[MEMBERSONLY]
Chapter 17-
A/N- Over 5,000 words. Even the business plans I put together aren't this long, I swear.
Thanks a bunch for the overwhelming response for the last chapter. All of you have been very kind, thanks.
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This update goes out to 'Coco Chanel' of the writers in India Forums- 'Masam.' A fabulous writer and a bas***d in disguise. Thanks for writing 'Spilling the beans,' which made me laugh through many a sleepless nights.
He looked over the boat to look at the moonlight water and tried to calm his nerves. He ran a mental checklist to make sure he had arranged for everything. He went through his speech one more time.
Since they had arrived couple of days ago, they had been having a very relaxing time together. They went on long walks, lay by the pool and feasted on local delicacies. It was such a refreshing break from their everyday life. But today was the main reason why they were here and he could not lose focus of that.
She looked at the mirror one more time to adjust her peach lace saree. She knew he was up to something, if only he would tell her. She hoped it was what she had wanted for long. It felt this was the right time for both of them to take a new step together, towards their future.
He saw her walking out of the restroom to join him at the open top floor of the boat where they had just had a leisurely dinner overlooking the waters and the night sky. On cue he the steward began to play Savage Garden's 'Truly, Madly, Deeply' as she walked along. She asked him by a signal of hands as to what he was up to. In reply he just asked for her hand for a dance. She offered her hand instantaneously. He held her close to him and started swaying to the music. She relaxed and molded her body into his. A minute or so later he held her face and said looking directly into her eyes, 'Have I told you how fortunate I'm to have you in my life?' She looked back into his eyes, in a way that melted his heart every single time. 'Thanks! Thanks for everything. Thanks for being there for me, Thanks for making me laugh, Thanks for telling me off, Thanks for being my friend, Thanks for being my support system, Thanks for showering me with your unconditional love.'
She watched his face with tears glued to her eyes. She now knew for certain where this was heading.
'Thanks for walking into my life and making every second of it better.' He then took his hands away from her and took the small ring box from the pocket in his blazer. He opened it and took out the sparkling diamond engagement ring which he felt had paled in comparison to the beautiful woman in front of him.
'Payal Gupta will you make me the world's most fortunate man by agreeing to spend the rest of your life with me?' He asked Payal with a voice that reflected his love, sincerity and most importantly a promise, a promise of a happy tomorrow, forever.
As Akaash popped the question, Payal was overwhelmed. Tears now fell from her eyes. They had come a long way together from the day they had met. From being friends to living with each other, they had gone through many ups and down together and had overcome them. There were times close to breaking up and walking away. But what saw them through, was their love for each other, which helped them sail through the tough times. In return making their relationship stronger.
Payal didn't have to think about her answer, she knew they were always meant to be together.
'Yes Akaash, yes. It was always you and it will always be you. I want my forever with you.'
Akaash slid in the diamond ring on her ring finger in her left hand and then kissed the ring. He then held Payal close and kissed her slowly on her lips.
Much later in their room, once Payal had settled down they made plans on how they could break the news to Payal's family. They had decided to cut short their holiday, so that Payal could visit her family. She would then speak to them about Akaash and convince them. Once they had agreed Akaash would visit Payal's family with his Naani.
They decided to announce their engagement to the rest of the world once they had Payal's family's permission. They decided to savor the moment for a while before they broke the news to Arnav, Kushi, Nkay and Anjali.
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'Why is my alarm so loud?' Kushi wondered in her sleepy state as she tried to locate her phone, so that she could turn off the alarm. She finally woke up lazily and found the phone below her pillow and switched off the alarm. She felt an immediate pain in her head; she realised, she was suffering from a hangover induced mild headache. She decided to put her phone away, which is when she saw a new message notification from Arnav. She nervously clicked on the message to read it. 'Hey, sorry I had to go. You were sleeping, didn't feel like waking you up. Thanks for the gift last night. We need to talk...soon. A'
And with that message, all the events of the previous night came rushing back. She had kissed Arnav! 'Oh My God' She closed her mouth immediately. She had kissed a man, not just an ordinary man, but her boss, in the middle of a street in London. And what was worse she had initiated it.
