7. OS 19. His Elusive Lover (Part 7)

Part 7

ASR almost had a heart attack at the age of twenty-eight when he looked at the photos Aman had sent. They were of Khushi in a sari.

He had instructed Aman to inform her that she had to wear a sari in Shantivan as her uniform, trying to make her more attractive as a bait to Shyam. Aman had followed his orders faithfully and had sent him a few photos of what to expect next evening.

His hand holding the photos shook.

“Chotey!” came his di’s call as she joined him in his garden, no doubt to ask about Khushi.

He quickly slipped the photos under a file.

“Yes, di?” He stood up.

“Chotey, are we to have a guest staying with us? One Khushi?” Anjali asked, miffed that her Chotey hadn’t confided all his plans to her before making them.

“Yes, di,” Arnav made sure he was patient and calm. “I have to negotiate a very important deal with a Paris fashion house. Confidentiality is the key. So I need to work from home. Khushi will be helping me with work.”

“I have never heard of her. Chotey, how long has she been working for you?” Anjali asked with a frown.

“A month or so. But she is trustworthy.” He turned his head away as though he had something to hide. “She is very...very nice. I think you will like her.”

Anjali’s eyes widened.

Before Anjali could question him further, Arnav said, “Di, a building contractor and his men will be coming here tonight to build a connecting door between my room and Khushi’s.”

Anjali’s mouth fell open.

He continued, “Mami complained of termites. So a pest control team will be working here at night. Please stay in your room all night. The chemicals may be harmful.”

“Chotey, a connecting door? Yeh ho kya raha he?” Anjali was in shock.

“Err...di, Khushi...she is an employee...like Aman,” Arnav stammered and turned his eyes away, making it evident to Anjali that he was hiding something. “We may need to work at night in tandem with our Paris office....international calls...video conferences....”

Anjali opened her mouth to ask more, but Arnav’s phone rang.

Aman.

Aman deserved a raise for the timely interruption, Arnav thought as he answered the call.

                                                            ***

“Nani, Khushi is to stay in the room next to Chotey’s and he is building a connecting door between the two rooms!” Anjali said, hyperventilating. “What is happening in this house?”

Nani looked at mami.

Then nani said with a slight smile, “Anjali bitiya, yeh sab business ki khaatir kar rahe he Chotey. He must have explained to you.”

“Nani!” Anjali was shocked at nani’s casual acceptance of a girl almost living with Chotey in his room.

“Waise Saasumma, Manorama Baand hajj doubts,” mami said with a sly smile at nani. “Hamare Chotey hajj neber done thijj before. To bring a ladki and make her stay in hijj roomwaa. Kucho to black he daal mein.”

Nani laughed. “He is a young man, Manorama, ripe for shaadi,” she said.

Mami laughed.

“Nani, what do you mean?” Anjali asked, her eyes round.

“Your nani means that your Chotey is not Chotey anymores,” mami explained.

“He has spent the last few years working, Anjali bitiya. Din raat kaam kiye rahe hamre Chotey. Now it is time for him to settle down. I think he likes this girl and that’s why he is bringing her home,” nani explained.

Mami added, “Hamre Arnav bitwaa wants us to knows her. That ijj bhy he is making her stay bith ujj.”

“But in connecting rooms!” Anjali was scandalised.

Nani’s face hardened. “Your brother is like my daughter, not like his father. Khussi will be safe with him,” she stated.

“Aur nahi to kaa?” mami asked, lifting her legs to sit cross-legged on the chair. “Hamre Arnav bitwaa ijj heera, heera, Anjali bitiya. Saasumma, imagines him on a horse with a sehera. Hello Hi Bye Bye! My heart ijj racing like a ghoda at the thought. Hamre Arnav bitwaaj shaadi!”

Anjali left them, her head spinning. Her brother was interested in a girl? And she was coming here to stay?

She quickly called Akash.

“Akash?”

“Yes, di?”

“Chotey has invited a girl to stay at home,” she said in wonder.

Akash pretended to take a moment to think. Then he said thoughtfully, “Khushiji. It must be Khushiji. I don’t remember him interacting with any other lady.”

“Who is this Khushiji?” Anjali asked in exasperation.

“An employee. Aap ko pata he, di, bhai never gets angry with her,” Akash informed her.

Anjali clutched her heart. “He doesn’t?” she asked in shock.

“He doesn’t shout at her. He loves to drink tea and coffee made by her. One day he threw five cups at the studio wall because the coffee wasn’t made by Khushiji,” Akash said with relish.

