Part 18 : Coffee & More
Things went smoothly for Arnav on the professional front . He had joined the company along with 50 other new recruits in the Manhattan Branch of the firm. The first 6 months was the training period after which the real work would start.
On the personal front too nothing was wrong. He had got better acquainted with Aman . Aman was shy and introvert but being flatmates and workmates did its magic and the two IIT passouts developed a good bonding. Both were different as New Delhi and New York, but had nevertheless fit in with each other. Arnav hardly had time to enjoy and observe New York as all his efforts were converged towards settling in the new environment. Exploration of the deep waters could wait, first he needed to learn the survival skills.
Arnav worked double shifts, literally. He was a software engineer by day and student learning cooking from Master Chef Aman by evening. By the end of the week he had learnt to make omelette, sandwich and poha without setting the kitchen aflame, a mean feat in itself given that he had never as much as lifted a knife.
Atleast now he wouldn't die of hunger if he were to be stranded on an isolated island *.
*Conditions Applied - The island should have a kitchen. That too fully stocked. Grocery shopping was still under Aman's domain.
*******************
Today they were divided into groups of five to brain storm on a particular software design. His group had Aman, Alex, Reese and another absentee girl whose name he was still unaware of. The teams had to submit their ideas and method of designing the software, on the basis of which the best team would be selected.It being the first assignment, everyone was over enthusiastic to show off the worth of their degrees.
The four of them were waiting for the fifth and the last team member to arrive and kick start the task. They were seated in a circle with a table in the middle which had all the weapons for the war. Reese was tapping her foot impatiently checking her wrist watch after every two minutes.
" Hi ,Sorry for being late . I am Michelle " the till now missing girl introduced herself as she scurried into the room. In response she got tight unwelcoming smiles and she gingerly settled herself into an empty chair. After initial introductions and hasty pleasantries the five of them got down to serious business.
****************
The last week had been momentous for Khushi as well. She was working under Rupert Glint, the head of the Broadcasting Department. All those under the impression that she was treated royally, being the heiress couldn't be more wrong. Infact she had to work harder than other regular employees for two reasons :
A ) English Honors was much as a help to her current job profile as a sword in eating a pizza.
B) Rupert Glint was a sick man. Not literally sick, for the account he had not taken a single leave in the past 3 years, but his searing and mean replies begged to differ from his attendance report.
She was born with a silver spoon, she had heard him mutter under his breath while giving her one of those nasty looks.
For the love of God , can she change the color of her spoon ?
Was it her fault that she was her father's daughter ?
Could she help the bloody fact ?
But she had not whined and complained because that would only prove the old bear right. Khushi was trying to understand the various progress graphs of the last quarter. She was now much familiar with those abstract lines and dots which were no different than Latin to her, a month back. Thanks to Google, Wi - fi network and coffee which were her faithful companions during those endless nights when she had roasted her mind trying to understand those cryptic papers.
A knock sounded on her cabin door and a small head belonging to her father's assistant peeped inside.
" Ma'am, Sir wants to you meet right now " the pretty red head assistant spoke .
She shut down her laptop , closed the files and headed to Shashi Gupta's cabin.
Khushi sashayed down the long office lobby, her tailored trousers , beige blouse teamed with a blazer and high pony giving her the picture perfect look . Her heeled pumps made a clicking sound with the white mirror polished marbled floor as she made her way towards the stairs leading to the cabin.
Dress and style speak volumes about your ability to do the job assigned - Khushi had learnt her lesson early and very well. Simple, elegant and classic -she had developed her own brand of style.
She was still her mother's teenage daughter who refused to grow at home but a sophisticated and poised heiress in the office premises and parties. She pranced around in her house in shorts and shirts but swore by the minimalistic look for official work. Her wardrobe had consisted of just a few pair of jeans and kurtis picked up from flea markets back in Delhi. But New York, the title of an heiress and the new found access to her father's bank balance had made her styling go for a flip. From a denim devotee college student to an uber chic heiress, Khushi Kumari Gupta had certainly come a long way.
She knocked on the door twice and entered the room when she heard a faint ' Come in' from inside.
" Khushi I want you to meet someone, today evening " Shashi Gupta said, barely looking up from his tablet screen.
Right , the only thing I need now is another god- damn assignment.
" Whom ? My work is yet to finish in the Advertising Department " she replied boldly, afraid of being assigned another task when she already had loads on her workbench.
" I want you to meet the representatives of Raizada Corporations. We are collaborating with them to expand our business in India as well. They are one of the major players in the Indian Market. If we want to tap the market scene there we have to collaborate with ..."
Khushi didn't hear a word after Raizada Corporations.
Raizada Corporations
Arnav Singh Raizada
Raizada Corporations - Arnav's father's company.
