New Arshi FF : Merger - Link to Thread # 2 on Page 141 - Page 15

A/N: Truly sorry for this delayed update. Thankyou all for bearing with me on this. Hope you like this update. It is a tad long. Do let me know your opinion.

CHAPTER 6

Arnav entered the office at 1.30 pm. It was a Sunday and he was in his casuals. A white shirt, blue jeans and his aviators. The security guard told him that Khushi was at office at 8 AM today. Surprised, he walked towards his cabin. And stopped...There was Khushi, bent on her desk, napping. There were a number of files open on her computer. And some files spread on the floor and her desk. And above all her files was her Notebook, in which she wrote all her tasks. Infact Khushi was teased to be ASR's Chitragupta, because of her notebook. And that made ASR the God of ... <<guess who?!>>

Arnav walked softly behind her and picked up the Notebook. There was a timetable in there. Just as if a school kid would draw. An hourly table for each day. And what needs to be done in that hour. But what caught his attention was that it stretched from 5 AM to 1AM. WHAT THE!!!. Is she sleeping for only 4 hours??!! He read the specifics. She had marked things like Accounts, Costing, Taxation etc etc for her hours at home. And everything, including her office work, were marked RED. Only a few, here and there, were in GREEN.

He turned the pages ahead. And there he saw, 3 weeks from now, were her exams, spread across various days. And they were all crossed in RED. And those pages had a lot of damp water blotches. Most likely tear drops, he thought.

He sighed and kept the book back. And looked at her. The puffy eyes were a proof that she had been crying. And going by her eating time, he knew that she must have not had either her breakfast or lunch. He went out and asked the security guard to get some food for the three of them and he himself went back to his cabin. For the next half hour, Khushi did not move an inch. And Arnav was in no mood to wake her either. Intermittently he kept looking at her image on his open door and chided himself.

<<FLASH BACK >>

The day before (SATURDAY)

"Aaj mausam hai suhana

Sales report dene ke hain ghadiyaan

What the what the what the

Kya dhoop nikli suhani

NK ki hogi dhulaayee

What the what the what the"

Deepak was drumming the conference room table and driving NK crazy. As it is NK was dreading the wrath of ASR. Increasing the sales by 5 times had been done. Was it easy. HELL NO!!. ASR was a crazy boss. Fair but crazy!

He armed both NK and Deepak with excellent team members. ASR had consistently maintained "Get the right person irrespective of the money. Every right person is an investment. And good investments always give good returns."

***

ASR strode in just as NK threw a paper ball at Deepak. "Deepak I would appreciate if you had put your fertile imagination in making new designs and garments, instead of making such annoying songs."

"Arey, no ASR, this is Khushi's song. She has penned it along with the tune." Deepak blurted.

Arnav cocked an eyebrow at Khushi with a smirk.

There were three O's on Khushi's face. Two eyes and a mouth. She looked from Arnav to Deepak. Glared at him. And sunk in her chair lifting the file in front of her.

"Hiding behind the file does not make you invisible Khushi." Arnav said, opening his latop.

She bit her tongue and placed the file back.

"NK, get started with your sales report."

NK displayed his presentation on the screen using the projector. For 15 seconds there was pin-drop silence in the room.

"Care to explain NK?"

"ASR, we have booked 2 crore sales in the last week..." NK started muttering softly.

"I am not an illiterate NK. I can read, you know. I don't care how much sales you have booked. Tell me how many prospective customers have been converted to permanent customers?"

"ASR, to be honest, we have reached a stagnation point. There are no more new customers to reach out in our area. We have approached all the fish in our league."

"Then expand your league, dammit. Who are the big customers whom you are not approaching?"

"ASR, there is a Chenambur Textiles in South India. If we are able to break into that Company, then we will achieve our original target of 10 times increase in sales in the next two months. But they are a difficult customer to please and they don't want to talk to any new suppliers." NK explained.

Arnav kept nodding, looking at the screen. Nobody was able to make out what was going on in his mind.

"Deepak, what is your status? Have you finalized the new designs?"

"ASR, I have some new samples and designs. We need your approval. Then Khushi and I will work on the costing and prices."

"Khushi, show me your work status on the screen." She displayed her task list through the projector. She was slipping on all tasks. Nothing was completed.

"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPENNING, KHUSHI. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO WORK, THE DOOR IS RIGHT THERE..."

