Khushi took a sip of water and placed the glass on the center-table. She leant back on the couch and waited for Arnav to process it all. He was sitting across from her, scrolling through their texts and shaking his head in disbelief.
"Holy sh*t," he kept repeating the phrase to himself.
It had been some minutes now, since she told him everything. At first, he had listened patiently without revealing any emotion. Khushi was a bit scared that maybe he wasn't as excited about the situation as she had been. But then again, she had taken days to figure out what she wanted. He, too, deserved the same.
Once she had finished talking, his partly open jaw shut and his eyebrows crinkled. He opened is mouth to say something but nothing came out. Since then, he had been going through his texts. That was some 20 minutes back.
"Hold on!" he exclaimed abruptly and showed her the screen of his phone.
(Saturday, May 20th)
-Unknown- 7:13pm || [+Attachement.jpg]
-Unknown- 7:14pm || As someone who never goes out much, do I look okay?
It was the picture of her in the white gown that she had sent him. "This was the night I met Akash's girlfriend and we both found out that our cousins were dating. But you weren't wearing this white dress that night."
Khushi nodded, "I was going to wear the white dress but I spilled red wine on it and had to change at the last moment."
He pressed his fingers on his chin, "If you hadn't changed, I would have recognized you immediately."
She nodded again. The way everything happened, almost as if the universe wanted to draw this out...
"Wait!" he exclaimed, eyeing her from head to toe. "You are wearing it right now. The same white dress."
"Yeah..." she ran her hands over the fabric of her gown. She had thought that wearing the same dress would add to the surprise of the reveal. Now she wasn't quite certain if "surprise" was the word for Arnav. He seemed more in shock. Again, she calmed her mind down and repeated, "he just needs time to process" like a mantra in her mind.
"So for nearly 2 months we have been unknowingly texting one another," he mumbled. He had repeated this line a few times now to which she nodded in affirmation.
"And how long since you found out?" he asked.
"A week." She responded and told him how she reached that conclusion. She told him that right after confronting him in the men's washroom, the pattern of the tiles ticked something off in her brain, she then found out that the stranger of her texts was someone in the office and later that night, when Arnav was telling Payal how he had never heard from Khushi despite of giving her his private no., she put two and two together. She told him that she called him as well, to double check.
"That call from the stranger!" he raised his eyebrows, "You were confirming my identity."
"I am sorry I didn't tell you before," Khushi apologized, "I was trying to wrap my mind around all this," she gestured to the empty space between them, "I wanted to respond to your texts too but-."
"It's all right," Arnav interrupted, "I understand how shocked you must have been."
She nodded slowly, "Yeah." His words relaxed her. Like she had thought, he just needed some time to wrap his head around everything.
He set his phone down and pressed his palms on his face, "This is... This is... extraordinary," he commented.
"I know," she agreed with him, "To think we're each others strangers when we, initially, couldn't even look each other in the eyes."
Arnav chuckled at her statement, "Remember when I was asking for your...er..." he gestured at his phone, "the stranger's advice on winning over a colleague?"
Khushi nodded, recalling those texts. Arnav had wanted to win over some colleague and wanted a civil relationship with her.
"That was you...!" he exclaimed, "I was asking you for help to bond with you!"
"Really?" she asked, surprised and he nodded. She unlocked her iPhone and scrolled up the texts till she reached the ones she needed.
(Wednesday, May 17th)
-Unknown- 3:47pm || Someone's ignoring me. She's a colleague.
-Khushi- 3:48pm || Haha. That's so cute. You almost sound like a teen.
-Khushi- 3:49pm || Do you have a crush on this colleague?
-Unknown- 3:50pm || No, I don't have a crush on her. More like... I respect her. I want the same from her.
-Khushi- 3:50pm || You do realize you can't demand someone's respect.
It needs to be earned.
Khushi raised her eyes to look at him and smiled. He respected her, her work ethic- something that he had told her time and again yet she never fully believed it till now.
"So..." Arnav drawled out the word, "what do we do now?"
Khushi shrugged her shoulders. How would they proceed from here on?
"For now," she stood up and picked her phone, "It's midnight and I should be going home."
He stood up with a jolt, "Really? You are just going to leave after dropping this bomb on me?"
She grinned in response, "You have taken the shock quite well. My work here is done."
"It's not a shock... you know... finding out that you're my stranger" he confessed, a smile tugging the corner of his mouth. "If anything, it's a surprise. A very good one."
She felt her heart beat increase. Biting her lower lip so as not to smile at his words, she said, "I should go."
