IPKKND FF: JALEBI by Jalebi Jane Thread 1: EPISODE 001-042 - Page 8

Originally posted by: JalebiJane

eroni wrote: Omg asr is a devil. Poor khushi she doesn't even know het life is going to be uglier than of a goat.

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"Uglier than a goat??"

Not at all. Remember, this is IPKKND-inspired. In that world, goats are cherished and pampered. Like Lakshmi :-)

JJ

JALEBI by Maya (EPISODE 004)

"YOUR WIFE!?" Aman exclaimed.

There was more than surprise in his tone. There was dread.

For who knew better than Aman Behl that what Arnav said, Arnav did. Arnav consistently attained the unattainable because once he stated an objective, he entertained no doubt nor deviation. It was not in Arnav Singh Raizada's nature to compromise----not even with himself.

And had this been a matter of business, had they been speaking about a business venture which required a deception, Aman would not have entered what he knew was a fruitless attempt to sway his employer. However----however!----this was about a woman's fate.

He must protest.

Aman left his desk and approached Arnav who remained on the threshold between their two offices.

But before he could speak, Arnav said, "Don't look so serious, Aman. I'm the one getting married. Not you." And with those words, he pivoted and returned to his office.

Aman followed him, paused briefly to shut both doors, and made his case. "Miss Gupta provokes you like no other person I have ever witnessed----but to marry her in order to teach her a lesson defies logic. The executioner doesn't place the noose around his own neck to ensure the condemned man will hang."

"The gratification of seeing that impudent girl subdued will make that noose around my neck a delight," Arnav said. "And it will be temporary one. I don't intend for the marriage to last beyond a week. We won't be honeymooning----"

Perhaps Arnav saw something flash in Aman's eyes which made him stop mid-sentence.

He gave a laugh of understanding and said, "Ah! You're concerned that I intend to consummate this wedding before I show her to the door." He shook his head, "let me assure you, Aman, I have no such interest in her. Nor has that method of triumphing over a woman ever held any appeal for me."

"Marriage has never held any appeal for you either."

"Harsh times call for harsh measures," Arnav stated patently, as he slid into his chair. He indicated that Aman should take the seat opposite.

Aman did so, and leaned forward to wait for a fuller explanation.

"For weeks that girl has crossed me, challenged me, embarrassed me----humiliated me!----at every opportunity. Publicly and privately," Arnav expanded. "I thought the contract would teach her her own insignificance and her limitations, but she has survived every task I've thrown at her. I've had to endure her insolent remarks, her gaudy pom-poms, her shiny baubles day after day and been unable to act because of a contract I myself initiated. As you know, if I dismiss her, I admit defeat. And she wins."

"The thirty days will soon be up----"

"----Next Tuesday. At 10:45am."

Aman showed his hands in a gesture of "there-you-go." He leaned back in his chair with some relief, and said, "the matter will soon resolve itself. You know she's a magnet for mishaps. The contract ends on Tuesday. Something will go wrong by Wednesday. And if it does not, then set a small trap for her on Thursday. By Friday, you will have legitimate grounds for dismissal."

"That will teach her nothing, Aman."

His statement surprised Aman. "Why must you be her teacher?" he asked.

Arnav did not respond. Indeed he seemed rather irritated by the question. He came to his feet and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows. Aman knew that from that vantage point Arnav had an unimpeded view of the area of the ground floor which included Miss Gupta's desk.

It was a long moment before Arnav turned around. And when he spoke, he said this: "Because I've earned that pleasure."

There was something in Arnav's tone that told Aman that several threads were tangled in this conversation. He did not appear to have access to them all. And perhaps even his boss did not know what and where the threads were.

Arnav returned to his desk and removed his jacket. Followed by his necktie, as though it now stifled him. [I will resist the temptation to call it a noose, Sisters.]

As he draped the items over the chair-back, he said, "she has been a poison in my system since Lucknow. She appears everywhere I go. And where she is not, I carry her in my head. Do you know I've developed some sort of prescience about her? I don't have to see her to know whether she is in the room. Her presence emits a noxious fume. But now it ends. And the beauty of it is that she has herself handed to me the antidote. She said she pitied the woman I chose as my wife. Well, I intend to make her choose me as a husband." He took his seat again and spoke as he rolled back his shirt cuffs. "I realized when I heard her disparage me earlier that I've gone about this matter in entirely the wrong way. I've responded to her insufferable behaviour by showing her what she expects of me. Which has given her this air of smug superiority. I would never have handled a client so." He lifted his eyes to meet Aman's and asked, "how would I handle Miss Gupta if she were a client?"

The answer was obvious to both men, which made the question rhetorical. But Aman pointed out, "She's not a client."

"Everybody is a client."

Aman stated, "so you will use the magician's trick. Sleight of hand."

"Precisely. One hand will lull her into a false sense of security, whilst the other will guide her the cliff's edge."

"But why marry her?" Aman repeated his point. "It's overkill."

Arnav replied, "if I don't go that far, she will never be convinced that she has conquered me. Only by approaching her as an earnest suitor, will she believe the lamb has truly tamed the lion. Again, sleight of hand----she thinks she's marrying the man of her dreams----"

"----then wakes up the next morning to the man of her nightmares," Aman finished for him, and his tone clearly expressed what he thought of this plan.

"You disapprove," Arnav stated.

"Strongly. Miss Gupta is not a worldly woman. She is not like the women you are accustomed to."

"You seem unconvinced that my intention is only to trick her. Not to steal her virtue."

"It's the same thing for someone like her," Aman said, coming to his feet. "If you marry her, whether or not you----" he hesitated a moment and then continued, "----whether or not there is contact, it will represent a loss of her virtue. I see that you will not be satisfied until you taste revenge, Sir, but I also know that it is not your intention to ruin her life. Yet, that is what your plan is tantamount to." Here he paused briefly, and added, "there is another way. The result will be the same, but will not destroy her. Will you hear it?"

"Speak."

That Arnav Singh Raizada allowed Aman to raise an objection and also present an alternative was significant. Aman knew this. And we must also acknowledge it, Sisters. For Arnav was not obliged to do either. Nor was he in the habit of doing so.

Aman grasped the opportunity. "Let her believe that she has----as you put it----tamed the lion. Accomplish it discreetly. No public courtship. No wedding. Believe me, she will suffer enough privately when you show her your hand. Do not let her also suffer the taint of public shame."

Arnav did not respond immediately, but when he did he said, "get me the Ibaraki file, Aman. I want to expedite their mill orders."

Aman knew his employer well enough to know that Arnav had just agreed to the amended plan. He also knew that they would never discuss the matter again. That suited Aman. For he had done as his conscience demanded.