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Chapter 8: Arnav in Khushi-land-Part Deux
"Here you go Ms.Gupta, the report you asked for," Arnav smiled triumphantly as he tossed the file upon her desk.
She opened it up, glanced through it casually, before closing it shut and laying ti back down. "OK, I'll take a look at it later. Now, where's my coffee?" she asked plaintively.
"That's it? I'll look at it later? I slaved over that report all night!"
"And I have better things to do than read a detention assignment! Now, bring me my coffee Raizada!"
"Detention assignment!" he sputtered. Before he could say anymore she raised an eyebrow. "My coffee, Mr.Raizada. I'm waiting. And send Sally in please," she said dismissively. Arnav stepped outside muttering profanities under his breath.
"Hunterwali wants you," he said to Sally.
"What?" asked Sally, looking up from her monitor.
"Phoolan Devi inside, she's asking for you," he said sourly.
"Don't you call Ma'am such names, you hear," said Sally angrily.
"Alright, alright Thelma. Louise wants you. Now go!" he said, pushing his hair off his forehead as he walked to his cubicle and sat down.
Sally wondered how a man could simultaneously look so cute, and be so annoying as she walked in to Khushi's office.
"How's my day looking Sally?" asked Khushi.
"Not too bad. You have a meeting at 11 with CellBiologix. You're doing lunch with them as well. Their top brass is coming. They confirmed yesterday. I made reservations at Julio's for 12.30," said Sally smiling.
"Julio's! Thanks Sally. I love that place."
"Your Lawyer requested a short meeting at 2. I penciled him in for 20 minutes. And you have an appointment with Dr.Saxena at 3. I left the rest of the afternoon open, since I didn't know how long that would take."
"OK, Sally. If I must, I must! Let Raju Chacha know he's needed this afternoon. I don't want the office drivers to drive me to the Doctor," said Khushi.
"I already did Ma'am," said Sally, smiling at Khushi.
"Thanks Sally. Now, send Raizada in with my coffee. My brain isn't working without caffeine."
"Ma'am, why is he here?" asked Sally, pursing her lips.
"Who, Raizada?" Khushi asked, puzzled.
"Yes, Ma'am. Him. He's disrespectful, annoying, knows nothing and lost you a lot of money. Why is he here?" asked Sally, looking thoroughly displeased and slightly red.
"Disrespectful! Sally, has he said anything to you that you didn't like?" asked Khushi frowning.
"I like almost nothing he says Ma'am. I don't want to tattle, but he's really annoying."
"Why Sally! I've never seen you so upset before. What did he say to you to get you so riled up?" asked Khushi.
"No-Nothing Ma'am. Forget I said anything. I'm sorry. I'll be going now!" said Sally, turning around to leave.
"Stop right there Sally Almeida. Turn around!" said Khushi, commandingly.
Sally turned around to see Khushi looking at her, a twinkle in her eye. She looked at Sally's flushed face. "How old are you Sally?" asked Khushi.
"28, Ma'am," said Sally, looking at Khushi wonderingly.
"Aren't you too old to be crushing on Raizada, Sally?" asked Khushi, laughingly.
"What! Never, Ma'am. He called you Hunterwali and Phoolan Devi and God knows what else. I could never have a crush on him," said Sally, horrified.
"HE DID WHAT?" bellowed Khushi.
"He called you Hun…Hun…Hunterwali!," said Sally, stammeringly.
"What else?" asked Khushi angrily.
"Phoolan…er….Devi!"
"I see. Anything else?"
"Well he called you and I, Thelma and Louise," said Sally, falteringly.
"I am going to…I am going to! Oh, I don't know what I am going to do. The nerve of the man! Hunterwali! Phoolan Devi! God, I am going to murder him," said Khushi furiously.
"If that's all Ma'am, I'll be going," said Sally.
"Yes, Sally. You can go. And I know we can't help who we crush on. I've had the biggest crush on Anil Kapoor for years. I know he has more hair on his body than I do on my head, but I can't help it. When he says Ek-do-teen, I say char-paanch-cheh! So, I forgive you for crushing on Raizada. Now send that Joker in!" said Khushi finally.
Sally turned pink, made to demur about the crush, decided it wasn't worth it, and left wordlessly.
"Ma'am wants to see you," she told Arnav quietly.
"I'll bet she does. I have her coffee right here. Alright Cruella, here I come!" said Arnav merrily, walking into Khushi's office with a broad smile. He could never stay mad for long, Arnav.
"Here's your coffee Ms.Gupta," he lay the tray down on her table.
"Too much sugar," she grimaced.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I made it exactly like how Sally showed me," he said puzzled.
"Too much Sugar!" she said firmly, "Fetch me another cup."
"Not hot enough."
"2 creams, not 3!"
"This tastes like dishwater!"
"This is cold. I like my coffee hot!"
She finally seemed satisfied with the 6th cup he brought in. "OK, Mr.Raizada. Now, for the rest of the day, I want you to survey the Labs you destroyed. I've asked the Head of the Animal Facility to give you a tour. He'll show you exactly what we lost and how much was destroyed. I'll expect a 10,000 word report tomorrow morning, of course. You can go now," she dismissed him.
"Chamundeshwari!" he muttered under his breath.
"Did you say something Mr.Raizada? I didn't quite catch you," she said sweetly.
