Warrior - Chapter Forty Five

 With the catching up done and the cannolis distributed and lost among the Raizada clan, Arnav Singh Raizada and I made our way upstairs. There's an odd feeling that goes through me as I'm once again looking around my new room. It wasn't bad, but it was odd. Fortunately or unfortunately, there was a small sense of familiarity of the room, mixed in with shock by the sheer size of the room. 

Truly, being away for one week has somewhat made this museum surprising, despite having slept in it two nights - well, if you count the night of the nightmare in, at least. 

 "Tired?"

Turning my attention away from the room around me, I look up at Arnav. "Not really. You?"

"Not really."

He opened his mouth to say something more, when his phone started to ring. "Sorry, it's work again."

"Not a problem, take it."

He pinched his lips together, giving a small smile, then took the call. "Yeah Aman," and he headed on over to the balcony.

Ah! The ever-present assistant - just goes to show how busy a man Arnav Singh Raizada is.

And now it's time to make myself busy.

After washing up and changing into some comfy loungewear, I found our bags sitting in our room, brought up by the staff. Taking my bag, I headed back into the closet and set it down on the island, and opened it up to unpack. Immediately on top sat a pink bag and a scowl instantly formed on my face.

You see, the bag contained a gift from none other than the little squirt herself. She had come over to me the night before in my room while everybody else was downstairs getting ready for dinner. I have to admit, I was a little surprised when baby sis surprised me with the gift, but it quickly turned into irritation once I saw the silky black négligée sitting under the tissue paper.

"Payal-!"

"Don't get mad! I'm gifting it with good intentions!"

"What-!"

"I want you to know that this is for whenever you and Jeeju get to that point in your relationship."

I could only scowl at her while squirt only shrugged in return. 

"I can't help it, Di. I just really, truly believe that one day you two will fall in love."

Her sincerity was obvious, not to mention her immense optimism.

Oh squirt.... "You'll always be a love-sick, sappy romantic," I sighed.

"Can't help it," she smiled. "And I hope that you two will fall in love sooner rather than later."

Blinking out of the memory, I looked back down at the bag in front of me. Not thinking anymore on the matter. I picked the négligée up from the bag and shoved it in a drawer, discarding the pink bag and tissue paper.

Payal can be as optimistic as she wants, that's her choice.

It wasn't long later when Arnav came in while I was still unpacking. "Oh wow, you're moving quickly."

"I guess," I shrugged. "Then again I hadn't really taken that much stuff. But, despite the fact that I brought more things with me this time, yeah I'd say I got things done pretty quick."

Arnav flashed a smile. "Well, I better do the same - once I wash up of course."

Pursing my lips, I flashed a smile, and Arnav returned one before heading to the bathroom to wash up. For a moment I looked at everything around me.

So this is where it really starts, huh? I mean the functions are over, the partying is over, as well as the glamour. Formalities have been completed, the ink on the paper is dry, and now the real work begins. Starting tomorrow, regular life will resume, although, with changes - definitely for me at least. No longer will my mornings consist of me waking up in my room and going on with my morning routine to prepare for my day, then head on over to the office. Instead I'll be waking up here, in my new room, and picking up a new routine to prepare for my day, to then later head on over to the office. 

At least things at work will stay the same; I still need some consistency in my life.

Yup, starting tomorrow, a new beginning will commence.

Though it will be interesting to see how long I'll have to do this new routine before I can go back to my old one.

*~*

*Beep!*Beep!*Beep!*

What the fuck?

My eyes can only open for the slightest bit, squinting to see the alarm clock say that it was 5:30 AM.

Seriously?

The alarm stops and I hear some shuffling noises, only for then to see Arnav come into my view as he puts his phone on charge at the other bedside table

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you," Arnav said softly when he saw that I was awake.

I could only hum in return.

Damn, I'm really out of practice waking up so early.

"Once I wash up, I'm gonna go out for a quick run. I'll be back soon."