Kushi and Arnav spent few good minutes kissing each other in the street, they were too far gone in the passion of the moment to even realise that they were standing in the middle of a street and kissing each other without a care in the world. They heard someone walk into the street which is when they understood the compromising position they were in. Arnav held her arm and said, 'Come'. And this time he intertwined his fingers with her and walked to their apartment, as quickly as their legs could take them. They got into the elevator and once Arnav had pressed the button to their floor, both of them reached for each other at the same time and started kissing in the elevator. The feel of the moving elevator and Arnav's soul stirring kisses were making Kushi dizzy. It was like the kiss had opened up a floodgate after which they needed to taste each other, feel each other and drown in each other. They didn't realise how they got into the apartment, who opened the door, but all Kushi remembered was Arnav pinning her to the door once they were inside and kissing her senseless again. Kushi struggled to match his intensity; the alcohol, the exhaustion of the trip and the time of the day was starting to get to her, so she let Arnav take the lead. But Arnav soon realised that Kushi was tired and needed to get to bed. He also remembered at the back of his mind, that this was all new to her. Plus he had an early morning flight to take. So he finally stopped kissing her, but continued to hold her for a few minutes. He didn't want to let her go, he wanted to hold on to the special feeling. Slowly he untangled himself from her, he then tried to remove the lip colour that had smudged around her lips, helped re-arrange her hair and had wished her a good night by placing soft kisses on her forehead and her eyes. The last thing Kushi remembered was going to bed with a smile on her face.
Once she had recollected the events of the past evening Kushi felt helpless and upset. She solely was responsible for the mess she had created, no one else, not even Arnav. She started sobbing, not knowing how she could undo what she had done. Keeping aside questions on her moral upbringing what had upset her the most was that she had kissed another man while she was sort of seeing NKay. She was so carried away in her need to reassure herself that what she felt was two sided, that she had completely forgotten about NKay and their budding relationship. What could she tell NKay now, or for that matter Payal. What would her parents say? Did they bring her up for her to kiss men in the middle of some street? She was someone who believed and valued sanctity and loyalty in any relationship, and yesterday she went against her own beliefs. The outcome of her actions hit her badly. 'But you like him and you admitted to feeling attracted to him,' a voice in her head told her. But by then Kushi was too far gone. 'She should not have kissed Arnav. No matter what the situation was. Or for that matter kissed any man except for the one she was likely to marry.' Arnav liked her, that she knew. But this could have been just another kiss to him. How was she going to speak to him, what would she speak to him?
She needed to speak to someone, right away. She took her phone out deciding to call Payal. But she put it down as Akaash took Payal to Udaipur for a specific reason. And it would be very selfish of her to call Payal and burden her with stories of her indiscretions. She felt exhausted and lay on her bed and then cuddled a pillow. She called Scott and cancelled their sightseeing plan for the day, deciding that she need some time by herself.
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Arnav finished his meeting in Paris. The venue of his meeting wasn't very far from 'Champs Elyses,' a place Arnav always made a point to visit during his trip to Paris. There was something about the road, the traffic and the the history of the place that kept pulling him back. It was one of the busiest places in the world yet one could walk on the road in solitude. He walked the whole length of the road and stopped just in front of 'Arc de Triomphe' which was magnificently lit at the time of the evening. He looked at his mobile one more time, hoping that Kushi would surprise him with a reply to text message. He expected this silence from her. He knew that she was inexperienced in such matters, so he expected her to withdraw and take some time to consider her feelings. But in a corner of his heart, he carried a hope of seeing a message from her.
As he looked at the Arc once again in all its glory his thoughts went to the previous night and Kushi. Kushi had constantly managed to get through to him, right from the day they had met. They had developed a bond slowly, a bond over common interests, friendship and support. He realised that irrespective of their age-gap, there was a strong chemistry between them. And the kiss last night had sealed and had reassured him that this chemistry was two sided. He was surprised that Kushi initiated the kiss, he'd never expected her to. But even if she hadn't kissed him first, he probably would have still kissed her. He found it difficult to keep his eyes off her, he needed her last night.
He knew that what he felt towards Kushi was something special, and he wanted to explore it more. He was Thirty Four years old, had been in fair number of relationships. And he knew this one was worth exploring. Kushi was unlike any of the women he had dated, their worlds were miles apart. She was simple, warm, friendly and very giving. But he also knew the baggage when someone dated a person like him, especially with his commitment issues. Plus there was NKay. It was best if he let Kushi make a call on how she should break things off with NKay.
Because after yesterday there was no going back.
