UE part 38

Have you noticed what happens when you sprinkle water in boiling, hot oil. A similar effect was caused by a black and white printed official letter on the calm ambiance of the Gupta household..

Job offer from a highly reputed firm in the U.S. For a corporate job for which she had applied 3 months ago..which was, even before she had met Arnav..

after which she lost her job, got a new one and forgot all about even having applied for it in the first place in the midst of all the fiasco which took her life in a mind dizzying storm in the following months. All of those 3 months had been about Arnav, her relationship with Arnav, her breakup with Arnav, her rumors with Arnav, for Arnav, because of Arnav, with Arnav, Arnav, Arnav and yes, how could one forget, Arnav!

Subsequent reactions in the Gupta household-

1st- *celebration, jubilation, hugging, clapping *

2nd-but your engagement? No way! Marry and then go!

3rd- OK FINE! Come and then marry!

4th- 5 YEARS!! NO WAY!!

5th- with Nihaal? Let us see...um..(consideration+long talk)

6^th- Fine. But you will have to marry. In the states, in India, In Antarctica I don't care! NO KHUSHI YOU CANNOT REMAIN A SPINSTER!

Khushi's reactions and thought process-

1st- almost faint, scream, OMG!!(repeatedly)

2nd- 5 years??

3rd- Arnav...

4^th- Arnav...

5^th- but Arnav...

6th- Arnav??

Khushi's room

"it's..it's not such a big deal..right?" Khushi gulped "five years..just, just five years, it's not like I am permanently leaving the country, I can be back after 5 years,it's just there in the contract, bhai will be there with me in the states, aunty , uncle..everyone, maa..maa won't have a problem as long as bhai is with me..and..and.." She was almost sweating..

"and Arnav?"

"what?"

"when will you tell that to Arnav ,Khushi?"

Khushi froze, a chill running down her spine as Payal's words sank in,the apprehension already within her stirred up by those words...Arnav..she clutched the letter in her hands tightly and for five minutes there was complete silence in the room..

"jiji i-"

"Khushi" Payal interrupted "don't ask me what to do. This is long past the point at which I tell you what you should be doing about it. High time you think Khushi, high time you do some introspection"

Khushi as expected of her was busy making a meal out of her lips..

"when will you understand I am not someone out of your Charles Dickens novel who spends 5 pages on endless introspection but a normal 21st century sibling who-"

But Payal had already left... leaving a nervous, messed up Khushi with no choice, but to introspect as she buried her face in her hands and rested her head on the work table...

Alone, in the dimly lit room,slowly the events, the meetings, the unexpected happenings in her life in the past few days started flooding her mind...

'.her first meet with Arnav...gosh! Such a cement pile he had been..we got into a fight in the very first meet! She smiled as she shook her head at that. Who would have thought she'd meet him again after that? Oh wait! She was to publish an article against AR right? Hahaha..gosh! And he had called her at 2 in the night to stop her..and well, he did, didn't he..

but his running over to save her? He seemed to be in such a mess! Well, not that she wasn't in one..oh wait, that was the start of it all wasn't it? She had been labelled as his 'mysterious lady'...a blush crept up her cheeks...how she had screamed at that one! He must have too...

and slowly Khushi played with the pen in her hands, memories rushing through her mind, making her smile at some, laugh at some others, cringe with embarrassment at yet others...while severely blush at a pen (lucky pen...), then at the doormat , grin like an idiot at a book held upside down, shake her head unbelievingly as she wondered how on earth could she have had so many moments with a stranger suddenly entering her life...

Opening her cupboard she took out a few newspapers out and spread them before her on the table...

Arnav Singh Raizada, eligible bachelor no more???

Arnav Singh Raizada, the much talked of bachelor in town who always manages to be in some news over his relationship status ,yet has never been spotted publicly with anyone in particular ,seems to have finally taken the plunge. Though her face remains invisible, a lady was spotted being escorted by the tycoon himself in his car to his residence after she supposedly payed a visit to AR. This comes as a first from a man who is not reputed for bestowing such convivial favours on the gentler sex..

all we can say is, keep your eyes glued to this section,while we try to figure out who's the lucky lady!!is Arnav Singh Raizada, finally, single no more?

KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR SAVES HIS DAMSEL IN DISTRESS.    ASR AND...KSR???

Picture-*arnav carrying khushi to car*

WE FOUND THE MYSTERY GIRL

What was witnessed amidst the confusion on Pritz road yesterday, stands nothing short of a page straight from a fairy tale. Arnav Singh Raizada, his eyes bloodshot and tears streaming down his face rushed around till he spotted the reason and soul of his living , fighting for her life fallen on the ground..while he had his arms around her the next instant, both looked completely and totally lost in each other. Mr Raizada reportedly went to the extent of shouting at her unconscious figure "come back! Please come back! I will die without you"..The lucky lady, identified as a certain Khushi Kumari Gupta (or shall we say already/soon to be Mrs Raizada) looked specially in a delicate state and we wish her a speedy recovery and her disturbed husband/fiance courage to stand by this tough moment in their lives. The couple exchanged heart warming words of love and assurance blind to the presence of the flashes around. We hope to know more about the fairy tale story after Miss Gupta/Mrs Raizada's recovery.

                      Picture- *arnav kneeling on the floor patting khushi's cheek *

  LOOK WHO PROPOSED!!!

Are we surprised? Mr Arnav Singh Raizada formally proposed to his evidently unsuspecting lady love Khushi Kumari Gupta in full media glare yesterday night at Golden Horizon. Ms Gupta had some time back made her link up with the international tycoon official but this comes as the first time Mr Raizada opened up on their relationship..after which he seemingly went on an overdrive of PDA (public display of affection)..don't believe your eyes? So didn't we! And evidently so didn't Ms Khushi Kumari Gupta..check these out!

*(pictures of..PDA) *

[go green girls, Mr Raizada, reveals Ms Gupta is a die hard romantic too!what with hearts and chocolates and the like! And was the proposal something!]

Though they are in 'absolutely no hurry' to tie the knot any time soon, Mr Raizada didn't rule out the 'possiblity' of an official engagement. We constantly quote Mr Raizada as Ms Gupta seemed too numbed by Mr Raizada's public proposal to respond to any of our queries. In fact, she looked totally flabbergasted..and seemed to have glued her eyes on Mr Raizada's face. Her agreement to the proposal being not very coherent too.

are we are proud! - Ms Gupta happens to be a former journalist at Indian Times. She resigned post her link up with Arnav Singh Raizada (guess to be hubby is not very comfortable with the idea of his 'Khushi' tiring herself out..(what's the need we'd say!))

* picture of khushi giving a 1000 watt smile to Arnav*

the charming lady! Guess who did we spot at the Glitz hotel the night before? The new buzz of the town, business tycoon Arnav Singh Raizada shared an enchanting evening with his rumored lady love and Delhi's sweetheart Khushi Kumari Gupta at the five star hotel.The couple seemed to be having a blast together and even saved a breaking relationship with Ms Gupta apprising a troubled duo about the vices of the act..just how sweet is that??? in any case, considering the lady's views we can be sure of at least one couple not breaking up any time soon...

page 3

report by- Dibaker Sinha

Twist in the fairy tale?

Pallavi Khandelwal threw a totally unexpected bomb yesterday night as she opened up on her relationship with the soon to be engaged business tycoon Arnav Singh Raizada. Pallavi claims to be the ex flame of the tycoon, who has always chosen to remain reticent with regards to his personal life ,his relationship with Ms Khushi Kumari Gupta,as we know, being totally an exception. Pallavi claims, that Mr Raizada recently sought a reunion, vehemently stating his current relationship to be a complete farce. Is this another publicity gimmick thrown by a struggling B-town actress to grab spotlight or do her claims hold water enough to endanger the much hyped engagement of the two love birds the day after? Mr Raizada, as well as Ms Gupta, unfortunately remained unavailable for comments. Keep your eyes glued to this column for more haps!

Also read- why does Shah Rukh Khan hate noodles? Fahion police on Priyanka chopra @ red carpet, Salman Khan got a haircut-exclusive report on why he shouldn't have (entertainment time; cover page)

These were just some other news articles for any other person..but for her,each article, held an entire episode as a memory..of their meetings, fights, blunders and yes, endless unsuccessful breakups..

and now the breakup, which was now finally right before them..

