Lavender [3]: NEW THREAD LINK POSTED - Page 62

part 50
awesome...
cant wait for the next part...
cont soon dear...

so now he's missing her... gud for him

i just love your FF... You have brought all the characters to life !! The ff is so engaging and gripping.. d chemistry n interactions electrifying..

OMG. .Arnav Singh Raizada is falling in love with Khushi!! That was just beautiful,the way you revealed Arnav's feelings.without the bright images of her beauty,his lust . .
But pure,simple feelings.loved it

Chapter 51: Sense and Sensibility

When he walked into his office and closed the door behind him, she was standing just inside the door as if his imagination had conjured her up. It wasn't the first time that he thought he had seen her in random places during the past few weeks. He pulled his hand out of his pocket where his fingers had been holding onto her note. The note fell out as he took her in his arms abruptly and kissed her. There was an immediate softening to her lips and it took him several moments to realize that they were not merely soft but unresponsive. He pulled back from her confused... her expression was blank even though her face was flushed now... it made him alarmed for a moment as he looked around his office. His window was still open as he had left it and there was a breeze floating in through the screen and through the open vertical slants of the tan blinds. The way the air grazed over the tissue box moving the single sheet standing up in the air made his alarm increase... something about all this was quite... real.

When he looked back to the space by the door, she was still standing there, as still as a statue, dressed in a tan-colored pantsuit that made her almost blend into the walls except for the jet black hair of hers that hung in a long ponytail over her shoulder.

"Khushi?" he heard his own voice call tentatively, still waiting for her to disappear.

"Mr. Raizada." She answered, her voice detached and formal.

His eyes narrowed as he took in her form and without saying another word he walked out of the office and went down to the desk of his administrative assistant.

"Where is my 1:00 o'clock?" he asked.

His assistant looked confused as she answered, "Ms. Gupta is in your room, sir."

So, his eyes weren't tricking him. Khushi was indeed in his room.

"Why is Ms. Gupta in my room?" he asked, feeling an irritation start to build as he tried to fight the feeling that he was being played for a fool by someone.

"She is your 1:00 o'clock, sir." The assistant answered.

"Sasha, my 1:00 clock is the new Mohan Industries client rep, not an ex-employee." This time he couldn't keep the impatience out of his voice.

"They are one and the same, sir."

"Come again?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Ms. Gupta is the new Mohan Industries client rep." the girl answered, now a slight panic starting to sneak into her voice.

He could feel the heat crowd his collar before it traveled up to make his face flush and his nostrils flare out in fury.

"Get me Shyam Mohan on the phone. Right now!" he told Sasha as he started walking away from the desk and back upstairs.

He marched into his office and noticed that Khushi was no longer standing by the door, but seated on one of the chairs by his desk. He walked to the other side just as the phone beeped and he heard Sasha's voice come through, "Mr. Mohan on park 2, sir."

He picked up the receiver and clicked the button for line 2 and heard it connect.

"Raizada?" he heard Mohan's voice at the other end of the line and fought down annoyance as he forced himself to greet the man for politeness' sake.

"Hello Mohan. I trust your afternoon is going well. I just wanted to confirm with you, who is your new client rep that I am supposed to be meeting with?"

There was a pause at the other end of the line before Mohan spoke again, "You mean she hasn't gotten there yet? I thought she has been there for some time now."

She!

"Who is this she?" he asked.

"Ah, you know her well, of course. Ms. Khushi Gupta. Worked for you, in fact, for quite a number of years. Hired her last week. I like the girl and I can't imagine anyone who is a better fit for handling this case, can you? I mean, she knows it inside out. It was an easy choice, actually. Is there any problem?"

Arnav couldn't decide if Mohan was merely being a professional or a shitty little prick... likely both.

"No problem. Just wanted a confirmation. She is being checked in, I see now." he looked across the table at Khushi as he said as much.

"I trust this will only improve our working relationship, Raizada, given that my new rep is someone quite acquainted with the project from the other end." Mohan said, salting the wound nice and well.

"Indeed." Arnav replied as he stared at Khushi, the impulsive – and surreal – kiss from just a few minutes earlier replaying in his mind.

Did she think she could waltz in here and think of taking him on? Well, then she was just going to start to know how dirty he could really play.

"I foresee the same. This could only be an improvement on the former." He said into the phone even as he held her gaze. To her credit, she kept her expression blank and did not look away.

