She looked... she looked... cool! She checked her watch munching on something and then relaxed watching the crowd that was milling by.
She must be waiting for someone. Who could it be? May be her boyfriend or husband! Husband? How could she be married? Why can’t she be married...? An inner voice demanded. Somehow he felt very odd! He didn‟t like the feeling of her being married to someone. He frowned and then jerked back to the present shocked.

Since when was he thinking about all these things!

Rathore you are losing it! He grimaced.

He shook his head and called Eisha and as she lied again that she had started, told her off in a stern voice, and cut the call and walked out to leave.
He noticed Khushi got up too and started walking. She walked a few paces and as he turned to his left vanished to the right and he smiled and walked through and then realized he had to go to the right and walked back to see her retracing her steps and then going to the left.

He frowned. What was about this woman, which was very odd! She was kind of secretive he realized. He slowly followed her and found her going towards the exit. She stopped at the ATM and he realized she withdrew money and then walked out. Deepthimaan shook his head. May be she remembered to draw money after she started for the exit. But... he was not convinced. Years of training under his dad Raja Beerendra Singh ji Rathore, made his natural instincts to cry hoarse!

He got into his vehicle and called Subhojit and said, “Jitey! Run a third party check on that secretary to Avadhani ji...Oh...Yes! Yes! Khushi or whatever is her name, and I want all info by tomorrow. And one more thing as an afterthought! Run her through a profilogist can you? Ok! Category?” He asked him selves and closed his eyes and said „X‟!” and, cut the call.

That was a code for top confidentiality at the Corporal next only to Alpha, which was used for his parents and sister Sanjuktha.

Khushi started filing the bundle of papers that she sorted into neat stacks on her table. It was three weeks since the accident and for the next week or so there was a buzz on the floor about the whole issue of the Prince coming down to the seventh floor, but it died a natural death as nothing happened. Life returned back to normal. Even Mr. Avadhani resumed harassing her with too much of workload, and in a way she enjoyed it. She was so tired at the end of the day that, sometimes she just flopped off after reaching home. That‟s the way she wanted it to be. Four more months at least she had to pass that way and then... there would be some respite. She breathed out a sigh and looked out of the window. Rain fell in torrents and she looked at the drops on the window. Tiny, and forming patterns, as she remembered...

“Amma... yeh raha naav and this is a cat mom!”
(Mom! This is a boat...)
She was hardly eight and she was making patterns joining the frost on the window as it rained heavily.
“Rani Bitiya kya kar rahee hain?”
(What’s my sweet heart doing?)
A male voice sounded in the background and she bolted into the arms of a handsome man of thirty crying, “Papa! I won’t go to school tomorrow.”
“Koi nai! Its ok” he guffawed and her mom came charging in saying, “Bigaado aur! (Spoil her further)
She is getting spoilt. Tomorrow I don’t know who will marry her” ... and she rolled her eyes saying, “Uski tho lag gayee!”
(He will be doomed)
“Oh! C’mon! My Princess will rule the bloke. Raj karegi meri bitiya.” The man said kissing her on her forehead and said, “She would be loved and kept on a pedestal and will be worshipped. Haina?”
(isn’t it?)
He started tickling her...
A loud bang made everyone turn to watch each other in panic and then started the fire alarms!
Khushi who was deep in thoughts, quickly put the files into emergency lockers that got locked on their own after closure, and rushed out through the emergency exit and on to the stairway to see people coming down from the top floors.
She waited to check if Raina was there, and then on seeing her take to the fire exit and slowly descend the stairs, started walking down and let others pass as they started rushing down. As she stood watching them running for their life, she shook her head in exasperation, as a voice from behind her said, “Don‟t you think you should be
moving not for yourselves but for making way for the others?” It was The Prince!
He saw the woman stand and let others pass, as if she was there to receive death if it happened.
How crazy but how very odd!
He thought! All women were talking loudly trying to find the reason but she quietly stood looking so cool that it irritated him in a way.

