Chapter 3
Arnav could feel his heart beating rapidly against his chest as he moved further into the room.
Where could she be?
He knew she had to be here somewhere. He had seen Di bring her towards this room just a few minutes back..
Turning towards the bedside table, he switched on a small lamp, and as he did so, he caught a flash of color behind the curtains covering the door that led to the patio.
Was she out there?
He walked towards the curtains and pulled them back, heaving a sigh of relief as soon as he saw her.
Still dressed in her bridal lehenga, she was standing beside the small fountain situated in the middle of the patio area.
He stayed where he was for a moment, his panic subsiding as he realized that she must have gone out for some fresh air. The hectic pace of the day must have tired her, and she probably wanted to gain some respite from it all..
She looked beautiful.
Ethereal, almost.
The moonlight bathed her in it's soft glow, making her face look angelic in it's delicate beauty..
As he continued to stare, she suddenly stiffened, and pulled her hand out of the water where she had been trailing it for the past few minutes.
She turned to face him, and he was surprised to see the slight hint of fear in her expression.
Surely she could not be afraid of him!
He walked towards her slowly, and stopped when he was in touching distance.
They continued to stare at each other, neither of them willing to disrupt this moment with mere words..
He had never believed in magic, or in the spiritual.. but even he could not deny the almost mystical connection they seemed to share.
He had seen her, become obsessed with her , pursued her and married her, but he still didn't quite know what this thing was that seemed to exist between them.
Was there a name for this?
The fear was gone from her eyes now, and she stared back at him with a clear gaze, her light eyes sparkling with an inherent light that had nothing to do with the moon.
His eyes moved to the parting in her hair, to the bright splash of crimson that proclaimed her to be his.
She was, wasn't she?
She was his, in the eyes of her God, and the law..
But now it was time to make her truly his, in every sense of the word.
He swung her up into his arms in one swift move, and smiled at her gasp of surprise as he started moving towards the door that led inside.
Khushi felt like she couldn't breathe.
His very presence seemed to draw all the air from the room, and as he carried her in, she felt suddenly overwhelmed by this man she had just married.
But she had no time to think, or do anything else either, because he had put her down in front of the full-length, antique mirror in one corner of the room..
He stood right behind her, and she drew a sharp breath at the image in front of her.
Apparently, he was thinking on similar lines..
"Do you see it, Khushi?"
She looked at him in the mirror, a question in her eyes.
"Do you see the rightness of it? We are perfect together, you and I.."
She wanted to say something, anything that would break this spell, but she never got the chance.
The breath left her body again as he lowered his head and kissed her softly on the side of her neck, just above the mangalsutra she wore.
And this time, when he raised his eyes to hers in the mirror, she could see the unbridled passion in his gaze.
And it scared her.
He turned her around in his arms so that she could no longer see him in the mirror, and pulled her close until her body was pressed up against his.
As he lowered his head to hers, she closed her eyes reflexively, unable to do anything else at the moment..
His lips touched hers, and she was amazed at the gentleness of the touch.
She could feel herself falling..falling deeper into the swirling waters of this thing that had no name..
Arnav had never felt this way before.
As he kissed her softly, the intense sensations that flooded through him were unprecedented, and he lost himself in the touch and scent of her..
He tilted his head and slanted his lips across hers, waiting for the response that he knew she would give..
It never came.
Instead, she suddenly wrenched her lips away, and tried to pull out of his arms at the same time.
And when she raised her eyes to his, he was stunned to see that the fear was back.
He let her go immediately.
"Khushi? What's wrong, sweetheart?"
He watched as she turned away from him, and she seemed to take a deep breath before turning to speak to him again.
"A..Arnavji..I'm not..ready for this.."
He was shocked by her words, but stopped himself from reacting with anger or frustration.
He had waited for her for what seemed like an eternity, but he quickly reminded himself that she was innocent and naive..
"Khushi, I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to do. We can take this as slow as you want.."
"Slow? No..I..would it be okay if..we waited until..until I can come to you?"
He realized that she was suggesting that they should wait until she could join him in London, which was the first stop on his itinerary.
His first instinct was to refuse.
He had already waited long enough, how could he possibly wait for some more days?
But then he reminded himself that it wasn't all about him anymore.
This marriage was about her, too. And he had to be considerate of her feelings, her desires..
The speed at which things had happened must have overwhelmed her, how could he blame her for needing a breathing space?
"Khushi, are you sure that this is what you want?"
She stared at him for a moment, then nodded.
He sighed, and took her hand in his.
"Then that is what we will do. I will wait for you.."
