Chapter 7: Hooky
"Where is she?" He slammed his palm on the table in frustration and saw Neha jump. That annoyed him even more. The girl has been working for him for three years and still jumped for something ordinary like this. Sushant held his ground and for that he was glad. He didn't have time to soothe the ruffles of simpering misses. He didn't know how simpering misses had gotten into Raizada Enterprises in the first place or how they had made it through the first month, much less 3 years. He needed people like Khushi and Lavanya. Nothing ruffled their feathers. He could yell and scream and be as asinine as he wanted to in the privacy of his office with them and they rose above it. That's why he paid them well. Neha would have to be transferred to another part of the company. The girl really wouldn't survive working with him, particularly on days like this when Khushi was not here.
"Where the hell is she, Sushant?"
Neha's nerves had apparently not reached saturation point as yet because he saw her fist tighten on the files she was holding.
"Neha, go back to your cube."
"Sir..." she looked up, her eyes wide.
"Please." He held up a hand to stop whatever she was about to say. "Go back to your cube."
She shot an apologetic look at Sushant and then turned around and left, her relief at the dismissal clear.
He looked back at Sushant. The man had potential. His face was impassive as he looked back at him. This, he could work with.
"She is out sick, sir. But the presentation that you need for tomorrow is ready. She already sent it along and said that you just need to review it once more. She will be here tomorrow to do it for the client."
"And if she is sick tomorrow as well? Has she made any provisions for that possibility?"
"Yes, she has trained me and Neha."
Oh... well, no one said the woman wasn't thorough. That's why she has lasted as long with him as she has.
"Khushi is the lead project manager and you're the secondary. If she is not here tomorrow, you will do it yourself. Don't use Neha for it. The girl is not ready."
"Yes, sir." Sushant answered.
"You can go now."
After Sushant left, he checked the shared drive and, sure enough, the project's presentation that Khushi had prepared was on it already. For some reason or other, he felt annoyed seeing it there. She hadn't come into the office yesterday as had been her routine for all the Sundays of the past three months. He hadn't even realized that he had gotten used to seeing her every Sunday, in those sweats and tee, her glasses that couldn't decide if it belonged on a convent headmistress or in a kinky adult film, and the pen that she insisted on still twisting into her hair, a sight that he didn't know how to take. He didn't want to ask what she did with the wooden hairpin that he had impulsively bought for her or why she never used it. But strangely enough, he wasn't surprised that she didn't use it. He had almost called her yesterday afternoon when it had become evident that she wasn't coming in to ask her where the hell she was. Thankfully, he had remembered in time that Sundays were not exactly mandatory work days.
He went through the presentation for the next hour; aside from minor changes here and there, it generally looked satisfactory. That made him even more annoyed. How the hell could she have done that at home? He didn't have too much time to worry about it for the next few hours as his time was filled with meetings. But as soon as he was out of them, the by-now-familiar agitation came back and on impulse, he called Lavanya.
"Is she really sick?" He asked as soon as Lavanya said "Hello."
Pleasantries were reserved for people he had to be polite to. And politeness was something he abhorred a great deal and forced upon himself only because there were times he had to play nice in the field that he was in.
"Hello to you too, Arnav." Lavanya said in her characteristic admonishment. Even since she left the company, she had promptly dropped the "Sir" and "Mr. Raizada" and had immediately taken up Arnav. Secretly, he was glad for it, not that he would ever admit it to her. The woman had balls. And she could recognize unformed potential when she saw it. Ms. Khushi Kumari Gupta was the single best example.
"Is she sick, Lavanya?" He asked again, ignoring her barb.
"Who?" she asked.
"Who do you think? Khushi, my lead project manager! The day before her presentation with a major client, she has decided to play hooky. So, I am asking her best friend and my previous most valued employee who trained her, is she really sick?"
"She is sick?" Lavanya appeared surprised to hear it.
He drew back in surprise. If Khushi was sick enough to not show up to work - the woman generally worked through all manners of cold, mild fever, sore-throat and the like without any issues – and she hadn't told Lavanya, then a) she wasn't sick or b) she really wasn't sick at all.
