He stared at her, his gaze darkening as he saw her chest heaving. It didn't matter that he'd draped his jacket on her; he could still see the curves of her body, the outline, the shape of her hips. She may as well have been wearing nothing. He could imagine what that would be like..
Damn it, a man only had so much self-control. How many more times would he be able to stop himself before giving in to the hunger?
The event was less than five months away. For some, it would seem like a sufficient amount of time to get ready for an exhibition. However, the office of U3 Events was packed with not just people, but boxes of materials such as files, event brochures, floorplans, event guide booklets, marketing tools and other necessities.
People were scampering around, the atmosphere filled with light chatter, rushed footsteps and anticipation of the upcoming event. This happened every time an event was approaching.
Khushi particularly was feeling apprehensive, anxious and slightly giddy with excitement. This would be her first event since she'd joined the company. Looking around, she saw the exhibitor list on the table near her. She picked it up, scanning the extensive list of exhibitors.
This year, they had some impressive clients on board. Of course, Khushi was only interested in the one. AR Designs - listed in the top five companies exhibiting.
Tracing the letters on the list, she smiled to herself. She looked at her desk fondly, seeing her small vase with the two pretty stalks, thinking back to the night at the beach three weeks ago when she'd been given her two precious flowers by the charming, powerful man himself. Arnavji.
After he'd handed her the rose, they'd walked on for a little more before heading over to the shop for desert. Arnav ordered a sugar free bowl of oreo vanilla ice cream while she'd ordered three pieces of jalebis. Arnav cringed at the bright orange sweet drowned in the sticky gooey syrup that dripped slightly as Khushi lifted it only to stare at it as if it were her most prized possession.
Looking at Arnav making a face, she glared at him.
"What?" She demanded. He merely shrugged. She narrowed her eyes.
"It's just so.. so sticky. And so very sweet." He stated.
Her eyes lit up. "But that's the fun part Arnavji, the thick delicious syrupy flavor, the sweet taste exploding in your mouth, melting as soon as you eat it.." She looked at it dreamily.
Arnav was about to reply when she stuffed it in her mouth. She closed her eyes and moaned slightly, the warm treat melting into her mouth. Her moan sent dangerous thoughts flying in his head. Composing himself, he leaned over, wiping away a little syrup from her lips.
She opened her eyes, surprised. He looked at her for a long moment before moving back. He brought his finger to lick it. She gasped silently.
"You were right. That was fun. And delicious." Her wide eyes followed his tongue that swept out to lick his lips. She looked back at him only to see him wink at her. She blushed. He felt a sudden urge of happiness. He hadn't felt this playful in a long time.
They chatted for a while. Talked about different topics. It felt weird that they were so comfortable with each other after such a short period of time. Soon after, Arnav payed the bill despite Khushi's insistence on splitting it. He shushed her with a finger to her lips. How could she deny him anything after that?
They took a short walk before coming to a stop at the breakwater. He climbed onto it before helping her up. She collided into him as she reached up to step beside him. His arms wound around her small waist to steady her. She looked up into his eyes and for a moment, got lost in them.
The sound of the waves crashing against the shore slowly brought them back to the moment. They were silent as they settled down, seated facing the vast ocean. The ongoing wind parted the clouds, revealing the moon that shone brightly. Combined with the fairy lights that were tangled in the trees nearby, it was a perfect picture of romance.
"It's so bizzare.. The thought, the possiblity of another universe, another zone in existence. " Khushi looked up at the moon. He turned to face her, his breath catching in his chest as the moonlight brought out the radiance on her sweet face.
"There could be a whole other world out there. One that we don't know of. One that we may never know of." She continued, smiling as the stars twinkled.
"That's the beauty of it, I guess. The mystery. Some things we're just not meant to find out. Better off if we don't know" Arnav mused.
"Hmm.." She clutched his jacket closer to herself as the wind picked up speed. She thought about his words. Mystery. Some things not meant to find out... better off not knowing.. like her identity.
"Where are you lost?" He asked as he noticed the faraway look on her face.
"It's nothing. I'm just wondering.." She trailed off.
"Yea?" He encouraged.
"Do you like mysteries?" She looked at him.
"Sure. I like mysteries, challenges. Why?"
