Chapter 6

"Legally we have the right to look at the details of their assets and financial records. I spoke to their in-house counsel and they have already shared their latest annual returns and business account statements. Is their a reason we are asking for details that's more than 10 years old?", Shayam asked, his eyes still on his iPad, scanning the standard contract that AR offered its suppliers and partners.

"We have a hunch", Arnav replied, Khushi nodding in agreement, who occupied the chair in front of him, in the smaller conference rooms on the executive floor.

Shayam raised his eye brows in questions, making Arnav sigh, "Some of their revenue streams don't make sense. Its like they appeared out of nowhere"

"Anonymous deposits?", Akaash asked, brows furrowed, his hands swiping the screen in front of him, trying to find the entries in question.

"I have highlighted those entries. They are from Page 15 onwards Akaash…. erm... ahem... Jiju", Khushi stumbled, frowning slightly, not very sure how to handle this new blurred line between her personal and professional life.

Arnav smirked at her visible discomfort, making her direct her frown toward him. He raised his hands in surrender, while Akaash gave her a warm smile.

"This is suspicious. We can cancel our meeting with them today and open another round of discussions with their legal team, or, we can just terminate the whole thing right now", Akaash continued

"Legally we can terminate our relationship with them. We haven't signed anything yet. What reason you give the board is another beast", Shayam said looking toward Arnav

Arnav stood up, his chair swivelling slightly, as he walked toward the floor to ceiling wall, and leaned on the inner ledge, "This is all based on a feeling. I don't think saying 'we didn't like some of the items in their bank statements' would fly with the board, especially because we have nothing to back it up"

"It won't hurt us financially. That should keep their mouth shut" Akaash countered

"Financially it won't, but it might hurt our reputation, and by extension our stock price. Acme Inc, has been gaining traction from last few years. The last three events they contracted for, although those fashion houses were much smaller than AR, had huge successes. And the biggest issue is this whole deal was very public from very start. And now if we try to terminate this relationship without something concrete, board is going to cry for blood"

Shayam frowned. His legal mind working over time trying to think of some better way to handle this. They all still had their heads buried in their respective devices, when suddenly Khushi spoke, "What if we stall them?”

Arnav, who was standing against the glass wall, frowned, "How? We have already moved this meeting thrice. Everyone involved knows we are in the process of finalising every thing for our summer event. We don't have that luxury anymore. Either we use Acme as one of our prime manufacturing partner, or we don't"

"What if we split our contracts? We can give majority of the contract to other competing companies that are already shortlisted. And we let Acme take care of a small percentage of our fabric and leather accessories. They are after all apparel and leather manufacturers. This should give us some time to dig into their background more. Hopefully find something to either support our doubts or, on the bright side, clear them of any real problems"

"And if we find incriminating information later, we can terminate their contract, force them to pay for damages. And we will have no issues handling the board", Akaash spoke approvingly

"Exactly. And if things goes well - and we like their work, then we would have gained a trusted production house"

"I like it", Akaash smiled

"Same here", Shayam gave his nod along with an appreciative smile to Khushi

They all then turned toward Arnav, who still was thinking.

"Arnav?", Shayam asked

Arnav looked at Khushi, searching for any signs of hesitation, but found none. He knew what she just suggested was simple and brilliant. It will definitely raise questions as to why they changed their requirements just before signing the contracts. But, he knew he could spin that in front of the board. Taking a deep breath, he nodded, "Ok, Agreed. Lets split the contract. We shortlisted two more companies along with Acme. I want to finalise one of them by evening. Also, I want the start date for their contract modified to next month. That way hopefully we will be able to reduce a little amount of financial and reputational liability if our research does bring up unexpected information"

"Great", Akaash nodded, "I will get on this then. Jiju, you have some time? I would like you to personally look at the modifications before I ask my team to draft it"

Shayam gave an acknowledging 'hmm'

“See you both at 2 pm then” , saying this Akaash and Shayam were out leaving Khushi and Arnav alone in the conference room.

---

"I had to look at some final points before our meeting with Acme", Khushi spoke while collecting her devices she brought with her to the room. Happy that she was all set to go, she looked up at Arnav, who was busy typing furiously on his laptop.

Khushi coughed slightly effectively getting him to stop & look up, "I will see you later then"

"Yes, see you in the meeting. Also, if you would like to have a separate scribe present in the meeting - let Aman know. He can get you in touch with some of the interns"

"That will be great, thanks Arnav"

Arnav nodded, as Khushi made her way toward the door. Her hands barely touched the handle, when he spoke again, "And, good work. Splitting the contract was a good idea. Gives us some breathing room"

"Of course. Although it was nothing. Just doing my job"

"Brilliant and modest - that's a killer combination. I should be scared. Very soon you will be putting me out of my job", Arnav teased with a soft smile

Heat rose through her body and she felt herself flush.

