Khushi waited in the lobby all alone, tired and bored to death, not to forget that she was as hungry as anything. She glanced at her white Ice-Solid watch and sighed in frustration. Where the hell was Arnav Singh Raizada?
"I'll meet you at six thirty," she mimicked his voice before she downed her eight cup of coffee. It was almost nine and she was starving. Her stomach gurgled loudly to prove her point.
The last time she had seen him that day was early in the morning, at around seven, when she had just woken up. Arnav, on the contrary, was already ready in his dark blue Kors three-piece suit and in the process of tying his scarlet Hermes tie which looked great against his impeccable white shirt. He had been yelling orders at his assistant, urging the poor man to ready some papers for the meeting, which is in fact what had woken her up. After he had finished eating Aman Mathur up alive, he had excused himself quickly and promised to meet her at six in the evening at the Grey Gosling restaurant where he had already made reservations for them.
Arnav had wrapped her in a tight bear hug before sealing his promise with a gentle kiss on the forehead, then he had left as if his feet were not fire. Khushi smiled for an instant as she thought of her 'boyfriend'. So far, he had been the perfect gentleman, understanding her shyness. He had not done anything to come closer to her which she might not like. Anjali had even found it absurd when Khushi had confessed that they had not even kissed yet, even after five months of dating. On the other hand, Arnav understood she was not ready for such a relationship yet, just like she understood he was not ready for marriage.
"Khushi!" a shrill voice startled her. Oh crap! Not Sucker again!
Fakreen Sukhmani hopped into the seat opposite to her, right where Arnav was supposed to be sitting and having dinner. Khushi held back a wince with some difficulty as the woman gave her a mocking faux-smirk, her voice sickly sweet but sounding more like nails raking on a blackboard.
"Good evening, Fakhreen," she forced herself to say out of politeness, wondering why Arnav refused to sack the bitch. Khushi usually didn't quite let herself think this way about people but Sukhmani was an exception. She had given her wounds that would never heal completely and even her behaviour was disgusting.
But now that Khushi gave it a thought, she could be thankful enough to Fakhreen because if that day she had spoken to Arnav on the phone, perhaps she wouldn't have written such a crushing article which compelled him to come on the show. And if they hadn't met on the show, he would never have asked her out in the first place, she would never have met his Dadi and right now, they would not have been in a relationship. And anyway, Fakhreen held no importance in her life, did she?
"You are here with Arnav? Aw, it's such a pity he doesn't have enough time for you!"
Khushi narrowed her eyes but Sukhmani ignored her.
"And I think it's good afterall, you're getting the practice. To live without your boyfriend? Because Arnav's going to New York, right?"
Fakhreen registered the shock on Khushi's face immediately and clapped her hands on her mouth.
"Did I just spit that out? Oh shit! I'm so sorry! Just forget I said that! Forget you even saw me, okay?"
Swiftly, she slid off the chair and disappeared, but Khushi didn't care the least. Instead she sat there in front of the empty chair, frozen in horror. Arnav was going to New York? Why hadn't he told her anything? Just then, minutes after Fakhreen had left, the object of her thoughts appeared before her, having his hand in front of her face to bring her out of her daze.
"Kya hua tumhein? Order karein? Sorry I'm late, voh meeting-" he started to explain. (What happened to you? Shall we order?...)
But she interrupted him without listening. "Arnav?"
"Yeah?" He seemed quite uncertain. Khushi was acting odd.
"Why did you bring me here?"
Arnav frowned and smirked, both at the same time. "Why? Because I wanted to spent some time with you. I have the right, don't I?"
She forced a smile on her face, her eyes examining his face, searching sincerity. Which she did find in his eyes... Maybe, she ardently hoped, maybe Fakhreen was lying. She and Khushi weren't best friends after all and it was obvious she envied ASR's girlfriend...
***
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Nothing," she shrugged.
Arnav gripped her upper arms and pulled her tight against him. "No, there is something wrong with you, Khushi. You've been acting strange since last night. You're angry with me for the meeting, right? Hey, I told you I'm sorry about turning up late! See, I'm spending the whole day with you today!"
Khushi shook her head. "It's okay, I understand."
"Then what is it?" he thought for a bit, then she felt him go stiff all of a sudden. "Did you meet Sukhmani yesterday? Did she tell you something?"
She felt herself blush deep but the defensive edge in his voice arose her suspicions. She lifted her chin slightly and looked at him attentively.
"No, why? Should she?"
He sighed – in relief? – and shook his head. "Just asking, I know you hate her. I'm sorry for that too, but she's particularly good at handling these clients of mine. She absolutely had to come, but assure yourself, I made her leave this morning itself," he grinned, slowly enveloping her in his warm embrace.
Yet, there was no smile on Khushi's face. It worried him because he had seldom seen her beautifully drawn lips he so desperately wanted to kiss dropped at the corners. His Khushi really seemed unhappy.
"Khushi, what's wrong?" he near pleaded.
Arnav watched her tilt her head to one side and look at him.
"Do you love me, Arnav?"
He frowned at her. "Of course, silly! Would I be here with you if I didn't?"
Maybe his way of abandoning her for the meetings too often was upsetting her. He had to take the gloominess away, to bring back his Khushi, his eighth wonder of the world out.
"You want to know how much?" he asked, suddenly getting an idea. Her eyes widened. "Jitna kabhi Dilip Kumar ne Madhubala se kiya hoga," he said, mimicking the actor way of speaking. Khushi broke into a smile. This fun side of Arnav was so rare. (Like Dilip Kumaar would have loved Madhubala...)
"Aur jaisa Devdas ne kabhi Paro se kiya hoga," he tried again, this time imitating Shah Rukh Khan in the movie Devdas, also enacting the part where he lifted his arms, then nearly let himself fall over Khushi in a mock-drunken stupor. (And like Devdas would have loved Paro...)
She flattened her hands on his broad chest and laughed, her head thrown back. "Stop it!"
Arnav chuckled and held onto her. She was one girl who could light up his whole world with that great smile of hers, and she was also the one who had the power to throw him into darkness if she was sad. His face buried in her sweet apple scented hair, he found himself in heaven...
***
Khushi let herself slide into the midnight blue suede couch in the living room of the apartment. If she believed the note Anjali had left, she was out shopping for Shyaam's birthday which was round the corner. In less than a week, in fact.
She grabbed the remote control and switched the TV on, feeling extremely bored. After a few minutes of futile zapping, she sighed and turned it off and grabbed the latest copy of the Tatler magazine, which most probably Anji had bought. She flicked it open and devoured several fashion articles she would die for before she finally stumbled on a pair of coffee-coloured orbs, staring at her out of the magazine.
She smiled in amused confusion at Arnav's face. Strange thing, he hadn't told her he had done an interview for the Tatler. Khushi rolled herself up to sit in a foetal position and drank in the words that were written on the following pages. The interview had most likely been after Arnav had won the Businessman of the Year Award. She stopped cold on reaching the Slambook section.
Relationship status: Single.
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