Chapter 14:
Khushi stood in the corridor, outside Lavanya and Payal's apartment, waiting for Lavanya to get ready. And she wanted to go to work soon too. She hadn't seen Arnav for almost twelve hours now! 'Ugh!! How much more of a lovesick fool could you be?!' a voice whined inside her head.
She frowned as she though, 'I love the man!! So?! Bite me!!'
Instead of having an argument with herself, she decided to clean her cluttered SMS inbox, since her phone had started complaining that it was running out of space. She frowned as she saw the first message. It was from Arnav, and it said, "Are you alright?" And she had also replied to it with a "Yes" She saw the time at which she had received the message and realized that she had been half asleep when this had happened. And now she wondered why Arnav would ask if she was alright. They had sorted the juice incident. 'What could he be worried about?!' Khushi thought as she dialed his number, and waited for him to pick her call up.
Arnav's phone started ringing, and he clicked the button on his blue-tooth, which sat plugged to his ear, and barked a "Hello" into it. "Good morning to you too. . . ." Khushi chirped, and Arnav smiled as he recognized the voice immediately. "Khushi. . ." He murmured, and the object of his interest started explaining why she had to leave without telling him, and how irritated she was getting, standing there, waiting for Lavanya! Arnav had started getting irritated too, and the fact that Khushi was feeling the same, made him smile satisfactorily.
"Achcha, Arnav. . .Why had you sent me a text asking me whether I was alright??" Khushi asked, and Arnav frowned as he replied, "You didn't seem alright when your dad left yesterday. So. . . ."
"Oh!!" was all the reply Khushi could muster. She knew Arnav felt uncomfortable with all the thank-you-because-you-care-so-much-about-me talks. So she thought it would be best to talk about something else, and asked where he was. Arnav, glad that she had changed the subject, replied, "I'm almost at work. . . When will you. . . . ." He stopped at that, not knowing how to frame his question without sounding like a desperate lover boy.
"I'll be there within a half hour, at the max, Arnav. . ." Khushi said softly, smiling when Arnav had left his question incomplete. Khushi herself was amazed as to how she understood what Arnav wanted or was feeling without him talking much. When it came to understanding the hidden depths of what people meant, Khushi was actually obtuse. But with Arnav, it was the utter opposite. 'You love him!!' she justified herself and a tender smile adorned her face, as she stared blankly ahead.
"Oye, hello!! We're going to work, now! You can drool over your boss all you want! Lets go!!" Lavanya announced as she walked further. Khushi's mouth hung open as she stared at the audacious remark of her alleged best friend, and heard Arnav chuckling through her phone. She felt way too embarrassed to answer to Arnav at the moment, and she ended the call with a hurried bye.
And Khushi muttered about an insensitive Lavanya as she walked behind her, to where Khushi's bike was.
Arnav called Khushi to his chamber, as soon as she reached her desk. There was too much work to be done, and he could use all the extra help. Malhotra Creations, the rivals of AR, had given a press release, saying that they were releasing a line of Bridal wear. And he had to take a counter-step against them to remain in business. He had even managed to catch hold of a few sponsors for this purpose. Not like he needed any sponsors. 'But why spend my money if people are ready to do it!' Arnav thought, as he shrugged and started preparing the necessary presentations for it.
He needed a person who could understand what he needed for this important project. He really didn't have the mind to get his hands dirty with designing. It had been years since he had done any actual designing. He wanted to concentrate on the marketing part of the project, and just supervise the designing part of it. But he had certain ideas of what he expected out of the designs for this project and he wanted the designs to be exactly like that. And who better to understand him than Khushi?
As soon as Khushi entered his cabin, he made her sit on the couch, and he sat beside her, as he explained about the project. Khushi's brows were furrowed in concentration, as she listened to it in absolute concentration. And later when he said he wanted her to be the chief designer, her eyebrows shot up, as she started shaking her head in disbelief. "No. . . . . You should really take in an experienced designer. . . . I don't think I'll be able to. . . . ." But Arnav held her hand in both of his, effectively shutting her up.
