A few minutes later, Risha finally found what she was looking for. ‘Aha! I knew it had to be here somewhere,’ she said, but her triumphant smile quickly turned into a frown.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, reading her expression.
‘It’s a side profile and it’s shaky,’ she said in a disappointed voice.
Arjun turned the screen to face him. ‘Yes, but it is me.’
‘Only one photo of you and that too blurry,’ she said, sounding annoyed.
‘Maybe you couldn’t keep a steady hand once you laid eyes on this handsome face,’ he said, flashing her a white smile.
Risha was not amused. ‘How did this happen?’
Even though his tone was flippant, Risha sensed he wasn’t joking when he said, ‘Because I planned it that way.’
She tipped her head. ‘You’re camera shy?’
He paused. ‘I wouldn’t put it exactly that way, but, yes, I don’t like being photographed.’
‘That’s a pity,’ she blurted.
‘Why?’
Because it’s a crime to deny the world the pleasure of seeing your beautiful face.
‘Because I’m a photographer and I think everyone should... like being photographed,’ she said, hoping he would buy her lame explanation.
‘I’m not a fan of public attention,’ he said quietly.
‘Lucky for you, your job doesn’t require you to make any public appearances like, I don’t know, inaugurating tall buildings,’ she snorted.
He looked at her in surprise. ‘You read the interview?’
Oops.
‘I glanced at the newspaper when you went to the restroom,’ she said casually. And only so she could wipe the smug smile off his face, she added, ‘Are you sure you’re 6'2"? You look more like 5'11".’
His voice deepened a notch. ‘Would you like me to stand up so you can take a good look?’
‘No, thanks,’ she said dryly. ‘But at the wedding, I’ll make sure I only shoot you when you’re sitting down.’
Hour 13
Arjun couldn’t believe this girl.
It was obvious she hadn’t known who he was at first, but now that she did, she didn’t seem intimidated by him in the least. Nor was she throwing herself at him. Meeting a stranger and being able to have a normal conversation with them was uncharted territory for Arjun.
Upon moving back to India, in addition to losing his privacy, Arjun had also lost the ability to make new friends. Even though he worked really hard to stay out of the limelight, people eventually connected the dots and figured out who he was. Sure, he was used to female attention since even before taking over the reins to the Khanna fortune, but at least back in New York, he could date a girl without worrying about their picture showing up in the tabloids.
To be fair, Arjun’s face wasn’t exactly plastered in the media, but for reasons unbeknown to him, the press had recently developed a keen interest in his personal life. Arjun’s life was fairly uneventful and aside from work-related functions, he avoided public appearances and absolutely steered clear of Delhi’s party scene.
The only rationale for the media’s curiosity about him was their interest in Rohan and Nitisha’s wedding. As the founder and CEO of an e-commerce startup that had recently raised a billion dollars, Rohan was the media’s darling. And as the face behind designer label Khudai, Nitisha was an up-and-coming name in the Indian fashion industry. So Arjun guessed that he was famous by association, and hoped that the media frenzy would die down after the wedding. Some people, he thought drolly, had greatness thrust upon them.
But the girl sitting next to him didn’t seem thrown off by his wealth or fame. If anything, she was amused by it. She teased him, laughed at him and even—he thought with chagrin—implied that he was short. She probably wouldn’t care if she found out the threat he had issued to Kritika to keep Risha in her seat. Actually, he intuited, she would probably be more annoyed than flattered by what he had done.
‘Why,’ Arjun wondered out loud, ‘did you agree to move back to economy?’
‘Well, technically I haven’t paid for this seat. I thought it would be unfair to take advantage of a fortuitous situation,’ Risha shrugged.
Was this girl for real?
‘You would rather sit in a seat that literally smells like crap, than fight with a jealous flight attendant?’
‘Obviously I wouldn’t prefer it, but—wait, what do you mean “jealous”?’
‘Don’t be obtuse, Risha.’
‘Oh, because you’re so hot and all the women are in love with you?’ She rolled her eyes.
His mouth quirked into a lazy smile. ‘You think I’m hot?’
‘No, I don’t!’ she sputtered.