She jerked with fear. The thin film of tears formed.

"AND DON'T DO THAT..." He pointed his fingers at her tearful eyes.

Khushi hung her head down.

He turned to NK. "NK, fix up a meeting with the CEO of Chenambur Textiles a week from now. And when we meet him we need to show him designs which have never been seen in the market till now. If he refuses to meet, tell him that I have an offer which he cant refuse. And he will regret not meeting me. And by the end of this month, we should target to get a large sales order from him."

Deepak, we need to finalise by tomorrow on the new designs that we are going to show the CEO of Chenambur. Then over the week you can get the final sample garment built by our suppliers.

And Khushi, you are required to tell us the cost of each sample. So guys looks like we are going to have a night out."

He didn't fail to notice her paled face. He shouldn't have shouted at her infront of everyone. Nevertheless, he continued as if nothing had happened.

***

They had started at 10 AM in the morning. And were bolted in the conference room for 10 straight hours now. Eating and drinking and brain storming about the designs. Arnav pulled out his evening medication from his wallet and gulped it. Khushi noted this.

And in those 10 hours, Deepak, NK and Khushi were in total awe of ASR. Till now, he had never worked hands on with them. This man knew his job. He shared some of his own designs. He mixed and matched the yarn, design, the size, shape and colour. It seemed there was no limit to his ingenuity and all seemed so logical, simple and easy, when he gave suggestions and made alterations to designs.

And so, they had continued to work all through the night. Arnav handed over his laptop to Khushi to update the design pictures and their costing.

It was 1 AM. Arnav had done finalizing the garment designs. And Khushi was working on costing of those designs. There were 20 more designs left. Arnav decided that there was no point asking NK and Deeak to wait as it was between him and Khushi to arrive at the costing and sale price of each garment.

"NK, Deepak. I think you guys can leave now.

Deepak, you start contacting the suppliers on Monday and get these sample garments ready.

And NK, lets plan to show these designs to the Chenambur CEO by end of the week."

NK and Deepak nodded and left. Too tired to answer any questions. They felt sad that Khushi was still stuck. That girl was working so hard. And they didn't appreciate the fact that she was shouted at by ASR.

Once they left, Arnav looked at the screen. Where Khushi was displaying the files she was working on.

"Ok Khushi. Let's finish this quickly and call it a day."

Khushi was scared now. Alone with the lion, not only in the room, but also the entire office, in the middle of the night. And this lion was only ready to pounce on her.

Oblivious to her state of mind, Arnav looked back at her. He left a breath, trying to relax himself. He opened top button of his shirt and folded his sleeves. Unknowing to himself, he was relaxing around Khushi.

"Are you tired Khushi? Do you want to go home?"

"No Sir. Let us continue."

"Ok, lets do this together. Saying so, he got up and picked up some of the samples for which they were yet to do the costing."

He pulled a chair near her and sat very close by. And started explaining the minute details for the costing.

Khushi's ears heard his words. Her hands typed the information and the numbers. But her mind was completely blocked by his close proximity. She could smell his cool mint cologne. And see his square jaw line. And the light stubble. Eyes showing with alertness. Hands deftly touching the garments and their intricacies. His mouth giving her notes.

His knees were inches away from her own. His shirt sleeve would touch her hands when he bent forward to get a garment on the table.

"Khushi, Khushi, I asked you a question... He brought her back to earth..."

"Sir?"

"I asked you to open the Ahuja Supplier file and look at the costing in it...are you evening listening to me Khushi Kumari Gupta...?" His voice rose slightly, showing his irritation.

"No Sir... I mean yes Sir. I mean...one second Sir, I will show the costing..."

And so, they went on...working till 5 AM. By which time, Arnav was totally exhausted. He knew that Khushi was tired too. They were left with some more work, but decided that she could do it on Monday.

"Khushi, lets end it for now. And lets finish the rest on Monday. We should be able to wrap it up in two hours on Monday...OK?"

"Ok Sir." She went back to her desk. And he to his cabin. He stepped out in 5 minutes. When he saw Khushi and Kaka discussing near the pantry.

"I will drop you guys home. Come on."

"No Sir. There is no problem, we will manage on our own." The ever gratified Khushi said with a smile.

"Listen Khushi Kumari Gupta. I am in no mood to haggle with you at this hour in the morning. Kaka and you are coming with me and that's final."