The butterflies, eagles, zoo, sanctuary in her stomach, the thudding of the heart, the body going numb, all by his mere presence...

the continuous thinking 24*7..

the hesitance towards the breakup...

the somersault of her heart when he smirked at her..

Khushi spent an entire hour within her room...thinking, remembering, feeling, putting 2 and 2 together..unconsciously humming her favorite song...

The door to the living room was pushed open as Khushi stepped inside, Payal already seated on the sofa..

"jiji..i have good news and bad news"

"good?" Payal looked at her..

"i am in love.." she muttered with a lost expression "i guess.."

"congratulations!! Finally!!" Payal spoke with a grin and a sigh..

"Finally??"

"no nothing..carry on..bad news?" Payal shifted on the sofa to accommodate Khushi who sat down heavily on it...

"with the wrong person" Khushi replied, biting her lips which were almost swollen by now..

"You mean it's not Arnav?"

Khushi looked shocked at her sister.. "It IS Arnav!!how did you know?"

Payal resisted a grin.. "just a guess..anything else?"

Khushi continued..

"the second good news is that he has NO idea about it...touch wood, touch gold, touch black"

"and that's a good news?" Payal asked her, shocked..

"Of course it is! If he ever comes to know of it he would go L.O.L "

"Arnav Singh Raizada doesn't L.O.L Khushi"

"Oh yes" Khushi nodded vehemently.. "he will not L.O.L..he will smirk that devilish smirk of his straight on my face making me feel like a tiny toad in a muddy puddle in the monsoon season!

"toads in muddy puddles in monsoon season are very happy creatures Khushi" Payal spoke with a confused expression..

"WHATEVER!" Khushi shouted "will you please try to understand that the emotions of toads are currently not my biggest issue!!"

"okay..okay..chill..and the bad news?"

"the bad news is that one, he has left the entire break-up responsibility upon me and I am yet to think of how to tell him I am leaving. Second, that I don't have any idea how do you reverse process this entire love thing, and I obviously have to do that before I leave, and that my dear sister, is where you come in"

"excuse me?" Payal raised her eyebrows high..

"yes. This is when your tons of books come into use jiji. Any duke, lord, lady, duchess, man, woman,of ANY novel I don't care, just tell me how they reversed this entire process"

Payal couldn't believe her ears..

"Khushi! You CAN'T reverse love!"

Khushi flared her nostrils in anger as she jumped off the sofa..

"WHAT RUBBISH have you spent your life reading??!!"

"again drama.." Payal muttered..

"i will SHOW you that it can be reversed, you take my word for it jiji!" Khushi spoke with firm resolve.. "and then perhaps you can write your own novel on how Khushi Kumari Gupta showed the world how to fall OUT of love! In fact, as I speak,i feel like falling out of it ALREADY! By tomorrow, it will be better and after 3 weeks as my plane flies over New York, I Khushi Kumari Gupta will be a LOVE-FREE PERSON! YES! YES!"

Payal sighed.. "fine then, so be it. So before you figure out how to fall out of love, kindly inform Arnav Singh Raizada that you are breaking up with him and going to New York for 5 years. Ok? Good night"

and picking up her novel walked out of the room..

Khushi blinked..then blinked again as she muttered..

"b..break up?"

Morning at RM

It was the 7^th consecutive call Arnav could hear inside the shower enclosure..7^th consecutive full ring call in the past 5 minutes.

Nobody, NOBODY at AR would dream of giving a 3^rd consecutive ring to their boss leave alone a 7^th early in the morning..and if they did, divine powers protect them from the wrath of Arnav Singh Raizada..

specially the wrath of a wet, soap covered Arnav Singh Raizada who moved his hands blindly out of the shower enclosure and grabbed his blackberry with a soapy hand while he turned off the shower with the other..

7 missed calls.

Khushi.

He checked his log list only to find out that all of the 7 calls had been of hers alone.

