ArHi FF: Cocktail |Thread 1| - Page 73

"F***!" Khushi swore under her breath as she hastily made her way towards the elevator. "Of all days Khushi, this is the one you choose for getting late! And you call yourself punctual!" She muttered to herself as she got into one. Throughout her way over to the office, the only thing that kept whizzing past in her mind was undoubtedly Arnav. The way they had parted the last time they had met never failed to make her blush. And their conversation over the last week... she sighed. It would not be wrong to say that she was desperate to see him. His parting words to her last night replayed in her head. "I'm waiting to see you tomorrow Khushi." Her heart started beating faster.

When she finally opened the door to the training room and took a peek inside, she saw that one of the groups was already presenting on the topic that was assigned to them. And much to her dismay, everyone started eyeing her as soon as she made her appearance. She smiled unsurely at all of them and then unable to contain herself any longer, he looked at him in the eyes. He was dressed in a jet black business suit with sky blue shirt and purple tie. His usually gelled and slick hair looked a bit messy, but contributed to his raw boyish charm. He had his hands crossed over his chest and he was looking at her with a peculiar expression, a little small adorning his face. This was something completely unexpected. She thought he would be seething by now.

She took a careful step inside and greeted him in a meek voice. "Good morning sir." He raised his left eyebrow in response while she waited for him to say something.

"Well, Ms. Gupta," she was surprised; "I hope you remember the punishment for latecomers. After all, you were the most enthusiastic one to get it implemented, weren't you?" He smirked at her while she gulped and took out her wallet.

"I remember. Here you go, a hundred bucks." They had this practice established and the money collected by this means was to be given to the winning team at the end of every week.

"Don't look so miserable Khushi. You still have the chance to win it back." He smirked at her again and she was quick to notice the transition from Ms. Gupta to Khushi, not that she minded it. "Go ahead, take a seat" The team which was presenting earlier resumed.

It was now her turn. She quickly took out her laptop and plugged in all the wires. Arnav was now seated directly behind the projector.

"I am going to start by quoting the man himself. "Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever." If scripted by Hollywood, the story would be dismissed as trite melodrama: A deadly disease strikes a promising athlete. Despite desperately thin odds, he manages not only to beat the affliction but also to return to the sport and win its top prize, not once but a record seven times. Unbelievable, except it's true. But the story doesn't end on the finish line at the Tour de France. His experience made him a part of a cancer community, and motivated him to unleash the same passion and drive he does in bike races to the fight against cancer. Since he made history in 1999, he has won the tour six more times, and has become one of the most recognizable and admired people of this era. He might have been stripped of his titles last year, but the people all around the world still believe in him and refuse the allegations that were thrown at him. Being diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer only fuelled his passion and he dedicated his life towards cancer treatment. He is the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation which is built on the message of 'Live Strong'." She finished saying her part and started playing a video that traced his life from the beginning. The other people in the team presented their bit alongside the video and when they were finished, there was pin drop silence in the entire room.

Her eyes were fixated on him, but his was elsewhere. He was looking straight ahead at the projector even after the small movie had come to an end. She noticed that he was on the verge of tears.

Arnav did not know what to do next. It was certainly an excellent presentation. Hell, he was moved to tears as the life of his idol played out in front of him. Khushi was looking at him expectantly. But he didn't want others to see him like this. He composed himself and got up. "It was an excellent presentation." He eyed each member of her team, except her, as he said. "Keep up the good work. Next up is..."

To say that Khushi was disappointed would be an understatement. He had given detailed comments for the previous team and she did not like being dismissed with a single adjective. Her spirits for the day went down the drain. She tried not to show it as she took her seat, unable to look at him.

After the presentations, they had a session on the book building process and the red herring prospectus. When they were done for the day, he dismissed them in his usual manner. He knew that Khushi was upset and he also knew that they needed to talk. It was close to five in the evening, he knew that her mother would fuss over her being out so late, but he still tried his luck and messaged her to have coffee with him. She replied back with an affirmative and told him that she was waiting for him outside the building.

He made his way out and saw her standing at a distance. It had rained and due to this, it got considerably cold. Her hands were wrapped around herself and she was rubbing herself slightly to keep the cold out. He quickened his pace and as soon as he reached her, he tapped on his shoulder and she turned around. As if bound by magic, he couldn't help but stare into her eyes. The next instant he took her into a tight hug, while Khushi could only imagine the reason for his behavior and obviously, the fluttering butterflies made a loud comeback in her stomach.

