Nai! No ninny maamu!"
The shrill voice of his three year old nephew jolted Arnav out of his sleepy stupor. This boy clearly got his energy from his mother. And he had also inherited the very lovely trait that Anjali was so good at; annoying the living daylights out of people.
But rather than the usual tightening of his mouth, Arnav grinned at the toddler jumping upon the bed like a bunny. Adit was an absolute delight, and there was no way anyone could help but fall in love with the little brat.
Also, Arnav loved little kids.
Surprise, surprise.
The astute businessman who screamed at the drop of a hat, and screamed once more when someone tried to pick it up; had an infinite amount of patience for the little bundle of energy that was presently trying it's best to break his bed.
He smiled and ran towards Adit; mock tackling him onto the mattress. "I've got you now Nawaab Sahab" he laughed as he tickled the little boy who was writhing with joy in his arms.
Arnav's sole duty concerning Adit was to pamper him. Admonishing, teaching and ordering were what his sister did best. Whether it be him, his jeejaji, or even little Adit.
His nephew was such a joy to be with, Arnav thought as an affectionate smile lifted his lips. "So you won't let me sleep. Fine. Then what else do you want to do?"
Adit's eyes; so much like his maamu's lit up adorably and his chubby fingers pulled at Arnav's cheeks. "Dancy-dancy!" he cried, jumping up from the bed and running to the large flat screen embedded into the north wall.
Grabbing the remote with the same chubby fingers, Adit pressed the circular red button repeatedly, his smile disappearing a little each time as the television refused to switch on.
"Maamu!" he cried, and that too in such a heart wrenching manner, that the maamu in question ran up behind him and picked the little boy in his arms.
"Don't worry Nawaab Sahab, we'll just turn it on" Arnav supplied in hopes to placate the child. His soothing voice worked its magic, and Adit smiled once more. He pulled the man's cheeks in a vigorous manner to show his appreciation.
Arnav echoed his smile as he bent down to the main outlet and flicked the tiny switch on the board. Immediately, the screen roared to life.
Adit jumped in his arms as he heard the sound erupt suddenly behind him, and twisted to see the source of the noise.
"TV on! TV on!" he sang in a jovial manner, doing a cross between the signature Hare Ram, Hare Krishna move and Bhangra. Arnav laughed seeing his nephew's antics, and changed the channel from business news to some odd sort of Bollywood dance program.
As expected, there was no sleep for the poor businessman tonight.
Khushi sighed and stretched her tight muscles with a small groan. She began to lift herself off the sofa, hoping that a little movement would help her cramped muscles. But something hampered her locomotion project.
She looked down tiredly to see a softly snoring Shaina nestled into her side. Khushi smiled and settled back into the sofa. There was no way she could get up because it would be impossible to tell her baby to go back to sleep.
Shai had had enough worries for one day.
She sighed once again and leaned her head back onto the sofa. Her poor baby had no idea that her lovely Khushi had lied to her. But what could she have done? Khushi had blanked completely upon seeing the vulnerable state her baby had been in. It wouldn't have made things easier if she'd told Shaina the truth.
Her caring little baby. So hurt, so tortured for a twenty one year old woman.
Sometimes, Khushi felt like crying at what the world had done to Shaina. She wasn't the sort of woman to blame things like fate, or destiny for what happened to a certain person. But Shaina was the only exception.
What could a poor, innocent sixteen year old girl have done to deserve such a pair of f**ked up parents?
Khushi closed her eyes as she remembered the incident that still brought a smile to her lips.
Five Years Ago;
"Shaina" a hoarse shout left Khushi as she choked slightly on the fumes emanating from the strong tadka simmering in the pan. She wrapped the dupatta tightly over her face and concentrated on breathing lightly through her nose.
A hasty sound of running footsteps behind her jolted Khushi, and she turned around in a sudden manner.
"Didi! Didi! Kya hogaya didi?"
The young woman of seventeen ran into the kitchen like a storm; her arms flapping about like a little bird. Her eyes were wide and fearful, and in her pale hands she held a broom.
For a moment, hilarity took over the present situation and the older woman burst out laughing. Khushi held onto her sides tightly as she continued to crack up at the expression on Shai's face.
The younger woman, on the other hand, seemed less than pleased at her being the reason for such manic laughter.
