Chapter 89
Cross legged and still in her pyjamas, Khushi sat in their still rumpled bed as she sipped a cup of hot sweetened tea and flipped through the newspaper. She might have only been away from Delhi for two weeks but it seemed like a life time since she had read a newspaper. Engrossed in her reading, she absentmindedly reached to the plate of biscuits and dipped one into her tea, swirling gently as she continued to read. Suddenly the hairs on the back of her neck began to rise and she instinctively raised her eyes and encountered a pair of custome handmade Italian leather shoes that could only belong to one man.
Her breath caught at the sight of him in one of his beloved tailor made suits. He still had the same effect on her. His thick jet-black hair was slicked back from a freshly shaven face. His stubble was neatly trimmed back. His eyes were clear and rested. The advantage of flying first class. Khushi swooned inwardly. She knew she'd never tire of seeing this side of him and instantly yearning and anticipation shot to every region in her body. Her man was certainly something to look at. Handsome, wealthy, extremely sexy in a black suit that matched the colour of his gleaming dark hair, fitted his lean body to perfection, tailored only for those broad shoulders that she'd caressed and clung to, the trousers fitting the lean hips that had moved so sensuously with hers; Arnav Singh Raizada exuded charisma and sex appeal that Khushi knew she would never be able to deny. He looked every inch the sexy, uber confident billionaire businessman he was and once again Khushi was swept away on an incredulous wave of knowing that he was hers. And only hers.
The sound of a soggy biscuit plopping into tea startled Khushi back to reality just as Arnav bit back a chuckle and picked up his mug of strong black coffee from the side table by the chaise. He had to admit; there was a sense of satisfaction in watching Khushi ogle him. Openly. And with complete ownership. Taking a sip he watched his crazy wife muttering in displeasure to her Devi Maiya as she stared into her tea cup for the now dissolved biscuit. The last two weeks had been the most amazing two weeks of his life. He had never been in state of such relaxation and ease with another human being as he had with Khushi and he had to admit; he was loving the feeling of being so deeply in love with his wife. Clearing his throat he asked, 'so Khushi, other than fishing for absconding biscuits, what else is on the agenda today?'
Khushi looked up and glared at him momentarily. She might love him to bits but his smirk still had the power to get her on the defensive, 'you're just jealous that I can have sweet things and you can't,' she retorted. Arnav arched an eyebrow. He placed his cup of coffee on the table and walked over to their bed. Bending one knee on the edge of the bed, he slid one hand into Khushi's thick black hair and he tilted her head back before leaning over slowly and placing tiny kisses on the edges of her mouth. Cheekily, he teased her and then settled his lips firmly over hers. She tasted like a blend of vanilla and cinnamon; it was an incredibly detectable combination when combined with Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada. Arnav smiled against her lips, 'who says I can't have sweet things?' he whispered in a deep husky voice as he pulled back and winked at her.
After having gotten deliciously addicted to having him to herself twenty four seven for two whole weeks, the thought of a whole day without Arnav was as appealing as sticking rusty needles into her eyeballs. Khushi groaned as she grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled Arnav back towards herself, 'don't go Arnav. Spend one more day with me?' she whispered softly against his mouth. His lips shifted, a slow, sexy smile curving his mouth - it was the kind that lit up his eyes and made her want to hug him close because he was so damn cute.
'I have to go Khushi,' he said softly, 'you know I do.'
Khushi nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
'You've got lots to do today as well and besides it's not that long until I come back,' Arnav said as he tried to reassure a very dejected looking Khushi. Looking into her sad big brown eyes, Arnav knew exactly what she was feeling and like her, part of him wanted to selfishly suggest that she might want to come to AR Corp and work from there today purely so that he could have her in his vicinity. He closed his eyes and steeled his nerves. He might not want to leave Khushi but he also knew that she had a business to think of as did he.
Leaning back, Arnav kept his voice low not wanting to trigger those tears. He had no doubts about his own strength and had steeled himself for the agony of separation but he knew also knew that if Khushi began to cry - he might just cave. He took a deep breath, 'I better not kiss you goodbye, or I'll never leave,' he admitted honestly as brushed his fingers against his mouth and then pressed them against her lips. Pulling himself back to his full height, 'I have to go,' he said more assertively as he walked towards the chaise to pick up his I-Pad.
Khushi cleared her throat, she knew that Arnav was right - it was time to get back to reality. She clutched the bedspread and tried to breathe normally as she watched him walk toward the door.
Despite his determination to stick to his plan, Arnav's feet felt as if they were weighed down by a ton of lead and each step was slower than the last. Just one glance, one last look his heart pleaded to his brain. Unable to stop himself, he paused at the bedroom door, his hand resting on the chrome handles as he slowly turned towards Khushi. She looked at him with such yearning that he nearly flinched from her gaze. Don't look at me like that, he pleaded silently. She looked tiny and alone in the middle of their big bed. It would be so easy, Arnav thought, to bridge those few steps that separated them. To steal one more kiss. One more hug.
