Incandescent

Chapter 10

It was the first time in Khushi's life that she was being kissed. Every girl had fantasies about her first kiss and she was no exception. But not even in her wildest imagination had she expected it to be like this.

And with this man...

She was being kissed, truly and deeply...

She felt him slowly increasing the pressure of his mouth on hers, taking what she was offering, greedily and coaxing her to part her lips. His lips and tongue played expertly against hers even as she strained for more. He then pulled apart and Khushi opened her eyes, disappointed at the loss of contact and that it had ended so soon. He looked into her questioning eyes, only to groan and kiss her again, hot, sensuous and restless. His tongue darted out again, to trace the outline of her lips and plunged in at the slightest opportunity. Khushi wanted to participate but didn't know what to do and hence began mimicking his actions, causing him to groan again. She put her hands around him, touching his shoulder blades and drawing them down his back.

With extreme reluctance and sheer willpower, he pulled back again to look at her. Her eyes were closed, her lips swollen and her cheeks had turned red coming to contact with his stubbled cheeks. Her shape was molded to his and she was holding on to him as if he were the only steady thing in a world that was entirely hazy.

"Khush— his lips sought hers again before he could even complete saying her name.

Khushi didn't know what would have happened if the phone hadn't started ringing again. They had pulled apart abruptly and while he used the ringing phone as a distraction, she had grabbed her bag and made a hasty retreat, determined to stay away from Arnav Singh Raizada.

And failed epically.

After the rehearsals a week later, Khushi went downstairs to find Payal, who would mostly be in her office, probably working late. The office was mostly empty, save for the employees who were working on the show scheduled for tomorrow and the contractors who were busy with the decor and lighting for the show. Their office had a huge auditorium/ballroom/event hall in the sixth floor where fashion shows took place quite often.

Entering the office, Khushi found Payal behind her desk and on the chair opposite to her desk sat Arnav, both of them mulling over sheets of papers, making corrections and notations. Both of them looked up as she walked in but Khushi stopped in her tracks when she met his eyes.Their eyes connected only briefly before she looked away and turned towards Payal.

Maintaining her composure around him seemed like a momentous task and Khushi noted that he had stopped whatever he was saying mid-sentence and was now staring at her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were in a meeting..." she apologized quickly.

"Khushi, we're almost done. Wait just five minutes," Payal said.

Khushi walked over to the window and stood staring outside well aware of Arnav's eyes darting towards her every now and then. She felt her color rise thinking if Payal saw it too.

And Payal had seen it, no doubt. Not that she let them know it.

"I still don't think Tina's a good idea."

"Arnav, I know what you think. But you can't just throw her out overnight. She has a contract with us and we don't need unnecessary complications anyway. And above all, she's popular so we're not losing anything here," Payal said with a practicality that put him at ease.

"I suppose you're right. But she has been behaving weirdly ever since that day. Anyway, that's it then. We'll meet tomorrow morning for the final rehearsals."

Arnav stood up and bid both the ladies good night before leaving the room.

Since it was already quite late, Payal had offered to drop Khushi home on her way. As she drove towards Khushi's apartment, Payal felt like her head would burst with curiosity and she was dying to ask Khushi the question. If there was something going on between the two, she would be concerned and thrilled equally. But if she asked and Khushi denied, she had nothing on which she could probe further. She let it rest for the moment.