Chapter 15: Treading slowly
Standing before the photocopier, Khushi was drumming her fingers against the paperback of the file which held the documents provided by Akash while she waited for Sameer to photocopy her files.
Sameer was a lad of around 20 years of age and worked in the photocopying section. While he patiently photocopied the files brought by Khushi, the latter was lost in deep contemplation.
"Khushiji" the dispatch pulled her out of the reverie and smiling a thank you at the boy, she took hold of the photocopied documents and headed towards Arnav's cabin.
"Go for it. Stab him in the back and fail his trust in you" her conscience scoffed at her and she winced but didn't deter herself from relenting to the voice.
~~***~~
"You took long" Arnav addressed her as she neatly stationed the photocopied documents in a holder and put it away.
"The documents" Khushi mumbled and laid the originals before him, disdaining to look up at him.
"Yeah" Arnav nodded and picked a pen from the pen-holder, undoing its cap.
"Khushi, I was thinking if we can go out for dinner tonight" Arnav suggested as he opened the file and threw a cursory look at the content, making Khushi gulp in anxiety.
"What should I wear?" She asked hastily, trying to draw his attention from the documents and felt extremely shallow in the moment.
The words did the trick as Arnav looked up at her with a raised brow and smiled generously.
"Anything you're comfortable in. You look beautiful in everything" He replied sincerely and signed the first page.
Khushi allowed an artificial blush to creep up her skin though her heart was beating at the speed of bullet train.
She almost turned pale when Arnav signed the second sheet and headed to the third.
Beneath a few more sheets lay the documents she had tucked in on her way to his cabin.
"Khushi, you okay?" Arnav gave her a concerned look and his pen stopped moving as in took in her changing demeanor.
She nodded and Arnav gave her an unconvinced look before he signed the next sheet.
"Arnav" Khushi frantically hurried to his side as he was about to sign the fourth sheet and snatched the pen from his fingers.
"Khushi?"
His surprised voice left him as he stood out of his chair and looked into her eyes to read what was on her mind.
"Khushi, what's up? I need to sign these documents" He said, reaching for the pen but she held it off his limits.
Arnav inhaled sharply as the tossed the pen aside and held him by the lapels of his coat.
"Khushi? Are you alright?" He asked her, placing his hands upon hers which still rested on his lapels and looked in her eyes.
"Khushi?" Arnav gasped as she pushed him against the wall and pressed her body against his.
"Let me" She rasped and before he could think what she meant her lips were caressing his, softly but desperately.
"Damn!" Arnav muttered against her mouth, feeling the effect of the kiss in his body and reaching his hand to her nape, he kissed her back, deeply.
Khushi's head was now reeling with pleasure and she moaned as he slid his tongue in her mouth and stroked hers, gently and seductively.
The reasons which had led her to initiate the kiss in the first place abandoned her and all she remembered was his sweet mouth upon hers.
Arnav had to fight the groan of pleasure and satisfaction when she allowed him to take the lead and yielded to his tongue by mirroring his actions.
His fingers netted her hair and combed the silky tresses while Khushi's fingers did the same to his rich mane.
The room was growing hot and Khushi moaned again when Arnav took her lower lip in between his teeth and softly bit her.
He quickly eased the small stinging pain by licking it and put his attention to her neck, trailing wet kisses down to the valley of her bosoms before Khushi fisted his hair rather harshly making him even more excited.
"God Khushi, you drive me crazy" He whispered, once again claiming her mouth while his hands travelled downhill, cupping her back.
She responded by releasing the death grip on his hair and brought her hands to his chest, trying to get rid of his coat.
Arnav understood and helped her to get rid of the offending material before he once again placed his hand on her back.
Khushi bit his lips as he brought his hand against her thighs and made her wrap her legs around his waist.
The position was more intimate and Khushi felt his arousal against her lower body.
Arnav had to employ all of his self-control to not rip her out of her clothes and take her right there once she shifted and their bodies rubbed against each other.
"We should stop" Arnav was the one to fight the raging hormones after he kissed her once again and rested his face in the crook of her neck.
But Khushi surely hadn't heard him as she continued placing wet kisses across his neck while her hands were now tugging at the buttons of his vest.
"Khushi, don't" Arnav said with great difficulty, undoing her leg from his waist and cursed under his breath when her warmth left him wanting.
"We need to stop" He breathed against her ear, his hands reaching to the sides of her breast and that seemed to lift the fog from her drugged senses.
Her eyes went wide in horror as she realised what she had been doing.
She hadn't meant to take the things so far. She simply wanted to distract him so he wouldn't sign the documents.
The gravity of her boldness hit her and so did the obscenity of what she was about to do.
She had almost stabbed him in the back.