He looked down at the hand in his, the diamond sparkling on the ring finger.
"You should probably get into something more comfortable now..do you need help in taking off your jewellery?"
She shook her head and turned away to sit down at the dressing-table.
He swallowed his disappointment and turned away too, heading towards the wardrobe before stopping abruptly as he heard a sharp gasp.
He faced her again, and saw that she was struggling with the clasp of the heavy necklace she wore.
He went up to her, and moved her fingers aside, undoing the clasp with little difficulty.
His fingers grazed the soft skin at the back of her neck, and awareness flared between them as their eyes locked in the mirror again.
He moved away quickly to avoid temptation, and went back to the wardrobe.
After he had changed in the washroom, he waited for a while to make sure that he had given her enough time to change.
The last thing he wanted to do was make her uncomfortable with this situation. He was acutely conscious of the fact that he was going away tomorrow, and he didn't want to leave her in any doubt about the fact that her desires always came first with him.
But it wasn't easy for him.
He had wanted her for so long, and with every step he was reminded of the pull between them..
He fought it as he went back into the bedroom and saw her dressed in a white satin nightgown. He fought it as he lay down in bed, and turned off the lights as he heard her slide in next to him.
He continued to fight it throughout the long night, even when her scent drifted across the sheets towards him.
The next morning, he was still fighting it as he woke up to find that she had already showered, and was standing in front of the mirror,drying her long, beautiful hair.
She was dressed in a red saree, his favorite color..
This was the first time he had seen her hair unbound, and the sight of the loose, wet waves almost made him break his promise to her..
He went up to her, and pulled her against him with one arm, smiling as he heard her gasp.
"Good morning.."
He kissed her neck at the same place as last night, but this time, she pulled away with a shy smile.
"I..I have to go downstairs..Di told me last night that there is a pooja.."
"I'll join you in a while.."
She nodded, and turned around to leave.
When he went downstairs, the pooja was already over, and breakfast had been served. As their eyes met across the dining table, the pull between them was like a living, breathing thing..
How could he bear to be parted from her?
He had no answer to that, and time seemed to fly past..very soon, they were in the car, heading towards the airport.
All the way to the airport, Arnav kept stealing glances at Khushi. He held her hand in his, and kept stroking the soft skin there..
She looked up at him, giving him a small smile as she did so.
"I'm sorry about this, Khushi..I hate to leave you alone..but there's no other option.."
"I understand, Arnavji.."
"I'll make sure that you join me soon. Don't forget to give your passport to Aman, he will start the formalities to obtain a visa.."
She nodded and looked down at their clasped hands.
He raised her hand to his lips, kissing it softly just like he had done before.
At the airport, he saw her standing there, a small smile playing on her lips, and almost changed his mind about going away.
If only things weren't so bad with A.R..
He took her in his arms one last time, and kissed her forehead lightly.
"Take care of yourself, Khushi..I'll call you when I get there. And one more thing.."
He waited until she met his eyes before he continued.
"I'll miss you."
She blushed, and looked away for a moment before speaking again.
"We will meet soon, Arnavji.."
He hugged her close, then let her go.
He started walking away, but kept turning back to look at her until he turned around a corner, and couldn't see her anymore.
He thought of her all the way to London, and called her as soon as the plane landed.
Half his mind was still on her as he met with one of his principal investors..
Her face was the last thought on his mind as he went to sleep.
When Arnav awoke the next morning in the impersonal hotel room, he missed Khushi immediately. He remembered what she had looked like the previous day..
The beautiful, flowing wet hair..the drops of water glistening on her neck..
He even missed the scent of her that had infused his pillows with a fragrance that was uniquely hers..
Sitting up in bed, he shook his head at his infatuation.
If any of his employees could see him right now, they would never recognize him as their ruthless, demanding boss.
But that's what she had done to him..
He reached over to the nightstand for his phone, and quickly dialed her number,smiling as he remembered the look on her face when he had gifted her the new cellphone before he left.
He couldn't wait to hear her voice..
But the call went unanswered, and he finally placed the phone down, feeling irrationally disappointed before he remembered the time difference.
Of course! She must be eating lunch with Di and Nani..
He started walking towards the washroom, but his phone rang before he had could get there, and he quickly turned back to answer it.
"Hello? Yes,Aman? You were trying to call me? I only just woke up, my phone must have been on silent mode..what is it?"
He listened to his executive assistant for the next few minutes, then sat down heavily as the import of his words sunk in.
He couldn't believe this.
How could this have happened?
His mind was unable to process this information, but he did know one thing.