She licked her lips. "So if there was something.. something that someone was hiding," She cleared her throat "But it wasn't really very harmful.. no big deal really - would you get angry? Would you want to know? Or would you appreciate the mystery?" She asked, trying her best to phrase her question about what she knew, what he didn't know.
He looked at her, his eyes boring into hers; a calculative glint appeared in his eyes. "Why you, do you have a secret? I must warn you, I know how to defend myself. Just in case your secret was that you are a serial rapi-" At her horrified look, he broke off, chuckling, enjoying the tease.
"Would you relax?" He smirked at her. She pursed her lips before sticking out her tongue for a second.
"Bahut bura mazak tha." She huffed, looking away.
Mazak toh tume banadiya hai, mera. What are you doing to me, he wondered for the umpteenth time.
"Alright alright. I think a little bit of mystery is fine in life. What I don't think is fine is if the mystery entails lying. I can't stand lies. Does that answer your question?" He spun a rock before picking it up and throwing it into the ocean.
She nodded, swallowing slowly. Technically, she wasn't really lying to him.. was she? It could be counted as a mystery. Hey Devi Maiyya, what do I do?
"Hey." Khuraisha called out, bringing Khushi out of her thoughts about that night.
"Hi" Khushi greeted.
"Ritesh wants to see you. Bring the visitor file with you. Now" Khuraisha said with a serious face and stern voice.
Khushi merely nodded. As Khuraisha turned to leave, Khushi asked "Is everything okay? You seem.. tensed."
Khuraisha looked at her accusingly. "I'm busy Khushi. Lots to do. Not everyone can afford day dreaming and doing nothing." She rolled her eyes as she walked away, leaving to Khushi to wonder why she was in such a bitter mood. But before she could think much about it, her phone beeped a new message. She wanted to read it, but she knew Ritesh wouldn't appreciate any delay.
Khuraisha stormed away from Khushi, her insides shaking with anger. She still hadn't forgotten that night when Ritesh had brought her out for dinner as a treat. Hadn't forgotten how ASR had practically ignored her and left with that Khushi.
Khushi grabbed her file and headed off Ritesh's cabin. Knocking on the door, she heard a faint come in and she turned the knob to open the door. Ritesh sat at his desk, a dozen files scattered around. Khushi cleared her throat to get his attention as he was staring hard at a document in his hands.
Glancing at her once, Ritesh fired off instructions. "Fax this to the Mehta company." He flung a piece of paper that landed on the edge of the desk.
"Email our visitors, reminding them about the event. Then follow up with the international exhibitors and inform them about their flight and hotel arrangements. Liaise with the marketing team later, and tell them to start finalizing the list of hosted buyers. Print out 50 copies of the latest floorplan and leave it on my desk. After that, I will pass you another list of companies to call up. We still have booths and we need them filled. We have less than five months. Understood?" He barely looked at her, gathering some files together and typing away on his laptop.
Khushi kept up with his instructions, used to working in a fast paced environment by now. "Yes, Sir. This file you wanted..?" She indicated to the visitors file in her hand.
"Leave it on my desk. Close the door on your way out." He stapled some documents together.
"Ji Sir." Khushi slowly turned around to leave. Ever since that dinner at her favorite restaurant three weeks ago, Ritesh had been treating her differently. At first she'd figured it was because she hadn't thanked him for the dinner, or that she'd left with Arnavji.
So the next day she'd come to his cabin to thank him and also apologized for leaving so suddenly. Which was actually not her fault considering how Arnavji had simply dragged her away.
But Ritesh had merely shrugged and picked up his ringing phone, dismissing Khushi completely.
It had been three weeks since she'd last seen Arnavji. And one month since she'd known him. Her heart ached at having to lie to him. She wanted to tell him all about the name confusion, to explain it. But an unknown fear kept gripping her heart. Something told her the consequences wouldn't be pretty.
After that night at the beach, she'd asked Khuraisha about the misunderstanding. "Khuraishaji, I just wanted to ask you. That day when you went to meet Arnavji, What exactly happened?"
Khuraisha who was still fuming at having been royally ignored by the ASR turned to look at Khushi. "What do you mean?" She sneered.