Anjali sat down. “I will talk to you later,” she muttered before cutting the call and calling Aman.

“Amanji, who is this Khushi?” she asked bluntly.

Aman smiled. “A very nice girl, a very sanskaari child working here. She will be staying with you for a few days. ASR needs her,” he said.

“Aman!” Anjali exclaimed. “ASR needs her? Since when has ASR needed anyone?”

Aman’s lips twisted in a wry grin. ‘Since your husband started chasing other women while living on your brother’s money,’ he thought. He said aloud, “ASR likes her. He...he is patient with her, doesn’t get angry with her. I think he wants to know her better.”

Anjali could only stare at the wall in shock.

A few moments later, she tried to gather herself and call Shyamji with the news, but his phone was switched off.

She pouted.

                                                              ***

“Stay in a man’s house?” Garima fumed. “And you agreed, Khussi?”

“Pagla gayi ho kaa, Sanka Devi?” buaji screeched. “I told you to resign from the job and you decided to go and stay with a man, Nandkisore? Tum dekhna, Garima, this girl will put us to shame. Koi oonch neech ho gayi to? Naak kata degi iss ladki hamari! Biradri walon ko kya muh dikhayenge? They will say, we told you so. We told you not to take this girl into your house.”

“Is this the way you repay your babuji and me?” Garima asked. “Khushi, do you even know what you have done?”

Khushi sat quietly, listening to them rage. She felt calm inside, at peace, safe. She knew she had taken the right decision. Their anger didn’t touch her anymore.

“Khushi, what happened at the office today?” Payal asked, trying to give her sister a chance to get a word in edgeways.

“ASR summoned me to his office,” Khushi explained simply. “He asked if I had found another job? I said yes. He said there was another opening in his office as his personal assistant. I told him I am not trained. He said that training was not necessary and what he wanted was a trustworthy person who wouldn’t leak out company secrets. He said I would have to stay at his house while the negotiation with a Paris firm was on. He said he lived with his nani, mama, mami, cousin, sister and her husband and a dozen servants. He said that I would be safe.”

“And you believed him? Hai Re Nandkisore!” buaji lamented.

"Yes, buaji," Khushi replied simply.

“Are you a fool, Khussi?” Garima thundered.

Khushi held out an envelope with notes in it. “Amanji gave this to me. It is my first month’s salary in advance. It is more than what I was supposed to get at the new job, buaji.”

The ladies stared at her for a long moment. Then Garima took the envelope from her, opened it and counted the crisp notes.

Unable to believe her eyes, she sat with the notes clutched in her hands.

“How much is it, Garima?” buaji asked.

Garima told her and buaji’s brows touched her hairline.

“Khushi,” Payal asked, breaking the silence. “You will be safe, won’t you?” Her face revealed her worry.

Khushi smiled at her. “Don’t worry about me, jiji. I will be perfectly safe. It is just a job with a uniform. I have to stay there for a few days. That’s all. ASR will be there and Amanji will be at the office if I need help.”

“How long will this job last, Khussi?” buaji asked.

“I don’t know, buaji,” Khushi replied. “Lekin there is nothing to worry about. ASR promised he will find me a job after this one is over.”

Garima and buaji heaved sighs of relief.

“We can take Sasi babua to the specialist, Garima,” buaji said.

Garima nodded. “Yes, jiji. Let’s go to the hospital tomorrow.”

“And we can pay the electricity bill and the account at the kirana shop, Nandkisore,” buaji said, relieved.

“When do you have to go, Khussi?” Payal asked later when they were sitting on their bed.

“I have to go to the office tomorrow, jiji. Amanji will teach me what I need to know to help ASR with his work. My new uniform is waiting for me there. Tumhe pata he, jiji, Amanji bought me a whole suitcase full of sarees. Woh bhi silk. ASR’s nani doesn’t like girls wearing suits. So ASR asked Amanji to buy me sarees. A girl from the tailoring department at AR Designs took my measurements. Kal tak the blouses will be ready. Amanji said that I will be taken to ASR’s house from the office,” Khushi explained.

“Khussi, you are sure about this?” Payal asked.

“Yes, jiji,” she replied, a large smile on her face. “I was so worried about leaving ASR...matlab AR Designs and joining the new firm. It is like ASR waved a magic wand and took away my worries. I don’t have to work with that slimy supervisor and I can still see...” She paused.

“You can still see?” Payal asked.

“A...Amanji and the others,” Khushi said quickly. “Now go to sleep, jiji. All our problems are over. Amma and buaji have enough money and I have a good job.”