Once again, I could only hum in return, and when Arnav walked away, I shut my eyes. Not that sleep came back to me, I just kept my eyes shut since it refused to open whatsoever. I heard Arnav moving about for a bit, then I heard the door open and shut. Some time later, the alarm on my phone went off and my eyes decided to spring open.

6 AM - now we're good.

With a stretch, I got out of bed and made my way to the bathroom. After handling my business and taking a  shower, I returned to the room in just a robe. It's a little past 6:45 and Arnav still hasn't returned.

Huh, wonder how long his run is?

After moisturizing and drying my hair, I quickly made the bed, then entered the closet for the hardest part of the morning - picking something to wear.

Don't worry, I don't usually waste that much time; and I know, one can argue I should just pick what to wear the night before. The problem, however, is that come morning, I no longer have any interest to wear that outfit anymore. 

It's around 7 AM when I heard a knock and then the door open.

"I'm back," I hear Arnav call out.

"I'm in the closet," I hollered back.

Arnav comes walking in, drenched with sweat, but I can't keep my attention on that. What my attention does to stick to is the fact that the man is wearing gray sweatpants.

Fucking hell, what is it that makes us women so weak when we see men in gray sweatpants?

"Um, I'm gonna go shower."

Huh?

Before Arnav walked away, I caught the hint of blush that's spread all over his cheeks.

Wait, why is he-? Oooooohhhhhhhhh!

Glancing down at myself, I remembered that I'm only in a robe. Don't worry, it's a long and fluffy beige robe, and you can only see from the ankle down. But the fact that seeing me like this got Arnav blushing and uncomfortable....

Huh. No seriously, it's... it's interesting. I mean I legit wore a cropped tank and shorts in front of him and- nah! Wait... no he was blushing then too, but he managed to get away with it cause we were going to sleep....

Huh.

Anyways, I need to get ready!

My eyes landed on a red sheath dress with three-quarter tulip sleeves and my decision is quickly made. As soon as I picked up the dress, I heard the shower running from the bathroom, so I quickly took the moment to strip out of my robe and change into my dress. Going back to the room, I made quick work of my hair and did my makeup. As I'm doing so, I hear Arnav come out of the bathroom and move about in the closet. By the time I'm all ready and have gotten my stuff into my purse, Arnav steps out, suited up in black with a crisp white button down beneath, the top two buttons undone.

Whoa.

Before anyone judges me, yes, I know I have seen the man dress up like this before, such as when we had our first meeting, but for whatever reason....

It has to be because he's got the top two buttons undone, there just can't be any other logical explanation.

"And here appears the CEO," I murmured, looking him up and down.

Arnav, who momentarily seemed to be lost at thought, flashed that small, polite smile of his while fixing the cuff on his left wrist. I can't help but to eye his tattoo, and I'm briefly reminded of the picture I saw of him when Payal did a her google search of Arnav Singh Raizada full body tattoos.

Isn't it crazy how so much has changed since then?

"So, shall we head downstairs," Arnav asked.

"We shall."

Flashing his smile again, he grabbed his phone and we made our way downstairs. Aryan and Shalini Singh Raizada, as well as the other elder Raizada's, are already seated at the table when reached the dining room.

"Good morning you two," Shalini beamed. "You both look lovely!"

"Thanks Ma," and Arnav gave her a quick hug before sitting down.

Shalini squeezed in hug for me as well, and then we both sat down.

"Looking a bit informal today, huh Chote," Aryan smirked lightly.

"I don't have any meetings in the morning, but I'll throw a tie on for 11 o'clocks meeting," Arnav replied.

"Seeing Vishal on that farmland, huh," Firouz asked.

"Yeah and I'm not budging from my price." Arnav said confidently.

"He really thinks he can pull one of," Madhav scoffed.

"Idiot," Aryan huffed.

Shalini immediately scowled at him. "Aryan!"

"Dad's not wrong," Arnav said. "By the way Kaka, you booked your flight right?"

"And hotel," Madhav nodded.

