Chapter 19

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Chapter 19: "Can I?"

"Arey, you think you can fool me?" challenged Khushi, glaring at the man standing before her, her hands on either side of her waist while her face portrayed an 'unbelievable' look.

"Arey Madam, what are you saying? We are not here to fool people. Aapko kharidna hai to lijiye warna jaiye.!" The vendor replied in exasperation, irritated by Khushi's bargaining skills.

"Aise kaise jaiye? I am buying this and that too in 10 rupees" Khushi said, not ready to budge.

"No, it costs 12 rupees" The man replied again, with finality in his voice which did no harm to Khushi's determination.

"How come it costs that much? I always buy these in 10 rupees" Khushi retorted and before she could go on further, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Why are you causing trouble to this poor man?" Abhay's amused voice startled her and she turned on her left to find Abhay grinning at her.

"I am not troubling him but he is indeed troubling me. You see these chane (chickpeas)? I buy them in ten rupees and now he's asking 12 rupees for them" Khushi complained in her child like voice making Abhay hold back his laughter.

"Inflation, Jalebi Express. It's inflation which is causing the trouble. Here, take these 12 rupees and give her the chane" Abhay said, addressing the latter sentence to the seller and paying the amount.

"Now take these beloved chane of yours and come with me. We need to talk" Abhay said, offering her the paper bag and she took it reluctantly.

"So what do you want to talk about?" asked Khushi as they together walked along the road.

"I am leaving tomorrow" informed Abhay, stopping for a second to look at her expressions.

"This early? Weren't you here for some deal? I thought it would take longer" Khushi replied, surprised.

"Well, even I thought it was going to be a longer stay but turned out that your over possessive husband can't tolerate me for long" replied Abhay with a chuckle which died instantly as he realised Khushi didn't find it funny.

"What has Arnavji got to do with this?" She inquired.

"Oh, he cancelled the deal" informed Abhay, with a smug expression on his face.

"So you take it as his over possessiveness? How is that fair? And why did he cancel the deal in the first place?" Khushi asked, opening the paper bag and crunching the on roasted chane.

"Jalebi Express! You don't seem to grasp the concept" replied Abhay, fisting out few chane from the paper bag she offered him.

"The thing is that he can't stand me anywhere near you and so he cancelled the deal" Abhay said.

"And why would he do that? I mean why Arnavji won't like you anywhere near me?" asked Khushi, confused with Abhay's talks.

"Really, Jalebi Express? Did you have snails this morning? How can you be so slow? I am implying that your husband is jealous of me" replied Abhay, slapping his hand on his forehead in exasperation.

"Arnavji? Jealous" She asked, unable to believe the news.

"Come on, JE. You can't really be eating turtles in your meals, do you?" asked Abhay.

"I don't" shrieked Khushi in retort, wrinkling her nose.

"I am pure vegetarian" She further replied, making Abhay roll his eyes.

"Okay fine. Let's get serious now" said Abhay, stopping in his tracks and turning at her to look in her eye.

"Here, let's sit" He said, taking her hand and leading her towards a cement bence under a tree on the sidewalk.

"What do you think of Arnav?" He asked, continuing to look at Khushi and watched as she tore her gaze away.

"What kind of question is that?" She asked, fidgeting with her dupatta.

"The kind of it sounds. A simple and straight one" said Abhay.

"Well..I.." Khushi fell at a loss of words. The question was really a simple one but how could she reply to it?

What do I think of Arnavji? She asked herself.

"Is it really that hard to answer?" asked Abhay, as she continued to stare the border of her dupatta.

"I love him" came her almost inaudible reply making Abhay smile. Things were going the right way. He mentally decided.

"And?" He urged her to go on.

"He's the most simple and the most complex person I have ever met. Inside, he's as soft as the cotton balls which dangle from the sleeves of my suit" She said, smiling a little.

Abhay couldn't help but groan inwardly at the comparison.

