Chapter 25

Banner Courtesy:asrcraze

Chapter 25: I Love You

The clear sky was dotted with small, twinkling stars and she looked up at them with moistened eyes. The stars bigger than sun in size appear smaller because of the distance. Such is her connection with her parents. They are distanced from her yet they remain in her heart. They have a small place in her heart where they twinkle and keep their presence known to her. She misses them and at times such as today, she seeks the stars which make this connection alive. When she gazes at the stars, she can feel the distance closing up. She can almost see her parents peering down at her. Almost!

They listen her talk, offer their silent support to her decisions. One can say that all of it happens in her mind and is not real. But to her, it is real. It is the belief which matters, the thin line between real and unreal is drawn by this belief. She has the belief and that is why she is here, standing alone on the rooftop, clutching the baluster like her life depended on it.

Arnavji wants to marry her. Khushi had told her parents and now she was seeking answer from them. It was not like the opinion of her family, her Amma, Buaji or her Babuji was any less important to her but right now they are too angry with her to help and this cannot wait. Arnavji wants an answer. She had seen it in his eyes. The desperation, the love, the guilt and the hopes. It had taken her an enormous amount of will power to ask him for some time. Her heart had been erratic and was pushing her to say yes but she knew this decision should be anything but impulsive.

"I need time" She had uttered those three words without looking into his eyes but her peripheral vision was religiously fixed on him. She had noticed his shoulders slumping down at her words and his head nodding in resignation. He had expected her to say yes and heaven forbid if she wanted anything more than saying yes but she had not. He had stood up and stepped back and silently moved out of the room.

She had wanted to go after him, hug him and say all the words he wanted to hear but as evident, she had not. Instead of being at the only place she wanted to be i.e., his arms, she was here on the rooftop engaged in a serious conversation with her parents.

She told them everything that had taken place in the hall of Raizada Mansion. Then she told them about Arnav's proposal. He wants to marry her. As she repeated the words, her heart warmed to the words. She realised how deep the words were. He actually wanted her in his life. This time, he wanted to marry her not because he wanted to inflict pain but only because he loves her. The idea sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She would become his wife, in all true senses.

The thought seemed too beautiful to be true but finally it is true.

She once again looked up at the sky and saw the clouds were trying to conceal the stars and she panicked. She still had not got her answer from her parents.

Should she go and agree to this? Because it is the only thing she really wants to do. But what if he hurts her again? What if he finds another reason to blame her for things she never did? Anger is something he cannot control. Anger is another side of the coin he is. But hasn't he so far successfully kept the other side repressed?

Will she be able to survive his hatred a second time? What if the look of disgust and hatred seeps back into his eyes? She wouldn't be able to live through it all over again.

"Trust me" His voice echoed in the back of her mind and Khushi desperately wanted to believe it.

In fact, she does believe him. She believes with everything she has got. All these six months, he had only fed her insult and hatred but there had been times when his guard had slipped and she had seen the pain in his eyes. He was hurting as much as she was. No matter how genuinely he tried to take pleasure in her pain but he had failed majestically.

He had loved her back then and he loves her now. She loved him always and she'll love him always. That's the disadvantage of love. It doesn't go away. No amount of pain and hatred can wash it away. Even if you want it to go away, it remains. It will give you hope even if you're living in a dimension of darkness. She had always hoped that he would love her back and now when she knows that he does, she has to embrace it. She needs to embrace it because he's her anchor to life. If she lets him go, she'll let life go. But those are entrenched matters, the bottom line being that she wants to marry him.

"I want to marry him Amma, Babuji" She finally voiced out the words to the silent night sky and looked up at the stars. There were none. The clouds had obscured the view. Khushi closed her eyes and it is then the first drop landed on her face.Then the other.

Is this some indication? Can these rain drops be considered as her parents showering down their consent to her decision? Sounds delusional but Khushi was past caring. She had already made up her mind.

Trust is what binds two people together and she trusts Arnav Singh Raizada. One can question her trust, ask her how she can trust him after everything he subjected her to but Khushi Kumari Gupta has her answers ready.

She started trusting him when he saved her from hitting the ground as she fell off the ramp, when he pulled her out of a collapsing building even if he was the reason why she was inside the building in the first place. She started trusting him when he pulled her away from being driven over by a car, when he saved her those countless times from hitting the ground. She trusted him when a different person split out of him and took care of her while she was sick. She trusted him when the suave and debonair ASR dissipated and gaudily thrashed a bunch of goons for pushing her like that was his everyday work. She trusted him for so many reasons that she could not count.

So, when he started hating her (or at least pretended to) her trust never waned. It was too profound to wear away. Although it wavered at times, it could never go away just like her love for him.

Her love for him suffered but it always breathed inside her.

She still loves him and she trusts him and she will marry him.

She deserves this chance at happiness as much as he deserves it.

This was not going to easy but this was going to happen. Khushi was ready to face all the difficulties of the world if Arnav was beside her. And she knew what the first two difficulties of the world would look like.

First, baring her feelings to Arnav and second, convincing her family for the marriage!

~~***~~

Arnav stepped inside the room to find it bathing in darkness. Khushi wasnowhere in sight and trepidation gripped his heart. Throwing aside the coat he had been carrying in his arms, he almost ran inside the room. He pushed open the bathroom and found it empty. Then he jogged to the poolside and called her name. As he didn't get a reply, despair grew in his heart. It hurt to breathe. She's gone!

He walked back to his room with a beaten face. Dropping down to the edge of the bed, his head drooped, and he hid his face behind his palms.

