Maid in Love! - Chapter 2

Khushi walked down the long spiral staircase with her father; for a moment it was like time stopped. All eyes in the party turned towards her, many admiring her beauty and grace, some lusting after her sexyness, some jealous of her gorgeousness...but the heavily made up eyes of Sheena looked up to Khushi with pure hatred! The cute guy she was talking to completely ignored her and started walking towards the staircase, just like nearly all the other eligible men in the room. Sheena hated her cousin with a vengeance; ever since they were small, she had to compete with her, Khushi was always the bright one, getting good grades, perfect in all activities, she was the one who was chosen to head the company, even though Sheena worked equally hard to earn her place in it. Sometimes Sheena wondered if Khushi even wanted to head the company, she was too nice and compassionate to do this job properly. It was not fair that only Shashi gupta gets to make decisions, when his own brother, her father Kishore was equally responsible for the recent high profits of the company, why were her father and she the second fiddle? What ever the case, Sheena had taken a vow that one day she will be heading this company, by hook or crook. With this merry thought, she walked towards Khushi.

Khushi saw her family walk lovingly towards her, her mother was shining in a pink sari. She looked at Khushi with tears in her eyes “ You look gorgeous beta, i can't believe its you..out of those horrible office suits; My daughter is soo beautiful” she said proudly. Khushi hugged her mother fiercely and turned towards her uncle and his family. She always liked her uncle Kishore and got along quite well with his wife, but she always felt there was something evil about Sheena. When they were small, Sheena had tried to drown her in the pool. Even though she claimed later that she did not realize it and was just trying to help her, khushi always felt she should stay a little away from sheena. “You look good Kush” sheena said sarcastically. Khushi smiled at her and turned towards her aunt “Chachiji you are looking fantastic!” Menaka gave a huge smile “ you look good yourself khushi, come we have to start your introductions” Saying this she led Khushi towards all the assembled guests. By the end of an hour, Khushi was exhausted! She excused herself and went to freshen up. While walking towards the powder room, Kushi's eyes pricked up when she heard the word 'job' and 'Delhi' together, she looked around to see who was taking and came across her mother's friend Sheila aunty and another lady taking; she moved towards them pretending to be on her phone; “ What to do Sheila, i had promised Shobhana devi that i will send kripali for the governess job at their palace, they were looking for someone to take care of her great grand children, an adorable set of twins; Their mother is well..not in the right state of mind. I had personally assured Shobhana devi that i will send Kripali by tomorrow night's train; but unfortunately Kripali's mother fell ill at the last minute. What should i do now? Im in such a fix! Do you know where i can find another governess this soon? The pay is very good and it has lodging, meals everything! Plus them being Royals, the stay will be very comfortable, and the kids are such darlings” Sheila aunty had just opened her mouth to answer, when Khushi barged into their conversation “Sorry to interrupt aunty, but i just over heard your conversation. I may be able to help you out here” the lady looked at her with an expectant smile “Really beta, do you know any good governess” Khushi was smiling broadly “ Of course aunty, i know someone very good! In fact she comes recommended by me! You don't worry at all, just let me know the details of the place she needs to go and who she needs to meet, i'll take care of rest of the thing; Where did you say this place is?” the lady seemed extremely relieved “ Delhi, i'll give you all the details. In fact there is a train ticket booked for tomorrow night, she can go on the same one; What did you say her name was?” Khushi looked around the room trying to find some name, she suddenly blurted out “ Khushi kumari” the lady looked bewildered, so khushi explained “ Her name is also Khushi like mine, but her surname is kumari...i know its unusual but trust me, she comes highly recommended” the lady thanked Khushi profusely and went in to call Shobhana devi, after all if the Gupta's daughter had recommended her, she must be very good.

Khushi took all the details from the lady and called her best friend Dipti to explain her plans in brief, Dipti was very doubtful of Khushi's shenanigans, but said they can discuss further once Khushi gets to Delhi.