"It's too late. You can sleep over," he suggested, "I mean... In the spare guest room."
Khushi shook her head, "My apartment's nearby and my chauffeur is waiting downstairs. I'll be fine."
"All right, if you say so."
Arnav accompanied her downstairs to her car. He was rocking back and forth on his legs as if debating if he should say something.
Khushi caught on, "Something's on your mind?"
"Umm..." he cleared his throat, "Would you like to go out with me? Tomorrow night, for dinner?"
Khushi tried to restrain the smile that was creeping up her lips, "Are you asking me out on a date?"
Arnav smiled and gave a slight nod. "You still owe me a coffee."
A soft laugh escaped her lips. "Okay," she replied.
"Okay!" he grinned, "I'll pick you up tomorrow at 8."
She got in the back seat of the car, rolled down the glass and bade him a goodnight.
On the way back to her house, Khushi's heart was leaping with nervous excitement. Not only had Arnav taken the news so well but also he had asked her out. She had been drawing out the revelation for so long, deep down worried that he's react adversely.
She smiled thinking of their official date tomorrow.
---------
The following night, Arnav picked up Khushi from her apartment. She was wearing the same white gown that she was supposed to wear the day she met Akash and Arnav, the one that she had worn last night too.
The dress caught Arnav's attention and he beamed.
"Do I look okay?" she teased him, repeating the text that she had sent that night.
Arnav grinned, shaking his head, "Just about fine."
She playfully narrowed her eyes at him as he opened the car door of the front passenger seat. They drove to an upscale restaurant. They ate and drank and talked and laughed till late midnight.
She was surprised at the ease with which they were bonding when the walls of professional rivalry were down. When she first met Arnav she couldn't, even in her wildest dream, ever imagine that one day she would be on a date with him.
Over desserts, he asked, "Do you remember where we left off our text conversation?"
Khushi remembered very well the last thing they were talking about- He had confessed to liking her and she was supposed to reply. She took a bite of the raspberry cake and muttered an affirmative sound.
"You still haven't responded to it," he said.
Khushi twirled the dessert fork with her fingers. An amused frown was between her brows. "Do you need me to spell it out? I did come on a date with you. Isn't it obvious?"
"A bit of reassurance never hurt any one," he replied, teasing her.
"Okay." She chuckled, "I like you. There. I said it."
"You look real cute when you blush," he commented, "like you are, right now."
"I am not blushing," she replied, avoiding his gaze, which had pinned her face. A laugh sputtered from his lips when she shook her head and said, "Shut up." He raised his hands in defeat.
Arnav drove her back home at 1am. He took the elevator along with her to the penthouse apartment. As they approached the door to the apartment, Khushi turned to face him, "So... this is me," she gestured with a tilt of her head to the main door behind her.
Arnav gave a nod, "I had a good time tonight."
"Me too," she smiled, "I have a day of shopping planned with Payal tomorrow. So I guess I'll see you on Monday in office."
"Payal's here almost every weekend," he commented.
"She's going to be a bride in a few months. We have a lot of shopping to do."
"Okay," Arnav took a step back, "I'll see you on Monday then. Goodnight."
"Goodnight," she replied unsurely. Arnav was near the elevator and had pressed the button to call the lift to their floor.
"Wait!" she walked up to him, till she was just at a couple of feet away from him. "Goodnight?" she asked, puzzled. "That's it?"
"Erm..." he muttered, narrowing his eyes, "What... is it?"
She scoffed and shook her head at his cluelessness. The next moment, she closed the space between them and kissed him on lips. Arnav's eyebrows flashed up in surprise.
She took a step back, "That's how you end a date."
She grinned at his stunned face, and turned to walk to the main door when he grabbed her petite waist and twirled her towards him. Their bodies flushed against one another. This time Khushi raised her eyebrows. Before she could register what was happening, Arnav's lips took hers.
His hands wrapped around her waist and held her tightly. She ran her hand through his hair and moaned when his tongue traced along her lower lip. She parted her lips and deepened the kiss, as their hot breath mingled.
When they pulled apart, her heart was racing. Arnav untangled his hands from her waist and let space between their bodies.
"That's how you end a date," he said smoothly and winked at her.
Khushi could feel her cheeks warm up. A shy smile tugged the corners of her mouth.
The elevator made a ding sound and opened its doors. Arnav steeped in and pressed the Ground floor button. Once the lift doors closed, Khushi exhaled slowly through her mouth.
She couldn't wait to see him on Monday.
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