Chapter 3
"Put her through" Arnav said immediately, cutting her off. Lavanya almost raised an eyebrow at the urgency in his voice but instead just nodded. She had noticed the excitement in his voice. They both hung up.
Before picking up his ringing phone, Arnav reached over to draw the blinds to his cabin, keeping out the rest of the world as his glass cabin was now covered from prying eyes. In her own cabin, Lavanya smiled cheekily as she noticed his cabin was now covered, giving him privacy. Good luck to Khushi indeed!
Relaxing back in his chair, he eyed this phone and let three rings pass before leisurely picking up the phone.
"Hello?" ASR drawled.
"Hello." Khushi lifted her chin.
"It's you again" he stated.
"It's Khushi Kumari Gupta on the line, calling from U3 Events" she started.
"Good to know you can now string a sentence together" came his sarcastic comment.
Khushi almost strangled the phone. She imagined choking the life out of him using the phone cord.
"Helloo?" he called out
"Uhm" she lightly cleared her throat. "As I was saying, I'm calling from U3 Eve-
"Yes you've already said that. Care to move forward?" He instigated her.
Khushi pursed her lips. How was he a successful businessman? Two minutes on the phone with him and she wanted to die.
No, she wanted to kill him. She wondered how his clients could stand him.
"Yes Sir" she sweetly spoke and Arnav's eyes narrowed.
"I would've said something more but I was interrupted." She said innocently, but with fire in her voice.
Arnav's eyebrows rose to the top as he considered her. There's something about her..
"So, like I was saying." Khushi started. "U3 Events would like to invite AR Group to participate in the upcoming fashion event named Dazzle. It will be happening in six months. Over the span of three days, you can expect to meet small to top companies in the fashion industry at this one platform with approximately 150,000 registered visitors, of which 42% are key decision makers and authorized purchasers." Khushi elaborated the details. Giving a two second pause, she continued when there was no reply.
"So far we also have 51 guest industry speakers, 12 official pavilions and 1,300 local and international participating companies. It's a one stop platform for business development that includes conferences and also networking sessions." Khushi informed smoothly, having memorized the information and relayed it repeatedly to other companies too.
Taking his silence as a green light, she was about to go on when she stopped abruptly. Pressing the phone into her ear, she listened intently.
Was he even there? Was he listening? Or had he hung up? She frowned, but there was no dial tone which meant he was still there. Had he fallen asleep? She had made sure to vary her tone while conveying the message..
"Hello..?" she spoke hesitantly. There was no reply. Not even any sound of breathing.
Her nose flared. "I knew it. Shaitaan, rakshas, akhdu, khadoos! He's not listening to me! And here I went on and on talking to no one! How rude is that man-" she ranted to herself, assuming, from the complete silence at his end, that he was no longer listening.
He cleared his throat. She stopped talking to herself and her jaw dropped.
"You were saying.." he trailed off, his voice devoid of any emotion. He had lost track of what she had been saying, lost in her melodious voice and tone that drew him in.
There was something so familiar about her. Her voice.. He hadn't realized that he had been staying silent all the while. As she started using those words though, he slowly came out of his thoughts and narrowed his eyes at her choice of words.
"That's quite an opinion for someone who hasn't even met me, don't you think?" he asked, referring to her last statement.
"You.. you didn't answer me.. I uh, I thought you had hung up or you weren't listening, I'm sorry" she rushed to say. She closed her eyes tight, mentally scolding herself for saying such things to a potential client, who was now definitely not a potential client anymore after hearing her words.
Oh God!
He paused. By now, he would usually have shown the person his/her place had anyone spoken to him like that.
But..
"Continue" he simply said, ignoring her apology.
Khushi's eyes opened wide and round. He was still willing to hear her out? Arnav waited impatiently for her to speak.
"Um.. sorry again.. So I've already given you a brief overview of the event and what your company has to gain.." She mumbled. "Are you interested?"
"Definitely" came the instant reply. Khushi missed the innuendo.
"Really?" she blurted out. Khushi couldn't believe her ears. What? Did she just cross the first stage to get AR Group to be U3 Event's client? So easily? She'd had a whole speech prepared..
"Wait. I was going to say something more but I was interrupted" he smirked, echoing her previous words. Khushi's breath was stuck in her throat and she froze.
