. "Just give me the remote so you can go to bed."

He did as told. "I've set my alarm for eight because I've got a full day for us before you abandon me on Saturday."

"Don't," she murmured. "You're making me feel bad for wanting an education."

"I'm sorry," he grumbled. "It's just, I don't talk to people so quickly, but I already feel like I've known you my entire life." He rolled over to lie on his side to face her. "Do you promise you'll come back?"

She held up her left hand. "I pinky promise."

Arjun linked his right pinky with hers. "I'll hold you to it."

Shruti woke up before him in the morning, so she carefully slid out of bed and went in search of a bathroom, as he didn't have one connected to his bedroom.

The door closest to his bedroom door seemed the most reasonable, so she pushed it open and stopped in shock. Shruti had discovered Arjun's studio and it was a disaster zone. Paints and easels and brushes littered every open surface. Sketches stuck out of every nook and cranny. She so desperately wanted to go in and look around, but she thought back to his adamant refusal for her to clean it, so she reluctantly backed out and continued her search.

"Good morning," he greeted her an hour later, finding her downstairs in his kitchen, drinking coffee and reading the Mumbai Times. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"I was thinking we could just pick something up while we're out?" she suggested.

"All right," he agreed. "Well, Rakshit texted me to say your things are in the closet in the hallway, so why don't you get ready and I'll meet you back here in thirty minutes?"

"Okay," Shruti nodded. "I wanted to call Arohi anyway."

Moments later, Arohi answered her phone. "Where the hell have you been?"

"I stayed at Arjun's," Shruti explained. "I dropped him off last night and we fell asleep after watching Fight Club."

Arohi let that sink in. "You slept in his bed?"

"It was harmless," Shruti blushed. "He wanted me to watch it, so we did."

"What time is your flight?" Arohi asked suddenly, checking her watch.

"Tomorrow now," Shruti replied. "He asked me to hang out today so he paid the exchange fee."

"Shruti," Arohi warned. "Don't get too close to him. He's technically your boss and you're going back to Delhi for nine months."

"I know that Arohi," she sighed. "I'd never breach my professionalism like that."

"No, I don't care about that," Arohi assured her. "Neil would, but not me. I'm concerned that you fall too easily and he'll break your heart."

Shruti frowned. "Would you stop? The tour is over so now you've got plenty of time to just be a wife. Go do that."

"Oh, that does sound nice," Arohi sighed as Neil emerged from their master closet, dressed—as always—in an impeccable Dior suit. "Goodbye, Shruti."

Shruti ended the call and hurried to the guest bathroom to get dressed. After digging through her bags, she decided on a pair of denim cut-off shorts, a thin sea-green sweater, and her favorite brown flats. She pulled her hair up into an artfully messy topknot and applied light makeup. With a deep breath, she walked back to the hallway and found Arjun waiting, dressing in simple jeans and a white Henley.

"Ready?" he smiled.

"Yep," she confirmed, grabbing her purse from the table before following him out the door. "No Rakshit?" she realized, referring to his bodyguard.

"Not today," he denied. "I think we'll be okay without him. I just wanted to hang out."

She grinned. "Where to first?"

"Victoria Memorial," he reported.

"Ooh, maybe we'll see its famous galleries," she joked. "Yes, there are 25 of them. But we aren't visiting there"

She pouted. "Boo. Well, what's at Victoria Memorial then?"

"You'll see," he murmured, leading her in the direction of the famed park.

Fifteen minutes later, the pair arrived and he guided her to his favorite spot in the park—the Riverfront Park.

"Riverfront, huh?" she mused. "I wish this surprised me, but of course, you'd relate to the boy who found music and creativity in the flowing waters of Hubli."

He shook his head as he sat down on a bench nearby, waiting for her to sit beside him before he spoke. "I used to come here as a child when my father was in a bad mood. Dhananjay's bad moods usually meant I was going to be beaten."

Shruti felt her heart plummet. "Beaten?"

"I was his favorite punching bag," he admitted. "It's the only time he ever actually wanted me around."

"Why?" she breathed, reaching for his hand.

He cleared his throat. "Dhananjay Punj wasn't my biological father. He adopted me upon my birth, but I am not his son. My mother had an affair with an artist she met in Paris while Dhananjay was away in Japan on a two-month-long business trip and I'm the product of that affair. She tried to keep it from Dhananjay, but once the date of my conception was figured out, he knew. His revenge was to accept me as his public, but never let me forget I was an outsider privately." He tilted his head and pointed to a small scar just under his left ear. "This is from a broken tumbler he threw at me when I was eleven."

"Ganpati Bappa," she whispered. "Arjun, that's awful. I'm so sorry."

"It made me who I am," he shrugged. "But I used to run away from home after fights with Dhananjay and I always ended up here. I envied this flowing water that hadn't got any restrictions to flow, it is allowed to flow in whatever way it can. Somehow this became my solace and my songs originated from here. "

"What about your mother?" she asked. "How could she let him treat you so poorly? It was her fault it all happened."

