Part 5: Engaged to Lad Governor
Khushi turned off the lights in her living room and went into the bedroom. After a silent prayer to her Devi Maiyya, Khushi slipped under the cover, hoping to get some sleep. Instead, she confronted by the memories of her past. She closed her eyes tightly as if that would chase them away but it didn't work.
Each time she went back into her past, the more vivid the memories became and the harder it became for her to rid herself of them. She had been getting alone just fine in these past five years and then the stupid lad governor had to show up in Delhi. And of course he had to bump into her! Just her luck!
Her thoughts drifted back to the morning after the family had found out about Khushi's consent to the marriage.
*
She had woken up, feeling happier than usual. In five days' time, she'd be engaged. She looked at her parents' picture on her bedside table and smiled. Just like every morning, she got out of the bed, brushed her teeth, took a shower, had her breakfast'which would have been enough for two people to eat'and then she skipped out of her apartment building, ready to go to work. But unlike every morning, today there was a car waiting for her. A very familiar one.
Arnav Singh Raizada. Khushi froze as soon as she saw him standing, leaning against the passenger side of the door. She walked to him, very conscious of the craziness her heart was doing.
"Morning" he said with a nod.
"Morning." Khushi said shyly. "What brings you here?"
"Did you forget that your car is still at the office?" Arnav waited until he saw the realization on her face. "Yep. And anyway, you'll be working from the main office from today. Akash recommended you as the organizer for a couple of the upcoming fashion shows.
"Of course he did. Stupid Akash." Khushi muttered.
Arnav held the door open for her. Khushi thanked him as she took her seat.
"You don't mind if I stop by at starbucks, do you?" Arnav asked as he put his seatbelt on.
"No. Of course not. I was headed there anyway."
Then they drove in silence until they reached starbucks. Khushi questioned him about the fashion shows and he was more than willing to answer them for her. After all, he was in his office mode.
Khushi made a face as Arnav picked up his black coffee. She looked at her Mocha Coconut with a Hazelnut shot, whip cream, chocolate syrup, and vanilla sprinkles and then looked back at his plain black coffee.
"Don't judge before you try it, Khushi." Arnav said smirking.
Khushi narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh yeah? Fine. I'll try the black coffee if you try this." She held up her much garnished drink.
ASR never turned down a challenge. So he took the drink from her hand, opened a new straw and took a sip while Khushi took a sip as well. Arnav was amused at her choice of drink. Why couldn't she just have chocolate? The damned thing tasted nothing like coffee!
On the other hand, Khushi made a face, dreading the thought of swallowing the super bitter liquid. Then she saw her sugared drink in his hand. She grabbed it out of his hand and drank from the same straw. Arnav chuckled as he took back his cup.
Khushi shivered and looked at him. "I don't know how the heck you can drink that."
Arnav shrugged. "I don't know how you can drink that." Arnav jerked his chin towards the container in her hand as he opened the door for her.
*
As they walked into the office, Khushi could feel every pair of eyes on her as she walked next to Arnav. People fell quiet when he entered and everyone muttered a 'good morning'. One thing that Khushi noticed was that Arnav just nodded in response, his facial expressions taut and neutral.
"That will be your cabin." Arnav pointed to a door. "And this one is mine" he pointed to the door next to hers. "If you need anything, ask Aman. My PA. He should be able to answer most of the questions."
Khushi nodded and Arnav looked at her for a second before nodding and walking into his cabin. Khushi let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding the man was scary in the office! No wonder she'd gotten the Lad governor impression of him when she heard about him.
She walked into her cabin only to realize that where she had expected a solid wall to be separating her cabin from his, there was a glass wall which barely provided any cover if the blinds were open, which they were at the moment.
She made herself forget about the fact that he'd be able to see every move of hers and sat down to work. She had already started deciding the order in which the models would enter and she had gotten halfway through to deciding on the type of make up on each model when her phone rang.
"Khushi Kumari Gupta." She said into the phone, still looking at her papers.
