Khushi
shut Nihaal's laptop from behind with a bang..
"Enough!!
I am sick of this! And you said you'd have time for ME this month!"
Nihaal
gave her a smile as he shook his head..
"Lattu..I AM here for you! But this M.D. business... Just keeps coming in between you
know..anyway, you better get used to this, your future husband is a
worse workaholic"
"oh
don't even talk about him! At least the breaks you take from work are
fun! I think he spends his free time in shouting rehearsals..di isn't
very ecstatic about his lifestyle either.."
"haha..by
the way Lattu...this Anjali, she is married?"
"waaaiii?"
Khushi dragged the question with raised eyebrows..
"nothing
just asking.."
Khushi
gave him a brief regarding Anjali's past, she didn't know much
herself for that matter, when Payal came inside bookmarking a novel
with her fingers..
"Nihaal!
Khushi! Dinner. And I am not dragging anyone downstairs. Don't come
and have growling stomachs in the night for all I care!"
Nihaal
grinned..
"Hey
booky! It was a pleasure meeting your fire extinguisher today..right
Lattu?"
"oh
absolutely!" Khushi winked back..
"what
do you mean by MY fire extinguisher???"
"oh,
I am so sorry, did I say YOUR fire extinguisher? I never meant to say
YOUR fire extinguisher! Why will I call him YOUR fire extinguisher
after all? He is not YOUR-"
Khushi
was doubling with laughter now...
Payal
slammed her book on the table...
"As
if one was not enough another comes all the way from United States to
eat my brain out!!!!"
she
stormed out of the room, coloured up, as Nihaal and Khushi exchanged
high fives still laughing..
"JIJI
DON'T GET MAD AT US..WE NEVER MEANT TO SAY 'YOUR' FIR-" Khushi
shouted from behind..
"WILL
YOU TWO JUST SHUT UP??!!"
Arnav
tilted his head on the chair back as he finally signed the last file
from among the huge pile on the table..it had been a long tiring
day..for that matter, all his days were long tiring ones..
suddenly
a thought occurred in his mind as he took his cell out and ran
through the directory stopping at- Khushi IT..
he
kept staring at the phone for a while before pressing the edit button
and removing the IT from the name...though he didn't switch it to Khushi
BW(Business Weekly) either..
just
Khushi..
or
should he make it Khushi Kumari Gupta?
Khushi Asst. Editor?
Was
it too informal?
Too
'fiance-ish'?
Hell!
Why would it be too 'fiance-ish'?? he wasn't putting honey or darling
or anything!!
...how
would that look by the way?
ENOUGH!
Perhaps he really needed some rest..
Forget
it! Just Khushi..
Khushi's
phone buzzed beside her as she, still immersed in work picked it up..
cement
pile calling..
"hello"
"where
are you?"
"what?"
"where.are.you?"
"at
work"
"stay
there. I am coming to pick you up"
"what?why?"
"we
are leaving for RM"
"what?why?"
"di
has called us immediately"
"what?why?"
silence..
"hello?
Mr Raizada??? you there?"
"what?why??"
Khushi
got his point...
"ohkaay..ohkaay..why
is di calling us?"
"to
choose the engagement rings"
"what?-"
"don't
you dare say why!"
"why?"
Arnav
rolled his eyes in exasperation..
"because
the rest of the world thinks we are gonna get engaged this weekend.
And in case you are not aware , couples are supposed to exchange
rings on their engagement"
"okay..so
you are calling me to say that I am supposed to choose rings at your
house for this not-gonna-happen engagement"
"di.
Not me. Di is calling to say that WE are supposed to finalize the
rings"
"hm..fine
then..i'll wait for you"
"fine-"
"Mr
Raizada!" she spoke just as he was about to disconnect..
"what?"
"how
are we ever going to break up?"
silence..
she
sighed.. "anyway, I was just thinking about something a while
before"
"Khushi
I am busy.later"
"see!
That's it! You don't call me Ms Gupta! Then why should I call you Mr
Raizada??"
"i
never told you to. And you don't"
"what?
Of course I do!"
"yeah
right. In front of my face"
she
bit her lip as she smiled mischievously..of course he knew of the
cement pile reference...
