Sorry guys this update was rushed as I didn't have enough time - please excuse any mistakes.
Imperfect Mr Perfect - Chapter 10Khushi was ecstatic after Arnav's mini confession - well it wasn't exactly a confession but he had made her feel special and it had done a lot to boost up her confidence. Even though Khushi had been hurt after his outburst earlier, she had never been the type of girl to hold grudges against anyone. So when Arnav had apologised to her, she had forgiven him very easily. The only thing which made her act the way she did, was her lack of self-esteem -but that problem had been solved with Arnav's confession.
Even though she still felt low about Dadi's hatred for her, she no longer felt that she was unlikeable' as she had concluded in the time of her grief. And she in no way felt like a burden now - especially after that deal offered by Arnav. Now she could do something for him too, but by making the food in the house, and doing other household work in her free time - which she was probably going to have lots of.
Arnav on the other had been quite shocked with himself after what he'd said to Khushi. Yes he admired her, and never wanted her to change just as he had told her. But never even in his dreams had he ever thought of actually letting her know that! He had caught on that something was off in her still after he had silently observed her eat very little of her food. However, he had kept quiet thinking that the jalebis will do the job if not her favourite dishes. But he had been shocked to the core when he saw her denying the jalebis with the excuse of being too full,' when he KNEW that she was probably still starving.
It's hard to describe how Arnav felt in that moment. At first he felt confused, but as realisation seeped in, Arnav felt complete remorse. He felt awful for having put Khushi through those cruel words when she didn't deserve even a bit of them. The worst part of it was that Khushi wasn't even fighting back as he'd expected her to - she had instead accepted everything and just apologised. As she started to speak he could see that self-depreciating nature start to seep into her and that was it. He couldn't take it anymore. He HAD to stop this.
He had started this whole situation, and now he had to be the one to solve it. So he had tried as best as he could to convey how beautiful she was in his eyes, in the most subtle way he could. What he had planned on saying (I should mention doing' too) and what he ended up saying (and doing) were poles apart!
He had no idea what came over him, but when he saw her struggling within her own little circle she created for herself, he couldn't help it. He had let his instinct take over and just took her into his arms and buried his face into the crook of her neck. He tried to give her his strength and support, but he was equally trying to find relief from the guilt that was eating him up. From where that sorry came from, he had no idea. Never had the ASR apologised to anyone - but here he didn't even need to TRY to apologise to Khushi. It had just come automatically. How? He had no idea.
After that, the words which came out of his mouth had come straight from his heart - everything he had planned on saying flew out of the window, just leaving those which came from deep within him.
Then when she took the jalebis and ate them (more like gobbled them up) - Khushi style - he had felt such satisfaction that he hadn't even felt when he got his first ever deal. He had watched in amusement as he saw Khushi go back to her normal avatar. He realised that all she needed was a little bit of lov- wait no. That didn't exist for him. What he had meant to think was that all she needed was a little bit of care, and that's all that was needed to bring that thousand watt smile on her face. '
While he was admiring the excitement on her face, he got a phone call from Akash, his manager, regarding an important deal. He didn't want to reveal his identity as ASR to Khushi yet - it's not that he didn't trust her, but it would keep both her and his identity safe. Not many people knew that he was ASR except for Aman and Akash. In fact, no one knew what ASR looked like except for these two.
When Arnav had first entered business, he was too small to get any recognition. Soon he had met Akash who he found to be very loyal, eventually leading to him being one of the very few people Arnav actually trusted. As his business started to expand and do better, he started to work behind the scenes with Akash always handling the media and making statements on behalf of him.
Even though Arnav was the biggest force of the company, he always did it without letting anyone know what he looked like. It was always Akash who followed his orders word for word, taking all the actions carefully as instructed by Arnav, even during client meetings. Each and every word would be planned beforehand by Arnav. Whenever Akash was unable to handle a particular client, they would be told to contact Arnav, because no one could win Arnav when it came to his negotiating skills. It was always his way or highway. No client had ever slipped through their fingers with Arnav's business tactics.
Arnav would visit office randomly as a normal employee coming from another branch of AR' to check on his employees and to make sure everyone was working efficiently. Anyone who slacked in their work was fired the next day. This made sure that the standards of AR Designs were well-maintained and everything was perfect.