He had dropped them off at the end of the road of their house. And waited till Khushi entered her house. Kaka waved at him once Khushi was inside. And he started his car to go back to his guest house. As soon as he went home, he crashed on his bed. And got up only at 11 AM. After making calls to Aman and Anjali, he quickly got ready and was back at office to finish up some work.

***

Khushi rung her home's doorbell and turned to look at Arnav's car. Her mother opened the door for her and she walked inside the house. Her mother waved at Kaka and closed the door.

Khushi had not even opened her footwear, when her mother roughly pulled her by the arm.

"Apne aap ko kaa samjhat ho Khoosi. What kind of work do you do, for you to work so late in the night?"

"Amma, I did you call you yesterday evening that I will be delayed. Even Kaka called you. There is some urgent work Amma. We all are trying to get a big order. And Arnavji will be really upset if we don't finish our work on time. Infact...I am really slipping on all my tasks. I need to freshen up and go to work again."

"Jaao...wahi jaake raho, apne office mein. Don't come back home. Just like your father. Get lost. Agar apna moo kaala karne ka soch hi liya hain tumne, to nikal jaao is ghar se. Itna bhi khayal nahi hain ke ghar mein ek choti behan hain. Tum dono ka byah karna hain mujhe. Badi behan moo kaala karegi to choti se shaadi kaun karega."

"Amma...!! Why are you talking like this. Arnavji had doubled my salary without any proof of my knowledge. And when I finish my exams, I will be a qualified person. That will make me eligible for further promotion. Arnavji is a very knowledgeable person Amma. You should have seen him yesterday..."

"Arnavji, Arnavji Arnavji...jab dekho tab Arnavji yeh...Arnavji woh..."

"Your Arnavji gets a big order. But that will fill his pockets. Not yours. Your Arnavji doubles your salary without questions. Who does that without an ulterior motive? In this era, you cannot trust your own family. Be it a father, mother, husband or wife. Then who is this Arnavji giving you so many benefits out of the blue?"

"Stop it Amma. Do you even realize what you are saying?. How can you say such things about Arnavji? He has given opportunity to not only me, but so many others in the office. And I trust him when he said that if we deserve more, we will get more. He is a man of his word. So, when I pass my exams, I will get a better opportunity. And we all WILL have a better life."

"How do you know that he will keep his word? What guarantee do you have? Arey bitiya, when will you understand that this is the destiny you were born to live with. There is no better or worse tomorrow. When will you learn to accept your fate? And I told you before and this is the last time I am telling you. No writing exams. How will I marry off a professionally qualified daughter? More qualification means more dahej'. So, stop dreaming about all this."

"Stop it Amma. Just stop it. What I am doing is not with a selfish motive. This will be for you and for Chutki too."

Too tired and unable to prolong the fight, she stormed into her room and closed the door. She could still hear her mother yelling at her. Asking her to give up her stupid thoughts and ambitions. Cursing her that she will be just like her father. Her blood was tainted. She would go away one day abandoning the two of them to pursue her dreams.

Payal stood mutely in a corner. Heart of hearts she knew her sister was right. But did not have to courage to stand up against her mother at such a young age. She could not share her mother's cynical and defeatist attitude.

Khushi sunk to the ground hearing her mother's words. Not only the world outside, but her mother too cursed her because of her father. SHE had not pushed him to go away. Tears streamed down her cheek and wetted her dupatta. She clung to her knees and sobbed her heart out.

After a good half an hour, her mother went back to sleep in the front room. Payal and Khushi slept in their bedroom. At 7 AM, Khushi got up and saw that both her mother and sister were asleep. She had work to do. She had commitments to meet. Her boss was not happy with her as it is. It was easy for her mother to lose sight of their current position. They still had a household to run. They still had some debts to clear. And losing this job was not an option.

She got ready as quietly as possible. Woke up Payal to tell her that she was going to office. And left.

She reached the office by bus. And started to complete her tasks. At about 12 PM, she took out her notebook to take stock of all her work. Her work was only piling up. And at this rate she would neither be able complete her office work nor study for her chartered accountancy exams. It was imperative that she hold on to her job. Her dream of being a qualified person and leading a dignified life would have to be shelved for some more time. Suddenly an overwhelming feeling of loss and despair hit her. Everyday she was fighting. Fighting her fate. Her destiny. When her own mother did not believe that they had something good in store in the future, she felt defeated. She felt as if she was foolish to think that there was a battle in the first place to fight, let alone hope to win the battle. Out of utter anguish and sense of hopelessness, she crossed the exam dates with a RED pen. And sobbed. Tears of pain fell on that page. She didn't realize when she fell into a deep slumber.

