Silent Whispers
-CHAPTER
NINE-
Prove Me Wrong
"Give it back!"
"Nope."
"I'm serious! Give it back."
"And what are you going to do if I don't?"
"I swear Akash - if you don't give me my
book, I will personally rip up your ticket to Jaipur."
"Oh my gosh - little Anjali has found a
smart mouth?!"
"Shut-up!
I'm not little."
"Of course you are! You are the youngest,
remember?"
"Am not!"
"Yes, you are."
"Am not!"
"Yes,
you are!"
"Naniii! Look Akash is annoying me!"
Devyani let out a sigh and put down the saree she was stitching on. Being the
eldest of the Raizada clan, she knew she ought to be able to handle any
situation that befell on her family. And yet, the one thing she never learned
to handle was the bickering of her two youngest grandchildren; that skill was
alone honed by their brother.
"What is it now?" she asked exasperated,
when an irritated Anjali sat down beside her.
"Akash stole my sketchbook and won't give
it back to me!"
Before Devyani could chastise the siblings
for such childish behaviour, however, a smirking Akash sat down across them.
"Okay fine crybaby, here you go," he said,
throwing the book for Anjali to catch. "Stop whining!"
"I don't whine!" said said indignantly.
"Of course you do - right, Nani?"
Devyani shook her head. "You know, when the
astrologer told your mother that she was going to have twins, I thought the
family would be finally complete. Alok was beyond
happy, because his Arnav would have, not one, but two siblings by his side. But here, you two don't even get along
for a second, forget standing together beside your brother."
"Well," Anjali said, wrapping her arm
around her grandmother's shoulders. "I don't know about this loser, but I will
always support Arnav Bhai, just like Babuji said!"
"Yeah yeah," Akash replied sarcastically.
"We all know that you are the darling
sister of Bhai. No need to rub it in."
Anjali smirked. "Jealous?"
"Anjali!"
Devyani admonished, before turning to Akash, "Both of you are his darlings... he never stops thinking about either
one of you for even a second."
He snorted. "Don't defend him Nani... I'm a
disappointment for him, just like how I was for Babuji."
"You know that's not true... Arnav puts you
before his own life."
"And I love him too! But that doesn't
change the fact that he disapproves of me painting."
"He means it only for your own good-"
"Yeah, it's always like that. But everyone
conveniently forgets about my happiness when talking about my future! First it
was Babuji, who went on and on about what being a "Raizada" means, as if I chose to be born here and now it's his
idealistic son."
"Akash!"
It was Anjali who interrupted. "Now who is whining?!"
Akash turned to his sister, knowing that
her taunt was simply her way of subtly changing the conversation before it got
messy. And he was somewhat grateful, because whatever his feelings were, his
grandmother was not responsible for it.
"You are supposed to respect your elders Anjali!" he retorted sarcastically. "Don't you
remember anything Nani taught you?"
"You are not older than me!"
"Of course I am! Ask Nani."
Anjali turned expectantly towards Devyani,
who despite being aware of the change of topic, played along. "Akash was born
first," she said with an apologetic smile.
"By five
minutes!" Anjali exclaimed. "That doesn't count."
Akash smirked triumphantly. "Yes, it does.
Maybe you should start calling me Bhai."
"In your dreams! Besides, aren't you
getting late for your flight?"
"You wanna kick me out so quickly?"
"Yes! The sooner you leave, the sooner I
can work... in peace."
"You mean scribbling in that book of
yours?"
"It's called a blueprint. And for your kind
information, I got a renovation project."
Akash raised an eyebrow. "Who would give you a project? Are you sure they are not
blind?"
"Ha ha... no, they are not blind. Unlike you, they actually recognize a talented person
when they see one."
"Talented? And you?"
Devyani cut off Anjali's retort. "Enough
you two! Akash - are all your bags packed?"
He nodded.
"Okay, I will tell Hari Prakash to load
them in the car. The driver will drop you off at the airport."
Anjali was surprised, but waited for
Devyani to leave before asking, "Isn't Khushi dropping you off?"
Akash shook his head, the mention of his
girlfriend reminding him of his complicated relationship. Simply put, ever since
her interview at AR Designs, Khushi
was ignoring him. He knew she got the job, just as he predicted; Arnav
confirmed it himself. And yet, her elation at getting her dream job didn't appear
to override her anger at him for hiding his identity.
Of course, her reaction was expected. He
had lied to her, not once, but on multiple occasions. And yet, Akash had hoped,
she would at least give him a chance to explain why he did what he did.
But she didn't. Instead, she chose to avoid
the whole thing altogether. And strangely enough, Akash wasn't surprised. It
was in Khushi's nature to turn away every time things got a bit difficult - he
had seen her do it for two whole years now. Today was no exception either.