“I will miss you, Khussi,” Payal said quietly.

“I will call daily, jiji,” Khushi promised. ASR’s warning of how her family could be in danger rushed into her head. “Don’t call me unless it is urgent. I will call you.”

                                                                      ***

6. OS 19. His Elusive Bride (Part 6)

Part 6

Khushi got ready to go to office the next morning, her movements sluggish as she pushed her body to do what her heart and mind didn’t want her to do.

“Khussi, kya hua?” Payal asked, folding their blankets.

“Nothing, jiji,” Khushi replied, trying to smile.

“Didn’t you sleep last night? Your face looks...” Payal began, but buaji interrupted her.

“Sanka Devi, don’t forget to give in your resignation letter today,” buaji ordered.

“Yes, buaji,” Khushi said slowly.

“Your lunch box is packed and ready, Nandkisore. Take it and go,” she added before leaving.

Khushi slowly sat down on her bed, feeling weak.

“Khushi,” Payal called. “Don’t you want to resign? Sach batao.”

Khushi shook her head in a no.

“Why?” Payal asked, mystified. “Your boss is a fuming volcano who shouts at the employees and you wish to remain there?”

“Jiji...” Khushi tried to explain. “He shouts and fumes and I hide from him. Lekin...”

“Lekin?” Payal asked.

“He shouts at everyone,” Khushi explained. “Male or female. He doesn’t shout at the men and smile at the ladies.”

“Kya?” Payal was justifiably confused.

“The supervisor who interviewed me yesterday smiles at the ladies. I...I don’t feel safe,” Khushi blurted out.

Payal could only look at her in silence.

“Maybe it is because I am used to ASR not smiling, maybe it is because I am used to an akhdoo, khadoos boss, lekin I found the supervisor’s smiles very disturbing,” Khushi rushed to explain.

“Tum pagal ho, Khussi,” Payal concluded.

“Yes,” Khushi readily admitted, “but I feel safe with ASR.” Putting it into words was very soothing. She felt a load lighter. “I like being in the same office with him, even if I am hiding under a table in the store when he walks by. He...jiji...how can I explain? Jiji, when he is in the office, even if he is shouting, I feel everything is fine. That nothing bad will happen. And I like Amanji. He is like a brother.”

“Go to this brother and give your resignation or buaji will make burji of you,” Payal instructed.

Garima called from the living room, “Khussi, you will be late today.”

“Aaayi, amma,” Khushi hollered before grabbing her bag and rushing out of her bedroom.

                                                              ***

ASR looked at the girl standing at the entrance to his room.

“Come in,” he said, his invitation lacking any sign of anger.

Khushi blinked at him. He wasn’t angry? And why did he want to see her? Was he so happy that she was leaving that he had forgotten to be angry?

She walked unsteadily into the room, the heady fragrance that was his, flooring her.

“Sit down,” he said softly.

Khushi almost fell into the chair at his husky voice. She told herself, ‘Look your fill, Khussi. You are never going to see him again, except in your dreams.’ She breathed him in.

“Aman said you are leaving us?” he asked easily.

Khushi couldn’t find her voice. So she just nodded weakly.

“A job opportunity has opened up here. It pays more than what your new job will,” he said quietly.

Khushi’s heart almost stopped. Was he offering her a job? She didn’t have to leave him?

“Why?” she asked. Why was he considering her for the post, whatever it was? He couldn’t stand the sight of her!

Arnav swallowed. Then he sat back in his chair and tried to explain without giving away vital information.

“I am going to negotiate a very important deal with a Paris firm. I will be doing it from home, not here,” he began.

Khushi listened with full attention.

“I need a personal assistant who can liaise with Aman. You get along well with him, don’t you?” he asked.

“Ji,” she replied, a faint smile on her face at the thought of avuncular Amanji. The smile died away. “I don’t know anything about business,” she admitted.

“That’s why Aman and I picked you. You don’t need to know anything about business. I just want you to type a few confidential documents and...and make tea...and make a few calls to Aman,” he said, careful not to spook her.

“I can make tea,” she said, “but I have never learned to type. Matlab, I can, but I am very slow.” She wanted to be very clear.

“That’s fine. I can’t have anyone in the office do them,” he said. “Can you do this for me?”

How could she refuse? It was like a dream come true. But dreams never came true for her. Never. So she asked him, “Are you sure?”

“Very,” he said. To make her feel more comfortable, he said, “Aman speaks very highly of you.” Aman had freaked out when he had first informed him about his plan, but had soon realised that this was the only way.

Khushi smiled slightly. Amanji was a delight to work for.