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Kushi walked into the offices of AR on Monday with a slight hesitation. She had initially envisaged how this day would turn out to be, how she would bask in the glory of having proved herself, but now she wished she didn't have to go to work. It had been two days since she got back from London. Two days where she had pretty much locked herself out from the external world to organise her feelings and thoughts and to arrive at a decision. Over the weekend she received two bits of big news- a good one and a bad one. NKay had called her as soon as she landed in New Delhi, to inform her that his grandmother had suffered a stroke, so he had to rush to Lucknow. NKay had sounded extremely upset and was worried. Kushi who was close to her own Dadi tried her best to support him. Kushi then knew that everything else will need to take a back seat until his grandmother's health was normal and he returned to Delhi. In a small way she was happy for this respite as she had no clue what she was going to tell NKay when she met him. Now she had some time to consult and decide what to do next.
Later on Saturday when she finally managed to give Payal a call she was informed by a very excited Payal of her engagement. Payal sounded extremely happy and told about how Akaash had proposed to her. The two friends caught up on the week that had passed by. Payal asked her specifically if Arnav and she got on okay. Kushi's answer to that question was curt and specific to professional camaraderie. She decided to share details on their growing attraction and Kiss after the engagement party. Payal was in one of the happiest phases of her life. She didn't want to do or say anything to distract or spoil her mood. Payal was the one person who could possible advice her best, given that she knew both Arnav and her.
Payal also informed her that her family had agreed to meet Akaash and his grandmother the following day. So if everything went as planned they would have the engagement party the following Saturday. Kushi was pleased to have Payal's engagement and the party act as a diversion to help her get through the week.
Once Kushi reached the office and had settled down, she caught up with Meera who had started coming to work again. Aditi was feeling much better and had started proudly showing of her gums to everyone to tell them that she was now a big girl who would soon have teeth.
Meera was overjoyed by the positive feedback she had received from Arnav about Kushi, Meera had managed to speak to Arnav for a few minutes in the morning. He had also sent an email to Meera updating her about the event and made a note on Kushi's performance during the event. Meera took a print out of the email so that Kushi could keep it as a record.
'You know Kushi, it is is not everyday Arnav appreciates someone like this. You know what this means, don't you? You have set high standards for yourself. Which means we expect the same standard if not higher from your work here on.'
'Thanks Meera, I will give my 200%.'
Kushi then asked, 'Meera, is Arnav in the office?'
'No he isn't, he rerouted his return flight from Paris to Mumbai. NKay was scheduled to go to Mumbai for discussions with the ex Finance Manager. But since he is off due to personal emergency, Arnav had to step in, given that Akaash is also in Lucknow.' Meera replied.
'When is he likely be back?' Kushi asked, not sure if she should be happy for not having to face him or sad at the prospect of not seeing him for some more time.
'Wednesday or Thursday I think. Do you have some work with him?'
'No. None at all.' Kushi replied and then moved on to another topic.
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'Damn! Can this day be any more busier.' Arnav realised Thursday, his first day back at work was going to be very busy. Plus Akaash asked him to accompany him to the party venue in the evening. If only there were more than twenty four hours in a day. He had been away for nearly two weeks now. NKay had called him to tell him about his personal emergency so Arnav redirected his return flight to Mumbai. He was busy on Monday and Tuesday with discussions with his ex Finance Manager. He took Wednesday off to get some sleep and unwind. His Naani had been kind enough to cook him a simple meal of 'rajma chawal,' which he thoroughly enjoyed. He also spoke to Akaash and Payal and had congratulated them on their engagement. Payal's family had come around and had given their blessings to their relationship. The wedding had been set for early March, which was three and half months away. Akaash was back in Delhi on Wednesday evening, whereas Payal decided to return on Friday, a day before the engagement party. Akaash had specifically told him to keep himself free during the evenings as he still needed some assistance from Arnav and Kushi for the party.
Kushi... he was mildly annoyed that she hadn't sent him even a text. Agreed she needed time to figure things out, but she could have at the least sent him a text to say she was okay. Did NKay's personal emergency have a role to play, he wondered? When he had spoken to Scott on Monday and inquired about his time with Kushi on Friday, Scott informed him that Kushi had cancelled their plans for the day. He then understood that this wasn't going to be as smooth as he would like it to be. They needed to talk, Soon.
When he entered the office, he heard the tinkling laugh of the woman his eyes had wanted to look at in the past week. He had missed her, there was no two ways about it. Kushi stood there chatting with Gitu, laughing over something. Seeing her in flesh and bones made him recollect the memory of their kiss and the time they spent together in London.
'Hey Arnav,' Gitu greeted him cheerfully.
'Hi Gitu, how are you?'
Arnav saw Khushi's face break out into a smile when she saw him, only for her to suppress it immediately.
'Good, how was your London trip?' Gitu asked.
