Lavender [2]: New Thread link posted on p. 1 - Page 24

Originally posted by: mechantefille

Oh - just read the note -

well I do disagree - in this case I go the Hugh Jackman way - in fact...I shall quote his dialogue..

Some feel that to court a woman in one's employ is nothing more than a serpentine effort to transform a lady into a wh**e.

So I don't see how the story shall move forward - unless Khushi leaves the job!!... but that still doesn't stop it from being entertaining!! 😉

This is so much fun!
So so so much fun! :D

Oh, and as to your note there, I guess it's a bit of both.
If it's concerning Arhi, we don't exactly care much about all that now, do we?
And I guess I don't find it gross or unpleasant for a boss and an employee to have a relationship. If they know what it is that they are doing, well, they might as well go ahead with it. It doesn't exactly depend on what our perspective on the topic is, it's about the way you perceive Khushi's character, how you have imagined her all along. If she thinks that kinda conduct is unprofessional, that's her way of thinking now, isn't it? And for all that I have come to imagine your Khushi as, her thinking of all of this is as wrong and unprofessional is exactly what goes with her. You know, like, somethings just suit a person, while some others don't. :P

Oh, if you didn't quite comprehend what it is that I've written, I guess that's expected. I was never good at putting things across.
Just know that whatever you plan to do with the story, I will still continue to love it! :)

P.S. - I don't actually know why, but I loved the title, 'Deep Shit'.
Yeah. just random! :P :)

wow jst read thread 1 n its awesome..

Originally posted by: -publicenemy-

For those of you who wanted to know what Rajeev looked like (Sur, this is it :)

isnt he d one who plays indu singh in sp show ruk jana nahi ?!

@ur note...
office romance has d perks khushi mentioned to arnav in d storeroom...but more than the employee/boss affair, ur chapters show d sexual tension between arhi such dat i cant help agreeing with v...i guess its coz d story is on arhi...

Heya! happened to read ur FF recently...

I love ur writing style and ur characters too...Vaibhavi is my fav...

Plz do continue soon...

Actually - the office employee relationship was something I didn't like about the many shows TV represents - Geet included.

ur ff is beautiful

I think we need to alert the authorities, publicenemy has been MIA for a long time!

Any one who has heard or seen anything that may lead to us finding her, please don't hesitate and let me know. Any big or small info is appreciated.

No but seriously hope your good and having a blast!

Just the ff maniac in me is missing your work.

Update when you get time and I'll read it happily

Chapter 28: Simply a Braggart and a Cad.

[This chapter dedicated to Amruta (mechantefille). Wolverine has Nothing on Leopold! In my averseness to rom-coms, totally missed out on this gem.]

That evening when he got home, Arnav found Mami and V on either end of the couch in the den watching a movie on the monstrous LCD screen that he had installed there for the sole purpose of news and cricket, but now regularly played Mami, Dadi, and didi's non-stop saas-bahu crap. This time though, it wasn't an Indian serial, but he could hear the distinct clipped tones of a British actor – he thought it sounded like Hugh Grant, although he could be mistaken – and woman with an American accent, which too sounded familiar, although he couldn't quite place it. He couldn't see the screen yet, but could see that V was massaging Mami's legs while they both seemed completely engrossed in whatever they were watching. Just as he walked in and was about to interrupt, he saw V and Mami both put up a hand each to stop him. Clearly, their peripheral vision worked like an eagle's even when they appeared single-mindedly focused on the screen.

He stopped and looked at the screen and saw that he had been right. It was indeed Hugh Jackman – less Wolverine now and more British noble, he sounded – who appeared to be at dinner with... what was the woman's name, the one who looked like a ballerina and walked like a man?... hmm... Meg Ron or something... well either way. they appeared to be at dinner with two other men.

"Perhaps Kate opposes on moral grounds." He heard Hugh Jackman say and resisted the urge to laugh at how Mami was keeping up with the English. Just as he was about to turn away though, Hugh's next lines caught him off guard.

"Well, some feel that to court a woman in one's employ is nothing more than a serpentine effort to transform a lady into a wh**e."

He stopped in his tracks and couldn't help but hear the lines that followed.

"The Duke of Margarine thinks me a serpent." The insulted man answered and he heard the woman reassure him with a quick, "no, he doesn't."

But Hugh wasn't done yet. "No, not a serpent. That's too grand a word. Simply a braggart and a cad who knows less French than I, if that's possible."

He closed his eyes suddenly as the scene from that afternoon in Khushi's office came back to him.

Not a serpent. Simply a braggart and a cad.

There was spontaneous clapping from both Mami and V and he heard his cousin yell out, "You tell him, Leo!" which was followed quickly by Mami's "Haram Zadaa!"

Ah, he was a bas***d too...

He loosened his tie and walked out of the room when he heard V call out, "AJ, did you want something?"

He shook his head without looking back as he climbed the stairs up to his room.

"I'm dropping by your office tomorrow." He heard V say again and paused on the stairs. He thought he should ask why she would be doing that, but he found he didn't have the energy. A man had only his integrity, ego, and libido as anything worth of any value and he felt all of them deflate simultaneously.

***

Chapter 29: People Liberate Themselves.

He walked into his office the next day and closed the door behind him before shrugging out of the vest that he was wearing. He had gotten it almost off when he noticed her standing by his window.