“You will have to come to my house to work,” he said, inching carefully into dangerous territory.

“Ji,” she said.

“Aman will give you the address. Err...you will have to stay there,” he said quietly.

Khushi jumped.

“It is dangerous to let you go home. Business rivals may track you to your home and hurt your family,” he said, laying it on thick.

Her eyes widened to the size of saucers.

“I live with my nani, my mama and mami, Akash, my sister and her husband and about a dozen helpers,” he said easily. “You will be safe.”

Khushi swallowed hard.

“When the work is over, I will make sure that you find employment. You will suffer no loss by helping out AR Designs. So, will you work for me, Khushi?” he asked in his husky voice, his heart-stealing eyes trained on her.

Her mouth opened and closed like a fish, too shocked to react.

“I am afraid I need an answer now. If you are ready, you can move into my house tomorrow evening,” he said.

To work for him and see him daily for a month or so OR to walk out and never see him again?

She breathed in deep. The fragrance she associated with him filled her lungs. 

“Yes,” she said softly.

Arnav felt his being calm down, his body sag in relief. The first and the most difficult step was done. She was his...that is, she was willing to work for him. Nothing else mattered. The rest was child’s play. He was strong once more; he was invincible. Shyam Manohar Jha, count your days, he challenged.

                                                                  ***

“Where is di?” ASR asked HP as soon as he entered the house.

“She has gone to the temple, Arnav bhaiyya. Today is the first Friday of this month when she fasts for her husband,” HP explained.

“Ask the whole family to meet me in nani’s room. Now,” Arnav said.

“Yes, Arnav bhaiyya,” HP replied.

“Kaa hua, Arnav bitwaa?” mami asked.

All the others were seated around nani, waiting for Arnav to reveal the reason for this meeting.

“I need to prove to di that Shyam is a cheat,” he began.

All nodded.

“Khushi Kumari Gupta will be coming here to stay. Expect her around 5 in the evening tomorrow,” he stated.

“Hein?” mami asked.

“Oo kaun he, Chotey?” nani asked.

“My employee. She will be here as my personal assistant, officially. She has been told that she is here to assist me in a very delicate and confidential business deal. She knows nothing more. In reality, she will lure Shyam to his doom,” he explained.

“Arnav bitwaa!” mama exclaimed. “How?”

“I have never had any assistant but Aman since I started out. When di informs Shyam that Khushi is here and is staying with us, he will come running. It is all about the money, mama. He has been expecting me to stay a bachelor till my death so that he can lay his hands on my wealth. When he hears Khushi is staying with me, he will fly home to protect what he thinks are his assets. He will try to lure Khushi away from me. That will open di’s eyes to his true nature,” Arnav explained.

There was perfect silence in the room.

Finally nani said, “But the poor girl...”

“She will be fully protected at all times,” Arnav stated. “I have arranged for cameras to be fixed throughout the house tonight. A connecting door will be made tonight between my room and the bedroom next door where Khushi will be staying. And the door to her room will be fortified. Khushi will be in no danger.”

“If this works, bhai, then we are saved,” Akash said.

Arnav nodded. “I want all of you to play along, help her.”

Mami nodded. “Yejj, Arnav bitwaa. We bill help her. We bill give Anjali bitiya the impressionwaa that you lub Khussi,” she suggested.

“Yes, Manorama. And that Chotey is thinking of marrying her. That he has brought her here on the pretext of work to introduce her to us,” nani added.

“I will give di the impression that you were interested in Khushiji while she was working in the office, bhai,” Akash said.

“She will definitely call Aman to check. I have notified him,” Arnav said.

All nodded.

Arnav said, his eyes serious, “Khushi has no idea of the real game and she shouldn’t know. Keep it simple. Treat her as you would my prospective bride. That will send shivers down Shyam’s spine.”

His family nodded.

5. OS 19. His Elusive Lover (Part 5)

Part 5

“Coffee,” Arnav instructed Aman over the phone, his eyes and focus still on the document lying before him.

“Err...ASR, Khushi is not in office,” Aman said.

Arnav lifted his head, a ferocious frown on his face. “Is she on leave?” he asked, furious that she could stay away from the office for a day.

“No. Err...she was here a few moments back. ASR, err...she has gone out,” Aman said.

The ominous silence made Aman explain, “She is looking for another job and has gone to attend an interview.”

Something burst in ASR’s head, turning his vision red. Never had he felt so angry, so betrayed, so abandoned.

“How dare she!” he bit out.