"I can give you some lessons if you want to. We will just have to revisit my salary figure then", Khushi replied, trying to keep the breathlessness she felt, away from her voice

Arnav gave out a laugh, "Ah, she is witty too. Ok, I am definitely scared now", And Khushi couldn't help but return the infectious smile

"Anyways, I am going to get an early lunch, may be you should join me. We can discuss more about these traits you think I need lessons on"

The moment Arnav said that, Khushi felt her heart thud against her ribs. The thought of spending time with him sent chills down her spine and before she could stop herself, or even think about her reaction, words came tumbling out her mouth, "No, thanks Arnav. I am not hungry yet. I should run, get a head start on some of the things before our meeting. I will see you later", and within seconds the door closed shut behind her, leaving a very confused Arnav behind.

Eyes split wide as to what just happened, he played the last 5 mins in his head. He praised her for her quick thinking, they had a friendly banter, he asked her if she wanted to get lunch with him & before he had a chance to say anything more, she ran out of the room. It wasn't that her running out the room bothered him, it was actually the sudden change of emotions he saw flash across her face that made him pause. She was smiling, that rare and beautiful smile that he was sure she didn’t know she had. And then within seconds of he suggesting lunch, her face drained, almost looking as if some one just slapped her. What he didn't understand was why did that offend her. He shook his head, replaying the whole thing once more, but came up blank.

He walked up to the glass wall again, his eyes taking in the sky scrappers in front of him & sighed. He vividly remembered last night. Those few moments alone together when they finally behaved like two educated professionals with each other. He remembered feeling that weird electricity which he concluded should be something he needed to get use to around her. He knew he felt something. He somehow also was sure that she felt it too. He was however not naïve to think it was anything substantial, given they just met. But, he at least expected to not have this hot and cold behaviour between them anymore. Even at the breakfast table in morning, the only word she spoke to him was 'morning'. Later she did agree to let Arnav drop & pick her up from Madhumati's house and bring her to office, because Buaji had to reach university really early, but the entire time she was in his car, she only spoke twice. Once when she asked him to give her 10mins to get ready and then when she asked him to reduce the volume of his music. He chuckled sarcastically thinking that if she wouldn't have addressed him as Arnav, he would have convinced himself that the 1/2 hr at night between them was just his imagination.

He groaned as he pressed fingers to his temples feeling a wave of headache making its way. She was throwing him off his balance, and he had no idea how to handle it or better yet stop getting bothered by it.

---

Acme Inc. was run by a father son duo, but as far as anyone remembered, every single meetings and public event were frequented by the son Suraj Khanna only. He was usually accompanied by some of his high level executive, his EA and one mid-level in-house counsel. But, until now, no one had seen the Senior Khanna yet. They always had a reason of where Suraj's father was. Sometime the reason was high fever, sometimes it was out of country, and sometime it was tending to a sick extended family member. And it was these plethora of reasons that sowed the seeds of doubt in Arnav's mind for the very first time. And now, sitting across the huge table from Suraj and his squad, these suspicions solidified even further. "There is something not right here. I wish I knew what it was, but my gut keeps telling me we are not seeing the complete picture. They are hiding something. I wish I can just call this whole thing off instead of signing any kind of deal with them", Arnav whispered. Akaash & Shayam who sat to his right, grimaced in agreement, and Khushi who sat to his other side, looked up at the Acme's group who all were deep conversation with each other in hushed tone discussing the change in contract.

She knew exactly what Arnav meant. Somehow her gut told her the same story. There was something amiss. She looked over to Suraj who sat in the middle of his group, and frowned. He had one of the classic handsome face complimented by neatly gelled hair, average height and medium built frame. He wore an expensive looking suit with the gold encased watch peeking from his sleeves that was unmistakably Breguet. He reeked of wealth and a silent plea to be taken seriously, almost to a point that it all looked mismatched and artificial. It was like he was trying too hard. Only problem was, this line of thought was not good enough to not give them the contract.

She took a deep breath, and whispered back to Arnav, "I agree Arnav. But, this is why we are doing a split contract. Hopefully the new start date and additional clauses will give us enough time to uncover all that we need to get rid of them like we want to"

Her voice was soft, professional and laced with genuine concern. But, instead of reassuring him, this confused Arnav. He closed his eyes, the headache from late morning still lingering somewhere in the background. She was back to her normal self and he couldn't help starting a mental stopwatch for the moment when she will again swing back to being aloof with him.

