Jaane Doh Naa
CHAPTER FIVE
Jalebis
Khushi
hummed to herself as her hands danced across the sketchpad, a pencil in their
hold. It was very early in the morning, the sun only a few minutes old in the
day and yet, she was wide awake sitting in the middle of the quiet boutique,
trying to find the solace designing usually offered.
She
heard her phone buzz announcing a text from Ayesha, panicked about not finding
Khushi in the apartment upon waking up.
I'm in the
boutique, don't worry!, Khushi replied, before picking up the pencil once
again.
It
was in Ayesha's nature to be protective, and perhaps it was in her nature to be
comforted. Maybe that's why they clicked like a pair of magnets.
It
was well into the morning, after Khushi dealt with a couple of customers that
Ayesha finally made her appearance.
"I
hate getting up in the morning!" she grumbled, taking a seat on the sofa.
"It's
a 11 in the morning Ayesh," Khushi replied with a smile. "Its not the morning."
Ayesha
rolled her eyes. "Well, this beauty needs time to get ready. Sheesh!" She then
looked at the sketch Khushi was working on and said, "Me liking it. Is it for
AR Designs?"
Khushi
grimaced. "I don't know," she said. "It could be. You decide everything right?"
"It
won't be, if you don't want it to be," Ayesha said. "But I think it will fit
well with the collection we are preparing."
Khushi
nodded. Frankly, she didn't want to give anything
to AR Designs, for it would mean she was helping the very man she detested. But
she also knew how silly her thinking was; She had to be professional!
"Speaking
of AR Designs," Ayesha said looking around the boutique. "Where is he today?"
Khushi
didn't reply.
"He
is always here before the boutique
opens, how come he is late today?"
Khushi
snorted and said sarcastically, "Probably still working on a random excuse."
And
just on the cue, Arnav walked into the
boutique, much to girls' chargin.
"Good
morning," he said with a smile.
Khushi
didn't answer, determinedly keeping her eyes on the sketchpad infront of her.
"Oh
lord," Ayesha said, rolling her eyes. "Do you seriously have nothing better to
do other than to bother us?"
Arnav
ignored her. He spent a lot of time pondering over Khushi's words in their last
encounter and understood what was it that she wanted. The answer, he found, was
very simple indeed.
"Oh,"
Ayesha said, upon not getting an answer. "So we are on silent treatment today?
Good! Can you keep it like that for the rest of eternity?"
Arnav
merely walked up to Khushi, seated on the sofa and held out a gift-wrapped box.
She
ignored it.
Expecting
her response, he moved the package so that it was right infront of her eyes, completely
blocking her view of the paper she was sketching on.
"What?"
she finally asked, irritated.
"This
is for you."
"I
don't want it," she replied getting up.
He
blocked her way once again. "Atleast see what it is. Then you can decide if you
want it or not!"
But
she was in no mood to listen. She tried to step around him, but he seemed to read
her thoughts. Every step she took, he followed, blocking her escape.
Khushi
glared at him.
"What
the hell is your problem?" came Ayesha's voice, who was watching the entire
exchange.
Arnav
didn't turn. "Your friend has a mouth too," he informed her. "If she wants, she
can use it herself."
"Excuse
me Mr. Raizada, but-"
"Not
excused," he said. And then in a softer voice he said, "Khushi, just open it
once."
Seeing
that Arnav wasn't going to budge, Khushi took the box from him and opened it
grudgingly. She was very surprised to see what it contained.
"Your
favourite," Arnav whispered, when she continued to gaze at the box in silence.
It contained a jalebi.
But
what startled Khushi was not the sweet, but the shape it was made in. Instead
of the usual spirals it resembled, the jalebi very clearly spelled out 'sorry'!
"You
made it?" The question slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it.
Arnav
shrugged. "Well⦠I had help," he said truthfully. "I didn't know how to make
the batterβ¦"
Khushi
didn't know what to say. She somehow couldn't imagine Arnav in the kitchen,
standing infront of the stove, trying to spell out the perfect 'sorry' she now
held. She vaguely wondered how many hours it took him.
"Do
you like it?" he asked quietly.
Khushi
didn't answer. She just put the box on the table infront of her and began to
leave.
"Khushi!"
Arnav called. "Say something! Don't just walk away!"
She
stopped in her tracks and said very calmly, "So what should I do?"
"Atleast
eat the jalebi," he suggested. "I mean, I
made it⦠I didn't tell anyone else to do it. It was completely my idea!"
"And
that's precisely why I don't want to eat it," she said simply.
Arnav
was frozen. Her response hurt him; they pierced his already broken heart. But
he couldn't afford to loose his calm. There was too much at stake!
"If
you think," she continued, watching his guarded expression. She could tell he
was trying very hard not to let the hurt she caused show on his face. "That
with one jalebi, I am going to run into your arms, then you are very much
wrong. In fact, I don't even know why you are wasting your time."
"I
am not wasting anything," he said quietly.
"Yes
you are," she continued in a very calm manner. "Because you can make a hundred
of these jalebis, and it won't change anything. I can't forgive you."
"Can't,
or won't?" he asked.
"It
doesn't matter which way you take it."
* * *
"Ayesh?"
Khushi asked, looking up from the embroidery she was doing. "Do you smell
that?"
"Hmmmβ¦"
Ayesha replied absent mindedly looking at the mannequin she was dressing. "Do
you think we should cut this a bit more?"
