To Love or Not To Love

Chapter 21

Anjali Jha was anxiously pacing the length of her office space, glancing at her wristwatch for the umpteenth time, when she received a call from HR letting her know that Khushi Gupta was waiting in the conference room. She paused, drawing a lungful of breath and asked: "Does Chhote know?"

Another pause. A smile.

"Good. Make sure he is extremely busy for the next half hour. He should not be moving out of his cabin until I say it's okay."

Another pause.

"Well then find him something that'll keep him busy, or else find yourself another job."

Anjali shook her head. She hated threatening her employees but sometimes that was the only way to get work done. She had learned early on that compliments didn't work half as well as threats did. She didn't worry too much about it.  After all, if the "dragon lady" stopped making threats, people would think she'd gone too soft.

She put her phone down, smoothed the invisible wrinkles on her skirt, picked up the file on her desk that had Khushi's name on it and made her way towards the conference room.

*****

Khushi was pleasantly surprised to see a familiar face. She remembered Anjali from her previous visit to AR and rose to warmly greet her

"Hello, Anjaliji. It's such a pleasure to see you again. I didn't know you worked in HR."

"I don't"

"I'm sorry. In that case, I think I'm in the wrong room. Do you know if there is another conference room on this floor?"

"There isn't. And you're not in the wrong room."

Khushi looked confused. "I don't understand. I was waiting to see someone from HR to sign my contract."

Anjali paused. This was the most difficult thing she'd ever done. She might be the "dragon lady", but she had never meddled in anyone's personal life, especially her brother's.

She cleared her throat, trying to assess how best to begin what she was here to say. After a brief pause, she said: "Khushi, I believe when I introduced myself the other day, I didn't do a very good job. So let me start again. I am Anjali Jha, head of the legal department at AR and Arnav's older sister."

It took Khushi a moment to take in what she heard. As realization dawned, another emotion threatened to cloud her opinion of the woman standing in front of her. Fury. Khushi was furious at Anjali. Furious for allowing Arnav to live a rakish and roguish life. Furious for allowing Arnav to get away with destroying the lives of women. Furious for coming here to negotiate terms on behalf of her brother.

Khushi was not familiar with fury. It threatened tears. And tears were a sign of weakness. So Khushi stood still, alternating between small shallow breaths and slightly larger deep ones, willing herself to look composed.

When she spoke, it was with a calmness she did not feel. "I can assure you, Mrs. Jha, your presence here is totally unnecessary. I don't intend to sue either Mr. Raizada or AR for anything that I might believe has resulted from a biased or unfair treatment towards me."

Anjali heard Khushi's words. She noticed her tone. She exactly knew how Khushi was feeling. Khushi was not good at hiding her emotions. She was real. She was true. That thought almost wrought a smile from her before she realized that Khushi might mistake the smile for something else.

And so she did what she did best in the courtroom. She chose her next words very carefully. "I am not here for Chhote. I am here for you."

Khushi gave her a quizzical look. "Me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I don't believe you deserve what Chhote plans to give you."

"What do you mean?"

"Khushi," she said in a tone similar to placating a child, "I am not ignorant about the rakish lifestyle my brother lives."

She paused, waiting for it to seep in.

"Why now?" asked Khushi, voice raspy, her breathing erratic.

"Because you're unlike any of the others who came after him."

"I don't understand."

Anjali sighed. This girl was far removed from the workings of the society that Arnav and Anjali had been born into. It would be difficult to explain a lot of things to her. Still, she soldiered on.

"People, like Chhote, who are young, handsome and successful, often attract a lot of women, of the other type – women who want them for their money and power."

Khushi waited, for Anjali to continue, knowing there was more.

"When AR started gaining attention, women flocked to Chhote in the hopes of being the one he would marry. But Chhote didn't - still doesn't - believe in marriage. That didn't stop him from taking what the women wanted to give him. He took care of them, pampered them, bought them expensive gifts, but when he was done, he never looked back."

Anjali paused, taking a sip of water from a nearby glass on the conference table.

"And I was instrumental in making sure, these women never came back and asked for more by holding the threat of blackmail over AR Industries."

She paused again, thinking about how best to proceed.

"When I started working with Chhote I had promised myself that I would not meddle in his personal affairs as long as it didn't affect the AR Group."

"Then why are you here?" 

"Because you're not like any of the other girls who came after him. You don't care about money or power or expensive gifts. In fact, I don't even know what made you agree to his ridiculous proposal. But whatever it is, the truth is that I don't want to see you hurt.

"Khushi, as much as you might think me heartless for being a bystander all these years, I know when something is very very wrong. And you being part of Chhote's life is very wrong - not for him, for you."

"Why?"

"Because in you I can see courage and spirit and I know by the time Chhote is done with you, there will be none of that left. He takes pleasure in breaking another. He's made his fortune doing that – both in the boardroom and outside."

And just like that, Khushi remembered a fleeting statement from the conversation she had with Arnav last night. I wonder how you managed it all in such a short time. First my sister and now Ashok?

Anjali Jha was on her side. And just as the realization came, came a flurry of questions. Why did she want to go against her brother? Why now?

As if Anjali heard the unasked question. "Because I wish him to have more, more than life has ever given him. I want him to find smiles and happiness and laughter and love. I want him to find his Shyam Jha."