Khushi didn't know how to respond to such an offer. Moreover, she was doubtful as to why Arnav was doing it. Was he letting his feelings for her to take the lead, or did he really think she deserved such a huge responsibility. And when she started to object, he held her hands in his, making her look into his eyes. The confidence which his eyes held, reassured her that he really trusted her on this. She sighed as her shoulders slumped in defeat. "Are you sure??" She asked doubtfully. Knowing that she had given into his whim, Arnav grinned, which made him look almost boyish. He nodded once, his grin still in place, and Khushi smiled too.
"But what about the winter line of clothing that I'm already working on??" Khushi questioned, and Arnav shrugged as he replied, "We still have time for that. . . . Work on this first, and then you can concentrate on that. . ." Khushi nodded thoughtfully, and started playing with his fingers, and after Arnav watched her. She was thoughtful even though her fingers were playing with his, and after a while she asked, "Do you have anything particular planned for the designs??"
Arnav smiled as he answered her question. He had actually planned for designs which were particularly in style for the younger generation. For the people in the age group of 20-30, and he had got this idea when he had sat waiting for Khushi, outside her college. Being one of the most reputed fashion designing institute, he had seen students wearing multitudes of colors, wearing their own creations, experimenting so many new things on themselves, and it had really inspired him a lot. And Khushi was soon nodding excitedly, as so many ideas started forming in her head. So basically, Arnav wanted her to design clothes and accessories which had to be vibrant bordering on ostentatious. 'I can do ostentatious!! After all, I love colors!!' Khushi thought. Her train of thoughts was broken by Arnav's phone which started ringing. He disentangled one of his hands from hers, and picked up the call.
It was his sister, and she told him and Khushi to come home as early as possible, as there was a pooja at home the next day, and she needed their help. "But, Di!! Why me? And why Khushi?! We have JaiPrakash!" Arnav whined, and Khushi turned to him looking at him curiously. Arnav indicated her to wait, as he listened his sister start complaining about this being a family affair, and how she didn't want anybody else to have a hand in it! Arnav was about to point out that Khushi wasn't family too, but stopped as he looked into the curious eyes of Khushi. "Chotey, you won't understand! Achha, Khushi hai kya wahan pe??" Anjali asked, and Arnav promptly handed his phone to Khushi.
Khushi frowned as she took his phone and started talking to Anjali. Soon, she was nodding her head in understanding, and Arnav watched the ease with which she handled his sister. She even tried to make Anjali excuse her brother, since Arnav really didn't like taking part in anything related to God! But Anjali teased Khushi about her taking Arnav's side. Arnav watched as Khushi blushed, and hastily answered, "Okay, fine! We'll be there!!"
"I tried to make her let you go. . . . And one more thing. She doesn't want us to be working tomorrow!" Khushi said, as Arnav sighed, and took his phone back and told her to think over about the deal they had talked about. Khushi named it The-Chic-Deal and grinned at him, and Arnav just smiled and shook his head at her antics.
She was about to leave his cabin when Arnav called her back. Khushi turned to him, her eyebrows raised questioningly. He walked over to her and put his hands on her waist, pulling a surprised Khushi nearer, and her hands went automatically went to his chest. "If you were angry about Sana Banerjee, why did you spill juice on me?!"
Khushi blushed delicately when she was reminded of yesterday's affair. "Lavanya was telling me that you took Sana's crap just because it'd be hard for you to find a lead model at the end moment. And I thought if I spilled juice on her, she'd give more crap to you. I knew that I shouldn't make it more difficult to you. So. . . . ." Khushi trailed off. '
So much sensibility?!' Arnav thought as he laughed to himself at her bizarre logic, and feigned as if he was hurt and asked, "So Sana Banerjee gets more importance in your life than me??!" And he laughed. Khushi, though happy that he was laughing, pouted with indignity, making Arnav swoop down for a quick peck on her lips, which in turn made Khushi smile again. . . . . . .
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Precap: His finger ran along her spine in a tantalizing movement, making Khushi shiver with anticipation. She held onto his shoulder, and his eyes never left her face, gauging her each reaction. His hands were now at her waist, dangerously running lower towards her hips.
P.S: Some serious "BEY" stuff coming up in the next update!! đ đ
Link to part 13
Link to part 15
Edited by -_-harsh42 - 13 years ago
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