He brushed off her offer. "I can have those anytime. You should do
something else for me." He leaned back casually in his chair.
He had a point. She tilted her
head, curiosity on her face. "What?"
"I'll let you know" He hungrily looked at her lips.
Missing his meaning, she accepted
his wish, shrugged, and reached out to sip her tea.
Khushi's office colleagues kept
on praising her on a job well done. Rakesh Suri was extremely proud of her. He
doted on her like she was his child. Well, she was. Though not by blood.
But he had been very good friends
with her parents. He'd insisted time and again that she call him masa, but she
remained professional and called him Sir in the office. It made him feel weird,
but, whatever she wanted was fine.
At this moment, Khushi wanted to
get away from the spotlight that was currently shining very brightly on her.
She was not one to shy away from credit, but she just wanted some space to
herself at the moment.
She could not explain the
restlessness she was feeling. But she knew why she was feeling it. It was
because of a certain tall, handsome man with whom she had been standing so
close to earlier, so close that she was afraid he could hear her erratic
heartbeats as her poor heart struggled to beat rhythmically at his closeness.
She remembered how just before
she'd left, he'd asked her for her number. "For business discussions" He'd explained. She was almost about to give
her her old number, when she realized he would figure out that she was Khushi.
*Previously*
"Okay then. Bye" he reluctantly said.
"Bye" she whispered.
"Wait!" he called out quickly. He was relieved to hear her
respond. With a ji?
"Give me your number, Khushi" he asked
innocently.
"Uh?" Khushi's eyebrows reached her hairline. She felt shivers
with the way he said her name. What happened to addressing her as Ms Gupta?
"Um my number is" she rattled off her number, unaware of the satisfaction a
certain Raizada achieved by getting her number.
*Present time*
And so she gave him her new
number, the company phone she'd gotten from Ritesh after her old one had broken
when she'd fallen down after tripping on the heel.
It had been a day since he'd
helped her down to his conference room. A day since they'd shared a decent,
lighthearted chat. A day since she'd developed these foreign, strange,
unexplainable feelings. She felt like so much had happened so quickly, when
really, nothing had happened.
Nothing much anyway.
Yes, she'd managed to convince
one of the biggest brands in the market to join their event. And yes, she'd
managed to personally speak with the apparently very elusive ASR. Also a yes,
she'd had tea with the man.
Not a lot of people can say the
same.
Okay, so maybe a lot had
happened. But that didn't mean that she could stray from reality.
She needed to remember that they
were partners, nothing more, nothing less. She needed to keep her.. her
feelings in check. She could not afford to fantasize about him. It was absurd
to even think that he may feel the same.
If he did, he didn't show it.
Plus, he was a high profile man,
busy, powerful, everything she wasn't. God, why was she even thinking of this?
Comparing their lifestyles? Shaking her head clear of such silly thoughts, she
forced herself to smile and sipped on her juice. The office was pampering her.
"Khushi, you have done us all proud. I can't
even believe it. You're not a sales person and yet you managed to close a deal,
such a very big deal. You have no idea what this means. Having AR listed as one
of our clients will strengthen our portfolio and take us to higher levels.
Everyone, let us all toast to her. To Khushi!" Rakesh raised his glass, unable to keep the
pride away from his voice as he smiled widely at her.
Khushi looked at him with a face
so sweet that he couldn't help but think of her parents. Garima, Shashi, I know you'd be so proud of her.
"To Khushi" Everyone raised their glasses, some clinking
them together as they said cheers.
Khushi looked at everyone
gratefully, mumbling thanks here and there. She appreciated the enthusiasm
everyone was showing, but she longed to go back to her desk and clear her head
for a while.
Rajesh spotted Ritesh making his
way towards Khushi and stiffened. Rajesh didn't like the way Ritesh looked at
Khushi. With hunger. Rajesh grit his
teeth as Ritesh grabbed her elbow and turned her towards him as he grinned.
Before she could say anything,
she felt arms around her. Caught unexpected and shocked, immediately she tried
to take a step back, feeling uncomfortable. Her mind raced back to yesterday when
another arm had been around her. She hadn't reacted this way then.
Ritesh's grin dimmed a little,
feeling her trying to move back. Calming a sudden flare of anger, he moved
back, his hands holding her shoulder to keep her in place. Near him.
"Khushi, you're my doll. You've done so well today!" He squeezed her shoulder's, massaging them
slightly.
Khushi smiled. At least she tried
to. She looked at his hands on her, and then looked down at her feet. Ritesh
watched her closely, noting that she looked reluctant standing there with him.
His hands on her tightened briefly. She looked up at him. Taming himself, he
let her go. He didn't miss the look of relief on her face. His fists clenched.
Rajesh, looking at the scene
before him with disgust and anger, quickly took the opportunity to break the
scene. "Alright everyone, it's still
work time" he chuckled lightly, trying to send away everyone, namely Khushi
away from Ritesh. It worked.
Khushi looked at him thankfully and
Rajesh nodded at her. He looked on satisfied as Ritesh's jaw locked while
Khushi walked away.