He needed to get back to Delhi as soon as possible!
"You have already booked my flight? What time does it leave Heathrow? No, I'll definitely make it. Send a car for me when I get there.."
A couple of hours later, he was settled in his seat aboard the flight, and he placed his head back against the headrest as he finally allowed himself to think about what was happening in Delhi.
A hostile takeover bid on A.R Fashion house?
It was unthinkable.
Or was it?
For just a moment, he thought about how important A.R fashion house was to him. It was the first company he had set up, and even though he owned many others now, A.R Fashions would always be very special to him..
He had worked very hard to get it to it's present position as India's number one design house, and although he knew that the company was going through a bad time, he was sure that he could make it pull through eventually.
All he had to do was meet up with the various investors and persuade them that things would settle down.
But was it too late for that?
A takeover bid would change everything..
It could never be successful, of course. For a hostile takeover to succeed, a majority of the voting shareholders would have to support that bid.
And in the case of A.R fashions, the family held the majority of shares between them.
No, he wasn't worried about the bid being successful.
What he was afraid of was the fact that news of this would add to the uncertainty in the investors minds, as well as the general shareholders..and he couldn't afford that.
A.R would never be able to withstand a panic-fueled sellout of shares on the open market..
He would lose the first company he had ever created..the first thing that had given him a sense of self-worth and satisfaction..and that possibility was something he didn't even want to think of..
And so he wouldn't.
He just had to remember that A.R.fashions was safe, because the voting shares were in safe hands.
Which reminded him of NK, who also held a five percent stake in the fashion house.
Where was he?
He had tried to call him many times before he boarded this flight, but he had been unable to reach him.
He really needed to talk to him soon..
He called NK as soon as his flight landed at Delhi airport, but he got a busy signal this time.
He called Khushi immediately, intending to tell her to come down to Delhi from Lucknow as soon as she could. This was a difficult time for him, and he wanted her calm, beautiful presence here..
But her phone was engaged too.
His frustration rising with every moment, he barked his orders to the driver waiting for him, asking him to take him to the office immediately.
On the way there, he tried calling NK and Khushi alternately, but always met with the same result.
When he was halfway there, he received a text message from Aman informing him that an emergency meeting of the board was scheduled to begin as soon as he got there.
Arnav suddenly remembered that Di was a ten percent stakeholder too, and she would have been informed of this meeting as well.
But after the news she had told him last morning, he really didn't want her to get involved in the turmoil at A.R..
He called her immediately, but Shyam answered instead.
"Saale-saab? I was just about to call you. Aman just called about a meeting.."
"Shyam, that's fine. Tell Di that I'll take care of everything, she doesn't need to fly down here. In her present condition, this stress wouldn't be good for her.."
"Thank you, saale-saab. I'll let her know..and do let me know if there's anything I can do to help.."
"There's nothing I can think of right now, Shyam. I'll call you later."
Only after he disconnected the call did Arnav realize that he had forgotten to ask about Khushi.
The car pulled up in front of his office just as that thought crossed his mind, and he had no time to think about her as he rushed up to the conference room.
He pulled open the door abruptly, startling everyone inside.
He stopped suddenly as he registered the way everyone was staring at him.
Why were they looking at him like that?
And where was NK?
Aman rushed up to him immediately.
"ASR, there's something you should know.."
"Just a minute, Aman. Why is everyone looking so despondent here? Surely none of you believe in the possibility of a successful takeover, do you?"
He made his way to the table, and decided to take control of things here and start off by reassuring the board.
"Let's not panic just yet. We need to know the details first. Aman, can you.."
"ASR, we cannot start this meeting yet.."
"What? Why not?"
Aman looked terrified, and looked away for a moment before he answered.
"Because an emergency meeting of this sort cannot be held in the absence of the majority stakeholders.."
"Aman, I know Di couldn't be here, but there's a very good reason for that.."
"ASR, I'm not talking about Anjaliji.."
"What?! Make some sense, Aman! Who are you talking about, dammit?"
Aman didn't answer him immediately, and Arnav noticed that he, along with everyone else, were staring at something behind him.
He started to turn around, but shock paralyzed him when he heard the voice.
"He's talking about me."
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P.S: My knowledge of business procedures is sourced from Google, so if there are any financial experts here, I apologize for any inadvertent mistakes. The business talk will mostly be confined to this chapter and the next, after that it's A and K all the way!
Also,the next update is a very important one in this story, and I still have to add a few details to it. I will try my best to post it tomorrow, but please bear with me if I cannot do so..
New readers, please add me to your buddy list for PMs of updates.
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