---

The Acme side of the table finally finished their internal debate and the meeting kick started again. Khushi eyes followed Arnav, who looked on fire with the way he handled the people in the room. The way he spun the reason behind split contract, to the explanation behind the new requirements and clauses that were now part of their terms and conditions - Khushi was in awe. The way he swayed the entire Acme squad felt so authentic, that if she didn't know the reality even she would have believed every single reason that he gave the other side. She knew she worked for one of the most ruthless entrepreneur, but seeing him in action like this for the very first time, she understood why people worshipped the path he walked on. It took three hours of intense discussions and finally, Arnav was able to convince Acme that the contract in front of them was the best and only option available to them. The legal formalities followed. And at the end, Acme became one of exclusive, albeit smaller manufacturer for AR's summer event.

---

It was almost 8pm, and most of the AR was deserted now.

Khushi looked at her watch and yawned tiredly, not believing how fast the entire day had gone.

Deciding it was time to call it a night, she shut her laptop, and slipped her feet into her 4 inch Louboutins that she discarded to the side few hours back and groaned again.

She was still in process of giving one last glance to her desk, when she heard a soft knock on her door.

"Yes" she answered absent-mindedly, hands busy getting her things in her purse.

"You are still here"

She turned, not expecting the person who just walked in.

"Arnav... Yes, ahem, I was just getting ready to leave", she stumbled with her reply, hoping he didn’t notice the slight tremble in her hands, "did you need something?" she continued.

"No, I wasn't sure if anyone else was still on the floor. I was leaving. Umm, are you coming? I can drop you?", Arnav said, but realised within seconds that the mental stop watch he started hours back would finally be reaching its end point.

It was a normal statement. The normal adult in her understood that. He was her boss and by some miraculous coincidence, he was also part of her sister's family. There was no way what he just asked her was abnormal. He did after all brought her to office in morning. She knew it, she tried to explain herself that. In those few seconds where she could see question forming on his face due to the lack of her instant response, she tried to supress her own knee jerk reaction that she knew was coming, but for some unknown reason she couldn't stop it.

"No. thanks Arnav, I don't want to impose. I have called a taxi. I will see you in morning"

"Its not an imposition at all Khushi. Buaji's house is not much out of my way. And I don't want Payal to rain down hell on me when she finds out I let her 'Ku' take taxi, that too on her first day at AR. Come on, there is no problem"

Khushi closed her eyes. Her heart thumping loud. She took deep calming breath and replied, struggling to keep her tone levelled, "Arnav, I can manage on my own. I am fine taking the taxi. And I really don't want to be a bother even if you are ok with it. As far as Jiji is concerned, I can talk to her if she expresses any objection to this"

Arnav frowned. He knew her tone had taken a turn for worse. He knew he should just back off, but he still continued, "I am not just the CEO for you, you know that right. We are family by extension and I would be happy to help out however I can", he was pushing it, he knew it. But, for reasons unknown to him, he felt this deep need to understand these glimpses of different sides of her personality that he has been coming across from last 48 hours.

May be his words intended to be nice, but they induced a completely opposite effect.

She picked up her purse, gave a final glance to her desk, and took few steps toward the door near which Arnav stood.

She stopped just next to him and replied in a tone that left no room for discussion, "I don't need any help. And, I respect the fact that you are jiji's family, but that does not make us one. I am sorry, but I like to maintain a line between my personal and professional life. My taxi should be getting here, so I should go. See you tomorrow morning. Night Arnav"

And with that she was gone, leaving Arnav rooted to his spot, stunned with what just happened. He then heard a faint pinging of the elevator doors closing in the distance and that jerked him out his stupor.

'Fuck', he cursed loudly, not caring if any of the cleaning staff on the floor heard him. He raked his fingers through his hair, eyes closed, trying to take deep breath to calm himself. He felt frustration pulsing through his entire body. He didn't need this complication in his life. She seemed like a minefield of deep seated issues, and no way in hell he was going to step on any more of them and let himself go up in flames. He took another breath, taking a firm decision - he will keep himself far away from her.

---

"Khushi!??" Madhumati frowned in confusion as she saw taxi leaving her gates, "Why did you take a taxi? You could have called me? Or, asked Akaash or Arnav to drop you"

Khushi sighed while getting rid of her jacket and depositing her purse in her room, "Akaash Jiju left at around 7 I think. And, booking the taxi was really quick, so I just went for it. Anyways, I am really drained Buaji - think I will take a quick shower"

"Of course, I will heat the dinner. Um, what about Arnav though? Was he not in office too?", Madhumati continued, as she followed Khushi to her room.

"I don't want to make a habit of asking the CEO of my company to do me any favours Buaji, it just doesn't seem right"

"But, he is not just your CEO. He is family"

Khushi stiffened. Last few mins of office that she was trying to block from her memory came rushing back again, and something snapped inside her.

