Whatever it was that Khushi had been feeling in the morning, was now long gone, all thanks to work. In fact, when the hours passed by, Khushi had no clue, staying busy for the whole day. The week went by the same, making a few trips to a studio for their upcoming brand campaign, along with other stuff. It was such a relief when the weekend rolled around, however it finally reminded her of Arnav's absence. Sure, Arnav had messaged her when he had landed, just as he had said he would do, and there were a few messages in between, but it didn't make up for the lack of his being. So to keep herself distracted, Khushi called Lavanya up and asked her if she still wanted to go to a gentleman's bar, and Lavanya was more than happy to take up that offer.
On Saturday night, both girls got dressed up elegantly and made their way to a fancy bar in the city. The mood was rather dim, with very pretty ladies and very posh men everywhere, though nothing to Lavanya's liking.
"Well this sucks," Lavanya frowned as she toyed with her martini.
"Not what you were expecting, huh," Khushi said, tilting her head.
"These men are a little too old and they remind me of my dad," she grimaced.
Khushi couldn't help but to laugh.
"I guess I'm just gonna have to look in the clubs like you did."
"Hey, I wasn't looking for anyone. You were the one who pointed out that Arnav was checking me out," she pointed.
"You're welcome," she winked. "How is Lord Sexpert, by the way? I'm sure your vagina is crying, wanting him back already."
"He's fine, busy with work, and no my vagina is not crying," she frowned.
"Oh right, cause he's the one who usually has it weeping."
"Oh my-! La," Khushi exclaimed, though she was grinning.
"Instead it's the Sahara Desert up in this bitch for now, waiting for its oasis to return," she sighed.
"Shut the fuck up," Khushi laughed, Lavanya also laughing.
"Okay, but all jokes aside," Lavanya said when she recovered, "how are you feeling? Do you miss him?"
She hadn't felt it in days, but there was that pang in her chest again. "I don't know."
Lavanya arched her brow at her, making Khushi roll her eyes.
"Okay, fine, kinda," Khushi said. "It's like you said, I got the fucking Sahara going on."
"And that's the only reason why?"
"Would it be so wrong?"
"Not at all; you both know where you stand... right?"
"I mean... I guess," Khushi shrugged. "It's not like we've exactly talked about it. We fuck when we fuck, but when we talk, well, it's never about us."
"Do you want to though?"
"Honestly? No, I don't. I still stand with the fact that I'm not looking for a relationship. And by the looks of things, I don't think Arnav does either."
"How do you know?"
"La, he's such a gentleman when he's not fucking me like the devil," she scoffed lightly, making Lavanya grin as well. "I would think that if he wanted us to be something more, he would've said something by now."
"Unless he's noticed that you don't want something more."
"If so, then he knows where I stand and he doesn't seem to be bothered by it."
"True that, true that.... Well, as long as you're happy, bestie."
"I am, bestie. Now then, I think it's time we make you happy, so I say we blow this taco stand and hit a club, and find you a guy to screw."
"Yes! Cheers to that," and they clinked their glasses together.
*~*
When Monday came rolling around, Khushi was anxious. She had received a text from Arnav the day before, letting her know of his flight plans, and that he'd be back by seven, this evening. The news immediately had her heart racing and her core thudding, desperately wanting the feeling of his body against hers. It almost made her feel like an addict, but when she saw that the feeling was mutual with Arnav, she didn't feel so guilty about it. Arnav had asked her to go over to his place after work and although Khushi wanted to decline at first, her lust-craving mind beat her to it, agreeing to go over, hence her being anxious as she desperately needed the time to pass by.
Yet here she was, shaking her foot repeatedly, at just 11 AM.
Stupid fucking clock, move already!!!
Since it would be easier for Khushi to head to Arnav's place from the office, Khushi had decided to go in, not to mention she had a lot on her plate as well. Given that, she had expected for time to pass by easily, yet it was quite the opposite.
"Hey, Khushi?"
Khushi snapped out of her thoughts and turned to her coworker. "What's up, Maya?"
"The studio is ready, if you are."
Khushi let out a sigh and got up. "More than ready."
Thankfully Khushi had her day loaded with shoots and meetings, which meant that she would be busy. Right now she would be focusing on the candle collaboration, so she'd be spending the next two hours working on some marketing shots that they could use for their site, as well as other retailers.
Once the shoot was over, Khushi and her team went out to lunch, which helped to pass the hour, though time still wasn't going fast enough for Khushi.
How is it only 2 o'clock? There's still five more fucking hours till Arnav lands! What the fuck?! And I still have four more hours of work to go! What the actual fuck! Father time, why are you against me?!!
After returning to the office from lunch, Khushi spent the next hour at her desk, getting some work done, as well as go through her emails. At 3:30, she had another meeting to attend with her team, the product development team, marketing team, operations team, and brand founders, discussing products that they'd like to launch in the upcoming year. The collaboration they were doing now was more of an experiment to see how consumers felt about them selling candles. However, through their social media platforms, they were able to tell that their shoppers were quite excited for the upcoming collaboration, which was the green light they needed for next years' ideas.
The meeting lasted until 5 o'clock, and though Khushi was grateful time had passed, it just wasn't moving quick enough. Fortunately she would be spending the remaining hour at her desk, and since it was close to the end of the day, she could slack off for a bit.
"Hey Khushi?"
Khushi glanced up as she reached her desk, and her expression immediately fell. "Stop, don't tell me," she groaned.
But her coworker didn't need to say anything. The rest of her team looked up at the office coordinator, who stood by a delivery man, holding a large bouquet of flowers.
"Geez," Khushi heard one of her coworkers mutter.
"This is hilarious," another said, and she got up and went over to the delivery man, signed his tablet, and the delivery man and office coordinator left.
"Eda, why'd you sign for it," Khushi sighed.
"Well it's not like he would've left without giving it to you. These flowers are lovely by the way."
"Yeah, but the person who sent them isn't," Maya grumbled.
Khushi couldn't help the scoff of laughter that escaped her lips.
"If it is even from him," Nur, another member of their team, teased.
Khushi frowned at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh come on Khushi, we've all noticed how you've been on your phone a lot lately, smiling here and there," she smirked, wiggling her brows.
"Yeah, Khushi," Eda chimed in, "we've all noticed it, so spill! Is there someone new?"
"No, there's no one new," Khushi frowned.
Maya immediately snorted and Khushi gaped at her.
"I find that hard to believe," Maya shrugged.
The others nodded as well.
"Especially given the number of times you glanced at your phone during lunch," Eda said.
Khushi rolled her eyes. "I'm serious guys, I'm not dating anyone... I'm just having some fun."
The three of them whooped and hollered.
"As long as you're having fun," Eda said.
"Safe fun," Nur quickly threw in.
"Exactly! Fuck the ex! He can go to hell," Maya said.
"Any chance the flowers are from the new guy, though," Nur asked.
"I doubt it," Khushi frowned.
"Only one way to find out," Eda said.
Eda looked inside the bouquet and retrieved a card. Nur went to her side and took hold of the bouquet so that Eda look at the card with ease.
"It says," Eda began, "to my darling Khushi Kumari Gupta, wishing you a wonderful day. With love, Aarush Singh Raizada."
Khushi rolled her eyes while the others mimicked gagging.
"How arrogant do you have to be to keep sending flowers after being caught in bed with another woman," Maya said incredulously.
"Not arrogant, stupid," Eda scowled.
"I'll toss these out for you, Khushi," Nur said, and she walked away to do so.
Khushi sighed and plopped back in her seat, leaning back.
"I hope this other guy is treating you better," Eda said.
"You have no idea," Khushi sighed.
~
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