Chapter 11

Chapter 11 : Little Secrets, Big realisation

The night passed and the sun dawned in the sky signalling a new day.

For Khushi, this new day carried a lot more significance. This would be the day of reclamation for Khushi. The day for her to become the same Khushi who had the courage to fight against all odds, be it trying to driving a scooter in green lehanga on the roads of Lucknow to save her Babuji's shop or be it accepting the challenge of Arnav Singh Raizada to work in his office for a month.

Taking a bath, she walked downstairs to start her daily chores. Payal was already in the kitchen and preparing the breakfast.

As both the sisters worked together and chatted, Payal could notice the original Khushi in her. She smiled freely, talked jauntily and joked continuously.

Payal mentally thanked Arnav for fixing things with Khushi. She assumed that Arnav might have talked to her and that's the reason of Khushi's return. If only that were true!

Together, Payal and Khushi served the breakfast and everyone ate in peace. Khushi noticed that Arnav hadn't returned yet and she tried not to think of him.

His last night demand flashed back to her and she felt her heart breaking all over again. But, he had kissed her too. That had been the most surreal feeling ever. She wanted to forget it too but every time she closed her eyes, she could feel his lips upon hers. And his tears! He had cried last night. Khushi didn't know what to make of that. She was used to being hurt by him repeatedly. But, he had never been on the crying end. So, what happened to him last night? Did the condition that she placed before him hurt him? If yes, she wasn't sorry for it. She wasn't sorry about anything that happened between them. And it was high time she starts looking out for herself. This contract marriage that he forced her into broke a lot of hearts. So, his hurt and tears should be her last concern. He was going to be her last concern. Khushi Kumari Gupta was going to forget Arnav Singh Raizada. The thought alone made her heart pang.

"Khushi? Since when you started eating at a snails pace?" Payal asked, noticing how she had barely touched her plate.

Khushi slipped out of her thoughts at Payal's voice and realised that everyone had already finished and left. It was just her and Payal at the table now.

"What were you thinking? Seemed like you were in some other world of your own! Eat quickly" Payal said and collecting the plates from the table, left for the kitchen allowing Khushi to go back to her thoughts.

Would it be easy for her to forget Arnav? The man she loved? Her mind went back to the kiss he had shared with her last night. No matter how much she tried to overlook it, yesterday's kiss was the first proper kiss of her life. From the man she loved. There was no erasing it. She wondered if the same thing applied to Arnav. Will it be possible to completely erase him from her life? Not possible at all. At least not as long as she lived under the same roof as him, in the same room as him. She will have to face him everyday. She will have to bear his hate for some more time. In return, she can try hating him back. But, she knew she couldn't hate him. Even now, the thought of his whereabouts was nagging her. Where was he? Did he eat anything? He's diabetic and skipping meals would cause him problems. Did he take his medicines along?

Thinking of all that, Khushi lost her appetite and pushed her plate away. She no longer wanted to eat.

Picking up her plate, she started to carry it to the kitchen when she heard Payal talking to someone over the phone.

"Okay,I am coming. No, I won't tell anyone. Akashji is in office and Maaji has left for the spa" Payal was saying.

"No, Khushi is here. But I can make an excuse" Payal said further, making Khushi surprised. To whom her Jeeji was talking?

And she is going to meet the person?

Seeing Payal moving in her direction, Khushi hurried back to the table with her plate and took her seat.

"Still eating, Khushi? I am going to the Mandir and will be back soon. Okay?" Payal said and Khushi could see Payal deliberately avoiding her eyes. What was going on?

"Should I come with you, Jeeji?" She asked Payal, eager to know what was up with her sister.

Payal immediately shook her head.

"No, Khushi. You can't come. Nobody is at home so you should stay here. You can go once I come back. Okay?" Payal said and without waiting to hear her reply, left the room.

Khushi felt surprised by her sister's sudden strange behaviour. In her knowledge, Payal had never lied to her and made excuses. Then why now? What could be the reason? Khushi wondered with concern.

Throwing a glance at the wall clock, she saw it was over 11 a.m. Arnav still hadn't returned and now Payal's lie was bugging her.

Khushi decided to stop thinking about both the issues. There was nothing she could about Arnav's absence and she was sure Payal will talk to her sooner or later. God knew there was so much she hadn't shared with Payal either.

Thinking that, Khushi wrapped up her breakfast and got busy with other things.

By the time it was afternoon, Payal had still not returned and neither had Arnav. Khushi could feel her concern getting the better of her.

She decided to finally call Arnav. It had been more than 12 hours since Arnav had been gone. she dialed his number but even after three rings, he did not receive her number.

