Chapter 3

ShikhaKhushi

@ShikhaKhushi

Khushi: http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o573/ShikhaKhushi/Untitled_zps5c26dac4.jpg

But she was also very troubling. Mostly, it was her physique. Even if that long-sleeved angrakha hid as much skin as possible, the wrong had already been done. He had already seen that expanse of milky skin and was like burnt on his mind. Now that there was so much offending cloth on her, it was taking a lot of self-control to stop himself from striding up to her and tearing it off. And that long silky column of ebony hair that she had tied in a high ponytail, he wanted to pull them free and let then spread on her back like they deserved to, he wanted to ring his fingers with them.

Arnav rolled his head back with a groan, swivelling his chair away from that very enticing sight. The second part of the mystery that surrounded her was even darker. Who was Khushi Kumaari Gupta? Was she really Shashi Gupta's daughter? If so, how? How come he had never seen nor heard of her for all these years he had know the Guptas? He had his own theories, his own doubts, but he wanted the truth. Which he could get from only two people, Shashi or his daughter, who was within his grasp...

***

"Khushi, you amaze me!" Antara announced as she burst into Khushi's cabin during the lunch hour. "Seriously, how do you manage that? We all know that ASR is a machine. He works all round the clock and never gets tired but we had never imagined to see somebody else so married to her work! How do you do that?"

The girl smiled shyly and shrugged. "Hum to aise hi hain. Humein koyi kaam karne ko kaha jaaye to hum karlete hain." (I am like this. When I'm told to do something, I do it.)

"Tumhaare boyfriend ko bura nahin lagta?" (Doesn't your boyfriend get irked?)

Khushi's fluttered wide open in horror. "Boyfriend? He Devi Maiyya! Humaara koyi boyfriend nahin hain! Aur hoga bhi nahin!" she added quickly. (...I don't have a boyfriend! And I never will have one!)

Antara giggled. "Kyun? Maine dekha hai tumhein..." (Why? I have seen you...)

"Kya?" Khushi frowned. (What?)

Her friend smiled enigmatically at her. "Hmm..."

"Dekhiye, aap aise paheliyaan mat sunaaiye! Saaf saaf kahiye aap kya kehna chaahati hain!" (See, don't riddle me! Tell me clearly what you are insinuating!)

"You like ASR!" Antara whispered.

Khushi immediately turned into a violent shade of tomato red, her eyes wide as saucers, or better, plates. "Haww! Nahin to! Hum unke liye kaam karte hain, Antaraji. Aap aisa kaise soch sakti hain?" (Haww! No! I work for him, Antaraji. How could you think like that?)

"Then why the hell are you so devoted to him?" Antara narrowed her eyes. "Really Khushi, you're always doing what he tells you to without complaining. You make sure that he gets his lunch and coffee right on time. You-"

"Lekin yahi to humaara kaam hai," Khushi protested. There was no way she could like that cold monster. (But this is my work.)

Yes, he was a monster. She did not like him at all. She did everything because her father had told her to. It was expected of her. Otherwise, she would not have stood there for another second. The man was always arrogant and distant, as if he lived on a pedestal higher than the rest of the world. He kept insulting her, directly or indirectly, at each opportunity he got, and if he didn't get it, he made it up! And, on the top of that, he had had the nerve to insult her way of dressing? How dare he? Like his company's clothes were so much better?

With that thought, she smoothed her palm over the soft georgette. That was her pride speaking. The AR designs were indeed very beautiful and at the same time, comfortable.

"You should get a boyfriend," Antara suggested, breaching Khushi's thoughts instantly. The girl looked up to see her boss's secretary leap to her feet, wink and leave. She shook her head.

Get a boyfriend? That was something Khushi Kumaari Gupta would never do. She would not repeat the mistakes...

Plopping down in her chair she shut her eyes and pushed that thought away. She had sworn she would not think of that past again. It had to remain closeted in a dark cupboard of her brain. But maybe she did need some time to make peace with herself? Things had happened so fast since she had left her hometown that she was feeling completely out of her skin. Yes, maybe she needed some time with herself...

***

Strangely, his secretary's words had set his nerves on fire. Of course he hadn't meant to spy on Khushi. He was just walking past her office when he had heard Antara tell Khushi she needed a boyfriend. Like that was going to happen? Like he was going to let that happen?

And no, he was not being jealous or possessive or anything! Absolutely not! But Mr Gupta had not sent his daughter to Mumbai so that she could party and get herself a man, had he? And Arnav felt responsible of that. He fluidly slid behind a pillar as he saw Antara get up. He peeked at Khushi again when the other woman had left. He knew he might be looking like a curious gossipmonger but then, who was seeing him do that?

Her expression was thoughtful as she frowned at a document without even seeing it. He watched shake her head, frown a bit more, sit down and close her eyes before opening then again with determination. Why was he getting the wrong vibes? Why did it feel like she was actually going to follow Antara's advice?

Arnav straightened himself and returned to his cabin, fuming. He threw angry glares at the girl next door but once again, she was absorbed in her work. Whatever she was planning, he would make sure to foil it. Getting a boyfriend? Well, she could simply cut that off her list...

***

Khushi: http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o573/ShikhaKhushi/Untitled2_zpscf748453.jpg

She checked herself in the mirror, biting her lower lip as she tied the barette at the end of her French plait. She looked enough presentable for the little trip she had planned at one of the restaurants down-towns. She hadn't decided where she really wanted to go, anyway she didn't even know the city at all, but she needed this little treat.

Khushi picked her handbag as she walked to the door, unlocking it securely behind her. Then, she pressed the button for the elevator and waited patiently. It took a lot of time to come up from the ground floor to the twenty-seventh where her apartment was. Well, not exactly hers. It belonged to Arnav Singh Raizada but she was living in it. She wondered why he had chosen to buy the whole floor at such a height.

What if one day the elevators broke down? Going down would be no hurdle but what about going up? How would one be ever able to reach this floor via the stairs?

"Going on a date, Miss Gupta?" a sardonic voice rang behind her.

Khushi felt her blood run cold and she froze as she sensed the person come up to stand so close behind her that she could feel the heat his body was emanating. Suddenly, her heartbeat had accelerated beyond the limit she could ever have imagined and her breaths stopped mechanically. Was it normal for your boss's voice and presence to cause such a reaction in you? Maybe yes. She was quite scared of his irascible temper.

Her head jerked up towards him and she shook it quickly right as there was a 'ping' sound and the elevator doors opened. She scurried in. To her surprise, he quietly got in too, making her dig her teeth into her plush lower lip. Why was she surprised? If he had come out of his apartment, it surely meant he was going out to and the equation should doubtlessly end with him also taking the lift, right? He hadn't just come out to ask her like a mother-hen to ask where she was going?

Arnav leaned his back against the shiny mirror that walled the interior of the lift, scowling at Khushi's reflection. Did she have to look so pretty? He should have thought before opening that fat mouth of his. Making her dress in his own company's designs was perhaps the worst mistake of his whole existence. Now, she was looking more and more tempting, his lust for her just seemed to increase at an exponential rate.

And how the hell had she dared to lie in front of him? So, according to her, she wasn't going on a date? Then why was she dressed like bombshell, ready to kill with her piercing innocence? Sometimes he asked himself if it was true or a farce. He glanced at her scathingly while she stared at the luxurious polished sandstone flooring of the elevators. If she thought he was an idiot, she had better work on getting to know him better because he was not one!