The lady smiled. "Its all thanks to you dear," she said. "I don't know where you come up with such dresses!"
"That's so sweet of you," Khushi replied. "But really its you that makes the outfits look nice!"
Mrs. Mehra laughed. "Anyway, I should get going now. Have a good night!"
Biding goodbye, she departed the boutique.
It was stormy night in Pune, with the dark clouds promising an impressive amount of rain. But Khushi was far from the delights of nature, for she was caught in her own whirlwind of thoughts. As the boutique's numerous contracts approached their end, she was found slogging through her job past 10 o'clock on a Friday night. While her body ached from a stressful day at work, her mind was flying with new and colourful ideas.
"Thank you Devi Maiyya," she said to herself, as her hands artfully pinned the exquisite material on a mannequin. "The dress turned out alright. If not Mrs. Mehra would have eaten me alive! I don't even know what is with these women… why spend so much money on a dress that they wear once and never look at again?"
"Its called class. It's the same reason they buy big mansions, even though they don't need that much space to live."
Khushi froze as the familiar voice echoed through the quiet room. She should have know he would be there, it was almost a routine now.
"Well I am not surprised that you think like that Mr. Raizada," she said, not even bothering to turn around and greet him.
"You shouldn't be," he replied calmly. "Because I had to earn my way to the high class society. Its not something that was given to me for free."
"Yeah well," she said, stepping back to take a look at her master piece. "apparently it costed you more than its worth."
Arnav didn't reply and instead watched her work. He had to admit, she had skill. Having been in the industry for many years, he could tell that her fingers were well trained to handle the measuring tape and scissors.
"How come you are working so late?" he asked. "Don't you know its not safe to be out here all alone."
"What's the point of fearing the outside, when the person to fear is inside?"
"I am sure the mannequin won't hurt you," he said with smile. "You don't have to fear it."
Khushi rolled her eyes. "Very funny Mr. Raizada."
"I saw that."
She stopped and turned around to look at him with her eyebrows raised. "Saw what?"
"I know you were rolling your eyes… at me."
If Khushi was surprised, she didn't let it show on her face. Faking nonchalance, she turned back to her dress.
How the hell can Laad Governor read my mind?, she thought to herself.
"The same way you were expecting me to come," he told her. He saw her shoulders stiffen as he once again answered her thoughts. "Don't worry, your secrets are safe with me."
Khushi whipped around at that comment. "What secrets?"
"Well it wouldn't be a secret if I let it out now, would it?"
She gritted her teeth in answer. Urgh… Why am I even talking to him?!
"Because I am irrestiable," he answered. "Don't you think?"
"I think," she said, mocking a sweet voice. "Its best if you leave Mr. Raizada. You have no excuse whatsoever to be here so late."
"And what if I don't go?" he said, folding his arms. "Are you going to makeme?"
She didn't miss the implication. "Urgh!"
Arnav grinned when he saw her irritation. "Waise," he said. "Did you eat something? I am starving… why don't we go to dinner?"
Khushi pressed her lips together, refraining from giving a smart reply. She knew he would only end up twisting it to whatever he wanted. So, she resumed her work.
"How about a movie after?" he suggested, upon not receiving a response. "A Salman Khan movie?"
Doesn't he ever give up? She thought to herself with a sigh. A dinner… a movie? What are we in? A chick flick?!
"Come on," he said. "You like Salman Khan, so why not go?"
Khushi finally appeared to be satisfied with her dress. She put down the scissors and measuring tape and went inside to pick up her handbag, ready to leave for the day.
"Ready?" Arnav asked, misinterpreting her silence.
She raised an eyebrow. "What part of 'leave me alone' do you not get?"
"The alone part," he answered. "Now can we go? The movie will start soon."
"I am not going to a movie with you."
"But I already got the tickets," he answered, taking out the receipt from his pocket as proof.
"Tough luck then," she said, fishing out her keys from her purse.
"Khushi," he said, walking closer to her. "Its one movie… I am just asking three hours of your time. Is that too much?"
She didn't reply.
"Answer me dammit!"
