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Chapter 4:
Khushi entered her house, mumbling to herself about laad governors who thought they could boss her around.
"Khushi!?"
Payal whisper yelled as Khushi walked into their bedroom, "Where have
you been!? I tried calling your cell and you wouldn't answer! Buaji ate
half my brain away with her Hai-Re Nandkishores!"
"Don't even get me started, Jiji!" Khushi grumbled, and walked over to the cupboard to get her night dress out.
After
freshening up and changing her clothes, she walked into their room
again and climbed onto the bed. Placing her hands under her head she
stared at the stars hanging from her bed, contemplating how she ended up
in the situation she did.
"Jiji...," she called, and when Payal only hummed in reply, she whined "Jiji!"
"What Khushi?" Payal said, irritated at getting her sleep disrupted for the second time.
"I have a date tomorrow night."
Payal snapped her eyes open and whirled towards Khushi, "What!?"
Khushi
turned her head to look at Payal's horrified face, and repeated "I have
a date tomorrow night...with Arnav Singh Raizada."
"Wha- Wh- How!?"
Khushi
told Payal everything that happened that night, from the success of her
gota bikinis to her very filmy fall into the arms of none other than
the great Arnav Singh Raizada, ending with his demand for a date as
compensation for ruining one of the biggest nights for his company.
"You have a date with your boss," Payal repeated, shocked.
"Ahan.
God knows how I will deal with the laad governor for the duration of
the date. He is the most arrogant, conceited..." she remembered the way
his eyes flashed in anger, his arrogant smirk that somehow made him more
attractive, "...
handsome..."
Payal
slapped Khushi's arm, bringing her out of her daydreams, "I think we
had enough excitement for one night without you declaring your undying
love for your boss..."
"Ex-boss!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Go to sleep. We can talk tomorrow," saying this, Payal turned her back to Khushi and went to sleep.
On
the other hand, Khushi couldn't sleep a wink that night because
everytime she closed her eyes she was haunted by the raakshas with the
face of a rajkumar.
------------------
"Jiji!" Khushi screamed, running around her room like a headless chicken.
Payal
walked into the room, and threw a towel at Khushi, "Wipe your hair dry,
Khushi. You are getting water all over the room. You took a headbath at
this time? You'll catch a cold!"
Khushi
made a face, "Buaji has been driving me nuts with all the errands she's
making me run for her return to delhi. I barely had time to take a
normal bath this morning. I escaped just now and washed it. This must be
the longest I went without washing the oil off my hair."
"Besides, I can't go on a date with oiled hair, can I? It was that laad governor's order to have my hair open.
With no oil," she said pointedly.
Payal raised an eyebrow at this, "Since when does Khushi Kumari Gupta follow orders?"
Khushi
whirled her head around, almost slapping Payal in the face with her
hair, "Following orders? Me? Hmpf! You know how much I hate oiling my
hair!"
Payal
smirked but sobered up looking at Khushi's irritated face, "Okay, never
mind. Why were you screaming my name like there was a fire in the
house?"
"Oh! I need your red anarkali," Khushi said with a smile.
"
My red dress? Why?" Payal asked, suspicious.
"Woh..."
Khushi trailed off, remembering what Payal just said about her obeying
that laad governor's orders. "...nothing. Just like that," Khushi
shrugged. "I feel like wearing red today."
"Well, you would be better off feeling like wearing some other color because I
just washed it."
"What!?" Khushi screamed, horrified.
Payal
put her hands over her ears to block out Khushi's shrieking. "Arre
pagli! Why are you overreacting? Wear one of your other dresses."
"Hain devi-mayya! I
need
to wear red, jiji," Khushi said, panicking. "That raakshas ordered me
to! And if I don't, he'll come up with some other absurd payment for
disobeying him."
Payal smirked, as if to say I told you so, and went to the cupboard to look for something red for Khushi to wear.
After
combing the cupboard from top to bottom for half-an-hour, all they
found in red was the saree Buaji had bought Khushi for diwali, the last
time she came to visit them in Lucknow.
"Looks like you'll have to wear a saree," Payal said, giggling.
"Jiji!
You know I can't walk in a saree," Khushi pouted, remembering the last
time she had worn a saree. She tripped in front of the entire
congregation in devi-mayya's temple, and threw the milk she was carrying
all over the panditji.
"Looks
like you don't have a choice, Khushi. All you can do is pray that
Aranvji has quick reflexes," Payal winked, and walked out of the room.
--------------
Khushi
looked at the clock as she rushed out of her room, tripping as she
went. As if wearing a saree wasn't enough, Payal had insisted that she
wear heels, as her normal sandals
just didn't look right with the saree.
"Arre woh sanka devi!" buaji called, as she walked out of her room with a hand over her head. "Where are you going?"