"Khushi..." Arnav said. Her head automatically jerked up and turned towards the glass wall. He had a small smile playing on his lips. "Come into my cabin. Someone's here to see you."
"O...ok...ay..." Khushi stammered before hanging up. She took a deep breath, composed herself and got up. Arnav looked at her from the corner of his eyes as she confidently walked out of her cabin and he smiled when he heard her knock on the door.
"Come in." He said, closing his laptop screen. She walked in and walked towards his desk where Arnav stood next to a man Khushi didn't recognize.
"Mr. Mehta...she's Khushi...my to-be fianc" Arnav said smoothly. "And Khushi, this is Mr. Mehta. The jeweller who is working on the engagement rings."
Khushi tried hard to stop the blood and heat from rushing to her cheeks. The last thing she wanted to do was blush like a teenage girl in front of Mr. Mehta and, of course, Arnav. Khushi shook Mr. Mehta's extended hand and smiled at him politely.
"She's gorgeous Mr. Raizada. You two look wonderful together." Mr. Mehta looked at Khushi and then at Arnav.
Arnav smiled at the man. Mr. Mehta then pointed towards the desk where a few boxes were kept. "For an elegant couple like you, I have a few pieces of elegance here."
Mr. Mehta put out his marketing skills as he opened a box after another, each revealing expensive looking, and elegant rings with lots of shiny diamonds. Arnav didn't miss the face that Khushi squirmed a little and made a face when Mr. Mehta opened the box with the big rings. He smiled to himself. He recalled Akash saying that Khushi liked simple stuff. She wasn't materialistic.
That was different for him because he was pretty stylish himself. Elegance was important to him. Before he had called Khushi in, he had already selected a simple yet elegant looking ring for her. He was hoping that she would choose the one but the chances of that were slim.
Mr. Mehta's phone rang and he excused himself. Khushi let out a breath.
"Why don't you just pick one?" Khushi said to him, taking him by surprise.
"Are you sure?" Arnav raised an eyebrow with a devilish expression.
Khushi raised her eyebrows in return. "Okay...pick one from any of the boxes apart from that one." She pointed to the box with the giant diamond rings. He smiled at her. She was so different from his ex girlfriends. Any of his ex-girlfriends would have gushed and would have picked the most expensive ring from the selection.
He reached out and picked out the box in which the ring of his choice was. He picked it out and held it up for her. "It's a fairly simple design but it's elegant...and it's the perfect fit. No alterations need to be made."
Khushi raised an eyebrow at him. "You don't know if it's a perfect fit...you don't know my ring size."
Arnav handed the ring to her. "Go on. Try it."
Khushi smugly started to slip the ring on but soon her hopes of proving him wrong came crashing as she felt the ring fit just right around her ring finger. He had picked out the ring that she had selected in her mind. It was a beautiful one. (I'll leave the ring's design up to your imagination...feel free to post a pic of what you saw as Khushi's ring that Arnav picked out)
"So?" Arnav asked.
"It fits." Khushi murmured.
Arnav kept both of his hands on the arm rests of her chair, locking her in. He leaned in closer while Khushi leaned back in the chair as far as she could.
"Arnav Singh Raizada is rarely wrong." He said with a smirk.
He stood back up and Khushi slipped the ring off. She put it on the table, her cheeks turning red. She was about to leave when Arnav grabbed her wrist.
"You won't pick out mine?" He asked huskily.
Khushi took a trembling breath in to steady herself. What was up with him this morning?? Where was the Arnav Singh Raizada she knew?
She turned around and avoided eye contact. She went through the boxes until she saw a solitaire that matched hers pretty well. She picked it up with trembling hands and held it up for him.
"I don't know if it will fit." Khushi said honestly. "And being right all the time isn't necessary. The world isn't going to stop running if you're wrong once or if you admit that you don't know something."
Arnav was taken aback. He hadn't realized that she might get offended by his earlier comment. Then she sighed.
"I'm sorry...I think that was a result of a jab at my ego for the fact that you somehow knew my ring size but I have no idea if this one will fit you or not and before I make a bigger fool out of myself, I'm going to go."
