Arshi FF: Castle Of Glass l Ch 19 Pg 46 Note Pg 51 - Page 3

Chapter: Six

Khushi relaxed in the comfortable seat and let her eyes take in the surrounding.

The office was modern and comfortable. The dcor was mostly in sheds of gray, only the wooden furniture stood out in contrast.

From the way she had walked in, on her left, she had seen a seating area with a plush black leather sofa set to seat at least four people who might be waiting for CEO's time. The glass center table held many newspapers and magazines to make the wait bearable. The coffee vending machine in the corner, near the seating arrangement, that was stalked with fresh beans and the tasteful coffee cups lying by its side, also, didn't go unnoticed by her.

The homogeneous double oak door was the entrance to CEO office alright, but that didn't mean anyone can just walk in the middle of anything he must be involved so there was glass partition that divided the waiting area with the actual workplace of CEO to await your cue. She guessed the Glass wall was soundproof.

His worktable was simple yet complemented the interior stylishly. On the table other than his laptop and couple of files only a table lamp stood that matched the dcor. By the table, a low wooden side table cum shelves, an extension of the main worktable held his necessities like the Avaya, his diaries, and more files. The shelves behind him on the wall showcased his awards and few framed photos of him from some award functions or business parties, meetings.

She noticed where the shelves ended on the wall there were two doors in little gap. She assumed one would be the washroom and the other door maybe an entrance to a more personal space. But which one is what she would have to find out.

To balance the colorlessness of the office some plants were placed on the left where the wall was made of glass and lighting the whole office in natural sunlight. The greenery was soothing and the brightness rejuvenating.

There were blinds to prevent the light if it was too much. From her position, she couldn't see the city down through the wall but she could see the clear sky and it almost beckoned her to walk towards the glass wall and take in the full view it had to offer. But she remained firm on her place and looked back to where her would-be boss was seated. She found him leaned back in his chair observing her.

He had noticed her absorbing every nook and corner of his office and as their eyes met he held on to her gaze before asking "like what you see?"

The query looked like his curiosity to seek her opinion about his office looks, but for Khushi, she didn't miss the slight flirty note in his voice or the faint glimmer in his eyes that lightened the dark brown of his eyes by a shade.

She was well aware of the fact that how good looking and manly the person sitting opposite to her was. He was tall, fair but not palely so, had a well-sculptured face to make any girl fall for and adding to that he had a well-maintained body under that three piece suit and charm that came naturally to such high breed males. Money and power only added to the allure.

She would be lying if she said she was not charmed but years of practice made it easy for her to mask her feelings and she knew her indifferent attitude didn't sit well with this alpha male.

Well if they would have met in any other place she would have taken the meeting forward the way he would have liked it to be, beneficial for both of them. Alas! They met here and it would be very unprofessional to flirt with the boss.

She kept her face neutral not giving him the satisfaction of seeing her anyway affected by his innuendo and answered making sure that he knew she was only talking about the furnishings, "Yes. The dcor, it's not over the top yet classy and tasteful. Not to mention the glass wall adds to its appeal." She took this chance to do what she wanted a few moments back and asked with genuine interest "Would you mind if I take a look." She also wanted to get away from his scrutinizing eyes for some time.

Arnav had to nod and saw her walk to the glass wall which he knew offered a captivating sight of the city with the ocean not so far, little in awe.

The woman knew how to hold herself and that impressed him. He had met someone like her after Lavanya, but then she was already Akash's girlfriend by the time they met. So her indifference was natural. But this one! Was she already in a serious relationship and so loyal to not give him one appreciative glance or she liked to play hard. Well, he would find out in time.

He saw her stand near the wall, hand folded under her bosom. She looked, as guessed, captive, yet when he moved soundlessly to leave his chair she turned and came back to her seat smiling politely all the way.