<<FLASHBACK ENDS>>

The security guard came back with the food. Just before entering the cabin, he was horrified to see Khushi napping. And before Arnav could stop him, the guard woke up Khushi.

"Madam..." He whispered. "Madammm... ASR is in his cabin."

Khushi's head shot up. "Uhh...?"she looked groggily at the guard.

"Madam, ASR has come to office today."

She perked up straight and started working. The guard delivered the food to Arnav and left.

"Khushi. Come here."

This was the last thing she wanted today. If he shouted at her, she would break down. She went to his cabin despondently, ready to hear an earful. Instead, as usual, he surprised her.

"Sit Khushi. Let's have lunch."

Her eyes shot up to him in question.

"That is, if you have not eaten already."

"No Sir, I will have later."

"Look, I have already ordered for you too. So unless you want to throw this food in the garbage..." he left the sentence unfinished.

She was tired today. With no energy to make polite escape from him, she sat in the seat in front of him.

Arnav opened the boxes and served both of them. Khushi knew protocol asked for her to do all that. But she was too pre-occupied with her thoughts to adhere to it.

Both of them ate silently and slowly. The only sound was the clinking of their plates. Somehow, this meal was calming her senses.

Arnav took in her state. Slightly disheveled hair. Puffy eyes. Nose having a tinge of pink. He rebuked himself for dumping all that work on her, so much so that she had decided to give up on her exams altogether. And that sad face. Why did it bother him so much? Because it feels true, it feels genuine.

"Each problem is as big or as small as what our mind makes it out to be. Its all in the mind." He tried to breach the subject trying not to make her uncomfortable.

Khushi stopped eating. Looked at him for a second and bent her head down again. Moving the food with her spoon. Not really eating.

"And every problem has a solution. You just have to look for it. Or rather, ask for help from the people around you." He gently coaxed her to let him know exactly where she was getting stuck with her work.

"But what would you do when the solution is right there in front of you, and the very people around you are not letting you to solve. They want to continue to live in the misery."

Arnav was totally confused now. Was she talking about work or something else? But something was definitely bothering her. So, he tried to address the issue, though he had absolutely no clue about what it was.

"Sometimes, even the person standing next to you does not see what you see. People are different, perspectives are different. Perspectives are formed due to impact of the circumstances on the person. If you are so sure about a solution that you can bet your life on it, then you should go ahead, no matter what the people around you think."

"What if that decision backfires in future?"

"Look, life does not come with a guarantee card Khushi. You take a decision to the best of your knowledge and faith at the time. Worrying about future only complicates the issue. When I am in a dilemma I ask myself only one question "What is right thing to do right now?". And I do whatever seems correct at the moment.

If I may ask, what is the question that is bothering you? I may have more insight if I know the specifics."

After hesitating a bit, she decided to share part of the problem with him. "I am undecided if I should complete my education or not. Someone close to me thinks that my education and qualification will become a cause of burden in future."

Arnav felt like laughing at the statement. Was she so tensed and broken about just a decision to write her exams. But he corrected his thoughts with one look at her. This girl wants to get a qualification. And someone very close to her was, for all practical purposes, scaring her that she will be in trouble if she completes her education.

"Khushi, get one thing straight. Knowledge is power. While that statement is true, we have to take it with a pinch of salt. I stumbled upon your knowledge. Hell I didn't even know that you had so much knowledge when I first took your interview. I just gave it a shot. More so due to the crunch of people and money at the time. Had I had an alternative person or more money to recruit at the time, I wouldn't have given you the position of my executive assistant. So, in brutal words, you have been sheer lucky."

"But luck does not last forever Khushi. If you want people take you seriously, you need to give proof of your knowledge. And any qualification that we add to our names is just that. A proof' that we may have the knowledge. It gives you the gate pass into a job. Only when you first enter, can you prove yourself in a job. Do you understand what I am saying?"

She nodded mutely.

"So, in short, yes, you need to give a visible proof of your knowledge. Which means you need to get a qualification."