Arnav didn't want to reveal his identity to Khushi yet and right now he needed to handle a difficult client. So he quickly told Akash that he would call him back in a minute and turned to Khushi. He told Khushi that he had some important work to do and that he had to leave, to which Khushi nodded in encouragement, telling him it was fine. Before turning to leave he turned the TV on and put on a Salman Khan movie, which had arrived this morning after he had asked Akash to get them especially for Khushi last night. The last thing he saw before he left to his study was Khushi squealing with joy, jumping up and down, still munching on the jalebis he had bought for her.
Soon Arnav called the client and got to work as he started negotiating with the client for his next deal worth lakhs.
After Arnav had left, Khushi got lost in her favourite star Salman Khan's movie Dabangg. She had no idea how time flew as she was watching the love of her life on TV (well he won't remain the love of her life for long, but we'll call him that for now ;-) )
By the time the movie had ended Arnav was still not back in the room and Khushi didn't know what to do. She sat there for a while just thinking about random things like more jalebis, Salman Khan, Buaji, Payal, and everything else she could think of in the moment. But then eventually it got to a point where she had thought through everything she could possibly think about at that moment and she was completely bored.
And still there was no sign of Arnav.
That was when she looked around the room to find the clock showing that it was 7 p.m. Only then did it click for her that she could start on her deal with Arnav starting today itself. Why wait until tomorrow when she could cook dinner today?
She made her way downstairs instantly only to realise that she didn't know where the kitchen was. As she looked around trying to locate the kitchen, she saw a man sweeping the floor. He must be Hari Prakash,' thought Khushi.
"Hari Prakashji?" she called uncertainly, not sure whether that was him or not.
Luckily he looked up at her and said, "Ji? You're Khushiji right?" Khushi nodded in relief.
"Could you please show me the kitchen here? I'm new here and I don't know where everything is...?"
"No problem, please follow me," said Hari Prakash, leading her into the kitchen. Before Khushi could ask where everything was kept, Hari Prakash himself started to explain where the vegetables, salt, sugar, and other things were kept in the kitchen.
"What is Arnavji's favourite food?" Khushi asked after Hari Prakash finished explaining everything to her. In Khushi's opinion, Arnav was doing so much for her, and the least she could do for him was to cook something of his liking.
"He has no preferences as far as I know Khushiji. He hardly has time to sit down and eat, let alone enjoy the food. He should be enjoying his life at this age, but all he ever does is work. He'd gone through too much at a young age - he'd grown up at too early in life, and now at an age where he should be enjoying life, he is always restlessly working. It's horrible to see Arnav babu like this Khushiji."
As Khushi listened she felt a strange kind of distress settling into her heart. Somehow right from the beginning she had felt that there was more to Arnav than what met the eye, and what Hari Prakash was saying now confirmed it further. But instead of making her feel relieved that she was right, it only distressed her to know that there was a lot of pain hidden within her Arnavji. Ok, maybe he wasn't exactly hers but according to her he was HER saviour and in a way that made him her Arnavji.
"Are there any foods which he doesn't like?" Khushi asked.
"He doesn't have any preferences on foods, but he is diabetic so he can't have sweets," replied Hari Prakash.
As soon as Khushi heard that her mouth was agape in horror. "Unhe sakkar manaa hai?!
(He can't have sugar?!) Hai Devi Maiyya! Poor Arnavji! How can he live without sugar - why are you so mean Devi Maiyya?" questioned Khushi. Khushi felt absolutely heart-broken for her Arnavji. No wonder he was so arrogant at times - how could he be sweet when he had none of it in his body?
Really?' Khushi's heart asked her. Do you really think he isn't sweet? Think of everything he's done for you, the way he's cared for you - doesn't that show you how sweet he is?' it asked her. Now that was definitely true and Khushi couldn't deny it - not even within herself.
Soon Khushi started to make dinner. When she finished, she laid out all the food on the dining table, ready to go.
Then she went upstairs to get Arnavji.
Sorry this wasn't that good a chapter - it was very rushed. So far the chapters have been very Arshi focused, so from next chapter onwards the real action will start. As it's half term for me next week, I will make sure it's extra long 😊
Sorry again
All rights reservedDo not take, use or copy my work without my permission Edited by amira039.303 - 10 years ago
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
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