"She was terrified of him," Arjun told her. "Savita thrived on being important and having power, and being married to Dhananjay gave that to her. She knew if she defended me, he'd leave her, so she made her choice. Neil tried to fight him off, but Dhananjay was too strong and I refused to allow my brother to take a beating for me." He sighed. "I was happy when he died. Prince was just a small child, but I was so pleased he was gone. Does that make me a bad person?"

"No," Shruti denied. "He was a monster. You were all better off without him."

"I suppose," he sighed. "Prince doesn't know about any of this. He was shielded from it before they died, and I made the executive decision to shield him as he's grown up. He doesn't need to know."

Shruti wasn't sure what to say, so she looked back at the statue. "My dad left my family for a woman when I was twelve, and I hated him for it. I was a kid, so I didn't understand it all. All I knew was that my dad was abandoning us for a woman who sold houses. My outlet for my anger was to read. I lost myself in stories because they all seemed so much better than my life. I envied Arohi and Akshara because they had parents who were head over heels in love and always would be. Part of me is jealous of Arohi and Neil now because I know they'll last."

"What about your father now?" Arjun wanted to know.

"He's great," she smiled softly. "Avantika, his wife, is a nice woman, and they adopted a little girl named Anu when I was sixteen. But it took me a long, long time to forgive him. When he left, my mom threw herself into her work and I felt abandoned. That relationship took a long time to rectify, too. No one's life is perfect, Arjun. We just have to learn how to move on from the shit."

"You're right," he agreed, pleased she understood him so well. "I'm happy now, so I consider that a victory."

"You should," she beamed. "Despite Dhananjay being a crappy asshole, you're a major success. You should be proud."

They sat and talked on the bench for another hour before deciding to head out for brunch. For Arjun, it was the easiest thing in the world, to hang out with Shruti. She was brilliant and beautiful and everything he could ever want in a girl. He knew, however, that she was too focused on school to take a chance with him yet.

"Well, today was nice," she admitted late that night when their big day was over.

"Um, will you come back to mine for just a bit?" he requested nervously. "I need to show you something before you leave."

"Sure," she agreed as they headed back towards his townhouse. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes," he assured her.

They walked in silence to his place and by the time they arrived, Shruti was terrified. They'd had such a good day, having brunch and then seeing a concert at New Town Eco Park, and now everything was really tense.

"So, I have this new song and I want you to be the first person to hear it," Arjun explained, ushering her into his music room.

"Oh," she breathed, feeling a weight lifted off her shoulders. "Cool."

He strummed his guitar and waited until Shruti was sitting on the couch before he started.

Je Tu Ankh Te Main Aa Kaajal Ve

Tu Barish Te Main Badal Ve

Tu Deewana Main Aa Pagal Ve

Sohneya Sohneya

Je Tu Jannat Main Aa Tara Ve

Main Lehar Te Tu Kinara Ve

Main Adha Te Tu Sara Ve

Sohneya Sohneya

Tu Jahan Hai Main Wahan

Tere Bin Main Hoon Hi Kya

Tere Bin Chehre Se Mere

Ud Jaye Rang Ve

Tujhko Paane Ke Liye Hum

Roj Maange Mannat Ve

Duniya Toh Kya Cheej Hai Yaara

Thukra Denge Jannat Ve

Tujhko Paane Ke Liye Hum

Roj Maange Mannat Ve

Duniya Toh Kya Cheej Hai Yaara

Thukra Denge Jannat Ve

Na Parvaah Mainu Apni Aa

Na Parvaah Mainu Duniya Di

Na Parvaah Mainu Apni Aa

Na Parvaah Mainu Duniya Di

Tere Toh Juda Nahi Kar Sakdi

Koi Takat Mainu Duniya Di

Dooro Aa Jaave Teri Khushbu

Ankha Hunn Band Taavi Vekh Lawaa

Teri Gali Wich Mera Auna Har Roj

Tera Ghar Jadon Aave Matha Tek Lava

Nirmaan Tujhko Vekh Ke

Aa Jaave Himmat Ve

Tujhko Paane Ke Liye Hum

Roj Maange Mannat Ve

Duniya To Kya Cheej Hai Yaara

Thukra Denge Jannat Ve

Tujhko Paane Ke Liye Hum

Roj Maange Mannat Ve

Duniya To Kya Cheej Hai Yaara

Thukra Denge Jannat Ve

Shruti sat stunned, unsure of what to say. Despite him not saying anything of the sort, she knew it was about her. Or at least, she wanted it to be.

"Arjun," she finally spoke quietly. "That song is beautiful."

"Well, I wanted it to match its subject," he muttered. "I'm glad you like it, sweety. I know that you only see this as a friendship and a working relationship, but I want it to be more than that."

She frowned. "It can't. I'm so sorry because I would love for things to be different, but they aren't. Neil told me when I switched jobs to work closely with you that it was a big risk, and he would be holding me to a higher standard. I can't make him regret that by kissing you right now, no matter how much I want to." She stood up and walked over to press a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for everything this summer; I'll see you in May. Goodbye, Arjun."