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Chapter - 26
After she finally fell asleep, he observed her head slide slowly about to fall off the headrest but instead of stopping it, he adjusted himself in such a way that it landed in his palm. He slowly moved his palm down and placed her head on his lap. He felt peace. She gives his chaotic life peace.
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Khushi woke up disturbed by the chirping sounds of birds. As the light of dawn hit her eyes, she tossed from her side to her back not fully conscious. Rubbing her eyes she lazily opened them adjusting to the brightness. The scene before her kicked away all the laziness from earlier making her wide awake and she stared with her eyes ready to pop out. Her body stiffening instantly, her mind went on overdrive trying to understand where she was and how she ended up on his lap.
While her mind worked on piecing things through, she got lost in him. She noted how his face was resting on his shoulder with his hand stretched out over the headrest. “How is he able to sleep like that? That position looks very uncomfortable.” she thought, gawking at him intently. Her hand instinctively reaching towards his temple she gently moved aside a strand of hair that was blocking his face from her and whispered very softly “Much better”. Smiling at him affectionately she mumbled “He looks so peaceful when asleep. Isn’t it, Devi Maiya?”
A gust of cold breeze blowing over her face broke her reverie. Becoming aware of the surroundings she jumped out of his lap in a jerk totally flushed gasping at what she was doing. As she tried to gather her composure, her eyes fell on his jacket which was now lying on the floor after sliding from the top of her when she sat up. Slowly picking it up she remembered the previous night, the apology, how she cried to him, how he held her, consoled her, and how she fell asleep. Overflowing with admiration for the man before her, she whispered sincerely “Thank You!!” That moment she noticed it again, her heart, it was beating like a drum. Holding her heart tight with her hand she said, “Hey Devi Maiya! What is happening to me? This is because of him. It only happens around him. I should get away from him.” Immediately getting up, she looked at him one last time, gently placed the jacket on his lap, and started to walk off. But her heart, her heart was not ready to get away from him, it kept telling her not to go, to just sit there with him, next to him. Overwhelmed by an unknown feeling so new to her she looked back one last time earnestly and disappeared into the house.
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Arnav sat at the breakfast table restlessly. His eyes kept searching for her but she was nowhere to be found. “Why did she leave this morning before I woke up. Why did she not wake me up? Luckily no one saw me or else it would have been a real headache if I was spotted sleeping in the garden. Especially Di. What was she thinking leaving me like that?” he spoke under his breath thoughts running wild remembering her crying face from last night. Bewildered, he wondered a little worried “Is she ok? Is she not well? Where is she?”
His impatience was growing each passing second when he suddenly felt her presence. Looking around the room he hurriedly turned around and there she was slowly making her way towards the table with her eyes glued to the ground. Walking past him, she stole a quick glance at him and immediately looked away the moment their eyes met. After that Arnav observed how she kept going around avoiding looking at him or even in his direction. He frowned, puzzled by her behavior.
As everyone sat for breakfast, Anjali walked over to Arnav and served him some jalebis.
“Di, you know I don’t like sweets”
“Arnav, I know you don’t like store-bought. But these are homemade and they taste delicious. I saved these for you the minute you informed about not leaving for Delhi. Khushi made them. Lucky for us, she was upset with something yesterday morning and made a huge pile of them. It seems she has the habit of making jalebis when troubled.” she said chuckling.
Promptly Khushi’s eyes shot up with her mouth agape at Arnav who was already looking at her attentively. As the flashback of the previous morning’s fight flashed before both their eyes they heard Anjali add naughtily “Khushi! Tell us the truth, why were you upset? Did you have a fight with your boyfriend?”
Anjali’s question caught not just Khushi but also Arnav by surprise. Right away Khushi could see a smirk appear at the corner of his lips. Unable to take his gaze she fluttered her eyelashes furiously and shifted her vision to Anjali. “Di, Please! It’s nothing like that. I was not upset. I just made them for Devi Maiya...” her voice trailed off as a flush of embarrassment occupied her cheeks.
After that episode, Khushi went absolutely silent with her eyes glued to her plate throughout the breakfast. Even later when everyone gathered in the hall she was no different. She was working so much towards avoiding him that she lost sense of everything else. And he found this Khushi very entertaining to watch. In one of many such instances when Payal was leaving to get tea for everyone, Khushi jumped in volunteering to do it herself taking it as an opportunity to get out of his line of sight. But when everyone sipped the tea it left them tongue-tied. Her scatterbrain catching on to her she ended up adding salt instead of sugar. As everyone laughed, she awkwardly apologized to everyone in a hurry and ran to her room.
