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.”

                                                                      ***