Khushi
cursed her luck, and turned around to face buaji. Plastering a smile on
her face, Khushi said, "Woh buaji, I am going out for dinner."
"Going out? For dinner? Why? Is the food at home not up to your standards?"
"No
buaji," Khushi said, trying to come up with a plausible reason for
going out to dinner, without
giving away the fact that she had a date.
"Party!" she exclaimed. "Haan. Buaji, they are throwing a party for the Miss India 2012 team."
"Toh?
No need for you to go," Buaji said, throwing her plait around her neck.
"Going out at this time of the night, dressed like that. Aaj kal ki
ladkiyan, nand kishore!" she muttered.
Khushi looked down at the saree she was wearing and then at Buaji's horrified face.
If she had her way, me and jiji would be locked in a cage until we get married."Buaji, I need to go. It's a part of the contract you see, if I don't they'll cut my pay," she said,
breathing a sigh of relief.
Buaji looked even more horrified, if possible, and after a couple more prayers to her nand kishore, reluctantly let Khushi go.
Khushi ran into the street, and breathed a sigh of relief after catching an auto to The Palms.
One hurdle down, devi-mayya knows how many more to go!---------------
Khushi
got down from the auto, wondering how she would find the laad governor
in this huge place. But she didn't have to worry for long as she saw him
standing near the entrance, eyes glued to his blackberry, looking
delicious in his black suit.
Probably some designer brand she couldn't pronounce, thought Khushi, crinkling her nose.
She walked up to him, and when he still didn't notice her presence, she tapped him on his shoulder to catch his attention.
Arnav
looked up, mildly irritated, only to have his breath catch. Khushi
Kumari Gupta was standing in front of him. Except she didn't look
anything like the one he ordered out on a date yesterday.
She
was wearing a red saree, the pleated pallu showing a bit of her
midriff, enough to drive him crazy. The saree accentuated her curves
making her look even more delicious than she had yesterday. He hair was
open and flowing in the slight breeze. Her bangles made a slight noise
as she brought her hand up to tuck a loose piece of hair behind her ear,
growing conscious as he looked at her with such intensity.
The noise of a car going by brought them out of the daze, and Arnav extended a hand towards the restaurant, and said "Shall we?"
Khushi nodded and stepped forward, almost tripping on the first step, but managing to balance herself.
The hostess showed them to a table in the corner, with the view of the garden outside.
Khushi held the chair to drag it back, but Arnav placed his hand beside hers.
"Contrary to popular belief, chivalry isn't dead Khushi," he said, looking at her with a smirk.
"True as that might be
Arnavji, I am quite capable of taking care of myself," Khushi said, emphasizing his name to show that here, he wasn't her boss.
Khushi
pulled her chair back forcefully, and because Arnav let the chair go a
second before that, she stumbled back and stomped on his foot, with
her very high, very sharp, heel.
Khushi winced as Arnav let out a string of colorful profanities.
"I
am so sorry!" she said, anticipating him to blast her. But apart from a
glare and a terse command to "Sit down!" he said nothing.
Arnav took a seat opposite her, and motioned to the waiter that they were ready to order.
"I'll take wine, and a coke for you?" Arnav said, as he turned towards her.
"I'll
take wine too, actually," Khushi said smiling at the waiter, who much
to Arnav's irritation, was looking at Khushi with a little too much
interest. "Red."
--------------
Arnav
Singh Raizada wasn't one to be surprised. One of the main reasons for
his success in such a short frame of time was his cunning mind that
stayed two steps ahead of his opponents.
But
Khushi Kumari Gupta, in the measly 24 hrs he had known her, had managed
to catch him unawares quite a few times. Not only because she never
reacted the way he predicted she would, but also because he himself made
decisions unlike his usual self in her presence, like asking her out on
this date.
He
had stayed up half the night beating himself up over his impulsive
behaviour, and had come to the conclusion that the only reason he asked
her out, was to prove to himself that he wasn't attracted to her. He
would go on the date, prove that he wasn't affected at all by her, and
never think of her again.
How's that working out for you? he thought to himself, irritated at the failure of his plan.
She
looked breathtaking in the saree, with her hair open and flowing. He
couldn't take his eyes off of her, and even when she had stepped on his
foot, one look at her face and he couldn't speak. She literally took his
breath away.
"You drink wine?" he asked, trying to keep the shock out of his voice.
"Not
really," Khushi said, smiling widely at him. "I never drank wine
before, but I always wanted to try it one time, and what better time
than now? No buaji, no amma or bauji. I will never get such a great
opportunity again!"
Arnav quirked his eyebrow but said nothing else on that matter. "So you live with your mom and dad?"
"Ahan. I live with my parents and my jiji. My buaji lives in delhi but she visits so much that she practically lives here too."
