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Chapter 15A
The downfalls of an extended home stay in Mumbai meant the team and its sponsors were throwing a glamorous party, something Arnav felt was forced down on him. These were the kind of events he hated going to, but he understood that his profession demanded him attending these type of social settings. Even if he didn't understand, his PR manager, Sheetal Kapoor, would definitely leave no stone untouched in reminding him about it. Unfortunately, he no longer had a girlfriend to act as a shield from people trying to get close to him unnecessarily at such events. However, he was also thankful that he had no attachments at the moment. It had honestly been taxing on him to be in a relationship. However, he thought back to his meeting with Khushi and realized that he actually enjoyed her company and didn't mind having to spend time with her. Thinking of Khushi, he wondered if a certain Ms. Gupta would make an appearance at the party; it seemed like she was everywhere these days so he wouldn't be surprised to see her there. That would sure brighten up the party, he thought to himself. The shrill tone of his cell phone broke him out of happy thoughts he was having about Khushi.
"Hello," Arnav answered cautiously, wary of what the person on the other line would have to tell him.
"Hi Arnav," Sheetal purred on the other end. Knowing that Aman was out of town at the moment, she called to remind Arnav of the party, again. And in the process, she hoped to raise her standing in his life.
"Arnav, you remember the event tonight right," Sheetal asked enthusiastically.
"Yes, Sheetal. I saw your e-mail and your text message," he replied curtly, hoping she would back off.
"Well, good! Speaking of the event, come pick me up on your way there. I want to discuss a few official things with you on the way."
"Is that really necessary," the grumpiness was starting to come out with startling clarity.
Not dismayed by the obvious annoyance in his voice, Sheetal insisted on accompanying Arnav to the event, on the pretense of official business. She was a PR whiz and she had learned to spin things her way in the best possible way, so why not try out her luck with ASR, she reasoned to herself.
The party was to be held at one the newest hotspots in Mumbai, Aer. The lounge atmosphere sat atop the luxurious Four Seasons Hotel, overlooking the glittering city of Mumbai. Arriving at the party with Payal in tow, Khushi looked around the spacious rooftop lounge, marveling at the beautiful dcor and perfect ambience for a fabulous night out in the city. Unknowingly, she was also searching for the one pair of molten caramel eyes that continuously left her confused and flustered all at once. She had heard that it was mandatory for all players to attend, so she knew that Arnav would make an appearance. She didn't know what she felt whenever she was in his presence, but one thing she realized was that she actually enjoyed talking to him, especially off the record, as he was not so stiff and overbearing.
Payal had excitedly told on the way that Akash had officially asked her out on a proper date and that the two would be heading to a still undetermined restaurant to dine out after the team's next match. As soon as Payal saw Akash, she excused herself from Khushi who went off to get a drink. Since it was work event, she knew she had to stick to something sensible so she allowed herself to indulge in a tall glass of juice.
Khushi was sitting at the bar, waiting for her drink to arrive. In the meantime, she was scoping out the room, seeing what all was going on. She saw a majority of the players already present in the room. Many had model girlfriends attached to the hip, something that didn't surprise her too much. She then spotted the Australian player she frequently talked to, Nick Thomas. She could tell that he was trying to charm some woman at the other end of the room, and it seemed like it was working as the woman looked very interested. She couldn't blame the woman, the man was always charming, especially with his accent. In a short period of time, she had really come to like Nick and had actually started to think of him as a friend, even though she didn't know much about his personal life. It was weird how some relationships didn't need much in order to exist and be successful. She thought how diametrically opposite it was to the relationship she shared with Arnav; in a short period of time, they had already gone through so many ups and downs, and with her special assignment on him, she could only imagine how much more of a roller coaster she would have to go through where he was concerned.
Just thinking about the devil and he arrived, Khushi mused as she saw Arnav make an entrance. Dressed in a casual navy blazer with a white shirt underneath, he looked the epitome of suave and handsome. She couldn't take her eyes off of him, until to her dismay, she saw a beautiful red-headed woman sneak up close to him, immediately causing her to avert her gaze from them. From what Khushi had seen, the two were not touching in any way and Arnav looked his usual aloof sense, but she still felt a tinge of sadness at the thought of him already moving on to a new relationship, or worse, a short-term meant nothing fling. She immediately dived into her freshly made drink, mentally telling herself that his personal life was none of her business. Unfortunately, her busy mind couldn't help but wonder who the striking woman was and what kind of relationship Arnav shared with her.
Arnav and Sheetal walked in separately on the red carpet outside the venue, but Sheetal latched on to him as soon as the cameras were out of their vicinity after they stepped inside. She was starting to get annoyed that Arnav wasn't paying much attention to her, no matter how flirtatious she was towards him. It irked her more that as soon as they entered the room, more women came to flock around him as if they would have a chance with him. As soon as she heard about his breakup with Lavanya through the grapevine, she made it her mission to use her connection with him to get closer to him, forgetting her previously-held belief of never mixing business and pleasure. Obviously, it was much harder than she thought, noting the interest of all the other women who had come near him. However, she didn't fail to notice that he didn't pay special attention to any of the women, including her, as his eyes were busy roaming around the whole room, only stopping at the sight of a woman at the bar. Looking more carefully towards the direction of his eyes, she noticed a beautiful young woman sitting in a striking red dress all by herself. She wondered if and how Arnav knew her and vowed to herself that Arnav would pay the unknown woman no further attention.
