Arshi FF: A Hundred Flukes. CHAPTER 37; See note pg 82 - Page 7

Originally posted by: cineraria

I get it, predictability is boring, when I began writing it, AHF was merely a word document exchange of emails with 3 friends, (one of them is now watching the series and throwing me looks). I had never thought I'd be posting it on IF, I know there's hardly fun reading something that you already know. I posted the first update here only when I was sure where and how I will make AHF different from IPK. There are tweaks here and there but a major addition is the 25th chapter and the subsequent chapters. But the story will shift from the track much later.

So yeah if patience is your playmate AHF may surprise you some day.😉

Thank you.

Originally posted by: cineraria

Hi Reeshree, I am humbled by your comment and so glad that you are looking forward to it. And I am not going to change Arnav and Khushi's characters at all, I loved them the way they were. But I have added a few things to their backgrounds as you'll see in future updates.

PS: MJ could also be Michael Jackson. 😉

Hola lovely denizens of IF, thank you so much people for your kind words, I treasure each reply like a little girl treasuring her barbie dolls. Thank you. Silent readers, have mercy.                         

                      Chapter 13: Challenges

The heart has reasons that reason does not understand. The one who craves for reason, it's the heart he doesn't understand. He calls his heart a bully and shuts it inside, her face flashes in his mind again - so timid yet so stubborn, but his heart refuses to beat this time. It's happy shut inside, it doesn't bother him, but all it does is confuse him. Confuse him because he can't understand why Arnav should still be thinking about Khushi. He is ASR and she is Khushi Kumari Gupta and this fact alone makes all the difference.

The fur upholstery of his reclining armchair did little to comfort him. The recliner was big enough for two people to sleep in, but he couldn't sleep despite his tiredness. He realized he was still in his suit; he got up to take a quick shower and changed into a blue t-shirt and casual black trousers. Ignoring the inviting bed, he walked to the pool side - his world of blue and green. He glanced for a moment up at the starless, cloudy night sky. Every now and then there were lightening flashes like swords clashing miles above, he often found his own mind a microcosmic reflection of similar turbulence. His gaze returned to his plants, he pulled out a sack of soil imported from Britain to sustain plants that found it difficult to thrive in Indian soil. He wouldn't want his plants to strive and adapt to Indian conditions, he'd instead create pseudo atmospheres that imitated their natural habitats - a principle he had acknowledged in his life. Arnav Singh Raizada never bothered with the means, he only saw ends.

Taking a trowel in one hand, he began digging in the soil, to and fro from the potted plants. His mind began to ease as he picked up pace in his tenderness with his greens, his fingers moved in the soil with the charm of a pianist as his brain tried to sort the present crisis in his life, or so it seemed. He was not perturbed about the contract. Not one bit, for he knew the girl was no match for him but he failed to fathom what it was in Khushi that made him react to her in the most impulsive ways. He, who had made himself indifferent to anything and everything, was being repulsed by the mere words of a young woman of no significance. He was repulsed when they bumped into each other at the dargaha and she had dared to say that he was incapable of harming her, that there was a God against whom he- a mere mortal, stood no chance. He felt repulsed when she dared to say that she didn't need his job, he felt repulsed when she said that she was strong enough to face her fears.

He felt a soft palm on his shoulder - gentle and warm, relief rushed through his entire system at the contact, it made him almost smile. Almost.

"Are you really angry or you have just made it your habit to frown?" Anjali said teasingly.

"Born this way." he said giving her a fleeting glance before resuming his gardening.

"Of course, the only thing you do with the same passion as gardening is sulking." she chuckled, "by the way, Arnav Nani took me to the temple today." she said holding out a bowl for him. Arnav stared at her.

"It's sugar free, Chote, I made it." she said reassuringly.

"Don't call me Chote" he said gently shoving the bowl away, "and I won't have this anyway. You know Di, I don't like all this."

"What's it that you have against God?" she asked softly.

