ArShi FF : UNSPOKEN LOVE #3 (Ch 36 Pg 110 || Ch 37 Pg 127) [June 13] - Page 31

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Link to CHAPTER 29

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Unspoken Love

Chapter 30

Khushi's eyes watered. "Believe me Sir, I didn't receive the file... I swear I didn't!"

Arnav was angry. "I don't understand whether or not to believe you!!" he said in disappointment.

"Even I don't understand whether to believe you!!" said Khushi.

"What do you mean?!! You doubt me?!!" asked Arnav, he was shocked.

"Who knows?!! May be there is no such file... You always want a reason to scold and insult me...!!" said Khushi strongly.

Arnav felt bad. He was hurt. He sighed. "I always thought you understand me... know me... But alas..."

Khushi could see the sincerity in Arnav's eyes. She felt sorry for what she had said. Arnav looked around searching for someone. Khushi was confused. Before she said anything, Arnav called a peon passing by.

"I had told you to give the file to Khushi. Why didn't you give it?!! Where is the file?!!" Arnav angrily asked him.

The poor peon trembled at the sight of angry Arnav. "I...I did Sir!!" he said in a trembling voice, "I had kept the file on the table...!"

Khushi was surprised. "What?! But there was no file when I saw...!!" she said, worried.

Arnav threw an angry glance at Khushi and then said to the peon, "But why didn't you give the file to Khushi? Why did you have to keep it on the table?!!"

The peon was more scared. "Sir, I had gone to give the file to Khushi Ma'am, but she was not there in the cabin..."

Khushi could see Arnav's angry gaze towards her. She just looked down. She knew she should have stayed in the room till she received the file. The peon continued, "So I was waiting there for Khushi Ma'am to return when Sonali Ma'am came there. She told me to keep the file on the table, so I kept it there and went away."

Khushi was shocked. "Sonali?!!! Is she doing this?!!" wondered Khushi.

Arnav told the peon to call Sonali there immediately. But he informed that Sonali had left early today as she wan't feeling well.

"Iss Sonali ko toh main baad mein dekh loonga...!!" said Arnav in anger. I will confront this Sonali later!!

"I didn't do anything... Maine kuchh nahi kiya sahab..." the peon was pleading for forgiveness.

Arnav saw that the peon was very scared. He calmed down a bit and said, "Haan, jaanta hoon tumne kuchh nahi kiya hai... Jaao, apna kaam karo...!!" I know you have done nothing. Go, do your work.

The peon was relieved and gladly went away.

Khushi was tensed. "Sir... presentation...!!" she said.

Arnav seemed tensed too. "Khushi I told YOU to give the presentation because you are the one that knows the project well. You are working hard on it. And you know about the project more than any other team member."

Khushi realised how much Arnav trusted her, how much he believed in her work.

Arnav continued, "And these people too... inform at the eleventh hour that they want to visit the company and want everything to be perfect. I just don't understand these people!!!" said Arnav in disappointment. "There will be all important clients, the committee will be there, all the dignitaries will be there... We can't afford to mess this...!!"

Khushi understood Arnav's worry. This was the time to do something, something for the company, something for Arnav.

"Don't worry Sir, I will give the presentation!" said Khushi with determination.

"Are you sure? How will you..."

Khushi didn't let Arnav complete the sentence. "Sir, I have no problem in presenting the part of the project I have worked on. But the other things..."

"That's what was there in the file, Khushi. I knew you would need those details for the presentation. But..." he sighed and continued, "Okay... You quickly prepare whatever you can. We will see about the other things later. I am sure you would do great!!"

Khushi nodded. Now she too believed she could do it, because Arnav believed in her. Just then Aman came there.

"What are you both doing here?! The guests will be arriving any minute. And why are you both so tensed?!" Asked Aman.

"Sab gadbad ho gayi hai yaar...!" said Arnav. Everything is in mess! Aman was confused.

Arnav thought for a while. "Khushi, how much time will you need?" asked Arnav.

"Aadha ghanta Sir... Half an hour!!" replied Khushi.

"Okay!" said Arnav and checked his watch. It was 5. "Aman, we need to somehow extend the introduction and felicitation till 5:30. Khushi, be ready by 5:25, okay? Don't be late!!" Khushi nodded as she opened her laptop. Arnav and Aman went towards the reception to welcome the visitors.

*****

Khushi checked the time. 5:05. She quickly opened Microsoft PowerPoint. She opened all the files on her laptop from which data was needed. Quickly going through the files, she copied all the required and important data to the PowerPoint slides. She checked the time. 5:15. "You have ten more minutes Khushi... hurry up!!" she told herself. She added some more points to the slides. It was 5:20. Khushi was not at all satisfied with the slides. They were not appealing. Khushi was wondering how she could make it more presentable. She had five minutes left. "What else can I add?!! What else..." she wondered.

Just then Arnav came there. "Are you ready Khushi?! Your name will be announced in a couple of minutes..." he said.

Khushi was busy thinking about improving the presentation. Suddenly her face glowed and her eyes sparkled. She jumped on her place in excitement, "Yess!!! I got it...!!" she exclaimed.

Arnav was confused. "What?!" he questioned. Khushi quickly got hold of her pen drive and hurried to somewhere. "Khushi!!! Where are you going now?!!" asked Arnav, confused and tensed.

"I will just be back Sir...!!" said Khushi as she ran away.

"Oh God..!! I will never be able to understand this girl...!!" thought Arnav with a sigh.

Arnav went back to the auditorium and occupied his seat. He just hoped that Khushi came back in time.

