Part 11
'Arnav-ji?'
Arnav
was lost in his memories. He recalled the feeling of utter helplessness when
his parents had perished leaving him and his Di absolutely destitute. Not a penny
to their name. The embarrassment and humiliation of having to ask for money
from relatives to fulfil basic needs. The taunts. You are nothing but a
parasite left behind by your parents. He could still hear them. This had
eventually become the driving force behind his all consuming need to succeed in
life, to not owe anyone anything, to be a master of his own destiny rather a
helpless being at the mercy of other. Thus began his super fast ascend to
success. Arnav Malik, the weak boy had transformed into Arnav Singh Raizada,
super successful Business Tycoon.
Arnav
could almost see the same fire in Khushi's eyes. Just as it had been in his.
She tried
again...'Arnav-ji?' Why was he staring at her she wondered? She felt like a
specimen under a microscope. The intensity in his eyes was wonderous. Devi
Maiya, I never realised how deep brown his eyes were, and they're actually
quite nice when he's not glaring all the time, she thought slightly absent
mindedly.
This time she
succeeded and her voice broke his thoughts. Arnav blinked and narrowed his eyes
as he focused on Khushi Kumari Gupta who stood on the other side of his desk
with a quizzical expression on her face.
Arnav cleared his
throat.
'Anyway Khushi, its
late and we have an early start tomorrow. You better go home,' he ordered in
his gruff voice. 'And don't you dare be late because this meeting with Mr Roy
is very important for AR Corp - understood?!'
'No, Arnav-ji, I'll
be here on time. Good Night.'
Arnav watched Khushi
turn around and start walking out of this office. She stopped suddenly and
turned around. Her gaze remained fixed on the ground.
'I
umm...wanted..umm,' she babbled.
'Spit it out Khushi,
I don't have all night!' thundered Arnav. He hated people who mumbled. Either
say something confidently, or dont bother opening your mouth he believed.
Khushi jumped, her
words came tumbling out in the next instant. 'I just wanted to thank you for
getting me out of the printing room this evening,' she whispered and then
turned around and walked to her desk.
Arnav watched her
pack up and prepare to leave. Thank God, at least now there would be some peace
and quiet.
HEY!! Yelled the
Angel. Yeah you!! Its 10:50pm at night, are you seriously going to let her go
home alone on public transport at this time?!! I mean look at her - she's such
a tiny little thing in this big bad world; go protect her you silly git!
He does have a point,
said the Devil.
Arnav stood up,
grabbed his laptop which he stuffed into its bag and strode out of his office
into Khushi's office.
She was bent over
trying to pull her big cloth handbag from the drawer.
The devil let out a whistle...nice
ummm... view.
'What the F**K???!'
Since when had Arnav Singh Raizada begun checking out his employees he wondered
to himself - it's ok, Raizada, it's the lack of sleep. You just need to get
home, get some decent shut eye and the world will be back to normal in the
morning - none of this crazy nonsense about a certain Ms Gupta's lips, or he
grimaced, whatever else.
'Ummm...Khushi?'
She jumped up and
whacked her head against the desk and grimaced in pain as she sank to her
knees.
'CAREFUL!!!' yelled
the Rakshas as crouched down on his knees and came down to her level.
'Watch what you are
doing! Are you hurt? Let me have a look' he barked at her as he came closer. He
cupped the back of her head whilst the fingers on the other hand gingerly
examined her head for a cut.
She could smell his
cologne and that unique scent that was Arnav Singh Raizada. Her heart slowly
began picking up its pace. It must be the blood rushing down after that knock
to my head she thought.
Well thankfully there
was no blood, but there'll be one hell of a bruise there tomorrow, thought
Arnav as he ran his fingers along her hairline. His eyes wandered down to hers
which were clamped shut as she grimaced in pain. And then she opened them.
Arnav's gaze locked into hers. Her eyes are the colour of brandy, never noticed
that before he thought to himself. Well, perhaps you should pay closer
attention in the future; I mean I keep pointing things out to you because
you're a bit dim in these things, but do you listen...nooo! chimed the Devil.
Khushi groaned.
Great. Now there's bound to be another telling off for her. She prepared
herself.
'Khushi, are you ok?'
he said in a low tone, 'here let me help you up.'
Arnav took hold of
her shoulders and helped her up, her head coming just under his chin. Hey -
maybe you should give her a hug to make it all better, whispered the little
devil.
He cleared his
throat, 'are you ready to leave Khushi? I'll drop you home.' It was not a question.
Devi Maiya - he wasn't
yelling at her AND he was being nice, Khushi was really confused. 'Nahi Arnav-ji,
hum khud chaale jayenge' she answered as
she bit her lip.
Arnav couldn't help
but stare as she bit her bottom lip. He had to agree with the devil. He blinked
as he heard her call out his name.
'Stop being difficult
Khushi, let's go' he ordered.
They headed to the elevator
to travel down to the basement where his car was parked, walking silently with
him one step ahead of her. Actually, he was walking whereas she was doing a
mini run behind him thanks to his long strides, thought Khushi. They entered into the elevator, Arnav stood
slightly in front of Khushi. She looked up, he has such broad shoulders, never
noticed that before, and that jacket must be made to measure for him she
thought absent mindedly.
The elevator binged
and the doors slide open. It was quite dark and cold in the basement despite
the dim glow of intermittently placed
overhead bulbs. Khushi instinctively moved closer to him. Arnav felt her slide
closer to him, her right hand brushing against his left. He was just about to
tell her to step back when the angel whispered 'it's the darkness remember?
She's afraid of it. Just let her be'. Arnav decided to heed the angel's advise
and continued walking quietly.
Meanwhile Khushi was
silently praying to Devi Maiya; not for the fear of darkness, but thanking her
that Arnav-ji was down her with in this darkness. For some reason, it wasn't so
scary with him. She didn't realise that he had stopped and bumped into his
back. Oh oh Devi Maiya. 'Uhh sorry Arnav-ji,' she mumbled.
Arnav turned around
and glared at her but didn't say a word. He then clicked the unlocking device
on his car keys and opened the front passenger door of his SUV and nodded his
head to the left, 'Get in'.
Khushi scrambled into
the high car. Whilst she had seen his car a million times, she had never been
inside it. Her eyes widened as she took it all in as she sank into the butter
soft chocolate brown leather seat. Devi Maiya, it was like being inside an
aeroplane cockpit she thought, not that she's been in an aeroplane, but had definitely
seen pictures of one. She took a deep breath, inhaling a mix of the scent of
leather and a unique scent that was Arnav Singh Raizada. The car dipped as he
stepped in and shut the door.
'Put your seatbelt on
Khushi,' he ordered in his usual gruff manner.
She turned around to pull
the seatbelt. It was stuck.
Arnav watched her.
For heaven's sake, how long does it take to put on a seatbelt??! At this rate,
they'd still be in the car park just in time for the work day tomorrow. That's
it, he thought.
Why wasn't it coming
out thought Khushi as she continued to struggle. Suddenly she felt a warmth against her back,
and his hand appeared and settled on the belt in the next instant. He pulled
and the catch was released.
'Turn around Khushi
otherwise I can't buckle you in.
She felt his breath
against her ear. He arm came to rest across her shoulder as his hand lay on the
seat belt clasp. Devi Maiya, why is he so close to me, why do I feel like I can't
breathe?? Goose bumps began appearing on her skin.
Click.
Arnav moved back into
his seat and slide the keys into the ignition.
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