"And you're a designer?" Arnav asked, with a frown.
"Oh
no! I am not a professional designer. I help my bauji in managing our
sweet shop. He is a very famous halwai here," Khushi said with a proud
smile. "Up until the fashion show, I didn't even think about the
possibility of designing clothes. But now that I have done it, I am
thinking about pursuing it further."
"What about you? Do you live here too?" she asked Arnav.
"I am from Delhi," he answered.
"Oooh!
I love Delhi! I used to go there for every summer vacation without
fail. I love shopping in Chandni Chowk, they have so many varieties.
Actually, most of the material for the bikinis came from there," said
Khushi, giggling at the shocked expression on Arnav's face. "Buaji
brought it over last month."
"You
are telling me that some of the most popular designs of last night's
show were designed using cheap chandni chowk material?" Arnav asked,
angry at his team's inefficiency in quality control.
Khushi's
smile disappeared and her temper flared at his tone, "What do you mean
cheap material? It is much better than the materials you use, it only
costs less because we get them straight from the people who weave them."
Their conversation was cut short by the arrival of the waiter with their wine and the appetizers.
As Arnav was going to take a sip, Khushi yelled "Wait!"
"What?" he asked, confused.
"Aren't we supposed to clink our glasses together and say cheers? I saw it in the movies."
Arnav
felt his lips twitch hearing the conviction in her voice, "You are
right. Cheers," he said, and lightly touched his glass to hers.
Khushi took a sip of the red wine and made a face, "It's bitter."
"That's just because you never had it before, it tastes just fine to me," he said, taking another sip.
Before she could reply, she heard someone call out, "Chamkili?"
They turned towards the voice to find Lavanya who had her arm looped through Aman's.
"And ASR?" Lavanya sounded even more confused.
They
walked over to the table Arnav and Khushi were sitting at, and Aman
whistled appreciatively,
making Arnav fume, "Not bad Chamkili, you clean
up good."
Khushi smiled at Aman, "Thank you, '?"
"Aman,..." he said, extending a hand for her to shake. "...Aman Mathur."
Khushi shook his hand, not noticing the murderous expression on Arnav and Lavanya's face.
"I found out that you are the gota seamstress? Great job on the bikinis."
"Oh. Thank you very much, Amanji."
"Actually,
Khushi, I was thinking, why don't you give me your number? I could
contact you if we require a designer for any other event."
Khushi
was overjoyed at his suggestion, and was about to give him her number,
when Arnav cut her off and said, "No need for that Aman. I have her
number, so I can contact her if needed."
One
look at Arnav's face and Aman knew he would be in big trouble if he
didn't back off, "Of course, ASR. Nice meeting you, Khushi," he said.
He turned towards Lavanya, who was glaring daggers at him, and said, "Let's go."
After
they left, Khushi turned towards Arnav with a peeved expression on her
face and said, "Amanji was just being nice, did you have to cut him off
like that?"
"He was flirting with you," said Arnav, gritting his teeth.
"No he wasn't!" Khushi said, shocked.
"Yes, he was. Why else would he ask for your number? I should have done much worse to him, flirting with
my date."
"So what if he was? It isn't like I am your girlfriend or anything!" Khushi said, irritated at his behaviour.
"Mind your language, Khushi. No one speaks to me like that," he said, glaring at her.
"There's always a first time for everything."
"How dare you?" he screamed
"Don't
yell at me!" she said, and slammed her hands on the table, knocking
over the wine glass, and spilling the wine all over Arnav.
"What the ****?"
Khushi's eyes widened and her mouth formed a O in shock. She was about to apologize when he started yelling in earnest.
"Bloody
hell! I knew it was a mistake to ask you out on a date. God knows what I
was thinking. I probably wasn't thinking at all!"
Khushi forgot all about apologies at his words, "Well, that must not be a new experience, you never think!"
"Don't you dare speak to me like that, Khushi."
"Why
shouldn't I? This date was your idea, don't you dare blame me for this
mess. Your condition was for me to go on a date with you, well here I
am. Debt repaid. I am leaving."
She stood up, and turned around to walk out of the restaurant.
"Don't walk away from me when I am speaking!" he screamed.
"Well, watch me," she said, and walked out of the restaurant.
He followed her, and grabbing her elbow, he said, "I said, don't walk away from me," he growled,
and twirled her around.
She
lost her balance and collided into him, making him lose his balance
too. He fell back, taking her with him, and as they touched the ground,
Khushi's lips touched his.
------------------------
So...How
was it? Rom-com isn't really my genre but this was a good learning opportunity. I hope you smiled at least a little and the end made up fro
the lack of romance :)Next Part:
Chapter 5
Edited by BlueMystique - 11 years ago
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