She paused on her way to turn off the lights "I thought the answer was obvious Mr. Raizada," she said very coolly. "I can't stand you even for three seconds, how do you expect me to spend three hours with you?"
"The same way you lived six months with me."
Khushi clenched her fists in anger as she was reminded of the contract. "I am not helpless anymore. So, I am not going to take your orders."
"Fine," he said, holding up his hands in surrender. "If you don't want to watch a movie, then we won't. But atleast let me drop you home. I can let you leave all by yourself at this hour, esp-"
"Just stop," she interrupted. "Stop this drama."
"What drama?"
"Stop acting as if you care," she clarified. "As if you are my… my lover or something."
Arnav couldn't help but smirk at that comment. "And what's wrong if I am?"
"You are not my lover," she snapped. "You are not capable of loving anyone but yourself."
"How would you know?" he challenged. "Unless you loved me and I didn't return the feelings."
Khushi flared. "Ofcourse I don't love you! How could you even think that?!"
He took a step forward. "Maybe because its been two years and you still haven't found someone… no dates, no boyfriends…"
"Maybe I do have someone," she retorted. "How would you know?"
Arnav grinned and continued walking towards her. "The same way I know that Ayesha was lying when she said Rohit was your boyfriend yesterday. It's not you."
"Well you are wrong," she said, stubbornly crossing her arms across her chest.
"I don't think so," he said stopping his stride. They were very close to each other now, their faces only a couple of inches apart.
"It doesn't matter what you think!" she said, looking fiercely at him and yet losing her resolve with each tick of the clock. She couldn't help but be dragged into the depths of his eyes, the same ones that haunted her almost every minute of the day.
She closed her eyes trying to shake off the feelings that engulfed her heart. "I moved on ," she said, a lot more determindedly now that she couldn't see his gaze, though felt every bit of it.
"Its pretty funny," he whispered, enjoying the effect he had on her. "how both you and your best friend keep repeating that, and yet even after two whole years, you are exactly where I left you."
Khushi's eyes snapped open at that comment, her trance broken. "What?!" she exclaimed. "You didn't leave me, I left you!"
Arnav was taken back at the sudden change in her tone. "What are you-"
"I can't believe you," she continued, misunderstanding what he meant. "What do you want to prove? That I live on your mercy? That I have no where to go, except you?"
"I didn't say that. I just meant-"
"I don't care what you meant!" she yelled, pushing him so that he staggered back a few steps. "But now I get it. So, you have been fueling your ego all this time saying I left because of you?"
"Why are you bringing my ego into all this?"
"Because that's the reason you can never be human," she retorted. "Well, let me make it clear to you Mr. Raizada. I left because I wanted to… not because you made me!"
"I know you left because you wanted to," he said. "But what I meant was that you didn't change… you are still the same Khushi who I got married to."
"Only for six months," she added. "And those six months are long gone! I know your ego doesn't permit you to accept this, but I won that day. I walked out on you!"
"And your ego is not permitting you to understand that it doesn't matter if you walked out or not," he answered hotly, not at all pleased with the sudden turn in the conversation. "Because you are still here, right infront of me!"
Khushi's mouth dropped open. "That… that doesn't prove… anything. I still… I,"she said, struggling to find a come back.
However, Arnav's patience dwindled. He angrily took a step forward and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her close. "What is wrong with you?" he bellowed shaking her. "Here I am trying to make it up to you and all you can talk about is my ego?"
Khushi was almost shocked to see his towering form. Having seen his softer side in the past few days, she was suddenly reminded of the mightly ASR, who once welcomed her to hell with open arms.
"Let me go," she said after a few minutes of silence. Her arms were aching from the tight grip he held her in. "I said, let me go."
His hands relaxed as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Look," he said, trying to compose himself. "I just want to say-"
"I don't want to hear it," she interrupted. "You had your chance two years ago and you blew it. Its over."
"So you are going to hold me responsible for this for the rest of your life?"
She looked away in answer,
"Do you even hear yourself?" he asked outraged. "For the last time Khushi, it was a mistake."
