#1 ArHi Collaboration SS : Jalebis and Chillies [ Completed ] - Page 5

Chapter 1: O... for Ouch!

Flashback in Blue

"C.O.M.E" He gritted his teeth as he opened his car door for her. She entered quietly. He swiftly took the driver's seat. His slamming of the door clearly indicated that he was angry.

"Imagine the door had a mouth. It would have cried in pain with the way you have slammed it." She commented dryly.

"You have a very creative imagination, Ms. Gupta. But it is enough that you have a mouth and you use it more often than needed."

A blow to the Jalebi's ego meant her rebelling in a way that it would affect Chilli in the wrong way.

She remained silent for fifteen long minutes. He sneaked a glance at her, only to find her staring...at HIM! She was looking at him like she would watch any scenery.

"Khushi, if you are done staring at me, I suggest you call up Mr. Singhania and inquire him about the models." He spoke without turning towards her. He didn't want to look at her face.

She looked the least perturbed. "Though I am not done looking at you, I will as well do what you said." He was caught off guard. But he was not ASR for nothing. He schooled his features, ignoring her cheesy remark.

He stopped as the signal turned red. He gripped the steering in frustration. "Damn. Why is the traffic so slow today?" He muttered under his breath. He was getting stuck at every single stop. The Delhi traffic was at its worst. Right on cue, the red turned into green. He was about to sigh in relief and had just accelerated when he had to apply brakes again as a pedestrian walked passed his car. "F**k", he swore, "Couldn't this moron cross the road when the vehicles were at a standstill?" He was getting late and all this was adding to his already irritable mood.

"Mr. Singhania is on line. He wants to speak to you."

He connected the call to his Bluetooth and continued speaking.

"Hello"

"Yes, Mr. Singhania?"

"What? No way, dammit. I want all the fifteen of them today. I can't afford to waste a whole day on this rather petty thing. Better see that it is done or kiss your job goodbye."

Why was this fellow this rude? Well every single person who has worked with him, would dare not ask such a question. After all, it was not something new. But Jalebi here felt the dire need to add fire to the Chilli.

"This is rude." She spoke. He closed his eyes, albeit the beast in him would show its presence. "Why are you hell bent on spoiling my day? And it has been only two days. God knows how many more days I have to tolerate you",he spat.

Both their thoughts drifted to the day before, when the Jalebi and Chilli had really collided and the Clash of Titans had begun once again.

"You are late." She calmly stated. He looked at her as if she had lost her head. "Do you have something called "sense of time"?" She shook her head in exasperation."This is getting worse. You should learn to be punctual."It was now his turn to be exasperated.

"Move." One word containing four letters but the intensity and authority with which it was delivered will astound everyone on Earth, but not the fiery Jalebi.

"You owe me an explanation."

Five words. Yet those few words were enough to spoil the calmness of our usually calm Chilli.

"Good morning, Arnav and Khushi", Ajay Singh Raizada interrupted this conversation which might have otherwise turned into a rather colorful and heated one.

"If you are done with your bickering, we might as well go inside. I am sure more there is something called private space to have a private conversation."

"What the hell! Who even wants to have a conversation with her? Leave alone private." Arnav spat angrily.

"Oh I am sorry to hear that but I think Khushi does not share your feeling here. Hain na, beta?" Khushi nodded, rather enthusiastically. "In fact, she is rather excited that she will be working under you in Raizada House of Fashion."

"Wha..." Before Arnav could protest, Ajay continued, "I am not in a mood to listen to any of the arguments either of you put forth."

As Ajay left, Arnav muttered, "My day is deemed to go bad." He cast a sideways glance at her. She was smiling, no scratch that, she was grinning. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing at all. I was just wondering how interesting it will be to work closely with you," she said stretching the word "closely" a bit longer than required.

"What?" Now Arnav was seriously confused. From when did she start liking me? He mused.

"I mean I will be able to learn so much from you", she quickly added before his brain went into overdrive. "So shall we start with the work?" She asked cheerfully.

Arnav nodded and entered his cabin followed by a smirking Khushi. Arnav tried to keep his usual calm stature and handed her a file. "I want you to go through this file, and prepare a summary of the important deals that have been made in this project."

Khushi nodded like an obedient student. She turned to leave but stopped in her tracks.

"You know, Arnav, it is good that I will be working under you. At least, I will have a good time gazing at your handsome face."

No, Arnav Singh Raizada never turned speechless. He at least had a "What the" as an answer. But no, he was robbed of his trademark dialogue today and how! He decided to mask his surprise by an emotion he knew he could express well. Anger. He shot one angry glance at her, almost an icy state. However, it had no effect on her since she had already disappeared into her cabin.

He stared at the closed door of the cabin for a few more seconds wishing he could burn that girl with his glares. He shook his head and decided to concentrate on his work. He would not give a damn to what she says or does. He called his secretary to get the file of the new deal they were working on.

An hour passed with any interruptions or distraction. He decided to take a break. A cup of strong black coffee would definitely clear his head. He walked passed Khushi's cabin suppressing an urge to glance at what she was doing.