Khushi was trying hard to ignore Arnav after his arrival, but she couldn't help and turn around to look at what he was doing. She grimaced to herself as she saw women swarming Arnav like a bunch of bee's buzzing around before attacking their next prey. She kept chanting to herself to turn around and stop looking his way. However, in the back of her practical mind, she knew that she needed to talk to him tonight in order to help her with her assignment. Trying to forget her special expose for a moment, she took out her phone and started looking at some angles she could use to write her next article about the evening's event. Ashok had mentioned that there was going to be a silent charity auction as part of the event and hoped that she would be able to write a fun feature about some of the prizes and how the auction was able to help a worthy cause. She was disturbed from her thoughts by the clearing of throat right behind her. Turning towards the disturbance, she was surprised to find Arnav standing right behind, the glint of admiration not lost in his eyes.
"Hi," he started off, his husky voice immediately hitting her senses.
"He-hello," Khushi answered shakily. She didn't know why the man affected her so much. It was not only his voice, but also the way he was looking at her that left her flustered. Mentally chiding herself for her weak response, she changed her tone and asked firmly, "Hey, how are you doing?"
Shrugging his shoulders non-committedly, Arnav surprised Khushi when he took a seat next to her and ordered himself a glass of water. He had spotted her after he walked in; an invisible magnetic force quickly brought him near her. If she looked alluring from far away, he couldn't even begin to describe how she looked from such a close vantage point. The feeling of seeing the ethereal beauty in front of him was unlike anything else he had ever experienced. He couldn't help but feel mesmerized by the beauty sitting next to him.
"That's all you're going to have?" Khushi asked, hoping to initiate a decent conversation.
"This is a work event for me. Once I get back home, I need to review some game film," Arnav replied in a business-like manner. He appreciated her attempt at making small-talk with him, but since he couldn't stop himself from admiring how beautiful she looked on this particular evening, he hoped to talk strictly about business.
"Wow, you really don't give yourself a break, do you? Khushi remarked. "So, are you enjoying the party?"
"I just got here a short while ago, but I doubt I'll enjoy the party, I hate these types of events."
"Then why did you come?"
"Cricket is my life, so unfortunately these kinds of events come with the territory. And this party, in particular was mandatory for everyone on the team. What about you? Do you usually enjoy these types of social settings?"
"I don't mind most social settings, but I do feel a little bit out of place here. This party is quite glamorous."
"And you have a problem with it being too glamorous?" Arnav asked curiously. From what he could see, she fit in with the beautiful crowd perfectly.
"Well, it's not just that it's a fancy atmosphere. I just feel out of place here," she replied hesitantly as she swirled her chair around to look around the room.
"Really? Why?"
Trying to make light out of the situation, Khushi blurted out, "Look at how many beautiful models and actresses there are here. Makes me feel short and inadequate!" She nervously chuckled to herself in a self-deprecating manner after realizing she told Arnav about her insecurities.
Bewildered at Khushi's concern about being compared to models, Arnav couldn't help himself from reassuring her, "What the! Are you serious?" Seeing the serious look on her face as he asked in an outraged manner, he wanted to dissolve the insecurities from her mind. "You have nothing to worry about in that department. You can give all those models a run for their money."
Shocked at his open admission, Khushi didn't know how to respond, but felt her cheeks reddening at his obvious compliment.
Seeing the blush spread across her face, Arnav couldn't stop himself from continuing. Sliding his bar stool a little bit closer to her, Arnav dropped the level of his speech so it would reach Khushi's ears only, even though they were secluded from the majority of the party-goers, "You should never compare yourself to those models. As far as I'm concerned, they shouldn't even stand next to you. Those models eyes don't sparkle at any given moment. Their skin doesn't glow with lightness and innocence. They don't turn red at the drop of the hat when they are being complimented. And they certainly don't have your radiant, positive attitude and zeal for life." The continuation of his flattery left her more speechless, and caused her to blush further, if that was even possible.
"Has anyone told you your nose tends to get red quite a bit," Arnav mused as he took in her flustered state. He couldn't help but smirk; it looked like Ms. Gupta was affected by him just as much as he was by her, something he could finally acknowledge to himself at this moment.
"Arnav!" A shrill voice called behind them, effectively ruining their brief, intimate moment.
Turning around to face an irate Sheetal, Khushi realized that Arnav had forgotten about Sheetal since he sat down next to her. She wondered what it would be like to date him, when he had so many women around him. Was he just stringing along women; was his character dheela, she asked herself. She immediately stopped herself from thinking that thought through. Since her first introduction of him, she had never heard anything negative about his personal relationships. Plus, he had never given her the vibe that he was a bad guy in any way based on her interactions with him. He might be aloof and difficult as an interviewee, but she was convinced that that was the end of his negative behavior. Plus, what right did she really have to think of Arnav in that personal way. After all, who was he to her, other than the subject of her upcoming expose, her inner conscious reasoned to herself, an idea that did not sit well with her, she sadly realized.
"Khushi, meet Sheetal Kapoor, my publicist," Arnav started off with the introductions. "And Sheetal, this is Khushi Kumari Gupta, from the Mumbai Chronicle." Rushing through a quick handshake, Sheetal placed herself in between Arnav and Khushi, cutting them off from each other. She had been irate to see them sitting so closely and made it her mission to stop them from getting any closer.
"Arnav, what are you doing here? We have so much to discuss about our latest PR campaign. Come on, I also want to introduce you to a few people." She grabbed his hand and tried to get him off his seat.
Relenting to Sheetal's pressure, Arnav gave Khushi an apologetic look and took his leave from her.
What a chudail, Khushi thought to herself after she witnessed Sheetal's rude demeanor. However, she let out a sigh of relief knowing that the two only shared a working relationship, based on how Arnav introduced her. The night was already off to an interesting start.
To be continued...
A/N: Thank you all for the feedback thus far. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts after the latest update.I apologize that I was not able to complete the full chapter. I will try to post the second half in a few days.
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