The Learning Curve - Chapter 7

"The Length & Breadth of Confusions...Hmph!"

PS:The italics are the character's thoughts...

"WHAT!" arnav thought as soon as he closed the door, did he just that cheesy line to her?? 'You've seen a lot more!' What the! He went back straight into the shower and stood under the hot water once again to get rid of the sticky coffee, he must have scrubbed his brains out while showering earlier...the entire scene seemed so surreal...he never flirted! That too with a simple primary teacher...Ok...she was not just a primary teacher, but she was his daughter's teacher and some lines should never be crossed.

He wrapped another fresh towel on his waist as he stepped out still in his thoughts, So what if she's drop dead gorgeous, so what if her milky skin goes all red and glossy when she's angry, those hazel eyes flashing green when irked, that perfect heaving bosom...Wait...heaving bosom!"I'm not bloody Jane Austen for god sakes!" Arnav said angrily as he ran a hand through his damp hair..he did not want to think of her..did not want to acknowledge that she affected him in any way...plus she probably has a boyfriend..or a husband...No..wait, she's a miss...well there's definitely that freddy...Dammit!

...

"Oh God Shilpa di! You don't know what an insolent arrogant rude ass he is! I mean first of all, he questions me about why I'm at his house, when he was the one who agreed to the sessions...secondly he calls me names and scolds me for, get this 'Burning him!'" khushi said in an agitated voice making air quotes with her fingers "And on top of that...bloody flirts with me! I mean...how dare he!" khushi fumed as shilpa continued massaging coconut oil into her hair.

"Khu, don't go all broadway now ok...i'm sure he did not mean all those things, I mean...you did scald him with hot coffee, so its natural for him to react that way...and probably you affect him in some way...so he behaved irrationally" shilpa said pouring more oil on khushi's scalp.

"What! I affect him? And how did you deduce that einstein? We hardly see eye-to-eye! How can that baboon affect me!?" khushi huffed as she leafed through the latest gossip magazine, shilpa smiled slyly as she pleated khushi's hair "Uh khu..I didn't say he affected you darling...i said you may affect him, thats why he flirted with you...but it looks like aag dono taraf lagi hai (fire has started on both sides)" shilpa said tying up khushi's braid while khushi suddenly turned backwards to glare at her.

"Shilpa di! Stop being so filmy ok! Are you smoking pot? Like really! That hades cum krueger affect moi! Ha! Fat chance...he's such a bore! And a total workaholic..probably does not know what 'Fun' means!" she said throwing the magazine carelessly on the couch where shilpa sat, who keenly picked it up and smiled at the page it had miraculously opened on.

"Oh really? Not know what fun means huh? Well doesn't look like it here" she said pointing towards a grainy picture of the same hades cum krueger escorting the latest Victoria's secret model out of a recently held celebrity party; she was draped all over him in a skintight leopard print dress hugging each and every curve of hers, while he was holding her tightly by her teeny tiny waist.

Khushi who was stunned for a second, made a face as she looked at the picture "Ha! Look at them...totally made for each other...she has no brains for being with him while his brain is lodged inside his pants! How can he be this cheap? I mean he has a child for God sakes! Someone who has easy access to such sleazy magazines...what will she think about this! No wonder that child is disturbed" khushi said as she took the magazine and threw it violently in the bin.

'Hmm...not affected huh? My foot!' shilpa thought as she saw khushi open the freezer and pull out a huge tub of Karamel sutra ice cream, 'Uh oh!' she only turns to ben&jerrys when things are really screwed up...shilpa shook her head as she saw her friend and darling neighbor plonk down on the couch with the ice cream 'this will be fun!' shilpa thought happily as she watched khushi gulp down huge spoonfulls of ice cream while staring daggers at the poor bin.

...

"Do you mind if we sit in the gardens today? I'd like to paint the frangipani's" anaya said softly as khushi turned around from the stairs. They had just come from school and were moving upstairs to anaya's room "sure..why don't you go and get your stuff? i'll meet you there.." khushi said as anaya went bounding up the stairs.

Khushi looked around to see maggie approaching with a cup of hot tea "There you go khushi dear, I thought it's best I myself bring you your tea..i mean after yesterday.." she trailed away as khushi smiled at her "Oh, please don't worry about that maggie..it was just a misunderstanding" she said lightly as maggie smiled at her.

"I know dear...arnav is not usually like that..i mean he was never like that you know..from the time i know him, he was always reserved but never this angry...and then..." maggie said as tears formed in her eyes, she blinked them away as she realized she was revealing too much in front of khushi who didn't need to know all this.

"Uh..forgive me...I tend to get too emotional sometimes, you should get going upstairs" she said as she turned around to leave when khushi placed her hand on maggie's shoulder "No...i mean...anaya said she wanted to paint outside in the garden...can you point me in the right direction?" khushi asked, suddenly curious about what maggie had just said; but she'd never probe further into it...she was here to analyze anaya...not her father.

Maggie smiled as she led khushi through the main hall towards a long corridor "Here, the garden is this way" she said as khushi looked around the house, she noticed a massive photo of an old man who looked positively jovial but a very formidable personality "Who is that?" khushi asked pointing towards the photo.

"Oh that is Mallik saab, anaya's grandfather. He passed away a year ago...such a gem he was" maggie said her eyes misting up again, khushi wondered about the surname...she knew anaya's middle name was also mallik, so this must be her maternal grandfather, her mother's father...Mr Raizada must have been very fond of him for putting up his portrait in his house, she once again felt a pang for the man who had lost his wife..whom he obviously must have loved so much; she wondered if anaya's mother's photo was around.

