Hellooo My Darlings! I normally write my little author's note after the update but today I wanted to do it first because I wanted to thank you all from the very bottom of my heart for all your love and support. I have read each and every message posted or sent to me via PM and believe me - It's YOU guys that have reinforced my love for writing and I will continue to do so as long as the inspiration is there. Please dont underestimate the power of your comments and think, I dont have much to say..so I just wont bother... I NEED to hear your thoughts so that I can keep this story on track.
with all my love and very very sincere thanks,
nainaš³
p.s. I have a very very busy week at work this week with performance reviews so... advance notification: you probably will not get as many updates this week... but I will still try and keep it as regular as I can...
Chapter 30
Khushi took a deep breath. It was time to give Arnav Singh Raizada a call. How dare he! It was her place to tell her parents about them and to top it off - what gave him the right to just jump in and do that to when she wasn't present?! Khushi excused herself and went into the bedroom that she shared with Payal and pulled her mobile phone out of her bag. Being Arnav's PA, she already had his number and was just about to stab the dial button when she stopped.
Khushi took a deep breath and sat on the bed and waited for the anger to subside. Five minutes later it was still there. She dialled.
It was just past 10pm and Arnav had just walked into his bedroom after greeting the family. As always Dadi and Mami had felt the need to give him a minute by minute account of what he had missed at Shantivan over the last 72 hours. He had finally managed to extricate himself from their company and trudged up the stairs to his room. He sighed with sheer exhaustion as he shrugged his coat off and threw it on the green recliner as he began to pull on the tie knot. He was craving a long hot shower and a good night's sleep and had just grabbed his towel when his mobile phone rang. Arnav groaned. The display showed 'private number' who the hell was it as this hour of the night he wondered as he answered with a terse 'Arnav Singh Raizada' There was silence on the other end of the line. He was just about to threaten the caller with an old-fashioned form of torture which he was sure was illegal now when 'She' spoke.
'It's me Arnav...'
The voice was enough for Arnav to identify who the 'me' was in an instant.
'Khushi...are you ok? Why are you calling so late?' he asked with a hint of worry edging his voice.
'Oh I was fine...until you decided to come back to my house', she said in quiet a low pitched voice completely devoid of its usual happy tone and somewhat cold.
Ooo she's mad...said both the angel and devil in unison as they both ducked for cover.
'I take it that you've spoken to your parents..?' Arnav asked hesitantly.
'You're an intelligent man Mr Raizada...what do you think?!' came the reply.
Arnav took a deep breath trying to clear his sleep deprived brain so that he could have a rational conversation with her. He sat down on the corner of his bed.
'Ok...Khushi I get it... you're mad' he sighed.
Khushi was angry at him but she could hear the exhaustion in his voice. It was amazing how quickly she had become attuned to his various moods through changes in his voice. Her conscious nagged her for picking on him when he was tired and was still recovering from the diabetic episode earlier in the night. Khushi felt her anger subsiding. Slightly.
'I AM angry at you. Be at the office at 8:30am tomorrow. We need to talk before your meetings start,' she said abruptly, 'ok?'
Arnav moved the phone away from his ear and stared at it for a split second, his eyebrows coming together in a frown; was Khushi Kumari Gupta ordering him to do something?!
'Ehemm...newsflash lover boy: in case you've forgotten...you are Arnav Singh Raizada...you don't take orders...you issue them...' hollered the devil.
'Sorry...' interjected the Angel 'that was before... now we learning how to communicate and compromise...remember?' reminded the angel in a patient voice.
Arnav sighed and took a deep breath.
'Khushi, I'm exhausted and I'm going to come in later tomorrow morning. I'll see you at 9:00am...' he said through slightly gritted teeth.
He waited for Khushi to respond and when she didn't, he prompted her 'Khushi?'
'Fine' she said.
'Fine' he responded.
Clearly, their first stand-off had begun thought Arnav warily as they simultaneously hung up. He placed his phone on the charger and decided it was time for that much needed shower. The shirt came off and Arnav flexed the knotted muscles his neck and arched his back as he stretched, the muscles rippled and Arnav groaned as he rotated his head from left to right. A minute later he stood under the powerful jets, steaming hot water slicked his hair back and emphasized the sharp planes of his face, cascading down his muscular form slowly soothing away some of the tension and exhaustion away. He squirted a generous amount of shower gel on the natural sponge and began washing, the sponge gliding across his broad muscular chest and then down to his washboard abs and then lower and then proceeded to let the hot water wash away the suds. He grabbed a towel and began drying off before changing into his night gear.
Arnav walked out into his bedroom and to his window overlooking the pool. He stared out the window at the dark, dreary, rainy Delhi night sky which had been clear only hours earlier. Looks the weather decided to match his mood. Arnav had intended on going to bed but that conversation with Khushi had left him unsettled and he decided to put some work into finalizing a project briefing for negotiations he and Aman were handling on an Australian project. This deal had been six months in the making and they were so close to closing but thanks to Miss Khushi Kumari Gupta, he'd been unable to focus on his work in the past few days. Arnav sighed and ran his ran through his damp hair. She better accept the placement with Aman, he thought... AR Corp could not afford a distracted CEO.
After staring at his laptop screen for a good thirty minutes, Arnav just could not seem to shake his wandering mind. Sleep deprivation, a blood sugar dip and the conversation he had with her father had left his mind in a very chaotic state. Would she take the job, what was the outcome of her conversation with her father?
'Damn it!!' He muttered under his breath, running his hands roughly through his hair. Arnav slammed the laptop screen down and got into bed. After tossing and turned for what felt like hours, sleep finally decided to show Arnav her mercy. Little did Arnav know that across town, someone in Laxmi Nagar was struggling just as hard to sleep as he was.
Morning arrived much sooner than expected and Khushi felt like she had just fallen asleep when her alarm rang at 7am. She awoke feeling quite disorientated and somewhat grumpy as she lay in bed huddled under the covers next to Payal who was still fast asleep. Five minutes later Khushi dragged herself out of bed and into the shower. She picked up her bag and walked into the living room where everyone was having a cup of tea. Garima looked at the dark circles under her daughter's eyes and smiled to herself, sleeplessness came with the territory in relationships, she thought knowingly. Khushi gulped down her tea, bid everyone goodbye and ran out into the dreary Delhi morning to find an auto for work.
Khushi arrived at AR Corp just before 8am. Normally she loved this quiet time because it allowed her to get settled in before he arrived but today Khushi felt disconcerted and nervous after that... that..argument with Arnav. She sighed as she switched on her computer then went into his office. Normally she didn't linger, but today as she stood behind his desk for a minute and let her hand trail along his jacket which he had left behind last night. She inhaled his scent and sighed as she turned to his PC and switched it on. He normally left his desk in an immaculate state but clearly he had been too distracted by their conversation last night. It wasn't his fault she thought to herself as she began tiding up the piles of paper. It was amazing how he managed to keep on top of everything despite the multiple crisis that all seemed to hit his desk at the same time. Khushi sighed, he really was trying and his heart was in the right place.
Khushi walked to her desk and began to work through her emails. She watched the clock slowly ticking away, the anxiety and edginess building as the needle inched towards 9am. Devi Maiya, please let him be in a ...well not so bad mood...she prayed silently.
Like clockwork, just at the needle hit 9am, the elevator chimed open revealing a stern Arnav Singh Raizada.
Well, let the fireworks begin, thought Khushi.
Edited by warriorprincess - 12 years ago
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