The Memories of A Butterfly#2 Ch15-14/12 Updated! - Page 40

Payal entered the room to find an agitatedly pacing Aakash Singh Raizada, barking orders on the Bluetooth- "No. NO! Don't give me that bullshit Sarkar. Just do what you're told; and I want the details of everything that goes on." She stepped back hastily, as he turned in her direction, and for some reason his hazel eyes flared even more. Ripping out the Bluetooth from his ear, he flung it across the room, where it fell on the couch. Payal watched as he raked a hand through his hair, and had to suppress the urge of offering to do it for him. Dear God, what a time to have a romantic relapse! She closed her eyes, briefly repeating her Mantra of can't be together, and opened them again to find him scrutinizing her angrily.

"Finished with the pranayam, Ms. Sharma? Or do we need to postpone the conference for another Baba Ramdev Session?"

Wow. Wasn't someone breathing fire today! Quickly shaking her head, and muttering a small "Sorry Sir." Payal rushed forward to prepare for the Conference they were to have with the European clients. Going through a mental checklist even as Akash set his Laptop up and booted it, staring at her every once in a while and frowning. What was the matter with him? She hadn't known her Boss and Romantic Interest (Unreachable as he was) was so mercurial in his moods! Or maybe it was because the CEO was not going to be coming in today? She shook her head again, and snapped out of her thoughts when she heard him snap his fingers impatiently.

She glanced at the time, and turned to him- "All set?" he snapped in her direction, not taking his eyes off the screen and she stammered an affirmative. "Where's the File with the facts and figures for Roha?" She handed him the Royal Blue Folder with a stylishly filigreed 'R' embossed on it in Gold, and silently placed the Agenda he had asked her to print the day before in front of him, shuffling the copies she had in her hands around, ready to start taking notes as soon as he started talking, her faithful notepad on top.

Roha was the brainchild of Raizada Automotives and Chrysler Motors, and the new deal that they would be hammering out today could mean that it would soon be launched in Europe too. A well received model in both the US and India, they were quite sure that it would be a success in Europe too- what only remained to be seen through was this deal, and from the looks of it, Akash Singh Raizada was determined to see it through.

"Alright. That is sufficiently in order," he murmured as he looked through the papers, a gentle frown marring his forehead, and again Payal had to stop herself from smoothing her fingers over the gentle V between his brows. Clenching her fingers, she cleared her throat and nodded her head. "An-anything else, s-sir?" Heck! Why couldn't she stop stuttering today?!

He looked up at her, and she could have sworn she saw him smirk. But the flash of humor was gone all too quickly and he nodded; his impassive mask tightly in place again. "Tell Zeba to hold all calls for the next 3 hours, I will not tolerate any interruptions." From the sound of that she could only guess that if there were indeed any interruptions, it would be Payal and not Zeba who would be in big trouble.

"Make sure Mr. Mehra and the Roha team knows about the Meeting scheduled Post-lunch today, and I need a perfect coffee before the conference starts." He looked up at her, apparently finished with the file for now. His eyebrows went up as he saw her standing there with a harried expression on her face. "Come on Ms. Sharma, I don't pay you to merely look pretty," she squirmed as he gave her a critical once over before his hazel eyes snapped back to hers. "You have 10 minutes, and then you're to sit here and take complete and accurate notes of what happens in the conference, Understand?"

She could only manage a squeak resembling a weak "Yes, Sir!" before she almost ran out of the cabin, making her way towards the Blackberry she had been handed on her first week here. Wow, he looks hot even when he's being an arrogant jerk! She thought with a long suffering sigh, as she started to type out an email to Mr. Mehra and the Roha team, shouting walking towards Zeba sitting at the far end of the Lobby just in front of the Elevators, and mentally smacking herself over and over again for feeling and showing that she was flustered around Akash Singh Raizada. Oh Devi Maiya, what was she to do?

Akash smirked and sighed as he reached a hand out for the remote to the Flat Screen in his cabin. Flicking through the news channels he couldn't help but smirk, well, he hadn't known that flustering the Pretty Ms. Sharma would be so easy for the Raizada in him! She looked beautiful when she blushed. He frowned when something dawned on him, shaking his head, he leaned back again, his fingers tapping against the remote as he looked back on his association with Ms Sharma through the last month. Not once had he thought of her as Hot, or even as an object to be… had. He shrugged. Hell, he'd had his fair share of ladies, and he'd never thought of his girlfriends as… beautiful. Ever. Nice? Yeah. Pretty? Sure. Hot? Definitely. But, beautiful? Nope. Not once. But with Payal, it was different, wasn't it? It had been since that first meeting they'd had. The one in which he had embarrassed himself so thoroughly. He pressed his eyes closed as a small smile played across his lips as he recalled those beautiful dimples she'd flashed at him. He hadn't caught her smiling in such a long time now!

