"Hi ASR, I'm Sheetal" Dressed in an off shoulder black dress which ended a little before her knees, Sheetal introduced herself.
"Hello, Miss Sheetal. Please have a seat" Arnav said in a business like tone as he continued going through the resume of the girl.
"Akash told me that you need this job due to some financial problems in your house? Am I right?" Arnav asked.
"Yes. Actually, my father..." She started.
"It's okay, Miss Sheetal. We don't need the details. Did Akash tell you that the post you're applying for is of my PA?" Arnav asked as he scrutinized the candidate.
"Yeah, he did tell me" Sheetal replied with a smile, staring unabashedly and ogling the lips of the delectable man sitting before her as he talked.
"Then, why have you attached your modelling portfolio in the resume? And I see you have no experience of working as a PA" Arnav said, not failing to notice the way she was looking at him. Irritation perched on his shoulders.
"Come on, ASR. I think there is no difference between a model's job and a PA's job" Sheetal replied, creating a sitting posture which made her feminine assets easily available to his eyes.
"Both require working to the satisfaction of our boss. Do EVERYTHING we can to please them? Isn't it?" She said, trying to sound seductive.
In return to her question Arnav got up from his chair and walked to her with a slow smile appearing at the corner of his lips.
"Exactly, Miss Sheetal. So may I know HOW do you intend to please your would be boss?" Arnav asked in his own husky voice as he placed his hand on her shoulder, gently squeezing it.
"In any way you like, ASR" Sheetal couldn't believe it was so easy to influence the mighty ASR and get him under her charms. Mentally patting herself for the achievement, she got up from the chair and coming to stand face to face, she placed both her hands on either side of his shoulder.
"So, here? At your place? Or mine?" Bringing her face closer to his, she whispered near his ears, her hands now sliding down from his shoulder to his waist.
"OUT..!" Arnav said in a slow menacing voice, daggers shooting from his eyes as he caught hold of her fingers before they could reach the end of his abdomen.
"What?" Sheetal blinked, taken aback by the sudden change in his voice and body language.
"Get out before I generously let my guards help you" Arnav said, now jerking her hands off his shoulders.
"But, ASR, what happened? Give me one chance. I can please you like no other woman can" Sheetal tried a last shot, hoping he might catch it.
In the meantime Arnav walked to his table and grabbing the intercom from his desk, screamed into it,
"In my cabin, NOW! Here is a pile of rubbish to be thrown out" finishing he turned back to face Sheetal, and time ceased to run for him.
Standing next to the obnoxious Sheetal was a girl as beautiful as Aphrodite, but looking a lot simpler, a lot more human, yet a lot more divine.
Dressed in a full sleeved peach coloured Anarkali suit, she was flashing the most innocent smile one could ever see. But in a matter of seconds, the smile vanished to be replaced by confusion.
"Sheetal? Is everything fine?" She asked in a voice sweeter than tinkling of silver bells. And hearing her voice, Arnav leaped out of his semi-tranced state.
"Miss Sheetal is more than fine" He replied for her, wanting to get the attention of the lady to himself.
And as he wished, the girl's gaze did travel in his direction, and she seemed perplexed for a second.
"Oh. I am very sorry, Mr. Raizada. I know I shouldn't have entered in here without knocking but it was urgent. Can you please excuse Sheetal for a minute? I know the interview is still on but..." The girl kept to her rambling self and Arnav wondered if she had a Play/Pause button or not.
"Khushi, stop" She was interrupted by Sheetal.
"Who asked you to come in? Hadn't I told you to wait outside? Can you for once stop poking your nose in my business?" Sheetal hissed in anger while Arnav was trying to understand the situation.
"I.." Khushi looked embarrassed and tried to reason but Sheetal was hardly listening.
"Get out.. ASR and I..."
"are done talking" Arnav completed, deciding he had witnessed enough.
"Oh, great. I thought I disturbed" Khushi, coming back to her cheering self, said to no one in particular and further continued to Sheetal, "Actually you had left your phone with me and it's been ringing since past 15 minutes. Over that I am getting late for my college. Here, have your phone. I got to go".
She finished and then turned to Arnav.
"I am once again sorry for the interruption, Mr. Raizada" She finished and briskly walked to the cabin door, when two strongly built guards entered in, caught her by the arms and started to drag her out.
"Hey" After a second of shock, Khushi started wriggling to get out of their hands.
"LEAVE HER..!" Arnav shouted.
Both the guards instantly let go of her hands and went rigid seeing the look on his face.
"But Sir...you said here was a pile of rubbish to be thrown out" One of the guards said in a small voice, trying to defend himself.
Arnav felt like pulling at his hair. What the hell was happening?
"I am so going to murder you Akash. What a nuisance...!" He thought.
"Throw THAT girl out, not her" Arnav said pointing his finger towards Sheetal.
"What? ASR..? You can't be serious. We can discuss" Sheetal as if out of the trance sprang back into the action of defending herself.
"Take her out of this room" Arnav stated and both the guards moved towards Sheetal.
"Stay there, you two. Don't dare to touch me. I am leaving. And ASR, you are surely going to regret this" She said and stormed out of the room.
Following Sheetal, both the guards too exited the cabin leaving Khushi and Arnav standing alone.
"I am Sorry about the guards, Miss Khushi" Even in the bedlam, Arnav hadn't missed registering her name.
"You should be sorry, Mr. Raizada. After all I damn late for the college, all because of the little play enacted here" She replied as Arnav mesmerizingly watched the change of colours on her face.