He seemed reluctant to let her go, and she couldn't bring herself to let him go.
The three tiny words that were once alien to his psyche rolled off his tongue effortlessly with heartfelt honesty, 'I love you Khushi,' his voice low and husky.
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To an outsider he looked exceptionally sexy, sleek and sophisticated in a black suit and black shirt which intensified his dark colouring and brooding sex appeal, but to Akash, black appropriately reflected his mood which was currently focused on suppressing his anger. He stared at the pile of reports lying on his desk eagerly awaiting his attention and swivelled his chair round to face the expanse of glass that overlooked the busy Delhi streets several stories below. It was another one of those amazing Delhi days: blue, cloudless skies, a hint of a breeze. It did nothing to improve his concentration levels. Or his mood, for that matter. Frankly, his mood had been in desparate need of improvement ever since one Payal Kumari Gupta had made her brutal announcement to him. The memories of that day came flooding in, thudding into his gut like a vicious blow.
The freezing cold rain had doused them in an unforgiving deluge and the late afternoon sky behind them quickly turned angry, purple and deep, dark blue. Trees whipped in the gusting wind making eerie sounds in the darkening landscape.
'You want the truth?! The truth is that I'm married,' she had screamed at him. The answer hit Akash with all the force of a kick to his solar plexus. Speechless, he had watched as rivulets of rain mingled with tears that ran down her face, 'And I killed my husband!' she had said almost in a whisper.
Akash stumbled backwards as if he'd been burnt. Stunned, he stared at Payal wordlessly. Whatever he had been expecting to hear from her, it certainly didn't feature the words married and murder in the same sentence. He grabbed her upper arms and felt her gasp as his fingers brutally dug into her flesh. 'You're lying!' he bit out as he desperately struggled to control himself. The clenching of his jaw and narrowing of his eyes were the only physical indicators of his fury. The emotions inside him were primal and dangerous. Disbelief and distrust was clearly etched on his face. 'Your family and mine have spent countless hours together since Arnav and Khushi's wedding! How is it that no one has mentioned this even once? No I'm not buying this Payal!' he thundered, his voice as cold as his eyes. The fact that she stood there, withholding the truth from him after everything she had put him through made his blood boil. Fury, pure and hot, crawled through him. He could feel her struggling and he tightened his grip. The bucketing rain continued lashing them mercilessly. Akash could feel tiny tremors racing through Payal but had no idea if they were due to rage at him or because of the weather. Right now he didn't care. All he wanted was the full goddamn story.
Akash was one micro step away from losing his cool, 'Damn it tell me the truth!!' he bellowed at her, his voice clearly audible and rising over the thunder in the distance. He was six feet four of hard, muscle-packed, angry testosterone and the look in his eyes had been murderous. 'Let me go!' she countered in return and then with some sort of superhuman strength she managed to push him back, 'I don't want to talk about it! This, you and me, was a stupid idea to begin with and now that you know... you know what, just forget it!' she hissed, her eyes blazing.
That had been the final straw. Her careless and cold remark was like salt on fresh burn. 'Screw you Payal!' Akash snapped, grabbing her by the arm and swinging her around to face him just as she was about to open the car door. 'And while you're at it, screw the frozen fake attitude too! I can accept that you might have been married but the fact that you killed someone is ludicrous, so you know what? You will damn well talk about it and tell me the complete truth!' he growled. The threat in Akash's voice was explicit and he knew full well that he was being deliberately intimidating and in that very moment he saw something snap inside her. It was like watching a flame dying out. 'I don't care whether you believe it or not - it's the truth!' she screamed, he's dead and I did it! And no one can ever change that!'
The wind whipped itself into a frenzy as nature mirrored their violent exchange. Suddenly a tree limb snapped the sound reverberating like a gunshot. Akash felt Payal flinching almost violently at the sound and then she became still. Akash looked down at her face. Suddenly was no stubborn glint in her eye, no challenge in her posture. He watched as she wrapped her arms around herself and clamped her jaw tight to keep her teeth from chattering. His heart sank. Akash stared into her eyes. He didn't know the details but he acknowledged she had told him a bitter truth as he dragged his hands through his drenched hair. His eyes locked with hers and for a moment she looked as crushed as he felt. He moved toward her with predatory grace, eyes still locked with hers. He watched as she tried to make her shaky legs move but they seemed to get the message late, managing to do no more than shuffle back a fraction, his advancing steps faster than her retreating ones. Akash grabbed Payal's wrist and pulled her against the wind towards the car and bundled her into it before slamming the door shut. He walked around the car and got in, strapping his seat belt in with angry movements.
