It was nearly midnight and Arnav had finished some official work on his laptop. He felt so tired, that he thought of going to bed. Yet here he was now, standing by the poolside amazed at the beautiful atmosphere surrounding him. There was drop dead silence around and the silver beams from the moon had fallen on the ripples of water, adding a wonderful glow to the surrounding. He felt at bliss by seeing this serene surrounding. A soft breeze blew across the space, when Arnav suddenly felt a chill in his body. But he felt his mind was slowly relaxing, and that it had started to drift to the meeting he had in the afternoon with Miss Gupta.
His first impression on Miss Gupta was not completely positive. He thought that she was stubborn and there was some ego that perfectly blended with it. But there was something about her, that he found interesting. He liked the fact, that she accepted her fault of being late. Nowadays nobody accepted their own faults easily. There she was, being all sorry for being late, which came as quite a surprise for him. On the other hand, he was shocked, when she declined his offer, because she was not ready to accept his condition. He had met so many girls, who would die to get a chance to work at AR Designs. It was not because they wanted the job, but because they wanted to at least take a little glimpse of the "Great ASR". But here she was, Miss Gupta, who was all being clear about not going to do the job, as she wanted more time. He found her different and unique from other rich girls he had met, and this is what made him want to explore more of this mysterious, but charming personality. He was sure that the event plan would be on his desk by tomorrow, but since she made him surprised few times within the duration of their meeting, there was a slight possibility of her denying the offer.
"Mamu", the sudden voice of his little nephew brought Arnav back to normal.
"Hey Buddy!!!!!!!!! What are you doing here? I thought you must have visited the dreamland already?", Arnav said with a smirk, as he was surprised to see Arush awake so late.
"I need papa, I can't sleep without him", Arush said in a soft, childish tone.
"Your papa didn't come yet?", Arnav asked with a question mark on his face. He was surprised to know that Akash had not yet come home.
Akash was Arnav's elder cousin brother and he was an engineer. Arnav loved him a lot. Arnav and Akash shared almost everything. They laughed together, shared the sorrow together, fought for silly stuff together and they even joked about girls together. Akash had a smile on his face all the time unlike Arnav, who was all arrogant, ruthless and egoistic to the world. Akash loved his wife and son a lot. Arush meant the world to him. But destiny had different plans for his life. Akash's life changed completely after the unfortunate event that took place in his life. He changed a lot, that even Arnav couldn't identify his Bhai anymore. He was all silent and aloof. He didn't share anything with Arnav anymore. But despite the changes in Akash's life, one thing remained unchanged, and that was his love for Arush. Arnav knew no matter what happened, Akash would be there for his son, with every new step his son would take.
"Nope", Arush said with a small pout.
"Well, well, may be he had some important work to do. I'll say what, why don't you go to sleep now, so that we can wake up early in the morning and scold your papa, making him regret for coming late", Arnav said thinking of making Arush feel a little relieved.
But he found his effort was useless, when he heard his intelligent nephew backfire him with questions. There were two people who would make him weak in front of them. One was this 10 year old boy and the other one was his lovely sister, Anjali. Right now he was feeling really weak with the questions Arush was asking, as he didn't have answers for them.
"What work does papa have at the middle of the night?", "Why didn't he call and say he was getting late?", "Doesn't he love me anymore?", "Why did mama leave me?", "Is it because she didn't love me as well?", Arush continued his chain of questions.
Arnav was dumbstruck when he heard the last two questions. He didn't have answers for those. Being ASR, he composed himself to tactfully manage the situation.
"Look Buddy, do you love me?", Arnav asked and Arush nodded saying "Yes".
"Well I'm feeling lonely today. So since your papa is not home yet, why don't we go to sleep together?", Arnav asked hoping the answer would be an "Okay".
For Arnav's luck the answer was "Okay".
They went to Arnav's bed and he tucked Arush under the sheet. Arnav lovingly placed a kiss on Arush's forehead and went to his side of bed to lie down. Then while running his fingers through the soft hair on Arush's head, Arnav said trying to cheer up the little boy's mood, "Remember Buddy, your papa loves you a lot. He did a naughty thing by not coming home early. So just like papa punishes you when you do something wrong, we will punish him, which will be the first thing we do in the morning".
"Deal?", Arush asked, forgetting all his worries.
"Deal", Arnav said with a smirk on his face, because he found it funny that his nephew has started to talk in business language now.
WIth that, both of them dozed off, when sleep invaded their tired bodies.
In the morning at the breakfast table, Arnav found that Akash had not yet come home. He tried to call him several times, but it straight away went to voice mail. So he texted him asking where he was. Arnav was relieved to see the reply, saying that he went to meet a friend and that it was too late to come back. So promising his Buddy that they will punish Akash once he comes back home, Arnav left for office.
