Chapter 10

 I was quite out of the story.. Out of inspiration maybe... So I changed a bit of my writing style.. let’s see if this will work out.. Sneek Peaks I posted recently would be for next chappy!

Khushi’s dialogues in pink and her thoughts in pink italic... It goes the same for Arnav but in blue...

Chapter 10

Raizada, The Chef

And Khushi moved away without sparing a last glance at Arnav.. She walked out of the jaccuzi area and reached the room while saying to herself amusingly... “Gupta 1, Raizada 0...”

*****

Some hours later

Reluctantly, Khushi opened her eyelids, a half smile playing on her lips.. Yawning, she woke up and sat against the headboard.. A 15 minutes nap had turned into long hours of sleep and she stretched her arms lazily. She was still into the bath robe and she swore in surprise when she looked at the darkness through the window. “Holy cow, how long did I sleep?”. She turned her gaze towards the bed table and took hold of her mobile. Her eyes popped out in utter shock as she looked at the mobile screen, “Shit, 8 p.m.”. Immediately, she struggled out of the blankets and jumped off the bed as she headed to the bathroom. A quick shower to get rid of this laziness from oversleeping and a few minutes later she was ready, staring at her reflection at the dressing table’s mirror. Her long black hairs bathing her shoulders like silk, she was in a blue cotton dress. Pretty simple and casual yet sexy with the off-the-shoulder short sleeves. The dress was short enough to reveal her sexy long legs and her face was glowing with all her innocence as well as her mischievous eyes.. Again and again she had those cute memories of a bare chest Arnav with his tied towel around his waist and she found herself blushing foolishly. She shook her head to push away those coming wild thoughts. A last check at her perfect figure and she smirked before walking out of the room barefoot.

Eyes wide opened, Khushi was approaching Arnav, O shaped mouth. The latter, oblivious of her presence... This was totally unexpected or better say fascinating. Arnav Singh Raizada alias Mr Arrogant.. the one who plays business business in office was actually playing kitchen kitchen in front of the kitchen counter. Obviously he looked as sexy in an apron as much as he was in only a towel. “The business tycoon can also be a chef, mystery man is full of surprises.”, she thought. Amused, she cleared her throat to grab Arnav’s attention.  And instantly, Arnav lifted his gaze towards her. He glared at her from top to toe and then got back to his task. Khushi pulled a long face but she finally made a step forward, not ready to give up so easily. “Looks like Mr. A.S.R has some inner issues to deal with.. he can resist to my sexy figure but can a man run away from love.” Khushi ignored his uninterested gazes and she moved closer to the kitchen counter. She sat on her knees and caressed Tiara who was rolling over the floor playfully. Wondering how Tiara went out of her room from the closed door, she stood back on her toes. She grabbed a stool and purposely sat opposite Arnav. Her elbows resting onto the counter, her two hands under her chin, she observed Chef Raizada in action, “looks yummy, wonder what he’s up to”. He dunk in the wooden spoon into the creamy sauce and brought the spoon to his mouth. From the aroma only, she just knew it was mushroom sauce, one of her favorite dressings. After tasting the sauce, Arnav then took the bowl of freshly cut mixed vegetables and added it to the sauce. “Oh god, I can be size zero but I am not the kind of girl who lives on just salads!” .. But she finally breathed in relief when Arnav uncovered the other recipient on the stove. “Thank god... so Mr. Raizada is actually preparing us some tasty pasta.. Not bad for a first dinner date.. this man never misses to impress me..”.. and she had a smirk curving onto her lips.

“You said something”, Arnav was pouring the already cooked pasta, to be précised, ‘al dente’,  into the veggie mushroom sauce when he uttered his first words of the evening.. But his attention was fully engrossed into what he was doing, without bothering to raise his eyes towards Khushi. “How rude, look at me when you wanna talk,.. he’s such an ass sometimes.. how he does this, listening to my thoughts, Unnerving!” But she faked a smile.. “Not yet ASR, I was only thinking about my mother.. one of her famous lines.. if a man is a good cook, there’s no other proof that he can be the best husband.” Her statement urged him to lift his eyelids.. Her eyes were teasing and mischievous.. As if she was the only one not to realize the faint tone into her voice. “You miss her, your mother”, and her smile faded away. At times, she cries into the lap of Maria, the only amma she knows.. She misses her mother a lot and the hands of her Amma on her head, soothes her pain. A pain, she tries hard to hide from her close ones, especially her father. Lowering her gaze in discomfort, she stepped down the stool and walked to the music system. Arnav signed and looked back at the meal, ready to be served.

“Indian Music”, her over-enthusiastic voice and her content smile was back in a nanosecond when she looked into the cd collections. She shifted her gaze to Arnav, her eyes gleaming.. “I love Bollywood so much, our tastes are so alike ASR.”. Arnav gaped back at her in horror. “No wonder, she’s so dramatic”, a wry expression on his face, he shook his head in denial, “drama is not my thing Miss Gupta.. the cds belong to my sister.. Anjali di stayed here a few days last month, she forgot them here.” A light smile curving at the corners of her lips, Khushi turned back to the cds shelves, feeling quite stupid of her jealousy when she mistook Anjali di for Arnav’s girlfriend on the phone call. At last she laid her hands on a cd, “Bollywood Romantica”. “Seems best for a first dinner date!”, she giggled amusingly and put in the cd into the music player.. She pushed on ‘play’ and in an instant the first notes of the music stole her heart.

Mujhe teri ankhon ki gehrai mein doobne de... Mujhe teri baahon ki jannat mein khone de...

Khushi turned back towards Arnav. The latter was filling the plates of hot yummy pasta. Khushi admired him intensely. And when Arnav lifted his eyes from the plates, he was bemused. “What?”.. His tone, ironic. She raised her eyebrows, a teasing glint in her look. “I was just wondering if Mr. Raizada is as good on a dance floor as he is in a kitchen.”