When I Met You! - Chapter Eight

Khushi spent the entire day with her aunt at the care home, even Lavanya had come to visit them over there, she promised that she'll keep in touch with her aunt and come and meet her frequently, Khushi's biggest worry was her aunt's health, but after a reassuring talk with the doctor she felt better.

Lavanya was a little bit confused as to which job took khushi all the way to India, to which khushi explained that it was a lesser known Fashion house that manufactured all its fabrics there; they were sending her there to learn the local art and see how it can be used in modern designs, Lavanya wondered why khushi had not sought out the Raizada textiles job but didn't grill her too much.

After a lovely morning and afternoon spent with her two favorite people, she said a teary goodbye to her aunt 'Buaji, i'll miss you a lot! I'll send you my indian number as soon as i get a sim ok, we'll talk everyday..i promise!" she kissed her aunt on both her cheeks "Aye bitiya, don't leave me with a sad face, i've always seen your face smiling, please smile for me? Also have you kept the list of names and addresses i gave you? We don't have much family there but at least you can count on them if needed"

Khushi nodded a yes, her aunt have given a list of at least 5 close relatives they had in India. She had no intention of calling them but just in case she took it along with her. She gave one last hug to both her aunt and Lavanya and left the home.

Khushi reached her halls and signed the hand-over form. She had cleared out everything and cleaned the room. She went and gave the keys and form to the warden before lugging her baggage's in the waiting cab and leaving for the airport. She wanted to get to there early so that she could check-in before ASR, there was no way she would sit next to him on that long flight. If she checked in before him, she would be assured a seat away from him.

...

Arnav had finished the last of his meetings around lunch time, it was already 5:30pm and his flight left London heathrow at 8pm sharp. He got into the limousine and called her, as soon as he heard her voice he groaned inwardly, there was no way he could bear sitting next to her if just her voice made him loose all his senses.

He took a deep breath and spoke "uh..Katya, hi..ASR here, have you left for the airport?" Khushi smiled as she answered "yes ASR, i'm just on my way. Don't worry we'll both probably reach there together" arnav closed his eyes 'Great' "Ok, so i'll see you there." he kept the phone and called the airline tele-checkin service.

"Hi, this is Arnav singh raizada here, i wanted to do my tele-checkin please?" a pleasant voice was heard from the other end "Certainly sir, we have your preferred 2A seat available, would you like us to book that for you?" arnav smiled "Yes please. Also can you make sure that a Miss Katarina does not sit next to me? Anyone else would do"the assistant seemed disturbed but she knew he was a VIP traveller "Off course sir, i'll make sure that does not happen. We'll see you soon sir" with that she kept the phone. Arnav leaned back in his seat and smiled, 'ah' he thought, '8 hrs of peace with no Katya to disturb him'.

...

Khushi had already checked-in and was waiting for Arnav in the First class lounge, this was her first and maybe last time in here. She marveled at the beautiful lounge and the amazing variety of food which was being served in there. She was just finishing a cup of coffee when her flight was announced, she looked at the time and saw that it was quite late and arnav had not reached yet. She took her hand bag and left for the boarding gate hoping that he reaches in time.

...

Arnav was bloody late! They got stuck in horrible traffic and had barely made it to the airport in time. Thank God he had tele-checked! He finished all the formalities and started walking towards the boarding gate. He called khushi "Hi, where are you? Have you already boarded" khushi replied quietly "yes, in fact right now i'm in the plane's loo. Where were you, i thought you ditched me!"

Arnav smiled despite of being annoyed with her tone "I'm just getting inside now, will see you in a bit. Guess we won't be sitting together..what a pity. But i'll come and say a hi" Khushi stuck her tongue out, as if she cared! "Oh yeah thats sad, i didn't think of that" with that she quickly cut her phone. She dabbed on a tiny bit of her perfume, thank God she had found it today morning under the bed! Straightening her dress she stepped out of the loo.

Arnav got to his seat, he looked around but could not see katya anywhere, he wondered where she was sitting. He stuffed his bag in the overhead compartment and sat down on his seat. He once again glanced around but could not find her, 'she's probably still in the loo' he thought. He took the glass of champagne which the air hostess offered and leaned back with his eyes closed. He was just relaxing into his chair when he heard her

"Um..ASR, what are you doing here?" he opened his eyes to find Katya standing in front of him, she looked an absolute vision; her hair was flowing freely around her shoulders, she was wearing a chic cream linen dress which ended at her knees, her arms were bare and her neckline was modest. But even in the simple attire she took his breath away. He straightened up and smiled at her before he did something stupid "Hi, this is my seat..where are you sitting?"

Khushi looked horrified! 'what he was sitting here! But how was possible, she checked-in ages before him and the front seats are usually given off first! She took a deep breath "Well, i'm sitting here too..i..i mean next to you" she pointed at the window seat next to him. It was almost comical to see arnav's shocked face!

'What the!' he thought..he was going to kill the airline people, he had specifically told them not to put him next to her...arrgh. He calmed himself, it may not be that bad..he'll just engross himself in his iPad or a book and not pay any attention to her. He gave her a tight smile and let her slide in. He really wished he was sitting in economy right now, just so that in the constrained space her thighs would have brushed against his knees. He shook himself once again out of his fantasy and picked up a magazine, totally ignoring her.

Khushi was annoyed, not only was he not paying any attention to her instead staring at the exotic butterfly in the magazine, as if he had to give an exam based on the patterns on it but she was also shit scared! This was only her second time flying and she was petrified during take-off. She gulped down her champagne quickly before clutching the armrest very tightly.

Arnav saw her agitation as he glanced at her, the plane had started moving and would take off any minute. He kept his magazine aside and turned towards khushi "Whats wrong? Is this your first time flying?" khushi looked at him with terrified eyes "N..no i had gone to spain a couple years ago with my uni class, so this is my second time" arnav saw how scared she was..he was surprised to know that she had gone to university, he thought of asking her later but right now she needed him. He pushed the armrest between them up and took her tiny delicate hands in his, he looked her straight in the eyes and said softly "Don't worry katya, i'm here with you. Just trust me ok. You'll be fine"

Khushi felt herself drowning in his eyes, she stared right at them and felt secure all of sudden as if nothing else mattered, all that mattered was that he was with her, she was glad that she ended up sitting next to him. They had no idea how long they were staring at each other when the air hostess interrupted them "Excuse me sir? Mam? Can i get you something to drink?"

Arnav looked up to see the air hostess smiling at them, he then looked out to see that they had taken off ages ago and were now at full throttle. He let go of khushi's hand quickly and turned back, he ordered a scotch on the rocks while khushi asked for a Champagne. They sat in utter silence till it was time for their dinner, they ate in silence as khushi downed another two glasses of Champagne, arnav saw that and said "be careful, you don't want to get drunk" she smiled easily at him "Aw..don't worry a little more won't do me any harm" but arnav knew she was already quite high as she leaned back in her chair and fell promptly asleep.