"I have nothing against a non-existent entity." he said looking straight into her eyes.

"And people all over the world are fools to believe that the non-existent exist?" she bit out sarcastically.

"People believe in convenience Di. It is so convenient to believe that there is an all powerful you can look up to, when you find yourself incapable of fighting your own battles." He reasoned with an almost petulant appeal. "And then often with this belief you give up on struggling, losing eventually."

 Anjali had no answer to that. She sat in a nearby chair, watching her brother in silence. The silence began to grow louder and she knew her brother would not attempt to break it. He liked the silence, he spoke less and spent whatever free time he had with his plants, to which nature hadn't granted speech. Forever deep in his thoughts, forever reticent, he was just like his name, Arnav - the Ocean of depths unknown; calm and placid on the surface, perilous within. Like the lost glories of sunken ships, he sheltered his feelings in the abyss of his heart. Like the uproarious surge of a storm were his emotions, violent whenever they manifested. 

She finally got up, limping towards him she cupped his cheeks in her palms, "why are you doing this to yourself Arnav? Your bitterness is ruining you, you are still stuck..."

"I am not stuck anywhere Di." Arnav groaned.

"Really? Then why do I see so much pain, so much anger in your eyes? Always. Why did you go to Lucknow to extirpate Sheesh Mahal?" A vacant look crossed about Arnav's face. "Because you think that wiping out Sheesh Mahal would wipe out all the memories associated with it," cried Anjali, "You think that feigning indifference would make you indifferent to all that we have endured in the past." Her eyes moistened up, "you are running away from it Arnav, when you know very well nothing can change what has happened." A long silence followed.

She gently rubbed her thumbs on his cheeks, "You were never like this...I am scared I'll lose you." she whispered.

Arnav rolled his eyes, "Di! Relax. You sound like a melodramatic Bollywood mother prodigy, blubbing like... what's her name? Nir...Nirupa Roy!" Anjali scowled. She grabbed a cushion from the chair and flung it at her brother. Arnav ducked just in time, as the cushion hit the pillar behind.

"One, I spend my entire day fussing over you and then you make fun of me. Good, handle your life on your own, watch your step mister because Nani is all set. You know she called one of your consultants Nimmi Kashyap the other day, wondering if she was your girlfriend." she grunted.

"God Di! Why are you guys making such a big deal over it? I'll tell Nani all about it right now." he said putting down his trowel.

"Wait a minute." said Anjali holding the sleeve of his t-shirt. "What are you going to tell her exactly?"

"That I have a girlfriend and its not a crime to have one." 

"And you know what Nani will say to that? She'd say marry your girlfriend."

"Why do you guys always end up talking about marriage?"

"Because people with girlfriends eventually do that."

"But I don't want to marry her." he said emphatically.

"Then let me handle this." she said folding her arms against her chest.

"Go ahead. Indulge yourself and spare me." he said and picked up his trowel again.

                                       ****

Challenge begins...Day 1

"Glitters! Humph." exhaled Khushi looking at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. "Is there anything in my wardrobe that doesn't shine or glitter?" she said out loud to herself. She walked out of the bathroom and opened a small creaky wooden cupboard, "none." she muttered looking at the clothes. She found one turquoise colored half sleeved kurti that did not have golden or silver designs, just tiny mirrors along the neckline and shoulders, she pulled it over and matched it with black leggings. She didn't oil her hair today, simply tied them in a French braid for she didn't know what else to do with them, they were too long to try any other style.

She bounced and spread her arms in sheer delight when the familiar aroma hit her nostrils, "there's no doubt it's gonna be lucky, a day that starts with ALOO-POOREE! Wow jiji you made it for me?" she chirped happily as Payal gave her the plate of her favorite breakfast. Breakfast? Khushi could have Aloo-pooree all her life, all the time!

"It's your lucky charm, isn't it?" said Payal grinning, "See that's why I got up early, although I don't believe in lucky charms, but if you think it can help you in any way..."

