Okay I got a chance 2 update aftr such a long tym...I know u wanna throw rotten tomatoes at me for my late updt...I will make dis a bit emotional piece as I have literally lost my funny bone somewhere...arre mazak karne ka bhi mann nahi karta aajakl...damn dese tests...enuff of my ranting...
I wanna thank u all for all ur support
Chapter 10
Khushi typed the last report in her system and yawned. Life was such a bore sometimes...especially if you are alone in a deserted cabin working your life away with not a soul nearby to talk to...She wasn't saying it out loud but by now she was really missing him...a lot...
She mused...how can someone become a part of your life so stealthily...without notice that she couldn't have known if Arnav wouldn't have been out of the town citing personal reasons...
"Time to go home!" she said to no one in particular as she stretched herself...but slumped back again on the chair...she was really used to his quips, jeers, taunts and most of all his harmless flirting... damn him and his personal reasons...of leaving me...so alone...
A movement behind her jerked her away from her thoughts and she saw their boss quietly moving inside the cabin. He stood behind her and gave her a quick smile before asking
"So is everything going on okay?"
"Yes sir". Khushi felt a strange kind of discomfort today, not at all jumping out in joy like earlier on seeing even a glimpse of their boss, leave seeing him alone with her in the cabin
"So let's check your progress, Khushi" Singhania said as he gently glided his hands over her on the mouse and held her shoulder, as if for support. Khushi thought it as a normal gesture, but knew he was taking chances on her once she felt his breath on his face...he was too close for comfort...
"Ya! I have sent those reports sir as I had been advised...I was just about to leave now!" Khushi, as on reflex, jerked her hands off him and stood up abruptly.
"At least let me drop you home" He said nearing her
"I'll be fine..."Khushi was now almost out of the door. Away from you, she whispered in undertone.
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She was waiting for an auto...when suddenly a black BMW pulled aside her...her breath hitched...she was now earnestly wishing it was a Honda City instead of a BMW...
"Khushi, its not safe" her boss was not in a mood to let her go. Now even his words disgusted her..
She turned away her face towards the office. Anywhere away from him...she thought
"Kyun? Don't want to come with me? But you go happily with that guy, what's-his-name?" he said suddenly, shocking her
"Why do you trust him so much, but not me...when I first saw you looking at me I felt myself on the top of the world...I sent you flowers personally in the wee hours of the morning...but, no, you won't even give a glance--"
"You sent those flowers?!"Khushi's mouth flew open.
She now knew that her boss too liked her...If the confession had been weeks back she might have got out on numerous dates with him, but something within her had changed these days...as if her heart didn't like his perfect accent, nor his armani-clad personality anymore...it yearned for someone else...someone who could make her laugh at any time of the day and rile her up at the same time too...
"Of course, what did you think?" her boss said, bringing her out from her thoughts
."I was the one who liked you from day one..died for your subtle glances...so what do you think?"
"I don't know what to say anymore" Khushi replied dazedly. "But I'm sure you'll find someone else someday" and she walked out without giving a backward glance...
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That night...
Khushi lay looking at the ceiling fan whirring away to glory as she reflected on her decision...Why did she reject her one and only crush? Hadn't she already fallen charms to his perfect personality, rugged looks and what not...Today's proposal would have been a dream come true for her...only if she hadn't got those stupid buttlerflies in her stomach at the sight of her sarcastic, annoying co-worker who behaved no better than a jerk...but now the butterflies had been replaced by something else...and she feared probably it was love... she didn't mind how she felt suddenly, no matter how pathetic it seemed, to have feelings for the person who she couldn't stand some weeks ago... It was only human, she reasoned.
No, what bothered her'what truly kept her up all these hours, even as she lay with her eyes shut, was the inexplicable, gnawing excitement she felt at the thought of seeing him again in the morning...
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She got up next morning, and was immediately engulfed in a warm hugs with shouts of
"Happy Birthday, Khushi!"
Oh damn it! She'd forgotten her own birthday due to last night's events...She gave a bright smile to her family as they showered her with their love...her father who usually didn't show many emotions except anger, too managed a smile and blessed her.