"Arnav", he heard his father's voice. "I want you to leave to the site and look into the preparations for the launch."Arnav nodded a yes fished his suit pocket for the car keys, when his dad called out again."And take Khushi with you".

Arnav shook his head. That flirt! She was one pain in his neck. "Dad, no." His voice now showed his firmness.

"Arnav she is doing her internship here which means she has to learn and this invariably means she has to learn from the best, which is you."

The praises heaped on him did not make him budge an inch from his decision. In fact, it made him even more firm. "Dad, be practical. What will she learn there? I am only overlooking the preparations. So, not happening. She stays here."

"Oh no, Arnav. You see I have never been to a site where the launch will take place. So, next time if uncle or you ask me to go and overlook, I won't know what to do. So it makes sense for me to join you."

"From where are you springing up? Can't you just stay in your cabin? Why do you keep roaming about? You speak about punctuality and where the hell is your professionalism?" Arnav bellowed at her. She was making perfect sense which means he would have to take her with him.

"Arnav..."

Before his father could persuade him further, he said,"Dad I think she is working under me!" Well, Ajay Singh Raizada had no reply for that. His son was smart and he couldn't deny it.

"Well, I have almost prepared the summary. But I do have a few doubts. Shall we discuss it on our way?" Now it was Khushi's turn to smirk. Arnav sighed, a sign of defeat, or so thought Khushi.

"Let me make one thing clear, Ms. Gupta. You are working under me which means you listen to my orders. Now get back to your cabin and spend a few more minutes on the file. I will ask Sheena to help you out and clear all your doubts."

He had not met her that day after that. And that absolutely was okay with him. But today he was forced to take her along, because he needed her to do work there.

As they reached the site, Mr. Sinhania greeted Arnav while Arnav acknowledged him with his usual customary nod.

They had come there today for Arnav to check on all the models and the showstopper. They were launching a new set of clothing line on the theme "comfort and fashion". Khushi was excited as a child who had got her candy looking at the fifteen models. While the ladies were trying to impress the ASR, the male models were trying hard not lose their confidence in front of the ASR's scrutinizing eyes.

The trial ramp walk did begin and in the end it resulted in an Arnav blowing the top off. "Damn! Do you call this a ramp walk? For heaven's sake, RHF can do much better than this and this is not what I expect. I suggest you all try meeting at least half our standards." With one angry shake of his head, he left the place.

Half an hour later, he was still searching for a certain Ms. Gupta, who was supposed to report to him fifteen minutes back. And there, he found her walking on the ramp while few male models kept looking at her.

"You see, I think you should sway your hips a bit more while walking. It will add to your grace." He found her speaking to one of the female models.

"What the! Ms. Gupta?" His angry voice put an end to her effective monologue on how to walk on a ramp. "Will you mind getting down and showing me the bloody report?"

"Report?"

Uh, yeah she was asked to check on the dresses of the models and make sure that the media was well informed about the launch. However, she had spent the last thirty minutes drooling over the male models, commenting on how cool their biceps were. She had given her expert advice to the female ones and was presently demonstrating her theories.

"GET DOWN, RIGHT NOW!"

Khushi got down a little slowly only to comically fall down right in front of his feet.

Arnav was no knight in shining armour to hold her and prevent her fall. She fell and he looked on as a smug satisfaction swept through his heart. His expression almost said, "Serves you right."

"Ouch!" She screamed trying to get up only to fall again.

"Ouch! Ms. Gupta, all I asked you was to get down, not fall flat on your face and near or rather on my feet."Arnav ignored that pointed glare thrown at him. He smirked and continued, "Get up and do the work assigned to you. I am sure they will find better persons to give tips rather than a falling clumsy girl. And when you are done with it, mail it to me and go home."

"But...", she tried to say something but he had already left.

She fumed at the obnoxiously handsome man, while he finally felt the tension leave his body. Chilli might not accept it, but her fall did amuse him.

**********

Khushi fell on the bed not paying heed to the calls of her family. Payal came home an hour later, only to see a sleeping Khushi. As she tried to wake her up, Khushi mumbled a very incoherent "Mujhe sone do".

As the clock struck 10:30, Khushi opened her eyes and checked the time. She knew her 10pm family would have slept off. But her stomach grumbled badly. She was hungry. Skipping her dinner did her no good. So, she quietly switched on her mobile's torch light to find her way into the kitchen.

Jalebis!!!! Her mouth watered and just as she lifted it to her lips, her phone rang. She jumped at once to stop it from waking the whole house. She cut the call not knowing what to do. It was an unknown number and she never picked a call from unknown numbers. The call came again and just to shut it, she picked it up and put the jalebi in her mouth. Hunger and Khushi made a bad combination.

"Hello", a husky male voice spoke.

A muffled "Hello" was returned along with the munching sound which ultimately came out as "Yeh lo".

"What should I take? I already seem to love what I have been gifted with."

"Arnav Singh Raizada?"

The rest of the jalebi dropped from her lips and the hunger was long forgotten.

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