Giving up he fell back on his seat as she thanked him and started with the interview where she replied every question with ease and confidence. She was a pro and everything he needed for a PA. Hence, she was appointed and asked to start the day after. But she surprised him by asking his permission to hang around to get familiar with the surrounding and to understand her job description better.

He let her and watched her walk out of the office. Heaving a sigh, he tapped a button in his intercom and called Sim in to let her know it was her last day at work as his PA from tomorrow she could go back to whatever she was doing or messing before.

**

"Why?" La whispered. Her voice breaking with emotions that all the other three in the room could feel.'

Foremost was happiness. But disbelief, betrayal, grief, heartache and fury were few other emotions that colored Lavanya's face and all of them saw how her body trembled. Her hand shook before she fisted them and then came the one-word question.

It was Aby who took one step to her, but one look and he halted, deciding that he didn't really wish to have a bloody nose and few teeth uprooted when La looked capable of doing that and even more at that moment if her red-rimmed eyes were anything to go by.

Nik promptly hid himself behind Alee knowing that if anybody La wouldn't hurt in her infamous fury then it was Alee aka her Khushi.

La had seen Nik too and that was when the feeling of betrayal and anger came. They both were alive and healthy and nobody contacted her. And she the fool had been mourning, living with her nightmares of their death and leading her life like a machine.

Then her eyes wandered back to Khushi, stood rigid in the same place where they had shared their hug in few moments back overwhelmed seeing the other after so long. In her embrace she had seen Nik standing near the door, smiling softly and she had come out of her arms like scorched. Since then she had been watching every face like she could rearrange them waiting for some explanation that why they didn't tell her. She had vocalized her question too. But bloody they wouldn't speak. And what's with the annoying hoodie? It was hiding half of Khushi's face and she didn't like it. So on an impulse, she jerked the hood away from Khushi's head. The cream color hood of the oversized jacket fell back uncovering her face so fast that Khushi almost fell back in her attempt to move back.

Lavnya gasped. Her hand covered her mouth in shock.

Her long straight hair was cut short around the head at about jaw-level, fringe of hair that was mostly covering her forehead and sides of her face at the front.

Yes, the haircut served the purpose of covering the marks on her face, some are fading, some still quite visible and one particular cut mark along her jaw line that ran till her left earlobe stood out among all and La knew the scar would never fade away. She gasped at the horror imagining what would be the condition of the rest of her body. Few tears spilled without her knowledge.

Khushi saw the devastation on her friend's face and gulped a knot that had formed since she had walked in the room. She silently took her hand in hers and navigated her in the other room where she could sit and they could talk uninterrupted.

**

Khushi felt his eyes boring hole on the side of her face but she didn't look up from the keys of her laptop. If she did then she would be acknowledging her awareness of his interest so she continued to type away the documents she meant to prepare by the end of the meet that was on progress.

The partners droned in background discussing the new changes in their chain of restraints that Akash had suggested an Arnav had improvised to see a better turn over this year since for some time the RG's hadn't been doing well.

Agreed they weren't running in loss yet the heights Arnav had dreamt for the chains of hotels and restaurant since he had joined the business, looked farfetched. This hospital industry had been founded by his great-grandfather and since then RG had been flourishing but after his father, it seems like stuck in limbo from where they couldn't move.

For the other partners and members of the board, they were satisfied with the profit level which is quite stable. And that's what pricked Arnav the stability. When all is going well and new business plans and ideas being introduced in every opportunity then why it was stable rather than going up.

Most of the partners and also board members had laughed it off when Arnav had pointed it out. For them, he was young driven by adrenalin and looking for challenges in spite of everything going smoothly. And he couldn't help other than holding his tongue to not lash out on those old fools, who had been sitting ducks since years and only appearing in board meets when the young generation like Arnav and few of their grand children worked their ass off. It was quite a shock when his Jiijaji Shaym had supported them and his Di like always backed her husband asking Arnav to take it easy. He had held back all his prepared arguments since it looked like he wouldn't get much support even he screamed his voice raw. But that didn't mean he wouldn't try. So from then on he had been working on every aspect from inside stuff improvement to marketing strategy to guest and client satisfaction to make their hospitality more inviting and explore worthy so that he could fulfill his dream to see RG one of the best in the world.

