Chapter 60

shrattila

@shrattila

Hello

Surprise, surprise! Back to back updates. A day off from work and another chapter completed. Let me know what you think.

As usual, eagerly awaiting your comments

Much love

S

56

Gomti Sadan was celebrating one of their own. The business section of the Sunday Times had covered AR’s international launch in great detail. The sentiment was high. Investors, business partners, consumers were all expressing their excitement. The article featured a photo of all the designers whose work was exhibited at the fashion show. Holding hands with eight others, taking a bow, was their very own Khushi Kumari Gupta.

Shashi Gupta was bursting with pride. Every visitor to the Gupta household was forced to read the article in the Sunday Times especially the part Shashi had painstakingly underlined in red. For the first time in AR’s history have two designs by a trainee designer been incorporated into their portfolio and showcased on the ramp, once again demonstrating the farsightedness of its founder Arnav Singh Raizada, who seems to have a knack for encouraging and retaining extraordinary talent. The guest was then be told the paragraph described their younger daughter Khushi, who was pointed to in the group photo.

Whenever the scene played out, Garima became sentimental. Her daughter had grown up and made her mark for herself. She still remembered the day Khushi came home with Shashi - a scrawny eight-year-old girl clutching a rag doll. But all Garima could see was fear in the child’s eyes. That night, Garima had given the girl a nice warm bath, clothed her in Payal’s nightdress and hugged her to sleep.

“Where are Amma and Baba?” she had asked. Garima had pointed to the stars in the sky. “They’re up there because from there, they can watch over you better.”

When Garima was about to leave, the girl had held her hand and asked: “Will you sleep with me?” And Garima had spent the night hugging the child. Slowly the girl had become an indispensable part of Garima’s life. She wondered what things would be like for her once both her daughters were married. How would she cope? Maybe she should start helping Shashi out at the store. That would keep her mind busy and her thoughts of the girls. She didn’t want to cry and yet didn’t know how to stop the trickling of warm tears down her cheek.

****

“Through three cheese trees, three free fleas flew. While these fleas flew, a freezy breeze blew. Freezy breeze made these three trees freeze. Freezy trees made these trees’ cheese freeze. That’s what made these three free fleas sneeze…” murmured Khushi pacing the hallway at the Oriental Mandarin hotel. At least, that’s what ASR heard, when he accidentally bumped into her. Still clad in a sea-green salwar kameez night suit, absently rolling the end of her dupatta on her index finger, she looked heavenly. Her speech was altogether another matter.

“Khushi”, Arnav said, stepping close enough to block her fervent gait. “Are you okay?”

She looked at him like he had said something in Greek. And then pushing him aside continued her fervent walk with more mumbling.

“What’s wrong?”

No response. Just more pacing. “Khushi”, he said forcefully grabbing her hand, when Sheetal tottered behind him, suitcase in tow.

“Goodbye”, she said, bending her head to give him another chaste peck on his cheek. “Thank you for inviting me to the launch. I didn’t realize how desperately I needed to get away.”

“Do you need someone to drop you to the airport?”

“No, I’ve decided to extend this vacation and go on a short tour of the Mediterranean. Shyam assured me he could take care of the business while I was away. I intend to make most of my time here.”

Khushi watched the entire scene with a growing distaste in her mouth when Sheetal turned to her. “It was wonderful meeting you Khushi. I am so happy Arnav has found you. I know it doesn’t count for much but Arnav is a very special person. And I wish him nothing but the best in life.” She shook Khushi’s hand, leaving Khushi perplexed as to what just happened.

And then she turned and walked away, dragging her suitcase along, towards an unknown destiny that awaited her. She had full faith it would be a fairy-tale. After all, she had just witnessed one.

*****

“What did Sheetal mean by that?”, she asked just as Sheetal made her way out.

“What are you doing here, still in your nightclothes.”

“I asked first.”

“I don’t have time for games”, he said, tucking his hands into his pockets to walk away.

“This conversation isn’t over Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada”, she said, tugging forcefully on his arms and losing her foothold in the process. She closed her eyes, bracing for the impact of the fall. She instead felt the strength of a pair of arms break her fall. She opened her eyes to look into their chocolaty brown counterparts. How come she had never noticed that about him?

“Khushi..,” he said gently straightening her. “Get to work. The store opens in an hour.”

He turned around, straightened the invisible crease her fall had caused to his Asphalt Black Salvatore Ferragamo suit and walked out of the hotel.

*****

The clock chimed at 2 pm. The entire team was on lunch break. Sales on their first day open were great. Customers had loved the ambiance, the displays, and the product. They believed it was reasonably priced. Sustenance was altogether another matter. Projections had estimating conservatively grossing half a million in sales. Sure this year was not so profitable, but AR hoped to make all of that up and some more by the end of next year.

Khushi had chosen to stay back. And she was making a conscious effort to avoid Arnav.

When Arnav walked up to her to get some input on their current inventory and timelines, Khushi was busy doodling a design for a three-piece suit on a scrap piece of paper.

“That’s interesting”, he said.

No response.

“If I were you, I would try it in a Steel gray.”

Still no response.

Pulling up a chair to sit next to her, he asked: “Khushi, is everything alright?”

She turned to look at him, myriad emotions flitting through her eyes.

“What did Sheetal mean by that?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She turned her attention back to the doodle and began to scratch at it with her pencil ferociously.

“Khushi”

No response.

“Khushi”

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

“I’m your boss.”

Putting her pencil down, she got up to walk far away from him, when he tugged her hand and she landed squarely on his lap.

“Khushi.” She tried to get up again but he applied more pressure to keep her where she was.

“I don’t have time for your games,” repeating his words from the morning. “Let me go.”

Arnav had had enough. He held onto her arms and pressed his lips firmly onto hers only to be pushed back forcefully.

"I said let me go."

His response was to further increase the pressure of his hands on her arms.

Struggling to get out of his clutches, she spoke through gritted teeth: "I'm not a toy ASR. Let me go."

More pressure. More struggle from her end of free herself from his grip.

"Why don't you leave me alone?" anger replacing every other emotion in her being.

"I won't", a finality in his voice that sent shudders down her spine.

"Why?", she screamed

"Because I love you dammit!" he responded with equal force. He released his grip on her as if he had been burnt, turned around and walked out of the store, far away into the maddening crowd.

Rubbing her sore arms, Khushi stared at his retreating figure with a smile on her face. She had her answers. The ball was now in her court.