Khushi decided not to take it personally. It is his life. He can do whatever he wants and be wherever he wants to be!

But, in her heart, she waited for him to come back.

~~***~~

Another hour ran by when the doorbell rang in Raizada house.

Expecting it to be Arnav, Khushi thought of attending it but then she halted. She is supposed to not care. So, she stopped and waited for Hari Prakash to open the door. Khushi was half-disappointed when she noticed Payal walking in. But, her disappointment soon changed into worry when she noticed that Payal looked highly drained and her eyes were puffy with crying.

Where had Payal been? Khushi hurried to her sister.

"Jeeji? What happened? You look so.." Khushi started but Payal didn't stop. She hurried to her own room.

"Jeeji?" Khushi called from behind and Payal finally looked at her.

"Not now, Khushi" She replied and left for her room.

Khushi wanted to follow her but she stood rooted to her spot. What was happening around her?

She lounged in the drawing room for an hour waiting for Payal to come out of her room and Arnav to return home. Neither of the two happened.

As the evening arrived, Khushi's patience gave away. She could not handle anymore mystery.

So, she prepared some tea and carried it to Payal's room.

She knocked with a hand as the door was locked but no sound followed.

"Jeeji? Please open the door. I have brought your tea" Khushi said, and to her relief, she heard noise inside. After a minute, Payal opened the door.

Khushi entered in and placed the tray on the side table.

"What happened, Jeeji?" Khushi looked expectantly at her sister after taking seat on the bed.

She noticed Payal looking at her with apologetic eyes. Why?

"Jeeji?" Khushi asked, really tensed now.

To her surprise, Payal instantly hugged Khushi and started sobbing harder.

"I amso sorry, Khushi. I shouldn't have gone there. I am so sorry" Payal said.

Khushi wondered what Payal was talking about but she hugged her back at the same time.

"Jeeji, it's okay. You went where? What happened?" Khushi asked, pulling back from the hug after few seconds.

"KhushiI..I didn't want to go but I went. I should have told you about this. I have ruined everything. Even Akashji will not forgive me for keeping secrets" Payal carried on her sobbing, making Khushi worried.

"Jeeji, I don't understand. Please don't cry. Where did you go? Met whom? And why Akash Jeejaji would be angry?" She asked but Payal didn't reply to her questions, only cried silently.

Looking at her condition, Khushi took the glass of water from the side table and offered it to Payal.

"Here, Jeeji. Drink this" She said but Payal shook her head.

"No, Khushi. I don't want anything and I'll tell you everything. But not now. For now, please leave me alone. I am sorry" Payal said.

Even though Khushi wanted to stay and ask what made Payal such an emotional wreck, she knew forcing her sister to speak would not be right.

So, she nodded her head in understanding and got up from the bed.

"I am here, Jeeji. Please talk to me whenever you want" She said with concern and Payal nodded.

After that, Khushi walked out of Payal's room. She was still lost in her thoughts when she watched Arnav walking in through the front doors. He looked...beaten. His shoulders were drooping and his face was dull. Without looking anywhere, he walked straight to his room.

Khushi knew she was not supposed to but she followed after him.

Upon entering the room, she found him seated on the recliner, his head held between his hands. She could see he looked exhausted.

But, she wanted to know where had he been. So, she came to stand before him.

To her irritation, he didn't look up and neither said anything.

"Where were you?" She asked after another silent minute passed by. She did her best to keep her tone neutral and to not sound concerned.

Another minuted ticked by and Arnav did not look at her, did not speak.

"Are you listening? Arnavji! I asked where were you the entire night and the entire day?" She asked again, this time letting the annoyance seep in her voice. What does he think of himself? Even if its a contract marriage, she should know his whereabouts. That's the basic courtesy one can expect from this man and he was refusing that as well. Khushi herself didn't want to concern herself with his life but this total silence was getting on her nerves. Now has she become too lowly for him to even look at and talk to?

"I know I don't exist for you and you hate looking at me but the least we can do is show each other basic respec.." Khushi's word got stuck in her mouth when Arnav got up at once and hugged her hard, knocking the breath out of her.

"I am so sorry, Khushi" He said, hiding his face in her neck and Khushi could only stand in shock as she felt sobs rocking his body. He was crying. She could still hear him repeating he was sorry. Over and over again. His body shivered and his hold on her tightened with every passing second.

While his tears soaked her sari, Khushi stood unable to move or speak.

__________________________________________________

Time to see an enlightened Arnav.

Any guesses for Payal scenario??

-Kiran

Pearl_Oyster2019-03-27 10:01:38