Part 10

“What the hell is going on here?” the grouchy boss was in the house and the staff knew it by now, Nadia was not the type to cower or be intimidated by Arnav though, she had seen been with the Raizadas a long time so she patiently waited for him to finish as she knew he would. And then responded, quoting Aakash verbatim, “Water supply piper broke down sir, water seepage into the partitions, it was unavoidable” she studied his face for a reaction, “Only in my cabin?” she did not respond to that but carried on with what she had prepared, “As instructed by Aakash sir, we have readied his cabin for you Sir; We truly regret this inconvenience…” he waved his hand dismissing her and walked towards Aaskash’s cabin, “Get me some black coffee…and today’s papers”

He was still pissed that the paper had not been delivered to his flat.

When she entered with his coffee, he was sitting on the sofa checking his mails on the ipad, “Clear out his desk, Nadia, and bring me the file on Ms. Vaid’s portfolio and set up a meeting with the designers for tomorrow morning”

She paused; this was not going per plan, “Yes Sir”

When Arnav walked over to the desk about an hour later, the yellow envelope was still perched on top of it, “Can’t even get one thing done properly here” he picked it up and threw it inside the top drawer, “Who uses a yellow envelope?” he thought, “whatever…”

His thoughts were interrupted by the phone, “Sir, its Ms. Kashyap on the line from New York”

“ASR what are you doing in Mumbai? Where is Aakash or even Aman?” she sounded tense, he noted.

“What does that matter, relax will you?” he asked not getting what the fuss was about, “ASR, you are going to meet Nadia?” he could tell she was on the verge of freaking out, “Is that why you called me here on a Monday morning, go enjoy your break Lavanya…”

“Please be careful around her ASR, she comes with a…” there was hesitation at the other end, “A reputation?” he asked still not getting what the fuss was all about.

“Yes” she sighed realization finally creeping into her, no matter how much she cared; he would never reciprocate her feelings.

“So what?” Arnav asked, “Everyone has a past” he dismissed her concern, “Hell if you go by the papers, even I’m out spending wild nights with a new arm candy every other day!” he quoted the title of the last gossip column article on him that Di had brought to his notice.

There was a brief pause at the other end, “Lanavya are you there?” he asked.

“You just don’t get it do you Arnav?” she asked. He stopped what he was doing, “Enjoy your break Lavanya…go outside, meet people… everything will be fine here. Good Night…I know it’s getting late for you now…and I have to go too…” He always gave her the leeway because he felt guilty of how he had treated her earlier, as a friend, he had been wrong but she was just not getting the message.

Once she disconnected the call, he spoke to himself, it’s not me Lavanya, and it’s you. And pulled out the payal from his pocket, “I should have just kissed you that night …” and sighed, “Now where do I begin looking for you Khushi?”

---

Khushi was in two minds come Monday morning despite what she had decided upon over the weekend so as usual when it was time for work she had walked out intending to go back to work and face the devil but she ended up at the Silvio’s instead; it was like her feet had a mind of their own and it was not what she had expected at all, “Mama’s Kitchen?...so this is the famous Italian place…” her hand automatically went up to cover her agape mouth, “So Mrs. Silvio is the Mama of Mama’s Kitchen…I should have known…”  to say she was shocked would be an understatement; Khushi stood starring at the rustic signage outside from across the street. It was a good few minutes before she crossed the street and walked tentatively towards the front door, and turned the door knob. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before and yet, it felt so real. The place was devoid of a spruced up typical interiors but rather had a serene quaint feel to it, with its pastel shades on the wall and rustic green furniture, she wasn’t sure what to expect. As it was still early in the morning, there were no customers there except the unmistakable aroma of freshly brewed coffee and chocolate emanating from the kitchen, the fresh cornetto neatly stacked up by the counter looked delicious. She looked around, there were all sorts of assortments arranged around the place, wines, pickles, dressing and some beautiful pictures that hung on the wall, no doubt were images from Italy.

“You should go there someday…you will love it” Mrs. Silvio’s voice broke her trance and Khushi turned around abruptly like she had been caught doing something wrong, “Oh…I’m sorry, I didn’t see you coming, Namaste” she smiled.

“Good Morning Khushi” and with it engulfed her into a bear hug; she had such a warm persona that Khushi couldn’t but feel drawn towards her, “I’m so glad you came…come I’ll show you around” and paused to look at Khushi, “You are just in time for breakfast dear”

“No…its okay..I had food at home” Khushi hesitated.

“Ha…shush. You have to try our freshly baked cornetto and Cappuccino, take a seat. I will be right back”

And the chocolate literally melted in her mouth, she had to admit, this sugar caffeine packed combo for breakfast was utterly delicious, “I knew you’d like it. No one can resist Mama’s kitchen” Mrs. Silvio smiled triumphantly as she walked over with her cup of coffee. And just as she was about to sit down, the front door opened and Raul barged in, “Buongiorno Mama” and hugged her.

