ArHi SS|The Search for the Perfect Bride Thread 1 - Page 5

Update soon.

Hi Everyone!

Thanks so much for liking the first part to this story :) The replies to comments are on pages 6 and 8!

Hope you all enjoy Part 2! :) Do read/hit the LIKE button/leave your comments please :) I would love to read them.

Cheers!
Naina

PS: PMs will be sent later, I have to update some other things and just want to send one massive PM instead of 50 mini ones😆

Chapter 2:

"So Arnav. 5 qualities you want in a wife. Go" Khushi ordered, standing in front of him with a little notebook and a pen in her hands.

"What? I…what?" his face crinkled in confusion, before he sighed wearily. "This isn't going to work Khushi, why are you even trying?"

"Of course it will! Optimism is key Arnav, so keep that chin up" she replied cheerfully.

"I..hm. Kind? Respectful? You know, someone who won't be opposed to living with the rest of the family in the Raizada House. You know, someone who would get along with my family, who my family would approve of, especially my Nani. " he stated firmly.

"Sounds good" Khushi started jotting things down.

Arnav watched her intently, noticing, for the first time how she concentrated on what she was doing, nibbling on her lips, tucking that one strand of hair behind her ear as she worked. Hm, why had he never seemed to notice how pretty she was before?

"What else?"

Arnav was jolted out of his thoughts, and he forced himself to focus on the matter at hand, not Khushi. "I…oh, a degree of intelligence. You know, someone intelligent that would be able to help the company progress further. I would hate to have some kind of dimwit who walked around with rocks in her head where her brains should be."

Khushi giggled as she wrote that down. "And I'm guessing someone who's beautiful? Why not just say it?"

Arnav flushed, "I…I didn't want you to think I only cared about appearances"

Khushi rolled her eyes, "Since when did the great ASR consider what I thought about him?"

"Um…since now?" he quirked an eyebrow up sheepishly.

She scoffed. "Right. Now can you finish the list?"

"I can't think of anything else" came the choppy response.

"Um age? I need to start somewhere"

And that's how the next half hour proceeded for them, with her attempting to get him to list some qualities he would want in his future wife, so that she had a place to begin her search for the bride.

***

Khushi sat at her desk, tapping her pen against her chin, trying to come up with names of potential brides. God only knew how many parties and social gatherings Arnav went to, why couldn't he just find someone for himself? Someone or the other was always draped over his arm at these things, and they were always more than willing to do anything for him, anything at all. A disgusted look came over Khushi's face, Chi Chi! Woh besharam ladkis.

Hm. Lavanya Kashyap! She worked in his office, seemed diligent enough, could be airheaded sometimes, but most of the time, she was on top of things. And as an added plus, she loved being around Arnav, gushing about him in the cafeteria on a daily basis, analyzing every second she spent with him and what each and every part of their conversations could mean about the future. And with a little modification, Nani would be sure to love her too.

So Lavanya Kashyap it is.

Candidate Number One.

She turned on her computer and began to type away.

Dear Lavanya,

I was wondering if you would want to have lunch with me tomorrow. It's been a while since we've talked, and we can catch up. The Orange Tiger Cafe down the street at 12:30 sound good?

Let me know!

Khushi

***

That night, Khushi restlessly rolled around in bed, unable to fall asleep as thoughts of the entire day kept floating around her mind, from Arnav telling her that Nani had ordered him to get married, to Arnav even proposing to her – needless to say, that was a huge shock- and it all culminating in her getting him to agree to her idea of finding a bride for him.

Pulling the blanket closer to her neck, Khushi closed her eyes, her thoughts reverting back to when she first met the great Arnav Singh Raizada.

It had been the day of Akash and Payal's engagement that Arnav and Khushi had bumped into each other – no, they literally bumped into each other, which resulted in all the marigold flowers that Khushi had been carrying, flying in the air, and raining down upon them.

How romantic?

Perfectly not!

Because Arnav and Khushi had never actually met each other before that (Arnav had been on a business trip when the Raizada family came over to meet Payal and Khushi had been at college whenever the families met after that!) Arnav immediately began to lash out at her, thinking her to be one of the workers hired to decorate the house.

"Can't you pay attention while you walk?" he had asked angrily, his eyes shooting daggers at her as he got up and brushed off all the marigold petals off of himself. "You know what, no point in yelling at you. I'm going to get you fired right now. Where's that employer of yours?" he had growled menacingly.

Well, Khushi Kumari Gupta was no less. As she had proudly stood up, marching over to him as she poked her finger into his chest. "Oy! Who are you to tell me what to do?"

Unfortunately, the rest of that conversation never took place because they were interrupted right then by Naniji and Shyam, Arnav's brother-in-law.

"Oh Arnav bitwa, I see that you've met Payal's sister Khushi, and Khushi, this is my oldest grandson, Arnav" Nani smiled sweetly at each of them, as she introduced them to one another.

The two continued to glare menacingly at each other, the scowls on their faces in fact intensifying, when Shyam noticed the looks they were giving each other. "Arreh, aren't you two going to say hi to each other?" he questioned quickly, attempting to diffuse the anger that just seemed to be seeping through the both of them.