She gulped.
" Khushi ? " Shashi Gupta's stern voice bought her back to Earth.
He wasn't the CEO of Xenflox Media Networks , a major player in Corporate Media circles of USA, for no reason. Even the slight twitch of muscles and change of facial expressions didn't miss his eye and here his daughter had completely zoned out when he was talking something important. He kept the tablet aside and got up from his seat to be next to his dazed daughter.
" Huh ? " she asked when he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
" What is wrong ? Aren't you able to cope up ? If you want you can ..." Shashi offered.
Khushi stepped back from his touch.
" I hardly know anything about all this. I haven't done anything like this before" she stated after raking her mind for some coherent and relevant sentence.
" There is always a first time Khushi. Don't worry I will get you prepared with all the facts and figures. Besides you are not attending this meeting alone, Mr Rupert Glint and his assistant will also be there. I want you to be a part of these negotiations, which will be held after a month . You will learn a lot " he said with finality.
Rupert Glint , my tormentor.
Raizada Corporations , my ex - boyfriend's father's company.
Life can't get better.
Khushi meekly nodded her head in response and walked out of the office straight to the cafeteria.
************
Raizada Corporations
The mere word was enough to ignite a thousand memories in her heart and brain. She sat at the corner table, crossing her legs. Ordering a hot coffee, she kept her mobile on the table and looked around. It was still some time for the lunch hour so the cafeteria was weakly populated.
Good ! She wasn't in the mood of any stupid office gossip.
The sudden appearance of a till now absentee heiress had served as the fodder for a lot of nonsensical chatter.
Is she adopted ?
Where was she till now ?
What is her relationship status? Is she seeing Arjun Sodhi , Managing Director of Sodhi Fashions ?
And many more absurd theories humoured the employees at her expense.
Keeping her elbows on the table she closed her eyes and pinched her nose bridge in exasperation. Arnav worked in some software firm and not in his father's company, so the chances of him being present in the meeting were negligible. Not negligible, his presence was not possible. She sipped the hot coffee as her mind processed, scanned and drew conclusions about the present scenario.
She knew that he was in New York too. She knew that his job was in some software firm in New York but in exactly which firm and exactly which borough she didn't know.
And most importantly she didn't want to know.
New York has five boroughs -The Bronx , Manhattan , Queens , Brooklyn and Staten Island
The probability of him being in Manhattan was 0.20 . Also if he was in Manhattan, Manhattan had a population of about 1.5 lakh so the chances of them crossing roads were very narrow.
And then a sudden smile flashed on her face.
" I am not done yet. You thought of calling me here to give me back these earrings. These" Khushi held the earrings in her hand " cost me 40 rupees and if I calculate the total money I had to pay to come here, it is 60 rupees"
" A loss of 20 rupees, or in the terms of percentage , it comes at 33.33% at an initial investment of 55 rupees and recovery of only 40 rupees. " Arnav interrupted.
" If are done making me aware of your oh - so - awesome mathematical abilities can we have ice cream ?"
What a strange date it was ?
It was a disaster in the name of a date.
Two college going students meet at metro station, argue about some stupid Profit - Loss situation and eat ice cream.
Wow , Perfect !!
She sighed . She got to stop thinking about him. Who said that she had moved on ? She had not. True, she didn't cry her eyes out but that didn't mean that she wasn't hurt .There was not a single conversation or a thing associated with him that she had forgotten .
It's not the goodbye that hurts , it's the flashbacks that follow.
Work had played its magic a little and she had little time to dwell and ponder on her past, but she had not fallen out of love. Definitely not.The Parikrama night had been tumultuous, to say the least.
First the proposal
Second the rejection.
Third the hug.
Fourth the kiss.
And the final blow - her mother's call that night.
Strange it was, she had never kissed him even on the cheek before that night. Goodbye kiss was their first and the most painful kiss. Once bitten twice shy - but she had been a fool enough to fall in love again. She had not learnt from Rohit and fallen in love with Arnav for the second time. Khushi had not slept a wink that night. The whole evening played in her mind like a stuck up cassette reel.
Play - Pause - Rewind - Play.
Was possible that it was just infatuation ? she had thought.
After all they were only 22 as he had emphasised many times.
The conviction in his eyes shook the foundations of her own faith.
Khushi knew it from the starting that one day or the other she had to join her father's business as she was his only child. He might have divorced her mother but she was the heiress. Heiress to the Corporate media house - Xenflox Media Networks. She hated her father for divorcing her mother. Hated him to leave her behind in the mad pursuit of his dreams. Hated him for snatching away a chance at normal childhood from her. Due to the same hatred and rebellious attitude she had chosen English Honours as her course instead of pursuing Bachelors in Business Administration which would have been more relevant . Her mother had objected but had to surrender in front of her rebellion.
