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Chapter 27
"Please, please let me see him" Khushi pleaded for the hundredth time. It had been five days since the dinner. Five days of being consumed with guilt. Five days of no proper sleep as she stayed awake at night, tortured by the pain and hurt she'd seen in his eyes.
For the past five days she'd been coming to his office, hoping to catch a glimpse of him, only to be told by the receptionist that he wasn't in and that she had to leave.
The first three days, she didn't argue much and left quietly. She could understand his anger, that he wanted some time to himself. But now she was getting impatient. It was bad enough that he's gone to US for two weeks, then he'd gotten back early but hadn't told her and then spent two weeks ignoring her until the dinner reception, and now this.
Enough was enough! They wouldn't be able to solve anything if he kept hiding from her. She was wrong, and she was ready to accept that and whatever punishment that came in her way. Today you will have to meet me.
"Lady, why do you keep coming every day? Don't you get that ASR is busy? And he's not going to see anyone without an appointment." The receptionist blew her fingernails. Khushi didn't like this new receptionist, but that was not the point. The point was to get in. Khushi eyed the various photo frames of the lady with five dogs. So she was a dog lover.
"Okay, okay. I'll leave. But I need your help. While coming into the office, I noticed a very small dog outside, wandering around. I would have given it shelter, but I'm allergic. Will you help me?" Khushi looked at her with puppy eyes.
The receptionist forgot all about her nails and jumped from her chair. As Khushi told her exactly where she could find the little dog, the receptionist hopped away on her high heels, doing her best not to fall and went in search for the dog that was never there.
Khushi smiled in victory. "Hey Devi Maiyya, maaf karna. But lying is not lying if something good comes from it, hai na?" She put her hands together, raising them up and down three times. Chalo, dealt with the receptionist. Now for this Laad Governor..
Khushi peeped around, hiding behind pillars and walls. She wobbled from one place to another, trying to make sure no one spotted her. But turns out she didn't have to do all that.
Peeping from a pillar, she saw everyone engrossed in their work, running around, chattering, and pushing files into each other's hands. Khushi pursed her lips. Hum bhi na. Koi dekh kaha raha hai. So much for security.
She straightened and looked up at the glass cabin that protruded. She eyed the spiral staircase. Like the road runner, Khushi grabbed her handmade bag to herself and zoomed past the crowd, squinting her eyes and biting her lip. She didn't stop till she got to the staircase. She climbed so quickly that she started to get breathless.
Finally, she arrived right outside his cabin. She panted. Arnav Singh Raizada. The things I do to meet you.
Running her hand through her hair, she straightened out some stray strands. She considered knocking on the door, but stopped when she peeked into the cabin. There was no one. She put her hands on her lips. Now what? How would she know where he was? Was he even in the office?
She decided she didn't care. She would wait in his office. He would have to come back at some point.
She sat in his cabin, on one of the sofas. She looked at the door. What if someone else came in? How could she explain what she was doing there? Or worse, what if Arnavji saw her sitting on the sofa and left? Khushi bit her nail. She didn't have much time to think as footsteps grew louder, along with a loud voice.
"Get me a black coffee" ASR called out to his assistant.
Khushi panicked. He would be here any moment. Would he welcome her presence? She looked around and flew to his desk. She turned in a circle once, looking for a place to hide. When she spotted him ascending the stairs, her eyebrows touched her hairline and she ducked beneath his desk. The space was tight, but Khushi managed to hide herself.
She didn't make a sound as he entered his cabin and came straight to his desk. She winced as he threw a few files on his desk. He dragged his swivel chair back and sunk onto it. From down there, she could see his shiny shoes, his socks, his pants and his belt. She longed to crane her neck so she could see his face.
"Dammit, I want the coffee by today" He yelled out and Khushi covered her ears. Hey Devi Maiyya. Insaan hai ya loud speaker ki machine? Itna ghussa, sirf coffee ke liye? She closed her eyes. If he was so angry at the moment, how angry would he be when he saw her..
"Come in" he snapped as a knock sounded on the door. He grabbed the cup and dismissed her. He drank it and as his eyes fell on something on his desk, he choked. He looked at it with anger. He started coughing. Khushi worriedly bit her lip. Was he okay?
She heard as he put his cup on the table. She dug into her bag and took out her handkerchief. Without thinking, she tugged on his pant and held out the handkerchief. Arnav grabbed it and wiped his mouth. Then he froze for a second.
"What the!" He exclaimed, looking down to the space below his desk. He looked at the flowery handkerchief in his hand. He stared at the space again. What..
Khushi hit her head with her hand. Buaji was right. You are sanki! Bilkul pagal!
Arnav crouched from his seat and stared at her in disbelief. There she was, her tiny form huddled into the corner of the space. She sat there with her hands covering her eyes; as if he wouldn't see her if she couldn't see him. He scrunched his brows.
"You? What are you doing here?" He asked incredulously. Khushi slowly lowered her hands and opened one eye. He glared at her. She gulped. She opened the other one. For a moment, they just stared at each other. Khushi pulled her dupatta closer to her neck, unnerved by the way he was staring at her.