“Buongiorno Raul” as she hugged him back, “I need some more coffee” she broke the hug and disappeared into the kitchen, “Will be right back” He smiled at her, “And Good morning to you too”

Khushi smiled back cautiously as he took a chair next to her and took her hand and kissed the top of her hand almost reverentially, carefully studying her reaction, “It’s a shame…” he spoke softly this time, while she tried hard to remain unaffected, this was bizarre, and he smiled again looking at her confused face, “Some one as beautiful as you should smile more often” her hand was still in his grip.

“Oh stop it Raul” luckily the mother walked in breaking his hold, and Khushi pulled her hand back, “Don’t mind him Khushi, he is just a big flirt” Khushi could tell by the way she looked at him that she was very fond of Raul, “He means well though”

Khushi smiled, and he was right back at her, “Nice attempt”

“What?” he was seriously beginning to annoy her, “I bet when you really smile, it reaches your eyes?”

Now he was beginning to make her uncomfortable, but before she could retort back, he got up and surprised her, “Welcome to Mama’s Kitchen Khushi… one more Cornetto?” he could tell she liked that, “You must have one more” and before she could say no- he brought her one.

“I don’t know if I can eat one more…” she hoped he would take that for a no but obviously he did not relent easily, “I spent all morning baking. And you are telling me that this taste’s bad?”

“You?...” this was another shocker, “made this?” she picked it up and brought it infront of her face.

“A good cook…I am full of surprises” he winked; she could see that this was his nature. But had to give it to him, “This is good…really”

“That’s all he can cook Khushi, don’t believe everything he says” Mrs. Silvio added.

“Fine, no more jokes. I accept I’m no cook, but since cooking in my genes, I do bake when I get the time” he leaned back on his chair and he drank his coffee.

“When you get time?” she asked curiously, “I do not live here”

“Oh?”

“I run a Vineyard back in Sienna. I’m here for two weeks, visiting Mama…” looked at his mother, “and to conduct our annual wine tasting event over the weekend” and she could tell by the way his eyes sparkled at the mention of wine what he truly loved, “You know” and that mischief was back in his eyes, “You must come… and see me at work”

Khushi couldn’t but smile back and it did not escape his notice, “That!” He exclaimed pointing at her,“was a real smile” he added, she had to give it to him, he was relentless.

“He is right Khushi, you have to be here for the wine tasting event, we could use some help. Infact, I could use some help around here” Mrs. Silvio looked at her expectantly, “I don’t drink…” Khushi added and both their faces fell, man they have expressive eyes Khushi thought to herself, “But I have never been to a Wine tasting event before so I would love to join you, Thank you for inviting me”, she wasn’t going to back out of this one.

“Perfect!” Raul exaclaimed, “And if you excuse me, I have to get going… but before I do, I have to warn you about something”

“What?”

“A word of caution” he spoke softly, “Apparently I can seduce women with my words”  This was the first time anyone had said such words to her upfront, she had no idea how to mask her shock or to react, what was she supposed to say to that? Thankfully Mrs. Silvio came to the rescue, “Leave her alone Raul…” and that finally warded him away, “Please don’t mind him Khushi, he means no harm. Just not accustomed to the ways of this land yet. He still talks like he is back home. I worry about him, he will get me into trouble here one of these days… he says all those things despite knowing what you went through…please forgive him” she looked at Khushi guiltily.

“It’s okay Mrs. Silvio…please don’t worry” and squeezed her hand.

“Let me show you around then…ready?” she asked as she got up, and Khushi joined her right away, “Absolutely”

“Mrs. Malik was telling me you love to cook Italian food?”

And so a new chapter opened for Khushi when she walked through the doors to the other side, that led  to a small yet wonderfully stocked kitchen.

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By afternoon Nadia had made two trips to his office only to discover that the envelope had been relegated to the drawer. She had to find a way to make him see it, and duly figured out something so inconspicuous that wouldn’t raise a red flag to him but would also get the task done.

And it went per script because he had asked specifically for that file before leaving for the meeting, “Where is the file on Ms. Vaid Nadia?”he called her up as soon as he returned back to the office.

“Sir, all the files you asked for are kept in the top drawer on your desk”

And there was the yellow envelope on top of the file again, annoyed he picked it up, “what the hell is this thing?” finally to see that it was an invitation for Aakash to a Convocation Ceremony, “Some Culinary School…weird!”

There was nothing written on it except Aakash’s name, “What have you been upto Aakash?” he flicked it back to the drawer and switched on the computer.

And it struck him, “May be we were looking in the wrong places then….” Aakash’s words came back out of the blue and he paused instantly, thinking about what it could mean “No I can’t let this pass” and he took out the envelope and called Nadia to the cabin.

“Get me the address and contact details of this Culinary School” and handed it over to her, “Yes sir”

She had only walked a few paces to the door that she halted and turned around abruptly, “I know where this is, Sir”