"And from outside he's as complex as fixing a seat belt is for me"

Khushi Kumari Gupta and her ways of relating things, Abhay thought.

"He's the only one who can make my heartbeats rise just with his glances. He's the one who can make me fight with my Devi Mayya because it seems that Devi Mayya is always on his side. He's the one who hurts me but makes me smile too. He's the one I am meant to be with" Khushi continued in a daze, a small smile persistent on her face as she described what she feels for Arnav.

"So what went wrong, Khushi?" asked Abhay, taking her hand in his.

"Why don't I see this love in your eyes when you're around him? Why do you not let him see this?" The question brought a painful smile on Khushi's face.

"Because... I am scared, Abhay. All of this seems too unreal and undeserving for me. The last time I let myself revel in this feeling, I suffered" Khushi replied, taking her hand away and staring into nothingness.

"And what is about Shyam Manohar Jha? Are you going to let him win?"

The question surprised her. How did he know about Shyam? Yes..! He had visited the house that day, but had he seen it? She wondered.

"That man wants to create distances between you two and by being apprehensive about your and Arnav's relation, you're giving him a chance. Instead of giving this chance to that disgusting man, why don't you give this chance to yourself, to Arnav?" asked Abhay placing his one hand on her cheek and making her look in his eyes.

"The love I see in your eyes is the same I had seen in Arnav's. So, why to hold it back? Learn to trust again, Khushi. Life slips away every second. Every second you waste is never going to come back to you. Live it to the fullest" Abhay ended the lines with an encouraging smile and stood up from the bench.

"How do you got to know so much, Abhay? About me and Arnav?" asked Khushi.

"Sources you see" winked Abhay and Khushi smiled too.

"Jeeji?" She asked and he nodded in affirmation.

"So you're leaving tomorrow?" She asked, getting up and dropping the empty paper bag in the bin placed beside the bench.

"Yes" He breathed out.

"Why don't you come and stay with us for a few days?" asked Khushi.

"No thanks! Staying in Raizada Mansion? Can't risk my life" He grinned.

"I just wanted to meet you and say a proper goodbye. So I thought this would be the best place"

"How did you know I was here?" asked Khushi as they resume walking.

"Sources, Jalebi Express" He replied and she playfully hit him on the arm.

"So will you be coming back anytime soon?" She asked.

"Yeah, maybe. There is a Seminar scheduled for next month in Delhi. I may be attending it".

"Good. Stay in touch, okay? And find a proper girl for yourself", Khushi said to her friend.

"Oh yes. That reminds me I had met Naina in the mall the other day. But when I called you to inform that, your all time angry husband received the call and went all ''Call-Me-Mr.-Raizada' on me. Waise that girl, what was her name? Payal had told me but I am forgetting it...Yeah jali or jelly something"

"Anjali Di" Khushi laughed.

"Yeah, Anjali. She was cute. I had seen her that day in the kitchen. If only she wouldn't have been married to that bas***d Jha guy, I would have been in luck" Abhay revealed and Khushi stayed silent.

"Anyways, gotta go now. I have a date fixed with another hot chick. And guess what? Even her name is Jelly something" Abhay said with a wink and waving a hand at Khushi, left.

"Be safe, okay?" He shouted back as Khushi headed towards RM.

"Learn to trust again, Khushi" Abhay's words played in her mind.

~~***~~

For now, Arnav was really excited with the arrangements. He had set a small, round table in the poolside with a light pink silk table cloth on it. The cloth had tiny silver stars printed on its border which would be visible only in dim light. This would surely appeal to Khushi, he thought.

In the centre of the table, he had placed a small vase with red roses bundled in them. The pool had small fragrant candles floating in it, mostly with green and red flames. The wind was slow enough to not blow-off the candles but to make them easily float from one corner to the other corner of the pool. The table had been placed horizontally along the width of the pool and on either sides of the table were placed two grand candelabrums with decorative candles on them which provided enough lighting to the area.