'Very productive Gitu, one of the best trips I'd say, whichever way you look at it. I'm sure you will hear more during my briefing later today.'
He then turned towards Kushi and said, 'Hi Kushi, how are you?'
Kushi finally had to look at Arnav, there was nowhere to hide.
'Hi... Arnav. I'm good, how are you?' She replied, trying to space her words.
'Exhausted. The constant traveling isn't good for my old bones.' Arnav tried to crack a joke to ease the tension that had seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
Finally Kushi relaxed into a smile, 'That's an exaggeration. You are hardly old. I hope you get some rest soon.' She said with her usual dazzling smile.
Arnav nodded his head and proceeded to walk to his room.
Kushi let out the breath she had been holding for long. 'Damn! This is not going to be easy.'
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Later in the day, Kushi entered the boardroom with Meera. She found Arnav engaged in a serious discussion with Akaash. He looked at Kushi for a moment and reverted to his discussion with Akaash. This was the first time Kushi was seeing Akash after the engagement, but she wasn't sure if it would be appropriate to congratulate him on the engagement in the presence of the rest of the staff. Arnav, then proceeded to deliver his update of the event in London.
Towards the end he added, 'I'd like to thank all of you for your hard work in making this event a grand success especially the Marketing team and Kushi But we all have a bigger challenge in hand, we need to ramp up our production, marketing and after sales service. Over the coming weeks we will be recruiting more people to work with us, until then I hope all of you would assist us in achieving some of our short term goals.'
Once Arnav finished the rest of the staff clapped their hands as a show of appreciation for the work they had all put together. Kushi momentarily forgot all her concerns and was genuinely happy and proud for the recognition. She had worked hard for this and she wasn't going to let anything take that away from her. This is why she was here in Delhi, and she would never forget that.
After Arnav's briefing, Akaash announced his engagement to Payal to the rest of the office. The room was filled with cheers. While most of the women congratulated Akaash some of the men were seen warning him about the pitfalls of marriage. Finally when it was Kushi's turn to congratulate Akaash she hugged him and said, 'Congrats Akaash! I'm very thrilled for Payal and you. You are both perfect for each other and I'm very sure Payal will be very happy.'
Akaash replied, 'Thanks Kushi. Can I ask you for a favour?'
'Sure anything.'
'There are some issues with the table arrangement, flower arrangement and the menu for the party. Can we go to the hotel at seven in the evening to sort it out? Ill drive you to the hotel and drop you home once we are done.'
'Akaash you dont even have to ask, Ill join you at seven.' Kushi replied.
Thereafter, Meera, Kushi and Akaash stayed back for a specific follow-up briefing with Arnav. Arnav settled into his chair and booted his laptop to dictate the action points he had noted specifically for Marketing and Operations. The meeting lasted thirty minutes. Towards the end Meera asked Arnav a question with regards to post-event communication. Arnav told her that he needed some time to think about it and decided to make a note of it. Initially he took out his BB to add to his 'To do list,' but at the last minute he change his mind and took out the pen Kushi had gifted him. When he took the pen out and opened it, he looked directly into Kushi's eyes just for a moment. Something akin to an acknowledgement passed between them. Arnav looked away quickly and made a note on his notepad with the pen.
'Arnav, that looks like a nice pen. Did you get it in London.' Akaash asked.
Kushi sent a silent prayer to her Devi Mayya and hoped Arnav would not tell them the truth.
'Its a gift Akaash.' he said and then looked at Kushi to let her know that he wouldn't let her down.
He handed over the pen to Akaash for him to look at.
'Do you remember, dad used to have a pen very similar to this.' Akaash said while reminiscing.
'Yes I do. He used to carry it to work for a very long time.'
'Did someone give it to you at the exhibition?' Akaash probed, as he knew that Arnav had never used a pen before.
Arnav looked at Kushi again and said, 'No this is a gift from someone else.'
Meera interrupted their discussion, 'Arnav if the meeting is over. Kushi and I would like to leave as we need to attend a team meeting.' Kushi was thankful to Meera for the timely interruption.
'Sure you guys carry on.'
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Akaash and Kushi reached the hotel sharp at seven. During the drive to the venue, Akaash had told Kushi that Arnav who was out would join them at the venue. Kushi started feeling jittery. But she slowly composed and reminded herself that she was here for Payal and Akaash's engagement. She cant let her own issues and fears get the better of her.
Once they reached the venue, they were joined by Arnav at the parking slot. Kushi greeted him formally. Kushi tried to keep distance from Arnav and stayed by Akaash's side.