When they parted, he smiled at her and without any words he took her hand and led her to the parking lot towards his car. When he reached to his Volkswagen Polo, he stopped and looked at her face which had hints of hesitation plastered all over. Of course, what did you think? She wouldn't get into a car with me so readily. It's just been a little time since... but I did go to her house. She wasn't hesitant them. Maybe she was, but didn't show it. Whatever it is, I think I should just walk with her.

"Khushi, I changed my mind, let's just walk." He smiled as he saw relief wash over her. "It's beautiful outside anyway, isn't it?"

"Yes, that would be great." She managed to say the words and felt her hand trapped within his warm ones as they made their way out again.

"You know that was a very good presentation, Khushi." He tried to start the conversation with her but just received a curt nod from her. He tried again. "There was a reason why I told you to present on Lance Armstrong." She looked up from the road into his eyes and asked him why. "I wanted you to present on him because I wanted to tell you something about me." Her heart started pacing rapidly. It was not very often she found him in a solemn mood, and even though she was a little bit upset, his words were enough to worry her. They were about to cross the Barakhmaba Road to get to the Outer Circle of CP and Arnav held her hand as they did so, confidently. Khushi noticed how he never felt embarrassed to hold her hands in public and unknowingly, her lips curled into a smile. When they were walking in the lanes again he asked her. "Where do you want to go?"

"Let's go to CCD?"

"Okay." They remained silent for the rest of their walk and only when they had ordered for their cup of coffees after settling into the plush couch, did he start speaking again."You know, I was in the second year of college, everything in my life was so perfect. I was studying in a good college, my grades were pretty decent too, and the future was looking up at me. There was nothing in the world that had the potential to disturb this..." All this while, his eyes were fixated on his hands. He now looked at her. "...until December of 2006 when I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer."

Her breath came in a sharp gasp as his words sunk into her. She immediately covered his hands with hers and pressed them. This was the simplest and the most genuine action on her part and Arnav immediately felt better. She urged him to continue. "That revelation came as a big hit to me. It just used to pain here," he kept his hand on his abdomen, "and I dismissed it as nothing. I had never thought that something like that could ever happen to me. My entire life was turned upside down and all my ambitions, hopes and dreams went down the drain. There was a point in time when I had lost all hope; I had given up on myself. But I was lucky that I had a family who stayed strong in my support. They encouraged me to fight and they convinced me to keep fighting. I didn't know, but the doctors had said that I was a lost case. They had given me a year to live. But things started turning around." He paused and smiled. He was not looking at her now, his eyes were distant, reliving that dreadful time of his life. "The chemotherapy sessions were so intense that they changed the way I looked. Six months into chemo, I was weighing just fifty kilograms. I was just skin and bones. It had sucked all the tissues in my body, my hair was gone and I looked like a ghost. My best friend, Noreena, gifted me a book in those days. It was Lance Armstrong's autobiography, which you must be aware of. It was that book that changed me completely. It was after that time that I realized that it was the worst that could happen and then chemo started showing its positive effects. I was taken into surgery after that. They cut me up from the middle." He traced his finger from his chest and down and laughed to himself, tears glistening in his eyes. "It was a twenty hour surgery and I was a nervous wreck before that. But I wanted to live, Khushi, I wanted to live. I just couldn't let myself die. I was not that person who would just give up. My family was even more distraught than I was but they never showed. God answered everybody's prayers and I survived the surgery. I came out of the operation theatre as a brand new person. Not physically, but otherwise. There was a new zeal within me to live. Cancer changes you, it wrecks you up, creates a havoc in your life, and makes every breath you take precious. I had decided then that I would live my live king size, now that I had seen the face of death. I graduated, got a job and here I am, sitting with you..." He finally looked at her now. His eyes were only glistening with tears but what he saw completely shocked him. Khushi was sobbing silently, tears were streaming down her face as she looked at him. He had never seen that look on her face and he had observed her very closely. It was like the pain in his words had seeped every inch of her body and shaken her up. Looking at her, he wasn't able to speak any further. After a while, he felt himself engulfed into a rib crashing hug, the tears were flowing more freely now and she clutched him tightly, fearing she would lose him any moment. He ran his hands up and down her back, trying to soothe him but it did not help. He did not realize when tears came to his eyes.

***

I know it's not very long, but I hope you like it. And did you like the new banner? 😉

Please do comment now, it motivates me to write more. 😃

Swati

Do view this video if you have the time -

[/YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb2miXY5Y9s[/YOUTUBE]