"So she really isn't sick then." He made up his mind. He balanced the phone between his ear and shoulder and went through the personnel directory and found Khushi's address. He had known that the woman lived only about ten or fifteen minutes from the office, but had never had reason to find out exactly where before today.
"I have no idea, actually. I was away this weekend with the kids and Sohan to my in-law's place and just got back this morning. Jay has an ear infection, so I am at the doctor's office with him now. I haven't talked to Khushi yet."
"Is he okay?" He asked about the twin.
"Yea, just got a prescription for antibiotics, so I have to stop by the pharmacy. I will drop by Khushi's place on the way."
"No no. Don't worry about it. I will check on her."
There was a brief silence on the other end before Lavanya spoke again. "You are going to check in on Khushi?"
It struck him that that might have sounded odd and he reframed the statement. "I will call and check in on her. Don't worry. I am sure she is alright."
"Are you..." Lavanya started again but he cut her off. "Lavanya, just worry about Jay. Get the boy his medicine and take him home. No detours necessary." He hung up before she could say anything else.
Thirty minutes later found him standing outside her flat door. He rang the doorbell three times and just when he thought he would have to call someone to break the door in, it finally opened a crack.
"Khushi." He said and the door promptly closed in his face.
"What the!" He raised his fist to pound on the door just as it opened again.
She was in a long terry bathrobe now that looked haphazardly tied together. Her skin looked leached of color and against the navy blue of the bathrobe, she looked like a ghost.
"What is wrong with you?" He asked as he walked in, making her let go of the door and step back into the flat.
Just as he shut the door behind him and turned around, he saw her sway. He caught her before she fell and picked her up to take her to the couch.
She was completely out by the time he laid her on the couch.
He could see the small kitchen off to the side and he went to grab a glass of water.
When he sprinkled the cool drops on her face, she jerked and opened her eyes.
"What's wrong?" He asked again, softening his voice now.
She shook her head and tried to get off the couch. He held her by the arms and stopped her.
"You're weak. What's wrong?"
"Not..." she started and when her voice came out hoarse, she stopped and tried again, "Nothing, sir. I am alright."
She started to move again but he stopped her once more. "If you get up, you are going to faint. And I am not about to pick you up again."
This time, the weakness left her eyes for a moment as they flashed up to him, the familiar irritation and anger with him surfacing there, giving her cheeks some of its usual color back.
"I didn't ask you to pick me up."
"You would rather that I leave you where you drop on the floor?" he asked, feeling better now that she was irritated.
"Yes." Was her singular answer before she managed to push him aside and get off the couch. She made it to the wall nearest her before he saw her pause. She leaned against it while she brought her hand up to her forehead.
He was beside her in the next instant and grabbed her to turn her around so that she had the wall against her back and him in front of her.
"That's it. You're going to the hospital, you fool."
Her eyes closed and her arms weakened and it made him feel helpless for a moment as his arms went around her waist to support her fully.
"Khushi..."
"No hospital, Sir. I know what's wrong. I just need to rest." She finally said when she had enough energy.
"You know what's wrong? What the hell is wrong then, tell me!"
She shook her head and clutched his arms. He moved in closer until he was supporting almost all her weight; he knew she would never hold onto him unless she couldn't stand up at all.
And yet, she shook her head, refusing to tell him what was wrong.
"If you don't tell me, I swear to God, I will call an ambulance. And then you really won't have a say in it one way or the other, Khushi." He told her in agitation.
"No..." she whispered now.
"Yes!" he said again, hoping that his anger would renew her energy somewhat.
"I know what's wrong, sir." She said after several moments, repeating what she had told him before.
"Then tell me what's wrong." He insisted.
She put her head back against the wall and her hair which had been in a bun until then, started to loosen. She fidgeted her head in discomfort and he reached back to pull out what he was sure would be a pen. Instead, the wooden hairpin that he had given her came loose in his fingers as her long hair spilled out of its restraint.
He brought it between them and stared at it. She opened her eyes after a moment and saw the hairpin in his hand. He saw her eyes widen momentarily before she grabbed it out of his hand.
