Chapter 15

-Archi-

@-Archi-

Hello

Housekeeping things:

- THANK YOU FOR THE WISHES AND BEING PATIENT! Exams are still going, so I won't be updating regularly yet

- Thank you for all the wonderful comments! I tried to answer as many questions as I could in the post above

- A big welcome to all the new readers!

- Khushi-Garima-Shashi equation: I know many of find it weird that Khushi still loves her Dad, but that is only because she is still stuck in the moment where Garima tried to kill herself. She hasn't moved on from that incident to forgive her mother and find out what really happened. She has literally worshiped Shashi for years, so its going to take a lot for her see his true face (more than the cold shoulder he gave her on her birthday). I answered this better in my comments above!

Silent Whispers

-CHAPTER THIRTEEN-

Unfinished Business

Arnav loved Monday mornings. Contrary to what the rest of his employees thought, the first day of the week always held a promise for success; the feeling was almost intoxicating.

However, he knew his excitement was far from the mindset of a certain someone. Standing in front of him with dark bags under her eyes and a sour expression to match, Khushi looked grumpy to the say the least. It was clear she wasn't a morning person.

Of course, that didn't come as shocker to him.

Despite working with her for only three days now, Arnav knew a surprising amount of details about her; more than she let on, and definitely enough to make her angry if she even guessed how much he penetrated the barricade she put around herself.

Yes, he knew about the barricade; a wall that guarded her at all times, a facade that never slipped. It was evident from the moment he met her on the night of her birthday, when he arrived from a long and tiring trip to London.

It was another thing that his fatigue vanished as soon as he set his eyes on her. In the dim lights of his room in Shantivaan, he was instantly taken by her proud figure and smart mouth. He was smitten by how tall she stood, accusing him of kissing her, and how well she bounced back from the curveball she was hit with.

She was fighter.

And perhaps that's what intrigued him the most about her. With her high ponytails and two-piece suits, she wore a no-nonsense attitude that put even the best of people on their nerves. But that didn't bother him in the slightest.

No, Khushi Kumari Gupta mesmerized him. She was different from all the women he met in his life. She never failed to have a retort ready, even if it was for things where she was clearly wrong. It was almost as if she considered life to be a battleground and he, her enemy.

All these thoughts, however, were strictly guarded inside his mind. He knew it was a privilege to know so much about her, albeit an unintentional one; but, whatever it was, he planned to keep it for as long as he could.

"I take it," he said, breaking the unnatural silence in his cabin. "That nothing I said in the past five minutes has managed to penetrate your eardrums."

She let out an exasperated sigh. "I think it's more of a matter of nothing you said in the last five minutes made sense."

"How so?"

"Well, you basically told me my report sucks. What you conveniently left out was why."

Arnav couldn't help but grin at the comment.

"Thank you for your observation Miss Gupta, but I didn't leave out why. I told you what lacks in the report, which I believe is more than enough reason."

She grumbled in response, causing Arnav to smirk.

He knew she hated being wrong, and more so, being proven wrong by him. And that was precisely what he enjoyed the most in their conversations. He enjoyed seeing the frown on her face every time he brought up her errors, as if she was a sulking five year old. It was almost adorable to watch.

"Well," she said. "I agree my report lacks some things, but at the same time, that doesn't make it wrong."

And here it is again, Arnav thought drily.

Her need to establish her intelligence, her need to prove she was right. It surprised him endlessly to see a girl of just twenty-four driven so hard. What was is that she was seeking? His approval? Her recognition? It all seemed so hazy.

"No, it doesn't," he answered, thoughtfully. "But it doesn't make it the best either."

"Says who?"

"Says the person who signs your pay cheque every month."

She didn't answer, understanding well that he closed the budding argument.

Arnav wasn't the type to establish his superiority. He made that loud and clear the day he took over the company from his late father's advisors, but with her, he felt the need to. She was so stubborn with her ways and ideas that she refused to even consider the thought of being wrong; the thought she could be human and screw up.

And maybe that is why he pushed her so much - to tell her that there were things bigger and better in the world than winning and losing, especially in the career she chose; to make her realize that becoming the best always came with a price; to convince her that sometimes learning from the assistant was much better than following the boss.

Of course it was another thing that his attitude only resulted in verbal spats that so far, thankfully, have not escalated past snarky remarks. At the same time, he couldn't help poking her - which, by the way, was insanely easy for someone so intelligent - because other than the fighting spirit she showed, there was nothing else in her, nothing else that defined her. It was only in these arguments with him that she truly appeared as a person.

"Well it's unfortunate that you choose to play your I'm-the-boss' card to win," she retorted. "But that doesn't make you right."

Arnav was happy to be not surprised. He expected that response from her, and he had his answer ready. "Who said this was even an argument?"

"Everything you tell me is an argument, because you are hell bent on proving me wrong."