Finally Khushi was called upon the stage. Arnav was waiting to see her on stage. Everyone was waiting for her to arrive. But no one came on stage. "Where is this girl?!!" wondered Arnav. Khushi's name was announced again. She didn't arrive. Arnav got up to go see where she was. Just then he saw Khushi come on stage, running towards the podium with her laptop. Giggles spread across the auditorium. "Thank God she is here...!" thought Arnav as he sat down.

While the peon was connecting Khushi's laptop to the projector, Khushi's gaze was searching for Arnav. There he was! She saw him finally! Arnav could easily make out that Khushi was very nervous. Arnav's sight soothed Khushi. His eyes assured her that everything was going to be fine and there was nothing to worry about. Khushi regained her confidence and began the presentation. Though the slides were very simple, Khushi's presentation was quite impressive. Everything was going on well till a question was raised that was out of Khushi's scope. Khushi froze at her place. She felt weak in her knees. How she wished she had received the file sent by Arnav! She was blankly staring at the audience. She had failed today. People had their eyes set on her waiting for an answer. Khushi couldn't understand anything. This was a terrible feeling. "I am really sorry Arnav Sir..." she thought as she blinked her wet eyes.

Suddenly she heard someone speak, someone answer the question. Khushi was surprised. And then she realized that it was Arnav's voice. She turned to see Arnav on the stage. Arnav was satisfying all the related queries. And then he looked at her, smiled and said, "Next slide please...!!"

Khushi felt relieved seeing Arnav by her side. Khushi and Arnav together carried on the presentation. And that was very impressive. They both supported and understood each other so well that there was nothing that could go wrong. After they were done with the PowerPoint presentation, Arnav was about to leave the stage when Khushi held his hand telling him to stay as she said... "We would now like to present the model that we have developed, based on our work till now...!!" She connected her pen drive to the laptop as Arnav looked on.

"Ohh!! So this was what she had gone to get before the presentation...!!" thought Arnav.

He looked at the 3-D model on the screen. It looked beautiful. He looked at Khushi and raised his brows appreciating the model. Khushi smiled. Both of them together explained the model. Now the presentation seemed to be complete. Arnav was very happy. He had not expected it to be so good. Khushi had done a great job. After the presentation, Khushi announced the names of all her team members saying that, "We wouldn't have been able to do all this without all of them...! Thank you so much!!"

The clients were more than satisfied. The committee was very glad.

Anup came up to Arnav and Khushi to congratulate them on their efforts and wonderful presentation. "I think you both should give every presentation together!!" he suggested. "You both were fantastic together!"

No one noticed Khushi blush. She looked at Arnav, but he was busy talking to the guests.

All the team members came there. Shikha congratulated Khushi and said, "That was so sweet of you Khushi to mention our names..!! Thank you so much yaar!!" she said. Khushi just smiled as everyone agreed.

The clients wanted to have a talk with Khushi and Arnav. So they all had a short discussion in Arnav's cabin. The clients left.

It was late. As Khushi was preparing to leave, Arnav came to call her and said, "Khushi, before leaving, don't forget to collect the file of their (client's) specifications from me...!!"

Khushi just stared back at him. She checked her watch. "No way!!" she exclaimed. Arnav was surprised. Khushi continued, "Sir, it is already late!! Now if we go to your home to search the file, that too in your room, it would be too late...!! I will collect the file tomorrow... Please Sir... I have to leave now... I won't be able to..."

"Khushi!!" interrupted Arnav. "The file's in my cabin!!" he said.

Khushi was silent. She bit her tongue. "Oh..!! I am sorry Sir... I thought..."

Arnav smiled and said "Come now... take the file" and he went to his cabin. Khushi followed cursing herself.

*****

Arnav reached home. He was tired after a hectic day. He needed a long sound sleep. He went to his room, and as soon as he entered he remembered Khushi's words... Sir, it is already late!! Now if we go to your home to search the file, that too in your room, it would be too late...!! He looked around his room and smiled as he jerked his head. He threw himself on the bed drifting away whatever was lying on it - a shirt, his towel, newspapers... everything. He just lay there thinking about Khushi as he fell asleep.

*****

Arnav woke up to the ring of his alarm. It was time to get ready and go for his usual jog. He got up and smiled to himself. The glint in his eyes told that he was upto something. He quickly got up and lifted the jug to fill the glass with water. But the jug was empty. He came out of his room to fill water in the jug. It was still dark. He heard someone following him. He turned to see it was Lavanya.

"Lavanya?!! What are you doing here?! That too at this time?!!" asked Arnav, surprised.

"Arnav..." said Lavanya smiling sweetly, "I too am coming with you for a jog today!!" Lavanya was very excited.

"What?!" exclaimed Arnav. "By the way, sorry to say but I am not going for a jog today..." said Arnav as he filled the jug with water.

Lavanya was disappointed. "But why?!!" she asked following Arnav as he walked to his room.

"Because... I have an important work to do..." said Arnav as he entered into the room, "and I don't want to be disturbed... at all!!" and he shut the door on Lavanya's face.

"Huh!!" Lavanya went away stamping her feet.

After a couple of hours, Lavanya saw Arnav coming out of his room, ready to go to office. She was surprised to see that Arnav was locking the door of his bedroom from outside. She went to him and curiously asked, "Arnav, why are you locking your room?!"

Arnav looked at her and smiled putting the keys in his pocket. "So that people like you won't enter my room...!!" he said in a teasing tone.

"What do you mean by 'people like me' ?!! And you never locked it before, then why today suddenly?!!" said Lavanya following Arnav as he came down the stairs.

He stopped at his place listening to the query. He looked at Lavanya. His eyes sparkled as he said, "Because... today is special...!!"

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So here we come to the end of the first half of our journey...

Another half to go...

Hope you have enjoyed till now...

And I am sure you will surely enjoy the further journey...

🤗

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Link to CHAPTER 31

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PPS : Next update tomorrow