“ASR?” Poor Aman asked. “You wanted her out, didn’t you?”

ASR could only swallow the bitterness that welled up.

“She needs the money,” Aman explained. “Her father is sick.”

“Ask her to meet me when she gets here,” ASR ordered.

“You have a meeting with the Sinhas at the Taj, ASR,” Aman reminded him. “Do you want her to wait here for you?”

Arnav shut his eyes and drew in a deep breath. No, he didn’t. The meeting would end late and he didn’t want that girl alone in the office.

“I will see her first thing tomorrow morning,” ASR decided. “Aman, send me her employee file.”

“Yes, sir,” Aman said before cutting the call.

A few minutes later, ASR made another call to the PI. “Find out everything there is to find out about Khushi Kumari Gupta. Write down her address in Delhi and Lucknow. I need the details by midnight.”

                                                                ***

Khushi got home, all drenched and cold. It had started pouring a few seconds after she had alighted from the bus and she had forgotten to take her umbrella.

“He Devi Maiyya,” she whispered through clenched teeth as she hugged her cloth bag to her chest with her slim arms.

“Khussi, aa gayi?” Garima asked. “How was the interview?”

“Will you get the job, Nandkisore?” buaji asked anxiously.

Khushi just stood there shivering.

“Khushi, change your wet clothes. I will get tea,” Payal said, making her way to the kitchen.

“I—I’ll be back,” Khushi said through trembling lips as she made her wet way to her room, leaving a trail of water on the floor.

Ten minutes later, she faced the firing squad.

“What did they say?” Garima asked.

“They said I can join next week,” Khushi said quietly, her stomach roiling in tension.

Garima and buaji sighed in relief.

“Nandkisore is kind,” buaji said. “Give your resignation, Khussi.”

“The salary is the one they mentioned in the paper, isn’t it?” Garima confirmed.

“Yes,” Khushi muttered. “But...”

“But?” Garima asked.

“The working hours are long, amma,” Khushi said softly. “I can leave the office only at nine at night. And there is no office transportation. I will have to make my own way home at night.”

Buaji and Garima looked at the slip of a girl seated before them. It was not that they were cruel, but their first priority was Sasi.

“They are paying you more, Khussi. It is only natural that they expect more from you,” Garima said, lowering her eyes in shame.

“I will have to take food from home, amma. The canteen will be very expensive,” Khushi said, her mind full of one akhdoo, khadoos man with molten chocolate eyes.

Buaji and Garima nodded.

Payal demurred. “How can you carry breakfast, lunch and dinner with you, Khushi?” she asked. “The sabzi will go bad. How can you eat that at night?”

Buaji intervened. “Payaliya, Khussi has to take this job. Nahi to your babuji’s condition will worsen, Nandkisore. Go to bed, both of you. And Khussi, inform the office that you are leaving.”

There was nothing more to be said. Khushi and Payal left the living room.

                                                                 ***

ASR stood at the glass door leading from his bedroom to his garden, the phone at his ear. Rain fell unnoticed, a few drops wetting his coat as he stood listening to what the PI had to tell him.

He cut the call and slipped the phone into his coat pocket. He stood staring at the garden with unseeing eyes as he processed the information he had received.

Khushi Kumari Gupta.

20 years.

Orphaned at 10.

Adopted by mother’s sister.

Her adopted father had owned a halwai business in Lucknow and the shop had caught fire. No insurance.

The father had fallen sick and was bedridden now.

The whole family was in Delhi now, living with her father’s sister in Laxmi Nagar.

She was the sole breadwinner of her family comprising her adopted parents, their daughter and her father’s sister.

His eyes fell shut. He felt disoriented for a moment. An intensely private man, peeping into Khushi’s life had given him a strange feeling of being out of control, of being at the mercy of the vagaries of fate, buffeted by strong winds, his walls down....

He shook himself out of that strange mood.

Yes, the house. Khushi’s father had put his ancestral home for sale.

He, ASR, could buy it. It would take just a few minutes. The deal would be done and she would be saved. He wouldn’t even feel the difference. The money would be less than pocket change for him.

But....

But if he bought her house, it would take her out of his sphere of influence. He would no longer have a hold on her.

No. No, that was not acceptable. This was fixed in his mind, even though he refused to admit why that was so.

                                                                       ***

Khushi sat up in bed and looked at the face of her sleeping sister.

How could she go and tell Amanji that she was going to leave?

How could she...how could she walk away from ASR, that angry man?

Her chest ached.

She pulled the pillow close to her chest and buried her face in it. Hot tears leaked from her eyes to wet it.