"um..er..well,
anyway, I thought of calling you Arnav ji , but then you don't call
me Khushi ji, so.."
"you
decide. I am busy. And I am disconnecting"
"Arnav-"
she spoke and suddenly went silent...
he,
who was just about to disconnect , somewhat froze at the mention of
his name from her..
there
was a weird silence..for some reason, it felt too informal, nobody,
NOBODY called him ever by his first name. At home it was chotte or
bhai, at work sir or ASR, and behind his back a dozen different names
people had kept for him ' hitler, benito mussolini, dracula, and
yes...cement pile..
Khushi,
herself felt a weird feeling, as she spoke it..like, too
informal...as if, as if he was her...fiance..
"i
will..i will wait..Mr..Mr Raizada.."
silence..
"fine"
Khushi
fastened her seatbelt as Arnav started the car..
as
expected, there could just be a three second silence in the car
before Khushi started off..
"you
didn't ask me how my first day was? You know what? It was
great! better than I had expected actually, though it was hectic,but
you can't expect everything to be a bed of roses right? So I went
there in the morning and-"
Arnav
drew in a deep breath and braced himself to hear her entire day's happenings..
for
frankly, Khushi was not giving him an option..
"And
you know what? The entire office was staring at me when I
entered..because of that newspaper and news thing you know, not that
I blame them, I would have done a bit of staring myself in their
place-"
Arnav
had busied himself with thinking about Singhania files...
"but
this one woman was total OMG!! Like seriously! She was staring and
staring and I was like will she ever stop? But no! She kept on and on
and...Mr Raizada?"
silence..
"are
you even listening to what I am saying?"
silence...
"Cement
Pile!!"
silence..
this
made Khushi sure that her entire talking had grabbed the audience of
only the windscreen..
"MR
RAIZADA!!!!!" she clapped her hands in front of his face..
"WHAT
THE!" Arnav shouted as they just missed banging straight into
another car..
he
furiously turned to her..
"ARE
YOU CRAZY? WHAT AM I SAYING! YOU ARE
CRAZY!! WHY ARE YOU SO HELL BENT ON CREATING AN ACCIDENT EVERY DAMN
TIME YOU SIT IN THE CAR!!"
silence..
"what
should I do if you don't see and drive.."
Arnav
shut his eyes for a moment and continuously chanting the mantra of
control.control.control. Restarted the car...
there
was complete silence for another five seconds...and then..
"so
I was saying this woman was total OMG! You know, kept staring on and
on so I just started staring back her, and then I wouldn't stop, and
she got so freaked out she got up and left the place-"
control.control.control...
"hello?"
"hello
Payal? Aakash here.."
"oh..hi.."
"hi.."
"what
were you reading?"
"how
did you know I was reading?"
"oh
like always, just a guess"
"i
see.."
"di
just wanted to know if you could squeeze out some time to drop in here
today for a while.."
"really?
Why?"
"oh
the engagement is this Sunday and you know, jewelry and all have to
be finalized..di is the only girl at our house, she could do with
some help in deciding.."
"oh
I would love to"
"great!
Then i'll pick you up"
"oh
you don't nee-"
"Payal
please. I am on my way home as it is..you just be ready.."
"ok..by
the way Aakash.."
"yes?"
"did
you finish with the novel?"
"novel?"
"you
were reading Atlas Shrugged right?"
"oh..oh
yes..the novel..right.."
"you
have started it haven't you?"
"of
course I have.."
today
he would definitely start it..note to self..Aakash Singh Raizada.
The
jeweler vehemently opened set after set before them..
"I
hate deciding.." Khushi grumbled as she blinked one by one at each
of the jewelry set and rings before her.. "i abhor deciding..."
This
is the way she had been..since childhood, of all the things Khushi
Kumari Gupta found difficult, taking decisions on careful thinking
was one of them, I repeat, on careful thinking, because if she were
to take instant decisions, they usually got turned into a crazy mess,
ample proof of which has been given in previous parts...her birthday
candles at the age of 7 had been blown out by Payal since Khushi had
kept on wondering what to ask for..
and
right now, Khushi Kumari Gupta was doing careful thinking..
that
is ,no decision had been taken as yet..