Khushi turned to leave. She had just reached the door when his voice floated to her. "It fits."
She whipped around to look at him. He was smiling softly. She looked at his hands and indeed, the ring did fit. She looked back at his face and he winked. She ran out of the room and closed the door behind her. She leaned against it and frowned. Was he feeling sick?? What was with the flirty actions?
She pushed the thoughts out of her head and went back to her cabin, very aware of his eyes on her from the moment she stepped in. She busied herself with work. It was a habit of hers. When she was nervous, stressed, upset, angry, or feeling any other extreme emotions...she was either making jalebis or doing some kind of work.
The following day, she hadn't come to the office. Payal, Nani, and Mami had taken her out shopping for the upcoming engagement. The day after that, Arnav was out of the province for some meeting. The following day, Khushi had immersed herself in the fashion show's prep. The fashion show was taking place a week after the engagement. But she knew that after she got engaged, she would spend most of her time day dreaming. So being a dedicated employee that she was, she pushed herself to the limits to finish anything and everything that she could.
Then came the night of the engagement. Akash and Payal came to pick Khushi up. Payal chatted excitedly about the decorations and preparations for tonight. She didn't fail to mention how much Arnav had been teased all day. Khushi was partially listening to her. Her thoughts were focused on her parents tonight.
She knew they were watching over her. She knew they were happy for her. She could it feel it in her heart. Along with that joy, nervousness also sat in a corner of her heart like a demon. After today, she wouldn't be just Khushi. She would have an entire family attached to her. A family she had longed for since the age of eighteen. A family that was being connected to her through Arnav. The Lad governor. Khushi wondered if he was just as nervous as she was.
Akash snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Don't make my bro wait too much...Bhabhi."
A red faced Khushi stepped out of the car and let Akash and Payal lead her inside. Khushi was glad when she saw a small crowd gathered. So this was going to be a close family and friend's affair. She liked that. No media prying for news on their special moments. She felt herself relax as Nani, Mami, and Mamaji greeted her. She was then introduced to a bunch of people. A few minutes of having a weird feeling of being watched, Khushi looked around and found him.
Her heart started thudding loudly in her chest, causing a ring in her ears. The smallest of a smile was on his face as he looked at her with twinkling eyes.
Payal cleared her throat, making Khushi snap back into the reality. "That was expected. Red is his favourite colour."
Khushi's jaw dropped a little and she looked down at herself. Suddenly, it made sense to her. "That's why all of you voted for the Red Sari?" Payal nodded sheepishly. "Thank you for the warning, Jiji"
Khushi and Payal had bonded well in the past few days as they prepared for the engagement together. Khushi had sweetly asked if she could call Payal 'Jiji' and Payal had agreed with an emotional smile as well. And no Khushi stood pouting at her Jiji. Payal just smiled victoriously. She grabbed Khushi's hand and started walking, busying Khushi in an explanation about the red sari.
Khushi hadn't realized that they were walking towards Arnav.
"You look good, doesn't she Arnav?" Payal said.
Khushi's heart stuttered as she looked at him. His eyes were glimmering as he looked at her appreciatively. Khushi nervously tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"You look good. The colour compliments you well." Arnav said calmly.
Khushi murmured a 'thanks'. Payal leaned in closer. "That's his way of giving compliments. And that's the best one I've heard him utter in all these years I've known him." She whispered, further deepening Khushi's blush.
After an hour of mingling with more people alongside Arnav, Khushi was pulled away by Nani while Arnav was taken by Akash. The two were led into the center of the hall. The lights were dimmed and three spotlights focussed on Nani, Arnav, and Khushi.
Khushi's nervousness knew no bounds. She grabbed a whole bunch of fabric of her sari in a fist and focussed on trying to control her breathing. She felt a comforting hand pull her hand away from her sari. Instinctively, she reached up and grabbed the arm that came with the comforting hand.
Nani's announcement was muted to Khushi due to the ringing in her ears. She hadn't even realized until later that she'd been standing there next to Arnav, with her hands clinging onto his upper arm as if she were holding on for the life of her.
