"Heard about all the things you've done

And all the wars you've been in.

Heard about all the love you lost,

It was over before it began.

Heard about all the miles you've gone,

Just to start again!

Heard about all the things you've been through,

It sounds like you need a friend..."

— "Rear View" // Zayn Malik

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

When Mishti received the first letter from Rajvansh Wellness what she felt was much more than a mere shock. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine encountering the Rajvanshs again. But that's exactly what's happening now. Okay, she is definitely ready to face any of the Rajvanshs as she has returned to India and given the history of the two families it's evident that a conclusion is needed to settle the differences. She is never interested in any business rivalry of her father but the lawyer in her would never allow Mishti to tolerate the injustice happening to anyone, be it the so-called rivals of her father.

But she never imagined getting a job offer from Rajvanshs. And from whatever she has learnt about Abir Rajvansh, to be very frank, this whole situation is scary! No wonder she rejected the offer at first. But to her surprise, she was sent another offer letter and this time the whole thing seems well planned. This time it's clear that they've done enough research on Mishti and her work in Canada, their words show genuine admiration towards her knowledge and work and most importantly, this time Mishti is impressed. Although it's a risky affair to join the Rajvanshs she agreed, just for the sake of understanding what exactly this person called Abir Rajvansh wants and to compensate for the damage done to them because of her father. What remains unchanged is her motive to make Vishambhar Maheshwari taste the metal guilt and pain.

Mishti Agarwal's sweet revenge.

Mishti enters the cabin allotted to her by the Rajvansh Wellness. This is her first day and not much work is given to her. Honestly she expects some torture from the Rajvanshs as she is the daughter of Vishambhar Maheshwari. So she's actually surprised to receive all the respect and well mannered acknowledgements. Irony is she is ready with a full-proof plan to tackle the stones she is supposed to face. It's been two hours since she joined but everything is going fine. The smoothness of the day is too real to be true.

So what exactly is the intention of Abir Rajvansh?

The unexpected silence from his side is not helping at all. Of course she's curious. She wants, no, she needs to see and understand this man.

Enough of sitting comfortably in the cabin. By inviting Mishti to his office, Abir has already declared war and now it's Mishti's time to take over the charge. It's surprising that not for once she has seen Abir till now. The man sent two letters desperately to make her join his office. Now that she's here, he's nowhere to be seen.

Is this some kind of smart play?

High time to confront Abir Rajvansh, Mishti stands up. Revising whatever questions she has to ask in her mind, Mishti knocks on the door of Abir's cabin.

"May I come in, Mr. Rajvansh?"

As Abir looks up at the owner of the sweet voice for a moment he is stunned. He feels his heart beating a little faster and a strange tinglish feeling all over his skin.

So this is Mishti.

Mishti Agarwal.

Finally the owner of one name that is running in his mind for the last fifteen days is physically in front of him. The first sight, the first exchange of looks - the feeling is strange but not something Abir is unaware of.

First meeting.

First exchange of looks.

The stopping of time.

The pull of gravity.

Attraction - Obsession - Infatuation - Love?

The heart being a fool, again.

"You don't believe in love at first sight, Abir Rajvansh. Go back to your work." Abir murmurs.

Mishti tries to read Abir's face. She is a lawyer, she has worked with all kinds of people and she does take pride in her ability to read faces. And looking at Abir, she can easily say that he's a pro player in the I-hide-myself-behind-the-mask-of-my-attitude game. Mishti smirks. Not surprising at all.

"May I come in, Mr. Rajvansh?" She repeats herself.

"Please come, have a seat Miss Mishti Mahesh..."

"Agarwal. It's Mishti Agarwal."

Mishti sounds a little uncomfortable and Abir gives her a winning smirk. Abir knows Mishti is well aware of how her presence affected him. So it's his turn to take the charge. After all it's a fight, always.

Revenge taken for making him breathless for a moment.

Does she feel the same pull though?

"This is your first day in the office, how's it going?"

"Good. I wonder how can my day be so unproblematic?"

"It's because you're given a little relaxation before I start my attack."

Mishti's eyes widened. This man literally surprised her. She expected a little twisted answer. And this direct hit was a shocker.

"Okay, so that means I should be always prepared with a defense plan."

"Sure, why not."

So Abir Rajvansh is a man of few words and too direct. Mishti notes in her mind.

"So Mr. Rajvansh, what made you invite me to join your company?"

Abir smiles. Not surprising at all.

"Do you think I'll speak the truth?"

"I'd appreciate that. But the choice is yours."

"I choose not to disclose my real motive."

And Abir smiled his most charming smile. He was really enjoying this short conversation with Mishti. This girl carries so much inside yet looking at her one can never imagine what must have happened to her. He looks at her face properly for the first time – pretty no doubt, and her eyes – too deep to drown into.

Too deep.

And that's a warning.

He reads the expression in Mishti's face – beneath all the layers of confidence there's nervousness, and a little bit of fear that probably she herself was unaware of. She's definitely scared. No matter how confident she sounds, it's always scary to enter into the castle of your enemy all alone, even if the enemy is just for namesake.

Feeling uncomfortable at Abir's constant stare at her Mishti lowers her eyes. God knows what's going on in this weird man's mind. But Abir's lips curve upward into a soft smile. In this one moment he wants to protect her.

Her strength.

Confidence.

Bravery.

Her scars.

Heartbreaks.

Pain.

So Abir makes a decision in his mind. A safe space is all they both need and he will give her that. So he gently smiles again and this time it comes from the almost forgotten corners of his heart.

