HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!! I LOVE Y'ALL!!! ❤️
This one's for my lovely aunties!! 😉 😆 😆
Part 4:
Arnav came down the stairs, cursing himself for forgetting about something that his sister had mentioned. Some pooja to which he had to accompany his sister for. Now, normally she would have called him and reminded him about it. But not today. She had been miffed at him for this morning's incident where he had been caught yelling at Khushi. Her name brought with it, a pang of guilt. He stopped in his tracks and stared at her, as she sat on the floor cross legged, her tongue at one end of her lips, as she drew efficiently on the sketchbook she had on her lap. She tilted her head and smiled before rolling her eyes and tearing the page off, crumpled it, and threw it behind her. Arnav looked behind her and saw a pile of crumpled such papers.
Khushi closed her eyes and put both her hands at the nape of her neck before she stretched out, as Arnav gazed on. She gasped in fear, as one of her hand went to her throat, when she saw Arnav standing near the foot of the stairs, watching her. He started moving towards her and Khushi put her sketchbook before she scrambled to her feet, only to realize that her feet had gone numb with the continuous sitting. She was about to fall down, when she felt Arnav's strong arms go around her waist, as he pulled her up, before he put a hand behind her knees and lifted her up effortlessly. Khushi stared at him with wide eyes before she started sputtering incoherently. "I. . . I can. . . Stand!! On my. . . . . Own. . . Put me. . . Down!!"
Arnav looked at her flushed face for a second before he shrugged and put her on her feet. Khushi who wasn't expecting this, held on to the chair unsteadily and waited for the numbness to pass. She kicked her feet finally to erase the traces of insensitivity off her limbs, before turning to Arnav, who was now skimming through her sketch book. And just like that she started feeling nostalgic. It was like her high school all over again, where she stood in front of Tripathi ji, her khadoos Arts teacher, who could successfully find faults even in Da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Her fingers went to her mouth involuntarily, and she started biting on her nails, as she watched Arnav look at her drawings with a perfect poker face.
He closed the sketch book after looking through it and handed it over, as he looked into her expectant eyes. "Go home." He ordered.
Khushi gave him a confused look, not sure whether he had actually NOT yelled at her, or whether the continuous hours of poring over her sketch book had started to take its toll on her brain. "What??" She asked in a daze, and could swear that she saw a hint of laughter in the Arnav Singh Raizada's eyes, before he covered it with his usual, infuriating smirk, and said, "Come. I'll drop you." He had turned around, expecting her to follow him. And when he didn't hear her footsteps behind him, he looked back and raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you coming?"
Khushi stared on and replayed his last sentence in her mind. He ACTUALLY has some manners?! she thought, when he asked her if she was coming or not. Her mouth opened, and closed a few times, like a gold fish, not knowing how to respond to this good-mannered Arnav.
Arnav tried very hard to stop himself, but he couldn't help himself, as a grin spread across his face, and Khushi forgot her discomfiture with the good-mannered-Arnav and huffed as she went past him, muttering that she would hail a rickshaw. Arnav shook his head at the retreating back of Khushi before he went behind her, calling his sister on the way. Time to get Di back on my side, he thought, as he started speaking into the phone before his sister started lecturing about punctuality. "Di. Look, Khushi's not coming with me. Its already late, and I offered to drop her home. But she won't come. Yes, Di." He nodded his head, and smiled victoriously, as he handed his phone to Khushi who looked at him, flabbergasted, as she took the phone out of his hands with an unsure hand.
"Ji Anjaliji. . . . No!! It isn't like that!!" Khushi said, as she glared at Arnav, who seemed to have a tough time with stopping himself from laughing. "Ji..." Khushi said, as she handed back his phone to him, and walked ahead of him, muttering something about Raakshas, widening the smirk on Arnav's face.