"Akash?" Anjali said, interrupting his
train of thoughts. "Is everything alright?"
He let out a sigh and got up to leave.
"Yeah... Khushi is busy with her new job, so that's why she is not coming to drop
me off."
"Do you want me to come?"
Akash looked at his sister, touched to see
the concern etched on her face. No matter how much they argued, at the end of
the day, they were inseparable.
"Are
you actually regretting me leaving?" he asked jokingly.
"I always do... remember when we were in
school and you went to Bangalore for some competition?"
He smiled at the memory. "Yeah... and you
cried so much that Babuji had to literally bring you there to see me."
Anjali laughed. "I guess I do whine a lot."
"Only because you are allowed to."
Moved, she pulled him into an affectionate
hug. "I'm actually going to miss you."
"I will too... Take care of Bhai, okay?"
"Of course! Try to come home on the
weekends."
Akash nodded.
"Now go,"
she said, breaking away. "You are getting late!"
"Yes, yes," he answered. "And good luck on
your renovating project. Make me proud!"
Anjali grinned in reply. Truly, her
brothers were one of a kind.
* *
*
"There have been some issues with quality
in our Lucknow factory Sir... While our buyers have yet to lodge an official
complaint, our employees have found some serious defects in the clothing
items."
Khushi let out a sigh as she listened to
the endless discussion of the board of advisors. It was a lazy and not to
mention, a long afternoon in AR Designs.
Her first day as an intern under the prestigious Arnav Singh Raizada was boring
to say the least. She was dragged from meeting to meeting, some wanting to
"introduce" her to the company, others acquainting her to fellow employees and
few, like the one right now, examining various current problems.
Khushi didn't know how much longer she
would be able to stand it. She didn't dedicatedly pursue her job, just
to listen to boring middle aged men, who cared only about impressing their boss
on the hopes to seeing an increment in their pay cheques.
But she didn't blame them.
If your boss was Arnav Singh Raizada, then
why on earth would you take anything
seriously?
Her eyes flickered to the man in question,
seated at the head of the long table, appearing to listen intently to the
quality problems. But she knew he wasn't. He would occasionally glance in her
direction, and throw in a smirk or two every time he caught her eye. In
response, she avoided looking at him altogether.
The last thing she wanted was for him to
get his way with her.
Of course, many employees would disapprove
of her resolve, especially the female ones. It took her less than two hours since
joining to understand that Arnav was popular with the ladies. They all seemed
to be full with endless stories describing his sincerity and compassion. By
lunchtime, Khushi was positively alarmed by all the praises being sung for her
boss. She failed to see how such an irksome person could appeal to anyone.
"I believe Miss Gupta has something very
interesting to say about this issue."
Khushi snapped out of her thoughts, as she
wildly turned to Arnav. He, along with the rest of the board, was staring
expectantly at her.
"Sorry? I missed the last bit," she said, unnecessarily
clearing her throat.
"Understandable," Arnav answered. "I'm sure
everyone is excused for dozing off in meetings, especially the ones in the
afternoons."
Some people cracked a smile at his snide,
but Khushi was infuriated.
"I meant," she retorted. "What exactly do
you want my opinion on Mr. Raizada? The suggested fault in our machines causing
these quality problems or the suggested plan to compensate for the already
defected items?"
Khushi was satisfied to see a slight
flicker of surprise appear on his face.
"Both," he replied in the same calm tone.
"In fact, why don't you come up here and present some of your ideas on how to
improve our factories?"
Her smile dropped as quickly as it
appeared. "Right now?"
"Yes, Ms. Gupta, now."
Khushi didn't move, staring at him in
complete disbelief. Did he really expect her to make a presentation for the entire board of advisors on a whim?!
"What?" Arnav asked, catching her look. "I
thought you were here to learn. So get to it."
And get to it she did. If he was looking
for an opportunity to embarrass her, then so be it.
"Well, gentlemen," she said confidently
getting up. "I would like to begin by revisiting the current state of our
factories."
And off she went, talking in top speed
about the various clothing factories they owned and why they were creating
problems, more than they should. She went through every issue she found, and
more importantly, how to solve it. By the time she was done, the board was
almost speechless.
"Thank you Miss Gupta," Arnav said, whose
expression didn't change one bit. "You addressed some very important issues.
Mr. Shah, maybe its time we visit some of those factories."
Khushi was disappointed with Arnav's tone. She
had hoped for some sort of approval - a nod, a smile, maybe even applause - but
there was nothing. He had coolly resumed his meeting as if she did nothing
special. As if interns could pull off feats like hers on a regular basis.
The meeting ended quickly hereafter. Khushi
angrily left the conference hall without a backward glance. She had almost entered
her small office, when she realized she wasn't alone.
"Lavs?!" she asked, surprised. "What are
you doing here?"