As she walked, she realized her
limp was less pronounced than it was yesterday. Her cheeks warmed as she
thought back to the time she'd spent with Arnav..ji. How difficult it had been
for her to say his name!
Reaching her desk, she sank down
onto her seat. A rush of feelings went through her and she finally realized
what she'd achieved. She felt giddy knowing that because of her, her company
clinched a big deal. Smiling to herself, she spun around in her swivel chair,
stopping abruptly as she spotted Ritesh leaning against the pillar near her.
Him again? When did he come?
She straightened up on her chair
and eyed him warily. He was a nice man, but something didn't sit right with
her. Specially the way he seemed to treat her. He was too nice to her. She was
about to stand but he indicated for her to remain seated. Had he felt bad that
she hadn't returned his hug? Was that what he'd come to talk about? He spoke
before she could.
"Khushi, firstly I want to know how you did
it. Khuraisha told us her meeting with ASR went horrible."
*Previously*
"Pleasure to meet you, Mr Raizada" she
purred, emphasizing on the word pleasure. She trailed a finger down his tie.
She tilted her head. She was thrilled at his response. It wasn't every day that
ASR was speechless. Well, it seemed like ASR was totally stunned by her. A rush
of excitement made her shiver.
"My name is Khu-" she
began introducing herself.
"Get out." He snapped.
Her
eyes widened with shock and she nearly flinched at his commanding voice. All
her excitement died down. What..?
"Excuse me?" she
asked incredulously. Hadn't he just been ogling at her? And now he wanted her
out?
~
"What do you mean by the meeting went
horrible?" Ritesh asked angrily, his booming voice echoed through the cabin. Khushi
shut her eyes tight and scrunched her nose. Oh
no, she gulped. Rakesh added "You
should've gone with her." Ritesh left the cabin angrily. Khuraisha shook
her head and rolled her eyes discreetly.
*Present time*
"So then what happened? How did you get AR on
board? And why did you even go there? Isn't your ankle still sprained?" Ritesh folded his arms across his chest.
Rather than explaining the whole
story, about how she went as Khushboo and stuff, she simply explained that she
requested a meeting with ASR and discussed the event details with him.
"It was luck. And I'm glad that luck favored
us and therefore Arnavji has agreed to participate with us." She stared ahead, smiling as she said his
name and thought of him.
Ritesh tensed. He didn't miss the
way she referred to him as Arnavji. Not even ASR as the rest called him, but
Arnavji. And here he himself had been trying to get her to say his name. But
she always called him Sir. Irrational as it was, he was angry.
Brushing those thoughts aside, he
went on to the reason he was there.
"Well, whether it was luck or not, I still
think that you deserve full credit. As part of the company's policy to treat
our staff and to appreciate your efforts, I'm taking you out to dinner. You and
I will celebrate. Tonight." Excitement
filled him at the thought of being alone with her for a night. He would choose
a perfect romantic restaurant, buy her flowers and make her feel special. Of
course, he would grab any other bonuses for the night after dinner too..
In all his mental arrangements
for the night, he missed the way Khushi shifted in her chair. He wanted to take
her out? Just the two of them? But he was her boss.. it wasn't appropriate. How
come I've never heard of anyone else being treated to dinner? How do I get out
of this, she wondered. Would he be offended if she said no? Earlier she hadn't
returned his hug, and now if she refused him again..
Ritesh looked at Khushi and saw
her hesitating. Uncrossing his arms, he moved closer to her desk and sat on the
edge of it. Khushi had to strain her neck to look up to him from her seat.
"You can't refuse me, Khushi." Ritesh said with a hint of possessiveness.
Khushi frowned. "I mean, it's the least
I can do" Ritesh quickly added.
"Ji, but it's not necessary, Sir," Khushi said gently.
Again with the Sir, Ritesh
thought irritated.
Before he could demand her to go
with him, her phone started ringing. Innocently lying on the table, it started
to vibrate as it flashed an oncoming call. Her screen lit up. Arnavji, it read.
Ritesh looked at her phone and
then at Khushi whose face was bright with eagerness. She would've leaped
forward and taken the call, but with her boss there, she restrained herself.
He gripped the edge of the table
where he sat and resisted the urge to grab her phone and smash it to pieces.
Why was she getting a call from her Arnavji?
And why did she seem so happy about the call? If there was something going on,
he would.. he would do something about
it. He clenched his jaw.
He calmed a little when she
didn't pick it up. Soon, the call ended, and so did Khushi's eager heart beats.
But in less than five seconds, it rang again.
From the same caller.
Khushi reached for her phone and
stared at it for a second before looking up to Ritesh apologetically. He
understood that she wanted to receive the call.
And by doing so, she wanted to
brush off his dinner invitation. Well, he would let no A, S or R excuse away
their date. She was going with him, and that was final.
Standing up tall, he stepped away
from the desk and towered over her. "No
excuses Khushi. Tonight. Be ready, I'll get you at 6pm when work is over." The
order was loud and clear. Before she could reply, he looked at her phone
distastefully and spun on his heels, leaving quickly before she could refuse.
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Chapter 12
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Chapter 14
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