8. OS 19. His Elusive Lover (Part 8)

Part 8

Khushi emerged from the car Amanji had arranged for her and stood bemused. 

The car park of ASR’s house was large enough to house two Gomti Sadans.

She looked at the building. It was huge. Calling it a house was belittling it. A mansion. That’s what it was.

She clutched the pallu of her red sari in fear. The house was full of strangers and she had to live with them. The only person in the house she knew was ASR. She had seen Akashji around, but had never talked to him. What if ASR was not at home?

“Khushiji, please come with me,” Mohan, the driver called.

Khushi followed him.

He stopped and introduced her to the security guards.

“Arnav bhaiyya said you will be coming to stay here. Please go in,” Popatlal said with a kind smile.

‘Arnav bhaiyya?’ Khushi mused. ‘His security men dare to call him by his name and claim kinship with him? Dhanya ho!’

She kept close to Mohan and soon they reached the front door of the mansion.

Mohan pressed the door bell.

HP threw open the door. “Khushiji, welcome to Shantivan.” HP beamed. “Please wait here a moment. The family is in the living room. Let me inform them.” He grabbed her bag.

Khushi gulped. ‘Yeh kya ho raha he, Devi Maiyya?’ she asked silently.

HP returned a few seconds later with an army of people.

Khushi would have turned tail and run all the way back to her buaji’s house but for the man in formal black walking down the steps to stand behind the crowd.

“Khussi?” an elderly lady with the pallu of her lavender sari over her head asked. She had a thali with a lit lamp and flowers in it.

“Ji...” she replied.

“I am Devyani Raizada, your ASR’s nani,” she introduced herself. “Welcome to Shantivan.” She did Khushi’s aarti.

Khushi’s face was a sight to behold. Arnav didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. As he watched, she quickly bent and took nani’s blessings. Nani handed over the thali to mami and hugged Khushi.

‘Why are they treating an employee like a favoured guest or long-lost daughter, Devi Maiyya?’ Khushi asked in her head.

Next it was mami’s turn. “I am Manorama Raizada, one and only mami of ASR. Hello Hi Bye Bye.”

Khushi stared at her colourful eyelids and the heavy choker at her neck even as she greeted the aunt.

“I am Anjali, Chotey’s di,” the slender, beautiful lady in a pink sari said.

“Namaste,” Khushi said.

Anjali smiled at her.

Mama said, “Beta, I am Arnav’s mama and this is my son, Akash.”

Akash said, “You must have seen me in office, Khushiji.”

“Ji. Namaste,” Khushi said softly to both of them.

“Khussi bitiya, batao, where are you from?” nani asked.

“Lucknow,” Khushi said, feeling as frazzled as a celeb chased by the paparazzi. She lifted her eyes to look at the silent man standing at the back of the crowd, pleading silently for deliverance.

“Khushi,” he called softly, taking care not to look at the creamy skin of her waist revealed by her red sari.

“Ji,” she murmured, moving towards him.

All the Raizadas watched the pair with wide eyes.

“This is the Khushi I told you about,” Arnav said quietly. “She will be assisting me in a confidential project. If your interrogation is over, we can start work.”

Anjali pouted.

Mami sighed.

Nani frowned. “We want to know more about her, Chotey,” she complained.

“She is here for me. Her job is not to entertain you,” Arnav made it clear. He turned to look at the girl standing behind him. “Come with me.”

He walked away and Khushi followed him up the stairs.

The Raizadas stood there watching them go.

“Saasumma, they looks so good together,” mami said with tears in her eyes. “And she ijj from Lucknow.”

“Khussi bitiya is so sanskaari.” Nani’s eyes were filled with dreams.

“She is beautiful,” Anjali said slowly. “Nani, mami, Chotey sounded very different with her, didn’t he?”

“Yes, Anjali bitiya,” nani said with a sigh of relief. “She has touched his heart.”

Anjali smiled slightly. She was happy for her brother, very happy for him, but it was unsettling to see him pay so much attention to a girl. She needed to talk to her Shyamji. She slowly limped away.

Mami hugged nani. “Saasumma, pray we gets to see hamre Arnav bitwaajj shaadi soonwaa.”

Nani smiled. “Chotey has made a brilliant plan to trap Shyam. But I think Devi Maiyya has a better plan to trap Chotey.”

Mama and Akash too hugged nani.

                                                            ***

“This is your room,” Arnav said, opening the door for her and joining her inside.

Khushi looked around. It had a huge bed, a table, a chair, wide windows with views of a pool, and colourful furnishings. It also had a kitchen counter.

Arnav pointed at the connecting door.

“This door connects your room with mine,” he explained.

Khushi’s heart jumped to her throat.

“We will need to work nights,” he explained, taking care to sound stern.

Khushi, comforted by his no-nonsense, totally businesslike tone, nodded.

“I want you to stay in your room when you are not working with me,” he instructed. “Let me know if you need to leave these two rooms.”

“Ji,” she said, not really understanding what was going on.