Arnav was in a call, when he was entering his cabin. It was nearly 9am, and he was surprised to see the person who was sitting in front of him. He knew she would accept the offer, but never in his dreams did he think that she would turn in the event plan so early.
"Well, well Miss Gupta. I thought you needed more time? Seems like you had plenty of time to think, else you wouldn't have turned up so early in my office", Arnav said with sarcasm.
"Good morning to you too, Mr.Raizada!!! Remember what I said yesterday? If you were lucky, the event plan would be on your desk on time. I guess this time you were lucky", Khushi said with a slight smile on her face.
Arnav asked Khushi to take a seat and he himself made comfortable on his chair. He took the event plan that was lying on the table, and started to scan the pages carefully. To say he was satisfied would be an understatement. For a nonprofessional like her, she had done an amazing job.
She had surprised him once again. It was really impressive.
"Impressive", the thought in his mind was spit out by his mouth unknowingly.
"That means I get to do the job, right?", Khushi said with delight, as she was proud to know that she was able to impress this man. Because everybody knew that impressing ASR, was something beyond impossible.
"Ha?", Arnav was lost in his thoughts, as he didn't realize that he had complimented her work.
"If I remember correctly, you said something like that, if I turn the plan on time and if it impresses you, the job will be mine. Since I turned in the plan on time and as you said you were impressed, I guess the job is mine, right?", again Khushi answered with confidence in her face.
He liked the way she spoke with confidence. "Well, I guess for a non-professional, you have done a great job. So the job is yours. The office starts at 9am. Lunch break is from 1pm-2pm. You can leave by 5pm. I want punctuality and perfection. All the employees here, have these two qualities. And that's why they are still here. So the same goes for you as well", he said in a firm tone.
"Sure Mr.Raizada. Since I'm your employee for this one week, I will obey all your rules", she accepted, as ASR was now her Boss.
"You can call me ASR, just like your friend calls me. Also I need to know the progress of your work at the end of everyday, I hope you remember that. I don't want you to do anything without my permission", Arnav said in his arrogant tone.
"Sure Mr... sorry I mean ASR. I will", Khushi agreed.
A sudden knock on the cabin door, disturbed the conversation between them.
"Come in", Arnav said.
A man entered in the cabin. He looked as if he was in the same age of ASR. Khushi thought he was smart looking, just like ASR. But she was surprised at the way he talked, when she heard him break the silence.
"Ah ha!!!!!!!!!!! Look what we have got here. A pretty, sexy girl", the man shouted, when he saw Khushi.
Arnav laughed at the comment his best friend gave about this Khushi.
"Excuse me???", Khushi shot an angry look, as she didn't like flirts much.
Although Arnav has known this girl for few hours, he knew what was going on in her mind right now. So before any misunderstandings were created, he thought of introducing his best friend to Khushi.
"Miss Gupta, this is my best friend and business partner, Rahul. Rahul, this is my temporary event planner, Miss Gupta". Khushi felt a little embarassed for being all tensed up, but instead of showing it, she greeted Rahul politely with a smile on her face.
"Well nice to meet you too, Miss Gupta. Don't take it in the wrong way, but can I know your name? Because it feels so odd to say Miss Gupta, to a young person like you". Khushi was surprised at the way Rahul was handling the conversation. She thought how different was Rahul from ASR. Rahul looked more forward, when it came to being social. So she answered with a smile,"Khushi".
"Wow, nice name. Sorry for being all flirty with you. Actually I'm like this all the time...", Rahul continued to blabber. Arnav's eyes were on both people who were sitting in front of him, his best friend and his new employee. He was surprised to see them easily carrying the conversation, forgetting that there was a third person. So Arnav cleared his throat and said "Excuse me, Rahul, I'm sure you came here for a reason, right?"
"Oh shit, sorry. I got carried away. I came to say that the legal side of the meeting next week, will be handled by my best friend", Rahul said, suddenly remembering why he was here.
(The party Khushi was going to plan was supposed to be held, after the meeting among the foreign clients.)
"Okay. But I told you that I wanted to meet who ever will be handling the legal area. So where is he?", Arnav said in a slightly angry tone, as he thought Rahul had forgotten it.
"Don't worry ASR. How can I forget such an important thing, when you are breathing down my neck, every single second. Oh, also the person is not a HE", Rahul said, cracking a joke. Khushi smiled seeing the relationship the two friends were sharing.
The sudden knock on the door, brought silence inside the room.
"It must be her", Rahul said in a joyous tone.
"Come in darling", Rahul asked the person to come in, as if he was the owner of the cabin.
As soon as the door opened, Rahul started to introduce the fourth person inside the room.
"Meet my friend, ...",
Khushi was surprised when she heard the name.
What was the name of the person that surprised Khushi? How will Khushi feel about the first day of her job? Why didn't Akash come home the previous day?
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