"He is not Buaji. He is not my family. He is Jiji's family"

"It is all the same baby"

"No its not Buaji. It is not the same", this time Khushi's voice went up by several decibels, and Madhumati's eyes widened.

“He is my boss. Someone I respect and admire a lot but that’s just it. I don't want any thing more or anything less from him. I am here for few months and I don’t want to get habituated to something that is temporary. I can take care of myself. I don’t him or any other man to help me with that”, by this point Khushi was breathing hard, her face pale, hands clammy and body shaking furiously.

Madhumati gasped and immediately took her in her arms.

”I understand Khushi, whatever you want. Just calm down please. You need to breath beta. Breath...come on..."

Khushi closed her eyes shut, counting numbers backward starting at 100. One of the technique she used to calm her anxious mind. She could hear Buaji's voice in the background asking her to keep breathing. After few seconds, the number in her head at 57, she finally felt herself coming back to present. Her trembling subsidised, and she fluttered her eyes open.

Madhumati was looking at her with so much concern and pain, that it broke Khushi's heart for putting her through this yet again.

"Sorry Buaji. Don't know what came over me", she crocked

"You don't ever have to say sorry. Haven't I told you this before. Now go take that bath you wanted. I will get the dinner on the table. Ok?"

Khushi nodded and stood up. Madhumati’s felt tears leak through the side of her eyes, as Khushi took wobbly step toward her bathroom.

She hoped that Khushi had recovered from the pains of her past. She mistakenly believed that after all these years she would have moved on. But seeing her snap so easily made Madhumati realise that Khushi was far from recovery. She was still stuck in past. The only difference now was that she had erected several walls around herself and added layers of defence mechanism to make sure no one got past them. Instead of letting herself heal with time, she tightened locks around her pain and taught herself to live with them. And this broke Madhumati's heart.

The only thing that seemed curious amidst this misery was why Khushi reacted the way she did for Arnav. The whole thing about him dropping her off was so trivial. But, the way Khushi reacted to it - somehow seemed like unknowingly Arnav has gotten close to those walls. She could see this had scared Khushi. But, somehow it gave Madhumati hope. May be, just may be Arnav might be that one person who may be able to bring her Khushi back, to pull her out of the vortex of her past that she was circling around.

---

Standing below the shower with hot water blasting down her body, Khushi felt ashamed. She had been back for not even 2 days, and had already managed to hurt Buaji, one of the only 2 people in her life who loved her irrespective of the situation or time. She leaned against one of the wall as another silent sob tore through her.

She felt exhausted. Not from work, no. She knew she had enough stamina to deal with anything to do with work at any time of the day. It was exhausting to fight Buaji when she didn't ask anything of her but that she be happy. It was really exhausting trying to supress all the memories that kept surfacing every now and then, especially since had stepped her foot in India again. But, in last 2 days she discovered that most exhausting of all was Arnav. He affected her like no one else ever did. His piercing eyes, his ability to rattle her and make her react in ways she never did before in professional environment is what shattered her the most.

She needed him to back off. The verbal row they had on her first day in AR, although unprecedented for her, was more welcoming than his friendliness. Last night, in those few minutes with him, she felt so vulnerable and exposed. The energy that she felt every time he was around her, frightened her. Sure, she was in awe of him. He was one of the most brilliant person she had ever met or spoken to. She respected him for the way he navigated the multi-billion dollar business and still managed to care for his employees. But that was it. She wanted her thoughts about him to end there. Anything beyond this line was unmanageable for her. The care he tried to show her today was something she was not ready for. She was more than happy to help him take AR to new heights, and until 2 days back, she had no trouble in doing just that. But, somehow spending those few moments here and there where he transformed into a person rather than the genius CEO, were the ones that she couldn't handle.

At the end of the day he was a man. And Khushi knew only three types of men walked the earth. Cowards who hid behind their misery and had shameful lack of spine to stand for themselves or people around them. Oppressors, for whom the only way to feel like a success in life was to supress woman. And finally, there were these assholes who were strong, had no empathy and abused their power over any one that came in their contact. Khushi had no inclination in finding out which category Arnav belonged to.

Shakily, Khushi stepped out the shower & wrapped the thick purple coloured towel around herself. She then walked in front of the mirror, wiped the fog with her palm and stared at her reflection. She had come too far to stumble down that path of self-doubt and pity again. She took a deep breath, vowing to herself that she will not let anything or more importantly anyone deter her. She vowed to not let Arnav deter her.

---

Note: Hello my dear readers. A big thanks to those who read and expressed there views on the previous chapters, I am so glad you are liking this story❤️

And for all the silent readers - If you liked this chapter please hit the like button and don’t forget to leave your comments to tell me what you think of this chapter or the story so far - it can be few words or a big paragraph, I will be ecstatic with either. Hoping to hearing from you all☺️