||Can I Have Your Number?||ArHiSS: NewNote pg65 - Page 7

Chapter 3

Khushi finally reached home around nine after the disastrous evening and upon reassuring Buaji that everything went well, she closed the door to her bedroom and sank into her bed, not bothering to change out of her ugly, uncomfortable attire. Her thoughts immediately flew to Arnav's unexpected appearance and she could feel her cheeks heating.

'Probably from the embarrassing situation,' she reassured herself, reaching through her small purse and pulling out the phone that she was desperate to keep for as long as possible. 'Why do I want this phone so much? Is it really just because I'm scared to tell Buaji that she needs to buy me a new one?' Khushi contemplated this for a while and convinced herself that this was the only reason, but a part of her knew that it was also because she was suffocated from being trapped in a life revolved only around Buaji and Shyam and occasionally Payal. There was something new and exciting about being a secret, unofficial PA, even if it were only for a few days.

Another email from Lavanya Kashyap interrupted Khushi's thoughts, and her headline was really really tempting Khushi to open it.

'He won't ever know if I read just one email, will he? And technically, a PA is supposed to review an email before she sends it to her boss, and I am his unofficial PA.' she thought, biting her bottom lip and hitting the enter button on the cell phone.

Her eyes grew wide at the length of the email, and she only scanned its contents, too tired to read all of it. It was mostly about how ASR was a cruel, ruthless person who was born to break hearts. (Khushi rolled her eyes at this and skipped to the last paragraph.)

"Do you actually want to get married ASR? Or were you just kidding? Because it might have been a joke for you but it definitely wasn't for me. I even told my parents in London that they have to come back to India soon for my wedding!! WHY DO YOU KEEP IGNORING ME? If you don't reply to this either, I swear that I'll marry Aman and distract him so often that he's never there to do your dirty work."

So this Ms. Kashyap was his fiance, and a very livid one at that.

Khushi sighed and began forwarding more messages that had come for Arnav when his sudden appearance flashed through her mind again. Though he was good looking, that was not what she had noticed as he had strode through the door of the little restaurant. She was immediately taken with his intense, hazel eyes and as cheesy as it sounded in her head, could drown in them forever. She also loved the slight stubble that he sported and admired his no nonsense attitude, but maybe that was because she was so used to the nonsense she received from Shyam almost every day.

Abruptly realizing that these thoughts would do her no good, Khushi shrugged them off and placed the phone on the bedside table only for it to beep with a text a second later.

She was further surprised when it was from Arnav.

'You're lucky that I didn't rat you out to your boyfriend.'

Khushi's eyes flared as she furiously typed back.

'Haww! You texted me just to tell me this? And he is my fiance, not boyfriend.'

'Why else would I text you? And I need this phone back tomorrow. Also what is 'Haww!' You are not a donkey.'

'That's what you said yesterday, and I'll be a donkey if I want to be :)'

'Before you started throwing a tantrum to keep it for longer, and don't tell me I have hired a donkey for a PA.'

'So you've decided to hire me? I can keep the phone for real now? :)'

'No, but according to your fiance, you are my employee.'

'Oh, that. You see, he would not approve of me talking to you unless it was on professional terms.'

'So why are you talking to me then?'

'Because I am borrowing your PA's phone.'

'Stealing'

'Can't you see that I am just a normal girl? I'm not a donkey or a thief.'

'You were the one who said you were a donkey, and you are a thief because you are keeping this phone against my will.'

'You said I could keep it for another day! That's not stealing! Is Arnav Singh Raizada not smart enough to understand this?'

'Stalking me? You seem to be well acquainted with my name.'

Khushi bit her tongue angrily, forgetting that he couldn't hear her even if she told him off.

'I have been sending all your stupid emails to you. I would be dumb and blind if I didn't know your name by now.'

She did not receive a message from as soon as she got the others and began to worry that she had offended him. 'I shouldn't have called his emails stupid.'

Khushi was in the middle of typing an apology when his name appeared on the screen again.

