Khushi
could put Rudolf the red nosed reindeer to shame by now..
"your..your
handkerchief is ruined..i..am...afraid"
Arnav
was not looking at the handkerchief..but at her face..which was ruined in the
most adorable fashion..
"i
can see that" he replied..
"sniff
* "i just got a little emotional..anyway, since you have taken responsibility of thinking on your head..please think of something
soon..it is becoming very difficult for me now"
"i
am not dancing over the mess. And stop reminding me"
silence...
"it's
easy for you. You can say 'dammit!" and everybody shuts up..i have
to deal with a mother who is mad at me, a relationship
which doesn't exist, and a workplace where people are staring at me
as if I have 5 eyes or something"
silence..
"you
can work for AR"
"what?Work
for AR?"
"you
said you were interested in a corporate job right? Media specialist?"
"yes..i
would love to..but..i already have a job-"
"where
people stare at you as if you have 5 eyes"
"as
if at AR they wouldn't stare as if I have 10"
"AR
has busy people working"
"you
mean we swat flies at our place?"
"your
wish. You're home"
"oh
ya.. do think of something soon"
she
got out of the car, then tapped at the window..
he
slid it down..now what..
"i
could wash and return it to you, but I wonder if you would-"
he
slid the glass up once again without a word..
the
car drove away..
Khushi
turned to leave holding the sorry state of a handkerchief in her hand..
wow!
Media specialist? But no way would she work for AR...not in the
present circumstances at least..and forget even after that!!!
Khushi
cautiously pushed open the door to Rohan Malhotra's office..
"sir
you called?"
"Ah
Khushi! Pray have a seat.." he motioned...
After
the news of their link up Rohan had become particularly polite and
chivalrous in his attitude towards Khushi..she wondered why..she knew
the man too well to attribute it to a sudden shake of conscience..
"um,,well,
congratulations!"
"congratulations?"
"oh
come on...do I need to explain?"
Khushi
got his point..
"thank
you sir"
"you
have been working here since days right Khushi.."
uh
oh..this was trouble calling..
"right
sir.."
"and
what a pity we get to know this in such a formal way"
Khushi
was beginning to feel tested..she smiled a formal smile..
Rohan
interlocked his fingers on the desk..
"look
Khushi..we're really lucky you are working with us..we all are like
family..i don't think it would be too much to ask you to share a
little on-"
"on?"
Khushi darted her eyes at him..
"no
I mean..there's not much people know of Arnav Singh Raizada beyond
his image of a tycoon, and it' not like they wouldn't want to-"
"are
you telling me to disclose details of my personal life to your
newspaper to grab eyeballs?"
"you
are taking it the wrong way"
"no
I am not! I am in the business reporting department sir. And I wish
to keep my personal life out of my professional one"
"come
on Khushi! I am just talking of an interview or two..about how your
relationship grew..ASR's likes, dislikes, perhaps you could dig out
some of his venture details from him for us, and of course you must
have been to RM by now..something on his personal life-"
"That's
it!" Khushi got up from her chair..
"I
quit!"
"Khushi
you are getting me wrong"
"no
I am not. It is so disappointing that you are actually insisting on
something as low...i am sorry I cannot co-operate. And I have not
forgotten the fact that my own newspaper published some very rotten
made up stuff on our relationship just two days before on which I
have remained silent. But this is too much..and therefore, I
quit"
and
so Khushi Kumari Gupta changed her status to 'committed and
unemployed'...unemployed because of commitment...
Payal
was in the washroom and her mobile had been ringing since long..
Khushi
picked it up..
"hello?"
"hello..hi..it's
Aakash.."
Khushi
widened her eyes and bit her lower lip in mischief..
"Khushi
who's it?" Payal called from behind the door..
"oh
just someone having to do something with putting out fires!" Khushi
replied then got back to the phone..
"i
am sorry if you are disappointed but it's actually her sister
speaking.."
Aakash
flustered..
"oh
no..i mean..pleasure.."
"oh
the pleasue's mine.."
"missed
your article in the newspaper I must say.."
"well,
that's because I am jobless"
"what?
You? I mean why?"
"tiff
with the boss. I quit"
"someone
as talented as you..it's a loss for IT I must say"
"oh
I am humbled"
"by
the way, are you interested in a corp job?..AR would love to have
you as-"
"oh
thank you so much...your brother did put forth the proposal..but I can't
possibly accept it you know..considering the news doing the rounds..it
would look as if I am taking undue advantage of the link up..i am
considering offers,i am sure something will come up soon..thank you
so much by the way.."
"as
you wish..but as an offer from the AR's Assistant MD, I hope you
re-consider...these people will always talk no matter what..but I
respect your decision"
"thank
you so much. And since my sister is out...which by the way, she is
TOO soon-"
"KHUSHI
SHUT UP!" Payal snatched the phone from her hands..
"Aakash
has the Mittal deal been finalised?" Arnav skimmed through the
pages of Indian Times..her articles came today..where was it??
"you
searching for something bhai?"
"no
nothn'"
"i
really missed Khushi's article in the paper today..you know, her
special friday column? What a pity she quit"
This
was news for Arnav..
"what?"
he turned to face his brother..
"hm..she
didn't tell you? I spoke to her today..tiff with the editor in chief
or something..i put an offer before her..you know, she's awesomely
talented..but she declined..she's considering other ones though..i
respect her decision.."