He was staring at her beautiful face when the air hostess came to ask him if he needed anything, she then looked at khushi and said "Would Miss Gupta like anything else? She seems to be asleep. Should we wake you both up for breakfast?" Arnav looked at her funnily "Who? You've got the wrong person..i'm Mr Raizada...and she is Ms..." he just realized he did not know her last name.The air hostess gave him a weird look "I'm so sorry mr raizada, i thought you were both together. I'll check on Ms Gupta later"

Arnav was left seriously confused! Gupta? That's an Indian surname..he called out to the air hostess again "Wait..miss..i'll let her know when she wakes up, can you let me know her name please?" he gave her a sexy smile which would melt stone, she blushed and smiled back at him and checked her pad "Certainly sir, her name is Khushi, Khushi Gupta. Have a good night sir"

It was an hour later and arnav was still trying to figure out everything. So she had three names? Katarina which akshay told him..Katya which she told him...and Khushi? Khushi gupta! What the! Was she Indian? But she did not look it, she was probably half Indian then, there was only one way to find out.

Arnav saw that she was deep asleep,he opened her bag and looked around for her passport, he took a deep breath before opening it; Her photo was quite old, maybe when she was a young teen, she looked cute even then with braces and her hair up in a high pony; he then saw the words next to it which confirmed it for him 'Gupta Khushi' it said. He flipped over to see who the person to contact was when he saw the name 'Shashi Gupta' written with a london postal address. He wondered if he was her father..

Now that the shock had settled down..almost..he was wondering why she did not tell him and why she called herself Spanish, then it hit him! Her Job! It wasn't a respectable one, she probably had a traditional Indian family who would die before seeing their daughter doing this for a life, no wonder she did not want to let him in on her personal life.

My God! Even Akshay did not know this...man this was getting more and more interesting. He looked at her angelic face and wondered what more secrets she was hiding, he'll have to confront her first thing in the morning. With that thought in mind he too leaned in his seat,pulled a blanket over himself and slept.

...

Arnav woke up to find khushi's arm possessively slung across his abdomen, her head was resting against his chest as she slept peacefully. His own arm was on her shoulders holding her close to his body. He breathed in her scent and was faintly reminded of a similar smell, but he could not remember from where. He moved the wisps of hair which were scattered across her beautiful face and trailed his finger from her forehead to her chin, God she was so beautiful, how wonderful will it be to wake up every day next to this enchantress, just perfect he thought.

He bent down and gave her a feather light kiss on her forehead as he felt her stirring in her sleep. He quickly pretended to be asleep as she yawned and opened her eyes, he heard her slight gasp as she discovered the position they were in. She slowly extracted herself out of his embrace and moved over. 'How the hell did this happen' she thought as arnav smiled inwardly. 'This was going to be fun' he thought, he did not know if he should be angry or not, but it was time to confront her.

...

Khushi blushed as she thought about them being in this position all night, it felt wonderful in his arms, No Khushi! 'Be professional for God sake!' she quickly got up and left for the loo, she had to freshen up before he woke up. As soon as she got up Arnav stood up and removed the crumpled blanket from the seat; he stretched a little bit and asked the air hostess for some coffee; arnav was lazily sipping it when 'Khushi' came breezily to the seat and plonked down "Good morning, your'e up. I hope you had a good sleep"

Arnav gave her a lazy smile "Yes splendidly, iv'e never slept better. Would you like some coffee?" she nodded as arnav ordered for her. "So tell me khushi, did you feel scared again? You seemed to be quite brave about the rest of the trip" Khushi smiled at him "Oh no, i was all right. I guess the champagne put me right to..wait what did you call me?" arnav wiggled hiss eyebrows "Khushi..isn't that your name? Or wait is it Katya?..nn...no its Katarina...Man its confusing..which one would you prefer Ms Gupta?"

Khushi's eyes were round as saucers and she blushed furiously! How the hell did he know? Did she mumble something in her sleep? Did he check her passport? She looked away from him not really meeting his eyes. It was best she come clean "Ok ASR, I won't lie anymore, My name is Khushi Gupta and Katya is a name that my friends and close family call me..and as you must have guessed i'm half Indian. My mother was English" she said in a wobbly voice.

'That explains her coloring and features..' he thought. He saw her eyes brimming with tears, 'Shit! Hope she doesn't cry' He held her hands "Hey,its fine, I checked your passport so I got to know your name accidentally. Listen I get it..you were only trying to protect your identity. I understand that your family is not happy with your line of work..in fact even Akshay did not know about you. So its ok. No need to cry about it, but you should have told me earlier, anyways you being half Indian will only make my mom happier" he gave her a slight smile.

Khushi was about to tell him the whole truth, but he assumed something on his own; she thought this was not the best of time to come totally clean. She nodded her head and agreed to whatever conclusions he had come to on his own, at least he was not angry and finally at least one of her pretend act would be over. She was surprised that he took this so lightly, but what the hell! She looked out the window and saw the plane descending towards Delhi airport. 'I'm finally here', she thought.

...

Arnav got down and held her hand to help her, Khushi stepped out of the 7series BMW which had come to pick them up at the airport. They hardly spoke during the ride and both sat staring outside as khushi wondered what arnav was thinking about her real name and identity while arnav wondered how he should react to this news, he was fine with the fact that she was khushi, the name suited her better actually but he was annoyed that she had kept him in the dark for so long. How long was she going to keep this charade up if he had not accidentally known the truth.

Arnav sighed as she saw a nervous Khushi straighten her dress and her hair, she finally looked up at the humongous mansion in front of her; if she was in awe of arnav's london home, she was speechless for this! The huge sprawling house went easily over half an acre, with limestone and marble cladding all throughout, it had blue tiling over the top and the lawn and grounds were perfectly complimenting the sheer elegance of the house.

Khushi felt arnav squeeze her hand and propel her forward to start walking towards the main entrance, as soon as they reached it , the door opened with a bang and Anjali, arnav's sister who Khushi recognized from the photo came running out. She flung her arms around him and hugged him tightly, Khushi's face instantly lit up looking at the brother-sister bond, Arnav hugged her back and pulled her cheek "Hows my girl been?" anjali made a face "Ouch bhai..pls stop pulling my cheeks! I'm 18 for pete's sake not a child and I am absolutely fine now that I've seen you! Oh we all missed you soo much!" she finally stepped out of the embrace and looked curiously at Khushi.

"Well are you going to introduce me to your friend?" she said nudging him playfully. Arnav looked at Khushi and spoke "Khushi, this is my younger sister Anjali and Anjali this is Khushi…my..uh..Fiancee" Anjali's face which was smiling a second ago fell open in a huge 'O', she thought she heard her brother say fiance, but that wasn't possible "Bhai, did you say Fiancee or Financee?" Arnav laughed at her confusion"I said Fiancee my dear..like 'my bride to be''"

Anjali stood aside and looked khushi up and down, she came forward and kept her hand on her shoulders and spoke very seriously "Do you love my brother?" Khushi looked at her straight in the eyes and smiled "Off course I do, what's not to love about him" saying that she leaned into his side and wound her hands around his arm. Anjali saw this and gave a wide smile; she leapt forward and enveloped khushi in a tight hug "Wowiee!! In that case welcome to the family bhabhi, I'm so glad that bhai is finally in a meaningful relationship and engaged, but bhai seriously we need to throw a huge party now with all the works..oh..o..let me organize it!!!"

Arnav was overwhelmed by his sister's response, it was soo simple for her to accept someone who her brother liked, he still felt the Goosebumps when khushi said she loved him and leaned into him with her soft body, but he knew she was acting, obviously she was! He had paid her for it! He watched as anjali started chatting to khushi quite animatedly already discussing what she should wear and how she should style her hair, he shook his head and gently nudged them to go inside the house, he knew he had bigger fishes to fry in there.

