UE part 24

Khushi could put Rudolf the red nosed reindeer to shame by now..

"your..your handkerchief is ruined..i..am...afraid"

Arnav was not looking at the handkerchief..but at her face..which was ruined in the most adorable fashion..

"i can see that" he replied..

"sniff * "i just got a little emotional..anyway, since you have taken responsibility of thinking on your head..please think of something soon..it is becoming very difficult for me now"

"i am not dancing over the mess. And stop reminding me"

silence...

"it's easy for you. You can say 'dammit!" and everybody shuts up..i have to deal with a mother who is mad at me, a relationship which doesn't exist, and a workplace where people are staring at me as if I have 5 eyes or something"

silence..

"you can work for AR"

"what?Work for AR?"

"you said you were interested in a corporate job right? Media specialist?"

"yes..i would love to..but..i already have a job-"

"where people stare at you as if you have 5 eyes"

"as if at AR they wouldn't stare as if I have 10"

"AR has busy people working"

"you mean we swat flies at our place?"

"your wish. You're home"

"oh ya.. do think of something soon"

she got out of the car, then tapped at the window..

he slid it down..now what..

"i could wash and return it to you, but I wonder if you would-"

he slid the glass up once again without a word..

the car drove away..

Khushi turned to leave holding the sorry state of a handkerchief in her hand..

wow! Media specialist? But no way would she work for AR...not in the present circumstances at least..and forget even after that!!!

Khushi cautiously pushed open the door to Rohan Malhotra's office..

"sir you called?"

"Ah Khushi! Pray have a seat.." he motioned...

After the news of their link up Rohan had become particularly polite and chivalrous in his attitude towards Khushi..she wondered why..she knew the man too well to attribute it to a sudden shake of conscience..

"um,,well, congratulations!"

"congratulations?"

"oh come on...do I need to explain?"

Khushi got his point..

"thank you sir"

"you have been working here since days right Khushi.."

uh oh..this was trouble calling..

"right sir.."

"and what a pity we get to know this in such a formal way"

Khushi was beginning to feel tested..she smiled a formal smile..

Rohan interlocked his fingers on the desk..

"look Khushi..we're really lucky you are working with us..we all are like family..i don't think it would be too much to ask you to share a little on-"

"on?" Khushi darted her eyes at him..

"no I mean..there's not much people know of Arnav Singh Raizada beyond his image of a tycoon, and it' not like they wouldn't want to-"

"are you telling me to disclose details of my personal life to your newspaper to grab eyeballs?"

"you are taking it the wrong way"

"no I am not! I am in the business reporting department sir. And I wish to keep my personal life out of my professional one"

"come on Khushi! I am just talking of an interview or two..about how your relationship grew..ASR's likes, dislikes, perhaps you could dig out some of his venture details from him for us, and of course you must have been to RM by now..something on his personal life-"

"That's it!" Khushi got up from her chair..

"I quit!"

"Khushi you are getting me wrong"

"no I am not. It is so disappointing that you are actually insisting on something as low...i am sorry I cannot co-operate. And I have not forgotten the fact that my own newspaper published some very rotten made up stuff on our relationship just two days before on which I have remained silent. But this is too much..and therefore, I quit"

and so Khushi Kumari Gupta changed her status to 'committed and unemployed'...unemployed because of commitment...

Payal was in the washroom and her mobile had been ringing since long..

Khushi picked it up..

"hello?"

"hello..hi..it's Aakash.."

Khushi widened her eyes and bit her lower lip in mischief..

"Khushi who's it?" Payal called from behind the door..

"oh just someone having to do something with putting out fires!" Khushi replied then got back to the phone..

"i am sorry if you are disappointed but it's actually her sister speaking.."

Aakash flustered..

"oh no..i mean..pleasure.."

"oh the pleasue's mine.."

"missed your article in the newspaper I must say.."

"well, that's because I am jobless"

"what? You? I mean why?"

"tiff with the boss. I quit"

"someone as talented as you..it's a loss for IT I must say"

"oh I am humbled"

"by the way, are you interested in a corp job?..AR would love to have you as-"

"oh thank you so much...your brother did put forth the proposal..but I can't possibly accept it you know..considering the news doing the rounds..it would look as if I am taking undue advantage of the link up..i am considering offers,i am sure something will come up soon..thank you so much by the way.."

"as you wish..but as an offer from the AR's Assistant MD, I hope you re-consider...these people will always talk no matter what..but I respect your decision"

"thank you so much. And since my sister is out...which by the way, she is TOO soon-"

"KHUSHI SHUT UP!" Payal snatched the phone from her hands..

"Aakash has the Mittal deal been finalised?" Arnav skimmed through the pages of Indian Times..her articles came today..where was it??

"you searching for something bhai?"

"no nothn'"

"i really missed Khushi's article in the paper today..you know, her special friday column? What a pity she quit"

This was news for Arnav..

"what?" he turned to face his brother..

"hm..she didn't tell you? I spoke to her today..tiff with the editor in chief or something..i put an offer before her..you know, she's awesomely talented..but she declined..she's considering other ones though..i respect her decision.."