He watched her carefully from across the car. Payal Kumari Gupta was obviously a master of concealed emotion he thought taking in the steely determination in her eyes, the firm line of her mouth, the straightening of her brow. He might not have guessed she was upset at all, if those deep breaths didn't hint at a racing heart.
Akash fired up the ignition and spun the car around brutally. Payal Kumari was such a crazy bundle of contradictions. Hard, but not emotionless. Vulnerable, but not weak. And so completely different than anyone he'd ever met. He was highly experienced at playing hardball to get what he wanted and had the undeniable urge to do exactly that but as strong as that instinct was, equally strong was the warning bell roaring in his head that if he so much as tried it, she'd shut down even more. So instead, he had concentrated on driving in the torrential rain waiting for her to speak. Long minutes of uncomfortable silence stretched into an hour and he reached the end of his tether and had demanded that she tell him more. Silence was the only response he was granted and he tried again demanding why she couldn't see it from his point of view. It had been as successful as beating his head against a brick wall. It had seemed to him in his ever-increasing frustration that the harder he tried to push the more she retreated and clamped down. Eventually, Akash had conceded defeat in a lockdown that made the silence throb with palpable tension for the duration of the ride back to her house.
For the first time in a very long time, Akash had no clue of how to deal with a situation. He was powerless. And it was infuriating. Deeply frustrated, he had risen at some point of the night, scrawled a note lying about a non-existent emergency at AR Corp and driven back to Delhi.
A knock sounded at the door, bringing him back to the present. His PA poked her head in, Mrs J. just called. 'ASR sir is back and has asked you and Aman sir to come up for a meeting at 9:30am,' she said without preamble, fully aware that her boss preferred economy with words.
A junior AR Corp administration assistant had just finished setting up the AR Corp Board Room. Her manager had informed her that the bosses were all back and were due to meet shortly. Ms Admin Assistant was a brand new recruit, only two days into her job. With the bored expression of a Gen Z, she set out water glasses next to the pen and paper pads. What was she doing here? Business was boring as watching grass grow and she was sure the bosses' would be old, fat and grey like her dad. Why oh why didn't that job at Cosmopolitan magazine work out for her she wondered as she sighed dramatically. Hearing the thud of footsteps, she straightened to her full height. The senior citizens had arrived it seemed. Hearing voices of men greeting each other, she turned around.
Arnav strode in to find Aman and Akash in the boardroom foyer. The three men were too busy exchanging greetings to notice the girl standing in the corner. Neither did they hear her gasp.
Ms Admin first gasped. And then swooned. It was as if her world had moved into slo-mo play and her jaw dropped open as three of the hottest men she had ever laid her eyes on in real life came into view. Dressed in immaculate, very expensive designer suits, all three men were six foot plus, had some seriously hot bodies under those power suits and looked like they had just stepped off the pages of an Italian fashion magazine. It was like watching a tsunami of male testosterone rolling towards her because all three men were pretty much sex-on-legs.
Maybe working at AR Corp hadn't been such a bad idea she thought with a smile.
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Khushi leaned back and stretched in her chair, arching her stiff neck and rubbing her eyes. Throwing herself into her work had been a good idea and it had kept her occupied for most of the morning. It wasn't as if she didn't miss Arnav, but once she started concentrating, she quickly fell in love with her second love, Jaleebi Junction, all over again. Now that she had re-read her business plan again, jotted down some ideas and made lots of phone calls, Khushi felt like she was making some headway and she was more determined than ever to get her project back on track. She took a sip of her almost cold tea, set down her cup and stretched her arms high above her head. She had been working since eight o'clock that morning, and it was now the middle of the afternoon. Thinking that it was definitely time for a break, Khushi was about to stand up when her phone buzzed with an incoming text message.
Mr Irani has made a decision. Please make yourself available to attend a meeting with him and the other interested parties at 4:30pm this afternoon.
Khushi took a deep breath and swallowed heavily. The moment of truth had finally arrived.
Meanwhile across town, Arnav paused to read the same message before leaning back in his chair. Squaring his jaw, resolve steely in his eyes, bring it on he thought.
hellooo helloo darlings!
Thank you for your awesome comments. This time I promise I have read each and every one of the posts and have tried responding too.
I love that I can keep you glued for more even after 90 chapters! Having said that, its a massive, massive challenge to keep the story rolling and intriguing but I suppose this is what drives me.
Ok, I am now ready (and waiting eagerly!) for your feedback so go on... don't be shy and share openly.
This time you have it all. Arnav-Khushi, Payal-Akash, so I'm not hoping to read complaints about favouring one couple over the other!!
naina😳
Edited by warriorprincess - 11 years ago
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