‘Way to massage a guy’s ego,’ he retorted dryly.
Risha mumbled something about having to use the restroom and disappeared. For forty-five minutes.
Hour 14
News Today Office Messenger Chat
Participants: Risha_K, Nidhi13
Risha_K: Guess who’s sitting next to me on the flight?
Nidhi13: Narendra Modi?
Risha_K: Sure, because the prime minister of India travels by a private foreign airline.
Nidhi13: It’s possible.
Risha_K: Modi is in Tajikistan. It’s on the front page of the newspaper you work for! How do you not know this?
Nidhi13: Sorry, I only read Page 3.
Risha_K: I sincerely hope that’s a joke. And no, not Modi—he only flies Air India.
Nidhi13: Aishwarya Rai?
Risha_K: I’m flying back from LA, not Cannes.
Nidhi13: Hmmm, is it a Hollywood actor? Is it George Clooney? Please say it’s George Clooney!
Risha_K: I wish. It’s not someone famous.
Nidhi13: Someone from NT? The IT guy who has a crush on you?
Risha_K: An IT guy has a crush on me?
Nidhi13: You think your Internet just stops working on its own? It’s a carefully plotted scheme so he can visit your workstation and be your knight in shining armour.
Risha_K: If that’s true, I’m going to kill him.
Nidhi13: Don’t say incriminating things on office messenger.
Risha_K: It’s not the IT guy. It’s no one from NT. God, you really suck at this.
Nidhi13: At least give me a hint.
Risha_K: He’s related to a fashion designer who is currently in the news for something.
Nidhi13: Well, that one fashion designer is in the news for copying the designs of that other fashion designer. Is it one of them?
Risha_K: You are useless. I can’t believe I’m standing in the bathroom having this conversation!
Nidhi13: The business class bathroom actually has space to stand? Wow. Okay, since I know you hate texting and generally doing stuff on your phone, I’m going to take my final guess.
Risha_K: ...?
Nidhi13: Rohan Singhal?
Risha_K: Close, but no. I’m sitting next to Nitisha Khanna’s brother.
Nidhi13: Arjun Khanna isn’t ‘not famous’. There’s a picture of him on today’s business page.
Risha_K: Ha! You do read more than just Page 3.
Nidhi13: Actually, we had a bet in the lunchroom on which page has the maximum number of typos and I said business, which is why I had to read it.
Risha_K: I swiped his newspaper while he was away from his seat.
Nidhi13: Um, ever heard of e-paper? I can’t believe you’re sitting next to Arjun Khanna, it’s the uncanniest thing ever. Do you know he attended my wedding?
Risha_K: I know!
Nidhi13: I just googled him and he’s hot! Although there are hardly any pictures of him online—just a couple of them repeated in different sizes and resolutions. But he’s really good-looking. You better walk out of that plane bearing either his ring or his child. Don’t let me down.
Risha_K: Are you crazy? He probably has a super hot girlfriend in every city in the world.
Nidhi13: Oh, I see. So that’s the only
thing keeping you from procreating with him?
Risha_K: Pretty much. He’s ridiculously hot, super funny, and he hasn’t even tried to look down my shirt. The only thing wrong with him is that he doesn’t like chocolate. Aside from that, he’s quite perfect.
Nidhi13: Someone has a little crush on their client’s brother. Way to keep it professional, Rish.
Risha_K: It’s not like I’m going to do anything about it. He’s like a zillionaire, he can probably buy the business class lounge.
Nidhi13: Actually, he can probably buy the entire airline. But why does that matter?
Risha_K: It doesn’t matter to me.
Nidhi13: You’d be surprised by the number of rich people that don’t care about money.
Risha_K: Because they can ‘afford’ not to. Get it?
Nidhi13: Funny. Oooh, just found a photo of him smiling. He looks a bit like Fawad Khan.
Risha_K: As if! The only person that looks like Fawad Khan is Fawad Khan. OHMYGOD! I just saw my reflection in the mirror and I look like crap. I have chocolate all over my face, my hair looks like a bird’s nest, and my face looks generally hideous. I cannot believe I spent the last four hours looking like this. No wonder he hasn’t been flirting with me. Am I really so unflirtable?