As soon as they stepped into the house, anjali screamed on top of her voice," mumma! Dadi! Mama!! Come quick..look who arnav bhai has got with him" within minutes all three of them came out from various corners of the house, dadi came in with a pooja mala chanting something, then he saw his mama who was on the phone came and lastly he saw his mother, Maya Raizada descend from the grand staircase, she was the one who had the most curious look and stern expression on her face. She came and stood at the foot of the stairs.

Arnav looked at khushi who was fidgeting nervously with her dress, her hands were clutching the sides of her dress very tightly, arnav slowly took her delicate hand which was sweaty right now and held it in his own. He pulled her forward gently along with him, he thought it was too funny that both of them were so bothered about his family's approval when it was nothing but a fake engagement. He saw his mama come forward and hug him, he then turned towards khushi and smiled at her, then he winked secretly at arnav and grinned.

He then saw his grandmother observe khushi with a very weird expression "So, is this the girl you want to marry?" arnav and khushi looked at each other in surprise, how the hell did she know! Anjali had not told them anything yet, his grandmother laughed heartily "Don't worry chotey, this is the first time you have got a girl in this house, so confidently that too and she does not look like a work colleague, so I must assume she's your girl friend?" She finished with a sly smile. She then took khushi's hands in her hers and asked her in English "What is your name dear?" khushi smiled at her and replied softly "Khushi" Arnav's dadi clapped her hands and said laughingly "Indeed you are! The name suits you perfectly! Tum Hindustani ho? (Are you Indian?)"

Arnav looked awkwardly at Khushi, he knew she was part Indian, but she definitely did not speak hindi of this he was damn sure, he was just about to interrupt when he heard khushi speak in a lyrical but perfect hindi "Jee haan, mere pitaji Hindustani the lekin meri ma angrez thi, issliye mein sirf aadhi Hindustani hoon (My dad was Indian but my mother was English, so i'm actually half Indian)" his dadi, anjali and mama laughed at that, then dadi took her hands in hers and led her towards the staircase where arnav's mother was waiting.

"So maya, what do you think of your bahu? Good choice huh? Khushi blushed at that and glanced towards arnav who by now had a shocked, angry, confused and lost look all in one! She slowly raised her eyes to look at arnav's mother who still looked very rigid as she studied her very intensely. She then looked at dadi and said "Not bahu yet, to-be bahu…that too we'll see. For now, hariprakash please keep all of Ms Khushi's bags in the guest room" she then looked at khushi and spoke "You should rest for some time, I need to speak to my son and then after your rested I want to speak to you" saying that she turned on her heels and climbed up.

...

There was an awkward silence once maya left; dadi assured her that maya will come around and asked khushi to take some rest. Mamaji spoke a few words with arnav and went to make another call while anjali went to get ready for college. Only arnav and khushi remained.They were both standing facing each other, both wondering what they should say. Hariprakash came by to take khushi to the guest room when finally arnav spoke "HP, you go and leave her bags in the room, I'll take her there"

Arnav did not understand what he was feeling, there were too many secrets to this girl. He caught her hand tightly and pulled her out into the garden off the living room, once they were away from the doors, he spun her towards him and said in an angry voice "What more are you hiding form me?! You speak impeccable hindi, better than even me probably! What more secrets do you have? Tell me now Khushi"

Khushi was terrified by his demeanor "Listen Mr Raizada! First of all you only assumed that I did not speak Hindi, I never lied about that! Also I told you before I signed the contract that I want to keep my personal life out of this. I am not obliged to tell you anything! But you snooped around and saw my passport. Fine I agree it was wrong of me to hide my identity but I had my reasons all right!? And why does my personal life matter so much to you!" she was breathing hard now.

"You paid me for a job which I will do to a 100% perfection! You want your family to accept me, fine i'll make them love me! You want me to break up with you after a month, i'll do that and bear the brunt of their hatred from that point, after that i'll be out of your life and you out of mine. So why the hell should I tell you anything about me if for you i'm just a commodity you bought and will discard at will! I have nothing to say to you." she had tears in her eyes as she finished.

Khushi could not take it anymore, her real and fake feelings were getting mixed up, she knew she should not have spoken to arnav like that but she could not help it! She hated not telling him the entire truth, but she was afraid after knowing that she deceived him he would throw her out and ask back for all the advance he had paid her, she had already used it up for her buaji, she was trapped! She looked at arnav's shocked face and ran into the house, she found hariprakash coming down the stairs and asked him to show her to her room. She needed some time alone.

'What just happened' arnav thought. He had never seen this side of hers, yes she was impulsive and emotional at times but this was something else, what was it that she wanted to hide from him! It frustrated him that this bothered him so much, she was right it shouldn't matter to him what her personal life and problems were, but it hurt when she laid it out so bare, he hated the fact that she considered herself a commodity, he hated himself for making her feel like that! He thought it best to give her some time, he would speak to her later, they had to get things back on track now. Right now his mother was waiting for him.

When I Met You! - Chapter Seven

Arnav put on his tie savagely, once again he had overslept thanks to the uncomfortable night he had! He could not believe how bothered he had been last night, first he felt vastly guilty about the way he acted with Katya but then on the other hand he kept wondering what would have happened if the damn assistant had not interrupted, he so wanted to taste her soft skin, loose himself in her lips..arrgh! Control Arnav! Be professional…using that as a mantra he grabbed a quick breakfast and rushed to his office.

...

"Be Professional Khushi!!" she kept repeating this as soon as she got up, she had hardly slept a wink last night and the tiredness was evident in the bags under her eyes, she had gone through the contract and it looked solid enough to pass through a legislative society, who the hell drafts such things for such a small thing, but then again this was not a small thing for arnav singh raizada!and confidentiality was imperative! She signed her real signature since it only had a 'k gupta' in it and thanks to her horrible signature no one could understand the 'Gupta' part!

She got ready to leave for the hospital; she had to move her aunt back to the care home today after which she had to drop off the contract in ASR's office. She glanced at the nearly empty room which was devoid of all her stuff, she had sent everything in storage for now; once she gets back she'll have to find a flat and shift everything back. She wondered if Arnav will get all the stuff from yesterday with him but she'll only know once she meets him. She sighed at the prospect of seeing him again, the awkwardness would definitely be there from yesterday, of that she was sure.

...

Arnav was just finishing his conference, he had got a call from his secretary that Katya had come to meet him, he had asked Mr Thomas to meet her and check the contract papers, he did not want to meet her till tomorrow when they left for India, God only knows what he'll end up doing. He stayed back in the conference room once everyone left. He sat down at the head of the table and clicked on his iPad to check his mails. He was still there half an hour later and wondered if she had left by now. He called his secretary who was not picking up her phone. He then dialed Thomas's cell which he picked up straight away; he could hear Katya's sultry laugh in the background.

He was extremely irritated to hear her laugh and his irritation increased as he heard Thomas speak in a joyful voice "Yes ASR, what can I do for you? Are you still in your meeting?" Arnav wondered what was going on in the meeting room "No, I'm not done with my meeting yet. What's all that commotion about? Aren't you done with the contract signing yet?"

