To Love or Not To Love

Chapter 28

It came as no surprise to Arnav that Khushi didn't make it to the designer's meeting on time. He had anticipated that. What he had not anticipated was the sheer waste of time this meeting had become due to the absence of one individual. It seemed that all his senior designers had some work pending, which was being handled by Khushi – be it the final sketches that were yet to be approved by Arnav, the liaising between production and design, the stock count or even the approximate delivery dates as to when initial apparel prototype would be ready for approval for the European partners.

To Arnav, it seemed like Khushi had become the official secretary of the entire team, something that he secretly admired but resented at this current moment in time. Because of the lack of answers and half-baked information he was getting from his core team was beginning to give him a headache.

Just as he was about to call off the meeting, he spotted Khushi, her hand on the handle of the huge glass doors that led to the conference room, smiling and speaking with Aman Bansal. She would have entered a couple of minutes ago, except for something that Aman said made her laugh and jokingly pat his arm with the folder she held in her hand.

Arnav witnessed the entire scene, his eyes spitting green and the initial headache had now turned into a full-fledged migraine, which translated into razor-sharp comments on Khushi's tardiness, the moment she stepped foot into the Conference room.

Other members sauntering out managed to give Khushi apologetic looks. They all knew what was in store for her once everyone was gone.

"Why are you late Ms. Gupta", barked Arnav, the moment the last person was out of earshot.

"Mr. Raizada, you know the answer to that question. And I would have never made it before 10 if Aman hadn't given me a lift to work."

That comment further aggravated the migraine, which was already threatening to devour Khushi's peaceful existence in AR.

"What do you mean before 10. What time do you think it is right now?"

"9.30. And I was hoping to sit in for at least half the meeting."

It was only then that Arnav glanced at his watch, to confirm what Khushi had just told him. Two things struck him at once. She was at work before he expected her to be. And she had gotten very friendly with Aman Bansal, a bit too friendly for Arnav's liking.

But before Arnav could steer the conversation in that direction Khushi continued. "Why did the meeting finish so early?"

Gathering his pen and notepad from the desk and making his way out Arnav said: "Because the group secretary was missing."

******

Khushi was back at her desk with more work than she believed she could get through in a month.

When Jade, Arnav's secretary, walked in with the files, she couldn't help expressing how sorry she was that Khushi had to go through this.

"ASR can be unreasonable. But don't let it dishearten you. Let me know if I can help you in any way and I would love to. Just make sure ASR never finds out," she said before dumping the contents on Khushi's desk and making her way back to her own.

Khushi looked at the work that had been handed down to her. There were easily a dozen files, some bursting at their seams with the amount of paperwork they held.

"Raakshas", she muttered under her breath before opening topmost one. The first page had a sticky note glued to it: Since you like playing secretary to everyone, I thought you could play one to me as well. I need all the information before you leave work tonight.

It wasn't signed but Khushi could bet her life that it had been written by Arnav. The file had all the emails that detailed the discussions with their European partners, their suggestions and queries. Some had been highlighted in blue. It seemed Arnav wanted answers to those questions. Khushi had no clue where she could start looking for them.

***

It was close to 1.30 PM when Aman Bansal just stopped by Khushi's cubicle to check if she wanted to grab a quick bite. What he saw instead was a mass of disheveled hair buried into a dull green coloured file. He cleared his throat to draw her attention, only to have her almost snap at him for disturbing her research.

"What are you doing with all these files?", he asked.

"I plan to sell it by the kilo to the chatwala who sits outside the AR premises. I'm just researching on how much I should charge him for it."

That wrung a dry laugh from Aman. But he persisted. "Seriously tell me. What work does a designer have with files that look like they belong in the accounting department?"

"Mr. Raakshas might be better able to answer that question since he was the one who sent all of this to me in the first place."

"Raakshas?"

"Arnav Singh Raizada."

The response earned a loud guffaw. "And why have you bestowed that particular honour on him?"

"You need me to give you reasons?" her eyebrows raised conveying she was far from amused.

"Not really. But you still need to tell me what are you looking for in those files."

"Look", she said and proceeded to show him the sticky note.

"Ay ay ay. So today is your unlucky day."

"Apparently it has been my unlucky day ever since I crossed paths with Mr. Raizada."

"Which was at the fashion show in Lucknow," he said before he could think about what he was going to.

"You know about that?" asked a surprised Khushi, wondering what else did Aman know about her and Arnav. Did he also know about the contract Arnav was trying to get her to sign?

"Yes. And I also know about the brutal way he treated you at and after the fashion show. I was there when he kept you locked up in that room for 48 hours for no fault of yours.

"To be honest with you, I have been meaning to apologize for my inability to do anything at that point in time for a very long time. I can't tell you how sorry I am for that and how much I really admire you for the way you've dealt with Arnav since."

Before Khushi could gather her wits to ask him more, Aman had moved beside her, peering into her files and said: "Let me see if I can help you with whatever Mr. Raakshas wants. I could order lunch here and we could eat at your desk and work."

Arnav Singh Raizada, who passed by the second floor fifteen minutes later saw Khushi Gupta and Aman Bansal eating lunch at her cubicle and laughing, yet again. Swearing under his breath, he decided to ask Aman what was going on between the two of them.