ARSHI - Admit it, You've Still Got the Hots for Me. (ARNAV IS UPSET)

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This must be the worst day of my entire existence on this God forsaken planet.

Arnav Singh Raizada looked like he'd eaten a plateful of shit for lunch. He locked up his bike in the parking lot of his apartment building and shuffled to the elevator. Sweat and grime from the evening buzz of the city shone on his face and his formals looked as though he had been in a bar brawl - shirt all crumpled up and sticking out from his pants. Thoroughly soaked with sweat. A couple of buttons undone. Sleeves rolled up carelessly and tie hanging loose.

My dream job... It's over. Everything.

Arnav stepped into the elevator with a woman in her forties and pressed his floor. The car began its upward slide.

It was hot and stuffy inside and he was sweating bullets. Grossed out, the woman shot a disgusted look at him. But he wasn't even aware of her presence let alone her vicious glare.

The elevator slid to a halt at his floor and he stepped out and made his way home. Very soon, he was standing before his apartment.

He held down on the bell with his finger while staring up at the door frame as if it never existed before. His actions and thoughts were out of sync. It took a moment for him to realize that his sister, Anjali, had already opened the door and was staring at him with a ton of questions all over her face.

"Chotay!"

Startled, Arnav gawked at his sister as though she were an alien. Then, without a word, shouldered past her.

Anjali is stunned at his state - mental and physical! She shut the door behind and followed her little brother into his room. She was concerned. He looked tired to the bone and genuinely disturbed. "Is everything okay?" she asked softly.

"No. Bike broke down." Arnav's reply was a breathless sigh. "Just turn on the AC fast," he ordered and kicked off his shoes. The heat was driving him mad.

Anjali watched him intently and executed his orders. Definitely, there was something more to it. She wanted to probe him but knew her brother too well. She wouldn't get anything out of a conversation. So best leave it. "I'll get you something to drink," she said and walked out.

Arnav tore off his tie and flung it aside before flopping back onto his bed with a massive sigh. He spread out his arms wide, closed his eyes and just lay there. When he did, a quick series of images flashed before his eyes of which the main subject was a gorgeous woman in her early thirties.

Everything about this woman was perfect. Just perfect. And that did seem to bother him a lot! Her beautiful smile. That beautiful set of pearl white teeth! Her flawless, glowing skin. Her amazing silky hair. Her curls and contours. Her sparkling, hazel eyes... everything was bloody perfect.

The more he visualized her, (from different angles), the more his brows clumped together and the more his jaws throbbed.

"Tough day?"

A familiar voice brought him out of his thoughts. Arnav opened his eyes and found his sister's husband, Shyam, with a glass of lemonade. He sat up with a sigh and took the glass while Shyam settled down on a chair.

"What's up? New job giving you problems?"

Arnav wanted to lie. Tell him that he was living his dream. But...

Shyam watched Arnav as he fidgeted on the bed. He was dying to cough it all up but continued to wrestle between the truth and the lie. Finally...

"There's a... problem..." Arnav began in a feeble voice. His eyes were everywhere else but on Shyam who waited for him to continue.

"What?" he probed.

"Actually... it's a very big problem..." Arnav continued to beat around the bush.

"Come on Arnav, you're scaring me. What is it?" Shyam began to get tensed. He had this gut feeling that something horrible had happened back at Arnav's workplace. Possibly he got fired on the first day itself?

"My girl... she gave up on me." It seemed so difficult for Arnav to say that.

"What!!!?" Shyam's eyes widened at Arnav's confession. This was new to him.

"Yeah. I'm... so lost. I... I don't know what to do. How will I even manage without her?" Arnav was genuinely upset and it got Shyam very concerned. He was already thinking about possible solutions for this big problem. But first, he had to discuss about this issue with Anjali. She must know this!

"How can she do this to me? How can she just give up on me like that? And after all what I've done!" Arnav ranted on. He continued to grow even more upset.

Shyam didn't know what to say or do. He just listened quietly.

"I mean come on. I've given her everything that she needs. I've given her a good rub. A wash. Every day! With the best soap."

"Wha-?" Shyam's eyes bulged out. Rub. Wash? Every day! So things had progressed quite deep! But when on earth were all these things happening? When exactly did Arnav manage to pull it off?

"I gave her the best oil. The best service!"

Shyam's eyes bulged out even more. Service!!!? He glanced at Arnav from head to toe.

"No one would have taken care of her like I did. Someone else in my place would have just sold her off as scrap."

"Whoa. Hang on. Hang on. Actually what are you talking about?" Shyam was confused.

"My girl. Splendee."

"Splendee?" Shyam's confusion disappeared at the smirk on Arnav's face. "Whoa. Hang on. You don't mean... your stupid bike!!!?"

Arnav bursted out laughing.

"God! I thought you were talking about some girl. A real girl." Shyam smiled. Another one of Arnav's silly pranks!

"I got you, didn't I?" Arnav couldn't stop laughing.

"Tell me about it. You deserve an Oscar. You really do." Shyam got to his feet. "So what happened to your... girl?"

"Ah. Who knows? She just broke down in the middle of nowhere. Going to be tough to get to work for the next few days." Arnav didn't look so troubled anymore.

Shyam shook his head with a lopsided smile. He stood with his hands resting on his hips. He still couldn't believe that he was pranked. "I can drop you on my way to work," he offered.

