Music Of The Heart.

CHAPTER FOUR.

'What the hell does he think of himself! So what, if he's ASR. He can go on yelling at people, whenever he likes?! More like BARK at people! As if we are not his employees but his fucking slaves!' 

Khushi couldn't believe this man. More of a beast, she'd just met.

'How can someone be so cruel, so arrogant, so ruthless, so handsome, so gorgeous, so-- wait, what? handsome? really Khushi? You hate him remember? but, damn, he IS handsome. With a fine, muscular body, broad shoulders, sharp chiselled features, those caramel eyes, those-- .. SNAP OUT OF IT KHUSHI!! Are you insane? So what if he looks gorgeous, you still hate him. Like REALLY hate him. Don't ever go there again. Na-uh. No chance.'

Khushi was brought out of her reverie, when she felt someone patting her shoulder.

"Princess? Is everything okay? what happened in there?!" Nihaal was getting curious with every passing second.
"Nothing's okay, Nihaal! He was yelling at me, as if I was trying to kill him in there." Khushi muttered under her breathe.
"Did you back answer him Khushi?" 
Khushi turned her head side ways, faking a laugh.
"Haha. Why in the world, would I back answer him Nihaal?! I went in there, gave him his coffee, apologized to him and came out."
"Oh really? Wow. Thats nice. Now tell me, what exactly happened in there? because it cannot be that simple, where you and ASR are concerned." 
Nihaal could easily guess what would've happened inside. Khushi was practically shaking when she came out. 

"Nothing. Really. I just-- um, I just said that I couldn't even stand the sight of him." Khushi was looking everywhere in the room, but Nihaal. 
"YOU SAID WHAT?!" Nihaal's eyes widened, and jaw dropped.
"Yeah, and I said that--"
"There is MORE?" 
"Yeah, actually, I said that I would rather get my self killed, than being in the same room as him."
"The Fuck? Khushi. Do. You. Have. Any. Idea. What. You. Just. Did?" 
"Whaat? I said, what I felt. Okay?" Khushi rolled her eyes.
"Are you serious?!" Nihaal waved his hands. Shocked will be an understatement to what he was now. 
"Khushi? Do me favour. Stay away from him. As far as possible. It'll be best for you. Okay?" Nihaal requested, more like begged Khushi to stay away from ASR.
"Of course! I'd love that! absolutely LOVE that. That beast does not deserve my presence around him anyway." Khushi muttered heading towards her cubicle.
"Catch you later, Nihaal." 
 Nihaal nodded in her direction and made his way to ASR's cabin.

'I hope he's not angry any more.'

*----*----*----*

*Ting tong*

"Comingg .. " Shilpa bua, kept the cordless on the table and made her way towards the main door. 
"Hii buaaa" Julia hugged Shilpa bua so tight that she made her choke. Literally. 
"Hey Bhagwaan, you girls are planning to kill me aren't you? One chokes me to death and the other one, gives me a heart attack early in the morning!" 
Shilpa bua sighed dramatically.
Julia chuckled and jumped on her favourite maroon couch, making her self comfortable. Her legs stretched on the centre table, her hands resting over her head on the head rest.

Shilpa bua loved Julia as much as she loved Khushi. 
When Khushi and Shilpa bua shifted to New York, they had to face endless problems considering they were new and all alone in this big city. They had no good place to live. The place where they were dwelling before, was nothing better than a junk yard. They didn't have any work, to earn their living and no friends. Not a single friend, who could help them, when they were in dire need of it. 
After a lot of begging, Khushi managed to convince her bua, to let her go and search for work. Khushi used to stroll on the streets of New York, looking for a suitable job.
This went on for a couple of days. Khushi was now getting tired of all the 'job searching' thing. She was on the verge of giving up. Sick and tired of her life.  
But then she remembered, her English teacher's advice when she quoted Sir Martin Luther King, Jr.
"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."

'Looks like its time to work on her advice.' Khushi told herself. Seeking courage and strength from the words, she welcomed another day of her hell of a life with great enthusiasm. She took her Devi Maiyya's and her bua's blessings and left her house, confident enough that she would definitely nail it this time, or atleast she hoped she would. 

This day, too, was passing just like the rest of the days. Endless walking and still no signs of any job. All this walking made Khushi hungry. Her stomach was growling so bad, that she was sure, the man standing ten feet away from her, would be able to hear it.