Thomas sobered up "Uh…yes we were just chatting..she's done with signing the contract and I have handed over the advance to her along with the flight money as you requested; we were actually waiting for you but since you are busy, we'll leave" Arnav raised his eyebrows 'We'll leave!' did he hear him right? "Thomas, where are you both going exactly? I mean you did saywe right?" he heard Thomas chuckle at the other end "Oh that, well since its lunch time I offered Katya to have lunch with me at the caf across the street, we were waiting for you but we'll leave now"

Arnav felt his irritation rise to the highest level "No you may not go, Katya needs to come with me. She has to pick up all her junk from my house. Ask her to be ready, I'll buy her lunch on the way if she is starving soo much" he ended the call violently. He had no idea where this beast rose up in him, he did not want to be near her, then why was he taking her home! Damn the rational thinking, he had to take her away from here; he did not want her spending any more time with Thomas.

...

Khushi had been waiting for Arnav since one hour now; she had come in after taking her aunt to the care home. Once she was satisfied that her aunt was well settled in her new accommodation, she had left to come in and drop the signed contract off. She met Mr Thomas who went over all the points with her once again and handed her the cash as promised. As they were waiting for arnav to show up, they started a conversation about office culture and scarcity of jobs, she enjoyed talking to Mr Thomas since he seemed to know a lot, they decided to grab a byte before khushi left for her halls.

Khushi looked up to see a positively sweating Mr Thomas, she knew he was on call with ASR and was sure that he must have said something to unnerve him, she saw as he smiled nervously at her and picked up his papers and other things, Khushi stood up and smiled at him thinking they were leaving for lunch, she thanked her stars that she did not have to meet….her thoughts were cut short as she saw him enter the meeting room, he looked livid and a little bit pissed off as he looked first at Mr Thomas and then at her "Thanks for keeping her company Thomas, but I'd like to talk to my faux Fiance in private" khushi saw as Mr Thomas quickly made his getaway without even glancing at her once.

Arnav took a deep breath as he slowly let his eyes trail her from bottom to top. Today she was wearing skinny jeans and a simple white tee with cap sleeves, she looked gorgeous, the white tee outlined her perfect boobs while the skinny jeans made her legs look long and never ending, her hair was tied up in a pony and his hands itched to free them and feel their softness; he realized after a while that he was staring at her. 'Focus Arnav Focus', He straightened up and looked everywhere but at her "Shall we?"

Khushi was seriously annoyed with his highness! First he scared Mr Thomas off,then he shamelessly checked her out and now he was not even looking at her while speaking, who the hell does he think he is! "I'm leaving Mr Raizada, if you can't even bring yourself to look at me I don't know how we'll spend the entire month together! I've given the contract to Mr Thomas, if the deal is still on then let me know, i'll meet you tomorrow at the airport" saying that she picked up her bag and headed towards the door.

She had her hand on the door knob and was about to open it and step out when she felt a steel grip on her other arm, she turned to see arnav looking at her peculiarly "Look i'm sorry Katya, i'm just a bit wound up with some other issues. Plus what happened between us yesterday was completely my fault and totally out of order. I don't want you feeling awkward because of it; you should be comfortable with me and I promise it will never happen again" 'unless you take a lead' he thought. He mentally slapped himself again.

Khushi looked at him and wondered where this gentle caring person was hidden under that tough exterior, she never in a million years thought that Arnav singh raizada would apologize to her. She turned towards him and gave him a dazzling smile "Apology accepted. Don't worry I guess you just got carried away. It happens" saying this she patted his shoulders.

Arnav was furious, what the! "Excuse me, this was not an apology..i don't owe you an apology all right! And it wasn't just me who got carried away, I didn't hear you complain..i mean if that assistant had not interrupted God only knows what would have happened" He saw khushi scrunch her nose, even in his annoyance he thought about how cute she looked.

Khushi pursed her lip "Look Mr Raizada, nothing would have happened ! If the assistant had not come in, I would have pushed you away anyways. So lets not even go there. You know what! I can't remember one conversation we've had till now without you either accusing me or misunderstanding me or just plainly not listening to my opinion..!"

Arnav loved the way her skin went all pink as she got agitated, her chest rose rhythmically making the thin cotton of the tee strain against her heavy boobs, he once again controlled himself, thats it! He went ahead and put his finger roughly against her lips "Stop! Can you stop talking for a minute woman! If you keep on shouting at me we'll be having this verbal war throughout the day! Can we just focus on the task at hand?!"

Khushi was shocked to feel his rough finger on her lips, the feeling was very pleasant indeed and she wondered how his lips would feel against hers, she saw his determined expression and nodded her head up and down, she pouted her pretty lips to show her annoyance, but what she did not know was her simple movement played havoc with arnav's senses, he felt her soft lips slowly rub against his finger, when she pouted it felt as if she kissed him, he was once again loosing control, he had a mental image of her sucking his finger with that incredible mouth and then maybe something else...arrgh! 'Be Professional!' he quickly took his finger off her mouth and gestured her to step out with him.

"Give me your address so that I can send all the bags from yesterday to your house. You will need to pack them up" he said as they stepped out, he wanted to get as far away as possible from her. Khushi looked at him worriedly, she very well could not give him her halls address and neither could she give him the care home's, she squared her shoulders and replied "um..can I come and pick it up please? I won't be home later and tomorrow also I have some errands to run, so..." arnav closed his eyes, no no "Fine, i'll ask my butler to keep the bags ready, i'm headed home anyways so you can come with me"

Khushi was not sure if she did the right thing by inviting herself over, but she had no other choice. She went down with him and sat in the limousine which pulled up outside his office. They sat in absolute silence as the car trundled around London's cobbled street, Khushi looked out in awe at the huge mansions in Belgravia, she saw the starbucks where she had coffee the other day and let out a small giggle.

Arnav saw khushi giggle while looking out of the window, he turned towards her and asked her "Whats so funny?" she looked at him a straightened up "Um..nothing I was remembering a coffee I had here couple days ago" arnav looked out to see his usual starbucks, he wondered what she was doing in Belgravia ,but thought best not to ask her, he won't be able to bear if she said she was here with some client of hers.

They finally reached arnav's townhouse, Khushi got down as the chauffeur opened the door for her, she stood outside looking at the beautiful victorian style house, it looked absolutely gorgeous. She stepped in the house through the door which was held open by a kind looking old man, he greeted her and closed the door as soon as they stepped in. Khushi looked at the huge portrait of an older looking couple hanging on the wall in front, next to it was a very artfully taken photo of really pretty girl. She looked at arnav questioningly "Those are my parents and thats my little sister Anjali"

Arnav looked at khushi as she gazed around, she seemed to be mesmerized by his house, she went forward and touched the photographs on the wall, then she trailed her hand along the gilded mirror and the alabaster table underneath, then she softly touched the orchids in a vase on the table. She was smiling as she turned around "Must be wonderful to stay in such a magnificent house"

Arnav looked at her innocent face, she did not look like she was acting or complimenting the house for extra brownie points, she looked genuine in her praise. Arnav wondered what made such a young girl take up a job as an escort, was she that desperate for money. Arnav wondered why ,but then let the thought pass as he heard his butler come up to him "Sir, I have kept all the bags in the guest room downstairs, would the miss like to check if all the items have arrived?"

