Chapter 5 | Mannat Ki Chabhi
"Ghamand toh dekho iska! Bada aaya kahin ka...kahin ka...kahin ka.....pata nahin!!!!" Khushi muttered annoyed - no furious!
"Patah nahin kya samajhta hain apne aap ko. Arey bhai, jaante hain humein hire kiya hai....naukri di hai....lekin aise bhi itne ghuroor se jata ne ki koi zaroorat nahin thi unhe. Uff ab iske liye kaam karna padega?" Khushi made a face like she tasted lemon. All her interactions with this man had been not the most pleasant to say the least. What if he makes her life further hell at the office too. Who knows who she'll be working under?!
"Kya Devi Mayya, yeh kiska pala padhaya hai aapne humko! Humne toh as promised dedh kilo jalebi bhi chadhayi thi na!" Khushi complained to her Devi Mayya at the unfairness of the circumstance.
She didn't realize she appeared talking to a wall when the receptionist appeared out of the corner again to she's out of there.
"Ohh haha sorry woh na, hum nikal hi rahe the" Khushi stumbled with some excuse, smiling awkwardly. Her pados wali childhood friend Seema, would've found this most funny.
Devi mayya thodi toh izzat rehne dijiye! she muttered, rushing out of the swanky hotel
Khushi entered her sister's room dazed, head swimming with thoughts.
"Oho madam bohot jaldi yoon jakar yoon wapas aa gayi aap" Payal quoted Khushi's her own dialogue back at her.
"Kya kahein jiji" Khushi invaded her sister's bed, "samajh nahin aa raha ke kidhar se shuru karein hum"
"Kya matlab, Ab kya?? Kya hua wahan?" Payal frowned confused. What happened NOW?
"Kya nahin hua Jiji" Khushi began with flair but seeing Payal's stern expression, decided to not milk the clout, suppressing the theatre kid in her.
"Tch! Kyun paheliyan bujha rahi meri maa. Tum angoothi wapas karne gayi thi ek kaand se bachne ke liye ab aur kya kar diya. Seedhe seeddhe batao theek hai. Hum keh rahe hain tumhein. Aur shuru se batao!" Payal scolded and warned, starting to get worried.
Khushi filled her in and then some(minus the boxer encounter - somethings are better left forgotten.
Ughh Khushi cringed in embarrassment. No girl wants to see some random man's state of undress.
"Kya??? Uski kkhud ki behen ne......khhud......tumhey us Arnav Singh Raizada ka address diya?" Payal was confused and a little miffed too. She was supposed to be licking her own wounds and not spend her time sorting all this drama of her sister's WHICH seems to be only further tangled up. And what an entanglement.....she had to pick the uber elite of their country(of all the people!) to get into freaking legal troubles with. As the the ever responsible eldest sibling, Payal had already begun mentally calculating the possible repercussions they might face if things were to go south with these people.
Hey bhagwan, kya karoon main is ladki ka!
Unbeknownst to this BTS, Khushi replied, "Haan Jiji unhon ne hi bola wahan jaane ke liye, warna woh guards toh bina puri baath sunein humein dhakke dekar nikal dete us building se" Khushi remarked recounting her experience of visiting the Raizada's corporate office in Lucknow that morning. Where she met the devil's sister - Anjali Jha. Khushi almost thought she was gonna get called police on when his sister interrupted calling the front desk and invited her in for a meeting with herself instead.
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"Kidhar!? yahan madam" the guard ushered her in grumnbling to himself. Khushi turned to look at the guard who was at her case since last 10 minutes, refusing to allow her to meet anyone at the office. Arey aisi bhi kaisi security hai bhai, seedhe muh toh puchh sakte hain na
"Ji, pehle aap" Khushi smiled through gritted teeth, annoyed at being treated like a criminal or worse. She was only trying to talk to someone trustworthy enough to safely returnn the ring.
