It was 12 in the afternoon. People were slowly winding up, planning their lunchtime. A group had decided to go for lunch to the new bistro that had just opened across the road. Khushi had been asked, and she had politely declined.

As the group began to make their way towards the elevator, Khushi had an urge to tell them that she would go along as well. A flip of her head, a look at Arnav Singh Raizada in his glass cabin and Khushi changed her mind. Something was wrong. Arnav was acting weird. And her gut instinct told her going out for lunch would be a bad idea. She ran across to the elevator to ask one of her colleagues to bring over some packed lunch. Then she sulkily walked back to her desk and began working on yet another new design.

Arnav, himself was not having a great day either. He had already gulped six cups of black coffee, had lashed out at Aman for not having documents complete that were not due until the end of the week, and had told his secretary that she better find herself another job if she continued making "crappy coffee" like this. With Khushi, however, he had been coolly detached.

When Khushi had walked into his office with the files at 8.30 am, Arnav had neither looked up at her, not asked her why she was handing in the files late. He simply asked her to place them on his desk and leave. And during the day, he had avoided Khushi's various attempts to speak with him. When she wanted his input on a design, he asked her to approach Vishal Malhotra, the head designer. When she wanted to speak about the night before, he stated that he had a very important meeting he couldn't avoid. When she asked him if he was planning to review her stint at AR, he called Jade in to start dictating a letter to a supplier that was not due to be sent until next week.

Stating that Khushi was bewildered with Arnav's behavior was putting it very mildly. She was used to him being angry, arrogant and unreasonable. She wasn't prepared for aloof. That made her feel fear in the pit of her stomach. Under whatever circumstances she had joined AR, she had now grown to love the place. She loved the work environment, the team and truly believed that for all his flaws, Arnav was a great teacher who had not just helped hone her design skills but had also given her some perspective into the fashion industry. And the possibility that he might be done with her and was planning to replace her within the company made her blue.

She walked back to her desk and looked at the design in front of her. It was a woman draped in formal pants and an A-cut tunic. The tunic had beautiful floral motifs on its neckline and sleeves. Last night Khushi had picked a swatch of pinks, ochres, and magentas to finish it.

Today, she switched it to blues and greys.

*********

Khushi's sprint to the elevator had not gone unnoticed by Arnav. To say the least, the man was flabbergasted by his own behavior. He didn't know what had gotten into him when he booked a ticket for Khushi Gupta to fly with him to Milan. However, now that was done, he intended for her to know everything about the expansion, so she could be of actual use when they got there.

The big question was, how could he justify taking a trainee on a business trip when there were more qualified people within the company. Not that he really cared, but he did see how it could perhaps affect Khushi's reputation at work and make way for unwanted gossip. And for some strange reason, Arnav wanted to shield Khushi from all that.

Funny, he thought, when just over a month ago, he was the one who had approached her with a demeaning proposal and arm-twisted her into accepting it. And just as the thought of all that wrung a slight smile on his face, he turned to see Khushi animatedly talking to Aman. It was the first time during the entire day he had seen Khushi's eyes light up. The green-eyed monster rared again. He dialed Khushi's extension and asked her to come into his cabin. He saw Khushi get up, collect her notepad and pencil and trip over the leg of her desk. He also saw Aman save her from falling face down by holding onto her waist. And he saw Khushi turn around and thank Aman by tilting her head to one side. Aman laughed and walked her down to Arnav's cabin before proceeding towards the elevators.

******

"Arnavji", began Khushi as soon as she entered his cabin.

"Arnav," he replied coolly.

"Arnavji, that's what I said."

"Arnav."

"Exactly what I said. Arnavji."

He closed his eyes in frustration, only to open them a second later and try one more time.

"Arnav"

"I know your name, why do you keep repeating it?"

"Because you're not saying it right."

"What is not right about Arnavji?"

"Ji. The Ji is not right", he finally spat out.

All Khushi managed was a puzzled expression on her face. Since this was a rare occasion when she didn't know what next to say, she simply waited for him to continue.

"From now on you will call me Arnav."

"What's wrong with what I call you now?"

"Ji. The Ji is wrong. My name is not Arnavji. It is Arnav - A - R - N - A - V, Arnav. Do you understand?"

Khushi mutely nodded, wondering what had not gotten into this Laad Governor.

"I know your name is not Arnavji, but I am just being respectful."

"How come you don't feel like being respectful to everyone in this office?"

"I don't understand what your problem is. I call everyone ji, Anjaliji, Vishalji, even your secretary Jadeji"

"Except Aman", Arnav spat out.

"So?"

"So if you can call Aman by just his name, you can call me Arnav."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because Aman is my friend and you're my boss."

"Well, let's become friends then, shall we?" hissed Arnav.

"No," stated Khushi, rather emphatically.

"I am not your friend and I don't want to be your friend. Friendship is something that needs to be earned and sorry Mr. Raizada, but right now, you're really far away from that place." Saying this, she was about to step out of his cabin when Arnav called again.

"One minute Ms. Gupta, before you go - I suppose you will want the week off to go to Lucknow to meet your parents and then pack your bags."

"Why?" rasped Khushi, the fear in the pit of her stomach returning.

"To see them obviously, and to tell them that you will be going on an official trip with me to Milan - for an entire month."