Chapter 42
Arnav breathed a sigh of relief as Om Prakash opened the door of Shantivan letting him in; it was good to be home he thought in relief as walked through the foyer into the main seating area. His Nani, Devyani Raizada was seated on one of the couches, her face lighting up as she saw Arnav. She stood as Arnav came to her and enveloped her into a hug. She placed a light kiss on his forehead as she examined his face; her poor chote looked exhausted. He worked too too hard, she thought with a sigh as she directed Om Praksash to go and prepare a meal for Arnav and get him a glass of water.
Arnav sat down on the couch; he leaned back and rested his head leaning against its back as he tried to relax as he loosened the knot on his tie. He yawned; all he wanted was a meal, a shower and his bed in that exact order he thought as he raised his head...oh and to talk to Khushi. He opened his weary eyes and looked around the room wondering where his Di and loud over-animated Mami were; they must be at some mandir as usual. As his gaze continued scanning the room, his eyes landed on the copy of The Times of India that was lying on the coffee table in front of him. He winced and groaned inwards as he read the headline:
Mr Right finds Miss Right: Is Arnav Singh Raizada officially off the market?
Arnav looked up, Nani was standing near the table and she looked at the headline and then at Arnav. Her eyes clearly full of questions, but she waited. It was time for Arnav Singh Raizada to do some much needed explaining she thought as she arched an eyebrow silently.
Devyani Raizada was a gentle soul but an inherently strong woman. Despite being a window, she had decided to raise Arnav and Anjali after the death of their parents. Whilst she loved Arnav immensely, Arnav knew from the look in her eyes that he clearly had some explaining to do. He sat up as Nani remained standing and crossed her arms across her chest.
'Nani... 'He began, but not quite sure of what to say from there.
'Yes Chote...' Nani said simply.
Arnav groaned to himself as he winced. He felt like the ten year old Chote he once was when Nani had found him trying to sneak down the balcony to go play football when he was meant to be studying. Arnav sighed. There was no point beating around the bush.
'Nani...that headline...' His Nani interrupted, 'Yes, I read the article Chote... oh and I also watched your interview on the news,' Devyani said as she sat down next to him. She stared at him curiously. This was a first for her. Devyani had never seen her strong, opinionated, confident, super-decisive grandson be so...so shy and... was he...yes he was blushing slightly!! Devyani smiled. Arnav was the apple of her eye and try as she might; she just could not bear to torture him. She turned to face him and gently asked 'Do I know her Chote?'
Arnav turned to look at his Nani, 'Nani, remember last year, AR Corp had that event at the Taj and when you came, I was shouting at a girl who had given me the wrong speech notes - do you remember? Arnav smiled to himself as he recalled that night and how wrong his allegations had been when he accused Khushi of being the most incompetent PA he ever had the misfortune of having. She was probably the only person on this planet that could prove Arnav Sing Raizada wrong AND have him be happy about it, he thought with a shy smile ' clearly love could do some amazing things.
Deviyani nodded. She certainly recalled that evening; her heart bled for the poor girl who faced her Chote's legendary temper and Devyani recalled how the girl bravely stood there as he yelled as her; the girl hadn't argued with Arnav and neither had she dissolved in a puddle of tears - which is what Devyani had seen countless men do in front of Arnav, let alone women.
Arnav continued 'Her name is Khushi Kumari Gupta and she works at AR... And she's the girl who you saw me yelling at,' he said quietly.
Devyani's eyes widened, 'Chote... I don't understand... How could she like... you... well like that especially after you treated her so...so badly?'
Arnav smiled. Nani had a point. He looked at her wryly.
