Arshi: Off The Stage (On-hold)

26

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Khushi had trouble sleeping. On the other hand, two rooms apart, Arnav had slept peacefully. Usually when people are excited about an event for the next day, they tend to be not able to sleep. Arnav has always been the opposite. He would sleep peacefully the night before and be fully awake, ready for the event on time. That was the same case this time around. By six in the morning, he was up and ready for the day. He decided to text Khushi, not call her, in case she was sleeping.

You awake by any chance?

As he expected, there was no response. In fact there was only a single tick next to the message. He was sure she was sleeping and decided to go get ready instead.

After a long shower, he dressed up in his usual suit. He had opted for a white shirt with his balck suit, for the day. He was sure, given the climate in Jodhpur, he would be abandoning his jacket soon and the white shirt would help him in the blazing sun.

It was around 6:45 in the morning that he decided to go through the unread mails in his inbox. There was an update on the deal Payal and Akash had gone to finalize in Australia. He decided to call them.

"ASR, what time is it there?" Akash asked as he appeared on the screen.

"You guys have been away for less than a week, you shouldn't forget IST so soon." Arnav teased his friend.

"Hey ASR. Sorry, I wanted to call and update you. I am so hungry that after the meeting I rushed for food." Payal said appearing on the screen.

"Even if you had called, I would've been sleeping. Are you guys in the middle of a meal? I can call back." Arnav said and Akash laughed.

"Waah. Our boss is so understanding. But it is okay. Our meal will go on for a while. We can talk and eat. Payal has been dying to update you." Akash said.

"Why are you up so early anyway?" Payal asked as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"The shoot starts today. I am in Jodhpur, remember? Couldn't sleep much, so decided to finish up on anything pending before I get caught up in that."

"Oh yeah, how is Khushi? I should call her." Payal said looking for her phone.

"Last time I saw her she was fine. Probably sleeping in her room. She should sleep well before the shoot to look fresh." Arnav stated. That was his way of conveying to Payal to not disturb Khushi, and Payal, gladly, understood.

"Remind her to call me when you see her, okay? I don't want to disturb her."

"Sure. So, can you now tell me about how the meeting went?" Arnav asked and Payal started.

Payal referred to the documents she had shared over mail and gave him a detailed summary of how the things worked out in the deal. Arnav was impressed by how meticulous she was, thinking and planning things to the minutest detail. He always had faith in her talent, after all he knew her since their graduation days. He saw a heightened version of the college Payal. She rarely participated in the business level discussions after being promoted to a senior designer. He had made her and Akash in charge for this project so that he could spend time with Khushi. But this had worked so well that after their conversation, he was planning to involve Payal more into the strategic decisions of AR

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Khushi woke up around 7:45 in the morning. She had fallen asleep sometime after one in the morning, after twisting and turning so much. She checked her phone on the bedside table. She had set the alarm for seven and it did not go off. To her shock, she saw that her phone was switched off. It probably died because of low battery. She put it up for charging and took a quick shower and dressed for the day. She picked up a white summer dress with pink floral patterns on it.