The Business Trip (Arshi FF)

Nutella nostalgia

She'd be lying if she didn't admit that the offer was tempting. Moreover, a 2 hour commute back meant an overactive mind combined with an exhausted body.

"Thanks, Karan. But i'm good.", she politely declined. Karan was surprisingly gracious enough to not insist. Unbeknownst to Khushi, not quite gracious enough to look away from her retreating form.

Khushi had worked in the fashion industry long enough to know that all it would take is a paparazzi shot for her to end up in the gossip columns again. As upset as she was at her husband, she'd rather not give him the opportunity to point fingers at her. I guess that's the difference between me and him, she thought sadly.

By the time Khushi had finally made it back home, she had lost her appetite and retired straight to bed after an exhausting day. As she lay her head to rest, she looked around their room, with sudden thought back to date nights, to the pool days when Arnav first taught her how to swim, and to the simple Netflix and chill nights. She wondered if Arnav was out making new memories in NYC. Sure, she chided him earlier that day on reading Vogue's gossip column but she was no stranger to it herself. Arnav was snapped at 'business dinners' quite frequently. And more often than not, Sheetal was plastered right next to him.

Suddenly, she felt engulfed by loneliness. Like she was fighting this battle alone. A battle she wanted no part of whatsoever. She could live with the distance, but the indifference bothered her to no end. Maybe in a really messed up way, his text today morning at least showed he wasn't completely indifferent. Apparently it took getting a job with an ex-employee to elicit a response from her husband, she thought.

This soon became a daily cycle for Khushi. Completing a gruelling day of work at the factory which included working with the designers, overseeing the workers creating the product line in often extremely cramped and humid conditions, quality assurance checks etc. Honestly, she knew she was being underpaid for the sheer amount of work she was putting in, but she also felt like she didn't have a huge amount of choice so she just put her head down and continued.

Truth be told, the part of the day that Khushi dreaded the most was going back home. The long hours, the unpaid overtime, the demanding employees she could deal with, but the haunting memories, not so much. Every inch of that house brought back memories. Whether it was accidentally burning Arnav's favourite shirt in the iron room, or the disastrous attempt at making brownies in the kitchen or the numerous private moments they shared in their bedroom, it all began to get too much for Khushi. So after a few weeks of this cycle, she decided she would look to rent a place, perhaps much closer to work.

Meanwhile in NYC, Arnav was down early for breakfast. As he walked around the breakfast buffet to get his daily bowl of oats with coffee, something caught his eye. The chef was making pancakes, Khushi's favourite. On their honeymoon, it was always the first counter she'd stop at. He was convinced that his wife spent more time with the pancake chef than him on their honeymoon. Once the pancakes were made, in typical Khushi style, she'd pick out two blueberries for the eyes, a banana slice for the nose and a bunch of raspberries for the smile. Every day, without fail, she'd show her supposedly creative design off to him, feeling awfully proud of herself, with the cheesiest of smiles, after which she'd attack the whole thing with Nutella. It was their daily ritual. She'd devour the pancakes, and later he'd devour her.

"Sir, would you like one?", the chef asked him, bringing him out his daze. Passing on the offer, he walked back to his seat, wondering if Khushi had eaten any pancakes since he left. He had stocked up on Nutella and all her favourite fruits in the run up to his business trip. Truth be told, as much as he despised Karan, the news had given him an update on his wife. While he would never admit it, Vogue's gossip column became his most visited site the last few weeks, always refreshing for an update on Khushi. So now he could tell you all about how the Mehra family were expecting their fifth child through IVF and how businessman Shetty's wife had been caught returning her pair of LV's after wearing them to the Filmfare Awards.

Arnav sighed at the sorry state of affairs while he sipped on his coffee. I miss you, Khush, Arnav admitted out loud to himself. He was tired of hoping for an update from her via social media and gossip sites. He wanted to hear her voice, even if she was mad at him. It had been 3 weeks already, the longest they had ever gone without speaking to each other from the very first day they met at the fashion show. He wanted to ask her so many things. Was she looking after herself? Was she sleeping as badly as he was without waking up next to one another? Was Karan treating her well? Why had she decided to join him? After noting the time and remembering the time difference, he picks up his phone to text her instead.