Khushi? 7 consecutive missed calls within 5 minutes at 8 in the morning? Panic immediately seized him..was it an emergency? Was she fine? His thought process started taking off on various unpleasant tangents as he quickly finished the shower at an unbelievable pace and stepped out of the washroom speed dialing Khushi's number...

3 rings..

5 rings..

8 rings...

missed call.

Arnav was about to totally freak out when his phone rang yet again..

Khushi calling..

He picked up on the first ring itself..

"KHUSHI! WHAT?" he literally shouted into the phone..

"what?" Khushi replied..

"You are calling me for the 8^th time in 10 minutes DAMMIT what happened!!"

"oh..oh yes..um..where were you?"

"in the shower" Arnav spoke impatiently "what happened?"

Khushi drew a deep breath in..it's easy Khushi..it's cakewalk..just..just tell him you are leaving for 5 years and need to break up now..you'll get over the love thing..later..you HAVE to tell him..

"Khushi?" Arnav's impatient voice sounded at the other end..

ok, at the count of 3, you say it Khushi Kumari Gupta..1..2..3..GO!

"GOODMORNING!"

(*sigh*Alas for all that 'cakewalk' )

"WHAT?" to say Arnav was confused would be an understatement as he literally gasped the response into the phone...

Khushi picked up the book on the table and hit her head with it...

"um..no nothing..so..you are done with the bath?..ok, yes, obviously you are done with the bath,you wouldn't call me otherwise right?haha..yes..ok..so."

"Khushi?"

"yes?"

"did you hit your head somewhere?"

"um..no..Arnav..can I call you after 15 minutes?"

"if it will help in putting even an ounce of sense in your talk, sure"

"ok..i'll call you back then"

disconnected.

"And THE IDIOT of the year award goes to KHUSHI KUMARI GUPTA!" Khushi shouted as she threw her mobile in frustration upon the bed..

"WHAT must he be thinking! IDIOT! IDIOT!" she groaned as she buried her face in her hands yet again. Such a simple thing, just one sentence, and over. Why was it SO difficult!!

Arnav tightened the knot of his tie as he descended down the stairs of the Raizada mansion. Khushi had still not called back as yet..even after half an hour.

After some careful thinking at the breakfast table, Arnav couldn't control the curious cat within him and decided to himself give her a call..

"hello?"

"Khushi, I am leavingfor office now. So the last time I am asking you. What?"

"oh yes..i was just about to call you..Ar..Arnav, I had to tell you something.."

"i am listening"

"ok..how should I start..." she ran her palm through her hair..

"by opening your mouth"

"will you just stop it?"

"as soon as you START!"

"iamleaving!" Khushi shut her eyes tight and said it in one breath..

"what?" Arnav spoke in a confused tone as the butler poured the apple juice in the glass...

"Arnav, I am leaving for the States"

"yeah, that's enough.." Arnav addressed the butler to stop overflowing his glass..

"what?" spoke a confused Khushi at the other end..

"no nuthn' I wasn't talking to you. What did you say?"

"Arnav I am LEAVING FOR NEW YORK!"

There was silence for a while at the other end before she heard his voice..

"ohkay...happy journey?"

Khushi opened her mouth incredulously making an 'O' out of it..happy journey?? that's it? That's all he felt at the prospect of her leaving the country? Here she was, frying her brains, writing mental essay on 101 ways to tell your fiance you are leaving the country and this man wishes her a plain, HAPPY JOURNEY?? LIKE WHAT??"

"um..that's it?..oh...well..i see..good then..i am leaving in 3 weeks.."

"3 weeks? Then why are you making such a big deal of it right now?" Arnav spoke impatiently , his temper rising as his butler kept on messing up with nearly everything on his breakfast tray..

"JUST LEAVE DAMMIT!" He shouted and the poor man literally jumped out of his skin..

"i..i am sorry sir..i.."

"I will handle. LEAVE!"

"sure sir.."

Khushi had just absolutely had it! Fine if he didn't give it a shot! She never expected him to shed buckets over her leaving, but was it necessary to be this rude?

"I get you Mr Arnav Singh Raizada and will surely spare you from any further clarification. I am very sure you will handle it alright..i just thought I should tell you! Anyway, you do realize that some things need to be done before that, and I will inform you when I get to it! Till then, thank you very much for investing your time in wishing me a HAPPY JOURNEY. GOODMORNING AND GOODBYE!"

