UE part 7

It finally struck him...fumbling in the darkness he grabbed a torch ,opened his room door and made way for the store..that's where the old papers of the past week were kept by the domestic help..

Rummaging around for some while , he finally got hold of the paper...

It was the one in which her interview with him had been published..he quickly skimmed through the pages to reach the business section..yes! There it was...

Khushi Kumari Gupta

Indian Times

(write your feedback and comments to kkg@indiantimes.com)

kkg@indiantimes.com '.so that was it.

Back in his room, he switched on his mobile...

writing an email had never been this difficult for Arnav Singh Raizada and 15 minutes later, he had already created and deleted the following drafts-

want to talk.send number.

(no way! He didn't want to talk!)

deleted.

Please send number asap.

(please??no way..)

deleted.

Send number

(okay..too ordering..would have worked with anyone else but...)

deleted.

Damn it!!

(okay, this was of course out of frustration..)

deleted.

Need to talk . Send number now. Important .

Arnav Singh Raizada.

(ASR_AR@ARGroup.com)

sounds good.

On second thoughts he deleted the 'important' out of the message. For one, anything he had to say would of course be important...secondly, it put him at the risk of sounding too desperate..

your email has been sent to kkg@indiantimes.com . Save contact?

No way...

Her phone buzzed beside her.

"Khushi just how many times will I have to tell you to shut the thing before bed??"

Khushi mumbled something obviously inaudible by virtue of the fact that two pillows covered her face..

"must be a service message. Don't bother" Paayal whispered to her..

Khushi slowly got up , eyes all dreamy and fumbled for the alarm clock..

"nah jiji..it's my email tone..what's the time? 2:30??? what lunatic is sending me a mail at 2:30?"

she fumbled for her phone..

Paayal had fallen back to sleep..

she read and re-read the name at the bottom of the mail...

Cement pile??? mailing her?? at 2:30 a.m.?? this man was a certified goner..

was it about the article?? she wondered...

compose message-

{

94319523xx

I was sleeping.

People usually do that at 2:30 a.m.

Thank you so much Mr. Raizada.

Khushi

}

Arnav sat up straight as Khushi's message shone on his screen. After reading ,the last thing he wanted to do was call her. How . Dare .she. Sleep or snore! As if he gave a damn! His eyes screamed anger as he grinded his teeth...

After 10 minutes of cursing circumstances, he finally digested the fact that he had to call her...

he dialed the number...

Khushi was startled as her phone started ringing beside her... now he was calling her?? had this man lost it..?

the noise made Paayal wake up from her slumber too...

she got up dreamily ,clapped her hands before Khushi and moaned..

"please...SHUT IT OFF!! ...wait a minute...who's calling you at this time?"

Khushi received the phone

"hello"

"Arnav Singh Raizada.."

she lowered the mobile and whispered to her sister as low as she possibly could..

"cement pile"

"CEMENT PILE AT 2:45????" Paayal exclaimed..

"shhh" Khushi panicked and pointed to the phone..

Paayal made an 'oops' face..

The cement pile reference had made it's way loud and clear to Arnav's ears..

"are you on the phone or should I call after you've finished ?"

Slowly rounding her hair into a bun with one hand she got off the bed..

"I'm here..carry on"

"about that article-" Arnav began...

Khushi bit her lower lip as her eyes danced with mischief..

"so you read it.."

As Khushi made her way out to the attached balcony Payal shook her head in disbelief...maa would be too glad to see this sight...2:45 , Khushi on the phone, beneath the starry sky, talking to Arnav Singh Raizada...

"I thought you were braver than this.." Arnav spoke..

"excuse me?"

"your publishing this article in the papers would be a plain act of cowardice"

Khushi raised her eyebrows..

"oh really? Would you mind explaining how?"

"if you have the guts to criticize a multinational company this openly, have the guts to face the answers too.."

"you mean-"

"i mean" he interrupted "that AR has a response to all the points you have raised.I am sure we can answer all your queries to satisfaction but it cannot be done overnight"

the night wind had such a cool feel to it...the breeze slowly hit their faces...

"so-"

"so you wait till we give you an answer for this" He stared at the sheet of paper kept by his bedside.. "if satisfied,well and good, if not, go ahead and publish whatever you want.."

"...that is if you have the guts" he finished... this last sentence did it..

"oh I have all the guts Mr Raizada..fine by me..i was to give it to the editor come morning, for the papers day after..but if that's what you claim, I shall be only too glad to hear what you've got to say. I'll wait"

"Good" He spoke..

He was ten times more relieved than what he sounded...

"by the way, you must have an unofficial email address right? I would not wish to contact you via your daily's address...that is when we present you the answer.."

Khushi fumbled with her fingers..

"you can just call me!"

"call you? Call you and give you the answer to this, this whole thing? You know it's impossible. If you personally want to meet and get-"

"fine! I get it! ya..ya I have it-"

"so, I am noting it down.." he held his cellphone to his ears, grabbing a pen from the table and fixing the nib onto a sheet of paper "go on"

"um..it's.."

Arnav drew in an exasperated breath

"i said i'm listening. Go on. Have you forgotten it or something??"

"um..no . Actually I had two... but I am mostly busy on the official one so one of them lapsed last week-"

"fine then. Give me the second one" he spoke in an obvious and impatient tone..

"it's puchu-"

"EXCUSE ME?" 

colour rose on Khushi's cheeks..

"look do you want it or not?"

he rolled his eyes incredulously as he scribbled 'puchu' on his paper..

"go on"

"underscore"

"hm.."

"love you"

"WHAT??"

"puchu_loveyou@gmail.com" she spoke it all in a breath.

Oh God,why on earth had the khushi_kg@gmail.com one lapsed????

"puchu_loveyou??? like seriously???"

"you have a problem?" she cut in..

"why would I? So that's it then.."

"fine.."

"by the way-" he interrupted as she was about to disconnect..

"yes?"

"you helped di..i am-"

she smiled..

"you are?"

"i am.."

"yes, you are?"

"i am Arnav Singh Raizada. And I don't forget such things. Especially where di is concerned.." he spoke crisply.

"well i'm honoured. Anything else?" she said sarcastically...why couldn't this man just say 'thank you and i'm sorry' ???

"nothing.g' night"

"good morning"

"whatever"

and they kept the phone...

Arnav kept the phone and stared at the paper once again... puchu_loveyou??? like...unbelievable...couldn't she think of something less embarrassing? Who was puchu by the way? Hell, why was he thinking about such rubbish in the first place??

Khushi scrambled back into bed..

"finished?" Paayal asked sleepily..

"hmm.."

"maa will be glad to know this i'm sure.."

"for the love of your sister, don't.." Khushi whispered..

"i'll see..now sleep"

"hm..."

And she too switched the lights off by the bedside and rested her head back on the pillow, to get the little more sleep she could afford..

when would she get rid of this Cement Pile she wondered as she slowly closed her eyes shut...

cement pile! Of all the nerve..ran in his mind as he stretched his hands to put the bedside lamp off...

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