Chapter 9

"Condition?  What condition Arnavji?"

"Khushi I want you to call me Arnav from now on. No more Arnavji. If you can do that then I can agree to let NK work at AR. "But Arnavji how can I ?" "Khushi if your husband is telling you to that he would like you to call him on a first name basis then it is surely not disrespect." Khushi weighed her options. If she didn't agree then Nanheji could not be at AR. Plus, if it meant Arnavji was happy then she figured she should comply. She nodded her head hesitantly and he broke out in a smile. "I want to hear you say it." She buried her face in his chest and shyly whispered. "Arnav." Arnav smirked at her shyness while she was still hugging him tightly. "I couldn't hear you Khushi. Louder please." Dhak dhak dhak dhak, her heart seemed like it was beating a mile a minute. She shut her eyes and said "Arnav" clearly. Arnav stroked her hair in order to calm her down as he could sense this was a little weird for her. "Thank you Khushi. From now on only Arnav ok. Let's go home." As they were heading out Aman ran up to ASR and quickly handed him a file. Arnav was slightly confused but then remembered what this was about. "OK Aman. We are headed out."

They reached RM and Khushi quickly ran up to change. Arnav went to talk to NK and found him sitting along at the dining table. "Hey NK.  Khushi told me that you've been bored around the house and that you wanted to start working. You can work at AR if you are serious about working." NK looked up surprisingly at him. He had casually mentioned this to Khushi but he was surprised that she had asked  Nannav about this. And Nannav had actually agreed. But working with family was difficult. Nannav was too uptight. It would be best if he declined. "I don't know Nannav.." he began. Just then Khushi joined them and interjected. "Nanheji – please don't say no. AR could use the help and you said you wanted to work so it's good for you both." He glanced over at Khushi and saw that same worried look on her face that he had seen months ago, when Nannav was kidnapped. She obviously needed help and he would always be her friend. He would have to find out later. "Actually Nannav that sounds like a good idea.  Thank you for the offer."

It was dinnertime and they were all finishing up. Everyone was sitting in the living room conversing. They were all excited about NK joining AR corporation. Anjali was especially thrilled. This was the perfect opportunity for her Chotte and NK to bond. She had always wanted them to be closer and have a similar relationship that Akash and Arnav shared. She asked NK "What will you be learning first NK Bhai?" Khushi smiled at Sheetal and proclaimed how about designing? Arnav nodded. "That's actually not a bad idea. Learn the design process for a couple of weeks and then we can go from there. You can shadow Sheetal. Sheetal tried to hide disapproval. "I don't know if it's such a good idea. The fashion show is not too far away and there is quite a bit to do." NK was about to say something but Arnav began speaking first. "I think it'll work great for the two of you. NK may not have much experience but I know he's creative. So it's final, NK will start tomorrow observing Sheetal and the designing team.
Khushi beamed from to ear to ear. Laad Governor actually did something right.  Just then Aarav came and asked Arnav to come and watch TV with him. Khushi headed upstairs to their room, eventually her feet leading her to the poolside. It was such a beautiful night with stars twinkling like diamonds in the sky. The moon was shining bright. She shut her eyes and savored the beauty of the night. Her mind wandered off to all the craziness in her life. She had managed to keep herself busy during the day but she couldn't let go of this nagging feeling about Sheetal and Aarav. Arnavji denied that there was a chance that he was his son. Maybe she should let it go, that's what he wanted her to do. But how could she let it go? Aarav was such a sweet boy , she had to find out some way to help him. She remembered about the times after the accident how she had missed her parents.

Arnav came back to the room quietly to find Khushi sitting by the poolside with her eyes shut. He noticed the sadness on her face and knew that she was thinking about her parents. He had to go and cheer her up. His heart ached to see her in pain. He walked out slowly and sat beside her. "Khushi are you ok?" Khushi opened her eyes and gave a meek smile. "I'm fine." Arnav figured Khushi must really be sad as she had only said two words. He leaned over and whispered huskily in her hear. "Do you remember what you are supposed to call me?"  He scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed where he lay down next to her. Khushi on the other hand was getting slightly annoyed. Of course she remembered was she stupid. Why did he think that she couldn't say his name like everyone else did?

"How could I forget Arnav? Now we should go to sleep as we both have to get up early."
"Of course. But I have one question. How come you have always called Rohan by his name and not Rohanji?"
"I tried calling him Rohanji. But he hated it. And he would tickle me until my sides are hurt. Then he told me that if I ever called him that he would do the same. I accidentally said it and then he tickled me for so long that I had tears rolling down my face."

Arnav was livid at the thought of Rohan touching Khushi and tickling her.  He knew what motives teenage boys had for tickling girls. Tomorrow he made a mental note to read the file on him and come up with a plan. "Khushi you should have slapped him for tickling you. "he said grudgingly. Khushi smiled and started tickling him. Arnav however wasn't ticklish but he did manage to roll over Khushi and tickle her for a little bit. They finally dozed off to sleep.

The next morning Khushi chose to wear a turquoise blue shirt with white dress pants. Arnav admired her again and was happy to see her getting accustomed to western clothes. They headed to work. Arnav dropped her off and Khushi headed inside. The receptionist stopped Khushi and mentioned that Rohan was sick and would not be in today. He had left a list of things for he to do but had left a note that she could leave to go home early if she wished, since he wasn't going to be in today.

Khushi was alone doing some work when she heard a knock on the door. Khushi looks up to see a pretty girl smiling at her. "Hi Khushi. My name is Maya. I just wanted to come and meet you and I heard you are Khushi Singh Raizada." "Come in Maya." Said Khushi. Maya and her chatted for a quite a bit and Khushi realized she was a nice girl. She was excited about the thought of having a friend and Maya was genuinely nice. After a little bit they both went back to work after Maya made Khushi promise to have lunch with her today in the breakroom.

Back at AR, Arnav sat down to look through the files that the PI had sent of Rohan. The PI had done a good job. There was lots of pertinent information including pictures. So far everything looked normal. Just then his gaze fell on something which made his jaw clench. Well well what do we have here, he thought.