Call disconnected..

All Arnav could manage before he heard the message of the call being disconnected was a 'WHAT TH-"

After which the butler was re-called inside the room, and what went on there after that wouldn't be exactly remembered by the poor guy as a 'good morning'..

Nihaal buttoned his coat as he stormed inside Khushi's room..

"Lattu I am getting terribbly late for the meeting k? Just tell Payal I won't be coming for dinner so not to bother herself and have you seen my blue file anywhere? The one with which you were playing Frisbee yesterday? I don't know-...Lattu? You.." he strode towards Khushi "you are crying?"

Khushi almost bent half down on the table, wiping away the tears at the corners of her eye frantically lest he see them, but Nihaal had already turned her towards himself by the shoulders..

"no bhai..i wasn't crying..i just.."

"oh yes! Of course you weren't crying! It's hot and your eyes were sweating.. am I right?"

"bhai!" Khushi hit him on the chest a little smile appearing on her face..

"so shoot! What is it?"

"nothing.."

"is it the fear of global warming? The heart wrenching disturbing scenarios of fast melting glaciers at the North Pole causing streams of water running down yours? Are you worried about the world ending in 2012? is this something got to do with the fear that tigers might go extinct? Is it about the fact that Harrold Bane is getting engaged next week? or-"

"Bhai stop!" Khushi was almost laughing through her tears.. "it's just...this sudden going to the States..and-"

"aww my Lattu" Nihaal hugged her with an arm to himself.. "why fear when brother is here? And you can still re-think about it right? They won't sue you or something if you decline! And anyway, this is just a job offer letter! Though kudos to you for having gone through the selection procedure darling. The HR department of this firm is well known for it's..leave all that, if it's about- "

"no bhai..i know I have to go..it's not that.."

"It's Arnav"

"NO! NO! I mean..why would it be Arnav..he..i told him already..he's fine with it..anyway, forget it, what's up at your end"

"hmm.." Nihaal leaned against the table.. "at my end? I am going to ask a girl out for a date today"

"WHAT??" Khushi screamed in delight.. "who? Where? When? How?"

Nihaal smiled as casually glanced at the watch and then made saucers of his eyes.. "OH SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" he screamed as he literally jumped out of the door descending two stairs at a time..

Just before leaving through the main door he screamed..

"LATTU!! BY THE WAY, IT'S ANJALI SINGH RAIZADA!!"

Arnav leaned back on the leather chair of his office and shut his eyes...

This was going beyond control..Khushi..day, night, afternoon, morning, this one name seemed to haunt him these days..and today she had just completely ensured reigning over his mind continuously,helplessly,hopelessly.

calls him 8 times in the morning for nothing...then tells him she is going to USA..how was he supposed to react? If she wished to go vacationing to New York who was he to stop her? Hell, she had her family in the US! Why couldn't she go to meet them? He couldn't scream his disappointment at not getting to see her for a good whole month or so (which he himself was seriously working on at the moment) right on her face could he? And that too after 3 weeks! And then she goes all crisp and curt on him, all 'Mr Arnav Singh Raizada' when he had gotten so used to hearing 'Arnav' from her...

women! The most confusing creatures on the face of earth! WHAT was he supposed to make of it??

"sir your tea" the secretary spoke cautiously..

and WHAT was the need to go vacationing to the States? Kashmir, Darjeeling, Ooty, Shimla (Arnav could very well write a book on 'Incredible India' ) and she has to go the States? Couldn't her relatives come to her.. like that..that..brother of hers? But no,of course it had to be her to go!!

"sir your tea" the secretary reminded him..

and how long would she be there? 2 weeks? 4? Height of unprofessional behavior ! An assistant editor and goes vacationing for eternity!! shame!

"sir..it's getting cold"

and what excuse would he give for calling her there? Of course he wouldn't be able to call her..fine! The engagement was fake! But she was his fiance ! Why couldn't he call her? But then, what would she think-"

"Sir your-"

"JUST POUR IT OVER MY DAMN HEAD!!"