“This girl is really crazy.” he mumbled wondering “All this only to avoid me. But why? Is she embarrassed about last night? Or maybe uncomfortable about it?” Anjali’s earlier remarks resurfacing, he chuckled thinking “So she was pretty upset yesterday morning. And seeing the way she landed in my office, I am sure she surely was.”
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The rest of the morning went busily for Arnav occupied with work but her thoughts were always at the back of his mind. “She never came back down after running off to her room. Maybe she is downstairs now. I will be done with everything soon should I go down and check? But why should I? She is the one avoiding me.” his mind was preoccupied when Anjali walked in. Looking at her Arnav ended his meeting and asked cutting the call, “Yes Di. Do you need anything?”
“Chote, I wanted to know when our guest house will be ready. It won’t look nice to stay at Sinha’s for too long. The wedding date is also closing in, they will have relatives coming soon.”
“Di, don’t worry. Everything should be ready by tomorrow. Anything else?”
“Arnav, we need to take a doctor’s appointment for ..”
Cutting in, he asked concerned “Why, Di!? Who is sick? Are you sick?”
“Relax! It’s for mom. She decided to go to the doctor and try medication for her depression.” she said with excitement.
“What? Seriously? That’s great! But what made her change her mind?” he said relieved and thoughtful.
“Khushi!” Anjali answered with a broad smile plastered on her face
“What!? How?” he asked confused and Anjali readily explained the happenings of the previous day.
“You should have seen the happiness on mom’s face when Khushi mentioned you are kind. That girl gave mom more peace with her sweet words than we could in past years. Mom said she will try to stay happy for us. And this morning she asked me to get an appointment. I feel good about this, Chote. Khushi truly brought khushi (happiness) to our family.” she said gently
Smiling warmly listening to her he said “So that’s the reason you let her call you Di? I was a bit surprised when she called you Di this morning. I wondered how you allowed her to call you ‘Di’ when you never let anyone. You always say that only I and Akash have the right to call you Di. Even Payal started calling you only after the marriage was fixed.”
“It’s that I didn’t want just anyone to call me ‘Di’. That right is reserved only for my lovely brothers and their future wives. But for Khushi, I made an exception. And not just because of what she said to mama. I have liked her since the first day. She is too sweet and considerate. On top of it after yesterday I love and respect her so much. You know, she lost her family at a young age. It must have been hard but she never shows it. She..”
Surprised, Arnav interrupted “Who told you?”
“Payal! She said it happened after they moved to the US and they lost touch with Khushi since. They tried to find her after returning to Lucknow last year back but no luck. Then 3 months back like miracle Payal ended up at Khushi’s college due to some work and there she was. I mean, what are the chances, right? When I heard the story I said it was destiny as people don’t meet like that just by luck.”
“Oh! Di, come on. Not that destiny again” he said, rolling his eyes.
“No Arnav. You don’t understand. But hopefully the day you meet your special someone you will understand what I am saying. When something is predestined then everything falls into place as if paving way for it. Why am I wasting my time talking to you? Even if the whole universe conspires to get you face to face with the one meant for you not once but again and again, you are the type who will just say ‘What the’ and move on failing to notice your chances. You never change. Anyway, come down it is lunchtime” she said a tad bit upset at her brother and walked out the room leaving Arnav totally lost as to what upset her.
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At lunch, Khushi was nowhere to be found. “Where is she?” his heart was screaming disappointedly. Done eating just when he was about to leave, he finally heard someone say her name. His wandering mind now completely attentive, he listened with the utmost attention.
“When did Khushi say she had to leave? Maybe I can drop her off before going for the meeting.” Sashi Sinha asked Payal.
“There are still 30 mins. And she insisted she will take a taxi. She didn’t want to trouble you. You take the car, Babuji. Also, she always goes alone anyway. If one of the cars comes back from servicing on time I will pick her up in the evening. Don’t worry.” Payal assured him.
“Where is she going? Why is she going alone?” Arnav wondered deep in thought. Standing up out of nowhere he announced to Anjali that he will be going to the office as some work came up. Wasting no time, he started walking and disappeared towards his room.
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20 minutes later Arnav emerged from his room, his eyes scanning around hoping to spot Khushi but with no luck. “Did she already leave? No, there is still 10 minutes for it to be 30 minutes” engulfed in his thoughts he walked out of the house.
