Charade (IPKKND AU)

Chapter 18: Conversation

Khushi

Something had changed.

Khushi lay in bed, listening to the faint hiss of the shower as she replayed last night's odd conversation. While Arnav-ji had understandably been angry at Shyam-ji, he hadn't — so far — expressed any such emotion towards her. In fact, he'd been ... nice ... and she didn't know what to make of it.

Days of entirely avoidable misunderstandings — if only he'd just listen, Devi Maiyya! — had led to the sobering notion that he would always jump to the wrong conclusion about her intentions. Her attempts to avoid a fight had been misread as a defence of Shyam-ji. Her discomfort with the way he accused Amma and Bua-ji of wrong-doing had been interpreted as a facade.

But he'd acted differently last night by choosing to overlook what he'd seen. For surely, having come upon a scene where Shyam-ji was clearly showing off his intimate knowledge of her habits, likes, and dislikes, he could have jumped to the conclusion that they were tormenting Di, right there in the open. And yet, though he'd growled at Shyam-ji, Arnav-ji had only asked her to talk about herself, to tell him all that he didn't know.

The shrill ring of the phone interrupted her thoughts. Launching herself out of the bed, Khushi snatched it from the sofa and glanced towards the bathroom door as she answered.

"H-hello?"

"May I speak to ASR-Sir?" a gruff sounding man spoke.

"I'm sorry, he's busy right now. I can ... I can take a message," Khushi rushed to her basta and fished out a small yellow notebook, "Okay, I'm ready."

"Please let Sir know that Mr Oberoi from London has landed. He's accompanied by a lawyer and wishes to sign the papers today. Mr Roy is preparing the final documents and the meeting is scheduled for 11 am."

Khushi wedged the phone between the ear and shoulder as she transcribed the message diligently.

"Your name and number?" she prompted, reminded strongly of her short-lived days as a personal assistant at AR.

The man supplied the required details before asking a question of his own, "Are you the new assistant?"

"Huh?" Khushi frowned, "Oh no! I'm not Arnav-ji's assistant. I mean, I was, a long time ago, and only very briefly, but now I'm his wife."

Silence met her statement.

She took a deep breath, "Namaste, I'm Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada."

"My apologies for the confusion, Mrs Raizada."

"No harm done," she said brightly, "I'll let him know that you called."

She ended the call after exchanging polite goodbyes. Ripping the page from her book, she arranged the note and phone on the table before turning. Arnav-ji leaned against the frame of the bathroom door with his arms crossed, already dressed in a white shirt and grey slacks.

"Thank you, Mrs Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada."

His mouth tilted into a smile as he added his name to hers. Her pulse skittered.

"Y-y-ou?"

"Yes, m-m-me," he grinned.

She blushed at the memory of their clandestine meeting during Jiji's Sangeet, her skin warming as he pushed away from the frame to stand at the wardrobe.

"I forced Aman to take a few days off," he spoke with his back still turned, "Seems the office can't run without him."

"Is he ... ok-okay?"