While they walked to the banqueting hall Akaash asked Kushi, 'Kushi, did you speak to NKay today? How is his grandmother doing? Is he likely to join us on Saturday?
Kushi tried not to look at Arnav while answering the question. 'His grandmother has been shifted from the ICU. If all goes well, he should be with us on Saturday.'
Once they were inside the hall, Kushi and Akaash got into a serious discussion with the Hotel manager. The table arrangement was all over the place as Akaash had invited twenty additional guests. The menu too had to be modified as per his Naani's suggestion, to add more vegetarian options. Kushi then had to finalise the flower arrangement for each of the tables and the hosting area as some of the flowers they had initially requested would not be available. Arnav added his suggestions whenever he deemed them fit, he preferred observing from the sidelines. It was obvious that Kushi was keeping her distance from him. He hoped she wasn't embarrassed about the kiss and was instead keeping her distance not to raise any suspicion.
Once the discussions were over it was close to half Eight. The trio started walking towards the parking area, when Akaash got a call on his phone.
'Yes Anton! I'm at the hotel... Now? Cant we do this tomorrow? No I'm kind of tired...' he then waited. 'Fine Ill be there right away, dont throw a tantrum.' He turned to Arnav and Kushi who were looking at him with amusement, 'Sorry folks, that was Anton. He wants me at the studio for the final fitting of my suit. I tried putting it off for tomorrow, but you know what Anton is like. He just had a mini tantrum, something about delivering the final batch of designs to production tomorrow for the Paris order.'
He then turned to Kushi, 'Kushi I'm sorry, but I have to go to the office.'
Kushi at that point knew where this was heading.
'Arnav, if you dont mind can you drop Kushi at home?'
'Sure Akaash, Ill drop her home. You better get to the studio before Anton changes his mind.' Arnav was thankful for the opportunity to speak to Kushi.
Akaash thanked Arnav and Kushi and got into his car to drive to the studio.
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Kushi got into Arnav's car and tried to settle in. Arnav could feel the tension in the air once he started driving.
'Music?' He asked.
'Sure,' she replied trying not to look at him.
Arnav then chose Dire Straits from his playlist and played 'Why worry.' He then started humming along with the song.
Kushi loved the song and slowly started relaxing and enjoying the drive.
'Are your parents attending the party this weekend?' Arnav asked trying to break the ice.
'Payal has invited them personally. But I'm not sure. Its my father's cousin's son's marriage on Sunday. So it will be too hectic.'
'Hmmm, okay.' He then asked, 'So how is work post London trip.'
'Good, in fact great, lots of news things to do, lots of new things to learn, you know the drill.' Kushi loved talking about her work.
'How was Ameen's engagement party?'
'Ameen's engagement party was beautiful. It was a small gathering of just over fifteen people. She had also invited a jazz artist to perform in the evening. I had a good time.'
'Was the Mumbai trip too taxing? Kushi asked trying to keep the conversation flowing so that they didn't have to venture into any uncomfortable questions today.
'Grrr... dont ask me about that trip. That bas***d has not only stolen a lot of money from the accounts, but he has also left the accounts in a mess. I really wish I could get someone else to look into it. I'm far too stretched at the moment. Plus I also want to help out Akaash with his wedding. I hope we can find some new talent in the coming days. We need to ramp up our operations to deliver orders that we are likely to get on the back of the exhibition in London.' Arnav replied wondering how they were going to hire new people quickly.
'I'm sure this has been already considered but why dont we have an internal job board. Payal was telling me that at the place she works, every new job is open for internal candidates and employee references for two weeks before it goes external.' Kushi found this opportunity via Payal's reference, so she was sure many others could also be hired this way.
'Yeah, we have been talking about it for a while. Now is probably a good time to come up with an internal job board and a commission structure to encourage our associates to refer people.' Arnav replied, making a mental note to speak to Human Resources tomorrow.
Slowly they started discussing other aspects of the work at AR with soothing music keeping them company, trying to keep away discussions about the London trip. As Arnav came close to Kushi's home, he stopped the car. Kushi was pleased that they had been able to have a nice conversation and things weren't as uncomfortable as she imagined they would be. That was one of the things she liked about Arnav; she always felt relaxed in his company.
She turned to him and said with a smile, 'Thanks Arnav, Ill see you at work tomorrow.'
'Hang on Kushi! Are we going to talk about what happened in London or pretend it never happened?'
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjaTjM-9yiU[/YOUTUBE][MEMBERSONLY]
Edited by Naach_Basanti - 12 years ago
Pati Patni Aur Panga
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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