Arshi FF: "Falling for Her Boss" [ Part 26 on Pg 40( 22/07/23) ] - Page 31

Chapter 26 (B) : Partners

Khushi walked inside the cafe nervous at the responsibility of such a huge undertaking. While her mind briefly flickered across her courageous act an hour ago of kissing Arnav, that courage seemed to have deserted her now as she came face to face with an irate Priya.

"I have been waiting for over ten minutes. What took you so long ?" Priya's asked once Khushi took the seat opposite to her.

"I couldn't get away from my aunt. She wanted to go to shop for her wedding " Khushi answered back.

Khushi knew Priya was aware of the fact Khushi cited her aunt's upcoming wedding as reason for her leave of absense. So it made sense to use the same excuse and also she wanted Priya to believe Khushi was keeping the meeting a secret even from her aunt.

"So when is your wedding with Arnav. Will he still marry you when he finds out you cost him the project " Priya sarcastic response was the perfect opportunity for Khushi to start her acting as practiced.

"Look I have no idea why you are doing this and for what reason but we both know I had nothing to do with the project and I don't understand why you are trying to blame it on me. I am just giving you a chance to come clean on your own before I tell Arnav the truth and get you fired" Khushi spoke up with a false bravado as practiced with NK.

"Well if you really wanted to tell ASR. You would have done it by now. The fact you are arranging a meeting with me in secret means you know ASR won't believe you and we all know about ASR's anger. It is the reason you are here instead " Priya answered back smug with her deductions about Khushi as well as Arnav.

"What do you want from me? Why are you doing this to me ? Are you jealous Arnav is dating me instead of you? Is this some sort of mean girl moment? " Khushi spoke up as she raised her voice little higher just as NK taught her to do so gaining few of the onlookers attention.

It was also how Khushi's attention fell on the people few tables ahead of her. The familiar faces starting at her with a varying degree of emotions. Payal was kind of laughing at Khushi's acting, Nani and Anjali di looked worried and Mamiji was giving live commentary from the looks of it.

Khushi briefly paused in shock at the unexpectedness of their presence but quickly masked it in order to not get caught. While she was deeply touched that they were her to support her, she was also worried that Priya might notice them and they couldn't get the truth out of her.

"Stop raising your voice. Why would I be jealous of you. This is nothing like that, you made a mistake and you are going to face the consequences for it" Priya answered back still not admitting to the truth and clinging on to her lies.

Khushi had hoped her antics so far would lower Priya's defense mode by now and she might accidentally admit the truth. But it wasn't looking like it so far and Priya was still vague with her response.

" You can't do that. Arnav might break up with me. I love him. I can't lose him over your actions. Please admit to the truth" Khushi spoke up trying to look desperate enough that Priya might get to the point after all.

"Look you don't love him. You love the fact he is ASR. And yes he might fire you over this mistake and if you kept trying to shift the blame towards me. He might indeed break up with you for being a liar. That is the only truth I know" Priya responded back instead.

Khushi felt like a thrown into a game of chess where Priya seems to be winning at the moment. It was as if she was never going to admit to the truth even if Khushi continued pretending to plead with her.

Khushi knew it was time to deviate from the plan in hopes she gets to unsettle Priya. Khushi couldn't see any other way. Khushi knew Arnav would trust her, but it was the fact his family seated few feets away from her that made her worry if she might lose their support by her words.

Khushi knew they are in the cafe, but they don't know the fact she knew about them being present. They might think Khushi was speaking the truth instead as well. It was a risk she had to take for Arnav.

"Fine, you are right. I don't love him. But he loves me and I am not a fool to not recognise marrying him is my ultimate ticket to everything my heart desires. I no longer have to worry about rent, bills and I can indulge in every luxury my heart wants. So I can't have you jeapordize everything for no fault of mine" Khushi spoke up internally hating herself for uttering those words even if it was a big fat lie.

Khushi didn't dare to look at Arnav's family. Her only hope was that they might continue to think it was part of the plan and not realise Khushi was deviating from it or speaking the truth instead.

"Wow. I didn't expect this from ms goody good shoes. You were always the picture of sainthood at work. Taking others works and doing it for them, always with a smile and helping everyone all the time. I thought ASR fell for that and I admit I wasn't surprised by it either. But Poor ASR doesn't know you after all does he? " Priya answered back amused by Khushi's lie.

"What does it matter to you, if I love ASR or not. I need to marry him and I can't have you ruining it for me. So you need to stop this act over your jealousy" Khushi answered back.

Khushi can't outright ask or suggest she give money to Priya for her to tell the truth because if she did then it would sound like it was Khushi's idea and Priya just went along with it. The need to establish the blackmail meant Priya has to suggest it first. So Khushi was still citing jealousy as Priya's reasons.

"Oh little innocent Khushi. Unlike you I already love my fiancee. So no I am not jealous of you but I am jealous of the fact you get to have all those luxuries easily while everything I earned had been wasted away trying to take care of my parents.

You would get your dream wedding without any hardship while the loans I had taken for it wouldn't be paid till my kids get married. Life seemed so unfair that the rich just keeps getting rich while we all struggle.

I don't want to live my like that anymore. That is where you come Khushi. You are going to solve all of my problem.

Initially I had thought convincing you would be hard because you are loyal to fault but now I realise you are just like me. For all your dream to come true and for ASR to still marry you there is a small price you need to pay before hand and I will gladly admit to the fact I was the one who was in charge of the project and you had no part in it. " Priya finally confessed just as Khushi hoped and it was over.

"How much do you want?" Khushi asked Priya wanting to know the depth of her greediness.

