Chapter 8: Flames of Attraction
The next morning was a hurried one for Khushi as she had slept late after the heart-racing dream.
It was already 8 and the meeting was scheduled at 9:15 a.m.
She entered the bathroom to have her bath, not forgetting to curse herself for dreaming such horrendous things about her boss. She wondered if there was some hallucinogen in the soup she consumed last night.
Getting ready, she had a hard time selecting her outfit for the day. It was going to be the first conference of her life and she was attending it as Arnav Singh Raizada's PA, she has to look good unlike her usual clumsy self.
After a ten minute long mental argument upon her restricted choices, she chose the second pair of clothes she had brought along with.
A well-fitting white shirt paired with a black trouser. She arranged her hair in a bun, letting a few loose strands hang free.
Applying a light shade of pink on her lips and some mascara in her eyes, she was ready for the conference.
Once ready, she threw a glance at herself in the mirror.
'Confident, smart and beautiful' the mirror seemed to be speaking and she smiled.
She threw a look at the watch and it said 8:47 a.m.
~~***~~
The day was going all wrong for Arnav Singh Raizada.
No, he hadn't woken up late like Khushi. Instead the man hadn't gotten an ounce of sleep last night.
Somehow, those limited words of Miss Gupta had been constantly ringing in his head, allowing no sleep in.
So, no surprise the morning had left him with red, bloodshot eyes recessing the natural caramel brown colour of his eyes.
"Not a good sign, Arnav" He told himself as he got dressed up.
But the bath had indeed helped him shake off the drowsiness which had gotten inside him during the early morning hours, when there was no time to sleep.
Khushi Kumari Gupta was going to be the death of him.
He was wondering at this new feeling which had developed in him ever since she had told him about her ex-boyfriend.
He had felt his insides drop in some hollow pit or maybe it was the soup giving him that acidity sort of feeling.
"Shrug it off, Raizada. You're thinking too much about the PA" The normally dormant ASR in him, scoffed.
"I am not" He defended.
"Really? After a sleepless night just because she told you she had a boyfriend, that's the best you have got to say?"
"F*** off" He swore, rolling his eyes.
"Wait and watch Raizada. She's going to f*** your life bad. Get over your teeny infatuation" The voice rang for a last time and died within, leaving him in doubts.
Infatuation?
Is he infatuated with Khushi Kumari Gupta? His PA?
Putting on his cologne and deciding to shrug off the thoughts, he left for Khushi's room.
~~***~~
The knock on the door brought Khushi out of her thoughts, the thoughts related to her last night dream.
It must be him. She thought and giving herself a last look in the mirror, walked up to the door.
What she witnessed in the doorway was a totally unexpected sight to her eyes.
Arnav Singh Raizada was leaning against the doorframe with his concentration fixed on to his Blackberry which he held in his left hand, while his other hand rested inside the trousers' pocket. Not only he looked great, he smelled great as well. Khushi wondered how come he always had such an intoxicating aura around him.
'Reel in Khushi, you're ogling' her brain sent an impulse to her eyes but the eyes ignored it blatantly.
She stood still; taking in his sculpted and chiseled form that was accentuated by impeccable dressing.
The trance broke as she noticed the crooked smile appearing on his face.
"We can move if you're done, Khushi" He said in his soft huskier voice, sliding the phone in his trousers' pocket.
~~***~~
As he knocked the door of her room, his cell phone beeped an email. He took out the cell phone and stood leisurely against the doorframe, reading the mail and waiting for Khushi to answer the knock.
The door clicked open and he noticed her standing before him, her eyes travelling all over his body.
He too looked up from his phone to have a better view of her and alas! He can't say he didn't like what he saw.
Dressed in the most official way he had ever seen her, she looked sensuous.
The snug white shirt she wore did little to hide the shape of her perfect curves and the top two undone buttons added to the view.
Her face devoid of extra makeup glowed naturally and those delectable pink lips, Arnav had to consciously make an effort to not stare.
He realised that he was still ogling her as shamelessly as she was checking him out but they had to be in tue conference room in ten minutes.
Letting his crooked smile to play on his lips, he said, "We can move if you're done, Khushi"
A deep red colour suffused over Khushi's cheeks, giving way to her embarrassment.
"Yeah...I am done" She replied in a slow voice, looking at her feet.
"And so am I. Let's go" He said and waited as she hurried back to the room to collect the documents and the files.
Once out, she locked the door after them and together they headed for the conference room.
~~***~~
Khushi breathed a sigh of relief on finding the room empty. There were still seven minutes left for the conference to start and no one had come yet.
Arnav took the center chair placed at the end of the rectangular glass table and signaled Khushi to take the one at his left.
She nodded and took the seat silently.
Within next five minutes, the room was full with people and Khushi found a few of them looking at her, mostly the lady members.
She found it awkward when they stared at her like sitting next to ASR was a heinous crime for her.
"Now when everyone has assembled in the room, I would like to start the conference" A man in his mid-forties began, and like others Khushi steered her attention to his speech.
The man went on talking about his company's achievements and blah blah for that matter and finally he gestured at Arnav.
"Now I would like Mr. Raizada to take this conference further and put forward his views about this deal and how he thinks this deal could be beneficial to our companies and for the Indian Fashion Market"
What followed next was a blur of events for Khushi. All she could see was a confident and intimidating man standing next to her, talking continuously in his infamous accent.
