To Love or Not To Love

Chapter 31

If anyone was looking at Arnav, right at this point in time, they would have seen him turn a deep shade of jade green. And although he didn't want to admit it to himself, Khushi calling out to Aman in her sleep sort of spelled murder, only he wasn't sure who he was supposed to murder. From his gentle stance of crouching next to her, Arnav was now standing right near her head and the files, tapping his feet impatiently, while Khushi was busy trying to pull her wits together and pick up the pile that stretched from her stomach, right unto her nose.

"Ms. Gupta..," began Arnav, only to be cut short by Khushi's rant.

"Here you go Arnavji. All the files you wanted me to work on for today. I know I shouldn't have brought them home but then I didn't want to risk staying late at work and not getting transport back home. Luckily for me, Aman offered to drop me home. He even stayed over and helped me complete all the work," she completed, all in one breath. Arnav was just about to interrupt her when she took a deep breath and continued: "Honestly, I don't know what I would have done without his help. Some of this is not even my domain and yet you expect me to work on all this in such a short time. I have started believing you think I am Wonderwoman. While I am flattered that you think so highly of me, the fact of the matter is that I am still JUST a trainee designer at AR, and I have no idea about your vendors or what they sell or buy or who you like to work with for what."

And saying that, she plonked the entire set of files into the able hands of Arnav Singh Raizada and turned around to go when Arnav called out to her to stop. Two things had struck him at once - the first that Khushi had completed the seemingly impossible task she had been given, of course, because of Aman's help. He knew Aman had enough work of his own, with the merger just a couple of months away. And yet, he had taken time out of the extremely hectic schedule to help Khushi - a trainee - with her work.

The second was slightly less obvious, but then again if he didn't pay attention to detail, he would never have become the Arnav Singh Raizada, which was that Khushi had referred to his colleague as Aman, dropping the suffix 'ji' that she practically used for every other person in their workplace.

And therefore, while Khushi was busy making her way back to her apartment, doing a mental jig, the ASR coolly walked up to her, turned her around and dumped all the files back into her hand.

"But...," stuttered Khushi.

"This is work. And I don't like to bring work home. Give them to me tomorrow at AR and then we can discuss why you couldn't complete your task by your deadline. We just might have to rethink your appointment at AR after all!"

And just like that, he turned around, leaving a seething Khushi staring after him, while he swiped his card and entered his apartment.

******

"Raakshas," muttered Khushi under her breath. How dare he? Well, who was she kidding? He always dared and got away with it. But this was ridiculous. Why was he being so difficult? She had stayed up all night to finish his work, had even skipped dinner. And he, he didn't even bother to look at what she had done. He was busy thinking about how he could get her to leave AR. Really, why did he want her to leave AR? She was good. He colleagues had told her so. Her manager had told her so. She was hardworking. She was likable. What was his problem?

And with that, she started thinking about the current problem she had at hand. You never got rickshaws early in the morning to take you to Connaught Place. It would be easier to negotiate a ransom deal with the Underworld before an auto rickshaw fellow decided he would drive you there for a reasonable fee. Carrying these files on public transport was not really an option Khushi was considering.

And so at 1.00 am in the morning, she reached out to the only person, who she could think of for help - Aman.

******

It was 1.30 am when Aman's phone rang, disturbing his blissful tryst with sleep. He got up, rubbing his eyes and answered the phone without looking at who the caller was. Only one person bothered him at this time of the night - Arnav.

However, his polite but groggy "yes" was greeted by a frantic female voice on the other end of the line. Who was this woman, who was calling him at this ungodly hour? He switched on his bedside lamp, reached out for his spectacles and casually glanced at the caller id while taking a sip of water from the glass that was near him.

"Khushi?"

"Yes Aman, I really need your help. Arnavji refused to take the files in here. He asked me to give it to him at work. And I can't take them to work on public transport. Can you please pick me up tomorrow morning and give me a ride to work? I will forever be indebted to you for your kindness."

"What did you try doing Khushi?" Aman asked, glancing at his watch to make sure it was 1.30 am.

"I tried to give these files we worked on back to Arnavji."

"When?"

"An hour ago?'

Aman rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"What happened," he asked, knowing fully well that the answer would lead to more trouble.

"After you left at 11.00pm, I took all the files and went to Arnavji's apartment. But he wasn't there. So I decided to wait at his door for him to come back. I don't know when but I must have fallen asleep there. And I was rudely woken up by Arnavji tapping his feet right next to my head, which was resting peacefully on the files." Khushi was her usual dramatic self.

"Did you tell Arnav that I helped you with the files?"

"Yes, I did."

Aman took a deep breath. He would have to face ASR tomorrow. Arnav rarely donned the ASR avatar with Aman. After all, they had been classmates and he had been with AR since its inception. And yet, he knew he would have to keep his best defenses for tomorrow.

"Okay," he said.

"Okay, what?"

"Okay, I will pick you up tomorrow. Be ready at 7.00 am"

And just as Khushi was about to thank him yet again, she heard a click. Aman had hung up on her.

Unaware of the sheer damage she had created, Khushi fell blissfully asleep.

*****

Sleepless nights were not uncommon in Arnav Singh Raizada's life. Restless ones, a whole new thing. Normally, when sleep evaded, Arnav would be able to get up, switch his laptop on and start working. Today, he wasn't able to do that. Sure enough, there was light from the laptop screen, which was currently casting a glow to his handsomely chiseled face. But that didn't mean anything. Arnav was not working, rather he couldn't work.

He had rewritten the same email three times, and yet he seemed unsatisfied by it. At the back of his mind, the image of a blissfully sleeping Khushi, waking up to Aman's name constantly played over and over again, making him want to vent his anger and frustration on every object in his line of sight.

Khushi had called out to Aman in her sleep.

Aman was taking time away from his hectic schedule to help Khushi with work.

Khushi and Aman were apparently close enough for her to drop the mandatory "Ji" while addressing him.

And he was getting worked up about something that was really none of his business.

If Arnav had stopped to think of why he was getting upset - he might have let out a loud laugh. But that really was not his current frame of mind. Aman and Khushi's "friendship" was beginning to bother him. And Arnav Singh Raizada believed in nipping all that bothered him, right in the bud. He was going to leave for Italy next week, to oversee work that was taking place on the shopfront side of things. He would take Khushi with him. He couldn't trust her to stay in AR with Aman.

At 4.30 am in the morning, Arnav Singh Raizada's travel agent was rudely woken up. "Almeida, I need one more ticket to Milan for the 31st."

"Sure, what would be the name?"

"Khushi Kumari Gupta!"