'There's a sudden business conference in Nainital for a few days and I have to leave early tomorrow morning. Looks like you will be keeping the phone until then, but I will take it back as soon as I reach Delhi again. Oh, and I accept your apology for calling my emails stupid.'

Khushi gaped.

'But I never apologized!'

'I know you were going to.'

'Haww! How did he know that?' Khushi thought, suddenly alarmed that he had secretly entered into her head when she was not paying attention.

'I was not!'

'I don't have time for this argument.'

'You started it :P'

'I did.'

'What am I supposed to say to that?' Khushi frowned. 'This man is infuriating.'

'Yes you did, so you clearly have time for this argument.'

He never responded, so Khushi rolled her eyes and sank back into her bed, falling asleep faster than anyone on her block.

o o o O o o o

The next morning passed rather uneventfully as Khushi sent everything that was meant for Arnav and deleted everything meant for Sim. As his unofficial PA, she began noticing that he was very popular, and that all kinds of people sent him messages ' business associates, clients, women, employees. Eventually, she began reading some of the emails that had interesting titles as she figured Arnav did not really care about the unimportant ones anyway.

There were some employees who even sent him emails writing that it was their birthday and they hoped Arnav would wish them or give them a leave as a gift. Just from reading their messages, Khushi easily deterred that he was not a lenient boss.

One email in particular was from someone named Sara, stating that she would be at the Naintal conference as well as was looking forward to staying in the same floor as Arnav at the hotel.

'Chee!' Khushi thought, making a face. 'Doesn't this girl know that he is engaged to Lavanya Kashyap?' She thought of typing a reply saying so, but decided that Arnav would fry her alive if she began interfering in his personal life.

Speaking of the devil, she received a text from him a minute later.

'Did you get any email from a Mr. Sharma?"

Khushi checked quickly to make sure that there wasn't one before replying.

"No I've forwarded everything you got already."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!

She got a call from him a second later and she picked up, frowning. "There really isn't any email from a Mr. Sharma. I checked again."

"Khushi are you sure? It's important, and he should have sent it by now," Arnav said, sounding more worried than irritated.

This was the first time that he had said her name, and that too when he was not angry or frustrated. Khushi found herself smiling, liking the sound of her name coming from him.

"I'm sure, but I'll check again if you want," she said, hanging up and scanning through his emails for the third time and then double checking again. There wasn't a single one from a Mr. Sharma.

Khushi called Arnav herself this time, and he picked up immediately, waiting for her to speak first."There isn't any email. Maybe he sent it to you directly somehow? Or someone else that works for you?"

She was greeted with a few seconds of awkward silence when she heard Arnav take a deep breath. "I know what I'm going to ask you will sound crazy, and you might not want to do it, but I need your help."

Slightly wary of this favor he needed, Khushi tentatively asked, "What is it?"

Arnav paused again, making Khushi more nervous by the second. He finally said, "I left a very important file at my house, one that I needed with me at today's conference in Nainital. It would take too long for me or anyone else here to go back to Delhi and come back as the conference is this evening. Would you be able to collect it and come here?"

Khushi gaped at his request, munching on a jalebi as she processed what he had asked her. How could she just leave for Nainital that day? She barely knew him. Could she make such a long journey just to do him a favor? "I, I don't think my Buaji would ever let me go! I'm sorry, but I there's no way I ' "

'Please Khushi, it's urgent and everyone I trust is with me at the conference and cannot make it back in time either. Why don't you ask your fiance to drive you?"

Khushi winced at the thought. Her and Shyam on the road for five and a half hours? And had Arnav just told her that he trusted her? But why? He barely knew her. In fact, he knew her as a thief which made things worse. "He's busy today. He has some work. There is no one I can even go with, even if I did convince my Buaji somehow! But why are you asking me? You hardly know me."

There was more silence at the other end until Arnav finally said, "I am not sure about the people working under me anymore. There seems to be someone who is leaking information to other companies, and other than the people who are already here, I can't trust anyone until I figure out who it is."