Arnav picked out the most pertinent point in Aakash's speech..

"she turned down an AR offer?" (again? Went in his mind..)

"well...yes bhai..can't blame her though. She holds her self esteem high, and talks are bound to do rounds if she gets a decent job out here..her own talent would get overshadowed by the link up thing...people would draw conclusions..by the way the Mittal deal is-"

Arnav had stopped listening,,

cement pile calling...

"hello?"

"you're at home?"

"um..yes.." (as if she had an option! Oh, the woes of unemployment..)

"be there. I am coming"

"WHAT? I mean why? Don't you have work to do?"

ouch. You didn't say such things to THE Arnav Singh Raizada...Arnav fumed..

"i am not coming there to discuss the morning weather with you Khushi Kumari Gupta"

"can't we meet somewhere else?"

"if you want to be in tomorrow's newspaper too, so be it-"

"oh no! ok..i mean..what is it about? You've come up with some plan or something?"

"if it could be discussed on the phone I would have spared myself the trouble.stay at home"

call disconnected..

"you are leaving?" Khushi eyed a Payal who was checking out herself in the mirror, car keys in hand..

"yes khushi..got to return these books back to the library today. I am already 2 days late"

"oh..kay"

"maa is coming back from Kolkata today remember?"

"yes. And I am going to be blasted. When's she reaching?"

"evening. I'll pick her up"

"okay then!"

home alone with cement pile? Oh no...

Arnav's SUV stopped to a halt...needless to say several windows around were thrown open as curious eyes popped through them to get their daily dose of spice...and to experience the thrill of being an eye witness to a possible page 3 news..

The door opened before he rung the bell..which naturally freaked him out..

Khushi gave a 32 out grin to him..

"haha..surprise!!! shocked at how I opened the door before you rung the bell? I LOVE doing that..it freaks people out like hell. You should have seen how the milkman reacted to it this morning. Stood looking like I am out of 'Haunted' or something..can you believe that? All credit goes to my kitchen window. I can see the visitor way long before he/she actually ring the bell. And before they ring ta-da! The door's opened. Once someone even asked how I do it? I said it's intuition , 6^th sense you know,and OMG you should have seen his face-"

"can I come in?" Arnav, who had been listening to her non-stop rant , now slightly resting on the wall near the door on the outside finally spoke at length in his cool rigid tone..

Khushi coloured..

"oh of course, I completely forgot.."

she moved sideways to let him in..

it was then he actually looked at her state- hair tied into a bun, an apron with weird stains on it and a ladle in her left hand with a saucy paste stuck to it..how could someone look so irresistibly adorable in such a mess?

Khushi saw him and smiled..

"oh..i was deciding to make pasta since long..and well your coming became an excuse..as it is, if you have come to know, I am currently jobless..but I don't think it's coming out the way I wanted too..it said put the sauce in the pasta..but I think it should be put the pasta in the sauce..but still, I guess it could qualify as edible-"

"if you've finished with the pasta, I guess we could move on to dessert"

Khushi sensed the sarcasm in his voice..

"i was coming to that. What did you wish to talk about?"

"keep the ladle away first"

"i was DOING that! Why do you correct me so much?"

Arnav moved to the sofa before khushi interrupted-

"can you wait for ten minutes..else the pasta will be ruined"

"i have not come here to eat pasta"

"but I have spent good time preparing it, and it's a matter of 10 minutes now! so I can't just ruin it.don't eat.i will"

"i don't have all the time in the world Khushi kumari gupta"

"was that a sarcasm since I am jobless?"

"it would have come even if you had one"

Khushi had started moving into the kitchen and was back to stirring her pasta..Arnav stormed into the kitchen and took the ladle away from her hands..

"I SAID. YOUR PASTA .CAN WAIT!"

"You flew it away?"

"out!now!"he barked

"i am not coming out till you apologize"

"Khushi kuma-" he started and then broke off..

"OH SHIT! KHUSHI STAND STILL! DON'T MOVE K?"

"Wh-"

"JUS SHUT UP AND STAND STILL, DON'T RUN!"

"Are you crazy Mr Raizada? Why would I run? If you think i'll get scared and run-"

she stopped as she saw what he was up to..Arnav was filled one of the large utensils with water..she could smell something burning..then looked at the end of her dupatta..whose corner had caught fire courtesy her leaning over the stove..

and the next thing she knew..she had been bathed head to toe in water...

they stood breathing deep breaths for a long while,,staring at each other...then Arnav broke loose and was jerking her the next instant

"ARE YOU MAD? CRAZY?? IDIOT!! WHAT IF I WASN'T HERE RIGHT NOW? WHAT IF THE FIRE GREW? WHAT IF YOU GOT BURNT?? WHAT WOULD I DO?"

silence..

"say the marriage is off because your fiance had heavenly plans? It was just 1centimeter square of cloth.what's over you?"

what's over me? Should have been a more appropriate question considering she was trying to decipher the actual cause of her shivering..just the water?