[Unedited chapter. Sorry for the delay in updating this one. It's been a very long and very hectic week. Enjoy the story]
Chapter 7:
He rubbed his eyes sleepily and groaned loudly.
"Jhumbalika Jhumbalika Jhumbala Jhumbala re…" his mind sang happily with volume turned all the way up.
"Not so loud," he begged his mind to stop singing. "…it hurts," he groaned some more. Memory of previous night was hazy but he did remember a bottle of scotch and a glass filled with scotch. Curtains in his room was drawn gave a sense of coziness but also robbed him off the sense of knowing time. He couldn't see the time on his wrist watch and he turned on the other side to …
"Eee," he screamed like a little girl.
There lay his secretary and a major pain in his ass sleeping without a concern for a thing in this world. What the f**k was she doing in his room and sleeping on his bed?
The shock wore off immediately and his little scream woke her up. She rolled on her back and sighed deeply, opening her eyes. Her sleep muddled brain took several seconds to realize that there was something wrong about the setting.
First of all, the room was big. So was the bed. And then she felt it.
Poke. Poke. Poke.
She sat up suddenly making Arnav's poking index finger still in mid-air.
"Good Morning sunshine," he drawled huskily.
A round of scream, hopping around the room like a mad chicken, blaming him for whatever she couldn't remember and a hissy fit later she calmed down opened the drapes.
"Water?" He asked her casually holding up a glass. She glared at him and took it anyway. And then she stopped.
"Maybe later," she said remembering that she had just woken up. "I wonder how two people can kiss right after getting up. Isn't it unhygienic?" She asked flopping next to him on the bed.
He looked at her without blinking. Less than a moment ago she was accusing him as her kidnapper but now she was discussing basic hygiene. His comical reactions to her erratic thinking had come down with course of time and he was getting used to it.
It was ironic that even insanity could be made to a habit.
"Why are you here?" He asked her ignoring her question. He had started ignoring her questions and answered whenever he felt like doing so.
"I…don't remember?"
"Are you asking me or are you telling me?"
"Neither?" Again, she answered quizzically. He sighed.
"It's one in the afternoon," he said.
"I can see the big wall clock too and can read the time quite well," she replied waspishly. He rolled his eyes.
"How much of yesterday do you remember?"
"Oooh…flashback scenes? Are we already that far in our relationship?" She said sitting up straight and turning towards him. Her actions bounced the bed slightly and he looked at her amused.
"What?"
"The moment when hero and the heroine look at each other and past scenes are shown at least three times in one episode of a daily sitcom," she said seriously.
"Okay…." He trailed not understanding what she was getting at.
"I remember you ate half of my lunch." She started.
"I don't know what you are talking about." He feigned ignorance.
"And then you blackmailed me into going to a meeting which you were supposed to attend but it was so boring that I fell half asleep and got caught. Bloody embarrassing," she harped.
"As my secretary you are technically my puppet; that includes sending you to mind numbingly boring meetings which itches me to become homicidal." He replied blandly. She ignored him.
"After that you bought me snack at street near my home and ranted how the last two dates sucked; a Bella wannabe and your stalker," she replied with a grin.
"I remember that. But who is Bella? I remember asking you but I don't think you ever answered."
"Bella Swan from Twilight books; she falls in love with an approximately century old vampire who died when he was seventeen and also sparkles when exposed to sunlight. He is as cool as a teen or any man for that matter can get."
"You are joking right? You couldn't possibly sell with that redundancy."
"The four books spawned several franchisees including movies which made money and turning the actors' stars overnight. The girl you met before is kind of like her," she said seriously.
"Explain please."
"Do you want me to dissect something obvious or you want to trudge through your mind and find out how we ended up sleeping together?" She asked sardonically.
"We slept together?" He hyperventilated.
"Dude, you are so thick." There it was. The thing that he was hoping would not butt in to his business.
"Did I sleep with her?"
"You just slept next to her."
"That's all and nothing else right?"
"You probably might have smelled her hair and run your fingers on her face."
"I did something so creepy? Jesus! What the f**k are you up to man? I may be having some serious psychopathic tendencies and you never bothered to hint me and…" He ranted.
"That was just a joke you imbecile. Geez… can't even smell a sarcastic comment. Should I start providing you with sign boards printed sarcasm or satire on them?" His rant was cut off mid-way.
"Please f**k off. My head already hurts."
"Serves your right for drinking non-stop till you were completely smashed," the bite was evident in the voice and he thanked all the deities when the voice became quiet.
Khushi rolled her eyes.
"Do you remember what happened after that?" She asked breaking his monologue with his own mind.
"I think you gave me the fourth case study."
"Yes, that's right. Since the last three of them were such abysmal failures."
"My mind gets a bit hazy after this part," he said thoughtfully.
"I remember bits and parts of it though."
"What was the scenario supplied this time?" He asked already repenting his question.
"It was quite simple actually. The guy will invite the girl for a home cooked meal and then we would drink few glasses of wine. They will sit next to pool and for some really freaky and illogical reason the girl will fall into the pool and gets her dress wet. She wears the guy's shirt till her dress is dried."