Nidhi13: ‘Unflirtable’ is not a word. I can’t believe you’re an assistant editor. Also, you’re incapable of looking hideous. I personally know at least three people at NT who are in love with you.
Risha_K: Kabir, the IT guy and... who’s the third?
Nidhi13: Charan.
Risha_K: Who the hell is Charan?
Nidhi13: The marketing intern.
Risha_K: Whatever.
Nidhi13: I’m serious. He goes into a wide-eyed coma every time he sees you, and he told one of the editorial interns that you are ‘marriage material’. And as you know, what happens in the editorial department never stays in the editorial department.
Risha_K: I’m flattered. My list of admirers includes my snobby boss, some lame IT guy and a hormonal teenager.
Nidhi13: And maybe Arjun Khanna. Why don’t you brush your hair, wear some make-up and turn that ‘maybe’ into ‘definitely’?
Risha_K: I might have some mascara in my bag.
Nidhi13: Negative. It’s a long flight; if you fall asleep and it smudges, you might end up with raccoon eyes. Better no make-up than bad make-up.
Risha_K: This is fourteen-hour-lasting waterproof mascara. I wore it to your wedding.
Nidhi13: Am I the only person who didn’t cry at my wedding?
Risha_K: Yup. Introducing the most insensitive bride since Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride—Nidhi Marwah.
Nidhi13: Can you please Photoshop some tears on to the wedding photos?
Risha_K: I’m opposed to Photoshopping.
Nidhi13: What about airbrushing?
Risha_K: Yuck.
Nidhi13: So, basically anything that enables people to improve their physical appearance?
Risha_K: No, LASIK is okay.
Nidhi13: What a relief. Send me a picture once you’re done getting all gussied up for your new lover.
Risha_K: mascara.jpg
Nidhi13: Only in one eye?
Risha_K: Crap, seems like I ran out. Perfect timing. Now I’ll be walking around with one eye looking nicer than the other.
Nidhi13: Just wipe it off.
Risha_K: I can’t! My make-up remover is in my check-in luggage.
Nidhi13: Try water.
Risha_K: This mascara is invincible. An hour of sobbing at your wedding didn’t smudge it, but water will? Thanks, Nidhi.
Nidhi13: He’s a boy, he probably won’t even notice the length of your eyelashes.
Risha_K: Well, at least I did the eye that’s closer to him. Maybe I’ll wear an eye patch on the other eye.
Nidhi13: Oooh, yes. Send me a picture.
Risha_K: That was a joke.
Nidhi13: Oh. I mean LOL.
Risha_K: :-(
Nidhi13: Relax! You only have a few more hours to go, try to get some sleep. Maybe you can wear one of those eye masks they give you on the plane, that way he won’t be able to see your eyes at all.
Risha_K: Sleeping is a good idea. I land at three in the morning and I have to be at work by nine.
Nidhi13: Vikram and I will pick you up from the airport.
Risha_K: Thanks, but Rishabh already said he’s picking me up.
Nidhi13: I know I’ve said this eighteen thousand times before, but it’s really strange that you still hang out with your ex-boyfriend. Even if he is gay.
Risha_K: We only dated for a month in school, it doesn’t count. Plus, he’s one of my best friends.
Nidhi13: I’m your best friend.
Risha_K: Only if you show up at all the Khanna–Singhal wedding functions.
Nidhi13: I kinda have to because of the bromance between the groom and my husband.
Risha_K: Have you spent a lot of time with Nitisha and Rohan?
Nidhi13: We do dinner with them once a month; more often when Vikram isn’t travelling.
Risha_K: I didn’t get to spend much time with them at your wedding.
Nidhi13: Don’t worry, they’re super nice.
Risha_K: Cheesy pre-wedding shoots are a great way to break the ice, but since they had no time before, I’m meeting them directly at the first event.
Nidhi13: I’m sure you guys will hit it off; they’re both pretty cool. Rohan is a little on the quieter side, but Nitisha is very friendly.
Risha_K: Yes, she sounds quite friendly in her emails, and her sibling is fun to talk to. Hopefully they are a normal family.
Nidhi13: Future in-laws, you mean.