Throwing the cane noisily onto the kitchen floor, she stalked out with her nose high in the air.
Khushi stopped laughing as she watched her little baby go, and immediately ran after Shaina. She spun her around gently, and held her own ears as she apologized "Accha baba. I'm sorry. Phirse nahi hasoongi. Promise!"
Shaina looked at her for a moment. Almost as if debating whether to forgive the older woman or not. A few seconds later, she jumped into Khushi's arms and burrowed her head into her didi's warm neck.
"Didi, please aisa kabhi mat karna. When you screamed my name like that, I was so scared!"
Khushi smiled and softly kissed Shaina's hair. "Okay, promise" she repeated gently, hoping to put her baby's fears at rest.
Khushi felt a fatigued smile stretch her lips as she reminisced over that incident. This little baby of hers had reacted in the same way today, as she had done all those years ago.
Almost as if in sync with her thoughts, Shaina huddled even more into her. She adjusted her neck, jutting her chin into Khushi's shoulder in the process. A slight hiss left her mouth at the jab, but her baby being such a deep sleeper just wouldn't notice. Shai's cold hand made its way under Khushi's shirt, and curled slightly upon her warm belly. She sighed and shifted a bit more to her right so Shai wouldn't fall off. Sighing once again, she closed her aching eyes.
Oh well, this wasn't unfamiliar.
"Sleeping on the job Ms. Gupta?"
A warm, groomed voice broke into Khushi's hazy thoughts as she jolted upright. She looked around wildly, her eyes widening as she stared into the caramel eyes of her very handsome boss.
For a few moments, she blinked. And blinked.
And blinked again.
Until the Adonis in front of her leaned down and whispered conspiratorially in her ear; "There's a little drool on your chin Ms. Gupta"
That-very effectively- took care of her incessant blinking. In fact, at his casually uttered words; Khushi let out an outraged gasp. Although her mind geared up for an automatic retort, her right hand went up-not so inconspicuously-to her chin.
She wiped furiously at it, much to the amusement of her boss. He stood there for about thirty seconds as Khushi roamed her fingers all over the lower part of her visage, hoping to get rid of the embarrassing liquid.
Suddenly, Arnav burst out laughing.
As usual, she stopped being angry at the precise moment his handsome mouth broke into that disarming grin. And much to her heart's misery; it had transpired into full blown laughter!
Oh his smile she could ignore, but his laugh would never cease to make her melt.
"There is nothing there Ms. Gupta. Surprising how gullible you are"
And with those mocking words uttered in that molten voice hoarse from laughing, he'd successfully ended up freezing her once again.
She clenched her fists as she saw him wink, and then walk away. A flurry of fresh curses left her mouth as she watched him disappear behind the gleaming red door.
But even as she boxed him in her mind, she couldn't help but stare at the compact mirror for a full five seconds. Making sure that he really had been joking.
Oh that man!
Arnav grinned once again as he remembered the look on his assistant's face as she'd woken up. A sleepy Ms. Gupta was not only sexy as hell, but gullible too.
Another laugh bubbled out of him as he was reminded of the way she had looked at him just after he'd made the drool statement. It seemed to him like a cross between wanting to murder him, or to hide in utter embarrassment.
However Arnav's laugh ended abruptly as he debated the reasons for her fatigue. She hadn't been out for too long had she? He clearly remembered dropping her off outisde her apartment at eleven thirty pm, and that wasn't too late. Not for a twenty three year old woman, he would assume.
So what else could it have been? He thought in a serious manner. The humorous atmosphere from merely three minutes ago was gone in a jiffy. Almost as if it had never existed.
The Arrogant Businessman was back.
Arnav flipped the pages of the Mehra file languidly, not bothering to read what was written on the crisp sheets.
Was it possible that she had a lover?
That thought was completely justified, but Arnav's reaction to it was not. An anger like never before settled into his eyes. Why, he didn't know, but it angered him beyond reason to imagine her with someone else other than him.
Arnav groaned and leaned his head back. What the hell was happening here? And where had that caveman thought even come from?
He was not a possessive man. He had never been like that.
Arnav believed in a liberal lifestyle. That what you did in the bedroom was solely your own business. For him, it was the boardroom that mattered.
Within three days of her arrival, Ms. Feisty Gupta had managed to tweak a healthy number of his personality traits. He wondered how.
God, that woman!
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