Arnav,
who had cast one look upon the pieces before him, which was enough to
take a decision, his own ring thus being finalized and kept aside
long ago, shook his head in exasperation looking at her as he
descended down the stairs, tapping away on his blackberry
Khushi
had the expression of a five year old being explained integral
calculus..staring at one ring, frowning at it, placing it back,
picking up another, twisting it around, then comparing it one more,
then placing both back on the table, picking a third and so on...
She
turned her head to her right as she felt someone sitting beside her
suddenly...
Arnav
still had his eyes on the text he was typing out on his blackberry as
he said-
"that's
the 5th
time you are picking that set"
Khushi
bit her lip..
"just
stop it !"
"what?"
"biting
your lip"
"again!
What is YOUR problem??" she was indeed in a touchy mood..
Arnav
extended his hand and placed the blackberry on the table..then eyed
all the rings in one go...
he
reached out and picked one..
"take
this"
Khushi
furrowed her brows..
"what?"
"since
you have decided to spend time till sunday on this sofa trying to
decide on one damn ring you don't even intend to wear, I am saving
you the trouble. Take this"
Khushi
eyed the ring he extended to her..it was indeed pretty, simple yet
elegant, just the way she liked it, a sparkling diamond settled in a
golden crown, placed on a smooth sleek golden band..
why
hadn't she thought of it before..
she
took it from his hand and smiled.. the spark of the carefully crafted
diamond shone on her face..
she
looked...wow...the light dancing away on her milky complexion, the
soft smile dazzling on her face,,
evolution
in its own way, re commenced in his stomach, not tiny thick files
anymore, the file size as well as thickness seemed to have
increased..
he
himself never realized when a slow smirk ruled over his face, eyes as
if fixed to her smile..
Anjali,
who was sitting at a distance, along with Payal finalizing other
accessories, nudged her in the elbow as both raised their eyes at the
sight before them..
then
looked at each other and giggled..
"ahem..ahem.."
Anjali cleared her throat..
no
difference..
"AHEM..AHEM.."
the volume increased..
and
suddenly, the room was very hot (yes, the AC was on alright..), the
work was too much, Aman might have called from office, he had just
left a file upstairs..
every
lame excuse was available to Mr Arnav Singh Raizada as he suddenly
sprang up from the sofa and rushed up the stairs..
control.control.control
had just taken all new dimensions as he did a marathon yet again from
door to pool to bed to door to pool to bed to door...and so on..
Khushi
eyed him confused as he hurried up the stairs..this cement pile was
so unpredictable, anyway, at least the ring had been finalized! The
ring..she wondered..would she even be wearing it?? was this
engagement even happening! Just two days more..to act..which for
some reason, they weren't..
Her
phone buzzed beside her and she picked it up..
"hello
Lattu! Where are you?"
"your
conference is over?"
"yups!
On way to home, And now we can practice the 'sliding down the living
room stairs bannister without falling' without any disturbance"
Khushi
grinned..
"Ma
has threatened me thrice that she will kill us if we even think about it.
But she is off to Mithali aunty's place today so no worries ,but i am
currently at Raizada Mansion"
"what?
There? Ok, I will pick you up.."
"you
will? Oh great!"
"seeya
then.."
"who
was it Khushi?" anjali asked as she ran her fingers over a set..
"oh
my great cousin. It was bhai..he's coming to pick us up.."
"oh"
Anjali replied and as she turned around, involuntarily, she smiled...
Arnav
descended down the stairs once again after some time..
after
his control.control.control mission had finally been successful and
Singhania files had got his signature on them..
but
sometimes things are just hopelessly against you..
Anjali
was now making Khushi try out the various sets before them..
the
necklace stuck in her hair band and khushi excused for a moment and
slid the band down her hair as it fell beautifully across her
shoulders..
she
giggled and slightly blushed as Anjali complimented on how
beautifully diamond complimented her looks...
not
working. Just not working.
Back
in room..
marathon
begins. control.control.control ' from door to pool to door to bed
to pool to door...
good
luck Mr Raizada..
have
you thought anything about the breakup? It's this Sunday you know!
Better hurry up...that is, if you want to..you want to right??
right??...
we
wonder..
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They can think about any thing but Break UP ...
ReplyDeleteNihaal is the perfect guy for Anjali..