Intertwined Fates -- An IPKKND FanFic

Monday

8:49 AM: Khushi arrives at her law firm.

8:53 AM: Arnav, Akash, Anjali and Sheetal arrive to Raizada Industries. Akash goes straight to his office, ignoring all the employees greeting him. Arnav and Anjali stare after him, unaccustomed to this type of behavior from their normally friendly cousin.

8:59 AM: Payal reaches Raizada Industries and makes a beeline to her cubicle.

9:03 AM: Khushi calls Mrs. Deepali Kaur.

9:04 AM: Anjali walks into Akash's office, determined to figure out what's bothering him.

9:06 AM: Deepali Kaur arranges a meeting with Khushi in the former's office at 2:30 later that day.

9:26 AM: Anjali walks out of Akash's office after listening to Akash confess his feelings for Payal and his frustration at Arnav's reaction.

9:28 AM: Anjali walks into Arnav's office, determined to give him a piece of her mind. Before she can say a single word, Arnav reminds her they have a meeting in the conference room.

9:30 AM: Arnav, Anjali, Akash meet with their company's designers, including Payal. Akash and Payal do their best to not look at each other, but fail miserably as their eyes meet several times. Both Arnav and Anjali notice.

10:04 AM: The meeting comes to an end. Arnav asks Payal to stay behind for a moment but Anjali interrupts, telling Payal to return to her office and that she needs to talk to Arnav right now. When Anjali suggests that Akash and Payal share a mutual attraction, Arnav insinuates that Payal is a gold-digger taking advantage of straightforward Akash. The argument escalates from there, with Arnav hitting a nerve when he points out that Anjali's judgement has been wrong before, referring to Shyam. Anjali hits back just as hard, saying that Arnav was stuck in the past, seeing the world through the lens of their father's betrayal.

10:34 AM: Anjali furiously walks out of the conference room, leaving behind an equally infuriated Arnav. While the brother and sister often disagree on many things, they're usually able to resolve matters quickly. It's rare for the two to actually fight. But there's no possibility of compromise in this case.

11:02 AM: Arnav calls Payal to his office, where he proceeds to castigate her designs and threatens to fire her if he doesn't see improvement.

11:13 AM: A teary-eyed Payal leaves Arnav's office. Akash stops her and coaxes her into telling her what happened.

11:16 AM: Akash storms into Arnav's office. Akash demands to know the reasoning behind Arnav's unfair treatment of Payal. Arnav tries to say that it has nothing to do with Payal personally; it was a critique of her work. Akash points out that Payal is their best designer and the designs presented this morning were both innovative and appealing. Arnav reminds Akash that Arnav is the f***ing CEO of this office and he'll be the one to decide whose work is of good quality or otherwise.

11:32 AM: Akash furiously walks out of Arnav's office, leaving behind an equally infuriated Arnav who wonders why this keeps happening today.

11:35 AM: Khushi texts Payal to say that they should meet for lunch since Khushi has a meeting in the area afterwards.

11:37 AM: Sheetal receives a call from an unknown number. She declines it.

11:40 AM: Sheetal receives another call from an unknown number. She declines it again.

11:47 AM: Sheetal receives a third call from an unknown number. Angrily, she picks up and then goes pale when she hears the voice on the other side. "Wait a second," she says, before stepping into the stairwell so she won't be overheard. "Now tell me everything again and slowly." She listens, then says, "I don't care. All I know is that my name should not be mentioned." She listens more. "At least give me some time." She listens some more. "Okay, fine," she says before hanging up.