#1 Arshi FF - The Other Half - 30 Aug - CHAP 15 - page 139 - Page 7

Chapter 2

"Why are you sitting in the boss's chair? What if he sees you? He will scold you!" Khushi sneaked around, as if waiting for the boss to appear and shout.

Was he a kid to get scolded? "I am the boss!" He slammed one hand on the table, the paper weight vibrating at the impact. How dumb was she?

Her eyes widened. "Don't slam your hand! Save your energy. And are you angry because I didn't know you were the boss? But how could I have known? You are not my cousin that I would recogn-"

He shuddered at the thought of being her cousin. "Please shut up. Sit down" Arnav rubbed his eyes. She was so infuriating. She was so irritating. She should be shown the way out of his office. So why did he just invite her to sit?

Khushi beamed at him. How nice is he to say please while asking her to shut up! She sat down in the chair opposite him. "Shukriya. Anyway I did sit for a while in the rickshaw ride on the way here. But the roads are so bumpy! How hard is it to smooth out the roads?" Khushi looked at him in wonder.

[Shukriya - Thank you. ]

She leaned forward. "The pompoms from my dupatta kept hurting my behind!" She whispered.

He stared at her speechlessly.

"Why are you here? Who are you?" Arnav looked lost. Why was he dealing with this woman? Why him?

"Why am I here? You asked me to come up to the cabin just now. Bhool gaye kya?" She looked bewildered. "Hey Devi Maiyya, looks like the illness is causing short term memory." She muttered but he could hear her. He fisted his hands, resisted the urge to strange her.

[Bhool gaye kya? - Have you forgotten?]

"Who are you!" He demanded to know.

"We met below just now! At the reception-"

"I know that, dammit! What is your name!" He was exasperated. A two year old kid would be easier to talk to.

"Ohh. I am sorry. I told you my jiji Payal's name but I forgot to introduce myself. Woh kya hai, I was very excited. But then your receptionist-" she stopped talking when his nostrils flared.

[Woh kya hai - Actually the thing is-]

"K.. Khushi.. hai hum. Hum hai Khushi. Khushi Kumari Gupta" she said nervously.

[K.. Khushi.. I am Khushi. Khushi Kumari Gupta]

"And?"

"That's it. That's my whole name. Don't you think it's long enough?" she asked him innocently.

Arnav looked heavenwards.

"Why are you here? And don't tell me it's because I asked you to come up here. What. Is the purpose. Of your visit here." He spelled it out very calmly.

In response, she pulled out her file. She slid it over to his desk.

He stared at it wordlessly.

When he didn't make a move to pick it up, she opened her mouth.

"Look, I am very good at my job. The best in fact. My buaji says my hands have magic in them" she exclaimed, waving her bangle filled wrists at him.

Arnav tilted his head. Was she here for the job as the temporary assistant until his other one came back from maternity leave? But interviews didn't start for another half an hour. Guess being punctual earned her a point.

What the! Was he actually considering her to be his assistant? No way. She would drive him crazy. Just five minutes with her and he was ready to kill someone. Temporarily assisting him for six months would send him to either jail for killing her or the asylum for going nuts.

"Suniye. If you don't believe me, I can prove it to you. I've brought samples." Khushi lifted her chin.

[Suniye - Listen]

"Samples?" Arnav was confused. He reached for the file and flipped it open, expecting to see her resume.

Instead, he stared at an excel sheet titled "Satwik Mishtan Bhandar" with never ending numbers that spoke of sales, earnings, profits and expenses. His head started to pound. Where was he stuck?

"See, the numbers have been good." She dug into her bag. "And now, for the samples." She produced a big steel box and proudly set it on the table.

He looked at it with speculation, as if expecting a scary creature to pop out from it.

She opened the lid and his cabin was filled with a sweet aroma infused with her own.. her own lemony scent that he'd noticed before.

He stared at the box which had five dividers, creating four separate spaces that were currently filled with what looked like sweets.

He could hardly recognize them.

"These magical hands have created those delicious sweets! In the whole of Delhi you will not find anything better. Aakhir Lucknow ne banaya hai" she patted herself on her back.

[Aakhir Lucknow ne banaya hai - Afterall a Lucknowi person has made it]

His ears perked up. "You are from Lucknow?"

"Sirf hum hi kyu. My jiji, parents and buaji are from Lucknow too." She leaned towards him and gestured for him to lean forward too, as if discussing a conspiracy.

[Sirf hum hi kyu - Not just me]

"Truthfully, I don't like Delhi as much as I like Lucknow." She told him.

"And why is that" he found himself looking deeply into her eyes.

"I don't know. It's just different. I miss Lucknow." She said sadly.

He found himself asking "Why? Do you have.. Someone waiting for you back in Lucknow?" He asked in a low voice.

"Wait? Why will someone wait for me? Am I a movie to be seen that people have to queue up in line and wait to see? Am I clock that people will look at me and wait to do something at specific timings? Am I a-"

"Okay stop!" He was astounded at how she turned one matter to another. And how could someone talk so much?

"Do you have a friend- a boyfriend waiting for you?" Arnav asked casually.

She laughed, the sweet sound doing wonders to his mind. She looked so young, innocent and just like a child when she laughed.

"Baifriend? You think I have a baifriend? Devi Maiyya doesn't have the strength to create someone to pair me with. Woh kya hai, I am a little sanki. Buaji calls me sankadevi and says Devi Maiyya must create a sankadev for me."

[Woh kya hai, I am a little sanki - Actually, I am a little crazy]

He hid a smile. He understood where her buaji was coming from, calling her crazy. Sanki. She definitely was sanki. Would that make him sanka for having this chat with her?

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Chapter 3