Arnav gestured Khushi to go along with this butler to check the clothes, since she was the one who chose everything so she must know if anything was missing. He excused himself saying that he had to make some phone calls. Khushi nodded and went to the guestroom.

Once the butler left her alone, she checked all the bags and the dresses which were in plastic covers, she admired all the dresses and casuals which she had chosen, she never knew that she would get to wear these beautiful pieces, well definitely not on her pay! She was nearly done when she came across a couple of flat boxes, she wondered what was in there, she assumed they were accessories or more shoes but when she opened them her eyes turned round as saucers! Gently folded inside soft tissue were the most exquisite inner wears, she remembered seeing the lingerie on the dressing room stand but had no idea that arnav had bought them, she picked up a red lacy number on one finger and looked at it.

Arnav had just finished his calls, he headed towards the guest room to see if khushi had finished checking the clothes, he walked into the open room and was once again rooted to the spot. He groaned inwardly as he saw her holding up a piece of racy red lingerie, it was more or less see through and extremely delicate, his wild thoughts once again started picturing her in it, he felt like a starved man who was being offered sweet nectar but could only see it from afar, not taste it. He had to clear his mind, he coughed slightly and saw as khushi quickly stuffed the item in the box on the bed.

Khushi's cheeks were burning, surely he did not see her gazing at the lingerie, she licked her dry lips and turned towards him "Hi" she said breezily "Umm...did you but those?" she said pointing towards the lingerie boxes. Arnav was wondering what she was on about, he stepped towards the bed as she stepped away from it. He looked down at the open box full of teeny tiny underwear, he started sweating under his collar "N..no way! Why would I but those? I thought I made it clear that they should pack whatever you had tried on. Did you uh..uh try those?"

Khushi felt more heat run up her face "No way. I told them I did not want them, she must have assumed we wanted to buy them. No harm done, we can return it back" Arnav looked straight at her "There's no need for that, you can keep it" Khushi shook her head "No ASR I don't want it" Arnav pursed his lips, he was annoyed now "Fine, give to a shelter or something on your way home" Khushi gave him a weird look ""Yeah right as if people at the shelter wait for some sexy lingerie to cover themselves"

Arnav realized the stupidity of his comment and felt a grin creep up, he looked at khushi's twisted face and burst out laughing, khushi was first quite shocked to see him laugh but then joined in too, they both started laughing very loudly till tears started forming in their eyes, arnav sat down on the bed while khushi stood holding her stomach, they would have continued further in case the butler had not come in, he looked positively shocked beyond compare. He had never seen arnav smile let along laugh!

Both of them sobered up as the butler announced that the car was ready. Arnav helped him take all of khushi's bags to the foyer area. They did not look at each other till the car was packed with all her bags. The butler bid her a farewell and turned towards arnav "Sir, the people from the animal shelter were here to..." as soon as they both heard the word 'Shelter' their laughing spree started again. They looked at each other and continued laughing to the shock of both the butler and the chauffeur, finally they stopped as arnav helped khushi sit in, he closed the door as she rolled down the window "So, i'll see you tomorrow at the airport. Should I send the car over?" Khushi shook her head "No, i'll make my way there" looking at his troubled face she added "And I will be there in time. See you tomorrow."

...

As soon as the car left khushi felt her face double up in a huge smile, she could not remember the last time she had laughed so heartily. She remembered how wonderfully handsome arnav looked when he laughed, how she wished he would always laugh and smile like this. She sighed as she told the chauffeur to drop her outside Knightsbridge tube station, when he insisted that he would leave her and how would she manage with all the luggage, she said she will take another taxi from there. He did not argue with her since she was his bosses friend and a very close one it looked like. He helped her load all the bags in the cab and bid her a goodbye. Khushi sat back in the cab and gave him the address of her halls.

...

That night as arnav ate his dinner alone, he remembered that he was supposed to buy lunch for Katya, as soon as he thought of her, he went over the events which occurred earlier in the day, he had never in his entire life laughed as much as he did today, that too on such a silly thing. He did not understand why he reacted in such a way, he just could not put his finger on what made him have such mixed feelings for her, sometimes he was angry, sometimes possessive, sometimes oh no most of times horny and today he actually laughed so hard that his sides were still hurting. He finished his meal quickly and left to do his packing. He wasn't going to think on this anymore.

When I Met You! - Chapter Six

Khushi quickly turned her head towards him as she felt his breath caress her ears, she did not realize how close his face was to hers when her lips brushed his jaw. She instantly pulled back and stood up as arnav took his time to straighten up. He looked at her with smoky eyes which turned her knees to mush, she held onto the chair for support as she spoke "You don't have anything to worry Mr Raizada. I know how to behave professionally, plus you are definitely not my type. So lets not even go there"

Arnav was still absorbed in the feel of her lips on his jaw, he felt a shockwave pass through his system when her soft lips brushed against his rough skin; he was still in a daze when her words bought him back to earth, he could feel anger rising in him "Well, you are also not my type so don't flatter yourself. I have already told you the plan. I'll work out the contract and send for you to sign it. Do you have any more questions?"

Khushi was annoyed with his change of attitude, as if she cared what he thought of her "No, i'll wait in your office, can you give me the contract today? I'd like to go over it tonight. I'll bring the signed one tomorrow morning" she slung her purse on her shoulders and waited for his answer.

Arnav felt it odd that she wanted to go through it, its not like he would take advantage and put in unnecessary clauses in it "Fine, you can wait in the meeting room outside. I'll ask my person to send it over" he saw as khushi nodded and turned to leave but she turned back to him at the last minute "Just one more thing Mr Raizada, i don't want you asking me anything personal.I don't want to involve my family or my personal life in all this"

Arnav nodded "As if i want to know anything, since akshay recommended you i don't have anything to worry, i trust him completely. What you do with your money, how you spend it, who your family and friends are, i'm not interested. But i do need to know if any one of them would be a hinderance to my plan?"

Khushi shook her head "Don't worry no one will know about this, i won't tell my family anything. For me its just a one month overseas job, once its done i'm free. Oh and can i have the first payment tomorrow?"

Arnav sighed, once again she was back on the money subject "Yes yes..once you sign the contract, the money is yours. I always keep my word" with that she bid him a goodbye and stepped out of his office. She went and sat in the meeting room outside.

...

Khushi was waiting for nearly half an hour, she had to go to the hospital as well. She still could not believe that she had agreed to this madness and lied about her real self, but she had to do it for her buaji. She had just taken out her phone to call her when arnav walked in with another man.

"Katya, this is Mr Thomas my personal legal advisor and lawyer." khushi smiled and shook the man's hand "Madam, if you would kindly write your full name here; i need to draft the contract accordingly and re-print it"

Khushi looked nervous, she very well could not give a fake name, plus what if arnav already knew katarina's last name? She would be caught right away! She looked at her watch and said in an agitated tone "Listen i really don't have the time to wait another half an hour, i need to get somewhere right away. Can i just take this contract as it is? My sign will be on the dotted line..so it is legally binding right?"

Arnav looked at Mr Thomas who nodded his head "Very well madam, yes you can sign it as it is" arnav thanked Mr Thomas and looked at khushi "Seriously woman! You don't have patience at all do you?! Anyways i wanted to ask if you have a British passport? Cause in case its Spanish i will need to send it for Visa asap! Also we are leaving in two days time, so start packing"

Khushi started panicking again, she had not thought of this at all but she was glad she had a British passport but two days! Thats too short a time, she looked at him and said confidently "yes, i do have a British passport, so you need not worry, but why do we have to leave so soon? I have lots of things i need to manage her" she thought of her buaji, she couldn't very well leave her right away.