A line appeared on his forehead. While Khushi's wit was understandable, her antagonism towards him was just plain confusing. He had no idea if she was faking her anger, like every other emotion she displayed, or she really did hate him for reasons unknown.

"And what," he said finally. "Would I get out of that? If I'm persistent enough to prove you wrong in something that is not even based on right or wrong, then I would be doing nothing but wasting valuable time."

She crossed her arms defiantly. "Then please, do tell what the ulterior motive of pulling mistakes out of everything I do, is?"

"You don't take criticism well, do you?"

She simply stared at him.

"Yeah, you don't," he concluded to himself. "Well let me then clarify that I criticize all my employees' work in the hopes that they take it constructively and improve."

"Or it could also be that you find me to be incompetent and are just looking for excuses to say it to me."

"Then why would I bother reading your report in the first place? Believe it or not, but my time is important."

She didn't answer.

"On a personal note," Arnav continued. "I think it's you who is looking for excuses... excuses to prove your intelligence."

"And why would I look for excuses to prove that? It's obvious."

Arnav couldn't help but snort at her cheekiness. "It might have been, if you weren't trying so hard."

"I'm not-"

"Don't try to fool me birthday girl. What bothers you most is that I don't run on your rules. In fact, I do the exact opposite of what you want or in most cases expect me to do. So, in retaliation, you try to shower me with spite, hoping that I will change my ways to what you say."

She looked at him hard for a minute before saying, "And what Mr. Raizada, is the basis for this new theory of yours?"

"Plain observation," he answered. "The first time we met, you expected me to apologize for the kiss, but I didn't. The second time we met, you expected me to take advantage of the said kiss, but I didn't. The third time we met, you expected me to take back the letter of appointment, but, of course, I didn't. Is that enough, or should I continue? The list really does go on."

"You think that's the problem?!"

"Yes. What else can possibly make you detest me so much?"

Khushi crossed her arms. "Maybe you are attitude of "I'm-the-best"? Or your uncalled show of superiority in every situation? Or the best of all, the misconception that you are correct all that time?"

"Are you sure you are not talking about yourself?"

Her outrage was cut off by sudden shouts reverberating through the room. Alarmed, Arnav quickly got up and walked to his wall-sized window, which held a spectacular view of the entire first floor of his company.

He let out a silent sigh of relief, when he took in the scene in front of him:

A large crowd was assembled around a shy looking boy and a blushing girl, who Arnav recognized as employees from the Marketing Department. He often overheard people gushing over their romance, claiming they were the best couple of AR Designs, putting even some of the married people at shame.

It appeared the rumors were true, for the boy was kneeling down, holding up an engagement ring in proposal. The girl accepted it without a second thought, causing the watching onlookers to whoop in joy.

Arnav couldn't help, but smile. He knew it was one thing to propose, and a whole other to do it front of an audience. It was a job for the brave hearted people.

His thoughts, however, were cut short by Khushi's mutterings:

"So much drama for something so stupid."

He turned around to see Khushi looking down at the couple, an exasperated look on her face.

"Stupid?" he repeated, surprised. "You think an engagement is stupid?"

"No, I think commitments are stupid. The engagement and wedding are just icing on the cake."

Arnav didn't know how to react to her words. "You do realize that your mere existence relies on your parents' commitment towards each other?"

Khushi rolled her eyes. "Let's get your facts right Mr. Raizada. You don't have to be committed to have children."

"You live in a country that idolizes marriage-"

"And so do you, apparently. Besides, just because marriage is promoted as a "good" thing, it doesn't mean it's the right thing."

"And why is that?"

She stared at him incredulously. "Because they are fake. There is no such thing as love, which means the promise of "loving someone for eternity" falls flat on its face. So when the promise of marriage is nothing but a lie, why make it a public display?"

Arnav listened in silence, peeling away the layers of concealment to hear what she really said. "So, you don't believe in love."

"There is nothing to believe."

"Either you are misguided about your understanding of love or you never really have felt it."

"It's neither," she retorted, confidently. "And how can you be so sure it's a real thing and not a fantasy humans cooked up to distract themselves from reality?"

"I have seen it... in my parents, in my siblings."

"And that's the problem with people like you Mr. Raizada. Just because you have been happy a couple of times with these people, you think you love them. But in reality, you are just dependent on them. You have become so attached that you start neglecting yourself and the others around you... and if for some godforsaken reason these "loved ones" decide to leave, you will go crazy."

Arnav stared transfixed, watching her barricade come down in shatters. And as it did, he saw her, the girl he started to get acquainted with last Friday; the girl who was worried about her brother, the girl who didn't believe in parents.

Khushi paused to catch her breath before saying, "So, how is this "love" when you end up putting your needs first, above everything else? Isn't that selfish? Where is the sunshine and happiness everyone promises?"