"Khushi, it's okay. You don't have to feel embarrassed about this. I loved that you took the initiative" Arnav's voice cut into her thoughts and she realised he had been cupping her face.
"This is okay. We are okay. You don't have to be embarrassed about it. "
Khushi looked into his affectionate eyes as he delivered the words.
She felt sick. She had just used her body so she could keep her conscience untainted, for a few more days.
"Thank you, Khushi. For coming into my life" She looked up at him and closed her eyes as he leaned in and placed a sweet kiss on her lips, lingering for a second and then pulling back.
"We are late" Khushi stated flatly, stepping back and looking everywhere but at him.
"Sure, let's leave...but oh, the file...I had to sign this" Arnav said, looking around for the pen.
"I'll keep this in my bag. You can sign it tomorrow or in the SUV if it's too urgent. I really want to leave now" Khushi replied, her eyes catching hold of the coat which lay discarded on the floor.
Arnav caught her gaze and smiled.
"Don't bother about that. I am always ready to strip for you" Arnav replied, winking at her and missed the flash of self-loathing in her eyes when he bent to lift the coat from the floor.
In the meanwhile Khushi seized the file from the table and headed to her cubicle.
Tucking out the documents from the file, she quickly placed them in her messenger bag and straightened her dress.
When she thought she looked presentable to the outside world, she held the file in a hand, the messenger bag in the other and strode out of her cubicle where Arnav had already put back the coat on him and looked as impeccable as always except for the retreating arousal at the front of his trousers.
Khushi had the courtesy to look away when Arnav caught the direction of her gaze and coughed.
"I would rather sign the file in the SUV and you can hand it to Aman the next morning" He said and once Khushi nodded, both of them left the cabin for the parking.
~~***~~
In a different corner of the city, a certain man was perched upon his sofa in the drawing room and was going through a file brought to him.
His eyebrows furrowed deeper and deeper as he continued reading the contents of the file but not a single word made sense.
His eyes almost dropped out of his head when he noticed a certain girl smiling from the file at him.
"The girl surely has bewitched me" Aman Mathur explained to himself after he threw another look at the file and found the smiling face of Payal had disappeared.
~~***~~
Another man in another corner of the city was heavily drunk and sprawled on a couch which reeked of liquor and sex.
The girl had just dressed and left the apartment but Akash Raizada was still underdressed, his head hurting from the hangover and his hungry stomach sent spasms.
He made it in time to the basin before the food of the last night heaved out of his system and his stomach churned further.
"What a mess" growled the man to himself after he had rinsed his mouth and walked to the kitchen.
Opening a cabinet, he took out a small bottle which held some aspirin and swallowed it with water.
After hunting in the refrigerator and finding it empty except for some beer bottles, he walked himself back to the hall and decided it was time to head back home but before that he needed to wash himself and get sober.
The family doesn't have to get a clue of his out-of-the-house lifestyle.
While he was looking for his trousers, his cell phone shrieked against the silence of the room.
It took Akash some seconds to discover where he had dropped it the previous night before pushing the girl on the couch and f*cking her senseless.
As the memory occurred to him, he brushed it off and picked up the cell phone from the under the couch. While doing so, something glittery caught his attention and he pulled it out too from beneath the couch.
Examining it closely, he recognised it as an earring with a layer of dust coated on it.
He didn't have to think twice to know to whom it belonged. He remembered gifting it to Payal when he was on the quest to win her heart.
Payal had adored them and went sentimental. Since then, he had often seen them gracing her ears until he had brought her to this apartment and fore played with her body on this very same couch before taking her to bed.
Deciding to throw them away, Akash carried himself to the trash bin but before the material could slip out of his fingers, he secured it in his fist.
"Why should I throw it away? It was bought wity my money after all" He explained himself and placed the thing in a drawer.
Before he could ponder over this sudden change of his actions, his phone rang again and reading the caller identity, he received it instantly.
"Don't worry about it. I am taking care of the matter. The property will be ours in some days" He spoke over the phone, his features darkening.
"I have this puppet of mine in his office and she's doing the job" He answered to something asked over the phone.
"I know that. If she's going to back out, I have more than one ways to get back to her but for now, let's just believe she'll do this without being the reason of our disappointment"
~~***~~
After dropping Khushi home Arnav was in a good mood but the mood didn't last long.
Upon stepping in the Raizada Mansion he found his sister and Nani going through what looked like a sea of female photographs which had engulfed the table they were sitting before.
"Chote, come over here" called Anjali and Arnav walked to them, aware what was to transpire.
When Arnav had settled next to them and Hari Prakash had offered him his black coffee, Anjali finally spoke.