Unfortunately even when everything looked working yet the last year turn over only upped a couple of million when he had been hoping it to be way more. So he was again working and hard to achieve his goal and this time if his strategies didn't work then he would personally look in every detail to find out where they were lacking.

But all these grave thoughts right now took a backseat as his laser eyes followed the deft movement, of the slender fingers on the keyboard, of his PA and then again went back to the left side of her face that was visible from his place as she refused to look up or turn to him even for a single second.

She looked attentive to the discussion and engrossed in noting the key points and suggestions. She asked polite question when someone was not clear in his statement also rephrased someone's point of view when he or she appeared clumsy in explaining. She never shied away or got scared when someone tried to intimidate her yet somehow she managed to be polite and professional in her retort.

Arnav was impressed to say the least, but it irked him that she won't glance in his direction unless necessary. As if it was only him who wanted her attention.

Raizada! Looks like it's only you.' pooh-poohed his head.

Arnav straightened in his seat, pulling his jacket unnecessarily.

It wouldn't do him any good if continued eyeing and admiring his PA, who by the look of it doesn't reciprocate same attraction towards him, already a big blow to his male ego, in the middle of an important meeting. He would deal with this smart headstrong and erm.. attractive thing leisurely. For God sake she is his PA and he has whole of office hour to assess her if he have to.' Chiding himself mentally he concentrated back on the ongoing discussion which looked quite in his favor at the moment completely missing when another being present in the same table, sighed in relief.

**

And assess he did. If one thing the infuriating Raizada had mastered in his life so far was the ability to be persistent. Once he put his mind in something there was no backing off. The constant strategies to bring RH's profits up were anything to go by.' Khushi thought annoyingly. Very uncharacteristic to her otherwise indifferent attitude.

He had called her on numerous occasions in his cabin in the pretext of all important and unimportant works in last two days. Made her wait unnecessarily and then some more. Had flirted subtly just get her to react to his charm and only she knew how difficult it had been for her to come out of all those situations feigning uninterested.

The Raizada is one hell of a devil, who is gifted with Adonis qualities. And she was not a saint woman. But she was also an ethical professional who cannot breach her vows towards her duties which certainly not permitted to get seduced by her target.

So yeah this job had become quite frustrating, to say the least and she hated the Raizada for making it so.

The desk phone rang alarming Khushi. She let out a whoosh of air through her mouth before picking the receiver and heard the stern order "In my cabin"

Guess what she would be happy to deal with the stern ASR because it was easy to match his sternness with her indifference and when he was this stern he means serious business. Good!

**

She walked in his cabin with her tab. Ready to take note of his orders.

"I have just received the accounts detail of last quarter of our southern India branches and I want you to tally them and see if there are any glitches. Take La and Akash's help. They are already posted in our shared folder. And I want results as soon as possible."

Arnav looked up from his laptop as he finished in time to catch an undecipherable emotion on Khushi's face which bordered to concern but that's not all really. But it soon changed even before he could blink to a neutral expression and Arnav was left wondering what he saw was even there in first place.

Shaking his head out of those thoughts he looked straight in her eyes and said "That's all" Nodding her head she turned to leave.

Before she could push the glass door to let herself out she heard him say "and ask Nina to bring a black coffee"

Pausing a moment to contemplate Khushi turned her neck a little and saw from her peripheral view Arnav threw his head back closing his eyes. Pressing the bridge of his nose he looked tired and a little tensed. Sighing she left to get the coffee not bothering him to inform that Nina was on leave granted by him only yesterday. He could do without a little less talking.

**

Arnav heard the sound of door opening and someone walk in silent feet and then the inaudible thud on his worktable.

