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Chapter 20

-Archi-

@-Archi-

Hey everyone,

Thank you for all the wonderful comments! Hope you like this chapter just as much!

Disclaimer: Ignore any mistakes about business and business dealings. I know nothing about this field, so I just made up things convenient to the story.

Silent Whispers

-CHAPTER EIGHTEEN-

Kiss it Goodbye

Khushi unnecessarily straightened out her perfectly ironed white shirt, while balancing a laden breakfast tray on one hand. The day of the meeting was finally here, and instead of catching a good eight hours of sleep, she had spent the whole night churning over Arnav's words.

Sure he acted strange, asking her questions as if they were best friends and admonishing her when she gave the wrong answers. However, in between all the arguments he had thrown at her, he had one thing right, though he didn't say it explicitly.

And it was that she was avoiding her brother.

The same brother she had vowed to never hurt. She had realized pretty quickly after her mother was admitted in Lilavati Hospital that Shyam was at no fault. In fact, he had said it himself to Dr. Awasti that day - Garima refused treatment. And knowing her mother well, Khushi didn't doubt even one bit that she was also the one who made her brother keep the whole fiasco a secret.

However, the realization brought nothing but more distress. As she had anticipated when she stormed at him, Khushi was filled with guilt, so much so that she couldn't even get herself to face him. It was just too much to see him hurt and know she was responsible for it.

But that morning after a sleepless night, she felt almost idiotic for avoiding her brother. He didn't deserve that. He didn't deserve to pay for the mistakes she made.

So, deciding to end the feud she recklessly created in her anger, she knocked on Shyam's door.

"What is it Jaya?" he called from the other side.

She pushed open the mahogany door and gingerly stepped inside. "It's me," she said, quietly. "I brought breakfast."

Shyam appeared almost amazed to see her. He dropped the tie he was trying to knot in front of the mirror and hurried to her side. "Meeti?"

Khushi looked at the floor, guilt pooling in the pit of her stomach. She had acted so cruelly and yet, he stood in front of her, not even a frown on his face. Really, what was her brother made of?!

"Is everything okay?" Shyam continued in a concerned voice.

She shook her head. "No," she mumbled, ashamed. "I-I... I wanted to apologize."

Silence followed her declaration. She chanced a peek at Shyam, to see him look at her with puzzlement.

"That day in the hospital," she explained. "I was so rude and mean... I really have no excuse for it Bhaiyya. I'm so sorry!"

Shyam shook his head. "I'm not mad-"

"Then you should be," she interrupted, taking a step closer to him. "You could commit the biggest crime on this planet and even then, I don't have to right to yell at you. Not when I know how much you took care of me, how much you sacrificed for me... I don't even know how I can make it up to you. I'm the world's worst sister-"

"No, don't say that," he interrupted kindly. "I know it was bad day for your Meeti... seeing Maa like that might have shaken you up, especially after all that you have-"

He broke off, not being able to complete the sentence.

"I tried really hard to save you Meeti," he said suddenly, looking down at her. "I didn't want you to see Maa trying to... trying to end her life. But you did. And then I hoped that you would forget it, because that's too big of a burden for any one to carry. But I failed then too-"

"I did forget it," she lied quickly. She couldn't and wouldn't let her brother feel bad for her woes. She was strong enough to look after herself. "Whatever I said that day in the hospital was a not true. I'm very very sorry."

Shyam smiled sadly and pulled her into an affectionate hug. "And I'm sorry too... I was just trying to make Maa-"

"-happy," she finished, hugging him back. "I know. But enough of making her happy... I'm not going to let her make one more bad decision."

"But-"

"No Bhaiyya," Khushi said, breaking out of the embrace. "I don't care anymore. She is going to get treated. According to Dr. Awasti, the reports look promising, so we are just going to keep trying, okay?"

He looked at her determined stance. "Hope is a good thing Meeti, but don't start depending on it."

She shrugged. "I'm not. I'm only telling the truth. Anyway, come and eat. I made breakfast today."

His eyes widened. "You made breakfast?"

"Well, I made toast... Jaya did the rest."

He grinned. "It's the thought that counts."

Khushi sighed. "I thought I will make something nice at first, but then I figured it wouldn't be much of an apology if you got food poisoning from it... so instead I thought I will take you out for dinner tonight. You know that restaurant you love-"

"Bukhara?"

"Yeah, that one! You are free, na?"

Shyam walked back to the mirror and picked up his tie. "I might have a meeting... how about lunch?"

