Journey towards Love

Chapter 1

6.30 pm, London

A man in his late twenties, sat on the couch of his living room sipping his favourite black coffee, simultaneously working on his laptop, when another man of his age entered, rather barged into his house hurriedly.

'Aman?' The man frowned, placing his coffee aside on the table.

'Arnav, we need to leave to India immediately', Aman urged.

'But what happened? Is everything fine? Dadi?' Arnav asked worrying about the only support he had in his life.

Aman, who had by then relaxed after his small run, placed an arm on his best friend's shoulder, and said, 'She is critical and being admitted in the hospital.'

'What? And why dint Radha Kaki inform me about this?' Arnav yelled, checking his phone for any missed calls from his home in India.

'Your phone was not reachable Arnav. Hence she called me. I have made all the arrangements for us to fly back. Pack your bags and the jet will be ready to take off in another hour.' Aman spoke while arranging all the things into laptop bag, as he knew very well that Arnav wont be in a state of mind to react after hearing the news.

In the midst of this, Eva, Arnav's secretary in London, came with all the necessary files for the meeting that was supposedly to happen the next day. Seeing the rush inside, she asked, 'ASR? You leaving somewhere?'

'Yes Eva, myself and Aman are heading back to India now. You will have to manage here.' Arnav spoke.

'But ASR, this deal requires you in person. If you miss to attend it, then we will lose whole 300 crores, and what about the reputation of AR?' She asked. Being a secretary, she had to speak for the sake of the company.

'Its about his Dadi, Eva. We have to head back.' Aman answered.

'But...' before Eva could complete her sentence, Arnav scowled with a determined look on his face, 'No deal is bigger than my family Eva. I dont care even if I lose this. If you are capable enough to handle this, then do it. Otherwise, this deal does not make any difference to me.'

Taking their bags, Aman and Arnav sped out of the house to board the jet to India.

Arnav Singh Raizada, known as ASR, for the business world, had everything, money, fame and power. His company, AR designs, was one of the topmost companies of the world and the whole credit goes to Arnav. Losing his parents at a tender age, his Dadi, Mrs. Subadra Singh Raizada, was the biggest support he had to build his career, and the same Dadi was lying lifeless on the hospital bed miles away, waiting for her grandson's arrival. She was suffering from a late stage of gastric cancer which was diagnosed a year back, and unfortunately there was no treatment that could heal her. Arnav contacted the best doctors in the world, only to return back in vain. All had raised their hands and acute attacks like these were always anticipated, like a ticking bomb. But the deal he was about to finalise, was worth 300 crores and his Dadi had insisted him to go to London, not paying any heeds to his denial. She even urged Aman, his best friend cum secretary to accompany him, as she knew that her grandson would be only worried about his Dadi and he would not take care of himself.

He had to agree to her demands grudgingly only when she swore on her and he inturn took promises from her that she would take care of herself till he returns and that she would not deny to any of Radha Kaki's orders. Though he kept his promise, his Dadi could not.

New Delhi, India

After a long flight, Arnav and Aman headed directly to the hospital his Dadi was currently getting treated.

Reaching the VIP room, they found his Dadi, attached to many tubes and lying unconscious.

Radha Kaki approached them and said, 'Arnav beta, the doctors wanted to meet you.'