“I don’t want details of the deal to go out. Walls have ears,” Arnav said, trusting her naivete and artlessness to make it easy for him to fool her.

“Ji,” she said slowly, even though she felt he was being ridiculously paranoid.

She needed to supervised at all times, but keeping her cloistered in these two rooms wouldn’t help him trap Shyam. So he said, “Nani will expect you to attend aarti in the morning.”

Her eyes widened. Even employees were expected to pray with the family?

“And you will be having your meals with us,” he insisted.

She hesitated.

He read her eyes perfectly well. “Consider it part of your job,” he said curtly.

She could only nod reluctantly.

Arnav breathed easy. Cameras had been fixed throughout the house when di had been sleeping and the builders had been making the connecting door.

And Khushi was here.

He looked at her and quickly averted his eyes. The red colour of her sari lent a glaze to her creamy skin and the glimpses of the curves of her waist were very distracting...too distracting for a man who had always gone out of his way to avoid female company. But...Khushi was different, he told himself. She had no airs and no plans to seduce him. And he had no interest in her except for the beverages she could make and her role in nailing Shyam. Yes, no interest, he told himself.

“Err...the kitchen counter has everything you need to make coffee and tea,” he pointed out.

Khushi nodded. “Would you like tea now?’ she asked directly.

“Yes,” he said, relieved. “Bring it to my room through the connecting door.”

“Ji,” she replied, moving towards the counter, glad to be doing something to earn her keep.

                                                                 ***

“Shyamji, aap..” Anjali began.

Shyam cut her rudely, “Rani Sahiba, why hasn’t Chotey paid in your monthly allowance? I tried to use your debit card and it was rejected.”

Anjali frowned. “He never forgets,” she said uncertainly.

“Remind him,” Shyam ordered her.

“Yes, I will,” the fool assented. “Shyamji, aap ko pata he aaj kya hua?” Anjali began her story session.

“What, Rani Sahiba?” Shyam asked, hiding a yawn. “Did Laxmi enter Chotey’s garden and eat his plants?” That was just about the most interesting and exciting thing to happen in Anjali Raizada’s life.

“Khushiji has come to stay,” Anjali declared, waiting for his shocked reaction.

“Who is she? Your nani’s friend?” he asked, disinterested.

Anjali giggled, sure that she was going to impart a very shocking and exciting news to her husband. “No, Chotey’s friend,” she said, in between chuckles.

The phone almost fell from Shyam’s hand. “What?” he bellowed, apoplectic with rage. “Kya bak rahi ho?”

Anjali’s hand shook. Why was Shyamji angry?

Shyam managed to control his shock and fury. “Chotey’s friend, Rani Sahiba? Maybe I didn’t hear clearly. Kya kaha aapne?”

Anjali smiled. “I am not surprised you are shocked, Shyamji. Hum bhi yeh kabhi nahi soche ki Chotey will find a girl to love and marry.”

Shyam was left speechless.

“She is so beautiful, Shyamji. No wonder Chotey fell for her. Matlab, he is surrounded by beautiful models in his office, but Khushiji is a world apart. Aap ko pata he, she is from Lucknow. Nani and mami are thrilled and ready to print the wedding invitations,” Anjali prattled on unaware that her husband was on the verge of having a fit. Anjali sighed and complained with a pout, “I am happy that Chotey is happy. But I am feeling very lonely, Shyamji. Now Chotey’s time will be divided between Khushiji and us. Aap yahan hote to kitna acha hota.”

“I...I am coming home, Rani Sahiba,” Shyam spluttered. He had to protect his investment, as he saw it. Three years of putting up with Anjali’s bleating would be wasted if he didn’t throw out this Khushi from Arnav’s life.

Anjali exclaimed in excitement, but her husband was in no mood to pamper her. His future and its pleasures were at stake.

                                                                      ***

It was time for dinner.

HP came to summon Arnav and Khushi to the dining hall.

Khushi hesitated.

“Come with me,” ASR said.

“Are you sure, sir?” she asked. “Your family...They may not like it.”

“Call me Arnav,” he instructed.

Khushi gasped. “Call you by your name? Paap lagega.”

Arnav’s brain worked overtime. “You call Aman, Amanji, don’t you?” he asked.

“Ji,” she admitted.

“Then you can call me Arnavji,” he reasoned.

She had no counter. “Ji, Arnavji,” she mumbled.

Arnav drew in a deep breath. Deception was a tricky business and he had to stay on his toes at all times. “And my family will expect you to join us for all meals.”

Khushi looked away.

“Khushi,” he called.

She looked at him with her lovely hazel eyes.

“If my family asks you about your family, say you have none. That you are an orphan,” he instructed.

Pain flashed through her eyes. He felt terrible, but it was the only way to keep her safe from Shyam in the future.

“I don’t want details of your family to be known by all and sundry. It can put them in danger,” he explained.

She nodded. “I won’t tell anyone about them.”

“Good,” he said. “Now come with me.”

                                                       ***