Khushi
didn't reply and stood up. It was almost nightfall and the two girls were busy
working away on their collection in the designing room, when a waft of freshly
made jalebis suddenly hit Khushi.
"Khushi?"
Ayesha said, when she found the former sniffing the room. "What happened?"
"Don't
you smell that?" Khushi asked following her nose to the door, which led out
into the boutique, now closed for the day.
Ayesha
scrunched her eyebrows in concentration, but caught the aroma as well. "It⦠it
smells like... something sweet?"
"Like
jalebis!" Khushi said, a wide smile
on her face. "And not just any jalebis," she continued like a small girl who
was given chocolate. "They are my babuji's
jalebis!"
Ayesha
let out a sigh. Here we go again, she
thought, turning back to the dress she was creating. Khushi's madness begins again!
"Ayesh!"
Khushi said. "I am serious! It is my
babuji's jalebis. I can recognize the smell from a mile away!"
"Khushi,"
Ayesha replied. "Get a grip on yourself! I agree it could be jalebis, but how
the hell are you sure its your babuji's? I mean, all jalebis smell the same,
right?"
"No
they don't," Khushi answered adamantly. "I have practically grown up smelling this.
I know its his jalebis!"
Ayesha
shook her head in exasperation.
Khushi,
however, wasn't disheartened by her best friend's lack of response. Her mouth
was watering just from the thought that her father's jalebis were somewhere
nearby. And without another thought in mind, she followed the smell all the way
into the main room, where she found a box full of jalebis on the coffee table.
She
was beyond ecstatic. She picked up the box and took a deep breath, taking in
not only the delicious aroma of freshly made jalebis, but all the sweet memories
of her childhood spent in their family's halwai
shop.
"Yummm!"
she said, picking one up.
"Khushi?"
Ayesha had followed Khushi out into the boutique and was staring at the box of
jalebis. "Where did these come from?"
Khushi,
who was about to take a bite, stopped short as realization suddenly dawned upon
her. She placed the jalebi back in the box, her eyes taut.
"Where
are you going?" Ayesha asked, watching Khushi going towards the door, looking
from side to side. "What are you looking for?"
Khushi
didn't reply and continued to search every corner of the boutique. Upon not
finding anything, she said out loud, "I know you are here. Come out! Now!"
And
to Ayesha's utter astonishment, Arnav Singh Raizada stepped out from behind the
curtains.
"Mr.
Raizada?" Ayesha said, regaining her voice. "What are you doing here? H-how did
you get in? The door was locked!"
It
was Khushi who answered instead. "Oh please," she said sarcastically. "Don't insult
his intelligence. Its not a big deal for him
to get a duplicate key."
Ayesha
was still confused. "But⦠but why?"
Khushi
glared at Arnav in answer. "What did you think?" she asked. "Getting me
babuji's jalebis will make everything alright?"
"No,"
he answered truthfully. "I just thought it will make you happy!"
She
snorted. "Yeah right!"
"I
am serious," he continued. "You didn't want to eat what I made. So, I thought
you would eat if your babuji made
them!"
"And
once again," she said sarcastically. "You missed the whole point. I don't want anything to do with you."
"But
this is nothing about me," he argued, when she turned around and began walking
back to the designing room. "This is completely for you. Your babuji made them for you!"
Khushi
stopped as the gravity of what Arnav was saying hit her. She whipped around and
asked, "What did you say?!"
"Your
babuji made them for you," he repeated slowly, glad that she got the point he
was making. "He made them with his own
hands."
Khushi
froze as the meaning of his words slowly washed over her.
"Yes,"
Arnav said, walking towards her. "He is completely alright. He can walkβ¦ talkβ¦
he is completely normal. When he found out you were here⦠he was beyond happy. It was he, who sent these
for you!"
Tears
welled up in Khushi's eyes. Her heart ached to see her father, the man who
accepted her with no questions asked. The man who she looked up to every second
of the day, and most importantly the man who still loved her despite everything
that has come to pass.
Ayesha
was quiet as she finally caught on to the conversation. She heard enough of
Khushi's babuji in the last two years
to know his importance. And if there was anyone who Khushi thought of everyday
without a miss, it was him. And so, she didn't stop Arnav when he daringly went
to towards Khushi, stopping only couple of inches from her.
"He
thinks about you everyday you know," Arnav said quietly, watching the tears
roll down her face. "He worries a little too."
"When
did he get better?" she asked.
"A
couple months after you left," he answered. "It was then that he told us Shyam
was responsible-"
Khushi
held up her hand at the mention of Shyam. The few tears which managed to escape
her control stopped as she glared at Arnav. "Don't," she said, her tone angry
once more. "I don't care what you found about that man."
"But
this is important! He-"
She
cut him off again. "No," she said, her mind set. "I don't want to ever hear his
name under my roof again."
"I
know you are mad Khushi," he said. "but Shyam is the reason-"
"No,
he isn't," she replied vehemently. "You
are the reason why everything is wrong. You are the reason I haven't seen my
babuji for two years and you are definetly
the reason why I can never go back. So telling me what Shyam did or did not do
will not change that because neither can it make me hate him more nor can it
make me hate you less."
Arnav
stared at Khushi in disbelief, before she picked up the box of jalebis and
thrust it back into his hands.
"Take
this back," she ordered. "I don't need them anymore."
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