Arnav spoke in an annoyed voice "Listen Katya, you have to understand that this is an urgent matter, i had told you the other day itself that i need a fiancee asap! So don't give me grief about having too many things to manage, get everything you need to do in two days. We leave on thursday night! Period."

Khushi felt she could not argue with him here, she had to figure out about buaji, but Shit! The ticket! If he sees her passport and name on ticket, he'll know she is not katarina, she pursed her lips and spoke quickly "Fine, we'll leave in two days but i want to book my own ticket? You can let me know the flight and i'll do my own booking accordingly"

Arnav looked at her as if she had lost her mind "What! Why the hell will you do that? You are coming as my fiancee, so I will book your ticket! Its absurd to even ask me that"

Khushi sighed "Listen ASR, i've always had this thing about others doing my bookings. I don't know how to explain it but i feel creeped out if anyone books or reserves anything for me. I like doing these things myself"

Arnav looked at her weirdly "You do know such things are called OCD? Obsessive compulsive disorders? Fine! Do your own booking, my secretary will let you know the flight, please make sure you book the same one. Oh and book first class since you'll be traveling with me. I'll give you the money for it tomorrow as well"

Khushi gave him a tight smile and picked up the contract, she stuffed it inside her bag and got up "Great! So i'll see you tomorrow. Do let me know if i need to get anything specific for the trip?"

Arnav thought for a while "Well, as long as you have some decent clothes it will be fine. I mean you will be staying with my family and they are a bit traditional, though i suppose they'll be fine with whatever you wear since you are Spanish, i don't expect you to wear any indian clothes" he saw her shift uncomfortably "By the way, you do have some good evening wear right? We'll be expected to attend many parties and corporate do's"

Khushi was really annoyed now, he still thought she was spanish, 'but then i too never cleared his misunderstanding" she thought, 'plus the real katarina is spanish'. She thought about her wardrobe and wondered if there was anything worth wearing for arnav's parties, she shook her head "Well, i don't really have any designer wear if you mean that, but i do have some good decent gowns which i have myself.." she stopped there, she was just going to blurt out everything.

"Which you have what Katya?" arnav asked her, she looked at him nervously and answered "Which i have myself bought" arnav gave her a weird look "Well who the hell buys your clothes for you then? Your mother!" Katya gave him an irritated look "Look, i told you i don't want to talk on anything personal. Can we just drop this!"

Arnav felt that he had stepped on a touchy subject, he quickly nodded "Fine, leave it. I'll meet you in Harrods at sharp 5pm, you need to get everything which Arnav singh raizada's fiancee should have. Be there on time" saying that he left her staring at him with her mouth open.

Khushi was pissed off! What gave him the right to tell her what to do, she stormed out of his office in a huff. That was a close call she thought, she had picked up the details of the flight from his secretary. She rushed out of the main building towards the tube station.

...

Arnav was reaching Harrods in 10 minutes, he had sent khushi a text when he left, one thing he really did not like was her tardiness. He liked punctuality, but as he reached the main street off harrods he saw her standing by the display window and admiring a dress, he got down from his limousine and came and stood right behind her.

...

Khushi had just reached Harrods after visiting her aunt in the hospital, she was happy that they were discharging her tomorrow. Khushi had explained to her that she had gotten an internship but the job was in India for a month, her aunt was very excited for her since khushi was going to India' Khushi had already spoken to the care home and they had assured her of taking extra care of her aunt, specially since she had upgraded her care package.

Khushi sighed as she waited for Arnav, she was kind of excited to see him again but then maybe that was only because she would actually get to shop in Harrods; she remembered when she was young her father had got both her and her brother here, they had bought those huge pencils which were the rage at that time, they really could not afford any of the other extravagant things which were on display, her eyes misted up as she thought of that day.

She wiped her tears and went to check out the window display, she got mesmerized by a deep red marchesa gown which was on display, it was made of the finest silk, she wondered how she would look in it when she felt a presence behind her. She looked quickly to see arnav staring at the gown"Oh hi, your'e here. Shall we go in?" arnav nodded and gestured her to lead while he walked behind her.

Arnav was also wondering how she would look in that amazing gown, it really was a beautiful design, at least their tastes were similar he thought, he lead her directly to the designer area where they could find that dress. He really wanted to get it for her, he had never felt this feeling for anyone before but somehow Katya made him feel things which he could not understand himself.

...

Khushi met up with a personal shop assistant who arnav had sent, she would be helping them out with the entire shopping right from shoes to accessories to dresses. It took them nearly an hour to choose tons of dresses,suits and casuals. The assistant asked khushi to try on her clothes while she got matching shoes and accessories to go with it. Arnav had left half an ago to make few calls and wasn't around.

The assistant helped khushi hang all the clothes in the huge dressing room, she closed the door behind her as khushi locked it and started trying on all the clothes, she did not understand why all this was necessary, but then she was acting as ASR's fiancee; that means the goods should go with the right packaging, she sighed as she had finished trying on most of the clothes, there was a knock on the door as khushi tried on a pale blue skirt suit.

Khushi quickly unlocked the door to find the assistant with another stand full of clothes, this time they were gowns and nightwear, with lots of tiny itsy bitsy lingerie, khushi's eyes became wide as she saw the array of clothes "Did ASR ask you to send these in?" she said pointing towards the lingerie.

"Oh no, he just insisted on this one dress and few more gowns. I felt you should try out the lingerie as well and some nightwear" Khushi looked at the Red gown which she was admiring earlier, she felt her heart contract as she thought how sweet it was of him to send in this gown. She smiled at the assistant "Thank you, but i don't want to buy any lingerie. I'll try on these gown only"

"Very well madam, you can leave the lingerie out, please do try on the gowns though. I'll be right outside if you need any help" she smiled at khushi as she once again left the room closing the door. Khushi locked it and started taking off her suit, she hung it amongst the other clothes and went straight to the Red gown, she was in awe of the beautiful design, she eagerly stepped into in and pulled it up. Since the gown had inbuilt cups, she unhooked her bra and threw it on the little settee. She reached behind her to zip herself up.

...

Arnav had just finished his calls and had come to the dressing area. He was wondering why it was taking so long "Is she nearly done? Did you give her the gown to try?" he asked the assistant who was standing outside "Yes sir, she is nearly done with everything. I'll just go and bring the shoes" with that she left the place and hurried along to get everything.

Arnav stood right outside khushi's dressing room, since she was nearly done she was probably choosing what all to get. He felt happy buying things for her, as if it was his right to do so. He shook his head again as he heard khushi's voice from inside.

Khushi was trying very hard to zip up the dress from behind, but since the zip ran all the way down, she could not reach it. She felt sweat beads form over her lips as she struggled with it, she then remembered that the assistant was right outside, she spoke loudly from inside the dressing room "Hey, can you come in for a second?" she unlocked the door and turned towards the other side, she wanted the assistant to help zip her up.

Arnav wondered what help she required from him; She probably wanted an opinion on something or the other. 'Women' the thought, he went in and closed the door behind him; as he turned, his mouth literally dropped to the floor; there she was standing in front of him struggling with the deep red dress, her gorgeous silky smooth back all bare from the nape of her neck to the base of her spine, it was sight for sore eyes!