"I don't think so. I have a meeting too and I don't know how long it's going to go on for."

He looked at her in surprise. "Is that worry I see? Since when did my sister worry about meetings?!"

"Since I started working for the great Arnav Singh Raizada," she muttered in irritation. "Can you believe I was in the office until 10pm yesterday, preparing for this meeting and all Arnav did was talk about Akash?!"

"Akash?" Shyam repeated. "Why was he talking about Akash?"

"Trying to explain his brother's nature to me, as if I didn't know already. But the point is, he was concerned about everything except the meeting today."

"Maybe the meeting is not important?"

She walked up to him and tugged the tie out of his hands. For some odd reason, Shyam always had trouble with it.

"It is important!" she replied, fastening the tie around his neck. "If we get this deal, our profit margin will double, which means we will finally have a chance of replacing Joshi and Sons as the number one clothing company in Delhi."

Shyam's face hardened. "So this is about Joshi and Sons?"

She avoided meeting his eyes. "I'm just saying Bhaiyya... I want AR Designs to be the number one company, but all Arnav does is waste time. He doesn't take anything seriously."

"Maybe you are overreacting Meeti... Arnav's reputation-"

"-is completely wrong. He is nothing like what everyone says he is! If he was, then he would have figured out on the first day itself that I'm not some measly intern trying for a summer job... you should see the way he underestimates me! I literally spent this whole week preparing the proposal we are going to submit today and you know what said?! He said it was mundane. Can you believe it?! I put every last ounce of my brain into this amazing proposal and he just dismisses it as if it's nothing. Do you know how infuriating that is?! I mean- What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Shyam was staring at Khushi, an odd glint of intrigue crossing his face. Upon her questioning, however, he shook his head. "Nothing... I'm just listening."

"Well, whatever... I don't want to waste time talking about him. I'm getting late as it is."

She then stepped back, having easily finished securing the tie. "So, no dinner tonight, then?"

"Sadly no... maybe, tomorrow?"

She nodded. "Sounds good... I'm going to leave then. It's a long drive to the meeting."

Khushi had turned towards the door, when she heard him speak once again.

"I really hope what you are doing is not related to Joshi and Sons, Meeti."

She whipped around. "What? No! Of course-"

"You don't know that man," Shyam continued. "Sixteen years ago-"

"-was sixteen years ago Bhaiyya. I don't want to know what happened then ... because it's in the past and can't be changed."

He looked at her uncertainly, no doubt trying to assess if she was saying the truth. Only, Khushi wasn't his sister for no reason. She learned the art of keeping her feelings far from his prying eyes a long time ago.

"In that case," Shyam finally said after a few moments of silence. "Good luck for your meeting."

She nodded and left, a new source of guilt paving way inside her. It wasn't that she didn't care about her brother's opinion about their father... in fact she knew it explicitly well, having heard it for most of her life. It was just that she didn't agree with him.

* * *

Khushi skidded to a halt across the marble floor, struggling to catch her breath. She was extremely late to the meeting with Desai Textiles, courtesy of the city's traffic, and hence had no option but to literally run to the conference room on the twentieth floor.

Arnav was impatiently waiting for her outside the room, a rather stern expression covering his face.

"I'm sorry," she panted. "There was so-"

"Don't say a word in there."

"Huh?"

"I'll explain later."

Ignoring her confused expression, he pushed open the door and determinedly walked inside.

"My apologies gentlemen," he said, taking a seat at the head of the table. "The traffic in Delhi is getting unpredictably worse."

Khushi grudgingly followed him inside, irritated to hear his groundless orders. Did he misjudge her to the point that she was not trusted enough to speak during the meeting?!

Curtly greeting the four men from Desai Textiles - all middle aged with serious expressions to match - she sat beside Arnav, determined not to let him dampen her mood. Today was her day and she wasn't going to let anything ruin it.

"Yes, the traffic here is quite unfortunate Mr. Raizada," said one of the men, who Khushi presumed was Pratap Desai, the owner of the company. "But let's not waste anymore time on that. Do you have the proposal for us?"

Khushi nodded and pulled out the file in question. She felt very gratified handing it over after spending so much effort on it. Only, Arnav suddenly leaned forward and grabbed it out of her hands. She looked at him startled.

"Miss Gupta here," he told the puzzled men. "Has mistakenly brought along the wrong file. Do excuse her, she is an intern."

Khushi couldn't believe her ears. However, before she could say anything in her defense, Arnav pressed on.