"You do use it." His voice came out in a whisper without meaning to and she closed her eyes again. He smelled it stronger than before... the subtle hint of lavender that was always on her skin... there was a burst of it coming now from her unraveling hair.
He leaned close to her ear as he breathed in the scent and asked, "Tell me what is wrong, Khushi."
"I can't tell you." She whispered and turned away from him, although it only made the line of her neck stand out in stark relief just by lips. For an insane moment, he thought he would touch his lips there to taste the elusive lavender that now merely lingered after seeking its escape from her unbound hair. He caught himself in time and turned her face back to his and asked, his voice hard once again.
"If you can't tell me, I can let a doctor figure it out." He held her tighter to him with one hand around her waist as his other one reached for his cell to call an ambulance.
She put her hand over the cell and looked at him. "It's just... It's..."
He didn't know what was so difficult to say out loud.
"Just spit it out."
It made her angry enough that her nails dug into his palm next to his cell.
"Just female troubles, alright. Now you know. So, please leave." She tried to push him away then but he refused to let go.
"That's it?" He asked and she looked at him strangely.
"That's it? This is because of your period?" He asked again and saw her eyes widen in surprise.
"I don't want to talk about this with you. Please leave." She told him, trying to push him away again.
He took ahold of her arms to stop her. "Come on, Khushi. You're a grown woman. I am a grown man, not a fifteen year old who runs for the hills when I hear the term 'period.' Why didn't you just say it in the beginning? I was starting to think that you had contracted some deadly disease. This just requires some iron, pain medicine, and rest."
She stopped fighting him and merely looked at him in surprise. "How do you know?"
"How do I know what?" he asked and moved aside a bit to see if she could stand straight. She couldn't and so he picked her up in his arms again. "Where's your bedroom?"
"Why?" she asked as she clutched his arms and pulled back to look at him.
"Don't worry. You're hardly in any condition to be ravished, now are you? Where's your bedroom?" he repeated and she looked at him for a moment suspiciously before pointing it out.
"How do you know?" she asked again just as he pushed open the door to her bedroom. He noticed that she wouldn't look at him anymore.
Alright, so he could allow that maybe this was all slightly embarrassing for her, but he didn't know why women found something that they couldn't help and something that incapacitated them to this degree to be a cause for shame. His sister has been suffering from the same since she was young. Sometimes, it was so bad that she would have to be in bed for three or four days at a time, although in all the time that he had known Khushi, she had never called out for this reason. She never really called out, so it must never be this bad usually.
"How do I know what?" He asked her, just to be difficult.
"Never mind." She told him as he laid her on her bed.
"It's never this bad?" he asked as he went to open her curtains to let some light in. The room was pitch dark.
She shook her head when he turned around. "I can usually manage with pain meds."
"Do you have enough?" He asked and she nodded.
"What else do you need?" He walked to her bedside table to check the bottle of Midol sitting there. There appeared to be enough.
"Nothing." She answered and he looked at her. "Lavanya cannot come to help you. Jay is sick. So tell me what you need."
"What's wrong with Jay?" she asked, trying to get up.
"Just an ear infection. He has antibiotics and Lavanya for a mother. A silly ear infection is not going to lay him low. You, on the other hand, need to know when to ask for help. What do you need?"
"You're going to play my butler?" she asked, laying back against her pillows scoffing.
He raised his eyebrows at that. "Not a butler. A friend."
"You're my boss, sir. Not my friend." She tilted her head.
He looked at her for a moment before saying, "So much for trying to help."
"I'm sorry." She answered, her eyes softening. "It's just that you are not very predictable, sir. You bark out orders and find fault in most things I do on a pretty consistent basis. Forgive me if I haven't read friendlier intentions into your behavior before."
Her words should have made him angry. Instead, in keeping with her accusation of unpredictability, he felt unreasonably reasonable in the moment as he answered, "Fair enough. As a fellow human to human, do you require anything else before I leave?"
She shook her head as he had known she would.
"Call Neha if you need anything. She is startled enough by my "barking" in the office. Maybe she needs some gentler company to make herself useful."
He didn't wait around to hear what she had to say to that before he turned around the left the room.
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Edited by -publicenemy- - 13 years ago
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