Chapter 18

“Is the poha spicy khushi?” Shalini asked Khushi in a concerned voice as she sat with a faraway look, her face scrunched up “Uh....no nani, its fine...why do you ask?” Khushi asked resuming her eating while taking small sips of her now warm green tea

“Nothing...you seem to be worried, is it because of that detective?...” she asked her as Khushi shook her head “I'm fine nani...its just that lots of things have happened all at once..and I don't know how to handle all this” Khushi said as Shalini leaned across and held her hand.

“You don't have to figure everything out yourself darling...your mother and I are in this together...don't think so much about all this, most of it is just formality...it'll all be over soon” she said as Khushi smiled softly “Thanks nani...I already feel better...anyways shouldn't we get going now?” she asked as she finished drinking her tea

“Yes..we should actually, Shashi will be waiting for us...will you be taking your car as well? Since your going to GR after the introduction?” Shalini asked as Khushi shook her head “No...not really...I thought it will be good to see the production for the new consignment that GR has placed.” she said as Shalini drew her eyebrows together

“Oh...Isn't Arnav looking into production? Plus right now only the preliminary work will be going on Khushi...” she said as Khushi once again smiled at her “Well...I think its best I keep a look out still...it is one of our biggest orders! GR's I mean..Arnav can come by next week when its underway” she said as her nani nodded in agreement while both walked out to the waiting car.

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Khushi breathed in a sigh of relief as she made herself comfortable in her grandmother's plush Mercedes...she looked sideways to see her nani close her eyes to rest till they reached the mills...the silence giving Khushi a chance to think about how things had suddenly taken this turn...first her father's death, then the investigation and now this....something she had least expected...but knew was bound to happen

She had thought about it all night, and had come to a conclusion that what happened between her and Arnav was not merely an emotional mistake...but it was something which was long standing...not the kiss as such, but the attraction she felt towards Arnav. She looked at the passing landscape as remembered the first time she had met him...not the meeting at the club, but the one at the press conference

He had always been handsome with a sex appeal that few men alluded...and she had followed him through tabloids and media all those years even after that horrible club incident...but she had never really thought of him in a romantic way; Yes, she appreciated his looks and personality...but like one does a celebrity...not someone she could ever think of on a serious note.

But then, the meeting at the press conference and the subsequent ones after that made her appreciate him on a more personal level...she had often thought of herself with him...but then had dismissed the thought as some kind of a mad fantasy...since she knew that till the time they were professionally linked, such things were not possible

And so she had stuffed her desires somewhere far away...and had concentrated instead on their professional relationship...something which had only gotten better with time...so much so that they could practically read what the other was thinking without voicing it....but now....now she had to go ahead and ruin it all...and Arnav?

Agreed she had been foolish to kiss him...but he...he had pulled her back for a much deeper one...one that had left her breathless and wanting more...she knew that he too was attracted towards her...she could see it in the appreciative glances he threw her way and the way he looked at her sometimes...but yesterday it had all spilled over...she wondered if they could ever go back to how things were

Thankfully she did not have to meet him today...she had made a conscious decision to avoid seeing him today and to give each other some time to get over what had transpired..she knew things would be back to normal tomorrow since neither of them were giving any importance to yesterday's incident...Plus she really did want to meet and get to know the new MD of Gupta Mills better.

“Lets go Khushi” she heard her nani call out to her as the car had come to a stop and the guards stood holding the door open for them...Khushi nodded at her grandmother as she came out of her thoughts and got down from the car. She would not think about him today...nope...No.

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“Good morning maam” Shashi said as Shalini entered his cabin along with Khushi, she smiled at him and said a quick good morning while turning her hand towards Khushi “Shashi...this is Khushi, my grand daughter...she is a parter at GR, our Joint venture with R&S...I'm sure you know all about it by now” She said with a smile as Shashi turned towards the beautiful young woman next to her

“Yes, off course...How are you doing Khushi? Nice to finally meet you” he said with a smiled as Khushi shook his hand and smiled warmly “Thanks Mr Dinkaran...its great to have you on board” she said as he smiled back “Thank you...and please call me Shashi” he said as they settled down on the couches by the window. Khushi looked around as her heart suddenly became heavy, thinking how this was her father's cabin earlier

“Khushi” Shalini asked her as she squeezed her hand, understanding Khushi's silence “You can go and have a look at the production if you'd like” She said as Khushi shook her head “No..I'll do that later...” she said while turning her head towards Shashi