Pressing the pads of his thumbs to his eyelids he shook his head again. Head in the Game, Raizada. Get through the Europeans, then Ms Sharma. Head in the Game.

Arnav glanced at Khushi as he silently drove them through the Gates of Shantivan and up the Driveway. She still hadn't looked at him- hell she hadn't looked away from the window, and she hadn't uttered a single sound throughout their hour long drive. He frowned, What was it? Curiosity burned inside him, but how could he ask her? What should he ask her? Was she alright? No, that would sound so… un-him! And anyways, "Are you okay?" was such an awkward thing to say… Should he tell her she'd done well on the interview? But she already knew that, right? What was the point in telling her something she already knew? No, he shook his head again. Exasperated, he ran a hand through his hair, The other hand maneuvering the steering wheel so that the car was in front of the Main Doors, what was the protocol to ask one's new and young wife if she was alright after a bitch slam-dunked her with a question bomb? He shook his head again, Wow, for being the CEO of one of the biggest Companies of the Country, he sure got himself into awkward situations! He slowly unbuckled himself, and opened his door, just as she did the same, still silent, and got out. He threw the keys at Rajesh, as he came running, and turned just in time to catch Khushi slowly walking up the steps to the House.

And the way her shoulders were slightly slumped, her small fair hand playing absent mindedly with the end of her pallu, as she took small absent minded steps towards the house made his chest clog up for some reason. A feeling close to nausea swept through him, followed quickly by surprise- then annoyance. Really now, she was his wife, surely he could talk to her? And so, before he knew it, Arnav had called out to her.

"Khushi!"

His mouth snapped shut, as she stopped and looked around, those clear green eyes looking at him, her perfectly shaped eyebrows rising up as her hand dropped the pallu. "Jee Arnavji?"

Well, shit. What was he supposed to say now? "Er…" he raked a hand through his hair, and cursed his impulsive out of control tongue for the slip. Seriously, what would have happened if he'd just let her go inside the house? She was still standing there, looking at him expectantly, and he was surprised that apart from being mortified, a major part of him was relieved that she finally had that sad look off her face. He turned around and signaled Rajesh to hand him back the keys. Well, he had to do something!

Turning around again, he jerked his head back towards the Car, and waited with his hands buried in his pockets as she climbed down the steps, somewhat warily, still staring at him curiously. "Yes?" Her voice was a sweet husk, he noticed- and made great efforts towards ignoring the tingle that ran through him.

"Well… err…" Oh, this was so embarrassing! And Arnav Singh Raizada didn't do embarrassing! What had this girl brought him to? Shit, she was still looking at him with those expectant eyes- and for the first time since Business school, Arnav Singh Raizada felt flustered.

"I er… didn't… we haven't had breakfast in a long time… so, I thought we could-", her eyebrows had gone up for some reason.

"Arnavji it's 5 in the evening!"

Arnav almost laughed. But keeping the irrational humor under a tight leash, he only rolled his eyes and nodded at her in as condescending a manner as he could. "I am aware of that, Khushi. I thought, we could go for a coffee… Celebrate the Interview. You didn't need many gods to get you through it, now, did you?"

He liked how she smiled and blushed, looking down at her feet. And then she'd looked up again, her eyes wide and sparkling hopefully, her lips quirked in a small smile, "We did good?" she asked him, and he was hit again by just how young she was. He smiled and held out his hand to her, not knowing why he did it, but feeling good as she slipped her small one into his. "We did great. Now, let's celebrate."

She giggled and he decided he liked that sound. Shutting the door behind her, and walking around to the Driver's side, he wondered why he had asked his wife of all people for a coffee, when he hadn't done so to any woman he had been associated with, ever.

"Where are we going for Coffee?" her cheerful voice broke through his thoughts and he smirked, as he reversed and turned the car around, heading out the gates barely ten minutes after they'd entered them.

Well, maybe it was a good change, he thought and drove on. Maybe they could make this work… He would just have to wait and watch.

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