He assumed that it to be Nina leaving his coffee as the footstep started to fade. But then he frowned. Why the clicking of Nina's heels were missing. He opened his eyes in time to see Khushi walk out of the oak door and that's when he remembered that he gave Nina leave the day before to attend some personal issue.

Shaking his head on his own forgetfulness he picked up the mug. As he took a sip he sighed in contentment. The coffee was exactly like what he loved. A beautiful smile broke on his lips. And for the next few relaxing minutes in between long sips, his only thought was how to make Khushi stay in RH permanently.

**

As she settled in her chair she took out her phone and sent a message, which read "He is already on it. I need to hurry up. Need back up."

**

"How?" La asked and then felt foolish to even ask. What did she expect? They all had seen the glass wall crash. They saw her dropping Arnav. Until then she looked fine. But then they were so far. Almost on the ground level.

What happened on the seventh floor it was impossible to grasp from there. All they heard the multiple pane glass wall shatter with a deafening noise. A figure was about to drop down with the impact but a hand shot out to hold the flailing arms of the man and even succeeded. In seconds, they had realized horrorstruck that the man was none other than Arnav and it was Khushi, who kept him from falling.

Maybe the glass pieces had done this to her. But Arnav never mentioned Khushi getting hurt on the face because all he mumbled after the news of her death that how beautiful she looked when he had seen her last. That meant until then Khushi wasn't harmed that critically then what happened?

"I will answer all your quarries Lav. I will tell you everything what happened and why they lied about my death. But not today." For the first time since La had come Khushi spoke and seeing her about to protest Khushi added with a little shake of her head "I will be more than happy to let it all out and unlock all that are untold. But we both do not have that much time. We will be meeting again and soon. But till then I need your help to end this game. It had already been dragged longer than needed and it is about time I settle my account with the mastermind of this entire game. He took more than I liked to loose." She finished bitterly when her eyes shown with determination.

"You know?" all a shocked Lavnya managed. Her face a picture of disbelief.

**

AN: I know I am late. Terribly so. Hope you forgive me.

Good news is we celebrated our daughter's one year birthday recently and I still find it hard to believe that she is already One. 😲

Now let's talk about the story... Honestly, I write COG as it comes to me while writing and I am trying my best to keep it interesting for you people. This chapter doesn't have anything from Khushi's own past but next chapter will have a lot of it from Lavanya's memory. Why am I giving you her past? To help you understand why she was like what you will find her in this story and also her friends.The story is building through past and present and I want you to be a little patient as we go forward step by step unraveling the mystery. I know you are waiting for Arshi love story and its coming. Till then keep reading and I will see you soon😃

Mou.

Hi :)

I don't read a lot of fanfiction to be honest.

But tonight while procrastinating, I came across your story, actually the title of your story.

I don't know why but I felt clicking it, so I did, and read all the 6 parts and tada here I am, commenting on your story.

I must say it's intriguing.

I like the way you have introduced the characters and have written about them.

I feel sorry for all of them actually.

Arnav loved khushi, or must I say still loves her with his whole being. The quote that comes in mind is the following:

"It's not that I can't live without you; it's that I don't want to. There's a difference. We all make choices in life and I choose you.
My heart belongs to you. And I'm not asking for it back, even if you won't want it anymore." J. Sterling, The Perfect Game.

Khushi must be one strong lady. To love, but not being able to express the same due to some circumstances.

I think that it was their (khushi and team) plan to get khushi on board as arnav's PA.

And it has to do something with the accounts. Is money being embezzled? And who is behind it?

I have a lot of question in my mind about khushi and team, don't know if they are involved with embezzling or if they are part of some underworld gang, or if they are they the good guys, maybe part of a secret agent kind of thingy. The only thing I know is that khushi is looking out for arnav!

I am curious to see how the story will progress

Keep rocking ;)

PS: congratulations with your baby girl turning one