"Well I don't see it that way."
"So what do you want me to do?" he asked sarcastically. "Go down on my knees and beg you to forgive me?"
"Maybe," she said, equally sarcastic. "You should give it a try and let me know how it goes!"
"And then what? Will you come back to me?"
Khushi was silent.
"Talk to me," he said frustrated at her lack of response. "Just tell me what is it you want!"
"I want you out of my life. Can you give it to me?"
Her words were like a whiplash, that struck hard and deep."And what difference does that make?" he asked through clenched teeth. His fury at her words was growing out of control. "Can you live a peaceful life? Can you forget what we have been through?"
"Atleast it will save me the pain of remembering you."
"Look at me and say that," he said, for her eyes were on the floor. "Look at me and say that in these past two years, you never remembered me even once!"
Khushi turned her back to him, unable to accept that he was right. Pushing him away from her life didn't fix her heart, but it was also broken to a point that she didn't know what would.
"I did," she said. "and along with it I also remembered the six months of pain you gave me."
"Which is why," he said, a bit more gently. "just give me one more chance. We will start once again… on a clean slate!"
Clean slate? Khushi felt as if Arnav was asking for the impossible. "No," she said, her resolve firm. "Because I already started a new life and there is no place in it for you."
"How are we supposed to fix these things when you won't even listen?"
"There is nothing to fix!"
Arnav was now completely irritated at her demeanour; he was tired of her attitude and more so, with the ignorance she was treating him with. "So everything I did doesn't count?" he snapped. "The flowers, the jalebis… all of that is just rubbish for you?"
"A broken heart is not fixed by things Mr. Raizada," she retorted. "Flowers die without water and jalebis go bad if not eaten. How did you even expect to be forgiven?"
"So why don't you tell me what I should do?"
"I don't know," she answered truthfully. "You are the one who screwed up. So why don't you figure it out?"
Arnav let out a frustrated growl. "I have given up everything," he roared. "My house, my company, my Di! Every single thing for you. And none of it is enough to prove that I really do care? Its not enough to make you believe that I am really sorry for what I did in my anger?"
She didn't reply, infuriating him even more.
" What do you think?" he continued. " It is easy running behind you, when all you have done is push me away? It is easy putting up with a crazy girl you call your best friend?"
Khushi's eyes flashed, which wasn't unnoticed by him. But he ignored it – things had gone way to far.
"Did it occur to you even once that there are people who need me? People who depend on me? And that I left all of them for you? And more than that you keep telling me about the six months of pain you went through, but did you ever stop to think that those six months were just as bad for me too? That maybe even I felt betrayed with the lies that were sung around me?! You weren't the only one who Shyam-"
"Then leave," she interrupted. "If those people are important to you than maybe, its best if you go take care of them. I don't need you."
Arnav was at a loss of words. When had she become so heartless? He was deep in the pit of desperation, and yet she was refusing to even acknowledge it? What was he supposed to do when she didn't even begin to understand his plight?
But he tried again. "What I meant was-"
"Save it for someone who wants to listen," Khushi said, cutting him off. "Right now, I have a boutique to close."
With that she proceeded to turn off the lights, plunging them both into darkness. The winds outside howled as lightning flashed across the sky. A storm was coming, but to Arnav it was nothing close to the gale in which his life seemed to be caught in.
He saw Khushi stop at the exit, waiting for him to leave so she could lock the door. Grudgingly, he made his way out.
"I will drop you home," he said with a heavy heart.
"No need," she replied curtly, her hair flying in the wind.
"Don't be stupid," he said, when she began walking down the deserted road. "Its going to rain any second now and more than that its not safe to travel alone at night."
"And you don't need to worry about that," she said glaring at him. "I can find my own way!"
Arnav began to trail behind her. "Stop being stubborn Khushi. You won't even find a taxi at this time!"
She stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. "I will," she replied determindedly. "Anyway, you are a busy man. You shouldn't be wasting your time with me!"
When Arnav was about to object, she said, "Now get out of my way. If you follow me, then I swear, I am going to call the police."