"Khushi bitiya, aaj toh chutti le hi le" her mother suggested with her sister nodding her head in between
"No maa, I better get going" She secretly wanted Arnav to wish her on her birthday. Yes his leave ended today and he'd be in the office in his same stance...greeting her with a smirk or a prank...How despo she'd become!
"Kya baat hai...aaj office jaane ka bada mann hai...Is someone giving you a treat...or something else?" her sister teased
"Jiji, you're gone case!" she shouted, rushing into the bathroom
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She saw him sitting in his usual stance, as she predicted, with legs up on the table...without a care in the world...
"Hi!" was all she managed to say
Arnav scanned her from head to toe and took in her form...had she applied something special today or was it the thirst of seeing her after 4 days that made her look so beautiful...
"Ummm...Is something special today" He said taking in how her form fitted beautifully in the white and pink anarkali.
"Huh!" He doesn't even know...Ugghh! and what was I thinking?
"No there's nothing special today, just you and your stupid self has made a special entry after 4 days...Welcome back!" she said sarcastically and keyed on to her system with more force than necessary.
"Ab maine kya kiya?" Arnav pondered, his mind conjuring up millions of ideas that could have contributed to her bad mood
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"Can you explain where exactly you're taking me?" Khushi was getting frustrated now. Arnav had buckled her up in his car and made his journey towards god-knows-where..
"You'll see..." came his voice, his eyes on the road the entire time.
"Do you try to provoke people like this all the time, or does it just come naturally?" she said, sticking her tongue out.
"Only around you," he responded in a mock-flattering tone, but his grin grew wider.
Khushi narrowed her eyes at him, but she found it hard to keep up any sort of hostility towards him when she saw him grinning at her again. She felt her heart pulsating all the way to the palm of her hands for a moment.
"Here we are" he announced getting off the car.
Khushi looked up at it; she recognized this one even when she saw the skyline miles away. It was AR Corporations, its top adorned with a gold-wrought pyramid of gilded beams that seemed to light up the whole city at night.
"What are we doing here? It's closed for the day," she said, still craning her head up to stare at the building.
"Can you ask less questions, please?" he said as he climbed up the stairs, Khushi following him in tow. They rode the rest of the way in silence until they reached the top floor. Arnav opened a door and stepped outside, indicating for her to do the same.
Her mouth nearly fell open at the beauty of what she saw. The entire skyline of the city greeted her, her jaw dropped a little as the golden orb turned into the tiniest pinprick of light before disappearing below the horizon entirely, all against the backdrop of thousands of different hues of pink and red and orange and purple. She had never seen anything like it; in her twenty-three years of living, she'd never got to watch a sunset, especially not like this. Entranced, Khushi walked as far out towards the edge as she could, unable to contain the grin spreading on her face.
"It's beautiful!" she gasped, her eyes aglow with excitement as she turned to Arnav, who had an hard-to-read expression on his face. The truth was he found himself watching her reaction rather than the skyline, and he couldn't stop the smile that formed slowly on his face. He stood up as well and followed behind her, eyes entirely on her as she walked beneath...
She'd been undeniably attractive, he thought, since he had met her; but like this, underneath these lights and so carefree, epitomizing everything he liked about her with such happiness etched into every feature of her face, her eyes, her lips, she was...
Something out of the world...
Khushi noticed the faraway expression on his face and decided to bring him back
"So why'd you bring me here?"
"I saw you were quite upset since morning, and I come here when I'm upset, it gives me a strange kind of peace to be here"
"It doesn't matter anymore that you didn't remember my birthday" Khushi chuckled as she now became conscious of the stars shining in the night sky...it was quite a while they had been here...
Arnav became tongue-tied and smiled sheepishly as he hit himself mentally...Uska birthday kaise bhool gaya...
"I really---"
"It doesn't matter...because you have given me the best birthday gift ever" Khushi said her eyes towards the sky, a warm feeling enveloping her heart.
I know it was not that romantic or had any romantic moments...there r a good amount of writers here who make me blushh..I will try 2 include romantic moments nxt tym...
Do comment if u lyk it...😃
Anupamaa
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
10