Now the only thing left to do was convince her father; Khushi slowly walked towards him and her uncle who were deep in conversation, “Papa, can i talk to you for a second” Shashi gupta looked up “ Yes kiddo, what happened? Is everything all right” Khushi started clutching her dress very tightly on her sides “ Papa i was just thinking what you said earlier; i spoke to Dipti about it and she and her husband are ecstatic to have me live with them for a few months, and not only that she said there were many great mid-year courses starting at Delhi university in art and music. I feel i should explore this opportunity, what do you think?” Shashi gupta looked at the expectant face of his daughter and sighed “ ok kiddo, if this is what you want then i won't stop you. Go and talk to your mother as well and i'll have a quick chat with Dipti tomorrow morning, you can leave next week” Khushi started panicking “ nn-no papa, the courses start from monday, thats day after tomorrow, so i have to leave for Delhi tomorrow itself to get everything ready in time. I need to go to the university on monday and work out the admission process; if i go later then it may be too late” Shashi was about to cut Khushi when his brother Kishore spoke up “ Arre bhaiyya, let her go. She's too young to be tied down, I'll get Sheena to work on the Goa project till Khushi gets back” Shashi was not convinced but gave his ok on the matter; he turned towards Khushi and said “ fine young lady, in that case get your packing done after the party. I'll get an afternoon flight booked for you for tomorrow. Let me know the course details and fees; i'll have it transferred into your account” Khushi felt a huge weight life off her “ Thanks papa, your'e the best and so are you chachu!!” she hugged both of them and went to talk to her mom. Finally khushi had got her wings and she was flying to Delhi tomorrow...towards a new adventure and unfamiliar territories...life was never better!

Arnav singh raizada's head was still bursting with pain, he felt like an orchestra had struck up a permanent place in his head. He got up lazily and stretched his taut muscles. Then he quickly changed into his jogging gear and started walking towards the grand living room. As soon as he reached the door, his grand mother called him “ Arnav beta, where do you think you are going?” Arnav turned around to look at his regal yet stern grand mother. After the death of both this parents, it was dadi who looked after them. The one person he could never deny anything was his dadi, he was absolutely scared of her but loved her deeply “ Good morning dadiji, what happened? Why are you stopping me form my everyday routine jog” Shobhana devi looked at her eldest grandson, she hated seeing worry lines around his handsome face, such charisma he had, just like his father. She just hoped that apart from his looks, he had not inherited anything else from him. Her poor Arnav had to face too many things at such a young age, she just prayed that he find the right partner to share his life with him and give him all the love that he deserves. “ I know what happened yesterday beta, i can see the bandage on your forehead, or have you forgotten?” Arnav gave a sheepish grin “ Ok dadiji, i know you know, but seriously im much better now..plus my early morning jog always refreshes me” his dadi looked at him sternly and said “ Ok, if it will make you feel better go ahead but remember you are not going to work today. I know its sunday and anyways your office is closed, but i don't want you going to tour all your hotels in the city, is that understood” Arnav gave a mock salute to his grandmother “aye aye capt'n” saying this he jogged out of the house.

As soon as he reached his usual jogging track around the house, he called Aman “ So, did you guys work on the new quotes? Send them to me immediately for verification. Once i confirm send it for the tender bid, and this time make sure only you and the core team know of this” he cut the call and increased his pace. There was no way he would lose this tender, he needed this more than anything right now!

Once he got back to the house, he bumped into the twins “ mama! Your'e all sweaty..yuck” vivaan exclaimed, Vibha just kept on laughing. Arnav picked up both of them in either hands and started moving them about, their squeals became ten fold and all three were breathless by the time arnav stopped it. “So i heard about the latest stunt you both pulled up on the governess!” he said with a stern face “ I am warning both of you again, the next governess is the last one..if not then i will not hesitate to ship both of you boarding school, is that understood?” the twins looked at their mama and nodded their heads solemnly, arnav was happy seeing this “ See, its soo easy..i know you kids are naughty, but im glad you never question my decisions, i suppose the new governess will be here soon, so be on your best behavior” he ruffled their hair and left them to play. The twins had a mischievous glint in their eyes and they both grinned at their mama's stupidity. He forgot he always threatened them with boarding school, but never sent them there...this was probably his 10^th warning...considering 10 governesses had come and gone. They both walked out on the playground to plan their strategy for project “Quit governess:No 11”