"Here we are" maggie said leading khushi out of her thoughts and into the magnificent garden and towards the gazebo situated right in the middle. Khushi said a quick thank you and sat down to wait for anaya as maggie left for the house, but after a few minuets she suddenly started having stomach cramps; she kept her cup of tea on the table and bent down clutching at her stomach as she moaned in pain.

...

"Yes Aman..i get it!" arnav said striding past the living room towards the in-house gym, he had come early today owing to the minuscule work at office. He thought a good workout was in order..plus he knew that Ms Gupta was in the house, and he wanted to steer clear of that area. He was walking along the corridor when the line started cutting off "Aman...wait...i can't hear you...let me step out" he barked in the phone as he walked out of the house into the garden.

"Yes, this is better...yes what were you saying?" arnav asked aman who quickly explained the deal to him "Hmm..fine, just mail me all the details...i'll check it out right now.." he said as he ended the call and turned back to go towards the house when something that sounded like a woman moaning stopped him short in his tracks.

...

"Oh God! Why.."khushi moaned as she massaged her stomach over her soft white cotton kurta, she wished she could loosen up her jeans buttons a bit, but she could not risk doing that in broad daylight in someone else's garden...that too someone who had guards posted everywhere! She closed her eyes as another spasm hit her delicate body.

"Uh...are you all right?" she heard a male voice...wait...scratch that...a husky male voice...freddy's voice to be exact. She opened her eyes in a flash and glanced back to see him standing awkwardly just outside the gazebo. She trailed her eyes over him taking in the casual tracks and fitting adidas vest he wore, his toned muscular arms were crossed over his chest while his usually gelled hair was soft and willowy in the late afternoon breeze.

...

'Focus' arnav...focus...that was the mantra arnav raizada was constantly repeating in his mind since he heard Ms Gupta...her moans to be precise,..ok he knew it wasn't that kind of moaning, but he wondered how she would moan when she's in the throes of...Oh God! Not again...he mentally slapped himself as he walked slowly towards the gazebo and found her hunched forward clutching her stomach.

...

Khushi came back to the present as another spasm hit her tender stomach 'Yes...it's just...aah..." she cried as arnav quickly lunged and came towards her, his concerned eyes watching her writhe in pain, he quickly picked up the cup of tea and held it out to her "here, have this...it will help. I'll ask HP to get you some pain medications...uh...do you want to go inside the house and rest? You may have gotten a stomach bug or something" he said as she shook her head and sipped on the tea.

"No...its just...i had too much Kar...maa..sutra last night...it'll go away in a while" she winced in pain, her words getting warbled, but then her body relaxed as the spasms lessened out, the hot tea did help calm her down a bit. She kept the cup down and turned towards arnav to assure him that she was fine, when she found him staring at her with his mouth hung open.

'Did she say kamasutra?..too much kamasutra?' No dammit...i'm sure she did not say that..plus who would openly say they had too much kamasutra,it doesn't even make sense...but if she did...with who?..maybe freddy??...No..shit! and her stomach ache? What position did she try??No maybe she watched the movie...dammit raizada! Focus...arnav mentally shrugged the images clouding his mind when he put ms Gupta and kamasutra together and looked back at the confused expression her face showed.

"Is everything ok Mr raizada? You zoned off there for a bit.." khushi asked him as she adjusted her scrunched up kurta and kept her cup back on the table, she was suddenly too aware of his standing there staring at her and she could not decide what that weird feeling in her tummy was..now that the pain was no more.

"Huh?..ye..yes..i'm fine...you..you sure your'e ok? I mm..mean if your saying your stomach ache is due to what your'e saying...you probably need some r..rest" arnav stammered as he felt sweat run down his back while his hands felt clammy...his body was really reacting in odd ways as his overworked mind ran a marathon of not so decent images of teacher gupta..his body suddenly felt too tight and stuffy in his workout clothes...and did he just stammer?

"Yes, i'm fine...really. It's happened before...every time i over indulge, which by the way is probably twice a week now! i get this pain.." so don't worry she said lightly as arnav's eyes went wide in wonder but his thoughts were again cut short as anaya and maggie came bounding up the gazebo.

"Oh Khushi dear...are you ok? You look a bit pale...and arnav..you here?" maggie asked, worried that arnav must have again scared the poor thing. Khushi smiled at maggie as she helped anaya set up her easel and paints, which surprisingly anaya let her "yes maggie don't worry...i was just having some stomach ache from the ice cream i indulged in last night..." she said smiling softly at her while arnav said his trademark 'What the!'

Khushi looked at him strangely "Yes Mr Raizada...i just told about it...like a minute ago?" she said eyeing his confused face 'What was wrong with his man?' she turned towards maggie and said in a conspiratory voice "I just can't resist Ben&Jerry's Karamelsutra...its one of my weaknesses" she winked at her while maggie laughed

"Yes i can imagine..i myself love Cherry garcia while anaya here likes.."maggie said as anaya's excited voice piped in "Chocolate chip cookie dough" khushi and maggie both turned towards her with a smile as anaya's cheeks went red at her sudden outburst, she went back to her paints and khushi and maggie shared a knowing look as khushi went and sat next to anaya, smiling as she watched the little picasso at work.

Arnav on the other hand had a hard time breathing...first he flirts, today he stammers..., things which he has never done before! And to think that he thought she said kamasutra! Why would the proper ms gupta say such a thing to the father of her student..he should have thought twice before adding two and two to equal ten! He watched khushi as she smiled at his daughter with an indulgent smile. They looked so perfect that way...What!..thats it...he had to stay away from this woman..this...this...Sabrina!