"Of course it will jiji, you remember I got a distinction in all the exams before which I had aloo puree?" said Khushi, effulgent as ever. Payal smiled looking at her, such was her sister. She could be made happy with the smallest of things, she was just like her name, Khushi - spreading happiness wherever she went, she was the life of their house, she was the life of life itself, always ringing her sweet joys like a temple bell even though it's knocked relentlessly by human hands.

Khushi licked away the last speck of aloo from her plate. Got up flinging her tote around her shoulders. "You look like you are going to wage a war." Payal remarked.

"War it is." Khushi grunted stepping out of the door. She complained about everything on her way to the metro station. "Are you my shoe or the neighbor's doggy? Biting all the time." she said cursing her shoes.

"Where to angry young woman?" said the guy at the token counter of DMRC.

"Connaught Place." she shot back.

She rubbed the sole of her shoes vigorously at the doormat and entered the corridor.

ASR got up from his chair precisely at 10:00. He checked his watch as he walked over to front of his cabin facing the entrance. A smirk appeared on his face the moment he saw her enter. He dialed a number. "Give Ms. Gupta her first task for today." he muttered.

Khushi followed the same route of two halls and the corner most desk. As expected, nobody in the first hall cared to notice her. In the second hall she met with callous faces never missing to say, "Hi Glitters! So it's mirrors today!"

"If she shines like this everyday, I'll have to wear shades in the office." said another.

A woman she did not recognize from yesterday came to her desk, "Ms. Gupta, " she said strictly and handed Khushi a small notepad and a measuring tape.

"What do I do with this?" she asked baffled.

"What do you do with a measuring tape?" said the woman whom Khushi assumed to be some sort of relative of ASR.

"Measure...but measure what?"

"Go to room number 11 on second floor. Measure whoever is there." said the woman. Her heels clicked on the granite floor as she walked away.

"How many stairs does one need to reach second floor." Khushi complained climbing the spiral staircase that didn't seem to end. She found herself in a wide corridor with rows of numbered rooms on both sides. She opened the door of one marked No: 11 and shrieked with horror at the sight.

Standing in front of her were about eight naked men, naked except for underwears with physique that could be best described as a 'muscular bulldozer'.

One of the hunks strode towards her, he lifted his huge arms from his sides and winked at her gesturing towards his aby chest, "C'mon babe measure me."

"No. You start with me, I have to go for a shoot." another one said tapping his foot on the floor in impatience. Khushi brought her hands to cover her mouth and dashed out of the room.

Her cheeks burned in embarrassment, she felt like she wanted to throw. She darted for the stairs, breathless, taking two steps at a time she threw herself on the first floor and stomped towards ASR's cabin.

10:06, ASR checked the time in his watch and loftily moved out of his cabin. He saw her tiny frame approaching him, as anticipated.

Khushi was hit with the familiar air of contemptuous superiority that surrounded ASR. "How can you expect me to do this? I am not doing this." she cried. He looked down smugly at her reddened face. "Don't." he said coolly. She clutched the notepad and measuring tape in her hands harder as she stared at him. "I assume you find it easier to submit your resignation from this job." he sneered, "although I didn't expect you to give up on yourself this early after all the heroic display from yesterday."

"I am not resigning." she said hoarsely, "all I am saying is that I am not going to do something I am not comfortable doing. Forget comfort, it's not right to make a girl do that. It's shameful, em..embarrassing, wrong. You...must be...s...sick to think of making me do such a thing."

ASR raised an eye brow, "That your boss is some sort of a perverted psychopath is a pretty good reason for you to quit this job, is that what you want to say Ms.Gupta?"

He said that? Khushi shook her head. Psychopath he was. "I told you I will not resign, you can give me some other job..."

"You will shut up and take the boys' measurements" he said gruffly, "or you will resign and pay my company the compensation amount," he said after a brief pause.

