Part 17
'I want you Khushi Kumari Gupta'.
Khushi gasped.
'You want me?" she asked
He gave her a smile that spoke of utter and complete male confidence that was Arnav Singh Raizada.
"Yes, and I mean to have you."
Khushi stared at him for a minute and then calmly faced forward, picked up a magazine from the seat pocket and began skimming through it.
What was she doing? Arnav has certainly been prepared for more of a reaction rather than blatantly being ignored. Generally when Arnav Singh Raizada declared his intentions to a woman, he received a more...what should he say...generous response.
'Khushi did you...? He began before she interrupted him speaking in a calm and collected voice.
'Yes, Arnav-ji, I heard what you said.'
'And your response is?' he asked
She turned her head, looking straight into his eyes, 'I don't feel the need to respond,' and looked back at the magazine she was reading.
What the hell?! I don't feel the need to respond??! Arnav could feel his blood pressure rising, his breathing quickened whilst he clenched his jaw. Now what? He had said it to get a reaction out of her and had clearly failed. What was he supposed to say? If she was playing hard to get, then it was definitely working in her favour because for the first time in a very very long time Arnav Singh Raizada was stumped. Flabbergasted. Speechless. He turned back into his seat and faced forward.
She knew in that instant that she was playing with fire.
Khushi watched him from the corner of her eyes, stealing glances at him, watching his reactions. He looked like he was going to explode; Khushi had never seen him this angry.
But Khushi also knew that she was also deeply confused. Less than ten days ago, Arnav Singh Raizada had been yelling at her as he had done daily for the past twelve months and now all of a sudden he declared that he wanted her. No matter how hard she thought, she could not bridge that that difference. What had happened to completely change his behaviour towards her in such a short span of time? What was going on inside that head of his? Khushi knew full well that she wasn't the type of woman he dated. Was this some sort of experiment he was engaging in? No matter which way she dissected it, all Khushi could come up with was more questions rather than answers.
She had to ask.
Arnav had been trying unsuccessfully to divert his attention from Khushi to something else. He knew how women played the game just much as men, but deep down he knew Khushi Kumari Gupta could not be categorised in the same bracket as the women he had previous experience with.
Maybe he had overstepped the mark, he thought with an inward groan.
Arnav picked up a copy of the Financial Times, flicking it open in an attempt to distract himself with some inane piece of news. Anything else would do at this point, he thought to himself, when he heard her softly whispered question.
'Why are you doing this Arnav-ji, I really don't understand?'
His first reaction was to give her a one of his cocky answers, but then he saw the expression in her eyes. She was genuinely confused and try as he might to ignore it, he knew full well looking at this situation from her perspective, she had every right to be confused for she didn't know that he knew a lot more about Khushi Kumari Gupta than she had ever revealed to him intentionally.
Maybe it was time to just reveal the truth to her he thought as he took a deep breath.
'Khushi...' her breathe caught in her throat as she heard him say him say her name, but before he could continue; the captain's voice interjected:
'Ladies and Gentlemen, Jet Airways Flight JT298 will shortly be arriving at Bangalore Domestic Airport. The local time is 11:05am and we are expecting a sunny day with a thunderstorm later this evening. Please return your seats to the upright position and fasten your seat beats. Thank you once again for flying with Jet Airways. Cabin crew prepare for landing.'
Khushi was generally a very non-violent person, but at that moment she felt like marching to cockpit and smacking the captain for interrupting. She tried again.
'Arnav-ji?'
Her hands fumbled. She had to know. It was killing her.
'Arnav-ji please... please finish what you were about to say...' she pleaded.
'Khushi, fasten your seatbelt. We are about to land'.
Khushi knew Arnav Singh Raizada well enough to understand when he was dismissing a topic and shutting down discussion.
She sighed.
Arnav stared straight ahead. Well the good news was that this distraction had just bought him some time to work out how he wanted to handle this. The strange feeling that he experienced after the car ride with Khushi made a re-appearance.
Arnav realised at that moment; he was in deeply unchartered waters as far as Miss Khushi Kumari Gupta was concerned.
It was just after 12:30pm when they arrived at the hotel. The long ride from the airport had been excruciatingly uncomfortable as they both sat quietly in the backseat of the car. As they checked in, Arnav discovered that she had booked him in an Executive Suite and herself into a standard room on a different floor thereby ensuring as much distance as she could. Khushi prepared herself for another battle, but Arnav remained silent.
As the receptionist handed them their respective hotel room keycards, Arnav summoned the bell-boy to bring their luggage. He turned about and spoke to her in a calm but expressionless voice.
'I'm going to go meet with Mr Mehta now. I expect we should be done by 2:15-2:30-ish; I'll meet you here at the reception desk at 2:30pm and we'll go straight to the opening keynote address then. In the meantime, I suggest that you review the conference programme and familiarise yourself with the range of investors present.'
With that he turned and walked away towards his room.
Khushi watched him walk away. At first she felt confused and somewhat alone, and then she got mad. Just pure and simply mad. What did he think of himself?! More importantly what did he think that she some inanimate object that he could yell, or kiss or simply dismiss when the need struck. No!! She was Khushi Kumari Gupta and she had mission. A plan. A goal. Arnav Singh Raizada didn't feature in anywhere in those plans. Jaleebi Junction and its success was her goal. And she was going to focus on making it a success. Khushi took a deep breath and walked into the room which was to be her home for 2 days. She sat down at the little desk in the corner and pulled out her business plan and a copy of the conference program. She was at an investors conference and by Devi Maiya, she would damn well find herself an investor here.
Meanwhile on the other side of the hotel complex, Arnav was finishing up his lunch meeting with Mr. Mehta. It has been a very productive meeting for both parties.
'Arnav, I can't tell you what an honour it is to have you representing AR Corp at this conference. To be honest, when we heard AR Corp was attending, we assumed that you would send someone from your management team and really didn't expect that you would attend personally.'
'My pleasure Mr Mehta,' said Arnav with the economy of words he was renowned for.
'Arnav, I will be having an intimate dinner party after the conference launch tonight. Nothing too big, just the principle corporate delegates such as yourself and a few others sharing a meal. I don't anticipate that we'll be bigger than a group of more than twelve or so. We've made arrangements in the private dining room and I'll be very honoured if you could join us.'
Arnav looked up from the document he had been studying.
'Thank you Mr Mehta, I will be there'.
'Wonderful. Now for catering purposes, can I check if you'll be attending alone or if you'll be bringing your partner?'
A very simple question indeed, but one that triggered Arnav Singh Raizada's super fast brain and a plan began to form.
'I'll attend with my companion,' he said.
'What name shall I note down for the place card, Arnav?' enquired Mr Mehta.
'Khushi Kumari Gupta' said Arnav with a half smile.
Hello darlings its not a long update, i know but i thought something is better than nothing at all right? more soon, promise!
naina😳
Kumkum Bhagya
Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
Shiv Shakti
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