"But everything does happen for the best. I feel we should review the terms and conditions in person, before drawing up the new proposal, just to avoid any unnecessary problems in the future."

"Of course," Mr. Desai answered promptly. "Are there any specific things you want to discuss first?"

"Turns out, I do. Your fabric, specifically jacquard silk, is very valuable for our line of clothing, which is why we are offering you two percent of all the sales we make with your product."

Khushi was astonished. It was a no-brainer that two percent was too low for anyone to accept, forget Desai Textiles, who had grown to acquire a lot of demand in the market over the past year.

Mr. Desai seemed to share her thoughts, for he said, "But that's out of question Mr. Raizada! Two percent is nothing-"

"Two percent means two percent. I'm not going to negotiate this."

What the hell?! Khushi thought worriedly. How does Mr. Annoying Raizada plan on getting the deal if he is going to talk so bluntly?!

Mr. Desai objected. "This is not a joke-"

"I'm well aware of that, but-"

Khushi couldn't stand it any longer. She wasn't going to wait around and watch him ruin the deal she worked tirelessly for.

"What Mr. Raizada actually means," she cut in, giving him a meaningful look. "Is that we understand your objections-"

"No, we don't," Arnav said sternly. "It's only silk Mr. Desai. The market value for it is nothing compared to what we are offering."

Nothing?! She thought, perplexed. It was ten times the value of what they were offering!

Once again Mr. Desai agreed with her. "I know the market value of my fabric Mr. Raizada, which is why I'm saying two percent is unacceptable-"

"We completely agree," Khushi said quickly. "Why don't you look at the proposal? I think I brought the right one after all."

Arnav glared at her. "Miss Gupta - perhaps you have forgotten what I told you earlier?"

She gritted her teeth. "You have nothing to worry about Mr. Raizada," she stressed. "I assure you, I know what I'm doing."

"No, you don't."

"But-"

"That's enough," he said, putting his foot down. "Miss Gupta, leave."

Khushi was too stunned to speak. She stared at him, hoping (and praying) that she had misheard him; that he didn't tell her to get out.

However, her silence seemed to only provoke him. Widening his eyes, he said in the gravest voice she ever heard, "Now."

Khushi stood up at once. Feeling all eyes in the room on her, she hastily collected her bag and departed with what little dignity she had left. By the time the door to the conference room humiliatingly closed behind her, a mountain of questions were drilling through her head.

How dare he dismiss her? Did he not realize she was trying to save the situation? Did he not care about the loss they were going to suffer if Mr. Desai, in a fit of anger, refused to partner with them?

Khushi fumingly paced the hallway, waiting for the wretched meeting to be over so she could collect her answers. No one disgraced her, least of all him.

However, when Arnav finally emerged from the boardroom after an endless hour, he coolly ignored her and made his way to the elevators. Khushi angrily followed him, her cheeks flushed with both embarrassment and rage. She waited for the doors to close, before bursting out.

"What the heck was that?!" she bellowed. "How can you just kick me out of the room as if I'm an idiot or something?!"

Arnav didn't answer.

"I was trying to save the deal from going down the drain, which by the way, landed there because of you in the first place!"

She paused to hear his answer, but none came. Instead his hands curled into fists, as his jaw tightened in control.

"Do you even know how important this deal is for us?! You were going on and on about what this company means to you, right? Then how do you not get it that we need this partnership? That three-point-six percent difference in sales between us and Joshi and Sons would have finally been finished and we would have go on to become the number one company! Doesn't that mean anything to you?!"

He remained silent.

"Actually, forget it!," she said, sarcastically. "How silly of me to expect anything from you? You have no value for that proposal I worked so hard on, nor do you have any value for your company-"

"ENOUGH!"

Khushi jumped upon hearing him suddenly roar. "Wha-"

"Enough!" he yelled, punching the red button on the dashboard, jerking the elevator to a stop. He then turned dangerously towards her. "Not a word more!"

She gulped, fear swiftly overtaking her. He looked so terrifying, his rather handsome features contorting into bone chilling rage. Never in her whole life did Khushi expect to see him so furious.

"Who the hell are you to tell me I don't value my company?" he bellowed. "What are you other than an immature, bratty intern, who thinks too highly of herself to obey my instructions?!"

She opened her mouth to answer, to defend her position, but no sound came. She was speechless in front of his wrath.

"Do you seriously think that I don't know how important this deal is? Or how much we need it? Do you honestly feel I don't know give a rat's a*s about the position we hold in sales? Or for that matter how much of a difference there is between us and Joshi and Sons?!"

