Part 5 Straightforward thinking

After the argument, there were no talks between Garima and Khushi. Garima was mad at Khushi for not accepting Naveen and Khushi was upset with Garima for not understanding her. The dinner time passed silently and they retired to their respective rooms.

The next morning

Khushi got ready for the office. When she came out, she didn't find anything in the dining. She went to the kitchen and checked. Nothing was cooked it seemed. Garima was on strike as she didn't want Khushi to go to the job but she didn't know this silly act of hers would not stop Khushi. Taking her bag, she walked out.

Garima rushed out, hearing her scooter sound. She stood perplexed. She thought Khushi would ask her why she cooked nothing and would try to console her but she left the house asking nothing.

Khushi stopped her scooter in front of a supermarket. She went inside and collected a few things. After paying the bill, she headed to the office.

Khushi kept her bag in her cabin. She picked up the things she bought from the supermarket and came to Arnav's cabin. He was not there. She heard a soft sound from the small pantry that was attached to Arnav's cabin. Khushi saw Arnav checking something there.

"Good morning, sir"

"Gumoning," he said with a lopsided smile.

"Do you need something, sir?"

"I thought to prepare black tea..."

"Oh..."

"Will you prepare me tea?"

"Sure, sir"

"By the way, do you know how to prepare tea?"

Khushi smiled contently.

"I mean, I asked my ex-PA to prepare tea for me. She said ok and prepared... and I could never forget that tea..."

"Why, sir?"

"I could not believe it was tea even after she stuck a label on the cup," he said, controlling his laughter but, Khushi laughed.

"After that, I learned to prepare tea because I never wanted to have that so-called tea of hers..."

"I will try to prepare such a tea that doesn't need a label to ensure," Khushi said, smiling.

"I hope I'm not an EXPERIMENTAL RAT to your tea"

"Not at all, sir... it's my mother," She laughed.

"Is she all right?" Arnav asked, making a serious face.

"Fit and fine... and, tortures me like hell..." she laughed again.

"I hope torturing others is not the feature she got from your tea,"

"Definitely not... because I too had the tea and, I have not started torturing anyone yet,"

"Who knows, you may do it in the mere future, after your marriage..."

"There is a chance to it," She laughed.

"POOR HIM... don't know where he is...!" he walked out of the pantry smilingly.

Khushi felt light-hearted. She forgot her mother and her torture. She shrugged Garima's thought and prepared tea for Arnav.

She brought it to his cabin and gave it to him.

"Thank you" Arnav took it and sipped.

His eyes sparkled. He took another sip.

"Wow... it's awesome..." he sipped again.

Khushi smiled.

"It's not JUST a black tea, right...?"

Khushi nodded yes.

"What did you add to it? The flavor is amazing"

"Lemongrass and ginger"

"Wow... that flavor is so mild yet refreshing,"

"Thank you, sir," She walked out.

"Khushiiii..."

"Yes, sir...?"

"I will never forget your tea too because this is something more than tea," he smiled.

Khushi left his cabin smiling.

As per Arnav's order, Aman sent the circular about the girls' safety. The company's female staff was delighted and the male staff was disappointed and distraught... especially Indhar. He wanted to talk to Thara and ask the reason for not talking to him like before. He sensed a sudden change in her behavior. He thought she had feelings for him. The way she smiled seeing him and, spoke with him with shyness made him think so. He was not wrong. Thara had feelings for him until she got to know about his true color. He wanted to talk to her but it might create a scene if he did that now because he didn't know how Thara would react to it. Yet, he wanted to give it a try.

Indhar came to her cubical. Thara looked at him plainly even though she was angry and also nervous.

"Thara, did I do anything wrong?" Indhar asked politely.

"I haven't checked your segment. If you want, I will do it" She talked about the project even though she knew he was not talking about it.

"No, I'm not talking about the project"

"Then?"

"I see a sudden change in you"

"What change?"

"You were so friendly with me but you avoided looking at me recently... may I know what happened?"

"Recently, I read an article... some guys are cheating girls on FB with FAKE IDs," She said reading his expression that changed into horrified.

"After reading the article. I really hate to be friendly with any guys" she said feeling sad.

"Do you think, I'm the one?"

"Do I trust you won't be the one?" She snapped back.