"Woh.. I was just wondering." Khushi longed to ask her why Arnavji had thought of her to be Khushi. Hadn't Khuraishaji explained her absence? Why hadn't she told him about her fall and her sprained ankle?
"Nothing happened. Like I told you, the meeting went terrible. He was probably having a bad day. Before I could even get a word out, he got all angry and left. Done with your questions? I got work to do." Khuraisha spun around, swaying her hips much more than needed as she walked away.
So Arnavji hadn't given Khuraishaji a chance to explain anything.. and so he thinks she's Khushi. She gulped. And then she had introduced herself as Khushboo. Hey Devi Maiyya. Ye kaha phas gaye hum?
After the night at the beach, Arnav texted her, asking if she would like to go to that restaurant to celebrate after the event was over. She agreed. Unknowingly, they'd both planned an innocent outing that was still months away; forging a relationship beyond the working bounds without realizing.
Since then, they'd been texting on and off. Khushi slowly started to accept these foreign feelings. Whenever the screen of her phone lit up, she rushed to pick it up, excited at the prospect of getting a message from him. Over the three weeks, she found herself more attached to her phone than ever, sometimes longingly looking at it without realizing.
The dynamics of their relationship were slowly changing and Khushi found herself being okay with it.
Arnav slammed the file on his desk. He ran a hand through his hair and paced his cabin, agitated. He called Aman into his cabin.
"Aman, have you done as I asked about the Mehta company?" Arnav pointed to the file. Aman picked it up and looked through it. "Yes, ASR. I spoke to them. They won't be giving us anymore trouble. I made it clear that the deal will be on our terms and they have agreed." Aman reassured ASR who still looked troubled.
*Previously*
"ASR, the Mehta's want to renegotiate, I tried explaining to them but-"
Arnav ran his hand across his gelled hair. "What is their problem?" Arnav started pacing his cabin.
"They want to do the photo shoot, but on their terms instead. They want to change the location. Also, they're not happy with our lead model. Something about her not having the right look-"
"That just sounds like a bunch of excuses to me, Aman. It seems like they want to postpone our deal. Maybe they are delaying this because they've got a better offer from another company?" Arnav thought out loud to himself for the last bit. "Or they want me to think they're going to someone else so that I'll agree to renegotiation on his terms which will obviously mean our loss."
His pacing came to an abrupt stop. He leaned over his desk and placed both palms faced down to support his weight. "They're stalling. But they forget Arnav Singh Raizada doesn't wait for anyone. You tell them that this deal will happen as signed and planned, and on my terms. If they still have a problem, tear the contract into pieces, and move onto the next client." Arnav instructed, looking straight at Aman without blinking.
*Present*
"Good. Also, have you spoken to the supplier? What is he saying?" ASR crossed his arms.
"Don't worry, ASR. I'm dealing with them. They were acting a little pricey saying that another company was offering more favorable rates for their supplies, but I'll make sure he gives us the contract."
"Alright. Let me know if there are any changes." Arnav dismissed him.
With the ongoing photoshoots and the upcoming exhibition, AR Designs was busier than ever. He looked at his phone, his lonely phone that didn't have any new messages waiting for him. He scowled at it, as if it could magically produce a message in his inbox. He'd just messaged her, asking how things were going at her office. He glanced at his clock. That had been three minutes ago and she still hadn't replied. How long does it take to reply? He stared at his phone accusingly.
The accusation flew out the window when his phone beeped. He grabbed it and unlocked his phone. Seeing her message, he smiled.
Things are hectic. But I'm still enjoying myself. This will be my first event since I've joined the company. Aur aap?'
It's busy here too. Lots to do. So any improvements in your boss's behavior?'
She had told him about Ritesh's change in behavior. He had a feeling he knew why Ritesh was acting different. He smirked. After the way he'd dragged her away from the restaurant that night, he wasn't surprised at his change in behavior.
Still the same. I wonder why he's being like this. I apologized, but still. It was my first time going out on a treat dinner and I managed to upset him.'
Arnav frowned.
It's not your fault.'
How do you know?'
I just do. By the way, quite a few of your firsts seem to be with me.'
Ji..?'
Ji haan. First event, first dinner outing. What else shall we make a first?'
Khushi blushed. His seemingly innocent question was making her feel wobbly.
But oh, she didn't know about the devilish thoughts in his head.
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