Is he too far gone already?

Suddenly Mishti feels the care and tenderness of his gaze in the otherwise tense environment. Slowly she looks at him, smiles and stands up.

"I'm sure you've gathered enough information to implement whatever your plans are. But make sure you don't play the wrong move with me. You don't know..."

"I've known you well enough to play safe, Miss Agarwal. You just make sure that by the end of this, you know Abir Rajvansh so well that you can clear people's misconceptions on me."

Mishti stares at Abir in astonishment. All her words, logic and reasoning seem to have been lost and she just tries to make out what he exactly means.

This time Abir grins.

"Thank you, Miss Agarwal. Whatever plans we have, I'm sure we'll have a memorable time during your tenure. Welcome to the estate of the Rajvanshs. Looking forward to working with you."

"Same here, Mr. Rajvansh. I hope whatever expectations I'm having won't be in vain."

Mishti leaves the room. Even though she nearly lost the battle of words, her last stroke is a well-chosen one to balance the fight. And Abir is sure now, years after Kuhu, finally someone has managed to catch his attention so profoundly. It's just that, this story, if it begins, is almost sure to go wrong!

Mishti Agarwal is not someone to be played around with.

And his heart responding to her is a wrong choice. He trying to find himself in her eyes is a wrong choice.

Allowing his heart to fool around should be beyond his agenda right now.

Mishti Agarwal is not a rebound, not a rivalry, not a game.

She's a responsibility, given to Abir by her father.

Abir shuts the door with force after Mishti, and thus the already closed door of his heart was sealed, with the weak lock of self-proclaimed hatred.

As the sound of the door shutting behind her jerks every single cell inside Mishti, she almost runs to her cabin without turning her head to anyone. She clearly hears Kunal calling her but she is in no mood to talk to anyone. The very first encounter with the man she has been curious about all her life, finally - finally Mishti Agarwal met Abir Rajvansh - the one who is as ruined as she is, the one who is also a victim of some illogical egoistic decisions of a businessman, the one who won over her just by one smile.

This is wrong.

Sitting at her desk, Mishti recalls each moment of her meeting with Abir. Even if you're weak, you're not supposed to show this to others. And that's exactly how Mishti has been living her life all along. But today, for the first time after a long period, Mishti feels weak in front of a man, a damaged man who is hiding his real self behind a mask so perfectly anyone can be fooled. But not Mishti. She has faced every kind of person in life and Abir Rajvansh is no different than a common man with a past who has learned to live with it. Yet Mishti is weak today.

He is so similar to her that she feels exposed.

She lost the bet the moment he looked straight into her eyes. There Mishti knew this man had the ability to read her inside out if he wished to do so at that moment. But he didn't.

Well played, Abir Rajvansh.

The well known Casanova, the mysteriously gorgeous man who she could have married if her so-called father didn't play his nasty games. The dangerously charming businessman - Abir Rajvansh is all over Mishti's thoughts. And she knows it well, to an extent she too has an impact on him. Looking at her job offer letter Mishti wonders, what must he be thinking right now? What can be his motive? Why is he spying on her? After all, hardly anyone knows that Mishti is in Rajkot, not even Vishambhar Maheshwari. Is it revenge that attracts Abir towards her? Or is she already falling prey to him?

Because what she feels is something so strange that she can't quite comprehend.

As if something has changed the moment she laid her eyes on him.

And change is scary.

Whatever it is, not taking a moment to appreciate the charm of the man will be a disgrace.

Taking a deep breath Mishti makes an attempt to settle down her thoughts. It's all in vain. No one can take her mind away from Abir's thoughts today. Mishti can feel her heartbeats. Now it's no longer a game of bygones, Abir is not a threat. He cannot be.

Something has changed.

But she has to stop the play her heart is about to step into. The reason of her presence in Rajkot is larger than these stupid games of heart. Love, bonds and family are the most stupid trench one can fall into and at the end it takes you nowhere. And Mishti has no need for such petty things for entertainment in life. She already has it enough.

The unpredictability of Abir Rajvansh has already altered her planned moves. She can't afford anymore change in the dynamics.

She won't let him.

Taking out her laptop Mishti checks the updates about Nishant Singhaniya and Vishambhar Maheshwari. Vishambhar has surprisingly backed off from his business and is totally inactive for three months now. Who knows, he might have finally got back his senses and repenting in a corner of his big but empty house. Meanwhile Nishant is pretty active, three more new investments in his name are recorded in the last three days.

Mishti's eyes almost pop out as she reads the new headlines.

"Rajvansh Wellness to buy 51% share of Maheshwari & Co."

Mishti trembles in shock. What exactly does Abir Rajvansh intend to do? First, he allows Mishti in his office, that too, in such a position where Mishti has power almost equal to him and now he owns the Maheshwaris & Co.! Few moments ago he was sitting with her with a stupid smile and now he literally robbed her father.

Unpredictable.

Although Mishti is not even a bit sad with Abir owning Maheshwaris & Co, what looks unusual is Vishambhar's agreement to this deal. Is he really so guilty that he is giving his everything to the Rajvanshs or is it something else?

And this is when Mishti realises she has signed up for an unpredictable journey that might turn her world upside down.

Has Vishambhar met Abir? Has he told Abir everything that happened in Canada?

She can already feel the excitement of the ride she has stepped into. Somehow she can see the life-changing turns it might take. She has to prepare herself for anything and everything. This is not a business rivalry, this game involves her heart too. The only fear is it might turn out to be worse than her past in the end.

And never in her life she has felt scared for her heart more.