“So Shashi...how do you find Gupta Mills? Hope you have settled in well?” she asked him as he nodded “Yes...everything is great...I'm yet to meet the staff, but whomever I have met so far, have been very accommodating and welcoming...the house too is perfect and my kids are ecstatic about it” he said as Khushi smiled

“Thats great....nani told me about your kids...they are more than welcome to come over anytime and use the gym or the pool in the main house...we also have a mini theatre and recreation room if they feel like it” she said as Shashi looked on warmly

“Thank you Khushi...that will be wonderful, though mind you, they are mad hatters, both of them, you give them your finger and they'll pull your arm out ” he said as Khushi laughed “Then we should get on like a house on fire!” she said as Shashi and Shalini both joined in her laughter.

After a small chat about some of the future projects both companies were vying for, they decided to head towards the conference room where the rest of the staff would be joining in for a formal introduction. They were just about to get up when they heard a knock on the cabin door and someone walked in.

“Hi...sorry I'm late” Arnav said as he stepped in, quite at a loss of words when he spotted Khushi sitting on the couch with her grandmother. When he had received Shalini Gupta's call in the morning to come and meet Shashi Dinkaran, he had assumed that Khushi must have already met him and would not be here.

He was actually glad that he could avoid meeting Khushi till later and instead spend some time with Shashi, who he really did look forward to meeting....it would provide with the best timeout before facing her again...but, guess things never work in your favor all the time.

“Arnav, glad you could make it....Shashi, this is Arnav...Khushi's partner at GR” Shalini said introducing the two men, the word 'partner' not going unnoticed by both arnav or khushi “I wanted to introduce you both to each other ...” she said looking at Shashi who shook hands with Arnav and started a conversation, thankfully leaving Khushi out of it

“Khushi, I completely forgot to tell you that I had asked Arnav to come and meet Shashi....but since Arnav is here as well, both of you should go and check on the production...and since it won't take that long, it would be best for you to go with him to GR later...no use wasting time here during preliminary production..” she said as Khushi looked on mutely while trying to avoid Arnav's gaze which kept flitting between her and Shashi

Arnav, who was trying to keep up with what Shashi was saying, kept looking at Khushi surreptitiously...he could not hear what Mrs Gupta was saying to her, but the way she stood stiff as a board, knew it wasn't something she was happy about...he tore his eyes away from her and looked back at Shashi who had an amused look on his face

“Is everything ok Arnav? You seem distracted” he said observing the way the younger man kept stealing glances at Khushi... “Yes...everything's good...anyways, we'll talk more on that new process...it sound great and will decrease our time for dyeing the richer fabrics” Arnav said as Shashi nodded and gestured for them to follow the ladies who were headed out

Arnav walked straight on towards the conference room with his thoughts scattered all over the place...he knew things were a bit awkward between him and Khushi after yesterday...and it was evident from the way she had greeted him, with just a nod of her head, averting her gaze instead of the warm sunny good mornings he was used to...and this worried him

He liked working with Khushi...and her company was great, but there had always been undercurrents amongst them...he was attracted to her a lot...since the very first time they had met; but had never given into his feelings...and even though he was tempted to many times before....especially the ill-fated day at the restaurant, he had never crossed the line.

So what happened yesterday? He knew she had not kissed him on purpose...it was a spur of the moment thing and she had realized it which led her to pull away....but something in him had snapped...he felt like he could never let her go...like having her in his arms was the best thing ever...and he had for the first time in his life, let his erractic heart overrule him.

But now...now he just wasn't sure where they stood. She had made it immensely clear that it was a mistake and she would like to forget about it...but how could he? The feel of her petal soft lips, her pearly teeth sinking into his...that taste of her fiery tongue...everything overrode his senses...making him crave for more.