Arnav was left stunned as he stared at the naked expanse of her back, he was rooted to the place and could not move as his eyes devoured the sight in front of him, since her hair was tied up, her entire back was on display, he could even see the faint black lace of her panties where the zip started, he glanced around to see the stand full of naughty lingerie pieces and her black bra resting on the settee in the front,since khushi was facing the other side, she could not see him and assumed it was the assistant.

"Well, can you help me zip up please? My hands are getting tired of holding this dress up" khushi said tiredly. Arnav saw that she was holding the dress from the front right over her breasts, if she left it now it would fall right off, oh how he wished he could see her in all her glorious nakedness, he went hard just thinking of that image, he forced himself out of his x-rated thoughts and stepped forward, his trembling hands reached for the zip at the bottom and he slowly pulled it up.

Khushi's breath caught as she felt hard fingers graze her naked back, she shivered and sucked in a breath as she realized that this was definitely not the assistant. As soon as the zip was pulled all the way up, she spun around to gaze directly into Arnav singh raizada's smoky eyes, his desire for her was evident in the way he started at her, she herself was stunned to find him here, she backed up a little bit from him and asked in a shaky voice "Wh..what are you doing here?"

Arnav saw the blush forming on her gorgeous face, he gave her a crooked grin "Well, you were the one who called me in remember?" Khushi looked at him with wide eyes "N..n..no i did not call you. I called the assistant! Why did you come in?" arnav gave her an amused look "Well, did you say assistant? I assumed you call me in!"

Khushi shook her head, the audacity he had! "Why would i call you? It was just a miscommunication. Im not mad to call you in" Arnav started walking towards her "Well, i don't know...we seem to have a lot of miscommunications huh?" Khushi kept walking back as he neared her, finally she felt the wall on her back as arnav came and stood right in front of her, she had no place to move.

Arnav saw her breathing heavily and was once again mesmerized by her cleavage visible right above her neckline which rose with her erratic breathing, he was too dazed to think what he was doing as he slowly trailed his forefinger over it. Khushi was shocked by his bold move, but it felt so good to have him touch her like this. She saw as his finger slowly dipped inside the middle of the heart shaped neckline to caress the valley between her breasts, Khushi moaned as she felt heat pool in her lower region, she held her breath as he leaned forward towards her chest.

Arnav was vaguely aware of what he was doing, he knew he was playing with fire but he could not resist, plus her moan had completely undone him, he wanted his mouth to be where his fingers were at present, he saw her tremble slightly as he dipped his fingers inside her cleavage, he was just leaning down to fulfill his fantasy when there was a knock on the door "Miss, are you done? Do you want to try the shoes now with the gowns?"

Khushi realized what they were about to do, she pushed arnav away and straightened her clothes, she then went straight to the door and opened it, the assistant walked in with a surprised look on her face, but being the professional that she was did not comment on anything. She proceeded to keep the shoes down "We'll take everything, just pack it. She'll figure out what to mix and match. Just bill everything in this room in the next 5 minutes, we have to leave" He did not even glance at khushi as he left the room.

Khushi was annoyed beyond reason! First he bossed her around to shop for all this, now he is not even taking her opinion, granted she loved everything she had tried, and then what just happened between them...arrgh! Men she thought as she quickly changed into her own clothes. She stepped out as a bevy of other assistants milled in to take everything out.

...

Arnav could not believe that he went that far, what was wrong with him! Why the hell was he acting like a bloody teenager with raging hormones, it was as if when she was in front of him he forgot everything! He had to be more careful, he was aware of the sexual tension between them and he also knew that she was bothered about it as well, but they had to keep their distance. He made up his mind to keep away from her as much as possible. He had to avoid any complications. He went ahead to the billing counter to make the payment

Khushi knew that they had to speak about what happened inside, but she too wanted to avoid the conversation. Since he was not even looking at her, it was best to think that nothing happened and nothing will happen, she could not understand why her senses left her every time he was around. The shop manager came and thanked them for the purchases and assured them that they will be delivered to arnav's house by tomorrow morning.

Arnav and khushi left the store in silence, he walked as fast as he could with her trailing behind, as they reached the glass door, he turned around "Do you need a lift home? I can leave you if you like?" Khushi looked at him uncertainly, she did not want to take him to her halls "No, i'll be fine. I'll come by tomorrow morning with the signed papers." saying that she turned and left quickly as arnav got into his car. This was a day to remember for both of them.

When I Met You! - Chapter Five

Khushi got up as her alarm clock went off, it was already past 7; she had to reach Raizada Textiles office by 9 and it would take her approximately half an hour to get there. She quickly ran into the shower and got dressed in her smart brown corduroy pants and a beige cotton sleeveless top. She wore some jangling copper bangles on one hand. She brushed on a bit of eyeliner and gloss and started looking for her perfume, unfortunately in the mess it was impossible to find it. She gave up finding it and picked up her purse from the pile of boxes, she had to make a run to get to the tube station in time.

...

Arnav was just back from his jog, he had ran an extra mile today since he needed to get her out of his system; he quickly stripped off his jogging gear and got into the shower to get ready for office. When he was sipping his coffee later, he once again read akshay's message, he then quickly dialed aman's number "Aman, a girl called you yesterday to fix up the dinner meeting? Send me her number asap!" arnav waited as aman texted him katya's number. He saved her number on his phone and left for his office at sharp 8:30am.

...

Khushi was just in time to catch her tube, she had to change twice to get to arnav's company's London headquarters, it was always a dream of her to work in such an organization and she prayed to God that he listen to her and offer her the internship job. She desperately wanted him to understand that last night was a confusion, she was beating herself up on the fact that she should have told him everything yesterday itself instead of running away. She entered the posh reception of the building at around 9:30 am.

...

Arnav sat at his table with his London operations manager Syed Mirza, he knew Syed since many years now and had recently promoted him to country manager for UK. They had just completed their interview with a fresher who would be joining them for their internship program "ASR didn't you say that there was another designer whose dress was really good? Shouldn't we check with the institute if she is available for an interview?"

Arnav wondered for a moment why the girl who designed that fabulous dress had not called in when he had specifically asked their professor to, it was a pity that such a talented designer was not on board with them, but then he was not someone who would run after people, it was always the other way around "No Syed, if she was interested in the job, she would have called in by now. Give the job to this guy; i need to close on this before i leave day after tomorrow."

Syed's nodded his head and passed the offer letter to him for signing "Ok, so we will be offering the job to him on internship basis to be made permanent post 6 months probation" Arnav nodded and signed his approval. Syed left to meet the intern and explain the job to him.

Arnav's thoughts once again wandered to Katya, what he wouldn't give to see her just one more time; but it was a lost clause, he might as well start looking around elsewhere to find the right girl. He asked his secretary not to bother him for the next hour or so. He had a lot of research to do and phone calls to make.

...

Khushi went to the reception area and asked if she could meet Arnav singh raizada. The receptionist gave her a saccharine sweet smile and asked if she had an appointment. Khushi shook her head saying that he had asked her to meet him today morning. The receptionist rolled her eyes and asked her to have a seat and that she would tell her when ASR got free.

