An impeccably dressed man strode through the milling crowds of the Bhopal railway station, unmindful of the admiring looks thrown his way. It had been so long since he had been in a railway station that he couldn't even remember how the bloody system worked. Platform 9 3/4!!
He stopped a young teen to ask for directions to his platform.
"Excuse me. Could you direct me to platform 9 3/4 please?"
The teen did a double take. "9 3/4? You received your acceptance letter to Hogwarts a little late don't you think?"
"What the hell!! Never mind I'll figure it out myself"
Her friend came the rescue "Sorry. Let me see your ticket. Oh it's just platform 9. It's the next platform. The 3/4 is some random junk"
"Thanks." With one glare to the giggling teens he stalked away.
Arnav Singh Raizada was grumpy! The reader should not incorrectly assume that he is normally a cheerful person, having a rare bout of grumpiness. He is not! It just goes to say that today he was grumpier than usual.
Another IAF flying coffin, this time a Sukhoi-30 had crashed and the Civilian Pilots' Union had decided to support their Armed Forces brethren by refusing to fly civilian aircrafts until the ageing fleet was grounded. Only the fact that Arnav fully supported the strike had made his assistant Aman's life well livable that day.
Arnav remembered the tremor of pride in his Nani's voice as she recounted the bravery of his grandfather Airforce Capt.Akilesh Singh Raizada. It took a different kind of person to try and do the best they could despite faulty equipment. The Military Charity Fallen Fighters was in fact where ASR's personal donations went to.
But even Aman who could practically perform organizational and logistical magic had been unable to charter a private jet at such short notice and the fastest way for Arnav to reach Delhi for a meeting, had been on the Shadapti Express.
At least Aman had been able to snag a first class ticket, Arnav thought. He had some files to catch up on, some business plans he had been meaning to read. He had forgotten to get dinner and Di would kill him if she knew but still it looked like the situation was salvageable.
Arnav settled into the compartment with only one thought - a male co-passenger who would sleep as soon as he boarded. It had to be a man! Women were fussy, wanting his help, needing to talk and always seeming to expect a reply! Arnav could hear preparations for the train's departure and the seat across from him was still empty maybe they would miss it!
The train started moving slowly and Arnav let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. He was alone for 8 hours. Nobody, absolutely nobody to bother him. Another, more emotive man would have displayed the relief he felt with an "yess!!" or even a " good job Aman." Arnav was not that kind of a man! He just let out a sigh.
Arnav settled in to read when a he saw a flash of color enter the coupe and land on the seat in front of him.
Shit! The occupant had not only shown up, it had to be a woman! Goes to confirm that he had no backers in what Di called Heaven.
Determined not to make eye contact, he let out an exasperated sigh and raised the business plan he had been reading higher. He could hear wheezing noises. A Drama Queen, he told himself as he looked out the corner of his eye.
Long, slim denim encased legs ended in mismatched crimson shoes, clashing with the teals and blues of her outfit. Hair was piled up in a messy bun as the woman sat with her head between her knees as she panted to catch her breath and control the dizziness.
Was she ok? Should he ask? Nah! That would be inviting trouble. Best bet was to ignore her completely lifting the business plan he had been reading even higher.
As the wheezing subsided, he heard her taking deep breaths, drinking water and generally making a ruckus. Arnav buried his nose deeper.
"Hi" he winced as he heard the cheery tone and let out an exasperated sigh. Donning his meanest look Arnav looked up meaning to dissuade any conversation, only to stare transfixed by the most beautiful face he had ever seen.
Clear hazel eyes flecked with gold, widened as they saw him. Long sooty eyelashes feathered on smooth, rounded cheeks. Her bone structure was exquisite with high cheek bones and plump lips. Wisps of hair fell across her face hiding its perfection from him and Arnav fisted his fingers to stop from reaching across and gently moving the offending hair away.
Beauty was his business, his livelihood. He worked with models every day and travelled the world every month but he had never seen anyone who practically glowed from the inside.
The frank innocence of her beautiful face sent jolts of swirling emotions through his mind and body. The best course of action is to ignore completely he decided. A business man knows when to take risks!
"um Hello?" she asked shifting uncomfortably under his scrutiny.
He scowled at her, before focusing on his work.
Kushi looked at him incredulously. Did he just insult her? The nerve! Rakshas!!
Arnav watched her expressive face from behind the safety of his papers. He knew that she was cursing him under her breath. He switched on his blue tooth to take a call from Aman and discussed the upcoming meeting for a while.
Kushi meanwhile was smarting under his apparent dislike of her.
"Ya Aman everything is fine. Would have been better if you had booked both seats though."
Kushi glared at him " Ya two seats- one for him and the other for his ego"
"Whatthe!" Arnav sputtered glaring back at her.
Kushi indicated the outer corridor of the compartment with her eyes, asking him to go out to take his call.
Arnav stood up as if to say 'Make me!'
Kushi ran out of the compartment. She dialled Lavanya frantically.
"La the man who is in my compartment, I have seen him somewhere. If I don't figure out who he is my head will explode"
"Really Kushi you have to go crazy? Girl aren't you like Queen of the Loonies?"
"Shut up La. Tell me who he is."
"Kushi unfortunately I can't see the man. Why don't you just ask him?"
"Ha No! He glared at me when all I said was Hi."
"Fine! Facetime me, flip the camera & go back to your seat so I can see him. Don't act like your camera is on! The things I do in the name of friendship!! You owe me Kushi"
Kushi walked back to her seat, trying to act nonchalant. While holding her camera so La could see Arnav.
La just mouthed "Holy Shit" so Kushi walked out again much to Arnav's annoyance.
"That is ASR you fool!"
"The ASR?"
"Ya the ASR . Asia Today's Young entrepreneur of the year, you know the one the whole college drools over? That one!"
"Hey Devi Maiyaa! The one with a new GF every week? How will I spend 8 hrs alone with that character dheela aadmi?"
"Ooh K, did make an indecent proposal? Do tell!"
"Shut up La! For a moment he did look at me like I was the tastiest jalebi before he became Laad Governor again."
"Laad Governor? Kushi!! Don't worry you'll be fine, it's him I pity. He doesn't know what he is in for."
" Oops meeting ..Sorry ..go to go."
"Lavanya Kashyap you are siding with the Laad Governor? You are not my friend anymore, I'm katti with you."
Kushi reached into her humongous handbag to bring out a box of jalebis. She chewed on a few imagining they were La who hung up on her or the Ogre who glared at her from behind his paper. Kushi felt as if his eyes could burn right through the paper, at her.
The sight that Arnav saw as he looked up from his papers, sent blood rushing south. She had her eyes closed, a jalebi held between her teeth. A bit of sticky syrup oozed on to her lower lip. Arnav imagined his tongue doing a slow swipe to lick the syrup off. Of course he couldn't stop there. He would clean the lower lip quite thoroughly before repeating on the upper lip.
Kushi felt someone watching her and opened her eyes to see Laad Governor staring at her like she was his next meal.
"Hey Devi Maiyaa Raksha Karna! Why is he staring at me like I look at jalebi?"
Her eyes widened as realization dawned on her.
"Jalebi. He just wants some jalebi Kushi not you. Nothing to fear!!"
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