Khushi snorted loudly and strutted away, deliberately making noises as she walked - her way to show resentment.

"Be quick Ms. I don't have all the time in the world." one of the models recited the dialogue Khushi had heard almost every moron at AR designs utter at some point or another. She stared at the eight faces, yeah only the faces, she refused to look below that. Soon she found what she was looking for- a sweet face. He looked sweet although he was naked and kept on smiling at her. She smiled at him meekly and said, "Would you please come here, Bhaiyya." emphasizing on 'Bhaiyya'.

Much to her surprise Bhaiyya's smile became brighter on being addressed as Bhaiyya. He walked towards her all smiles. "Yes?"

"You are so handsome Bhaiyya, I have never seen such muscles all my life." she exclaimed in an exaggerated tone, "I am sure all must envy you." Bhaiyya chuckled, "My name's Vicky by the way." he said. Khushi hunted in her bag and finally found the red thread a priest had given her in the temple. "Here's it, the sacred thread, it'll protect you from ill will." she said. Vicky looked greatly amused and then almost emotionally said, "Oh God you are just like my little sister, you resemble her so so much."

"Will anyone tell me what's going on here." demanded the model, still tapping his foot on the floor impatiently.

"Just one minute." Khushi yelled back, "Vicky Bhaiyya please do your sister a favor. Pleeease."

Khushi popped five berries in her mouth. "I'd rather suffer a wardrobe malfunction on stage then be measured by Vicky Donner." groaned a hunk. Vicky slapped his butt. "Yeoww, keep your hands off me gay."

Khushi felt she'd vomit the five berries in her mouth.

                                ****

Lavanya Kashyap entered his room stealthily and saw him busy reading a report. She threw her slender arms around her boyfriend from behind him, tugging at the collars of his suit, gently nuzzling the exposed skin of his neck through his shirt's collar. He threw her a brief glance and resumed reading the report, "Are you still angry with me honey?" she said softly.

"I was?"

"Hmm, it seemed like it yesterday." she said pecking his cheek.

Khushi came marching towards the cabin, her jaw dropped at the scene going inside; she brought her hands over her eyes and turned. She had seen quite a few things since morning. First the species of men who advertised for Jockey, then a gay in action and now this... cabin romance- her ex-boss lovingly throttling her current boss. With her eyes still shut, she knocked the door.

Lavanya let go off Arnav, rolling her eyes.

"What took you so long, typing your resignation or arranging the cheque of One Lac?" said ASR furrowing his eye brows as she entered. He returned his gaze back to the report, surprised at her silence.

"Ritvick Sharma" Khushi pronounced firmly, "shoulders 44, chest 39, biseps 20, waist 35."

ASR raised his head, turned to look at her, flabbergasted.

"Rohit Kapoor..." she went on till the last of her list. "Sir, may I leave now?" she asked courteously upon finishing the list.

"What the..." he exclaimed.

"I said, Sir may I go now?" she repeated in the same tone.

ASR got up from his chair and strode towards her, "You know very well that I won't let you survive in this office." he growled. Khushi rolled her eyes. "Don't roll your eyes at me and get out of here."

She blinked.

"Out." he yelled.

                                      ****

She went straight to Manju to tell about her feat, but her joy was short lived as five minutes later she was called back in the boss' cabin. What would it be now? she wondered.

There was no Lavanya this time. Nobody except the two of them which kind of unnerved her, for the last time under similar circumstances she had been thrown down. She stood in a corner with her feet joined as he left his chair and walked towards her, the smugness bathing his features again. Beyond reasonable doubt, Khushi missed the loser look he had a few minutes back. Without warning his hands reached for the waist buttons of his coat as he slowly worked them open. Her jaw dropped, he was cornering her. Again. He took off his coat and threw it on a chair beside her, Khushi shut her eyes tight, pulling her face away, unwilling to see any further. Her pulse throbbed in her throat and her chest undulated rapidly in nervousness leaving him in no doubt of the impact he had over her. "Take the dictation." he said huskily. Her eyes bounced open and she tilted her face upwards to look at him. Finding his merely inches away from her, as a reflex action her legs moved in the only direction they knew in his proximity. Backwards dangerously close to the ledge. Before she could trip over it again, he grabbed her hand, pulling her back into the room with a force she hadn't anticipated. She stumbled forward, her face landing into his chest and hands sprawled over his shoulders. She staggered backwards, quickly, her cheeks flushing with color. Arnav backed away as well, taking his place in his chair. "Start." he said without throwing her a glace.