There wasn't a single person in the room who wasn't under the charm of his speech, nodding at his each pause.
For some unknown reason, Khushi felt proud, proud of sitting next to this man, proud of being fortunate enough to be around him.
She could still see those envious looks the lady attendants of the room were throwing at her.
She sighed inwardly, aware of the fact that she didn't belong in this place, to him. It was an undeniable fact that she was attracted to Arnav, but she knew her limits well enough and she had a mental vow of not crossing them. What she didn't know was that it was going to be an arduous task.
"...I think I have made myself pretty clear and all of you would soon receive a softcopy of these documents in your mails. Go through them and feel free to contact my PA, Khushi for any further appointments and queries" Arnav finished and earned appreciating applauses from all over the room.
"Ladies and gentlemen, now when this conference is successfully carried out, I cordially invite Mr. Raizada and the rest of you to the official dinner party which would be arranged tonight in the south wing of this hotel. Thank you Gentlemen" Mr. Saxena said, winding up the conference.
As people rose up one by one, Mr. Saxena walked to Arnav and shook hands.
"Thank you very much Mr. Raizada. It was a wonderful sight to watch you heading this conference" The elderly man said and Arnav gave a polite smile, nodding in acknowledgement.
"And please do attend the dinner, it's been majorly arranged for this new venture of our company with AR"
"I would surely try to attend it, Mr. Saxena" He answered and gestured Khushi to wind up the documents.
"It would be an honour, Mr. Raizada and please bring this beautiful lady along. She really seems talented and hard-working"
"That she is" replied Arnav, giving an appreciating look to Khushi who was now thanking the man.
"It was a pleasure to have you here, Mr. Raizada. I wish you a great day ahead" continued Mr. Saxena.
"Likewise, Mr. Saxena. I'd leave now" Arnav said, and with Khushi following him he exited out of the hall.
~~***~~
As they together walked through the gallery towards their rooms, Khushi decided to break the silence.
She was still feeling awkward to the fact that Arnav had caught her ogling him this morning.
"Sir?" She said.
"Yes, Khushi?" He asked, surprising her as he stopped walking and turned to her, looking directly in her eyes.
"I...I." She stuttered at his intense gaze.
"Stop stuttering, Khushi" He replied huskily, inching a step close to her and she stepped back.
"Y..yes, Sir" She replied.
"No, you're still stuttering. We need to fix this" He replied with a smirk on his face, taking another step at her and she backed again.
"W..What, Sir?" She replied, surprised with the look in his eyes.
"Come here" He said, taking her wrist and yanking her to his room which was two steps away from where they were standing.
"Now, here we can fix your stuttering problem" he said, closing the door and pinning her back against it.
"S..Sir..I..What.." She replied trying her best to not stutter but his proximity and that intoxicating cologne of his wasn't helping the matter.
"Arnav" He said, leaning in and whispering in her ear, making her shiver as his hot breath fanned the skin there.
"W..Wha..What?" She said wanting to scream at herself for the continuous stuttering.
"Call me Arnav" He replied, raising his hand to the back of her and opening the carefully done bun.
Her hair cascaded down beautifully, covering her shoulders and back of her neck.
"This is how you look better. Now call me Arnav" He said, running a hand through her thick and silky hair.
"B...But..You..S..Sir" She closed her eyes as his hand reached to her cheeks and caressed it.
She was shocked, surprised at this sudden behaviour of him and she badly wished it to be another dream.
A day dream maybe.
She didn't know how to respond to his touches which burned her skin, in a good way.
"Stop with the Sir, Khushi. Call me Arnav" He said in a cajoling voice, now leaning in closer and inhaling the scent of her hair.
Strawberry..No maybe lavender or lily it could be.
He was confused with the scent but whatever it was, it smelt wonderfully good.
"A..Ar..Ar." He heard her struggling with his name and smiled in her hair.
How good it felt to hear his name through her mouth.
"It's Arnav. Not Ar" He whispered in her ear.
"Arnav" She finally said, without stuttering, in a hushed slow voice.
God! How amorous it sounded from her lips.
Khushi Kumari Gupta was definitely going to be the death of him.
"Arnav, what are you doing?" He heard her whimpering voice as his hand travelled downwards, caressing the satin skin of her neck with his rough fingers.
Only he knew how badly he wanted to feel that skin under his lips, taste it.
But the question from her seemed to hit the right spot in his brain.
Exactly!
What was he doing? He realised and stepped back from her, quite surprised with himself.
Her saw her closed eyes, her erratic heartbeats, her heaving chest and the most undoing sight, her quivering lips.
"Didn't I say, she's going to f*ck with your brain? She just did" The scoffing voice said with a laugh but he ignored it.
How could he not when the changing sight before him twisted his heart painfully.
He noticed her opening those hazel orbs and tears dropped down, one after the other, putting the gravity of the matter in his head. Had he a crossed a line he wasn't supposed to?
"Khushi..I" He started but even before he could reach to the second word, she shoved him away and opening the door, ran out, to her own room while Arnav Singh Raizada continued to stand in his room, unable to decide what to do.
****
Edited by Pearl_Oyster - 6 years ago
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