Now the only thing needed to make the setting perfect was Khushi's appearance, thought Arnav with a small smile.

~~***~~

"Khushi bitiya?" called Naniji as she headed towards her room.

"Ji Naniji?" replied Khushi, descending down the two steps she had already climbed.

"Come with me" said Nani and headed towards her room with Khushi following her.

"Here. This is for you bitiya" Naniji said, removing a box from her cupboard and handing it to a confused Khushi.

"What is this, Naniji?" She asked.

"You can open the box and find out. And wear it. Now, here!" Nani replied, with an amused tone before heading out of the room.

"But.." Khushi started but Naniji had already left, closing the door after her. Khushi tore the package and opened the box with eagerness, only to find a red saree placed neatly in it. As she took out the saree from the box, multitudes of emotions swirled in her eyes. She knew it was from Arnav. Who else could it be? No one but him and her knew what memories this saree held for them. With colour rising in her cheeks, Khushi took the saree and stepped in the bathroom to change into it, wondering what lay ahead.

~~***~~

With her heart hammering violently in her rib cage, Khushi slowly climbed the stairs to her room. As she opened the door with a soft push, the pleasing sound of the wind chimes wafted to her ears. She craned her neck up to find those wind chimes back in their place. The place from where she had pulled them down the previous time.

"Hame laga ki jab aapko hamari shakal dekhna hi pasand nahi hai to hamara saaman, hamari cheezo se ghire rehna aapko kitni takleef deta hoga"

Her own words returned to her, bringing to her the memory when she had painfully removed her things from the room. A small smile crossed her face as she imagined Arnav standing on a stool to put these chimes back on the entrance. Or maybe he didn't need the stool. He was taller than her after all.

"Taller Stronger and Sharper" his sudden words made her jump in surprise, as she felt his husky voice next to her.

"A..aap?" She asked, looking side to side.

"Haa..m...mai" He imitated her stuttering voice.

"Won't you welcome back your Salman Khan Ji?" He asked with a smirk and Khushi's eyes instantly went to the wall where a magnificent poster of her Salman Ji was put up. A broad smile flashed on her lips and she blushed furiously at the poster from 'Partner' movie which shamelessly flaunted the abs of her favourite actor. The blush on her face made Arnav smile in amusement.

"Aapne ye sab..."

"tumhare liye kiya Khushi" (I did it for you, Khushi) He completed her sentence as she turned towards him with questioning eyes.

"Par kyo?" (But why) She asked, knowing the answer well enough.

"Because I love you, Khushi and your happiness matters the most to me" He replied, looking in her eyes with an assurance.

Khushi didn't know where to look so she looked at the floor. Arnav took this opportunity to admire his wife. She looked flawless in that saree, like she had looked the previous time she had worn it.

"From where did you get this saree?" she asked in a whispering voice.

"Sources" He replied in a husky voice, making shivers run down her spine.

"You know, Khushi; this saree is precious for me. A souvenir of the night when I had led my heart seize control of my head. That night I was too enchanted to resist the temptation" He continued in his husky voice and Khushi was transported back to that Diwali night, when he had held her captive against the wall of the poolside and had leaned in dangerously close to her. That night, they were ready to set fire to their limits and touch each other in the most soulful way possible. The magical kiss was interrupted even before it could have begun. Khushi had always wondered what could have been the consequences had his phone not rang that night. Would the life have been any different? Khushi knew there was no way of knowing what could have been.

"Khushi" She heard Arnav's voice reach her as his war, huge handa caught hold of her cold and tiny ones.

"Come, there is more" He said and she looked in his eyes to find excitement bubbling in there.

This was too beautiful to be real. She thought. Wasn't she supposed to hold herself back? To take time and decide what was best for her? By any chance, could this happiness be momentary? But there was no time to reflect on answers as she felt Arnav tugging at her hands and she walked along with him.