Khushi continued to fiddle with her phone, sitting in a chair beside the one he had thrown his coat in. Arnav frowned glancing at her, "I said start." he said severely.

"One sec" she heaved, pulling out her notepad.

"With great pleasure, we'd like to inform..." he began before her pen could make a contact with the page.

Khushi could barely believe her ears, was it humanly possible, the speed with which this man made his vocal chords work? As if it was already not a challenge to get this accented guy, on top of it he dictated at a speed that would make watching any super rapid exchange of dialogues from a hollywood movie without subtitles seem less irritating for Khushi. She switched gaping from the paper to ASR repeatedly, wanting to pull her hair and strangle him with its broken strands. By the time his speech ended, Khushi had not managed a single scratch on her page apart from some illegitimate doodles and Yours sincerely Arnav Singh Raizada!

"Get this typed in ten minutes or type your resignation." he said curtly.

"ten minutes!" she gasped.

"five minutes then"

"I think ten minutes is just fine." she ventured.

"Your time starts now." he said looking at his watch.

She got up hastily, glancing at her phone while scrambling down the stairs. 00:03: 45 the screen displayed, she pressed the stop button and saved the file, thank god she had the little presence of mind to record whatever hell he had spoken. Once on her seat, she plugged in her headphones, straining her ears, trying if she could catch him any better now, she then reduced the tempo by one notch making ASR sound like a moaning grizzly bear, not a problem as long as she was able to make out his words.

Of all the things Payal had forced on her during summer vacations, Khushi never understood why she'd ever need a course in typing. She could now completely appreciate its importance and also the importance of Bill Gates in one's life by making something as indispensable as Microsoft Word for those inclined to make awful spelling mistakes!  

She found herself running at top speed to his cabin eleven minutes later, would he sue her for exceeding by one minute. She was greeted with a scowl in the cabin. He snatched the paper from her hands, the scowl only deepened when he had read the page. "So you got me...and you know short hand." he said sullenly.

"Nope." said Khushi dangling her phone from her fingers, "there are smarter ways." she said smiling, she even tried to cock one eyebrow like she had seen him doing, but instead ended up raising both. Her jaw dropped as Arnav tore the page into tiny shreds, "Get out." he said disgruntled.                   

                              ****

The lawyer stood in front of the old wooden door trying to locate the highly inconspicuous door bell, if it was there at all. The door was slightly ajar, he peeped inside to see if there was somebody. He was taken aback, looking at two swollen eyes glaring at him. Without warning the door flung open and an equally swollen Madhumati pounced at him. "Rogue!" she screamed, "what were you trying to do? Peeping inside my house, you swine!"

"You are buaji?" asked Shyam.

"Buaji? How dare you call me buaji, nandkissore, just see the guts of the boy." she said fiercely widening her eyes. Her foot twisted to the wrong side as she tried to push the lawyer away. "EEEowww, Nandhisssorre." she wailed grabbing her foot as she fell down with a thud.

Shyam bent down, immediately, "wait a second aunty." he said taking her foot in his hands. He twisted to the other side, "Yoooeee." Madhumati wailed again as he let go off her foot. She stared at her foot in astonishment, she flexed her toe, twisted it, no pain! She looked up slowly at the man, "Are you a doctor?" she asked.

"No, a lawyer, my name is Shyam." he said helping her up, "I...am...Khushi's friend. She told me you had some legal problems with your husband's pension."