"Hello" he mumbled quickly, appeasing his brother in law, as he threw a half hearted smile at Khushi.

"Hi" she retorted back just as choppily.

And Naniji and Shyam were left to watch in shock, and they turned away from each other and immediately began to walk away.

"Bye"

"Bye"

"Hello hi bye bye" came the voice of the astonished Manorama, who had just watched this interaction from the sidelines. "What was going on here?"

***

Who would have thought that day that these two would get along so well now? Actually be friends, coworkers? No one, that's for sure. But when Arnav needed a replacement for his secretary, Anjali recommended Khushi and that's it, neither of them could deny this and well they had started to work together ever since. Of course, in the beginning sparks flew every other second, as the office became the battleground for World War III. Khushi enjoyed working at the office, Arnav liked having a secretary, but neither of them liked working with the other...and they couldn't do anything about it because of their problems. That's how the first few months went by, the office filled with tension every single day, but over time they had managed to reach a truce of some sorts. And they had begun to work together calmly, not exactly friends at that stage or anything, but coworkers who got along.

Then came Akash and Payal's wedding, a time during which Khushi seemed to spend more time at the Raizada mansion than she did her own home. Inevitably, these Arnav and Khushi were thrown together all the time, especially considering that they worked together. They were made to run errands, go pick up wedding things, do this, do that. And as they ended up spending all that time together, they slowly struck a friendship. And it had been 2 years since then, the two becoming really good friends, who they ended up sharing anything and everything with, and that's where they remained now, the teasing the fighting still there, but the animosity and anger had completely disappeared.

Khushi took in a deep breath, And who knew when that friendship evolved into love for her? It seemed to her that one fine day she woke up and realized that she was in love with her boss, with the great Arnav Singh Raizada. The more she had gotten to know him, the more she had learned. How he was not actually a bad man, how he wasn't the Mr. Khadoos that she had always thought he was, but he had just been through a lot in his life, ending up making him cynical towards everyone. He had a heart somewhere inside of him, and it had taken a lot of chipping away to get there, but in the end it was still Arnav.

Him proposing to her had come as a shock for sure, and her first instinct was to jump at it, say yes. The love would get there eventually, he would learn to love her back, but at least you would be married to him. No! Khushi mentally chided herself for thinking like that, Why jump into a loveless marriage? What if he never learned to love you back? Then you would spend the rest of your life absolutely miserable.

As soon as that conversation with Arnav had been finished, she had run into the bathroom, unable to control the tears that were threatening to spill over. Throughout the conversation, she had maintained that happy facade, trying to pretend that her heart didn't ache every single second. She cried her heart out that afternoon, knowing that it was only going to get tougher for her as she looked for prospective brides for him. But that tiny ray of hope still lingered, the tiny part of her which still believed that Arnav would one day love her back.

Khushi quickly wiped away the tears that had once again started falling down her face, and shut her eyes tightly, attempting to force these thoughts out of her mind.

***

"So you have to create the presentation for the upcoming fashion show today, and then discuss the possibility of a merger with BSD Fashion Photography. That meeting is scheduled at 4 PM today." Khushi listed out his day's tasks the next morning.

"And for lunch?" Arnav questioned, "Please don't tell me I have a lunch meeting today. I have this massive headache and I need to take a nap in the afternoon" he continued, rubbing his temples.

Khushi winced, "I..uh...you do though. Just pop some Tylenol, and you'll be fine. Today's the meeting with Candidate Number One, and you sure can't miss that!"

He stopped in his tracks, turning to look at her with a frown on his face. "Candidate One? For what? We didn't have any interviews scheduled for today, did we?"

"For the suitable women to be your wife? Searching for your perfect bride remember?"

Arnav's face crinkled in confusion, "It's only been a day!"

"And we haven't got any time to waste Arnav. Lunch meeting at 12:30. Ok?" She snapped her fingers in his face, and he moved back immediately, throwing a disgusted look at her as she grinned cheekily.

"And who is this first woman?" he enquired.

"Oh!" she giggled, embarrassed, "Lavanya!"

"La..Lavanya? You mean Lavanya Kashyap, the woman that works in this office. Are you maybe just a bit OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" he yelled, dragging her into his cabin and slamming the door behind him.

"Stop with the yelling Arnav! Give her a chance, for God's sake! She's a really nice woman" Khushi defended the other woman, pushing him away before she crossed her hands over her chest and frowned.

"And how is that?" Sarcasm was overwhelmingly evident in his voice.

And he listened, as Khushi rattled off a list of positive traits about Lavanya, describing how she was a perfectly amiable person, always willing to talk, very cheerful, relatively kind and so on.

Great. He could tell already how absolutely wonderfully this meeting would go.

** Edited **

Okay honestly, couldn't believe I'm the first!! . Just like that did a Res, and I was first!!😃

Arnav - Kushi's first meet with flowers in air - Filmy introduction..! I like that kind always!!😍

Poor poor Kushi!! her condition is terrible, not able to spit out or to digest it!! Arnav needs to understand her before she breaks down!!

Lavany is a condidate, kinda expected. But waiting to see how the meeting is gonna turn up!

P.S: Are u gonna update Bairi piya, anytime soon? Already missing it!!