"Nothing important Ms.Gupta. Nothing at all important. I'll have the report in for you tomorrow, of course," he smiled cheerily.
"Also, later this evening, I have a delegation coming in from Singapore. I'll expect you to go to the airport to receive them and settle them down in the Company Guest House. Ask Sally for the details. I believe their flight gets here at 9pm," she smiled.
"But I have the report to write and I won't be able to get to it until I get home in the evening," he exclaimed.
"Well, since you called me Hunterwali and Phoolan Devi, I thought I should live up to my name and crack the whip," she said, her voice saccharine sweet. "Also, you need to wait for me. I am having a late night drink with them at 10.30. I'll expect you to wait until I arrive before leaving. Is that clear?"
"Yes Ma'am!" he said, knowing he was in big trouble.
"You can go now. And don't pester Sally. She's a good worker and loyal too."
"Yes, I know exactly how loyal she is!" he muttered under his breath, as he walked out of her office.
Khushi leaned back in her chair and smiled. She liked winding Raizada up. She didn't know why, but it was fun. She grinned for a minute, and then lost herself in work until her 11am arrived.
When she came back from Dr.Saxena's office it was past 5. She stepped in to her office, shucked her shoes off and leaned back in her plush leather chair. She replayed the afternoon's events in her head.
"It's time Khushi. You can't put it off anymore. No more excuses. You need surgery NOW."
"Can we wait another month? I have an important deadline in 2 weeks."
"No more waiting. Tell your family now. I'm scheduling you for pre-op tests next week. We're getting this done in the next 2 weeks.
"Sir, yes, Sir."
"Don't be flippant with me Khushi. I've known you for 24 years now. I will tell on you. You know I will!"
"I'll be good Doc! I promise!"
"OK. Talk to your family and get back to me. If I don't hear from you within 48 hours, I am calling your home Khushi. I'm serious."
"I'll talk to them. How long will it take to get back to work?"
"Is that all you think about? Work?"
"Pretty much!"
"A week or two. It won't be too bad, don't worry. I'm good at my job."
"I know you are. I'll be going now. Thanks Suraj Uncle!" she kissed his cheek and left his office, smiling jauntily. A smile that didn't quite hold up, as she stepped into her car.
Khushi was letting silent tears flow down her cheeks when Arnav walked in. He saw Khushi and stopped short.
"Hey! Are you OK? OhmiGod you're crying. Look, I didn't mean to call you those names. I'm just an ass sometimes. I'm really sorry," he said, alarmed.
Her eyes flew open and she brushed her tears away. "Why are you here and why didn't you knock?" she asked frostily.
"I knocked. You didn't say anything, so I walked in. I'm sorry!" It was a genuine apology and for some reason that made her cry all over again.
"Ms. Gupta, please. Ms. Gupta, come now, stop crying. Oh, to hell with it. Khushi, stop it!" he said, walking up to her chair, and taking her hand. For a moment he was thrown back against the large desk, and then he realized that the beautiful Khushi Gupta, CEO of Gupta Labs, and his bte noir had thrown her self into his arms and was weeping noisily into his shirt.
"There, there Khushi!" he said tapping her head awkwardly, wondering how on Earth he got himself into these situations, and then alternately ashamed at himself for wondering if she would consider giving him extra time for his assignment in return for offering her a shoulder to cry on.
After about 3 minutes of sniffling, she pulled herself out of his arms and smiled at him mistily through her tears. "Sorry, I'm not usually such a cry baby!"
"Happens to the best of us Khushi. Don't worry about it," he said easily, offering her his handkerchief. She declined and took a tissue from the box on her desk. "I'm still Ms. Gupta to you. Just because you caught me at a weak moment doesn't mean you can call me Khushi. Oh, and no extra leeway on your assignment for offering a shoulder for me to sniffle on either!" she said sternly.
"And Hunterwali is back!" he grimaced.
"Was there a reason you came in?" she asked, now back to her usual self, minus the red-rimmed eyes.
"You know, I'm sure there was, but I can't remember it anymore. Why were you crying?" he asked interestedly.
"None of your business. Now, if have nothing else to say, you can go. Tell Sally I'm tired and left early today. I'm going home now. But I will see you tonight at the Guest House. We're going to The Yellow Dandelion for drinks."
"Are you sure you're OK?" he asked, ignoring her speech completely.
"Fine. Now, out!" she said firmly.
And thus it was that the work day ended for Arnav Singh Raizada. Or rather, work hours ended. His work day never seemed to end, he grimaced. He spent the rest of the evening in futile speculation on what could have made the tough as nails Khushi Gupta bawl in his arms like that. He came up with a number of theories, all wrong. The only thing he got right was that she was a cozy armful! Khushi Gupta spent the evening alternating between shame at having cried in front of HIM, and worried about how she would deal with her family. Finally, she gave up and decided to focus on finding a pretty dress for drinks tonight. She wanted to live a little, she decided. She ignored the convenient way "living" had somehow become part of her agenda the day she fell into Arnav Singh Raizada's arms. Akash wrote down exactly what he would say to Payal that evening and practiced in front of the mirror a few times. Payal dressed for her date with her usual care. "The Yellow Dandelion was going to be fun, fun, fun!" she mused.
Truer words had never been spoken. Just not the kind of fun Ms.Payal Gupta had in mind.
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