But he could never imagine what happened next even in his wildest of dreams as the lady got freaked out and she turned and saw that the people behind Deepthimaan were not going to stop and so let herself slip, to create space for him and so and fell on the stairs and he rushed to give her his hand for support.

Now the people coming down were less than in the beginning and he said, “Here let me help you”
She glared at him saying, “You scared me! Where are your bodyguard sir? You shouldn‟t have stopped! See? You hurt me!”

“Did I now? Somehow I always happen to do so in your case. Isn‟t it?” He asked grimly as she denied him her hand and tried to get up but collapsed into a heap.
“C‟mon!” he hissed.
“You go on sir! I shall join you,” she said as sharp pain shot through her ankle. “Khushi. Get up! We need to go two floors down further...” he said with his hands on his waist.

“I can manage sir you carry on” she said stubbornly.
Deepthimaan stared at the lady who he was sure twisted her leg, but was so coolly sitting on the stairs assuring him about her well-being.
“C‟mon!” he hissed.
“My leg is uh...slightly...! Its ok! Please carry on sir” she said in pain.
Let me check he sat on his haunches and tried to check her ankle... The alarm blared still. She hastily said, “Sir you leave I shall join you.”
“Kaisay? Udkay?” He sneered at her.
(How by flying?)
“Jaisay bhi. Aap jaayiye” she sneered back.
(However! Please go!)
He was stubborn. He caught her ankle...with his palm to check and immediately realized it was a mistake.
He felt as if he was holding a dove in his hand as her soft sole nestled in his palm, looked like one. Her feet were beautiful!
She winced in pain and he raised his eyes from her foot and said... “Dard ho raha hai?” (Does it hurt?)
Somehow Khushi just went mute on that simple question coming out from the man. She was starving for care and affection and that one single soft sentence from the man, who hitherto was considered to be very tough and serious, touched a chord somewhere in her. A teardrop rolled down her cheek as a lone testimony of all that she went through which the world would never come to know. Least of all, the man who held her foot in his palm, as if it were made of crystal and was frowning at her, right then.
What was happening! She was supposed to be tough and he had seen her pain threshold limit, which was unusually high... but she went pale and was crying! Deepthimaan simply got up and lifted her up in his arms much against her protests and said, “Just shut up. Your foot is now out of order.”
When she protested, he simply said, “Put your arms round me else I will be out of balance Ms. And please...” he said when she said something about putting her down, “I just don‟t want to argue.” When she looped her hands round his neck he looked down at her left hand and groaned saying, “Awe the mark is still there”, looking at the burnt part of the skin.
“I told you scars remain.” She smiled and he just went still. She smiled but there was a melancholy to the whole thing! What was this lady? He thought as he effortlessly carriedher down the two floors. She weighed a feather! He must give it to her he thought. She was so petite and fit into his arms as if made to order.
“Khushi? What happened?” It was Raina who ventured to ask amongst all the staff that stood aghast at seeing the prince carrying her down and Khushi felt embarrassed and started trying to wrench herself away from him when he hissed in her ear, “Relax! Don‟t make a scene”

Don’t make a scene? How dared he said that when he was the person who actually created a scene! She seethed from within.
“Get a doctor!” He was barking, as he lowered her on to a plastic chair that someone supplied.

“No! I am alright” she said unable to raise her head and loom at the crowd, which was now openly staring at her.
“The hell you are!” His voice boomed making everyone go silent at once. Khushi went red in her face.

Why was he making it so very obvious...Oh God! She closed her eyes and he misunderstood it as pain and yelled, “Where is the doctor? And what happened?”
“Sir it‟s a fire drill... just to check on the safety measures and the awareness of the staff in case of emergencies” the admin head was saying as Khushi looked at her swollen ankle, as she slightly lifted the hem of her sari. She should escape before anyone noticed that and made a fuss of it she thought, as the doctor came and he recognized her this time much to her chagrin...