Madhumati grabbed her head, "Haye re nandkissore, I am so sorry babua, I took you for someone else." she said, her voice shaking in apology. "Arre Payaliya...see who has come, arre Siyam babua, what will you have? Chai, water?

"Nothing, I may need to see some documents to make our case."

"Babua, you have come like the harbinger of the end of our troubles, can we ever thank you enough for all that you have done? Tell me something about yourself, where is your family?" she asked politely, something that Madhumati wouldn't usually be.

"No family. A few of my folks live in a village near lucknow. I am alone in Delhi."

Madhumati scatched her chin, "Lucknow..." she said excitedly, "that's what I wondered, such clarity in dialect can only come from somebody from Lucknow. But where do you live in Delhi?"

Shyam chuckled, "Buaji, what does a bachelor need, a roof and a bunk that's it. I live in a hostel nearby, you know the Rajlakshmi hostel."

Madhumati thought for a while, "Babua, I have one room on the terrace, although it's quite small but it's certainly better than Rajlakshmi. I had been looking for a paying guest for a while now, if you don't mind, why don't you shift here?"

Shyam stood up, hesitation clear on his face, "No buaji, I mean the offer is really good, but I can't... you know you are just three women here. It doesn't look appropriate for a stranger, that too a man, to be staying in the same house...please don't get me wrong but I can't."

Madhumati gaped at him in awe, "Babua, don't embarrass me at this age, you are no stranger for us, we won't find such a genuine paying guest as yourself in Delhi."

Payal entered the hall carrying a glass of water, she looked flustered. Something didn't seem right to her, but she didn't express her reservations about the idea to her aunt. She wasn't Khushi, she wouldn't give her opinion unless she was asked for it. She agreed to clean the small room upstairs for the new 'guest'.

****

Burdens become light when cheerfully borne.

                                                                                                -Ovid

"Make her work till all that over confidence wears down." ASR had ordained before leaving for the meeting of the Board of Directors. On the outer open balcony of her cabin, Lavanya Kashyap stood with her legs crossed, holding the railing with one hand and balancing a half smoked cigarette between the fingers of the other. How could ASR expect her to make one girl carry out the tasks that about ten peons did in the west office she wondered. Not that she cared a damn about Glitters, but it was perplexing that ASR was ready to compromise on efficiency just to let-down a glittering nobody. She rubbed the burning end of her cigarette on the railing and dropped it there.

Entering the main hall, she noticed the poor girl running helter-skelter around the office with a bunch of files tucked under her arm. Khushi stopped at the water cooler, fiddling clumsily with the tap. She turned it, twisted it, tried to pull it, push it but no water came out. Lavanya walked up to her, tapped on her hand to move away from the cooler and lifted a small flap over the tap with her index finger. Water came out in gusts, Khushi rushed to it to pour her glass. She looked up at Lavanya with grateful eyes who in turn almost laughed at how innocent those saucer like eyes appeared.

                                      ****

Khushi's thoughts...

Give this file to him, bring that file from there. TAKE THIS AWAY FROM HERE, RIGHT NOW. Lodge apparently useless complaints along with the complaint of the collapsed cooling system at the third floor. It had to happen today. Phew. Shweta's computer has a bug, call Sameer to debug. Fetch inventory reports, take them to Sahaye and Mukherjee. Everyone wants their things to be done first and there is no way I can do all of it at the same time, that too in a place like this! God, I have just two hands and two legs. It's just 5:00 in the evening and I feel I require an artificial breather. My legs ache from all the running. God just how big can an office be? How many floors do they require? AND this miser, descendent of Ebenezer Scrooge ASR, who sits lazily in his cabin, ordering people around spends so much money on beautifying his office but couldn't put a lift inside. Can anyone believe, I can't find a lift in this tower! And there are NO fans in this office! Facepalm! These people don't require air or what? I am wearing Nylon and I am sweating. My kurti is sticking to my skin and I need air. What a waste this central cooling system. They should rather put coolers everywhere, they come cheap, provide air- fresh air and best, make some sound! By the way, where exactly am I going? Good, seems I have lost my way again. Forget 15 days, if I come out alive from this office tonight, I'll offer 11 coconuts in your temple Devi Maiyya.

