To Love or Not To Love

Chapter 23

The conversation between herself and Khushi had left Anjali quite unsettled. Now back in her office she was thinking of all the ways she should have convinced Khushi to not sign the contract. She knew the kind of background Khushi came from, and she knew how her brother thought. Surely she could have done something more than simply telling Khushi about Arnav and leaving the decision to her.

She thought back about the latter part of their conversation.

"I don't really blame Arnav for the way he thinks. It was just what my father taught and expected of him. My father was a tough taskmaster. And Arnav in his need to make his father proud always worked himself harder than he should have. Even as a child he was a loner, preferring to spend his hours in the study than outside playing with other kids. Of course, my father's need for perfection made Arnav the sensation he is today – but somewhere he never got what he deserved from life."

Anjali paused, fleetingly looking up at Khushi and the questions in her eyes had unsettled her. "It wasn't like that with me. I was the girl and my father always pampered me. There were never really any expectations from me except that when the right time came, I would marry the person whom he picked for me. That never happened. My parents died when I was nineteen."

"How old was Arnav then?", whispered Khushi.

"Fifteen. And overnight, just like that, he was saddled with the responsibility of taking care of all of Dad's businesses. Initially, the trust took it up and ran it until Arnav completed his education, but thinking back, that might have not been necessary. Arnav was more than capable of running it even at that age, although no one would have taken him seriously.

Anjali paused yet again, summoning all her will-power to continue. "Arnav has been what he is for a very long time. And for some strange reason, I seem to not want to let him hurt you any more than he already has.

"And so as his sister I am telling you this, think again. Think very hard about what you are about to do. Whatever your reasons are, and I am quite certain they are pretty compelling, but I am also extremely sure there is another way out. Don't let him ruin your life, because even if he doesn't intend it at this moment, that is what he will eventually end up doing."

Placing her file on the conference table, Anjali said: "This is your contract with AR. Go through it. I have said what I wanted to. Now the decision is yours."

And just like that, she had walked out of the room, unsure as to what Khushi would decide. She had only hoped, that Khushi would walk away while there was still time.

*****

When Arnav found Khushi doodling tunics on a scrap paper, he could hardly believe what he was seeing. Khushi was a small-town girl who helped her dad in the sweetshop. She knew how to make jalebis. She even knew how to weigh them and how much to charge for them.

But what was she doing designing clothes? What did she know about it? And how were her strokes so perfect, almost as if she had done it many times before?

A wry smile wrought from his lips. The designs could use some more finesse. But there was a freshness to them. It almost reminded him of his work when he had just started AR.

And just like that another thought. There were a lot of things he could teach this girl about designing clothes. She would make a good student. She had the vision he was looking for in a fashion designer, and the courage to step away from the well-trodden path and explore uncharted territories.

Suddenly Arnav had more questions than he could answer. He had completely miscalculated the situation, as he realized that he didn't know who Khushi Gupta was anymore.

But before he could begin to do something about it, Khushi turned around to look at him.

"Hello Arnavji", she said, her voice sounding tired.

"ASR. That's how people refer to me."

"ASRji"

"No ji, just ASR."

"Can I just call you Arnavji? It just sounds nicer."

Exasperated, Arnav continued: "You're late."

"I was on time."

"The meeting was for 11 am"

"I was here at 11 am"

"I wasn't informed."

"That's hardly my fault."

He sighed again. This girl was getting more and more difficult. He suddenly looked up to see her file on the table. He was just about to pick it up when she said: "I haven't yet signed it. It's rather long. I thought I should take it home, read it properly and then sign it. I can highlight any changes that I might need to be made to the contract as well."

"You do know that this is not a real job right?"

"But the contract is real and I want to make sure I am not signing away my life. So in that sense, yes, it is and as a prudent individual I will only sign it once I have read each and every word that is written in this binder. Anyway, doesn't a new employee get three business days to get their contract verified by a lawyer before they have to sign it?"

One more shock. Who was this girl? First, she doodles tunics and now she is talking about HR best practices?

Another person would have been rendered speechless, but ASR was the king of bluff masters, and so donning his best poker face he said: "Sure take your three working days. But even you know as much as I do, that you will eventually sign this contract, Miss Gupta."

And just like that, Arnav walked out of the conference room – except all of a sudden he had another item on his agenda for today. He needed an urgent background check on one Ms. Khushi Kumari Gupta.