ArShi FF : The Boy Next Door

iv. Mess in the Office

The morning after falling sleep imagining Arnav's shirtless body, Khushi woke up with a smile. For the first time in her life, she woke up as soon as the alarm rang. It was either because she was excited for her first day at the new job or just that her dreams had all been about Arnav and so, she was in a good mood.

"Khushi, stop smiling like a cartoon and get ready!" Payal snapped Khushi out of her dreamy state and urged her to get ready.

The following hour, Khushi had been doing her best to look good and formal for her first day. She'd spent 15 minutes just trying to get her eyeliner right and that said a lot. Not that it was still perfect, but Khushi's makeup skills were limited and so she tried to make the best of what she had.

She had her breakfast as quickly as she could because she didn't trust the traffic and the conversation at the table had only been about the Raizadas. She didn't need Raizadas, rather one particular Raizada in her head the entire day.

With that, she bid goodbye to her parents, sister and buaji and rushed to her car, physically stopping herself to not glance at Shantivan.

As expected, the traffic was horrible and her anxiety was sky rocketing each time she looked at her watch. When she finally reached the building, her anxiety started stirring with excitement. She took a deep breath, whispered "new beginnings" and walked through the gate.

She was welcomed with sophisticated and might she say, dull interiors along with a lot of hustle bustle in the office. Since it was a production company that worked with web series and short films, she had joined as a set decorator in the Art department headed by the Production Designer, something she wanted to become herself in the future.

Making her way through the office and trying her best not to bump into anyone, she went to the room that said, 'Production Designer' on the door.

"Did nobody teach you how to knock?" A tall tan girl with a clearly annoyed expression questioned Khushi.

Great going, Khushi. First day and you've already started messing up.

She scanned the room and saw other few people standing in the office and it seemed like some important discussion was going on. Embarrassment took over Khushi as she hesitantly apologised.

"I'm sorry, there was just a lot of chaos outside and I was really relieved to find the room I was looking so I... ended up barging in. It's not the best excuse, I know."

Surprisingly, the girl smiled, "I'm Lavanya, the Production Designer. We have the new series starting up, hence the chaos. We were finalising the set designs and as long as you have valid inputs in our discussions, you're welcome here and even allowed to barge in."

Khushi was surprised, she'd heard a lot a lot of the great working environment of Felicity Productions but she wasn't expecting such professional work oriented behaviour.

Over the next half an hour, Khushi tried to understand the set designs they had been working on and tried to indulge herself in the conversation to get a hold on how things were done in this office.

Lavanya stopped the discussion to told Khushi that she had to go to the conference room for the orientation meeting. Apparently, there was some meeting held every year when new people joined the team to introduce them to the working style and motivate them.

On her way to the directed room she was really excited about the whole idea but her aforementioned excitement was replaced by a minor heart attack when saw Arnav in the boss's chair.

What the f...

She clearly remembered that Arnav's company was called something along the lines of AR and that she was even guilty getting a job here because she would be competing with his company. Then what was this?

She was barely trying to wrap her head around all this when she was pushed by the other newbies asking her to move it and sit. Blanked out, she took a seat and stared at Arnav. The most annoying part was that Arnav didn't even spare a glance at her.

Not that they were a couple but after the moment they had the other day, she could at least expect him to look at her properly.

As Khushi was lost in her own thoughts, the meeting had commenced in the background. Talks about their specific working areas, the new projects coming up and the philosophy behind the company were going on but little Ms. Khushi Kumari Gupta was busy trying to supress her shock.

Arnav was moving around the room, trying to connect with everyone and when he came around Khushi...

"I want you all to remember that we want prompt and precise actions here."

Khushi had lost it by then, she was so annoyed and at the same time she couldn't take her eyes off him.

"For example, what is your name?" Out of nowhere, Arnav questioned Khushi and pointed at her. To say that she was taken aback, would be an understatement.

Firstly, he doesn't even look at her. Secondly, he questions her what her name was?!

Khushi was shocked and with a lot of effort she said, rather stuttered, "Kh-Khushi."

"This, is a classic example of what we do not want!"

Khushi heard everybody chuckle at Arnav's statement but all she was concerned about the anger in Arnav's eyes.

She couldn't understand this sudden change in behaviour. Last night, he was being sweet and gentle but today, his eyes were almost beastly to look at.

Arnav broke the eye contact and proceeded with what he was saying earlier. The rest of the meeting went by in a flash and before she knew it, Arnav was out of the room.

As Khushi stoop up from her seat and picked up her notebook, she saw a little note besides it. She knew it was Arnav's handwriting by how pathetic it was but what was written on the note stupefied her. If she thought she was taken aback earlier, this time she was basically pushed from a cliff. The conversation she needed to have with Arnav 2 years ago and ne she had been avoiding last night... which was also why she was so nervous... the same conversation had come and hit her in the face.

"WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU WERE ENGAGED?" was scribbled on note and she knew answering that question would lead to a serious confrontation between the two of them.

Her phone beeped and it was a text from Lavanya.

"Come to my office, I have work for you. Oh and I don't know but Arnav has asked you to accompany him to the Investor's party tomorrow night. Be ready."

Two messages - one from Arnav and one from Lavanya which was about Arnav. Both of them were so different. If  Arnav was mad at her, why did he want her to be his date to the party? Khushi would've typically been so happy about this but the fact that she knew she had to talk to Arnav about her engagement drained all the enthusiasm she could possibly have about the invitation.

The problem was, first she was focussed on her little childhood crush but now stakes were much higher. If the conversation with Arnav didn't go well and she couldn't make him understand what really happened, their relationship would go downhill from there and even though... she wasn't expecting their relationship to ever get a second chance, she didn't wanna lose this at any cost.

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Thanks for reading.
Love, Akshita.