An OS: Once upon a time in a fairytale...
Note: This OS is dedicated to the torture two absolutely marvelous souls put me through every day. My Ty and Tin Tin Baba this one's for you girls!
Khushi was in happiness heaven but still a little fraught. Her girlfriends had treated her to a 5-day farewell cruise since she would be leaving to go to India in two weeks to expand her business. This 23 year old had done extremely well for herself and established herself splendidly. She had engaged in an alliance with the number 1 company in India that dealt with variety of industries like IT, Construction, Fashion, Finance, and Showbiz. Her alliance had fetched her a major joint contract in India spanning work in 3 of these industries and she had to move there for at least 1 year. She was ecstatic as well as petrified at the changes that would come her way. She was successful and confident, but this in was a country where she wasn't used to doing business. In fact her new partner Arnav Raizada was supposed to visit her next week as soon as she got back home, before she flew to India. This was a business meeting setup to understand the operations before she took over in India, this way her transition would be smoother. She was grateful to Arnav for making a trip all the way there to have this conference. It had made her professional fears at ease a little. Personally however, she was still terrified. She knew she would be alone there. She had a few distant relatives but no one she could share her daily predicaments with. Khushi was lost in all these thoughts standing at the top deck of the cruise ship when one of her friends suddenly interrupted her.
"Let's go Khushi. Don't you want to get ready? It's the first evening on this cruise and tonight's party is at the pool house!" Vaacha, her best friend shouted with excitement.
"No Vaachu dear, it's only the first night. Many more to come! Tonight, I just want to enjoy this evening, serenely enjoying being in the middle of these magical waters." Khushi replied with a twinkle of tranquility and blissfulness in her eye.
"Arrey chalo na khushi! Hum sab yahaan tumhare liye aaye hai! Tum hi party mein nahi hogi toh hum kaise'" Vaacha asks in confusion!
"Tum log masti karo na guys. I only want this one day to myself. Kal se I am all yours! Promise!" Khushi tried desperately to borrow some alone time, from her now seemingly poking friend.
"Theek hai!" A dejected Vaacha responded. "Lekin kal se tum wohi karogi jo hum kahenge okay?"
"Pakka wala promise!" Khushi jumped in excitement.
Vaacha left and so did Khushi, but not for long. She went back to her cabin to grab her IPOD, Laptop, DSLR, Phone, and headphones. All of it was neatly organized in her Hermes pocketbook with multiple compartments accommodating all her accessories. She also picked up a tropical mixed-fruit smoothie from the bar before heading back up on the upper deck. Most guests were headed to the early evening party that was going to spill into the night, so the area she picked was mostly empty. She realized when she got back up that the man was still sitting at one of the couches, reading and mostly minding his own business. The tall, fair skinned, toned, handsome man grabbed her attention as she found herself trying to settle down at one of the nearby couches, because he was dressed in a short sleeved black collared shirt, black dress pants, and a black tie with thin white lining. He had on formal shoes, a Tag watch and slickly styled hair. She stared at this man sitting there comfortably ignorant of his surrounding, as if those uncomfortable clothes made no impact on him. "Strange fella!" She thought, and continued setting up her workshop. She intended to listen to music while continuing the novel she had started writing, and eventually delve into some photography if something thrilled her eyes or if she got too tired of writing. Phone was a necessity so she had to have it with her at all times. She knew she had made a big mistake by leaving it in the cabin earlier as her CTO had called her twice regarding an urgent issue. Thankfully she was able to tackle it quickly before coming up. She was all prepared with all her gadgets getting full emergency services in any part of the world so that she can connected to her business at all times.
She placed her drink in a far away corner on the table in front of the couch. She carefully removed the Phone, headphones, IPOD and laptop from her bag first and delicately placed her bag leaving the camera still inside. Started her music, and opened her laptop. While it turned on she looked around only to find the stranger glancing at her from the corner of the book with a faint smile on his half visible face. Embarrassed, realizing how silly she must've looked displaying her OCD neatfreak personality to this unfamiliar chap, she looked away as fast as she could.
Just as she got to the laptop screen where she was about to open her work, her phone rang.
"Khushi speaking!" She responded to the call politely.
Couple of couches away, the man jittered, but continued minding his own business..
"Nahi nahi Vyom Ji, Mr. Raizada ke saath meri meeting agle hafte ki hai! Aap ko koi misunderstanding hui hai aap Raashi se pooch ke phir se check karvaiye. " Khushi seemingly panicked.
The man had by now closed his book and was carefully listening to the conversation Khushi continued to have on the phone. .
"I am still holding Vyom ji' please confirm this before I hang up!" She continued shaking as she held her mobile as hard as she could. "Mila kya? Acha, next Friday ka hai na? Okay! Good! Aise daraya mat kijiye! Aap ko pata nahi main kaise kaise raaste dhoondhne mein lag gayi thi waapis aane ke. Soch liya tha pure ship ko turn karwaaungi! Acha chalo. Abhi rakhti hoon. Aaj ke sare execs ki summary mujhe sham tak bhej dijiyega please. Main raat ko review kar lungi. " She hangs up the phone and heaves a deep sigh of relief. Glances around only to find this stranger now unashamedly staring at her with a dim smile in his right dimple. She feels uneasy and looks away once again.
The man chuckled, picked up his book, and started reading again.
Khushi got herself busy in listening to her music and catching up on her write up to recollect where she had left off. Khushi's music was now playing in full volume and she was slightly tapping her fingers on the table and her feet on the floor rhythmically to the beat, oblivious to her surroundings.
Just then, the stranger's phone also rang. He answered "Arnav Raizada speaking! Kaho Laksh! Kya news hai? Were you able to fix my blunder? Did the meeting with Ms. Khushi get rescheduled to next Friday?"
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