Arnav
picked out the most pertinent point in Aakash's speech..
"she
turned down an AR offer?" (again? Went in his mind..)
"well...yes
bhai..can't blame her though. She holds her self esteem high, and
talks are bound to do rounds if she gets a decent job out here..her
own talent would get overshadowed by the link up thing...people would
draw conclusions..by the way the Mittal deal is-"
Arnav
had stopped listening,,
cement
pile calling...
"hello?"
"you're
at home?"
"um..yes.."
(as if she had an option! Oh, the woes of unemployment..)
"be
there. I am coming"
"WHAT?
I mean why? Don't you have work to do?"
ouch.
You didn't say such things to THE Arnav Singh Raizada...Arnav fumed..
"i
am not coming there to discuss the morning weather with you Khushi
Kumari Gupta"
"can't
we meet somewhere else?"
"if
you want to be in tomorrow's newspaper too, so be it-"
"oh
no! ok..i mean..what is it about? You've come up with some plan or
something?"
"if
it could be discussed on the phone I would have spared myself the
trouble.stay at home"
call
disconnected..
"you
are leaving?" Khushi eyed a Payal who was checking out herself in
the mirror, car keys in hand..
"yes
khushi..got to return these books back to the library today. I am
already 2 days late"
"oh..kay"
"maa
is coming back from Kolkata today remember?"
"yes.
And I am going to be blasted. When's she reaching?"
"evening.
I'll pick her up"
"okay
then!"
home
alone with cement pile? Oh no...
Arnav's
SUV stopped to a halt...needless to say several windows around were
thrown open as curious eyes popped through them to get their daily
dose of spice...and to experience the thrill of being an eye witness
to a possible page 3 news..
The
door opened before he rung the bell..which naturally freaked him
out..
Khushi
gave a 32 out grin to him..
"haha..surprise!!!
shocked at how I opened the door before you rung the bell? I LOVE doing
that..it freaks people out like hell. You should have seen how the
milkman reacted to it this morning. Stood looking like I am out of
'Haunted' or something..can you believe that? All credit goes to my
kitchen window. I can see the visitor way long before he/she actually
ring the bell. And before they ring ta-da! The door's opened. Once someone even asked how I do it? I said it's intuition , 6th
sense you know,and OMG you should have seen his face-"
"can
I come in?" Arnav, who had been listening to her non-stop rant ,
now slightly resting on the wall near the door on the outside finally
spoke at length in his cool rigid tone..
Khushi
coloured..
"oh
of course, I completely forgot.."
she
moved sideways to let him in..
it
was then he actually looked at her state- hair tied into a bun, an
apron with weird stains on it and a ladle in her left hand with a
saucy paste stuck to it..how could someone look so irresistibly
adorable in such a mess?
Khushi
saw him and smiled..
"oh..i
was deciding to make pasta since long..and well your coming became an
excuse..as it is, if you have come to know, I am currently
jobless..but I don't think it's coming out the way I wanted too..it
said put the sauce in the pasta..but I think it should be put the
pasta in the sauce..but still, I guess it could qualify as edible-"
"if
you've finished with the pasta, I guess we could move on to dessert"
Khushi
sensed the sarcasm in his voice..
"i
was coming to that. What did you wish to talk about?"
"keep
the ladle away first"
"i
was DOING that! Why do you correct me so much?"
Arnav
moved to the sofa before khushi interrupted-
"can
you wait for ten minutes..else the pasta will be ruined"
"i
have not come here to eat pasta"
"but
I have spent good time preparing it, and it's a matter of 10 minutes
now! so I can't just ruin it.don't eat.i will"
"i
don't have all the time in the world Khushi kumari gupta"
"was
that a sarcasm since I am jobless?"
"it
would have come even if you had one"
Khushi
had started moving into the kitchen and was back to stirring her
pasta..Arnav stormed into the kitchen and took the ladle away from
her hands..
"I
SAID. YOUR PASTA .CAN WAIT!"
"You
flew it away?"
"out!now!"he
barked
"i
am not coming out till you apologize"
"Khushi
kuma-" he started and then broke off..
"OH
SHIT! KHUSHI STAND STILL! DON'T MOVE K?"
"Wh-"
"JUS
SHUT UP AND STAND STILL, DON'T RUN!"
"Are
you crazy Mr Raizada? Why would I run? If you think i'll get scared
and run-"
she
stopped as she saw what he was up to..Arnav was filled one of the
large utensils with water..she could smell something burning..then
looked at the end of her dupatta..whose corner had caught fire
courtesy her leaning over the stove..
and
the next thing she knew..she had been bathed head to toe in water...
they
stood breathing deep breaths for a long while,,staring at each
other...then Arnav broke loose and was jerking her the next instant
"ARE
YOU MAD? CRAZY?? IDIOT!! WHAT IF I WASN'T HERE RIGHT NOW? WHAT IF THE
FIRE GREW? WHAT IF YOU GOT BURNT?? WHAT WOULD I DO?"
silence..
"say
the marriage is off because your fiance had heavenly plans? It was
just 1centimeter square of cloth.what's over you?"
what's
over me? Should have been a more appropriate question considering she
was trying to decipher the actual cause of her shivering..just the
water?
I love Payal ..she leaves for Library..or to meet Akash..whatever..
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