He watched her walking in front of him in her skirt suit, the beige fabric hugging her curves in all the right places, while the skirt, even though of modest length, left her long legs bare....their smoothness glistening in the mid morning light...his treacherous eyes had also noticed the rise of her chest ensconced in a dark maroon top with a sweetheart neckline, giving him a tantalizing view of her soft curves, while she stood speaking to her grandmother earlier [ see khushi's outfit below]

How can he be normal with her now? Especially when he knew that she too was attracted to him...otherwise why would she have responded so spontaneously to him...but it was only right to nip this in the bud...nothing comes out of relationships when personal and professional boundaries are crossed..so he had spent the entire night...deciding on how he would make things between them normal again...and how nothing should affect their professional equation

And with that thought in mind, he had fallen asleep at 3am in the morning...ready to face her. But now, things looked a little bit complicated..more so because of the fact that khushi was blatantly ignoring him. He sighed as they neared the conference room and stopped at the door

“So Arnav, Since Khushi wanted to see the pre-production of your order...maybe you should join her too? It would be good to..” she started saying when Khushi spoke up “Uh..no nani...I mean, Arnav will be coming her quite often during the production and formation...So it makes no sense for him to...” she said as Arnav raised an eyebrow at her...Boy! Was she trying to avoid him or what

“Mrs Gupta, Khushi is correct...I'll check the production in two weeks time...I'll head back to GR now since you both will be busy” he said watching Khushi from the corner of his eyes as she breathed a sigh of relief. He turned towards Shashi who was smiling at him “It was really great meeting you Shashi...we have lots more to discuss!” he said shaking the older man's hand again

“Most definitely Arnav...lets meet soon” he said and turned to say a quick good bye to Khushi who looked like she was ready to sprint any minute and in fact she did after giving her grandmother a quick hug and a nod in Arnav's direction.

Arnav saw her scurrying away as soon as she said her goodbyes...he tried to follow her as soon as he said his goodbyes, but he could not seem to find her anywhere. He knew something needed to be done and her running away from him and avoiding him was frankly giving him a headache

He asked around for the raw material warehouse where he knew she would have headed to and started walking briskly towards it...it did not take him long to spot her amongst the fluffy unprocessed cotton that lay strewn all over the massive place...he looked around and found no one in his immediate vicinity and started walking towards her

Khushi stiffened as she heard footsteps behind her....for some reason she knew it was him and even though her brain told her to take off and run, she willed herself to stand still till he called out to her...she knew she was being childish with the way she was behaving, but somehow she just could not get herself to face him.

“Khushi?” she heard him say as he neared her...she took a deep breath and freed the cotton she was inspecting from her hands onto the stone floor....she turned around to face him, but was left shocked to see his face drawn in anger...something she had not expected

“What is the matter with you Khushi? Why are you ignoring me? Is it because of what happened yesterday? Because as far as I remember, we both decided that it was a mistake and that it would not hamper out professional relationship...neither our friendship...so why are you acting like this?” he asked her as she looked down..unable to look up into his questioning eyes

“Please Khushi...We can't be like this...we need to...” he started saying when she interrupted him “I know Arnav...i'm sorry...its just that” she said as she looked up and Arnav was stumped by the vulnerability he saw in her eyes...he felt his anger fading away instantly as she stood on front of him with her arms fisted by her sides, her chest heaving with heavy breaths

“I don't know why i reacted like that...I'm not like that...I have very good control over my emotions but i guess...i guess too many things happened yesterday which left me messed up...I'm sorry for doing what i did yesterday” she said as arnav walked closer to her “Hey...its ok! We did not do something wrong...it happens...you said it yourself yesterday right?” he asked her as she nodded at him

“Great...so lets just go back to how things were Khushi...because frankly I don't think I can take your silence anymore...it will drive me nuts!” he said as Khushi smiled...once again leaving him hoping that things were different “Sorry Arnav...I'm such a child sometimes!” she said as he smiled back “Its ok...sometimes you need to be” he said as she nodded, but was distracted when her eyes took in the tall figure who had just entered the warehouse

Arnav saw Khushi's eyes becoming wide and her face splitting into a thousand watts smile as she looked at something over his shoulder...intrigued with the sudden change in her mood he had hardly turned around to look at what or who she was looking at when khushi ran past him before he could register what was happening.

He looked on with confusion and something akin to desolation as the now visible man held his arms out towards her as she leapt in excitement into them...he looked on as her dainty arms went to hold him tightly while his wrapped around her...both speaking at once and laughing as they kept hugging for quite some time.

Both of them so engrossed in each other, that they failed to notice Arnav walk right out of the other exit ...his stride angry and swift as he walked briskly to his car and drove out of the Mills before he could think otherwise...before he could understand why his chest suddenly felt constricted or why a feeling of loss suddenly overwhelmed him as his mid refused to picture anything else but that hug.

Khushi's Outfit