She followed the guard through the corridor of the corporate office, leading to a conference room, lit in low lights.
A beautiful tall woman, stood up from the other end of the chunky wooden textured conference table. The woman had long hair with bangs framing her long face. She carried herself wtih an air of authority and confidence. The saree she wore was a beautiful chifon saree wtih stone work along her pallu, one of those styles of work that reminded you of the early 2000s fashion. Khushi almost got distracted wanting to run her hands through the work.
Throat cleared. Khushi straightened blushing.
"It's a Raizada" Anjali Jha smiled kindly, her eyes following Khushi's gaze admiring her saree.
Khushi sheepishly chuckled and blurted,"Haan ofcourse, aur kaunsa"
"Aisa bhi nahin hain. Waise doosre brands bhi pehentey hain hum kabhi kabhi" Anjali replied smiling wider.
Khushi relazed at the attempt of humour. She had enough people nearly manhandling her since last two days.
"So...Khushi Kumari Gupta, kaise aana hua aapka Raizada office mein?"
"Ji?" replied in shock
"Maine kaha - kaise aa-" Anjali
"Nahin mera matlab hai, aap humara naam jaanthi hain?" Khushi clarified.
Anjali chortled lightly and replied "Kaun nahin jaantha hai ab aapko Khushi ji"
"Right haan, kal raath " Khushi remembered. Kaafi kuchh hua
"You're not a model right?"
"Aapko kya lagta hai" Khushi shrugged politely, unsure of who exactly constitutes to be privy of this information..she's legally binding afterall.
"Don't worry I won't push you to breach your contract with Arnav"
"Oh...achha phir...." Khushi took a moment trying to navigate how much could she realy disclose or should she even."Well then you know my hands are tied"
Or rather lips are sealed...it's okay Anjali said, she gets it. She's a lawyer afterall. Her little brother really thinks . Strong flash of heat took over her body, it was the biggest one yet. It left her feeling a little dizzy
Khushi frowned observing "are you okay?" she reached her hand out in concern.
She looked around and found a water botle tray on the side table. She grabbed one and offered to Anjali.
"I am fine, bas thoda headache hai" Anjali dismissed, her head spinning now.
Khushi helped her sit down and
Meri bua ko bhi aise hi headaches hote hain and drinking water helps" Khushi offered. She just wanted to help.
Anjali took some sips and relaxed.
"Dekha yeh hui na baath. Already dekho kaise chehre ka rang wapas aagaya", Khushi chirped trying to encourage her
Anjali chortled, drinking some more water until her body's temperature felt normal. This girl was something.
"I am okay" Anjali said taking a couple deep breaths for good measure on Khushi's instructions.
Khushi smiled kindly "Chalo badhiya!"
Anjali gestured Khushi to sit with her which she followed.
"Please don't mention this to anyone. I am trusting you, no NDA" Anjali said softly. Khushi nodded sincerely. "Aap fikr mat kijiye" she replied.
"Not to rush you but aap kis liye aayi thi yahan?" Anjali asked, feeling more stable now.
"Woh zara sal...woh kal ke look ki styling mein humein kuchh gehne pehnaye gaye the, usme se yeh ek tha" Khushi explained finally, pulling the ring out of her potli.
"Cute" Anjali remarked at her potli design that was hooked to the side of her jeans
"Thanks," Khushi grinned.
"Aur yeh hamare paas ghalati se reh gaya tha. Bas yahi lautane aaye the" Khushi showed the ring she'd brought with her to return. The main reason why she was here endured the chaos outside.
"Ohh this" Anjali stared at the ring strangely, almost like she was frowning at it.
"Great design" Khushi complimented awkardly unsure what to make of her reaction. "SInce it's a Raizada creation I thought I might return it in-person to someone reliable for safekeeping."
Anjali nodded giving a polite but strained smile. Such a contrast from the easy smile she gavewhen first greeting her.