Khushi was mum.

"Well breaking news!" he said sarcastically. "I do. I know every damn thing that goes on in my company. It may look like a fairy tale to you, but building AR Designs, the company that holds my name, the legacy my father passed down, is, was, and will always be the only thing I care about! And since you seemed to be so ignorant of what even owning a company means, let me tell you - it's not as simple as memorizing a textbook. Everyday is a new day; a different day with different problems and different solutions!"

She swallowed, frantically trying to explain herself. "I know! And I was ready to deal with any problems that came today-"

"So, how did you miss the biggest one of them all then?" he interjected, glaring at her.

"W-what?"

"Desai Textiles, the company you were dying to get a partnership with, signed an agreement with Joshi and Sons at six-thirty a.m. today, basically saying that they were going sell all their fabrics to Shashi Joshi. If we went ahead with our deal, Mr. Desai would have exchanged our investment for a bag a full of excuses as to why the silk never got delivered to us."

Khushi's mouth dropped open.

"Yeah," Arnav said, shrewdly. "I know how this game works more than you can ever hope to learn. You love to flaunt around your intelligence, right? Then tell me, where did the intelligence go when I asked you to stay quiet during the meeting? Where did it go when I kept cutting you off?"

It took her a moment to regain her voice. "B-but that's not fair! How was I supposed to know we were being back stabbed?!"

"You were supposed to trust me," he retorted. "But you couldn't. Like always, you convinced yourself that I was wrong, that I had no idea what I was doing."

Khushi was outraged. Regardless of the circumstances, he had no right to yell her. "Excuse me! I would have trusted you if you bothered to tell me this last minute information you got. I would have trusted you if you didn't waste all of yesterday, telling me what and what not to do in my personal life."

Arnav gritted his teeth.

"So you know what the problem is here?" she continued. "It's your attitude. You don't believe in my capabilities, despite me proving my worth over and over again!"

His eyes swelled in disbelief. "I don't believe in you? Then tell me - Who gives an intern the opportunity to present in front of the entire board of directors on her very first day? Who gives an intern the privilege to make reports and documents that are otherwise only entrusted to high-ranking managers? Whoputs an intern in charge of the construction of a whole factory? If that's not belief in you, then what is?!"

"You only did all of that to overwhelm me; to prove that I'm incapable of working for the ever so great Arnav Singh Raizada!"

He stared at her incredulously. "For god's sake Khushi! This isn't some competition where I try to outshine you or prove to everyone that I'm better. It's not about winning and losing - it never is!"

She was perplexed.

"Don't you get it?!" he asked, frustrated. "I was just trying to teach you... teach you how to be clever, how to prioritize, how to bargain. Isn't that why you came to me in the first place? To learn?!"

He paused, staring exasperatedly at her before, saying, "But of course, like always, you had to let your arrogance get in the way and wreck everything."

"And what about your arrogance? Your king-sized ego that always has to prove that you are superior to me?!"

Khushi realized a second too late that she had gone too far. What she carelessly let slip as a means of retaliation was going to cost her a lot. His murderous expression said so.

"What did you say?" he asked, walking towards her.

She nervously took a step back, only to hit the elevator wall - she was trapped with no way of escape. "I-I..."

Arnav was up against her. Even though there was a tiny space in between them, Khushi still felt his weight press dangerously onto her. She had no choice but to look into his thundering eyes.

"I have given you a lot of free reign Khushi Kumari Gupta," he said lethally, accentuating every word. "Hoping that one day you will get over your prejudice, or whatever it is that you have against me, but I realize it's too much to ask. When you don't even have the humility to accept your fault, then what hope do you have of ever understanding anyone else? And that's where the problem is! If my king-sized ego has to always prove its superiority, then your pint-sized heart doesn't let you see how selfish and narrow-minded you are."

He paused, before saying the last and probably the hardest truths of all.

"It's not always about you, you and you Khushi... So please just grow up for once, and act like the woman you pretend to be."

Giving one last look of pity, Arnav turned around and pressed the red button. The elevator began to descend, and as soon as the door opened, he stormed out without a backward glance.

Khushi watched him disappear, her mind ringing with his sharp words. It was a few moments before she collected herself and walked out into the lobby with a newfound respect for this strange creature called Arnav Singh Raizada.

__________________________________________________________________________

I know, ArHi fight BUT, if you think about it, it was bound to happen. Khushi's attitude and notions about Arnav or for that matter, everyone, were problematic from the beginning... it was only the matter of time before all of that came crashing out.