ARSHI SS : Blind Date -Courtesy of Match Making Family [√]

Chapter 12 : " Office Party and Jealousy "

Two Weeks Later

" It so boring , can't your employees do anything better than stand still ," Khushi spoke up,  and immediately regretted voicing out her thoughts as Arnav turned to glare at her .

" Miss Khushi , this is an official office party to announce Akash Engagement with your sister. So our employees get to see your sister , What else do you expect ?" he asked her, all the while glaring at her .

" Dance , dance and dance . A party should have dance ,and I love to dance,  " she answered back,  unable to hold back from speaking out and the people who overheard them gasped as if she said something like murder.

" We don't do dance in our parties,  " he answered back, firmly as he turned away from her and walked to talk with someone else leaving her alone in the boring party. 

Then she felt a tap on her shoulder as she turned to see a familiar face ,she hadn't seen for so long . With a gasp of delight she hugged him .

" Oh Khushi ,relax you are crushing my suit and I am dressed to impress,  " the familiar voice spoke up as she let go of him ,he was always conscious about his style .

" What brings you here ,last I heard you were in London. I missed you so much , " She kept speaking finally found the party excited as it brought back her friend .

" Are you going to let me talk in between or keep speaking non stop as always , We have just signed a contract with ASR and he invited us to the party and i assumed it will be boring until I met your sister who told me that you were here as well , then the party got more exciting,  " he answered back , making her smile .

The heavy footsteps made her turn around to see Arnav walking back to her ,as always glaring at her . She knew he wouldn't have liked her causing a scene in the boring party but she can't help it after seeing NK ,her college friend .

If she expected him to lash at NK or her ,she was surprised with how cordial he had been towards her friend as they made small talk which bored to death because they royally ignored her .

" You know ,NK agrees with me this party is boring,  " She spoke up,  trying to include herself in the conversation.

" Then do something about it ,if it bothers you too much . In case your have forgotten this is your sister party as well not just my cousin's , " he answered back , challenging her because he believed she won't raise to it and the prudent thing would have been to remain silent but Khushi wanted to see him shocked .

"You have said it , I kept my distance because it your party . Now you can't take back what you said , come NK . You are on my side of the party irrespective of the contract you signed with him,  " Khushi spoke up,  as she dragged NK with her .

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He was jealous , seeing those two speaking in hushed tones , it made him regret challenging her to make the party lively.

He never thought much into the party atmosphere, unlike her who was adamant on dance being part of the celebration .

And he didn't like to feel jealous so choose to walk away from the celebration hall instead of seeing them together, yet his movements stilled when the classical jazz music stopped and the music changed into a peppy Bollywood tune which made him turn to see her and him .

Arnav couldn't keep his eyes off her as she danced leaving him stunned , yet he can't help but feel the rise in jealousy at her dance partner who seemed quite smitten with her .

By the time the dance number ended , Arnav had listed of all the bodily harm he could inflict on her dance partner and then he walked away because he refused to lose his composure in front of his employees.

" It looks like we will have another wedding soon," Akash voice came out of nowhere as he stood outside the party Hall.

" What the  " he asked wondering if his cousin could guess he had been jealous .

"Khushiji and NK , Payal told me they were so close in college and NK always liked her even back then,  " his cousin answered back, making him more frustrated by his words than before that he choose to walk back inside then hear him talk further , it was by slight chance he missed his cousin chuckle after he left .

And it was a mistake because the moment he entered the party hall ,he came face to face with her smiling at him as if expecting him to praise her .

" Sorry I missed the performance, I had to take a urgent call . But Akash told me ,you were good , " he lied,  and saw her face fell at his words but it was better that way then let her find his inner conflicts when it came to her .

" It is okay,  " She spoke up, but the smile was apparently missing still ,he was about to tell her the truth.  When NK, came back to her side and she forgot all about him .

He had planned to keep his distance from her and yet it was near impossible until the marriage gets over, and he wondered if he would last that long if he had to face her that often. 

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" Why the sad face Khushi ," her mother asked her,  once she got inside the home  and she for once was at loss of words.

She didn't know when she has grown to consider him as a friend and today she had been so disappointed when he failed to see her dance.

It wasn't a big deal , he was a CEO who had to take several urgent calls per day yet she can't help but feel conflicted about it.

But she tries valiantly not to let her sister find the reason for her change of mood but the moment she stepped inside her mother was by her side with those questions.

Khushi didn't want to lie to her mother ,so had been relieved when her sister spoke up and diverted the attention back to her .

Khushi spend a sleepless night that day wondering why she felt so conflicted about him and when sleep continued to elude her ,decided to open her shop a bit early and usually it would be enough to uplift her mood but today it didn't help as she expected and she also can't help but look at the door often to see if he came to meet her .

He had been doing so for the last two weeks ,appearing out of nowhere on either his ride to work or when he returned back home and she liked those thirty  minutes she spent with him and yet today he didn't make an appearance, and she assumed he had been busy .

But when he hadn't visited the shop for over a week, she began to worry and miss him that even her father noted his absence and asked her why he want coming around like before but she made an excuse for him stating he must be busy .

And so she was surprised to see him early in the morning two days later waiting for her even before she opened the shop, first she had been happy to see him then angry that he had ignores for so long without even a simple text message and before she could tell him how much he bothered her by his distance ,he spoke up shocking her by his declaration .

" Let's date Khushi " just three words but Khushi can't help but continue to look at him as if he had gone mad all of a sudden .

P.S :" That it for now . Let me know your thoughts and feedbacks . Hit the votes if you liked it "

Juanita Reid