Orphic : An IPKKND SS

Chapter Five

The birds chirped along as they fluttered from branch to branch. But the day greeted the Gupta mansion with much less peace that morning.

Khushi bit into her toast, as Sumi poured juice into her glass.

"Shashi! I am getting nervous. Will Mr Raizada say something now?"

Her papa shook his head, his forehead scrunched in a frown.

"Rajiv has hinted at nothing. Even Shyam has not come up in our talks. I don't know what to expect, Garima."

"It would have been a milestone for us" she sighed, " But what can we do except wait"

"Khushi, have some fruits," Shashi said as he passed her a bowl.

————

Her thoughts were clouded with worry for her parents as she walked into Venus Designs.
She had never seen them so unsure, so worried. And she had never felt as helpless as she had today.

"Morning Leela", she smiled at the receptionist.

"Khushi, some big client has come here asking for you!" Leela whispered.

"Me?!" She gasped.

"Yes! They are with Madhumati ma'am right now. You better go in. She told me to usher you into her office as soon as you came!"

And so Khushi found herself half-pushed inside her aunt's magnanimous office.

"Good morning Khushi!"

She couldn't believe her eyes. Madhumati bua was laughing! Her usually stern eyes were now soft as she looked fondly at the two men.

She looked at the well suited gentlemen, and wondered which of her previous works could have impressed them.

The men stood up.
She found herself stunned as the smirking visage of Arnav Singh Raizada greeted her.

"Meet Arnav and Aman! They are from the Raizada group of companies. Arnav wants his new office to be designed by you." Her aunt continued jovially.

But her eyes couldn't leave the devil's, who had come to extract his pound of flesh!

" But I-I have never designed professional spaces before."

"I did mention that to Arnav, but he said he wanted his office to have a bit of domestic touch. Now, now go on. You have to work from the site."

Rummaging through her mind to look for an excuse , Khushi looked at her aunt trying to signal her to refuse on her behalf.

"I'll take Khushi with me Mrs. Madhumati. After all, I need the job done by next week."

She watched as he put on the best buttering act with her aunt. All sweet smiles and flattery.

"Hi, I'm Aman Mathur, ASR's right hand man."
The young man ,she hadn't paid much attention to , shook her hand, offering her a glimmer of hope.
At least, someone is kind here.

"I think you'll have a great time working with Arnav. He's as clear and concise in his demands as it gets."

"Yeah" she grumbled "Hitler pales in front of him"

Aman raised his eyebrows in amusement .
" He is demanding, but not a dictator"

"Aman."Arnav had already reached the door.
"Let's get going, shall we?"

————
And that's how Khushi Gupta found herself in a Bentley, heading towards the heart of the city.

"Why are you doing this?"
She couldn't keep quiet anymore.

"I wanted to spend time with you "

Blushing pink, Khushi marvelled at this man's shamelessness.
"I forgave you already-"

"That's not enough for me"

Exasperated, she ignored him for the rest of the ride.

—————

Slouching over the desk Aman had provided her, Khushi scribbled into her notebook.

Designs, light source ideas, decor pieces and vendors all in one place.
With that out of the way,she began sketching.
Her pencil flew across the page, as she thought of the space where he would work.
The desk where his coffee machine would stay. The few photographs he took, that he wanted on the wall. The antique telephone he had bought from Paris.

"I have never seen a better portrait of me"

She jumped and twisted her neck, as Arnav grabbed her book from her in a split second.

Grinning, he squinted, pretending to judge her sketch of him.
"I must say Miss Gupta, you have observed me quite closely"

"Shut up! I was just sketching the office "

"And got distracted? Well since I am to be blamed for the distraction , it will only be fair of me to buy you lunch!"

He bent down and grabbed her purse, meeting her petulant face with a wink.
"Shall we?"
—————-

"And there he was, telling me to run for the damn election!"

She giggled as Arnav finished his story. She hadn't expected to have a fun time with him. So far she had only experienced mad rage and mad lust for the man. And that had to say something!

"You left the states to come back here?"

"I wasn't really sure about where I wanted to live. And dad really wanted to come back. After mom's death-" he blinked.

"Are you okay?" Her hand found his.

"Yeah" he held her hand tighter "He took years to move on. The last time we were here was for Di's wedding"

Khushi swallowed as she realised the topic was now down to his brother-in-law, Shyam. Can she ask him about the deal her parents were after?

"My papa really likes your father. Um...he invited him to brunch..."

"I know Khushi, I was there" he smiled in amusement at her sudden fluster.

"Yes, well they were wondering if Mr.Raizada had made up his mind about the deal."
Gasping inwardly, she hated herself at that moment for blurting it out.
She wanted to seal her big mouth forever.

Understanding that anything she said now will only push her further down the hole she had dug, Khushi held her silence.

To her dismay, even Arnav stayed quiet. No jokes, no witty remarks to erase her folly.

"Well, Khushi I can't say much about that"

She nodded meekly.

"Let's head back, shall we?"

And that's how Aman found them in the office that afternoon. One deep in thought, and one mortified.

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Author's desk: Hope you are enjoying the story so far! Please vote and comment to let me know what you think <3