Khushi sat in the car with stiff shoulders, and stared out of the window. Arnav didn't mind the silence himself, as he drove towards Shantivan. Khushi got a call from Lavanya and Payal, and she soon forgot all about Arnav, as she giggled at the fight her sister and Lavanya were having. And this time the reason for their fight was Valentine's day. "Khushi!! You tell your sister. You already know about the HUGE party at AR, on Valentine's day, which I'm organizing with so much pain, and even you'd be there! What is your sister's problem to come over then?!" Khushi patiently listened to her cribbing and then to her sister's reasoning, as to why she shouldn't be there. "Par jiji!! Even I don't have a boyfriend! Am I not going?? You're coming with us and that's it!!"
"Where's the party?" Arnav asked, as Khushi cut the call. "In AR, of course! Don't you remember??" Khushi asked, as Arnav glared at her. "And why exactly is it for?!" "Valentine's day!!" Khushi said with a huge grin on her face. She wasn't the biggest fan of Valentine's day, as she never had a reason to celebrate it. But anything which irritated Arnav Singh Raizada, she could fall in love with! Arnav groaned, as he remembered it. And now his sister would nag him to go there and find himself a girl, and Jiju would join her too, at least to keep his wife happy. Khushi's spirits seemed to have lifted up, looking at a practically distraught Arnav, as she sat with a silly grin on her face.
---ooo---
Khushi entered AR, irritated to the core. It wasn't like she was against wearing gowns. But this was over the top. WAY over it! It was a strapless dress. She had to keep pulling it up so that it didn't fall off completely, and for the same reason, she refused to remove the matching red peacoat she was wearing. But the temperature was a little too sultry, as the air-conditioning had been turned off, since AR had so many balloons floating near the ceiling with the ribbons off it dangling until their heads. She soon HAD to remove her coat, or the other option would be to sweat like a pig.
Khushi moved around easily, but a few taller people were having a tough time walking with dodging all the ribbons off their faces. She was at the foot of the stairs leading to Arnav's cabin, waiting for Lavanya to arrive. Yes. Lavanya had practically planned the grand entrance that she intended to have today. She felt her ears start to ring as she heard Lavanya yell, "HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!" Soon all of the staff surrounded Lavanya and admired her gown. And everyone were so engrossed in Lavanya that they never noticed Arnav enter next, muttering all sorts of profanities, and sputtering against the ribbons which seemed to irk him by getting into his eyes and mouth. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Khushi staring at him with an amused smile on her face, which soon disappeared, as she lifted her arms and drove all the ribbons to a side and stepped to a side, making way for Arnav to pass through. Arnav came to stand near her, and gave her a sidelong glance and thanked her. She nodded her head, and was about to go ahead with her work, when he came back and said, "Do me one more favor. Don't let me walk through this." He jerked his head, pointing to the decorations and a disgusted look on his face. "For the whole day if possible!!" Khushi gave him an understanding smile and nodded.
---ooo---
It had been a tiring day. Khushi fumed, as she waited for the elevator door to open, remembering how she had helped Arnav, so that he didn't have to step out of his cabin, only to get a yelling from him on the same evening, when he saw her dancing with Aman during the party. The party in the evening was arranged in one of the huge conference rooms of AR. Payal had arrived too, and she seemed to have disappeared after Lavanya had introduced the sisters to Akash Singh Raizada, Arnav's cousin, whom Khushi had met the same day too, owing to his trip to Hong Kong. Lavanya herself had left with Steve long back, but had strictly ordered Khushi that she SHOULD stay back and get "hooked". Leaving Khushi with Aman, who was a really nice guy. He had helped her survive the raucous party, and even offered to dance with her, just so that Khushi didn't have to turn down the many "Dance with me?"s that she was getting from almost all her male colleagues. Arnav had pulled her to a corner when he found her dancing with Aman, and yelled at her for doing it.
What the hell!! Just what does he think of himself!! Khushi thought as she stepped into the elevator. The door was about to close when a hand stopped it, and the door reopened. Arnav stepped in and got a cold look from Khushi, before she looked away. "So? Managed to pass the whole day without doing any actual work, eh?" Arnav asked, and Khushi looked at him with eyes full of disbelief. "Oh, I'm sorry! I was busy running behind my boss. Because he's a grinch!!" Khushi yelled at him, and before she knew it, she was pinned to the wall of the elevator, and her arms were in the vice-like grip of Arnav's hands. Khushi started squirming, and gave him an annoyed look before she muttered, "Leave me you. . . ."
