ArShi SS: Paper Planes

Chapter 3: Sing

A/N: Apologies for the delay!

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The rest of the day goes by rather uneventfully, with everyone in the office working without a pause to meet a project deadline. I keep thinking back to my conversation with Khushi in the office kitchen, wondering what had brought on a certain sense of refrain from her end.

Another hour slowly passes and it is almost five o'clock. I notice some of my coworkers start to pack their things to leave for the day when suddenly, the the reception phone starts to ring.

"Penn Papers, this is Khushi. How may we- Oh! Roy, it's you,"

I didn't think much of it until I heard her laugh momentarily while on the line. A sudden urge to find out who this Roy is ignites within me.

"Wait what? Oh... okay... Yeah, talk to you later,"

I watch her put the receiver back on its place, her features looking distant.

"Hey, do you know who Roy is?" I whisper, leaning to my left toward Sumit, my coworker turned friend.

"Roy? He's Khushi's fiance."

I slump in my seat, trying to take it in. Piecing it all together I realize that this is the reason behind her refraining, and also why she turned down my question about dinner tonight.

She's probably going out with her fiancé.

I sigh heavily, smiling wryly at my luck. I fell for the receptionist, only to find out that she belongs to someone else.

It is now 5:30 pm, and the office is almost empty as everyone starts to leave. I say bye to Sumit and a few others after which I notice that the only people remaining are me, Khushi and our boss, Ranveer. Ten minutes or so later, he comes out from his cabin with his briefcase and coat in hand.

"You two have work to finish?" Ranveer asks, zipping his coat on.

"I have a few more slides for this presentation to complete," I reply, typing away.

"And you, Khushi?"

She looks as if she's been caught off guard as she fiddles with a pen. "I just have to return a few voicemails left on the company line,"

From the past few weeks that I have known her, I've started to memorize her work schedule as well as her work ethic. Something about left over voicemails just doesn't sound true to me. Then why is she staying back at the office?

"Alright then. I'll see you two tomorrow morning. Don't work too late!"

We spent the next 20 minutes working in silence, the only sounds being my keyboard clicking, along with her voice on the phone. There was so much I wanted to say to her, so much I wanted to know, but it wasn't the right time, nor the right circumstance. After finishing my last slide I look towards her while packing my things.

"Hey... just finished the presentation. You done with your work?"

She smiles, putting things back in her purse. "Yeah, I'm done here too,"

We put on our coats and I turn the office lights off before we walk side by side to the elevator. I can sense her gaze on me but I choose not to notice. Looking into those eyes will only make me lose my sanity, especially now that I know she is engaged to another man.

"By the way, is that dinner offer still open? Turns out I am free tonight," She softly says.

I look at her in surprise, before my lips curve upwards. "Sounds like a plan,"

"So, where are we going?"

I bite my lips in anticipation and bit of mischief. Without a warning, I run inside the office to the vending machine.

"Arnav! What happened?"

I can hear her confused laughter from a few feet away as I pay for two sandwiches and cans of coke from the machine. She follows me inside and I turn around, only to find her standing merely inches away. For the first time since we met, I can make out the floral scent of her perfume, the way her eyes sparkle in the dim lighting.

I follow my instincts and take her dainty hand in mine.

"Follow me,"

I see her cheeks flush at the sudden contact before she nods without a question, eagerly matching my footsteps.

Opening the door to the fire exit we walk up a few flight of stairs, finally coming across the entrance to the building terrace. I open the door, releasing the view to a beautiful skyline.

"Wow... this is amazing, Arnav,"

I look over to see her stunned expression, an inexplicable joy filling my heart seeing her this way. I had found this spot a couple of weeks ago, deciding right at that moment that I would bring her here with me one day – but I keep myself from saying this to her.

Luckily, we find two foldable chairs from the corner of the terrace and bring them to the front before sitting with our sandwiches and cans of coke.

"I must say, everything is perfect tonight. The weather is not too chilly, the skyline looks gorgeous, not to mention the cheese tastes incredible in this sandwich," She giggles at her own statement, to which I slightly smirk. "Everything is perfect – I can't choose one thing,"

There's a moment of silence. I look away towards the sky and reply.

"You,"

Khushi looks at me, confused. "What?"

"You said you can't choose one thing that's perfect tonight. But to me... that's you. You're the reason everything else feels perfect,"

She rolls her eyes, laughing, expecting me to say I was kidding. When she soon realizes I said it seriously, the smile in her eyes is replaced by longing, mirroring mine. As if caught in a broken trance she suddenly shifts her gaze, and I start to blame myself for making the situation awkward for her.

I quickly change the subject to things that are work related, soon gaining back the easy flow of conversation between us. The rest of the evening is spent enjoyment, as do two friends share.

At around 8pm we start walking down the stairs, out of the building and to the parking lot towards our cars. I take out my headphones along with my iPod and press play, putting one of the earplugs in my ear. The volume must have been loud enough, because I can see Khushi's interested gaze follow the sound of the music from my iPod.

"Country? Really?" She grins.

"Country meshed pop," I answer, handing her one of the earplugs, "You want to?"

She happily obliges, putting the other plug in her left ear. The wire causes us to move much closer than I had anticipated, a part of me rejoicing the unexpected closeness. As the soft chords of the banjo reverberates during the intro of the song, I smile when I see her slowly swaying to the beat. I don't know how or when, but I find myself swaying with her, closing my eyes and taking in the music and the lavender scent of her hair.

Baby, you've been going so crazy

Lately, nothing seems to be going right

So low, why'd you have to get so low?

You're so... You've been waiting in the sun too long

But if you sing, sing, sing, sing, sing

For the love you bring, won't mean a thing

Unless you sing

From that moment onwards, I knew I would never be able to walk across the office parking lot without thinking of this very moment.

A/N: One of my favorite chapters!

– Rain