It took a moment for Arnav to reply. "That is not love, which makes me feel like my former guess is correct - you misunderstood everything."

"Oh really? And what exactly did I misunderstand?"

"Love is a feeling birthday girl, not an attachment. It makes us see the sun on a cloudy day, the light at the end of the tunnel... it makes us human."

She snorted. "And that is worthy of being quoted by poets. But it doesn't disprove my point."

"Does it not? Wasn't it just two days ago that you were telling me how much you care for your brother? Wasn't it for his happiness that you didn't go to Harvard?"

"That was my responsibility. Just like how you feel responsible for your brother and sister."

"Yes, Anjali and Akash are my responsibility, but that doesn't mean I don't love them."

"Then why don't you let Akash follow his dreams?"

"Am I not?" he asked. He then pointed to his chair, and said, "It will take me two seconds to make Akash sit there."

Khushi didn't believe him. "No, you can't! That's-"

"Yes, I can," he said, very calmly. "It's just that I don't. And I never will. I will never force my brother to do anything, because I know how much hurt it will cause him. And that is the only reason why he is in Jaipur right now, learning what makes him happy."

"Good excus-"

"It's not an excuse Khushi, it's what you don't want to accept. Yes, selfishness is not love, but just because it's the only thing you have seen doesn't mean it's the only thing that exists in a relationship."

She stared at him for a brief second, before saying, "And this has what to do with my report?"

And they were back to square one.

Just when they were finally having a real conversation, she had retracted her steps back into her tough shell. It was so typical of her to run at the first sign of trouble, the first sign of losing an argument, that Arnav couldn't even get himself to be mad.

So in answer, all he said was, "Nothing. Here is your report - I want it revised by the end of the day."

Khushi took the file and departed in silence.

Arnav watched her go, her words buzzing through his head like bees circling honey. It was one thing to know that she was moody and stubborn, but it was another thing to see her so pessimistic, about perhaps the most beautiful thing in the world.

And her behavior only confirmed that he was missing something big about her life. There was no other explanation.

Yes, she was ambitious and determined; but it wasn't her dedication towards work that made him question her, it was the lack of dedication towards anything else. He had seen many people in his life who devoted their entire being to their job, his own father was one of them. But they all had families; they all enjoyed coming home to a warm dinner and a hug or two from their kids.

However, she was far from that.

She didn't believe in having a life partner, forget settling down with a family. For her, relationships were nothing more a convenience. That was the only reason she was "with" Akash and his naive brother, it seemed, had no idea about it.

Arnav's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden knock on the door. "Come in," he said, locking away his speculations safely at the back of his head.

It was Anjali, who wore a bright smile as she entered his office and gave him a tight hug, before settling down in a chair across from him.

Arnav spoke first, albeit sarcastically. "I'm sorry, but who are you again?"

"Bhai!"

"What Bhai?," he admonished, though a small grin lingered on his face. Truth was, he adored his sister and there were few things, if not none, that ever made him angry with her. "I was under the impression we stopped being siblings seeing as you are never home these days nor do you make an effort to stop by the company."

She rolled her eyes. "I guess now I know where Akash learned to be dramatic."

"I will take that as a compliment."

"Well, it's not! But seriously Bhai, why did you call me? Is everything okay?"

Arnav sighed with a solemn look crossing his face. "It is for now," he answered, picking up a black file. "But I don't know if it will be after I give you this."

"What's in that?"

"A contract. My good friend Ranveer just bought a farmhouse on the outskirts of Delhi and is in a desperate need of an interior decorator. The house is a gift to his wife, so in his words, it pretty much needs to look amazing."

"So, what did you tell him?!"

"I told him that I knew exactly who he was looking for because the decorator he wants, happens to be my sister."

Her jaw dropped open in response.

"So congratulations Miss Raizada, you have just landed yourself an interior decorating project."

"SERIOUSLY?!" she squealed, her face spreading into a million dollar smile. "RANVEER WANTS TO GIVE THE PROJECT TO ME?!"

Arnav grinned, her excitement spreading infectiously through him. To this day, he didn't understand what was it in his sister's smile that made him happy. It was an odd sort of gratification that simply couldn't be put into words

"Wait," Anjali said, suddenly looking at him seriously. "This is not cheating right? You haven't bribed him or anything?"

"You watch too many Hindi movies," he replied, slightly shaking his head. "No, I haven't bribed Ranveer. Sure I pushed him a little, but-"

"Pushed him how?"

"I sent him the magazine you made for home decorators last year. It's not my fault he was impressed and only wanted you to design his farmhouse."

Anjali relaxed. "You know something?"

"That you love me?"

"No - well maybe a little - but you are the best brother in the entire world!"

"Don't let Akash hear you say that."

"Yeah, well, he can live with it. Either way, he already knows that I'm your favorite sibling. So, it only makes sense that I return the sentiment."