"Nah. It's okay. I can manage."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Positive. Anyways, our timings are an hour apart."

"Fine. How was work anyways?" Shyam enquired.

"Fantastic," replied Arnav.

Shyam chuckled. "Alright. You'd better chill for a while. I'll catch up with you later."

"Sure."

Shyam walked out leaving Arnav to himself. And the moment he did, the smile on his face faded away. He was genuinely worried and had a tough time drinking up that lemonade. So he just kept it away and lay back on the bed.

He let out a deep sigh and stared blankly at the ceiling. The images of that gorgeous woman kept flashing before his eyes. She was perfect. In every way. And that made him really very uncomfortable.

Khushi. Kumar. Gupta. Wow.

Right from this morning, from the first time he set eyes on her after almost a decade, he was suffering. He couldn't even figure out what it was. It felt like an uncomfortable clench in the chest and stomach. As for his thirst, appetite and normal bodily functions, it had just said goodbye.

At first, he didn't recognize her. This gorgeous woman, his boss, the one he'd be reporting to, was way different from the Khushi he knew. This one was bold. Confident. There was some weird sort of powerful energy that she kept emanating. It made him weak in the knees.

"Ms. Gupta. Meet Arnav Singh Raizada. He'll be in the team from now on." The Business Development Manager, Mukul Yadav, introduced Arnav to his new boss.

Man. This woman. She's sizzling hot. Got to strike a chord with her. Arnav had this cheeky grin on his face as he shook hands with his new manager.

"And this is Ms. Khushi Kumar Gupta. Business Head of Wealth Bloom Inc. You'll be reporting to her."

"Khushi Kum-?" Arnav paused. That name. It rang a bell. "Wait. Khushi Kumari Gupta?"

Khushi returned a cold smile, her hand still in Arnav's.

"As in... Khushi Kumari Gupta?" Arnav smiled wide.

"Have you two met before?" Mukul enquired curiously.

"Met!!? Hell yes! We were... classmates! Best buddies! Partners in crime!" Arnav was excited. Embarrassingly loud. He shot a quick glance at her from head to toe. She was stunningly gorgeous.

Khushi said nothing. She simply smiled. And no. It wasn't a friendly one. Not a "good-to-see-you-after-so-long" smile either. It was stone cold. Calculating.

"God. It's been so long!" Arnav ranted on and stood with his hands over his hips. "But man. Look at you! You've... you've become so... wow! Amazing! I still remember you from our yesteryears. You were..."

What Khushi said next, froze the air in the cabin. As if an evil entity just made its way in.

"I'm sure we have plenty of time to catch up on all trivial issues Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada. But right now, we should probably get to business. That's what you're here for."

Arnav, shell shocked, just stared on. "Uh--- yes"of course, but..." he stammered. His ears turned red in embarrassment and he struggled to cover it up with an awkward, lopsided smile. Her tone, her stance, everything was different from how he knew it to be. Everything about her spelt "professionalism". "No bullshit".

"Well. That's settled then. Let's get back to business right away. I'll meet you in the conference room in three." Saying this, Khushi turned her back on him and bustled out of the cabin.

Arnav felt a bit upset after that. His ego had been terribly crushed and he just couldn't get over it. Throughout the conference, she kept behaving as though she didn't even know him at all.

Then it struck him. She probably didn't want to mix her professional and personal lives. So he caught up with her after work, hoping to strike up a conversation. Most of all, there was this one incident from the past that kept bugging him.

Khushi was heading to the parking lot outside the office when Arnav jogged up to her.

"Hey," he said breathlessly.

She merely glanced over her shoulder while walking over to her car. "Yes Arnav?" she answered coldly. There was something about the air around her that made it clear that she's the boss. His boss.

"Headed home?" he asked.

She took a moment to answer, making it quite plain that she didn't want to get too friendly with him. "Is there something important?" she asked without even so much of a glance at him.

"Well - uh - you know - I was wondering if - you know - we could - meet up and - uh - talk - you know?" After that verbal slap he got from her this morning, it took him some effort to work up the courage to talk to her.

"About what?" She still wasn't looking at him.

"You know - um - old times?" God. This woman can make me sweat. Arnav was trying his best to break the ice. But man, she was hoarding up a giant glacier. It seemed like it had no plans to even crack in the near future.

She was at her car now. An impressive imported hatchback. Arnav was stunned for a moment at the kind of stuff she can own.

"We have special days assigned for that where employees can have a small get-together." Khushi pointed the remote and unlocked the car.

"Yeah. But no. Um. I mean - can we - you know - have a small chat?"

Khushi sighed and turned around to face him. Finally.

Arnav felt a cold shudder shoot down his spine. Her hazel eyes were glassy cold. A gaze that could pierce even the toughest of hearts.

"I'll meet you in the morning. Eight sharp. We'll need to get serious about those accounts." Khushi sported a sly smile when she said that. It was clear. She wasn't going to loosen up.

Arnav slouched at her response. He had nothing to say. He simply stood on and watched her get into her sleek car.

"You're really mad at me, aren't you?" he asked quietly.

Khushi ignored his question and slid her seat belt on. The engine revved and she cast a final glance at him. "You better not be late tomorrow." She still had that smirk on her face. It was as if she didn't even hear what he said.

Arnav felt crushed and broken. All what he could do was stand on and watch her drive away.

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