Khushi quickly dialed the hospital number to inquire about her buaji's health, surprisingly the doctor wanted to speak to her, she said a bright good morning but her smile faltered as she heard the doctor speak "Ms Gupta, even though her bypass was a success and she is absolutely fine now. We have found out an anomaly in her stomach while doing routine tests"

Khushi took a deep breath "What is an anomaly doctor, is it serious?" the doctor continued "Well, an anomaly is a kind of an alien particle or ingrowth in organs, right now its very small in her stomach region, but we need to remove it before it gets cancerous or worse. I won't suggest any operation right away, but maybe a month from now would be the best time to re-look into it"

Khushi went silent, why were all these things happening to her buaji! "Off course doctor, please let me know what i should do" the doctor spoke "Well dear she seems to be very well right now, and we can let her go in another 2 days, but you will have to start making your payments soon. Also if we do the other operation in a months time, it may cost up to another 1000 pounds, will you be ok with that?"

Khushi was gnawing her lower lip but spoke into the phone with a calm voice "Off course doctor, don't worry I'll make sure the payment happens in time and whatever is needed for my aunt i'll do. I can't see her in pain" with that she cut her phone off and leaned her head on the couch. Suddenly she heard a male voice call out her name "Katya? What are you doing here?"

Khushi looked up to see Anthony, her classmate and a very talented young designer staring down at her, she smiled and got up to hug him "Hey tony! What a pleasant surprise! What are you doing here?" anthony took out an official looking paper and dangled it in front of her "I got the internship at Raizada textiles!"

...

Arnav was worried; it was a different thing asking akshay to find a girl for him but he could not ask just anyone now. His reputation was at stake here; he felt the only thing left to do was ask one of the girls he knew and had dated earlier; unfortunately he never bothered keeping their numbers or details with him He called aman to send him a list of all the women he had been with in the last year. He tried calling akshay again but his phone kept coming switched off, he assumed he was already in the flight. Arnav closed his eyes and settled back in his chair.

...

Khushi could not believe her ears, she was shocked to her core! Tony got the internship! But what about her? Maybe she could convince ASR to give the job to her instead, Tony saw her stunned face and clicked his fingers in front of her face "Earth to Ms Gupta! What happened! Is everything all right?"

Khushi quickly composed herself and hugged tony again "N..nothing, thats wonderful news tony! Congratulations" Tony thanks her again "Thanks Katya, you know i was worried that you may take up this internship since your dress rocked the other day, but when i asked Mr Mirza about you he said that you had not contacted them at all, so i guess i was the next best choice. I'm really glad i got this though, the pay is good and since my dad recently got diagnosed with Alzheimer's, the extra cash will help with his medicines and care."

Khushi gave him an encouraging smile, there goes her idea of stealing the job from him; she could never do that. He deserved this as much as anyone "Well thats grand tony, wish you all the luck with this internship and don't worry i was never interested in it, infact i just came here to meet a friend. Take care buddy and I truly hope your father gets better." Tony smiled at her and left, leaving khushi to once again ponder over what to do next.

...

Arnav checked the list which aman had sent him, none of these girls would do, most of them were back in relationships or were too well known to convince his family of their engagement, he shut off his laptop and leaned back in his chair, he picked up his phone to check his messages when he saw the message sent by aman earlier; Katya's number.

...

Khushi got up from the couch and picked up her bag, she had to get to the hospital to work out the expenses; she was leaving when the receptionist called for her "Hello..miss? Are you going?" Khushi looked back at her "Yes, i need to leave" the receptionist gave her a sneer and went back to her work.

Khushi stepped out of the glass door and started walking towards the tube station when her phone started ringing, she saw that it was an unknown number but picked up anyways just in case it was someone from the hospital, as soon as she said hello she heard a deep voice at the other end "Katya? Wait don't keep the phone...i know that you refused my offer; akshay told me. But i'm increasing the stake here, i'll pay you 30K for the job, will you reconsider?"

...

Khushi was shocked for the second time since morning, she never expected this call from ASR, she thought that by now the real katarina would have agreed to his proposal; apparently she did not and he still does not know that she is not her; That means he still thinks she is katarina the escort and he is offering her 30K! Damn it! How difficult will it be to act like his fiancee? They were both really desperate, he for a fiancee and she for the money. Wait! What was she thinking...she can't lie like that. But where else will she find a job so soon? Plus buaji's medical expenses were rising. She clutched the phone very hard in both her hands and said in a very breezy voice "Yes, i'll do it"

...

Arnav let out a deep breath, he had not realized that he had been holding his breath for the entire duration she took for answering his question, he swore he could hear her brain ticking as she reconsidered, he knew that increasing the money would definitely get him the desired answer "Great, can you come over to my office right away?"

Khushi looked around, she was right outside his office; but how could she tell him that, instead she said very confidently "Well, i'm right now near paddington, where is your office exactly?" arnav smiled at that, paddington was only a few minutes away "Great, my office is just 10 minutes from there, i'll text you the address. Let the receptionist know when you get here, she'll let you in right away" khushi said ok and went to sit in the nearby cafe, she had to waste 15 more minutes before she made her way back in.

...

Arnav finally relaxed in his chair, he kept his phone down and called his mama "mamaji, its done! I've found someone..we'll be in Delhi in two days. Any more news on ma and dadi's matchmaking?" 

He heard his mama's hearty chuckle "Thats great son, yes both of them are going head to head on this, i'm just waiting to see the shock on their faces when they see you with a fiancee!" they spoke for a little while more after which arnav stood up to go and check himself in the mirror. He straightened his hair and tightened his tie. 'Wait! What am i doing, why do i care what she thinks of me!' he shook his head and went back to check his mails.

...

Khushi entered the office building after 15 minutes, she went straight to the receptionist and gave her name as katya, the receptionist looked at her with wide surprised eyes but took her to the VIP lift which went directly to Arnav's office. Khushi gave her a smug smile and went up; she reached arnav's cabin and waited outside as his secretary buzzed him, she motioned her to go in, khushi slowly opened the door and stepped in, she took a deep breath and came face to face with the devil himself.

Arnav saw as his cabin door opened, he expected her to come in another short dress with her long legs on display and her hair all open but was surprised to see her so casually dress, she looked like an office worker, her hair was tied up in a loose bun at nape, she had minimalistic make up on her face but she seemed to look more radiant today, it was a sin to be so beautiful!. He stood up as she entered his office; she came straight towards him and was about to extend her hand when she pulled it back, arnav wondered why she did that; she said a quick hello before arnav gestured her to sit

Khushi was nervous as hell! She had no idea what made her come here, but then she thought of her buaji and gained some confidence. She sat ramrod straight in her chair and gave him a slight smile, he looked and smelled so good she thought "So Mr raizada, now that i have agreed to your proposal, i need to make few things clear; first like you said yesterday this will be a strictly professional relationship, i will act like your fiancee but other than that don't expect anything else from me, this contract will umm..will...uh you know...not come with any perks"

Arnav slowly got up with an amused smile, he came towards her and sat slightly on the desk in front of her, he leaned down towards her and saw as she quickly grabbed the handles of the chair tightly, her chest was rising quite frantically and she leaned back away from him; arnav observed her state and spoke slowly, his hot breath ticking her ears " You do get to the point huh?...Well, i have already promised you that i will keep it strictly professional, but will you be able to as well?"