Arnav laughed. "Well, thank you baby sister, I love you too. Ranveer is arriving next week, so have some designs ready for him."

Her smile dropped. "Wait, next week?"

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

Anjali took a moment to answer. "I-I can't... The farmhouse doesn't need to be done right away, right?"

"Anju, what's wrong? This is the biggest deal of your life. I thought you would want to start working on it right away?"

"I do! And I will. But it's just that I have a lot on my plate right now, so I don't think I can start working on Ranveer's project by next week."

He looked at her skeptically. "What projects are you working on that can't be delayed by a few days?"

"I told you Bhai... I got a renovating project."

Arnav watched her unnecessarily avoid his eye. He found it very strange that his sister, who trusted him with her eyes closed, had something she didn't want to share. However, he knew better than to ask her straight up.

"Who is the project for?"

"Shyam Manohar Gupta."

"The lawyer?"

She nodded, still keeping her eyes trained on the table in between them.

Arnav was unsatisfied. He knew Shyam Manohar Gupta was a righteous lawyer; his success stories were almost legendary. However, he failed to understand what was so secretive about him that his sister didn't want to disclose.

Deciding not to push the matter any further, he said, "I didn't know you both were well acquainted."

Anjali finally looked up. "We aren't. I helped him out with something a few days ago, so to return the favor, he offered to let me renovate his office."

"I see. Well, in that case, you should definitely give that priority. I will tell Ranveer you will start his project next month."

She nodded gratefully. "Thank you Bhai! I promise I won't let you down."

"I'm not your client Anju, Ranveer is. Make sure you don't let him down."

"I won't! By the way, did you know that Khushi is Shyam's sister?"

"You know Khushi?"

"Of course Bhai! She and Akash are best friends."

"Just best friends?"

She smirked. "Well, I guess you know. But Akash told me she has been wanting to work here for ages now. Is she good?"

Arnav was surprised. "Really? She wanted to work here?"

"Mm-hm... I thought that duffer would have told you by now. He was keeping it a secret so that Khushi doesn't have any unfair advantage while being selected for the position."

"I'm assuming this revelation was recent."

Anjali frowned in response. "Have you not been talking to Akash?"

It was now Arnav's turn to avert his gaze.

However, she wasn't his sister for no reason. "Urgh! Akash is such an idiot! But Bhai, you please don't feel bad... he is not ignoring you on purpose. I think he is just not calling because he doesn't want to lie to you. You know how he is!"

Arnav looked at her with astonishment. "You know about-"

"-the painting workshop?" she finished calmly. "Yes, I do. I literally grew up with Akash. Give me some credit, okay?"

"I should," he agreed. "Well, tell him I'm not angry-"

"That is if he figures out you know about the workshop."

Arnav let out a sigh. "You are too smart for your own good Anjali."

"I know. Now stop worrying and work in peace!"

And even though he knew her order was impossible, he still nodded in compliance and bid her goodbye.

The truth was there was nothing in the world that could make him stop worrying for his siblings. And somehow, he preferred worrying than living carefree. It just came with the job of being the eldest.

Of course, the job also came with a heavy price. When they were kids, it was punishing anyone who dared to make fun of them, covering for failing a class or two, babysitting when their parents were away and perhaps the best of all, planning how to sneak out during curfew.

However, it was much more complicated when they were older.

The price now was doing what was better versus what made them happy, trying to protect them without taking away their freedom, making sure they got a good night's sleep even if it meant he had to stay awake all night and the worst of all, still being to the same older brother who they once used to come running to, every time they got caught stealing cookies.

It was a tough job, making all that happen. But Arnav had no complains.

Sure, he was worried and maybe a tad bit guilty for not being the brother they wanted him to be, but he didn't regret anything.

He didn't regret becoming the pillar they needed when they were orphaned, he didn't regret pushing them as much as he did, and most importantly, he didn't regret choosing to stay stubborn simply because neither his sister nor his brother understood the cost of AR Designs or the reason it meant as much as it did.

Of course, he didn't blame them for it.

They didn't see their father spend every waking moment working on the company. They didn't understand the lives he dreamt for them all. They didn't learn what their legacy meant and for that matter, they didn't even hear their father's last words!

But Arnav did.

He witnessed everything their father worked towards with his own two eyes; he heard his dying wish with his own two ears and he promised to fulfill it with his own two hands.

So he was ready; he was ready to go through all odds to make sure his siblings know what he knew and do what they were supposed to do, even if it meant earning his brother's hatred in the process.

There just was no other way.

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Another insanely long chapter! But hopefully, you guys liked the much needed Arnav's POV. And in case anyone was confused, Arnav calls Anjali "Anju" - it's his nickname for her.

Let me know what you think

Archi

P.S. - The next chapter won't be up until another 2-3 weeks. Sorry!

-Archi-2014-04-26 18:47:26