The fact that he trusted her more than some of his own employees warmed her heart, and Khushi found herself wanting to help him even though it was almost impossible that Buaji would ever agree. It was then that she suddenly remembered Payal and how she owed her a favor anyway after losing her engagement ring. They shared a love-hate relationship, but she knew that Payal would help her when she really needed it.

"Um, can I call you back in five minutes?" Khushi asked, "I will tell you if I can come then."

Arnav agreed, but told her to let him know as soon as possible. She immediately dialed Payal's number and waited impatiently until her friend answered.

"Did you find your ring yet Khushi?"

"No, but that's not what I am calling about. Actually, Payal, I really need your help. I need to go to Nainital right now, but Buaji will never agree. Can you fake a situation for me?" She explained everything as fast as she could, beginning from how she actually found this phone and what Arnav had asked her to do.

"Oh my God Khushi, you never told me all this?" Payal demanded, clearly annoyed that Khushi left out so many details about her life lately. "Anyway, fine! I'll see what I can do."

Khushi was lucky that her best friend belonged to an extremely rich family whose parents allowed her more freedom than Khushi had ever had. Actually, they were barely home to witness anything anyway. They were often traveling for work whereas Payal stayed at home with her elder brother who was even more lenient than her parents.

A few minutes later, Payal called her Buaji and for another five minutes, argued about how Khushi deserved a holiday for a few days with her best friend before her marriage. Miraculously, Payal won and Khushi was calling Arnav and packing her bags at the same time. Oddly enough, her friend had actually used this opportunity for them to go sight-seeing in Nainital for a few days and had even booked a hotel room. In the end, she was not even lying to Buaji.

Khushi was extremely excited, as she would be spending a few days with her best friend in a beautiful town without Shyam. However, there was more to it than that but she didn't want to let her excitement fade by thinking of anything futile.

Payal arrived just ten minutes later with her driver and they set off to collect the file that Arnav needed from his house after bidding a goodbye to Buaji.

Her aunt was very skeptical about the idea and warned Khushi not to get into any mischief. "I can't believe that I am actually letting you go Sankadevi. Make sure you take care of yourself and don't get into any trouble! And the both of you better not be wandering out late at night. Do not do anything that would make me or Shyam upset with you."

"Yes Buaji," Khushi rolled her eyes and gave her a one sided hug as goodbye.

Arnav had already sent the address and informed his elder sister that they would be coming and to keep the file ready, and Khushi was pleased to find that the journey to his house, or mansion actually, did not take too long. She hated long journeys as they wore her out incredibly.

Shutting the car door shut, Khushi gaped at the size of the house as well as the clean grounds it was located on. One of the walls surrounding the mansion had 'Shantivan' written on, and she laughed internally at how this Laad Governor could live in such a peaceful place.

Khushi saw Payal equally astounded with the wealth of the house as they both made climbed a set of stairs to reach the entrance. They rang the doorbell and waited until a very beautiful, elegant lady dressed in a pink sari opened the door for them.

"Oh! One of you must be working for Chotte, I mean Arnav, right?" she smiled at them sweetly, beckoning for them to enter the house. "I know you are in a hurry, the file is right here." She reached for a black file with 'Sharma, A' printed on it in white and hesitated whom to hand it to.

Khushi smiled and took it from her hands before saying. "I'm Khushi, and you're Arnav's elder sister, right?" Payal quickly introduced herself as well.

The woman smiled and nodded, "I'm Anjali. It was nice meeting you both. I would invite you for tea but Chotte specifically told me not to distract you as it's an urgent matter. Actually I would have gone to give him the file myself but he does not let me travel in my condition." She paused a placed a hand on her waist. "I'm a month pregnant."

Khushi congratulated her and then they both quickly took their leave as they had to hurry. However, she decided that she liked Anjali very much, and that she was as sweet as her brother was sour. Of course, she was beginning to think that Arnav was not as sour as he had come off initially.