"I think you are mistaken..."

"See, I came here for a job. This job is important for me and I want to work without pressure. So, I decided not to entertain UNWANTED things" She again concentrated on her work.

Indhar stood gulping down seeing her attitude. He went to his cubical with the hung face.

Monish saw his face and came to him.

"What happened? Why are you looking fed up?"

"Thara refused to talk to me"

"So what? You have many girls on your list...!"

"It's different... Thara is not like them. She won't talk like FB girls. She has values. I thought my life would be peaceful if she was my wife..."

"I can't believe. You trap girls in FB just like that... and feeling fed up for Thara?"

"It's so easy to trap girls in FB. Just like their posts and comment in a good way. Then, you will easily get their attention. It makes them check your profile. Just fill your page with social awareness posts. They would think you are a nobleman. After a few days, they will respond to you if you contact them on CHAT. You should not hurry. Patience is very important. Show yourself good and completely avoid flirting. Pretend to care for them... ask their personal issues. We can knock them easily if we are supportive of their personal issues. We should make them curious to meet us. It would be best if you went in front of them, at that stage, in a consoling manner. After that, they will do anything for us...! You know what, girls who post sad posts are so easy to trap... they would fall for us without effort because they need a shoulder to lean on. If you talk like giving your shoulder, BOOM... finish...!" Indhar said proudly without remorse.

Monish was looking at him without blinking.

"You are a genius, dude...! How perfectly you are working on girls...!"

Indhar smiled.

"How many girls are there on your latest list?"

"A few... two to three are ready to submit themselves... one among them is so cute... Asha. I'm waiting for the treat"

"What about others?"

"It's ok... but one is not sending her photo to me"

"Why?"

"She wants our meeting to be unforgettable... that's why. I don't know what she looks like..."

"What's her name?"

"Rose..."

"You are a lucky champ...!" Monish sighed.

Indhar took it as credit.

Thara came to Khushi's cabin to tell her how she handled Indhar but Khushi was not in her cabin. She searched here and there and saw her advancing to Arnav's cabin. She rushed to her. Khushi clicked the Aranv's door's knob and opened it a little. Thara who came there, hugged her tight. Khushi looked at her perplexed.

"Thara... what happened? You look happy...!"

"Not just happy but also relieved..."

"Means?"

"I said to Indhar that I don't want to talk to him"

"Wow... really?"

"Yup... you know how daringly I spoke to him?" She said cheerfully.

"That's it... until we hesitate to face the problem, it will chase us like a street dog...if you stand firmly and look at the dog eye to eye... it will back off and run away... that's the formula of life..."

"Thank you, darling, for making me brave"

"You are always welcome"

Thara looked at Khushi's hand that was still holding the doorknob. She gestured for Khushi to look at her hand. Khushi bit the tip of her lip and peeped in. She saw Arnav smilingly working on his laptop. It seemed he heard them.

"You go... we will meet later," Khushi said.

Thara nodded ok and ran.

"May I come in, sir?" Khushi asked.

"Yes, Ms. Feminist...!" Arnav chuckled.

"I'm sorry, sir... I'm not a feminist and I hate the word because nowadays its meaning changed"

"Means?" he raised his brows.

"I have my own view towards the word feminist..."

"Oh...how?" He leaned on the seat.

"The girl who stands for herself... who understands her responsibility... who supports her family... who loyally raises her children after losing her husband... who raises her boy child teaching him how to respect girls..."

"Hold on... Hold on... the much I know feminist means..."

"Yeah, a feminist is the one who supports equal rights for women. I know still a few are struggling for the right but a few are spoiling its meaning. They misunderstood the meaning of EQUALITY and started consuming alcohol and roaming at night without caring about their safety"

"Is it wrong?"

"Not wrong but not safety... this society is not safe for women. We should take care of ourselves... a few girls are not understanding the reality. That's what I don't like"

"Ok, but consuming alcohol is their wish, right?"

"Of course, it's their wish... but they should not bring feminism into it. If they want to consume alcohol, they can do it. First of all, I'm completely against alcohol no matter who consumes it... men or women, I hate drinkers. More than anything, this is not a matter for girls to compete with... there are many good things, right?"

"Mmm..." Arnav smiled. He was so impressed with Khushi and her straightforward thinking.

To be continued...