Risha_K: Hilarious.
Nidhi13: Jokes apart, Rohan is pretty important to Vikram, and vice versa. You know Rohan picked the wedding date to accommodate Vikram’s cricket schedule?
Risha_K: Wow, I didn’t realize they’re that close.
Nidhi13: And they only spent a year together at the Mumbai Cricket Academy when they were teenagers.
Risha_K: No way! Rohan wanted to play cricket professionally?
Nidhi13: Yes, but luckily for Nitisha, he moved back to Delhi before the ‘Mumbai is better than Delhi’ bug bit him. Grrr.
Risha_K: Vikram STILL says that?
Nidhi13: Vikram has conveniently forgotten that he spent the best years of his life in Delhi before moving to Mumbai.
Risha_K: Yes, I’ve heard Mumbai does that to people.
Nidhi13: But since he finally chose to settle down in Delhi, I think he secretly loves Delhi more than Mumbai.
Risha_K: Uh, I think the reason he settled down in Delhi is that he loves you more than Mumbai.
Nidhi13: That too :-)
Risha_K: Your husband has magazine covers dedicated to his good looks, hair that belongs in a shampoo commercial, and let’s not forget those drool-worthy abs. All he needs to do is lose that ridiculous Bambaiya vocab and he would be perfect.
Nidhi13: The last time we were in Lajpat Nagar market for chaat[15], the golgappa[16] wala refused to serve Vikram because he kept calling it ‘pani puri’.
Risha_K: Seriously?
Nidhi13: Well, he refused to serve Vikram because one of the newspapers that morning had called Vikram a ‘Mumbai boy’ and the golgappa wala wanted Vikram to veto that claim and admit he’s actually a Delhi boy.
Risha_K: Did he?
Nidhi13: No, but he said some cheesy line about Delhi being his sasural and by virtue of that the golgappa wala practically being his in-law.
Risha_K: Awww.
Nidhi13: That was the golgappa wala’s reaction, too. But after we left the chaat place, Vikram turns to me and whispers, ‘The pani puri place in Bandra is so much better.’
Risha_K: He did not!
Nidhi13: Oh, that’s not all. He even said he prefers the kathi rolls at Bade Miya to Khan Chacha.
Risha_K: He is SO dead.
Nidhi13: According to him, Big Chill is Delhi’s only saving grace.
<
br /> Risha_K: How are you married to such a freak?
Nidhi13: I ask myself the same question every day. Better find out Arjun Khanna’s stand on Delhi vs Mumbai before you get too serious.
Risha_K: Just so you know, I’m rolling my eyes.
Nidhi13: Both of them or just the one with mascara?
Risha_K: Ha ha. I’m heading back to my seat now.
Nidhi13: See you at work tomorrow. Have a safe flight!
Hour 15
By the time Risha made her way back to her seat, Arjun was asleep. His legs were propped up on his footrest and though his seat wasn’t reclined all the way, he looked comfortable. Like he was used to sleeping in awkward positions.
For the first time since she had met him, Risha allowed herself the treat of feasting her eyes on Arjun.
Her gaze travelled from the errant black lock that grazed his brow to the dark lashes that rested on his cheeks. He had a sharp, aristocratic nose and his square jaw was clenched tight, as though his dreams plagued him. Strangely, he had seemed more relaxed awake than asleep, and Risha couldn't help but wonder what he was dreaming about. His hard chest moved in tandem with his deep breaths and his hands were locked neatly at his stomach. His blanket had slid halfway to the floor and Risha stood up and draped it over his legs. Then she reached up and turned off his overhead light. The faint cabin light streamed across his handsome features and she had an inexplicable urge to reach out and touch his unshaven face.
And it was in that precise moment that Risha knew she was in trouble.
Because instead of worrying about her unmascaraed eye, she was suddenly very concerned about spending the next few days in close proximity with this man.
Way to keep it professional, Rish.
Hour 17
‘Mr Khanna,’ a voice brought him to consciousness.
Arjun’s head hurt, either from too little sleep or too much. Too little, he guessed, because he couldn’t remember the last time he had slept too much.
The Wedding Photographer Page 4