"And stay away from people who bring you down Khushi. Who is this fool trying to scare you about completing your education?"

She could not confess that it was her own mother.

Not getting a reply, he continued. "Look I know that the course you are attempting is fairly difficult. While I may not be of much help, this is what I can offer. You can work only between 9 AM to 3 pm till the exams are over. And you can take the week before the exams completely off. Is it enough?"

Her face had a small smile. The spirit was returning. She nodded and got up to go back to her desk, with her plate.

Just when she was near the door, she heard him call her name again.

"Khushi..."

She turned around with a raised eyebrows

"Don't let anyone tell you your status, ok? People, sometimes our own family and friends, have the tendency to put us down. And after a certain while we start believing it."

She silently looked down and nodded and went back to her seat. And just like that, without knowing her real problem, he had addressed it. She sat in her desk with a renewed spirit. For the first time in many days, hell, for the first time in life, the fog in front of her seemed to clear slowly. She had a path and a vision to follow. She got back to her work with a renewed energy.

Arnav on the other hand rested back on his chair. He was worried so say the least about this girl. He looked at her from his cabin and heard the typing of keyboard and shuffling of papers. He went back to his own work. But the unsettling feeling at the pit of his stomach did not leave him.

***

4 WEEKS LATER

Khushi walked into the office late afternoon. She had just finished her last exam and could not wait to see her office. Or see Him? She had studied hard and had prepared well for the exams. Despite her mother's constant bickering. She had good support from Kaka and Payal. And the extra hours and leave that she had got from Arnavji was a big bonus.

As she entered the office, she could hear loud voices. When she looked around, it was NK, literally jumping holding a paper in his hand, high up in the air. "We got the order, Oh my god, we got the order. Deepak, look, look at the value of the order...yaayy...we got the order."

"Khushi, Khushi...You came back. Look, look, we finally got the order from Chenambur Textiles. The order value is equal to all our other sales put together...Oh my god, I cant believe this. How will we even fulfill these orders...Oh my God...let me sit down." His excitement was contagious.

"Wow NK, I cant believe this. When? How? I mean, how did we manage to get this? The last time we spoke, you had almost given up hope on it."

"What shall I say Khushi. We kept trying and trying for 3 weeks. And finally, last week, the CEO of Chenambur gave us a 1 hour slot. For 45 minutes Deepak and I tried to show him the designs, while our Yamraj didn't say a word in our support. And after that, he asked us to step out as he wanted to have a private word with the CEO. And that's it. I have no idea what he said to the CEO. He walked out 1 hour later. They shook hands and said that they were looking forward to conduct good business with each other."

"And today morning, I got a call from their purchase department to await a fax where they would place an order. God Khushi, I have no clue what Yamraj did. But he has changed the face of this Branch."

Khushi could not contain her happiness. "Have you told Sir about this? He should be the first one to know."

"Are you mad? Nobody wants to go to the lion's den. You have no idea how much tempermental he has been during the past few days when you had been on leave. I am going to scan and email him this order." NK looked at her as if she had gone mad to suggest to enter his Yamraj's office.

Khushi frowned at him and not heeding his words, she all but ran into HIS cabin.

"Sir, Sir, do you know what just happened?" She beamed.

"Yes Khushi, we got the order from Chenambur." He drawled still looking at his laptop. As if nothing significant had happened.

Since he wasn't looking at her, she scrunched her nose and stuck out her tongue. Huh, Mr. Know it all. Doesn't even know how to celebrate a win.

"And your leave has been cut short by the last few hours Ms. Gupta. Go check your mails and get started with your work. We have the Quaterly Company Conference coming up in two weeks, for which we need to prepare. This time, NK, Deepak, you and I will be attending that meeting."

"Yes Sir." She was about to go back to her seat. And then she heard him say.

"And Khushi... get me my coffee."

She turned back. He was looking at her now. A small smile. Just one side of the lips tipped up. And a shine in his eyes. Khushi knew just then how happy he was to see her. She nodded her head and gave her broad dazzling smile. She was happy too. Very happy. Not because of winning the huge order. But to see him. Just see him. After close to two whole weeks.

NEXT CHAPTER : The Quaterly Conference

A/N: So, how was it? I am not so sure myself. Please please write your thoughts on this update. All your comments are precious. Or hit the LIKE BUTTON. Again really really sorry for giving delayed updates. Thankyou so much for reading my story.