The next morning, Khushi woke up with the widest smile on her face, instead of her usual morning grumpiness. She was really looking forward to working with Arnav. The last few days had been heavy and she was ready to be over the drama asap.
After having a yummy breakfast, courtesy to her beloved mother, she walked out of her house, ready to get set for her day at work.
She quickly glanced at Arnav's place, just checking if he was still there. Unfortunately, she couldn't spot his car and sighed knowing that he'd probably left for work.
Nevertheless, she opened the door of her car, hopped in and started her car. After quickly checking her makeup in the rear view mirror, because that's obviously what it was there for, she drove to the office.
The traffic was as per usual and Khushi's patience was slowly slipping away. She just needed to get to the office at this point. Not only did she have loads of work, she also wanted to see her Arnav before that workaholic left for another one of his meetings.
Tackling the traffic, with her average driving skills, Khushi reached Felicity's office. As she saw the huge board that said, "Felicity, it took her back to the night before. If only could scream and tell everyone how special she felt after knowing that the company was actually named after her. But that would make her sound conceited and she didn't want to embarrass Arnav. But she made it a point to subtly brag in the future, because hey? She liked to have her fun.
Khushi stepped out and was welcomed with a rather quite atmosphere. It surprised her, just a little but she didn't have time to ponder over that.
"Khushi, there you are. You really have to start reaching office on time, girl." Lavanya said, busy reviewing the list of props for the new show.
"Sorry, again."
"It's okay, as long as you at least reach the office. By the way, a lot of people are out right now for location shoots for a couple of projects. So, I need you to go with Arnav and finalise the sets we discussed yesterday."
Little did Lavanya know, what she had said so nonchalantly would make Khushi gleam like the sun, basically.
Khushi collected herself and tried to push back the thought of spending most of the day with Arnav, as she tried to play it cool.
"Me? Sure, why not? No big deal." Khushi, said awkwardly, screaming from the inside.
"Khushi? Are you alright?" Lavanya looked up at her.
"Yeah of course. Why would you say that?"
Because I'm acting like a nutjob.
Khushi mentally hit herself. She really needed to stop acting like immature middle schooler when it came to Arnav.
"Then what are you still doing here, all giddy?" Go.
Khushi briskly walked out of the office and closed her eyes.
Good job at playing it cool, Khushi.
***
Contrary to what Khushi was expecting, work related stuff with Arnav wasn't turning out to be fun at all.
Firstly, Khushi had to meet Arnav directly at the studio, she didn't get to have a private car ride. Secondly, all they did was talk to the director. And by they', Khushi meant him. All she did was stand there. Thirdly, they didn't even get to have a proper conversation.
Khushi went to the corner, played some random playlist from Spotify and shoved her earphones in her ears. She sighed out of the sheer happiness of sitting on the chair after half an hour of standing, watching Arnav talk to the director. As songs burst into her ears she took the time to observe him. From where she was, it was actually a pretty good angle to just bask his hotness in. She scanned him and down wondering how the cute kid had turned into a hot hunk.
In her heart, she knew that she was probably setting herself up for a heartbreak with all these feelings she was having for Arnav when it had not even been an entire week since they met each other again.
Snapping her out of her thoughts, Arnav called out her name.
"Khushi, can you come here for a second?"
Khushi stuffed her earphones inside her bag and walked towards him, secretly hoping that he hadn't noticed her checking him out, again.
"We need to check out the movements of the spotlights for the stage sequence. Help me out with that, please? I'll look like a doof slow dancing alone. " He joked.
The set had a stage specially designed for a scene where the protagonist imagined herself slow dancing with the male lead. It was a comedic take on first crushes and honestly, Khushi could relate at this point.
She agreed saving Arnav from randomly slow dancing around the stage, alone and also knowing, that this would be something she could enjoy herself.
"Well, I can't have my boss look like a doof. So why not?" She said with a smile.
Arnav took her hand and guided her to the stage set and signalled the technician to turn the spotlight on.
Suddenly, it was like Khushi's own dream sequence. The stage was dim with a spotlight shining right above them. Arnav smiled as he slid his arms across her waist and pulled her closer. She went with the flow and placed her hand on his shoulder, allowing Arnav to take her other hand. She looked at him intently, and everything else seemed bleared.
With them ballroom dancing with their own styles, all Khushi could think of was how right it seemed. Arnav swept her swiftly, making her twirl and the klutz in her had to immediately lean on him for support in order to prevent herself from falling. She heard Arnav chuckle and she chuckled along with him.
They danced on their own accord moving in circles and laughing at how bad they were at this. Khushi took every chance of leaning on his shoulder to laugh for how good it made her feel and also because she didn't want Arnav to see her laughing in her buffoonish manner. That insecurity always took over her. She thought she laughed loudly with a wide open mouth because hey, every girl has her insecurities.
Before she could continue this trail of thought, Arnav said, "have I ever told you how beautiful you look when you laugh?"
Khushi looked up at him when he said that. They'd stopped dancing at that moment but didn't let each other go.
"Thanks, I guess?" She smiled sheepishly and Arnav joined her.
It felt so good getting to enjoy these moments with him. Khushi remembered how as kids, they would prepare random dance routines and putting up a show for their families just to gain a little applause and as little as ten rupees. The real fun lied in rehearsing it like they were professionals and making fun of each other when they messed up.
"The spotlight seems to be working fine, Sir."
The technician shouted and they let go of each other.
Khushi realised, as she looked around, how there were several other people on the set who could've done the same thing. If not slow dancing, they could've move around and there was really no need Arnav and her to do the task.
"You do know somebody else could've easily done this, right?" Khushi asked him, teasingly.
"Sure, anybody could have. But then," he came closer to her, "I wouldn't have gotten the honour to slow dance with Ms Clumsy Kumari Gupta, would I?
Khushi smiled as she lightly pushed him away.
This was it. This is how she liked them- playful and low-key flirtatious. Transitioning from the awkward friend phase to something else could be uncomfortable but she was here for it. It had taken 17 years but they were at last moving forward, and she was here for it.
Indian Idol 15
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