"Sasquatch?? Oh, but you already called me that, cupcake!!" Arnav murmured in a velvety voice, stressing on the endearment that he had used for her. Khushi was about to open her mouth to protest, when the elevator jerked to a stop, and the lights in it went out too. Arnav's hands let go of Khushi as he looked up, and was surprised to find Khushi hugging him tight, her face hidden in the lapels of his jacket, as she murmured prayers to her Devi Maiyya.
Arnav pulled out his cell phone and looked at Khushi's frightened form in the faint light coming from the display screen of his phone. "Khushi. . . ." He started in a concerned voice, when she gasped and pulled herself off him. Arnav looked at Khushi, who now stood shivering in one corner of the small confines of the elevator, and soon his concern was replaced by amusement to see her strong reaction towards the dark that enveloped them. She looked at Arnav and when she found him smiling her fear was replaced with anger, as she started shouting at him. "Yeah! Laugh at me!! I hate darkness!! It reminds me of the days when I lost my parents!! Go and laugh all you want!!" Khushi felt her eyes prickle with angry tears and she started blinking and willed them to go away, when she felt Arnav pull her into his warm embrace. Khushi didn't have it in her to fight him off and soon she was crying all over him. The tears coming from the loss of her parents, and the frustration of getting a yelling from him. She pushed him away, as she wiped her tears, looking away and clenched her jaw to stop herself from crying.
Arnav watched in horror, as the strong-headed girl stood in front of him in pieces. He realized that, for reasons unfathomable, he could never, EVER see her in this state. And his guilt returned in an overdrive for all his churlish behavior towards her. He wanted to apologize, but did not know how to.
"You know why I yelled at you yesterday, when you had designed only shoes and not dresses?" Arnav asked. "Because you're a jerk." came Khushi's prompt reply. Arnav suppressed his grin as he looked that Khushi had gotten back to her straightforward self, and replied, "Because I know you're good at it. And I want you to concentrate on clothes right now. When it comes to shoes, you're a natural at it. I want you to be a good fashion designer, not just an accessories designer."
Khushi frowned as she let this sink in her head. "Really??" her voice sounded dazed. "Wow. . . ." she gasped and looked up at Arnav's face in the faint light of his cell phone which he held almost near her, so that there was more light near her.
"And for such an amazing accessories designer, you missed out on wearing some jewelry?" Arnav asked, as her hands rose to her bare neck and ears. She had actually planned on wearing something, but she had forgotten in the hurry.
"Here..." Arnav handed her a box after he removed it from his pocket.
Khushi lifted the lid of the box, and saw a pair of beautiful earrings nestled against the velvet cloth. "For me?" Khushi asked, and Arnav clucked his tongue in impatience. "No. You wear it once, and I'll take it back from you afterwards!"
She was about to protest, that she couldn't take such an expensive gift from him, when she saw the flash of guilt in his eyes. Not a very verbal kind of person, are you, Arnav?? she thought, "Thank you..." Khushi's voice showed her disbelief. Arnav looked into her eyes to see the awe, and gratitude in the wide, brown orbs of hers. Being on the recieving end of her gaze, he found himself getting oddly unnerved, when he felt her clutch his hand, as the elevator jerked back to life and started moving down again.
Khushi let out a sigh of relief, and looked at her companion, only to find him looking at her creamy skin on her hand on top of the tanned skin of his hand. She removed her hand off him, and stepped out of the elevator, as soon as the doors opened, to find the security guard profusely apologizing and when Arnav dismissed him without giving him a piece of "THE" ASR, the guard scratched his head and left in confusion, making Khushi giggle. And now it was Arnav's turn to watch khushi in awe, as her laughter pulled his lips up in a small smile too. . . . . . .
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Hope you liked it..
Please do leave me your comments... 😳 😃
Part 3
Part 5
Edited by -_-harsh42 - 13 years ago
195