'Nani, I wasn't just bad to her...I was AWEFUL to her that night and probably even worse with her on every single day over the twelve months she worked for me... but Nani.. Khushi is... Well She never stops amazing me; her principles, her integrity, strength of character, determination, honesty - she has all these things in buckets. He proceeded to tell Nani about the start of the mentoring experience and how he discovered his mentee was Khushi and then how he kept throwing challenges at her but how she managed to amaze him time and time again. How she always displayed truth and integrity, not undermining him for her own benefit. He soberly told Nani of how Khushi had been orphaned at such a young age and how she had to stay in an Orphanage, making Nani shed tears for her unintentionally. 'Nani, you know what... She's not afraid to take me on and tell me off when I'm wrong. Nani... I've never met anyone like her' he finished somewhat breathlessly.
Nani stared at Arnav in astonishment - she had never seen him like this. Arnav had never spoken about any woman like this, let alone just how well he seemed to know her. But the same vein, she frowned as she knew how her Chote treated relationships. They were like business transactions to him - good, while the worked for him; terminated, when they didn't.
'Chote... you seem to really like this girl...' she murmured.
Arnav turned to face his Nani, 'I do Nani and... I think you'll love her when you meet her,' he said with a lopsided shy grin.
Devyani's jaw dropped open in amazement. Arnav had NEVER brought a girl home to meet her. So for him to actually volunteer to do this was unheard of. Devyani knew she HAD to meet the girl who was the cause of her Chote's uncharacteristic behaviour.
She nodded.
Arnav smiled 'Deal Nani. I'll bring her to meet you tonight,' he announced as he stood up 'Nani, I really really need to get some sleep first so tell Om Prakash to bring my food upstairs ok' he said as he popped a kiss on her forehead. Nani's jaw dropped open for the second time in that hour; Arnav was never physically affectionate with anyone. She wiped away a tear as she tucked this memory of a happy Arnav in her heart.
After eating a light meal and a quick shower later, Arnav reclined in his bed as he dialled Khushi's number. The sense of anticipation for this evening was building he thought with a smile. She answered on the second ring.
'Hello... ' she said breathlessly instantly making Arnav think how insanely sexy she sounded.
'Hmm... Personal phone calls on company time are forbidden Ms Gupta, I think your boss might get mad if he found out' he said in huskily.
Khushi smiled - how she had missed his voice.
'Well, Mr Raizada... company protocol states that a meeting must be conducted whereby the employee is formally warned about their inappropriate behaviour. So I guess I just have to wait until my boss decides to meet me...' she said with a smile in her voice.
Arnav chuckled 'In that case, Ms Gupta... be ready at 5:30pm... you and I have a meeting' he whispered as he heard her sharp intake of breath.
'You're here??! But you said that you'll be back tomorrow night!' she exclaimed.
'Khushi, I'm confused...are you complaining that I'm back at all or that I'm back before I said would be?' he asked cheekily.
'ARRRANNAAVV!! Stop it! You know that's not what I meant' she whispered, how in heaven's name was she supposed to wait until 5:30pm - that was still hours away.
Arnav just had to laugh and as Khushi heard his full bodied belly laugh she moved the phone away from her ear and stared at it; Arnav Singh Raizada was laughing - what the!!
Arnav regained his breath 'I just wanted to let you know I'm back Khushi... be ready, I'll come and pick you from your office at 5:30pm.'
'Ok' she answered.
'...And Khushi...one more thing... Don't forget to uhh... 'spoil' me Khushi' he teased in his husky voice as he imagined her blushing at his words, and with that he hung up leaving a speechless Khushi hanging on the other end of the line.
You guys have totally overwhelmed me with your response to Chapter 41 - THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart.
I'm trying my best to respond to all the PMs and comments, but please take this note as my personal thanks for your support.
To the silent readers, who have commented; thank you for breaking your silence... I hope you will continue to write to me... I dont bite... promise!
Well as we hurtle towards the awaited confession... wonder who will say the magic words first...
Naina😳
P.S... Can we please get me to 150 pages so that I can start the next chapter in a new thread... pretty please with a sweet Arnav on top
Edited by warriorprincess - 12 years ago
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