UE part 5

Khushi held the pen tightly between her teeth as she ran her eyes once again over the sheet of paper before her...she breathed in and sitting up on the bed stretched herself..sitting like that bent over the paper had made her go all stiff...

Khushi Kumari Gupta was smart. Smart and crazy. And she had a heart.. and a shining one at that...

She was smart, she was a reporter...but there was a point where Arnav had gone terribly wrong..she was not unethical...far from it..

Thrice she had cross checked the article to confirm that not a hint of Arnav's personal life's shadow fell on it...it was an article, strongly worded enough to put the AR's group reputation at stake...enough to ensure many sleepless nights ahead for him...enough to wreak a havoc, but search it with a magnifying glass for even a mention of Anjali, family, relationship status, and you would be a disappointed person...

So what did it hold? Khushi had been an MBA student..from a reputed university...she literally licked up business magazines( while Paayal cast apprehensions that she was actually trying to memorize the articles up) , had everything to put to rest if a thing of the corporate world sprang up before her eyes...people often asked her wondrously why on earth she hadn't gone into business..

but that was it! She didn't want to be a business woman...she knew she was not the kind...even if she had the talent within her..she just loved exploring their world..from a distance...like one staring amazed at the screen of one's television..loving the story, but never wanting to be a part of it...like a viewer, like an audience, like...like a business column reporter for a national daily?? or better still as a media adviser to a corporate house?? but that was a big dream, she was happy with what she had at the moment...

So, the article...it had flaws pointed out..subtly , effectively , smartly but not even for once looking as if biased...flaws, in not customer but employee satisfaction, a big potential blow to the intakes of a company, flaws in what AR had lost in the past years...flaws which had been hidden from the sight of the world by the master mind of Arnav Singh Raizada with such expertise, you'd say they never existed in the first place...it hit , it hit at points which made you go ouch, and it didn't miss, even once..

It had been a far from easy task for her...it had cost her several long tiring hours. Even writing a one page article on the shortcomings in Arnav Singh Raizada's business expertise required a long,excruciating exercise of one's genius.

And it was the same genius that wrote the article who was now being literally dragged along the floor by her sister towards the dining table..

"nooo... I thought India got independent 60 something years back!! you can't force me to this!!!nooo..."

"KHUSHI WHAT WILL YOU TAKE TO END THIS DRAMA EVERY DINNER TIME??"

"Freedom to eat by will, freedom of choice, freedom of expression-"

"SHUT UP! MAAA.!!! Tell khushi to shut up or i'll lose it"

"Let her starve if she wants to!! when does she care about me anyway?? i'll eat in the morning to i'll eat in the afternoon to i'll eat at dinner to I won't eat...let me die with worry! What's to her??"

Khushi blinked at her choking mother...then walked up and threw her arms around her..

"Are maaa..my lovely maa, my darling maa, my sweet maa-"

"Don't you butter me up! If you really love me..get this into that empty stomach of yours.." her mother pushed the dinner plate towards her..

"this emotional blackmailing will be the end of me.." Khushi sighed as she collapsed on the chair and pulled the plate towards her..

Then her eyes popped with delight as she saw the pasta in front of her..

"PAASTA? PAASTA WAS FOR DINNER? Seriously jiji if you had just told me this was waiting..you could have saved yourself from burning all the calories in dragging me you know.."

"shut up before I hit you"

"message received...shut upped.."she mumbled...

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Arnav felt as if the walls of RM were closing in on him..a strange gloom had fallen over the place..he had to go out..he needed air desperately...

Khushi kept popping in his mind time again which served only to triplicate his anger... he would see to her..that was if she ever had the misfortune to pass by him again..he'd see her alright..

Then the confusing thought of her having helped his sister sprang up in his mind...why did she do it? Chotte must have thanked her...nani's words rung inside his ears...thank her? Her? How??

"beware of the power of our pens Mr. Raizada" the voice echoed in his ears as he sat behind the steering wheel...in all probability she'd be writing an article...she had seen the scene at his home today...he was sure he'd not be surprised if he saw some rubbish or the other in the papers next day...

he'd deal with it... stuff written on his personal life..after all he had dealt with it before...

and he quickly brushed her thoughts aside as his thoughts turned to his sister again..

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"have you even seen the time...are you planning to kill me with worry?? It's 10!!"

"so?' she asked casually

"so! So i'll tell you why so! You are not moving out of the house alone at 10:00 in the night and certainly not to buy ice creams!! seriously, will you ever grow up?"

"what's so horrendous about that?? plus I know jiji wants to eat one and you know I cannot refuse her.."

"excuse me!" paayal turned shocked at her.. "when did I come in this picture??"

Khushi blinked her eyes repeatedly " we are sisters...we are same blood...you want something and my heart knows it the next second..the telepathy of love, the-"

"shut up! If there was a thing of the sort you'd know I am very well going to hit you right now.."

"see? You need to cool down..and therefore the ice cream!!"

people were still shouting behind her when she clicked the door of her house shut...

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He shut the door and leaned against his car...throwing his head back he closed his eyes...it was late, and at 10:00 most of the local shops around had closed except a few...

it was an area far from the posh milieu that he lived in.. there were mainly small-sized apartments..some single unit small houses...a place where he could avoid the harsh eyes of people around, put his outer mask off and enjoy a little solace..

---

Khushi held the icecream pack in the packet held between her arched fingers..it had really gone eerily quiet around the neighborhood ...she'd better be home for two reasons...first, it was hot, and the ice cream was fast melting..second, her mother would go crazy if she was late any further...

wind blew her hair onto her face and she shook her head to get it off..

and that's when she saw him..

leaning against his SUV , head thrown back, eyes bloodshot , then closed...

she was numbed at the sight..

was he.. she shook her head again to ensure she wasn't imagining things...no it was really him..

at this time?? here?? like this??

in the same day she had seen two completely opposite sides of Arnav Singh Raizada..

her mind wandered to that piece of article shut in her drawer...her eyes traced his face once again...and the melting ice cream drops trickled slowly on the road as she absent mindedly looked on...

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