"So, Chote before you tell us you don't want to get married and the related etcetera stuff, let me remind you about the promise you made to me before leaving for your Nainital trip"
"There were no promises, Di. You had literally coaxed me into saying yes to this marriage thingy and I clearly remember I had talked about the girl being of my choice" Arnav answered, a little harshly for Anjali's taste.
"Oh, so I am the villain here? Do you hear that Nani? I have my husband waiting for me in Lucknow but I decide to stay here for a few more days so I can fix my brother with some deserving girl and he thinks I am trying to coax him into things" Anjali answered, dabbing her tears with the end of her pallu.
Arnav exhaled and inhaled.
"I didn't mean it that way, Di. I know you care for me and you want me to get married. I am not against the idea. But don't you think I should wait for the right girl?" asked Arnav, holding her sister and hugging her while she sniffed against his chest.
"Anjali bitiya, I think Chote has a point here" Naniji joined him.
"So do I have Nani" Anjali replied, pulling back from Arnav.
"I want my brother to marry so that Akash too can. Don't you know how late he comes home? Sometimes he doesn't come at all. If Chote will.." Anjali argued but was cut in by Arnav.
"Akash comes home late?" Arnav asked, surprised at the revelation and Anjali realised she had delivered extra information to him.
Anjali and Nani had been hiding the fact from Arnav since they knew it would make Arnav tensed.
"Why don't I know about this Nani?" Arnav demanded and Devyani gave a look to Anjali and Anjali looked back at her.
"Wo..Chote..Akash has been inconsistent these days. In fact more so from a month. I and Nani were thinking about talking to Akash about this. We didn't want to worry you. You already have so many things to deal with" Anjali tried to explain, the marriage issue overlooked.
"Di, he's my brother too. You should have told me. What more you two have been hiding?" Arnav asked, his tone accusatory and Anjali winced.
"Chote, don't use that tone. We understand your concerns" Naniji cut in but Arnav continued to look defiant.
"While cleaning his room, Hari Prakash found some...things" Naniji informed.
"Things?" Arnav asked.
"Yes...there was a...Gun...and some bottles...of...beer..wine..cigarettes.." Naniji went on but Arnav had had enough.
"I have to talk to Akash"
Anjali and Devyani could only imagine what this talk' was going to be like.
~~***~~
Khushi was in her bed but not asleep. After what happened in Arnav's cabin, sleep was the last thing on her mind.
Though she was ashamed of what she did, somehow she didn't feel bad about letting Arnav touch her. His touch was right, welcomed and pleasing. What made her feel putrid was her own attempt at ruining him.
She knew she had triumphed in saving her conscience this time but for how long? How long she could avoid this? Later or sooner,
Akash was going to contact her and ask for the papers. Can she allow him to harm her family at the expense of her conscience? And is it just her conscience at stake?
What about her feelings which she can very well name as love? She was in love with Arnav Singh Raizada and there was no denying that.
Sooner or latwr, she was sure Arnav too was getting there. The time wasn't too distant when he will realise the depth his feeling ran because she already knew.
Sooner or Later, Arnav Singh Raizada was going to realise he too was in love with her and Khushi had to strike him before that.
She wouldn't let him go that far.
While she arrived at her conclusion, Payal stepped into the room.
"Jeeji, how's Babuji?" Khushi asked, trying not to sound too fragile.
"Better, still recovering. It's going to take another week before he can be on his own. Doctor Uncle was pressing for the surgery" Payal replied.
"Khushi?" Payal repeated when Khushi remained silent.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing Jeeji"
The answer didn't convince Payal and she held Khushi's hand.
"I know I am being a burden to you, Khushi. Being the elder sister, I should have been the one to help the family but mockingly, I am the cause of everything wrong coming our way. If only I could die..."
"Don't Jeeji" Khushi hugged her sister, letting her tears run down.
"I am sorry, Khushi" Payal hugged her back.
"Don't be, Jeeji. I am sure we're about to reach the end of this tunnel" Khushi said and Payal nodded, unsure if they would ever hit the end Khushi was talking about.
"Khushi, I have wanted to ask this since a long time. How's his brother? Does he treat you right or is he too.."
"No, Jeeji. He's nothing like Akash. He's a person every girl would want to be with. He has a heart which cares, which loves and..." Khushi paused at her explanation and noticed Payal's scrutinizing gaze studying her.
"You like him?" asked Payal when Khushi quickly looked away.
"Doesn't matter, Jeeji. He's going hate me soon enough" Khushi replied, taking her side of the bed making obvious she didn't want to talk more about the subject.
As Payal put off the lights Khushi murmured silently, "After everything I am going to cause him, I can't expect him to keep loving me, can I?"
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Pearl_Oyster2018-04-28 13:04:48
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