She had on a pair of leopard print tights and a white t-shirt that had a wide rip in the back that showed the tank-top she wore underneath. The ripped edges of the t-shirt were tied together so that the entire thing hugged her tiny form. When she turned around, he saw the words "Leopard Print - Exercising my Civil Freedom to be Tacky" written in what appeared to be Edwardian script on the front of the tee. Whatever urge he had to laugh was quickly smothered when he saw her face and remembered what a royal bitch she was.

"Being the boss's cousin does not give you the right to enter people's offices without invitation." He told her as he walked around and hung his vest on the back of the chair.

He thought she would correct him and say that in fact it does or something equally bitchy, but she merely looked away and then looked back before she said, "I am sorry. I didn't think you would actually let me enter if I asked."

"Ah, so you avoided asking altogether. Has no one taught you manners?" he asked as he turned on his laptop.

"They have. Clearly, it never sunk in." she said as he heard the beep of the computer as the screen flickered to light.

He didn't say anything more and let her stew in the silence as he focused his attention on the screen.

She let a few minutes go by and he closed his eyes as he fought the feeling to not scream out what the hell she wanted.

Just when he was about to ask, she spoke. "Raj, I..."

Raj.

No one called him that anymore. He hadn't liked the way Americans pronounced Rajeev and so he had always gone by Raj while he had been there.

It made him think of the first time they had met. He had seen her at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, coming out of the restroom while he had been waiting for it.

She had had on a t-shirt that said, "There is no other definition of socialism valid for us than that of the abolition of the exploitation of man by man."

It was Cambridge, Massachusetts, the intellectually liberal capital of not just Massachusetts, but likely all of the US, and finding a Che Guevara shirt was certainly not an unusual thing... in fact, he had though that it was a bit on the stale side, but he had been in a good mood and hadn't been able to resist teasing her, "See how Guevara was careful to say the exploitation of man by man and not woman by man." As far as jokes went, it was the height of misogyny, but something about her had told him that she would take the bait and run with it, the fire in her eyes that of a young thing whose passion was just waiting to be sparked by something... anything... and Che fed such souls to the brim.

But she had surprised him when she had looked up and said, quite seriously, "Exactly. He was after all still just a man."

And then she had walked away and he had been left there, trying to fight the buzz of alcohol clouding his head to figure out exactly what she had meant.

He had seen her later at the bar ordering Patron of all things and while he was all for women exercising their right to imbibe just as much as any man, he had wondered at the limitations posed by her Tinkerbell size.

He had rotated on his bar stool and had leaned back against it as he had said, "Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man." It had been famously known as Che's last words.

She had finished the shot of Patron in one swig and had turned to him and said, "Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves. Best thing he ever said. He was not a God, but just a man, as you said."

Finally he had given up all pretense of understanding whether she was an enlightened leftist or merely a rightist in hiding and had leaned forward and asked, "Are you a socialist radical or merely a capitalist in hiding?"

"Neither. I just like words. Especially others' words." And then she had been gone.

The next time he had seen her, some guy had been necking her against a wall and she had had a mildly annoyed look on her face while her gaze had been trained on some part of the dark ceiling.

For some reason, it had disappointed him profoundly that she would put up with a man's touch when it clearly did not give her pleasure and had thrown her words back at her as he passed by her. "Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves."

He had looked back to see the surprise in her eyes even as the guy at her neck continued his slobbery homage. He had turned around and had walked backwards, holding her gaze all the way out of the lounge.

Once outside, he had had the unexpected urge to go back in and find her again, but he had choked it up to alcohol and stupidity and had walked back to his apartment, her eyes and the fire in them refusing to leave his head.

He had found himself looking for her in crowds over the next few weeks, but in vain.

And when he had finally found her again, it had been to see those eyes radiate the same fire but with those lips that had so easily quoted Che spitting out the vilest accusations against him that would change his life forever.

"Rajeev." He said as he turned around to face her now.

She didn't seem surprised at his correction and instead repeated, "Rajeev."

"I came to apologize..." she started again after a moment.

"For what?" he asked, refusing to become angry again. For that last year after everything had gone down the way it did, all he had felt was anger. It had been a long way since then and while the anger was always there, just below the surface, he had learned that it often ended up backfiring rather than helping him in any way.

"For everything." She said now, looking away.

For everything... how easily she offered such a blanket apology as if that covered it all.

"For everything?" he asked now, feeling the anger rise. "For everything you say? And what would that everything involve? Making allegations against a man you knew nothing about? Assassinating his character so viciously? Making him a social pariah? What exactly are you apologizing for Veronica?"

"Vaibhavi." She said suddenly, turning around to face the window. "My name is not Veronica. It's Vaibhavi."

"I don't care what the hell your name is! It could be Kasturba Gandhi and it still wouldn't change a damn thing."

She was quiet for several moments and just as he brought his hands up to rub his eyes, he heard her speak again. "Let me make it up to you."

He scoffed before he shook his head. "The only way that you could make it up to me is to leave me alone and never come in front of me again. To never remind me of a past that I have been trying to put behind me with some effort. You take that all away just by being who you are."

He saw her grab the bars of the window for a moment before she turned around to face him again.

"I am not a bad person." Her voice was soft when she said it and it made him angrier still and before he could stop himself he had stepped up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders to shake her as he bit out, "You have made me one though!"

"I know..." she whispered as she closed her eyes and he let go off her with a jerk.

"Get out, Veronica. Get out before I make a scene that will get me fired and possibly arrested."

It took a few minutes, but then she did leave, closing the door noiselessly behind her.

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