'Well, a two minute break would not cause any harm, would it?' Khushi thought, stopping by a small restaurant.

The restaurant looked quite old from the inside: wooden creaking floor boards,  The tables and chairs were all covered in dust, the walls were painted a dull grey colour,  flaking speckles of paint lined the floor with dust and creepy insects! The place felt still and life less.

Khushi was sure, this place was haunted. She walked into the restaurant, grabbing a table nearer to the door. 

"What can I get you, young lady?" the old woman smiled at Khushi, handing her the menu card.

"Uh, anything that can be made quickly. Im running out of time actually." Khushi smiled back.

"Well in that case, how about a cheese hamburger?"

"I guess, that would work!" 

nodding, the woman left for the kitchen.

Khushi wondered if she was the only person working in this restaurant. She couldn't see any waiters around. 

Khushi was busy, gazing at the broken furniture of the restaurant when she heard somebody yelping for help.

Khushi peeked out of the window to see what was going on. She saw a young woman, of her age almost, trying to save her purse from a goon, who was in no mood to let it go.

Not wasting any more time, Khushi grabbed a wooden leg of a broken chair, good enough to help the woman, and made her way out of the restaurant. 

The goon, was successful in snatching the woman's purse and was about to run away when he felt a hard heavy object hit his head, from behind, making him unconscious at the very moment. 

The goon fell to the ground and Khushi took the purse out of his hands, handing it to the woman. The woman was too shocked and afraid to register what was happening. 

Khushi grabbed her hand and took her inside the restaurant, making her sit.

"Are you okay?"

"Huh? uh .. yeah." The woman said, drinking water Khushi just offered her. 

after a good one minute silence, the woman spoke up.

"Hey, thank you so so much. It was so brave of you to help me like that." the woman held Khushi's hands, thanking her.

"Its okaay. It was my duty anyway." Khushi smiled at her.

"Im Julia, by the way."

"Oh hey. Im Khushi."

"So Khushi, what brought you here? this place looks so creepy!" Julia glanced around the restaurant. 

"Uh, actually, I was out looking for a job, when I came across this restaurant. All the constant walking made me hungry enough, to ignore the make-up of the place and just sit and have something to make my growling stomach shut up." Khushi said, when her stomach growled again making Julia chuckle.

"You see?" Khushi giggled herself.

Just then the old woman came with khushi's food. 

"Here you go, young lady. Oh another customer we see? Would you like to have something darling?" The old woman beamed a smile at Julia.

"Uh. No. Im good. Thanks" Julia returned the woman's smile. 

The woman turned to leave.

"Hey, is this place always this quiet and so .. lifeless?" Khushi asked.

"Yeah. You wouldn't see much people around here. The whole street is like this. Be it day or night. You will hardly find anybody around here." Julia said, as a matter of fact.

"Oh! weird."

"So, are you new in NY?" Julia asked, smiling at her new friend. Or she supposed, she was. 

"Yeah. I live here with my aunt. We've just moved to NY, couple of weeks ago."

Khushi was done with her burger, and took out money to pay the woman when Julia stopped her. 

"Please, let me? Your lunch is on me." Julia requested, her eyes shining with humanity, and her hand resting on Khushi's hand.

"What? No. No way. You dont have to." 

"I want to. Please? You saved me from that filthy bastard. C'mon, I owe you this." Julia already handed the money to the woman, before Khushi could say something.

"I--" Khushi's protest was cut short by Julia hushing her.

"Shh now. No arguments. What are friends for, anyway?" Julia winked at Khushi.

"Right! Friends!" 

Khushi was overjoyed, when Julia called Khushi her friend. She had missed her friends ever since she shifted to NY. She had no friends here. She felt so lonely in this foreign land. She couldn't believe how quickly she bonded with this girl who was a mere stranger to her, about an hour ago. They were talking as if, they'd known each other for years.  

Julia, was showing Khushi around. 

They talked about everything. From their families to their friends, about their favourite past times, about food, about sports, about cosmetics, about animals, about their favourite movies, celebrity crushes and a lot more.

Khushi was finally having fun. It felt like a decade has passed, since she last had any fun. Now, with Julia around, she was starting to like NY.

'NY's not that bad after all.' Khushi thought, her grin so big, it reached her ears. Literally.