She was after all her father's blood, if not anything - she knew how have her way. That is, in all matters except heart . Despite being a heiress she was poorer than a happily in love with a tramp beggar on the streets of New York. Arnav had phoned her for about 4 days but she had pointedly cut his calls and not reverted back his messages. She had also barred Anjali from doing anything on the similar lines. At one point of time she wanted to pick up his call and tell him that she too was shifting to New York and they could give each other a chance, but had later decided against doing it.
After all at some point you have to realize that some people can stay in your heart but not your life.
" Says who ? " Devi Maiyya raised her eyebrows as she aimed a grape into her mouth.
Bingo !! Practice makes a goddess perfect , the grape dived like a bullet and crashed straight into the recesses of her throat.
The problem with all her earthlings was that they thought too much and too soon. Why waste neural energy in thinking when nothing was in their hands. But no, stupid as ever, they will draw their own conclusions and points about the situation.
Why can't they leave everything to fate , or rather Devi Maiyya ?
Keeping the bunch of grapes away and postponing her practice for participating in Shooting Contest of ' Heaven Olympics 2016' , she switched the channel of her ' Earth Broadcast' to see what her Dumbass Raizada was doing .
**************
" Amen, I think that we should redesign it using ..."
Arnav mind literally rang the bell.
In name of Jesus , Amen.
" Michelle it is Aman not Amen " Aman corrected.
" Oh sorry !! Aman, right ? " she asked and smiled sheepishly. Aman smiled back. Arnav , Reese , Alex and Aman listened with rapt attention as Michelle explained her idea of using the software model in the designing process. After four hours of nonstop discussion, it was lunch time. Alex joined his friends from the other group for the lunch. Reese excused herself to get herself a cup of highly needed caffeine dose. She filled her cup from the machine and turned to join the group when she crashed straight into Arnav who was right behind her. The hot coffee spilled on his crisp white shirt as he hissed with the burning sensation due to the hot coffee.
" I am so sorry. I am really sorry " she said in a concerned voice seeing Arnav making an attempt to keep the shirt away from his body. He didn't reply and went towards the washroom.When he came back after 15 minutes having done the necessary damage control and damning the whole damn world , Reese was waiting for him .
" Is it fine ? " she asked eyeing the faint wet stain on his shirt.
" I guess so. Don't worry, it happens sometimes " he waved his hand to dismiss the topic.
" How bad can a cup of coffee be ? " she asked as her hands dusted the non - existent dust on his shoulders. Arnav raised his eyebrow seeing the action and position of her hand.
" Don't worry I won't spill it this time " she added with her charming smile and withdrew her hand.
" Coffee sounds good "
" Cheers !! I agree " Devi Maiyya raised a toast and slurped down the contents of her Cappuccino .
She rotated her now empty mug and blushed seeing the yellow Tweety masterpiece, her husband's gift on their anniversary
Readers raise their eyebrows - husband , blushing , Tweety mug and anniversary ?
" Duh ! I am a goddess not a saint " she rolled her eyes and gave a I - don't - give - damn look noticing further raised eyebrows.
Coffee sounded good.
And very soon, very soon it will sound even better.
Congratulations !! 👏
You survived the long chapter and reached the end part.
First I was thinking of putting up a warning about the length of the update but then thought about torturing you a little.😈
How many of you scrolled down the screen to check how much part was still left to read ? 😆
It was due to aashi12 I included Khushi's makeover part, which I would have blissfully skipped had she not pointed it out. Thank you Aashi.
Bmanip, nnsunn, jyothim78, priyamittal and CuteSARUN guessed it right that Mish and Arnav will be in the same company. Priyamittal gave the most logical reason that since Khushi's father's company is Xenflox Media Networks, a media company and Arnav is a CS Engineer they can't land up in the same firm. I guess being an engineer helped and her mind picked up on the tiny detail.
This update is for you priyamittal
Priya and me didn't start on a writer - appreciator note. Infact she criticized me and pointed some loopholes as she also knows IIT Delhi first hand and is a CS Engineer herself. We exchanged a few pms discussing the technicalities but finally she got around and I heaved a sigh of relief. Satisfying her is very difficult because she is from the same profession and the same city. Thank you for leaving comments without any pretense and your numerous suggestions.
She left me a scrap saying that I have made the engineering community proud that they are very boring. 😆
I really appreciate it when somebody asks their confusions and point out something that I might have missed. 😊 Since this is the second part of their journey and a lot of new characters have been introduced, feel free to suggest anything you like.
Please press the like button and leave in your comments if you liked the update. 😊
Part 19 : IIT meets DU Page 23
in Manhattan
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/3544293/iit-meets-du-removed-note-on-page-105?pn=23
All things Korean
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