^^^^

Khushi felt like being trapped inside a labyrinth, on four such occasions since morning this pillar of a guy had been her rescue - really tall, perhaps an inch taller than ASR and a mess of curly hair on his head. Behind the glasses of his specs were a set of shy eyes, the guy was handsome overall but more towards the puppy faced cuteness. What caught Khushi was the amiable expression he always seemed to sport, which wasn't so common with people in here. When Khushi saw him the fifth time she almost cried out a "yes." she went up to him, "Sir, where can I find Mr. Sudhir Sharma?" she asked panting. Akash Singh Raizada couldn't help but smile at the muddled girl whom he had never seen before this morning, "Well he'd be in his office on the second floor." Khushi thanked him and hurried her steps towards the stairs leaving behind a little puzzled Akash.

"What purpose might a teenager be serving in AR?" Akash asked entering the cabin of the one man responsible for avoiding a system crash at AR - Sameer, the computer expert and Akash's best chum, "of course how would you know." he wondered aloud.

Two swollen eyes with large black bags under them lifted from the computer screen, "You mean that cutie?" said Sameer.

Akash placed a finger on his chin, "yes that cutie." he said in mock girlish tone.

"It seems she is serving her term." said Sameer thoughtfully.

"Brrr..."

'Serving one's term' was a phrase coined by Akash for people who had perpetrated a major error during process handling. They were usually reprimanded by a weeklong cut in benefits and a demotion. Akash being the one to have served the maximum number of terms. Usually such creatures on the force were the one's dear to ASR, all the more reason for Akash to be flustered about the novice's nature of job in his brother's company.

**** 

"Another two floors to go." Khushi sighed and sat on the lonely staircase with tired legs. Surprisingly, she didn't really find people using the stairs, for it seemed that none apart from her needed to get up from their damned chairs. If ASR intended to make her work like this for another 14 days, she'd first get herself a bottle of tonic from the medical store. 

She closed her eyes, breathing for a while, resting her head on the railing. She heard discreet footsteps approaching her from a distance but had no heart to get up. Suddenly she felt her arm being gripped by something - a muscular hand. Before she could react, she was already being pulled up and dragged along the empty corridor. 

She looked up in shock to find ASR pulling her by arm, taking her somewhere, she didn't know. She broke into a cold sweat, her legs felt like jelly and her voice caught somewhere much below her parched throat, she fought with his grip in futility although the grip wasn't too strong. All she could do was try to keep up with his pace, her heart pounding louder with each step. Loud enough for him to hear. 

They approached a large metallic door at the end of the long, empty corridor. ASR pushed a button and the doors slid open in the opposite sides. Khushi shut her eyes, that was it, her doom. Would he make her life the hell he had promised yesterday now? 

She felt a light push on her back causing her to momentarily open her eyes, it was a small room with only walls, no windows. She shut her eyes again crouching in a corner.

 "Khushi?" she heard him say at the same time as she heard the closing door. "Khushi look at me." he said imperatively. As if she had an option. She opened her eyes reluctantly to find him leaning against the opposite wall, his arms folded across his chest and what seemed like the slightest hint of amusement on his face. It soon vanished behind the same old 'no expression' smug look, "Why don't you use the elevator damn it?" he said. Realization hit her, so did the familiar feeling of lightness that was only felt in a descending lift. Yes she was in a lift! She stared at him foolishly.

"Ground floor." announced a soft mechanical female voice. The doors opened in the opposite directions with a ding and she sprinted out as fast as she could not daring to look back, leaving behind a cockily grinning ASR.

                                          ****