"Only shirt?"
"Yes."
"Why not trousers too?"
"They would cover the legs and the steamy quotient would fall down drastically," she explained. Arnav nodded, understanding the twisted logic in the presented case.
"But what if the guy has a sister? There would be clothes available no? Or saris?" He blamed his brain for trying to always find logic.
"Tch tch tch…" she said shaking her head and gave him a disappointed look.
"What?" He asked feeling as if he had failed a big exam.
"Please don't ask dumb questions. The girl gets her dress wet and she wears the guy's shirt. That's all there is to it." She said in a final tone.
"Alright alright. What happens next?"
"She is in guest room and something scares her and he comes to her rescue. He hugs her and calms her down and probably makes her drink a glass of water. They sit, talk and drink some more and the guy makes his move."
"And then?"
"And then I don't know."
"Why not?"
"After this scene, they generally show a random painting or wall or moon."
"Who shows you that?"
"The drama people! I've never seen any action happening after that." She exclaimed.
"You can't imagine what happens after this?" She sighed at that.
"I am still looking at that random scenery, remember?"
"But you are smart enough to imagine what's going on between the two."
"I generally go to online forums and read what people have to say since I never could imagine it myself. They write short one shot stories which is basically their imagination during that random scene."
"See? Those would help!"
"But they are always….not very innocent," she said. An adorable shade of pink tinged her cheeks and he swallowed a smile.
"That could be because whatever that guy and girl were doing may not have been all that innocent," he offered an explanation. She looked at him wide eyed.
"Ewww…." She said and ran to bathroom. He was startled at her behavior; so much for keeping up with her eccentricity.
"What happened?" He asked her following her and took a step back when she slammed the door on his face.
"Have you read those stories? They give me heebie-jeebies."
"They are finding a romantic setting for the guy and girl, Khushi," he tried reasoning with her.
"You haven't read half of it," she bit out. He had to agree with her there.
"I don't think anything happened between us last night Khushi," he said and knocked the door again. He wondered if she was undergoing some sort of trauma and was feeling awkward to be around him. They hadn't really crossed the line but had come very close to.
If things became awkward between them and if that led to Khushi going out of his life…he shook his head. He would never let that happen.
"You betcha! Glad we are on the same page." He ignored the voice and looked at the door worriedly. He sincerely hoped Khushi was alright and she didn't feel the need to avoid him.
"I am using the new toothbrush that is under the sink. Also can I borrow your face wash? It's not too weird right?"
He stared at the door dumbly. Trust her to make the best out of any situation.
"Sure," he yelled and walked back to his bed.
"I don't think we got our enactment too far last night," she said coming out of the bathroom.
"Why do you say that?"
"For one, I am still wearing the dress I wore to work yesterday. And second, you are ASR."
"Eh?"
"What?"
"What about me being ASR?"
"You are not?"
"I am not – what?"
"ASR."
"I am ASR."
"That's what I said. What's wrong with you sir? I think you are still sleepy." She said looking at him pointedly.
"I meant what about being ASR?"
"You are a good guy sir and would never take unfair advantage of a damsel in distress," she shrugged. Warmth spread in his chest when she called him a good guy. It was as if he got a hundred marks on a test.
Okay, what's with teacher-student fantasy? He shook his head. Do you reaaallly want to know? It would be because a certain someone keeps calling you sir all the time… A tiny voice started talking which he dutifully muted.
"You were in distress last night?" He asked.
"I meant hypothetically," she iterated.
"So nothing happened between us," he said few moments later. She didn't know if he was relieved or disappointed.
"I don't think so, at least," she said sitting next to him. He nodded and sighed deeply.
"Wait. Before – did you say that I met a stalker?"
"Yes."
"You mean the girl has stalker-ish tendencies?"
"No. She is your stalker."
"How do you know?"
"I am awesome."
"Besides that."
"Our background checks are awesome."
"Should I be scared of her?"
"You probably should be."
"Does she know everything about me?"
"I think so. But for some strange reason she considers me as her biggest rival."
"How do you know that?"
"She told me herself. She asked me to stay away from you. As if I can," she said.
"You can't stay away from me?" His heart beat a little bit faster.
"You are my employer and I work with you. I am your secretary so how can I?" His heart deflated a bit.
"Look, it's best if you stay away from me for a while. Lay low and be out of that maniac's sight. I will talk to few cop friends of mine and get it sorted out, alright?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I don't like the plan."
"But it will keep you safe."
"I will be safe. I am sure you will ensure that."
"Are you scared?"
"Just a little."
"Should I hold you tight and whisper lame and superfluous dialogues?"
"Ugh. No."
"We can look into each other eyes and pretend we are seeing souls even if we are simply looking at each other faces and thinking about pani puri or latest episode of CSI."
"No."
"Just checking." He shrugged.
They were silent for couple of minutes.
"This could turn into another probable scenario for your seducing case studies."
"I am already on it sir."
Before he could respond, it was back.
"Jhumbalika Jhumbalika Jhumbala Jhumbala re…"
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