"We will talk about those details later. First you need to prove to me that you can afford to get the money I need from ASR without trouble. If you cant then I think I should talk to him myself to see how much he is willing to pay for your love.

Sometimes Men can be romantic like that trying to rush to our rescue. So if you don't want me to approach ASR then I think we should start with the ring in your hand first. I will take it as token of good faith from you. I know how much it's worth. ASR shouldn't have gifted you such a beautiful ring " Priya spoke up making Khushi furious at her.

Khushi had never imagined anyone ever noticed the ring in her hand. Unlike what Priya assumed the ring wasn't a gift from Arnav but rather his Nani. Acting or no acting Khushi wasn't going to let Priya anywhere near that ring.

"It wasn't a gift from Arnav. It was from his Nani. You can't have that because it is valuable to me more than its worth. " Khushi lashed back in anger.

"You foolish women. If you get to marry ASR then you can have all the jewels you want stop being sentimental and give me that ring. If you can't even part with that then how will I ever be able to get anything from you. Look it is easy for me to approach ASR and get a single check from him than bargaining with you and taking anything piece by piece from you.

But I felt bad for you and hence decided to accept the hassle of taking payments with intervals of time instead. Before ASR, you were just like me and I don't want you to lose out of marrying for wealth. So give me that ring for the time being. I got credit card bills that are long over due. Or else I will go to ASR tomorrow " Priya answered back instead acting as if she was being gracious towards Khushi.

"What makes you think he would pay you for me? He could simply fire me or break up with me. Why would Arnav listen to you" Khushi asked instead.

Khushi wanted to end this conversation and go back to Arnav as soon as possible, but it was Arnav who said that Khushi should ask about all of her alternative plans just in case they need to be prepared for anymore of her plans.

"Because Arnav cares more about not being like his father than he cares about you. He won't like any scandal attached to his name especially involving his girlfriend who happens to work for him.

Also you are not the only arsenal in my plan. If he didn't agree to it then I will sue the Raizada industries for firing me over his girlfriend. A successful businessman can have several business partner but there will always be many competitors as well. I will approach any of them to help my case.

They would do it to bring down ASR and they might pay me handsomely for my efforts as well. So think once again Khushi, because if you let me walk away empty handed then it will be your loss as well as ASR. " Priya spoke up and Khushi realised that she meant to take it till the end.

If Khushi had foolishly kept it a secret from Arnav and talked with her without a plan then she might have swayed a little and might even have contemplated on agreeing to her demands, but she didn't and it was the reason Khushi wasn't worried about Priya's plans.

"You have planned everything well Priya. You have thought even about his business partner and who would be against him as well. But you forgot one simple thing. You forgot to think about his life partner who would give up anything for him and his family who would support him through everything.

So sadly all your grand plans won't yield the results you want because you don't know Arnav, you only knew ASR. You also don't know me if you think I would value his wealth over him as a person.

It isn't too late for you to stop and walk away because if you continue on this madness then you might have to face ASR anger for threatening his business and Arnav's anger for upsetting his girlfriend. Frankly I don't think you can handle either of it. So stop " Khushi spoke up and then got up from the chair and walked away from the cafe.

Khushi knew Arnav's family were in the cafe and she should have walked upto them, but when her emotions were boiling over she didn't think she would be a good company. She need a few moment alone before facing any of them including Arnav.

Arnav Singh Raizada, ASR to people like Priya who couldn't see him as a person first, but only see him because of his wealth and success. Khushi felt like she was similar to them before she got to know Arnav, she only saw him as her boss and nothing more until a single tweet from him changed the course of her life.

The tweet led her to Arnav, and now she can't think of a life without him. Everything between her and Arnav started complicated and even when they were dating steadily they still encounter problems like Priya, but inspite of them all. Khushi couldn't imagine a life without Arnav because she was so in love with him.

Khushi knew their relationship had love between them. She just never felt it as keenly as today. So for they never have uttered those words to each other because Khushi hadn't been ready. Khushi found the courage to kiss him earlier but she didn't say those three meaningful words yet.

Because Khushi had been scared to have found love and then losing him would hurt so much more. By not admitting it to him, she thought she was protecting herself from getting hurt.

It was the reason the moment Khushi heard Arnav calling out her name she stopped and searched for him until her eyes spotted him running towards her. His face was filled with concern as he rushed to her side while Khushi stood still and then he was engulfing her in an hug that made her feel safe but it wasn't until he uttered those words did she truly feel his love for her.

"Khushi, don't you scare me like this again. Anjali di just said you walked away from the cafe and I was so worried. It is okay if you can't make Priya admit to the truth, I can handle anything Priya throws my way but I can't handle you getting upset or sad. " Arnav spoke up as Khushi realised he rushed after her even without listening to his sister tell him everything.

If Arnav had waited and listened he would have known that Khushi had already got the confession on tape but in his worry for her, he rushed out to meet her instead and that was yet another reason Khushi fell irrevocably in love with him all over again.

"I Love You, Arnav Singh Raizada " Khushi said those words instead because at that moment it was the words she wanted to give him first rather than explaining everything about Priya.

Leaving her Arnav speechless with her confession that came out of nowhere. Khushi never imagined that the first time she told him those words would be on the middle of an busy street.

It wasn't romantic by any degree. But Khushi knew those things never mattered to Arnav who simply looked stunned by her words for a moment then his face lit up with a smile that could have outshined the blazing sun.

"I Love You too, Khushi Kumari Gupta future Singh Raizada. " Arnav answered back and Khushi forget everything and everyone around them because nothing else mattered to her in this moment, only him and his words.

P.S :" That is it for now. Let me know your thoughts and feedback. Hit the votes if you liked it

Juanita Reid