Pain ripped through every fibre of his body as he called her name, inaudibly. How can she just leave? Without answering him in the face? A part of him said that it is better this way. At least he doesn't have to hear her refuse.

His eyes started to burn, tears threatening to come and it was then he felt her presence. His heart almost stopped beating with sheer joy when he raised his gaze and found her standing in the doorway, watching him with confusion and something akin to nervousness.

He jumped to his legs and shot towards her in one quick motion.

"Where were you?" The words came out more like a sob as he held her captive under his intense gaze.

"I thought you left" His voice broke as he said the words.

She didn't get the time to answer that as his mouth closed upon hers. If she had any intention of speaking left in her, it was crushed as her mind went haywire by the intensity of the kiss.

His lips worked urgently upon hers and he kept increasing the pressure. She found herself being pushed back and as her back hit the wall, he crushed his body against hers.

It felt like heaven. Every inch of his built up pressed against her soft form.

As the kiss grew slow and soft and she kissed him back, she noticed his body relaxing. He tugged at her lower lip and when she responded by taking in his lower lip, he moaned.

The sound was sweet music yet a catalyst for her body to want more and he was willing to give.

He cupped her face in his hands and deepened the kiss while her fingers played with his hair.

The kiss lasted for eons and still wasn't enough when Arnav pulled back. She again didn't get to speak as he pulled her in his arms, now hugging her close.

He released her only when their heartbeats reached to normal speed. Then, he stepped back and she looked up to find he was watching her without batting an eyelash.

"Arnavji?" She whispered his name as a question.

"I am sorry. I thought.." He explained and she instantly felt bad.

"How can I leave with the contract still in effect?" She asked him, wondering how he always thought the worst of the situation.

"Will you?"

She heard him ask.

"Will I what?" She asked, confused.

"Will you leave when the contract will become ineffective?"

There! He still has his doubts and she instantly felt sorry for him. He had been so confident this afternoon but she brought his doubts back by asking him to give her some time to think upon the matter. She hated it when he was insecure and she hated it more when she was the reason of it. She has to end this for once and all.

"How can I leave when I still love you, Arnavji?" She said the words with utmost sincerity.

"Yes, Arnavji, I love you. I love you more than I ever wanted to. It was not supposed to happen but it just did. All the times, I thought it was some acidity, or Dhak Dhak or some weird sickness it was just you and my love for you. All the times I thought I didn't care, I did care. I wanted you Arnavji and I wanted you to love me. That was why, I cried when you announced your engagement to Lavanya ji, I cried when you said you don't care and I cried when you broke my heart by forcing me into this marriage. I wanted to marry you but never like this. All these six months, when you said you hate me, I knew somewhere that you don't mean it. Because I knew you love me as much as I love you. That we, you and I belong together. And see, finally we're here. Against all odds! I want to marry you, Arnavji"

Arnav listened with rapt attention, happiness surging in his body. Khushi loves him. She wants to marry him. She wants him as much as he wants her. These two years that he had spent loving her, she had loved him back.

Farak padta hai! She cares!

She has always cared just like him.

"Khushi" He uttered her name in pure ecstasy and once again embraced her in a soul melting hug.

"I love you, Khushi, so much I cannot put in words" He whispered and he felt her tears seeping through his shirt.

"I love you too, Arnavji" She replied with happy tears.

~~***~~

The next day Arnav and Khushi once again stood before their families but this time with a resolve in their minds, the resolve to be together against all odds.

It turned out to be a very long and arduous conversation where excuses were made and tears were shed.

The Gupta family, after being assured by Arnav that he would keep their Khushi happy, agreed that he deserved another chance. Khushi, on the other hand was hugged affectionately by Naniji and Anjali.

It was decided that the wedding ceremonies will start right after one week which was certainly objected by Arnav who thought it was too late.

He was soon admonished by Naniji for his eagerness and sternly told that the ceremonies will take place at their usual pace and he has to cooperate.

One look at Khushi's brightened face was enough for him to acquiesce, but the problem arose again when he learnt Khushi has to be taken away to her maiden house.

"She is not going anywhere and all the ceremonies should take place in Shantivan" He said with an air of finality.

"Stop acting like a petulant child, Chote. That's the custom. Khushiji has to go" Anjali intervened. Rolling her eyes and trying to look stern.

Arnav gave a wishful look to Khushi who looked back at him with assuring eyes.

"It's just the matter of a week, Arnavji" She enunciated in a cajoling voice and he huffed out an 'Okay'.

"Go and get your things then" Buaji addressed Khushi and she nodded.

"I'll help you" Arnav quickly offered, following her while the family smiled secretly at his enthusiasm.

By the time he walked inside the room, Khushi had already placed her suitcase on the bed and was opening the wardrobe.

"I am going to miss you" His words melted into her heart and she turned to face him with a smile.

He was cheerless and her smile faltered as well.

"I will miss you too, Arnavji" She replied as he bridged the distance between them.

"Come, let me help you with the packing" said Arnav, moving to the wardrobe and pulling out a green salwar suit of hers.

"I am not packing many things, Arnavji. So, I'll manage" She said, taking the dress from him and folding it twice, placed it inside the bag.

The next ten minutes Khushi packed some of her clothes and some essentials in the bag while Arnav watched her.

Then they moved downstairs and Khushi's bag was carried out to the car by HP.

Arnav drove the family to Laxminagar and after hugging Khushi goodbye, headed back to Shantivan.

As he once again stepped inside his room he found it more silent than ever. With Khushi gone, the room no longer gave him the feeling of being home.

This week was surely going be one of the longest weeks of his life.

Pearl_Oyster2014-10-03 12:04:54