Akash's arms engulfed her then, a supportive gesture from her friend. Payal handed her the solitaire and Khushi automatically turned to face Arnav. The moment her eyes met his, her nervousness subsided a bit. Although he looked composed, his eyes looked frantic. For all she knew, he was probably just as nervous as she was.
He lifted his hand in front of her. Khushi gingerly held his hand as she slipped on the solitaire gently onto his ring finger. Claps echoed in the large room. Payal handed Arnav a red velvet box too. Arnav pulled the ring out of it and held out his hand. Khushi placed her slightly trembling hand in his. As soon as his fingers wrapped around hers, she felt herself relax. He had a surprisingly soothing touch. He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze and then with a smile on his face, he slipped on the beautiful ring on her delicate fingers. Much to her surprise, he lifted her hand up and very gently kissed her fingers.
Akash hooted and whistled while a second round of claps had erupted in the room. The two took blessings from the three elders, hugged Akash and Payal and shared many handshakes with the guests. And just like that, within a thirty second ring exchange, Khushi was engaged to the Lad Governor.
After the guests had started to disperse and retire to their respective homes, Arnav offered to drive her home. Nani, Mami, and Mamaji chuckled behind their hands while Payal and Akash exchanged a look.
Their drive as usual consisted of minimal exchange of words. The companionable silence lasted until he stopped the car.
"Akash has organized a cocktail party. It's after the fashion show...would you come to it?" Arnav asked.
"Is that an invitation or just a question?" Khushi countered.
"Well...since the party is organized for us...you technically don't need an invitation."
"I'm only joking with you...Akash told me about it already. I'll be there." Khushi smiled. He simply nodded. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow..." Khushi went on when he didn't say anything.
"Actually...I have a meeting with CherryBlossom's MD. They wanted to combine some ideas and come up with a common collection...I'm not too keen on the idea but I need to attend the meeting and then I'm headed to Montreal for more work...I probably won't return until the morning of the fashion show."
"Oh..." Khushi said, clearly sounding disappointed. She didn't care if he realized that she was disappointed with the turn of events. She was engaged to him now so she supposed that it was okay to let him know how she felt. "Well then...good luck with the meetings and I'll see you in about a week. Good night."
He just nodded, frowning, and looking out the windshield. Khushi turned to open the door. "Khushi?" He called out to her, making her stop and turn in his direction. He didn't say a word to her; he simply put up his hand. Somehow she understood what he was asking for, so she placed her hand in his. He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze before leaning in and kissing her fingers for the second time that night.
When he looked at her, her eyes were squeezed shut, her cheeks were red and he could see the racing pulse at the base of her neck. "Good Night Khushi."
Khushi smiled at him and practically jumped out of the car and rushed away into her apartment.
Next Part: Page 32
****GUYS!!: Please let me know if you want me to post a quick recap of what happened in the previous part at the beginning of each chapter****
Hey guys! That was today's part! Just so you guys dont get confused, this part was Khushi's dream of the past (its a flashback) Thats why it is mainly from Khushi's POV. Flashback from Arnav's POV was completed in the previous chapter. Hope you all liked this part..it didnt really turn out the way I wanted it to but its the best I could do. I also have the next part underway but before I give you guys another update for this fic, I'm going to have to update my other FF.
I know all of you have tons of questions about what happened between them and why they separated and I'll still stick to my original line that all of you probably hate: Stay tuned and find out😉 But...I'll be nice and give you a little good news....I plan on letting the cat out of the bag by the 10th part MAX. I might do it before..not sure...I have a general idea of the storyline but apart from the main concept, the flow and such isnt set in stone...(ie...this engagement chapter wasnt originally supposed to be in here...it was a last min decision).
For now, hope you enjoyed the part. Please leave your lovely comments! and to answer someone's question about them...YES, I DO read them...I reply to each one as well.😳
P.S: I have a practical Exam tomorrow...pray for me!
Love you all,
Katie <3
Vasudha
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