"Good to hear that. Good afternoon, Raizada." He heard Mohan's greeting and returned the same before he hung up the phone.

Then he turned to face the woman in front of him properly.

After a long moment, he sat back in his chair and crossed a leg over the other.

"You did land on your feet after all... and that too with a lecher like Mohan." He cocked an eyebrow as he offered.

The three plus weeks away from him had evidently been spent honing her composure because she had no visible reaction to his words.

"It was the only job for which I needed no reference from a previous employer as he was already familiar with my work. This assignment was entirely at his behest and not mine, although practically speaking it makes the best sense."

She was making him feel like a petty sixth-grader with her refusal to take the bait – not to mention the casual guilt-trip she imposed with why she got a job with Mohan Industries – and it made him peevish.

"You ignored the second part of my question." He made it sound like a statement rather than a question.

For a moment he thought she would not answer, but then he heard her sigh quietly before she said, "He is a man who is used to getting what he wants, like most men in his position. But he is hardly a rapist or someone who would force his attention on me crossing a certain boundary. And if my recent experiences have taught me anything, Sir, it's that the only person I need to have faith in is myself. If I have lost that, then it's time to remove myself from the situation."

Now he was peevish and angry. He was discovering that he was a most unreasonable man where she was concerned.

"And yet here you are..." he told her, his tone mocking.

She ignored his tone and said instead, "Evidently. This time, though, I don't anticipate that there will too much of a problem, sir."

"Why? You are sure that you will be able to resist temptation if it were to present itself in front of you once more?" he cocked his eyebrow again.

"No sir. I think that particular temptation has lost its allure for both concerned parties and hence should no longer present a threat. I have behaved abominably and have inadvertently hurt people by becoming somewhat overly self-involved and focused on my own problems, which in hindsight seem quite... petty and trivial. The long and the short of it is that I did not like the person I became during that time when..." she paused for a moment before continuing, "I gave into said temptation... and have concluded that following through on that course of indiscretion could have led to nowhere good." She looked up now, meeting his eyes, as she said, "I have no wish to become embroiled in yet another such episode, sir. Regardless of how I may feel about this, I am working with you yet again. I wish to make the best of it until this assignment lasts. If there are no major issues, this project could wrap in about three months, according to my calculations. I hope that we could have a cordial working relationship for that duration. If you have issues with it, then you are welcome to ask Mr. Mohan for a reassignment. I don't mind at all."

Her reasonableness elicited the exact opposite reaction in him and he told her as much.

"You're pissing me off, Khushi."

"I am trying to make the best of the situation, sir. I don't know what else you would have me do." For a moment, her guard dropped and she looked exhausted.

He closed his eyes as he felt a pinch in his chest. He really was a dick.

"You're doing fine. I am the one who should apologize for making this difficult. Good luck, Khushi." He told her and sat up to open his laptop, wishing that she would take it for the dismissal it was, however abrupt it may be, and leave so that he could better collect himself.

Her expression showed surprise for a brief moment before she got from the chair.

He watched her walk to the door and something about her gait seemed so numb that he almost got up to go to her, but stopped himself when she paused by the door with her hand on the knob.

"Sir, I would like to visit your cousin at your home if it's okay with you?"

He didn't know why her request made his chest constrict in a most unnatural way.

He nodded. "If you come tonight, she will be home, although I have to tell you, now that she is off bed-rest but still mainly on house-arrest, she is like a caged animal. She might ask you to take her away with you."

He thought she would smile, but she didn't. Instead, she looked morose as she said, "I should have come to see her before."

He paused and looked at her before he said, "Don't worry. She was well taken care of."

She didn't answer but lowered her eyes before she turned away. Just before she opened the door, he asked on impulse, "How have you been?"

He saw her take a deeper breath before she looked back at him. "Well, sir. I have been well."

And then she opened the door and was gone.

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Originally posted by: had2bu

res!

So angry all the time. You would think Arnav would see this as a good thing. He gets to still work with her without being her employer. Also, Khushi is kidding herself if she thinks she won't get into another "episode" anytime soon. Great update!

Wow! Gr8 update D!

Feeling bad for both Arnav n Khushi...Arnav behaves like a total jerk n then does something dat makes me forget the irritation caused n oh, Khushi maintaining the talks at professional level...gud, but mmm,three months? anything can happen...

Khushi-Vaibhavi meeting...do I sense friendship blooming?...This FF has made me crazy...I m imagining possible scenarios ...Loved the update