"Now close your eyes, Khushi" He asked her and she was too spellbound to refuse or think.

She closed her eyes slowly and felt herself being swept off the ground and carried in his strong arms. Her heart lurched by this small act, skipping a beat.

"Arnavji?" She asked him, her eyes still closed.

"Trust me, Khushi" He replied, and she fisted his shirt with one hand while her other hand went to rest on his shoulder. This is where she belonged. Her heart blissfully informed. She felt him walking towards the poolside as fresh wind entered her lungs, carrying a beautiful fragrance with it. Air freshener!? She wondered. And then she felt him placing her carefully in a chair. A chair! in the poolside!? Since when? She wondered.

"Now you can open your eyes, Khushi" He whispered in her ears, kicking the butterflies in her stomach to action. Along with her stomach, she felt butterflies fluttering in her head too as her eyes opened and she slowly noticed the romantic metamorphosis the poolside had undergone. Was this a dream?

"It's real, Khushi" She heard him say as he read her thoughts in her eyes.

"Arnavji...This... is...beautiful" She completed the words in pauses, revelling in the beauty of the setting. Arnav breathed a sigh of contentment at her words.

"I am glad you liked it. Since you didn't have time to go out, I thought I could arrange this here" He replied as her eyes returned to look at him. Dressed in a plain white crisp shirt with a blue denim jeans, he looked breath-taking and . . . . . ravishing. Khushi blushed as the latter word registered in her mind.

"Oh, I ordered this today" Arnav replied with a grin she had rarely seen on his face as her gaze lingered on his jeans.

"Shall we start then? I am hungry actually" He confessed and she found it sweet. Was this really her husband? He seemed so different yet so enchanting like always. As he uncovered the dishes one after the other, Khushi's mouth watered at the sight of them.

"Chaat, Gol-Gappe, Bhel puri, as starters" He read out the menu to her and smiled at the perfect 'O' of her lips.

"I know you love them, Khushi but you don't have to open your mouth that wide to eat them" He said and she closed her mouth instantly, feeling embarrassed.

"Dig in" He said, serving her the gol-gappas and enjoying her not so silent eating.

"What are you going to eat?" She asked, knowing well this food wasn't good for both his health and tastebuds.

"Pasta" He replied, uncovering another bowl. The dinner became a merry affair as both of them continued with the main course followed by Jalebis in dessert, sugar free ones for Arnav. They talked softly, not much and in slow voices as Arnav explained how he managed the food and the arrangements.

All this while Khushi had this satisfied smile in her heart which she didn't let reach her face. The dinner was done and Arnav Suggested Khushi to sleep, telling her that he had pending work to finish. She nodded and rose out of the chair and as she started to move away, he held her hand.

"Khushi..." He said in the same husky voice, once again setting her heartbeats racing.

"You look beautiful in the saree. I had wanted to say this the previous time you had worn it but I couldn't. So, I couldn't let this chance slip too" He said and she nodded as he left her hand slip out of his.

"Thank you for the dinner, Arnavji. This was so good" She replied, looking in his eyes to find a tumult running in them.

"Khushi... I... I" He continued, his voice shaky as he slowly started filling the small distance between them.

"I know this would be too early to ask you this and I wouldn't be surprised if you deny me this, Khushi.But, I... I can't avoid myself from asking you this" He said in the same shaky voice as he filled all the distance and wrapped his hands around her waist, making a gasp originate and die in her throat.

"And I want you to know, Khushi that I am not asking this in return for what I did today..this dinner. This is something I have always regretted so far and I just want to make this perfect" He continued as his gaze lingered on Khushi's parted lips and she knew what he meant.

"Khushi...Ca... Can I finish what I had started the last time you wore this saree?" He asked, his eyes firmly in level with hers, his heartbeats in sync with hers, his lips as quivering as hers.

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A/N: Reviews will be appreciated.

Pearl_Oyster2014-01-23 10:26:57