Yuvraj walked towards the breakfast table where everyone was already settled, he looked at Anjali di who was as always lost in her own thoughts. The twins were playing with their porridge, but as soon as arnav walked towards the table they stopped, Yuvraj mused about the aura his brother had, somehow everyone just stopped what they were doing to look at him “ Bhai, how are you feeling now?” arnav glanced at Yuvraj “ Much better yuvi, the morning jog did wonders and since our quotes are confirmed and sent for bid, i'm much relaxed now” Yuvraj looked at his dadi and said “ So dadi, what time is the new governess getting here? Do we need to send the driver to pick her up or will she get here on her own?” Shobhana devi looked at Yuvraj and answered “ No yuvi beta, i just spoke to her a while ago, she said she will manage on her own. She is reaching at 5pm tomorrow by Rajdahani which leaves Mumbai at mid-night tonight. She'll be exhausted, we'll probably only properly get to meet her on tuesday morning” She looked at the twins fondly but sternly “ Now you two listen up, i don't want any mischief! I hope you both understand. I want you to introduce yourself to her and act like any other normal 9 yr olds do, is that understood?” The twins looked at their par-dadi and nodded their heads, she was one lady they did not want to mess with...at least this soon. Arnav looked at his dadi curiously “ Wait, when did you hire the new governess? I did not get any profiles sent from the agency; in fact i just spoke last night to Yuvi about this” his dadi nodded her head “ yes i know its quick, but i called some of my friends as soon as the other governess left. I am fed up with these women that the agency sends to us, i wanted someone who has real experience and has some good recommendations, thankfully devikaji said she knew someone very good and she comes highly recommended as well, by the best families in Mumbai; Khushi kumari she said her name was” Arnav looked doubtful “ Kumari? What kind of a surname is that? I want to see her file/profile anything before we hire her..for all you know she is some low-grade criminal” Dadi looked at arnav furiously “ Arnav beta, as i have already told you, she comes highly recommended and more than what is written in their profile and bio-datas which is most of the time false, real experience comes from real work, so i will appreciate if you close this matter right away” Arnav knew when not to provoke his dadi “ Ok dadiji, if you approve then im ok with it, but at least make sure she is an older woman and very very stern with kids, otherwise she too will run away like the others” saying this he turned towards the staircase to go to his room.

Khushi woke up early morning on her usually late and lazy sunday. She got dressed and went down for an early breakfast. No one was up since the party ran quite late last night. As soon as she came to the dining area, her phone started ringing with an unknown number, she picked it up tentatively “ Hello?” on the other end a very elegant but string voice said “ Is this ms kumari? I am Shobhana devi here calling about the governess job?” Khushi was confused for a bit then suddenly remember her drama of last night, she had texted this number to Shobhana devi to call her if required, she replied in pure hindi “Yes mam, this is Khushi this side” Shobhana devi smiled into the phone “Good im glad to know that you are an early riser, otherwise who wakes up this early on a sunday? Anyways i called to inquire about your travel plan and if you required pick-up?...and so their conversation went. She gave all the details to the madam and went about getting all her things ready.

She had a few minutes left to board her flight to Delhi, after saying her good byes to her parents at her home, she felt very emotional. This was the first time she had lied to them to such an extent. She knew they are kind to trust her completely, but somehow breaking their trust was breaking her up inside as well. Amongst all her family, Sheena was the happiest to see her leave..but not as happy as Khushi was to get rid of her for a few months at least. She had to hand over all her hard work on the Goa project in the morning, she hated the sly grin Sheena gave her while taking all her files. Getting back to the moment, Khushi felt elated...after all this drama she is finally getting to do what she always wanted, live independently! She called Dipti one last time before boarding her flight. 'Delhi here i come!' Khushi thought delightfully.

The Black BMW X5 sped rapidly on Delhi's clean roads, Arnav was heading towards his office in Connaught place. He just had a call form Aman about the investigators and Lavanya's whereabouts. Dadi will be furious if she knows that Arnav left for office, but what the hell, he had to get this matter sorted out. He reached his office on the top floor and entered his cabin; waiting for him were Aman and a man in a tweed suit. He introduced himself as Pranab Bagchi “Hello Mr Raizada, its an honor to meet you in person. I will be investigating the quote leak matter and Ms seth. Right now my intelligence has informed me that Ms Seth is in mumbai, they could follow her digital footsteps till Mumbai airport, post which she has disappeared, she's probably using an alias because of which she is untraceable. As far as the company is concerned, we are still looking into the matter; we'll start with your top competitors who have everything to gain if you lost this tender” Arnav sharply looked at Mr Bagchi “ ASR never loses, get that right first Mr Bagchi. I'll destroy the company who has played this underhanded trick on me. Getting my girlfriend to go against me and my company and sell them our quotes; they have no idea who they have messed with. Arnav singh Raizada never forgets or forgives” Saying this he shook his hands with Mr Bagchi and took his leave, before he walked out he turned around “ Keep me updated with anything you find out about Lavanya seth and our elusive competitor; I want to be kept informed about this matter”. When arnav left, Mr Bagchi turned towards Aman “No wonder the biggest and most powerful people kneel in front of his. He really is an enigma” Aman smiled fondly “He's not so bad”