"What does that mean?" she whispered.
He got down to business. "Before I say or agree to anything, I will need additional details. More information, more of everything." His voice got huskier at the end.
"Certainly sir, I understand." She said excitedly. He was interested! "I could drop you an email with detailed information for your kind reference." She clicked her mouse to open her email.
"Email won't be sufficient. Before AR Group does business with anyone, we meet face to face." He firmly stated, leading his way in.
"Of course sir. After you've read the email, if you're interested, we can arrange for a meeting-"
He stared at his calendar that was mostly filled with meetings. "I'm free next week" he impulsively informed.
Khushi's hand on the mouse stilled. "Sir? She was confused. "Wouldn't you like to get the email first and then decide about the meeting?"
She had called hundreds of companies and most of them would either say they were not interested or would demand for an email to be sent before even considering a meeting.
And here this big company's owner was all set for a meeting?
"It sounds like you're trying to dissuade me from coming onboard" his voice held amusement that reached to her and she shut her eyes.
"No! Of course not, not at all.." she rushed to correct herself. "I would love to have you." She stated. Arnav's eyebrow rose.
"I meant.. my uh, my company would love.. to have yours onboard."
Why was she flustered? Could he hear her loud heartbeats?
"Hmm" he let out a sound with a little smirk.
How did he make hmm sound so masculine? There was a pause before Khushi's brain started working.
"So you are free next week, which day exactly?" She opened her email to search for the calendar tab.
There was a pause. "Next Tuesday. 4:30pm" he without looking at his schedule.
"Okay hold on, let me find his name.." She mumbled, scrolling through her email base.
Arnav's eyes narrowed. "Whose name?"
"Oh, found it" she said to herself. "So sir, the meeting has been set for next Tuesday at 4 30pm." She confirmed.
"Yes. How about at the Oriental Hotel? I can have a private booth booked for us. Or maybe one of their conference rooms." He suggested, smirking at having had his way.
"Oh, uh Sir there's no need for that. My sales representative will be coming down to your office directly. They always meet with potential clients at the convenience of the clients. Hence the day & time is always set by the client, while the location is most usually their office." She told him.
"Wait" he frowned. "Your sales representative?"
"Yes" she chirpily replied, thrilled at successfully having set a meet with AR Group. "My sales representative, either a Mr Ritesh Shonza or a Mr Rakesh Suri will meet with you. I will email you-"
The frown deepened. "No."
"Wha- what, Sir?" she asked, confused.
"The meet will be with you." There was no room for argument from his end.
"Oh.. um sir I am not in the sales department.." she was stumped, unable to understand his sudden demand.
"I don't care. Either the meeting will be with you, or this is over" he stated his final decision. He didn't want to think about why he had this sudden demand. Must be the headache making him say such stuff.
Khushi sucked in a breath. "Sir you don't understand, I can't do the meeting. I don't have enough expertise to perform the roles of a sales representative-" she tried explaining patiently.
He felt a shiver of panic at her words. If she doesn't come for the meeting, does this mean this is the last time they will be speaking? He changed tactics and remained firm.
"Look Ms Gupta. I do not appreciate such unprofessionalism. If the meeting was going to be with either of the Misters you've just named, then why are you the one who called me? I'm a businessman and I like to deal with one person, not multiple people. These are my terms. Meeting will be with you. And if I decide to go ahead with participating in your event, then all further discussions will also be with you. Otherwise, this is over." He laid it down, determined.
After a moment of considering his own words, he realized how adamant he was about her being the point of contact.
Why? He didn't want to think about it. But.. Was he seriously attracted to this girl.. who he has never even seen before? Can that be possible? Over the phone??
"Sir, while I respect your sense of business," Khushi bristled at his comment about being unprofessional.
"I hope that you also understand that different companies have different ways of working. Also, there are different departments in each company for a reason. I'm sure your company must have different departments that perform different roles. Similarly, I'm trying to explain to you that having me at the meeting won't benefit you as I am not a sales person, that is not my department." She said exasperatedly.
He himself is such a big business man, how come he doesn't understand? She was starting to enjoy the way the conversation was shaping up until it took this sudden turn where he kept on insisting for her to be at the meeting.
Why? She wondered.
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Ye Hai Mohabbatein
Mangal Lakshmi
152