Lavanya let out a dramatic sigh. Dressed in
a pink coloured halter dress, she looked absolutely radiant, save for her
frowning expression. "I was looking for my best friend... you know the one who
promised to call me as soon as she was free."
"So what does that tell you? She isn't free
yet."
"Oh please! You literally ignored me for two weeks-"
"We had exams Lavs! I was studying."
"Fine! What about after that? Here, you
don't reply to my messages and there, Akash doesn't pick up my calls. What the
hell is going on?"
Khushi's face hardened, not wanting to
think about her boyfriend in any shape or form. She honestly didn't know how to
react to the situation at hand. Should she forgive him for lying? Or should she
be offended for being fooled for so long? It was all so confusing.
"Oh," Lavanya said, watching her calmly
walk inside and pull out her laptop. "So this
is the problem - You and Akash got into a fight."
"No, we didn't."
"Then why are you pissed?"
"I'm not pissed... I'm busy. I have a lot of
work to do."
"How is that even possible?! It's your first day!"
"Exactly," Khushi said, continuing to
furiously type on her laptop. "My boss is irritating, imposing and not mention
arrogant. So, I better stay on top of my things, before he finds a way to embarrass
me."
"Are you sure it's the boss and not your
need to show off your intelligence Ms. Krazy Kinetic Gupta?"
Khushi looked up, outraged. "I don't show
off!"
However, upon catching the latter's
incredulous stare, she said, "Okay, maybe a little. But that doesn't make up for how annoying he is!"
"Ahem."
The two girls turned around to see that
their interruption was none other than Arnav himself. Adorning a small smile on
his lips, he gingerly stepped inside.
"Yes, Mr. Raizada?" Khushi asked stiffly.
"I just wanted to say it was an interesting
presentation you gave upstairs... it put the board in a lot of thought."
"Interesting?" she asked, mockingly. "Are
you sure you don't mean it was impressive?"
Arnav smirked. "Oh Miss Gupta, there is
still a lot you have to learn. Yes, I was pleased to see you not dozing off in my meetings, but
definitely not pleased enough to be awestruck by your intelligence."
Khushi gritted her teeth.
"Nonetheless, it was a good first presentation for an intern. I'm glad to see you
are not making me regret hiring you."
"What can I say," she replied with a shrug.
"I get very competitive."
"So I've noticed."
"Then you better watch out Mr. Raizada.
It's not easy to corner me."
Arnav simply smiled in answer and glanced at
Lavanya, who was watching the entire exchange in astonishment.
"Sorry," he said, holding out his hand. "I
don't usually neglect pretty women, but it appears today is a bit out of the
ordinary. Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Arnav Singh
Raizada."
Lavanya shook his hand eagerly. "And I'm
Lavanya Kashyap."
"Well, nice meeting you. I'm sure Miss
Gupta here appreciates your visit, especially seeing how she is seething with
anger right now. So, without any delay, I will leave you two ladies alone."
And he left, much to Khushi's gladness. She was about to resume her work, when she
caught Lavanya's look. "What?"
"You never mentioned that the irritating,
imposing and arrogant boss is also absolutely gorgeous!"
Khushi rolled her eyes. "Please no! My ears
are pretty much dead from hearing how-good-looking-and-amazing-Arnav-Singh-Raizada
is all day."
"But he is!"
Lavanya objected. "I would love to work here! I don't know what you are
complaining about."
"Forget it! You won't understand. Just tell
me why you are here?"
"Stop being mean! I actually missed you."
"I missed you too... but I really have to get
this done. I promised Bhaiyya I will be home for dinner tonight."
"Fine, I will leave," Lavanya grumbled.
"But don't plan anything for tomorrow night. We are going out."
"Where?"
"I don't know... but somewhere. It's been too
long since I had fun."
Khushi snorted. "So what were you doing at
my birthday party? Crying?"
"I'm serious! Your birthday was fun, but
Akash made me do so much work - I was
stressed."
Khushi didn't answer.
"By the way, did you know Akash is going to
Jaipur today? Anjali told me he got job in some textiles company..."
Khushi was silent, debating whether she
should reveal Akash's actual plans.
"What?" Lavanya asked, watching her
thoughtful face.
She shook her head, deciding against saying
anything simply because it wasn't her secret to share.
"I can't believe he didn't tell us he was
going... and since when was he interested in working? I thought his life long ambition
was to become a painter."
"People aren't always what they appear to
be Lavs... only Akash knows what he wants. You and me can only guess."
Lavanya was surprised to hear Khushi's
words. "But most of our guesses are always right. No matter how he appears, I know he has his heart in the right
place."
Khushi didn't know if she agreed with her. She
had learned years ago that the heart was always out of place; forget deciding
whether it was right or wrong. Akash, really, was no exception.
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