And without waiting for a reply, she set out to into the night, her head heavy with thoughts. She didn't have to walk far to realize that like the numerous times before, Arnav was once again right – there wasn't a single taxi in sight. The place was as deserted as ever.
Having no other option, she dialed for Ayesha. However, it went straight to her voicemail.
"Hey, its me," she said. "I am stuck somewhere near the boutique… can you come pick me up? Its kind of an emergency. Call me when you get this! Bye!"
Khushi sighed and continued walking aimlessly through the silent streets.
Stupid Laad Governor, she thought. Ruined the entire evening… does he seriously think buying an entire flower shop will make me forget? And he didn't even bother to find out if I liked white lilies. Urgh! He is as arrogant as ever.
She then looked up into the heavens and called out to her saviour. "Why Devi Maiyya? Why do you love giving me problems?"
Thunder rumbled dangerously across the sky in response.
"You can't expect me to forgive him," she said. "I mean he threatened me to marry him and that to on a contract. Okay, I know the jalebi was pretty sweet… I mean who would have thought Laad Governor, who is allergic to sugar, would cook for me. But…"
Guilt began to spread as she slowly began to recollect the many things Arnav did for her for the past few days.
"I know Devi Maiyya," she said as she gathered the memories. "He changed… he is different now…"
Suddenly Arnav's words travelled to her. That maybe even I felt betrayed with the lies that were sung around me?!
"Maybe I am being too harsh," she muttered to herself. "Afterall he did have a point. Its not like I was the only one who that stupid Shyam lied to…"
She was so lost in these doubts that she didn't hear the sudden footsteps behind her. It was when she heard the cat calls of a couple of rowdies that she jerked out of her thoughts.
"Madamji," one of the rogues called, blocking her way. "Did you lose your way? Don't worry, we can help you!"
Khushi turned around to find herself surrounded by three guys, all who were eyeing her closely, big grins on their face as if they hit a jack pot.
Shit, she cursed. Why didn't I listen to that Laad Governor? And where the hell is this Ayesha? I called her almost twenty minutes ago!
"What are you thinking Madamji," said another guy. "Don't bother to run. Those pretty legs of yours cannot out run us!"
Hai Devi Maiyya, she prayed. Please help me!
Her prayers were heard instantly, for at that moment, a blinding light appeared on the lonely road. As Khushi squinted, she could make out that it was coming from the headlights of a car that was speeding towards them. In an instant, it came to a halt and to her utter relief, out stepped the figure of Arnav.
She watched in awe as he protectively stood infront of her, glowering at the thugs who dared misbehave with her.
"If you know what is good for you," he said dangerously. "Then leave now. I don't give second chances."
Khushi didn't know if it was his threat or the way he towered over them or a mix of both that made the guys retreat. But she was glad nonetheless.
"I told you," Arnav said angrily once they were alone. "I told you not to go alone. But no, you are as stubborn as ever! What if I didn't come in time? What if those… those thugs did something to you? Do you even know how dangerous this is?!"
He looked into her eyes, trying to make her understand the panic he left when he saw her cornered by the rowdies. The care the panic stemmed for, the care which forced him to come up with stupid excuses everyday so that could spend time with her. The reason why despite her hurtful comments, he stayed trying to win back her trust.
And she seemed to understand. As lightening burst across the sky, she could see what was hidden in his eyes all this time.
"Get in the car," he said finally, tearing his gaze from hers.
However, at that moment, a black Mercedes pulled up beside them and the window rolled down to reveal a relieved Ayesha.
"Its going to rain," she said, over the noisy winds. "Get in!"
Khushi looked at Arnav, wanting to say something; only nothing came out. His eyes bore into hers, silently asking for the answer to the question he didn't utter. She lowered her eyes, and quietly made her way to her best friend.
She didn't dare look at him as the two girls drove off into the night.
"Damn it!" Arnav yelled kicking his car in frustration, only to earn a searing pain in his right foot in return.
The stormy clouds finally gave away, as droplets began to descend with the thunder reverberating in their awake.
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