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Walking out of the house Khushi called someone on the phone. “Hello! Did you reach the address? Where are you now? I am outside the house and can’t see you? Give me a ring” she left a voice message. Taking a few steps onto the road she stretched her neck out to check again but no sign of the cab driver. Right then her phone started to ring and promptly picking it up she asked “Bhaiya, Where are you? I can’t see you anywhere.”
“Sorry, Madam. Some emergency came up. I can’t come. You call someone else.” he spoke hastily and disconnected before she could say anything.
“What!? Hello?? Hey Devi Maiya, what is happening?” she said flabbergasted looking up at the sky. Frustrated she let out a deep grunt and started looking through her phone trying to book a new cab when a car stopped right in front of her. Startled, she tried looking through the tinted glass to figure out who was behind the wheel. Failing to do so, she turned to walk away from there when she heard a very familiar voice which held a lot of power over her than she was aware of. Grasping who it was she turned back to the car instantly. Now, with the window rolled down she could see the person in the car. “You? Here? Why?” she blurted out surprised.
Avoiding her questions showing no interest in answering any he sharply asked “What are you doing here?” even though he knew the answer.
Khushi contemplated a second as to what to say and spoke softly “I am waiting for a cab.”
“Is it on the way?” he asked a bit uneasy inside.
“No. I haven’t booked it yet. The previous one got canceled.” she spoke softly trying to get hold of her heartbeat.
“I can drop you. Where are you going?” he asked, trying hard to conceal his eagerness.
“No. It’s fine. The cab will be here in no time. You leave. I don’t want to trouble you.” she rejected gently.
Struggling to stay calm and sound casual he said “There is no trouble. I will dro..”
“No. Really! I am fine. Thanks for offering. I will go.” she interrupted before he could complete.
His calm masquerade falling apart he ordered in a definite tone “Khushi, sit in the car.”
She knew what this tone meant, that there was no point in arguing with him anymore but she didn’t want to give up this time. She couldn’t go with him. Because she knew her heart can’t handle it. “I can manage. No problem” she said assuringly
In quick swift he got down, walked to the other side of the car, and holding the door open he looked at her sternly and gestured with his eyes ordering her to take the seat.
“That… I..” Khushi stuttered still trying to reason
“Khushi! Now!” he spoke visibly annoyed in an authoritative voice with finality.
Khushi knew it was a losing battle way earlier right when she heard his definite tone. She chose to try and not give up at that time. But now she realized that saying no will only make him more adamant. Surrendering, she quietly walked to him and sat in the car. He immediately closed the door gently and walked back to his seat.
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**** Few Minutes Earlier ****
Out of the house, Arnav got into the car thinking about his next plan of action. “Should I wait for her here or should I meet her outside? Maybe outside. Outside is safer.” he decided looking at the house as his family flashed before him.
He drove out of the gate and parking a little away to avoid detection he started to wait. That was when he spotted a cab pulling over close to the house. Making sense of why it was here, he got down and rapidly walked towards it.
*Knock Knock*
Driver: Rolling down the window “What is it?”
ASR: “I want you to cancel this ride.” His voice rough.
Driver: Quite confused. “What? Why? Are you Khushi?”
ASR: Not paying heed to his questions. “I will give you double the fare amount.”
Driver: Frustrated “Who are you? What do you want?”
ASR: In an arrogant tone “Am I not clear. I want you to cancel your ride. And I will give you 3 times the fare.”
Driver: “Are you …”
ASR: Cutting him off he said with finality “5 times your fare. If you argue more I will make sure you lose your job.”
Surprised, the driver didn’t say anything after that. He just took the money and drove off thinking “Crazy Man! Who is he?”
Taking long strides Arnav walked back to his car and waited. Waited for her to come out with a smirk plastered on his lips.
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Comments (3)
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Groovychick1 @Groovychick1 3 years ago Aww nice to see asr all lovey dovey and not being arrogant. Cant wait to see arshi come together. Khushi will surely make it hard for him. Please update soon
SanaBhu520 @SanaBhu520 3 years ago Beautiful chapter, Khushi is slowly falling in love and Arnav is already in love, but when they are going to realize? Next chapter is may be the answer, I am waiting. Thank you for the amazing story.
Kashaarv07 @Kashaarv07
3 years ago
Ahhh what has this ASR been reduced to.. Amazing update... Waiting for the next eagerly