"Good-"

"Boys, if we could not have any business talk at the table, please, that would be lovely," Shalini said.

The men grumbled a little, but they obliged.

Well, power to you mama in-law.

"Oh! Speaking of business, it's also Khushi's first day back at work!"

I glanced up from my plate to see everyone looking at me. "Uh... yup."

"Your dress is absolutely lovely," Maira gushed.

"Thanks."

"Got a busy day ahead of you," Varsha asked.

Didn't mama in-law just say no more business talk? Then again, she did direct it to the boys.

"Yes and no," I said, shaking my head from side to side. "Depends on how all the catching up goes and fortunately the only meeting I have is a video conference."

"I'd love to go and visit the office one day," Aryan said. "Get to know the business and see our daughter in action," he smiled.

There we go again with that daughter business.

"Oh! Chote, you are picking up and bringing Khushi home with you, yes," Shalini asked.

Is he? I mean it's a no-brainer we'll be leaving together, though I'm not exactly sure we're going in the same car together, so...?

"Sure, why not," Arnav said.

Oh?

"Dev's driving us to work anyways, so same thing when we come back."

"Good," she smiled.

Uh... I guess. 

At least I know the plan now.

By the time we're done with breakfast, it's a bit past 8. Arnav and I made our way outside, when we spotted Akash and NK.

"Ah, good morning bossman and boss bhabi," NK grinned.

Huh, I like the sound of that. "Morning boys."

"Who won today," Arnav asked.

"Me," Akash smiled proudly, holding up the basketball that was in his hand.

Ah! They were playing basketball this morning.

Just then, Dev appeared with the Black Badge.

Ugh, honestly, it is just one sexy ass, motherfucking car! Especially with the sleek blackness of it!

"Have fun ruling the world you two," NK smirked, and the boys made their way inside.

"Ruling the world? I think I like the sound of that," I thought out loud.

"Shall we get to it then," Arnav grinned.

He held his hand out, gesturing towards the car, so I made my way, Arnav following behind. Dev held the door open for, while Arnav went around and sat down. Once Dev was in the car, he pulled away and headed towards the city.

The city wasn't that far away, being about a forty to forty-five minute drive. There were mostly smaller buildings around the edges of the city, but the deeper you went in, the higher the buildings got, and the ones that dominated them all was owned by none other than AR Group of Industries, or in other words, Arnav Singh Raizada.

If you recall, I once mentioned how Gupta Enterprises is settled in one of the many buildings owned by AR. The building stands with two other buildings, also both owned by AR, which happened to be heart of all the skyscrapers of the city, simply because they were the largest of them all. They're know as The Tower Triad, each one slightly bigger than the other. Gupta Enterprises resides in Tower II, which was the middle-height building, while Tower III was the smaller of the three. As for AR Group of Industries, they are nestled high above in mighty Tower I, high in the sky. 

Dev parked outside of Tower II, and honestly, it feels good to be back after so long.

Arnav turned to me. "Have a great day at work," he smiled, giving that small, polite smile of his.

"Thanks, you too," I smiled back in return, then made my way out of the car before an opportunity of something weird or awkward happening could happen.

I don't know, what! I just didn't want to deal with the possibility of something weird or awkward happening!

As I made my way towards the building, I glanced back and watched the Black Badge pull away to make its way to Tower I, which was a few blocks down, separated by the gardens and park, which by the way were always full of people.

Tourists love this kind of shit, what can be said? Anyways, it's time to head to work!

Heading inside, I scanned my ID and made my way to the elevator. After riding it up 22 floors, I'm back at the homeland of Gupta Enterprises.

It's good to be home!

As I made my way to my corner office, some of the staff who have already arrived greet me good morning, and I greet them in return. Opening the door to my room, I find everything just the way I left it before all of this wedding madness, and I made myself comfortable, sitting in my chair.

Sigh... it's been too long.

There's a knock at the door, and I see Ivy. "Welcome back Ma'am."

"Thanks Ivy, it's truly good to be home."

It truly is.