She slowly straightened to move out when his hand rested on her head. "Careful, dammit" He gruffly said. She looked up to where his hand was against his desk, preventing her from hitting her head. His hand remained on her as she came out. He moved back in his chair, standing up as she stood too. She looked beautiful. He hated that.
She looked down to the floor before her eyes went to his vest. It was soaking with the coffee that he'd probably spilt as he'd coughed. She gasped and grabbed her handkerchief from his other hand and started dabbing his vest. His hand moved from her head to capture hers, stopping her from cleaning his vest. She looked up at him. He stared down at her. He let her hand rest against his heart that started beating in sync with hers.
"Woh.." Khushi started. Arnav came out of the trance and pushed her hand away.
"How did you even get here? I told my receptionist not to allow you in." Arnav snapped at her, folding his arms across his chest. He ignored the hurt look on her face.
"Apki receptionist ko kutte bahut pasand hai" She told him innocently. Arnav gaped at her.
"What in the world?" He was lost for words.
"Nahi woh.. your receptionist was being stubborn. So I decided to distract her. I told her there was a little dog wandering outside the office. I said I was allergic to dogs. So she went out.." Khushi informed him of her plan, looking down to her feet, missing the way the corner of his lips curled up.
He hid his smile. "She went out and you came in" He stated in amusement.
She nodded her head like a good girl. His smile dropped. "Why are you here?"
She stared at him accusingly. "To meet the president."
He stared at her.
"Aapse milne aur kisse?" She reasoned with him. When he stayed silent, she sighed.
"Arnavji.. I wanted to exlplain-"
"What's there to explain? You decided to give out a fake name. Good. I do that every day too." He said sarcastically.
"Arnavji.."
"Call me Aryan. That's my new name for you." He looked at her, his voice sarcastic but face expressionless.
Khushi shook her head. "I.. I never intended to deceive you. I only introduced myself as Khushboo because you refused to meet Khushi. My company put faith in me to try and get your company on board. I had no idea that you considered Khura..Khuraisha to be Khushi until the dinner treat. And after that, many times I wanted to clear the misunderstanding.. but.." Khushi searched for the right words.
"But what?" Arnav helped her out. "But you decided that telling me the truth would cost you this deal, the deal that AR Group has with your company and you couldn't afford that?" His tone was hard.
He interrupted her when she opened her mouth. "I get it. It would have cost you a big commission. Right?" He titled his head.
"Please, I wanted to tell you. I did. But then you had to go to the US, and you looked so tired and worried. I wanted to tell you after you came back.. but then" Khushi looked at hopefully, willing him to understand.
Arnav grabbed her arms. "Do you have any idea what it was like to hear from Rakeshji that my mother wanted me to marry her best friends' daughter, Khushi Kumari Gupta? At that point, because of your selfishness of introducing yourself as Khushboo just to get this deal, I still thought that Khushi was that low woman Khuraisha." He shuddered even thinking about her. He hated women who used their bodies for gain.
Did you know what I went through when I realized I would have to break my mother's heart, I would not be able to fulfil her wish of marrying that woman? Did you know how it felt to finally realize and acknowledge the feelings I had for you?" He shook her slightly, trying his best to not get affected by the tears that were now filling her beautiful brown eyes.
"The thought of marrying Khuraisha made me disgusted. But more so than that was fear, fear of losing you. Do you know how lucky you are that I decided to hold off on pointing fingers at you and used my brains to find out the truth for myself? And when I finally got the background information, when I saw your face on the file labeled as Khushi Kumari Gupta, you have no idea how I felt, dammit" Arnav pushed her away from him, unable to stand so close to her without grabbing her and punishing her.
Punishing her with a kiss.. Damn, how could he be thinking of that right now? He was supposed to be mad at her. He was mad at her.
"Arnavji, I'll do anything. Whatever you say. I accept any punishment. I'm so very sorry" Khushi whispered.
Arnav's heart melted a little seeing her pleading, seeing her tears. But trust didn't come to him easily and she'd misused their trust. He felt his heart hardening again.
"It's going to take a lot more than just a sorry, Ms Gupta" He stated.
"I'll do more than saying sorry. I'll do whatever you want." Khushi promised.
"Right now I need you to leave." Arnav started sorting his files. Khushi looked at him, sad and hurt.
"Arnavji-"
"Ms Gupta, I have a meeting starting in five minutes." Arnav continued his task without looking at her.
Khushi wiped her tears. She turned to leave.
"Khushi" He called out and hope filled her being. He called her Khushi, not Ms Gupta. She turned around immediately, looking at him, hopeful.
"Your handkerchief" He held it out for her. Her spirits dimmed. She walked back to him and took it, brushing her fingers against his. He turned his back to her. She turned to leave, feeling her heart beating slower and slower.
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Chapter 26
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Chapter 28
Edited by Checkmatee - 8 years ago
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