"Someone has rightly said, anger adds to the beauty" He said to himself. And a second later realized that she was actually blaming him for her getting late.
"I don't think they teach the entire syllabus in one day? Or do they, Miss Khushi? And if I am not mistaken, it's evening. And as far as I know, most of the colleges usually run in the morning hours" He couldn't believe he was actually letting the fact pass that she blamed him.
"Thank you very much Mr. Raizada for reminding me it's evening time. I was just rushing to get my toothpaste and brush my teeth" She replied in a terse voice.
"Sarcasm? I like it" Arnav told himself with a smirk returning to his face.
"Miss Khushi, Don't you think we should settle down? I tell you, these chairs are really comfortable" He said gesturing towards the chair, trying to steer the conversation in altogether different direction, so he could know her better and get to spend a little more time with this endearing woman.
"No, thank you. I should get going. In case I am fortunate enough I'd at least manage to be on time for the last interview of the evening"
"Interview?" Arnav's ears perked, and he couldn't help but ask.
"Yeah. Today is the day of campus placement in my college. And all credit to Sheetal, I am stuck here" She sighed.
"In that case Miss Khushi, I really think you should have a seat. Maybe I can help you" Arnav replied, hopes starting to dance in his eyes.
"And how exactly are you planning to help me? By calling your guards and asking them to escort me out just the way you did to Sheetal?"
"We should really sit and discuss" Arnav said, walking towards his chair, now creating an air of seriousness around himself.
"Okay" Khushi gave in as her legs had already started to ache.
"So, first of all, Miss Khushi, I would want to know, how are you related to Sheetal?"
"Oh, Sheetal? We are family. She is the niece of my aunt's younger brother. No, wait. Niece of my aunt's younger brother's wife. And she is my class-mate too" Khushi explained while Arnav unsuccessfully tried to calculate her direct link to Sheetal.
"And today when we had to head for the college placement, she told me that she has this important interview with ARs before we go to college. And although I was not willing to join her, she literally forced me to come with her for god knows what reason. And when we reached here, she was still not done. She asked me to wait for her in the lounge leaving her cell phone with me and like her, her cell phone too is quite rebellious. It started to ring and I decided I should hand it over to her, plus I too was getting late for my college and rest you know. I missed my interview" Khushi kept on explaining, while Arnav was occupied with examining her expressions, the way her eyebrows furrowed and elevated, the way she blinked, the way she talked. And then he realized she has finished talking and was waiting for a response from him.
"Quite a tragedy, I must say" He answered trying to look sympathetic.
"Absolutely" She said, blowing her nose in a handkerchief and making Arnav gawk at her in surprise.
"Now my last question. Why didn't Sheetal apply for the campus placement? I mean if you two are in same college, she too could have applied there" Arnav asked.
"Yeah she could've if only her grades weren't that poor. Plus she isn't interested in small jobs. Modelling is what she aspires for. There is a lot of money in it, and she has high aspirations"
"Hmm. That explains a lot" Arnav said to himself.
"If you don't mind, may I ask something? Khushi said hesitatingly making his attention wander back to her.
"Yeah, go on"
"Why did you ask those guards to throw Sheetal out?" She asked, partially wondering if he would even answer or not.
"Oh that. She wanted to sleep with me"
"WHAAT?" Khushi couldn't believe the words she heard. The part which surprised her was not that Sheetal tried to do such a thing, but the fact that how simply he told it to her without trying to skirt around it.
"You seem surprised. It's not a rare thing in the business we work in. But, as a PA, she should have behaved better. Besides, I have become used to girls doing this. At this point, it's not even complimenting. It's just plain annoying" Arnav continued, not sure why he was sharing so much. Yes, the girl is beautiful, but he normally doesn't start opening up so fast. Get a grip, Raizada.
Khushi, on the other hand, nodded stiffly as she didn't know what to say to that.
So, instead she asked, "You had said you can help me".
"Yeah. As according to you, you got late because of me and missed your interview, So, I offer you the job of my PA" Arnav replied, clearing his mind of the thoughts, and he looked closely at her face, searching for any indication what she thought of the quick appointment.
"No no. I got late because of Sheetal. That's not your mistake, Mr. Raizada" She hurriedly replied, not believing he actually took her accusation that seriously.
"Whatever it is! I still offer you the post of my PA. I urgently need one. You seem more qualified for the post than Sheetal" Arnav proposed, hoping she wouldn't deny.
"Ohkay. But you haven't interviewed me yet. Neither you have seen my resume."
"That's not a big deal. As you were already heading for an interview I guess you have your resume with you?" Arnav asked, secretly feeling excited. And confused by his excitement.
"Yeah, in my bag. It's in the lounge" She replied in an unsure voice.
"Okay, get it and submit it to Mr. Aman Mathur and then you can collect your appointment letter from him. And as far as the interview is concerned, you just finished it. You are selected" Arnav finished speaking and found her disbelieving face utterly cute.
CUTE? You're losing it, Arnav.
"You can start from tomorrow. Aman, my manager will fill you in with the details. Right now, I've to leave for a meeting. So, see you tomorrow, Khushi..?" He said, getting up and extending his hand towards her.
"Khushi Kumari Gupta" She replied, standing as well and shaking his hand.
"Nice name, Khushi Kumari Gupta" Arnav said as he tried to ignore the softness of her hands.
"Thank you" She smiled, pulling her hand back, and then she left the room.
__________________
A widow, Gauri met her long lost friend Omkara in a family function, who still ...
Life Journey of two people poles apart in career, status and style. One is the ...
Drabbles for Shrimad Ramayana Contest
Comments (0)
View all