Solace in her arms

Background: Arnav and Khushi are on a date at the Purple Orchid amidst the pre-wedding rituals for the second wedding. What if Arnav had seen Anjali and Shyam together?

Arnav laughed internally at Khushi's attempts at setting up a 'perfect date' for him. Didn't she know that her mere presence had the ability to make everything perfect for him? She had pulled his chair for him, eaten the bland food, dared to drink what she thought was wine, and even wanted to pop the bubbly. She had done all of this in her own unique Khushi style and he had loved every bit of it. It was the most special date he had ever been on. She was here with him and that is what mattered. She looked ravishing in black tonight and it was so long that he had held her in his arms or slept holding her hand. Before his thought could go somewhere else, he got up as an excuse to pay the bill. 

Arnav paid the bill at the counter and turning around noticed a familiar figure sitting in one of the corners of the restaurant. He frowned when he couldn't see the person she was talking to and moved ahead to see properly only to have his breath stop. A sudden rush of anger coursed through his veins. He was rooted to the spot and realized that his eyes were beginning to get moist and his breathing had laboured to the point that he felt suffocated. He jerked feeling the familiar touch of his wife on his shoulder and turned around to see her shaking her head, her own eyes teary.

He shrugged her hand off walking briskly to leave the place and could feel Khushi's quickened steps trying to keep up with him. Wordlessly, they both got into the car and Arnav zoomed towards the only place he knew could give him some peace. It was only Khushi's hand on the dashboard and scrunched up eyes in fear that made him realize that his speed was unbearably faster and he slowed down. For a moment, Arnav wished he had just dropped Khushi home but knowing her she would have been adamant about coming along. He was conflicted but knew that she didn't deserve his anger or ignorance. 

He got down the car and slammed the door entering into the familiar garden that his mother had started years ago. It never failed to provide him with some sort of comfort. He paced around the huge banyan tree trying to get rid of the pain his heart felt and ran a frustrated hand through his hair not knowing what he should do. Just then, Khushi turned him around forcefully and hugged him with all her might. He tried to fight it off but she stayed there holding him giving him the much-needed warmth. He finally embraced her and admittedly felt a little better.

'Please don't shut me out.'  Khushi whispered pleadingly and he tightened his arms around her burying his face into her hair. He didn't know what he had done to deserve such a pure soul. 

'How could Di do this?'  Arnav asked her in a broken whisper. 

The regular disappearances of his sister, her glowing face, the secret phone calls, her stuttering whenever someone asked where she was going came back to him with a force. When he had seen Anjali sitting there with someone laughing, he had felt his heart expand thinking that she was finally coming out of the trauma life had thrown at her. Alas! He was so wrong. All of this was because she had been going behind his back to meet that scum of her husband. He wasn't unaware of the distance Di kept from Khushi despite the latter trying everything in her power to make his sister comfortable. He had tried to give both of them time hoping that things would fall into place on their own. Now he knew what the matter was. His sister did not believe Khushi, and as a result, him. And that hurt more than anything else. 

'She doesn't know what kind of a man he is, Arnav ji. He would've manipulated Di for sure.'  Khushi said making him sit on the nearby bench. He knew it was true. Having faced the deception from that b*stard first hand, he knew how capable Shyam Manohar Jha was at manipulating people to his benefit. It still didn't help the gnawing feeling of betrayal that he felt at the hands of his own sister.

'We have to find a way to reveal his true face to Di. Don't worry. We'll find a way.'  Khushi spoke reassuringly. 

Arnav almost smiled at her assurance. In the past, he hadn't let anyone see him so vulnerable. Even when Di got emotional thinking about their parents, he chose to leave the room hiding away his tears. He had kept so many emotions bottled inside him that he was sure that he had shut out everything remotely emotional. Khushi made him feel. She made him see comfort in stars, she hugged him when he cried about his mother's suicide and she stood with him even today. She accepted him with his scars and vulnerabilities. Khushi had held him through everything. She was his strength. Sitting here in his mother's garden in his wife's embrace listening to her soothing words, he couldn't help but feel peace take over. He was the luckiest man alive. She was here. She'd always be. 

Today, Arnav Singh Raizada wasn't ashamed to admit that he found solace in her arms only.