Khushi put it in a small pouch trying to return it to her. Anjali shook her head saying"you know what, I won't be the best person to take ....safe keep it"
Oh is al khushi could say... she was a little confused.
"I mean, since it's Raizada designs' property and Arnav had designated it for the showstopper" she gestured to Khushi, seemingly stopping for the right words she continued. "you know it'd best if the designer specifically asigned this for you...it'd be best you returned it back to him"
oh okay...Khushi replied more confused than ever. What's the big deal if she handed it to her instead of him. "Okay if I can meet him then, I will return" she asked as a matter of fact.
"yeah, he's actually not here at the office." Anjali thought for a sec "Can you do me a favor?" Anjali pleaded
Sure, what is it? Khushi replied. "Can you go to Arnav's hotel and return it? Please? I know it's none of your business to do this but I got to...I have to be somehwere in the next few minutes and I don't think I can pass it on right away"
It doesn't have to right away Khushi wanted to say but she got the impression that for whatever reason Anjali didn't want to take the ring's responsibility. She thought she'll let it be and decided to do it. She's out anyways, might as well return it to the righful owner.
"Okay I can do it. But I don't know where he's staying"
"Don't worry I know, I will give you the address, just use my name at the front desk okay. They should give you my key" Anjali nodded.
"Okay" Khushi got up to head out back to the frontdesk.
"It was nice to meet you Khushi. Thanks so much for your help and sorry for the inconvenience" Anjali gave a warm smile.
"Oh it's not a problem" Khushi dismissed waving her hand smile.
Khushi started to walk out when Anjali called out with a small smile "Until next time Khushi Kumari Gupta"
Khushi confused, just smiled back waving.
At the front desk, she understood why. The receptionist apologized to Khushi stating that she didn't know she was going to be working at the office and offered to help her with the offer letter and other formalities right away as an apology.
Khushi's eyeballs nearly got guaged out reading the offer letter. She reread the terms of the NDA references mentioned. The receptionist at the desk had called in their HR associate, who was assessing her expression warily. He was right to be wary because if Khushi was railway engine there would've been steam blasting out of her ears.
The moment of her signing played in mind repeatedly. She'd signed it without reading. She'd assumed signing an NDA meant it was just an NDA. Don't tell anyone what happened. Shhhhh. That's it. Nothing about signing employment and muzzling her online content making activities!!! This is fraud! Why was the NDA labelled the NDA, of that's not all it was....granted she'd not read the terms but the title of the agreement didn't had to be incomplete. Why was a lawyer not present while informing her??? This was sus...sooo sus! Too late apparently....wait why too late. Contract or no, she doesn't have to accept this lying down. She will confront that man, who couldn't even be bothered to ask her to sign the contract in person!!! Sending his mule to do the dirty work for him! Hmmmfff
Yeh kya baath hui chori chhupe kuchh bhi sign karwaliya!
Khushi barely contained her anger to ask the receptionist for the Arnav Singh Raizada's address referring to Anjali's name and rushed out of the office...what she didn't hear is the receptionist calling after her to take the key.
Khushi struggled to be let in to see the man as the hotel's front desk was asking for the very key she forgot to get. She was about to turn away but decided to try her luck nevertheless...something in her gut told her to try again.. seedhi baath. She came here to talk about something, she will not try to budget..she managed to convince the front desk staff that she was sent in by their esteemed guest's sister and that they can ask him himself. They muttered something about some post 4pm deadline and nodded amongst themselves before relenting to her request. The woman was holding room's key labelled with the room number. Doubt clouded her mind as she wondered if she'd be sent back. She was already hungry since she's been out since 8am and didn't want to go all the way back to the Raizada's office to get it. So, hunger-driven impulsive pushed her to make a dash for the room. she already saw the room number. How difficult could it be to find the room. Rightly so, she found it at the first go. She knocked the door as politely as she could. She
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Chapter in progress...
Seher Hone Ko Hai
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
3