Shyam tried to curb down the sad feeling when his wife Priti ended her call with Khushi. His baby sister was traveling abroad for her work, and she didn't even inform him, let alone let him take her to the airport. To his mind, it was still unbearable to see her distance herself from him like this. But then, he knew why it was like this, he himself had been a reason why Khushi and their parents had asked Shyam to stay away from Khushi and thus, he(and by default Priti) left the house reluctantly.
Flashback from 3 years ago:
“Please tell me it’s not true, bhai. PLEASE TELL ME YOU DID NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH WHY HE LEFT!” Khushi shouted, going near him.
“Baccha, I was just trying to protect you. “
“What did you say to him?” she asked in deathly cold voice.
"I just said you were better off without him. I didn’t think he will actually leave. I was looking out for you gudiya, for your happiness.”
“My happiness? How Bhai? by pushing my husband and child away from me? By ensuring my family is taken away from me?”
"I am also your family Khushi, I have raised you when maa-papa used to be away at work, you are like my child-"
"But you are not her parent, Shyam." Shashi angrily said, "We had asked you to look after her, not control her life! who gave you that right?"
"I should have intervened long ago, it is my mistake" Garima too disapprovingly said and Shyam realized he had indeed created a big mistake...albeit inadvertently, but surely.
End of flashback
--*--
Arnav was waiting for Aaradhya to wake up. It was a busy day at work today for him. There was some medical wellness workshop in their company today and him being a senior leader, was required to reach early. He used to take his baby to work where there was a creche facility for kids. They also had a playgroup in the same vicinity where the creche staff would take the kids and bring them back.
He finally felt her stir beside him, "good morning, baby" he said kissing her nose, making her giggle.
"Papa, you didn't say good morning to miss Fluffy." came her complaint.
Miss Fluffy was a cuddly soft toy that Aaradhya had brought with her from India. Actually, she didn't remember but it was Khushi who had brought it for her shortly before that incident and the then toddler Radha had immediately held onto it! It had stayed with her since then and she always sought comfort in its soft embrace, searching her mother's warmth in it in a way
"Hmm. I will. But you need to get up and get ready now, we have to leave soon."
Arnav said getting up and felt radha tug at his hand,
"Papa, when will I get my birthday wish fulfilled?" she asked as she had been since past week, since her birthday. And Arnav closed his eyes, knowing very well what her wish was.
"I want to meet my Mamma." she still repeated, "I really want to meet her papa. You said you will take me to her when I am grown up. See, i am big girl now, I turned 5 years-old, didn't I?
"radha" he tried to reason but she was not having any of it
"Please papa. please."
"Baby, you're my good girl, right? Papa is really getting late for work now. We'll talk about it later, ok? come on, get up now." saying so he dismissed her with a heavy heart and left to make their breakfast.
'I wish I could take you to her baccha, but your mamma didn’t want us' he sadly said as it was not only his child but he himself was yearning for khushi...
"Please God, fulfil my wish. I miss my mamma, please bring her to me." the child prayed earnestly.
--*--
Arnav picked Aman on his way to office. It was a good deal that both Aman and he were working for the same company. Aman's wife Anjali treated Arnav like a brother and adored aaradhya. Which is why Aman dared to say what he did, as he sat beside Arnav in the car, while aaradhya was sleeping in the backseat.
"Arnav, you know, Anjali was asking me if you're free this weekend. Her cousin Neha is in town, and she is really eager to introduce you two." Aman said, tried hard to not make it obvious but still do the job Anjali had given him. They both wanted Arnav to move on from his past, yet every time they tried to bring the subject his reply would be same. Just like today,
"Aman. Will you please stop it?" Arnav said, holding the steering wheel tighter than needed.
"Stop what, Arnav? It's been 3 years! You yourself said Khushi wanted to move on, you believe she has. Then why aren't you? Why do you still wear your wedding ring, why do you still behave as if you're married?"
"Because I am, Aman! I am married. And I had told Khushi, she will be the first and last woman in my life. That was the promise I had made to myself too. And I am not breaking it."
Aman sighed. Sometimes he felt as if Arnav himself didn't want to get over his misery. Staying fiercely loyal to his estranged wife and wasting his life away.
Soon, they reached office and Arnav parked his car for the place designated for employees. Since today their building expected more visitors due to the medical workshop; Arnav could see valets being assigned to take guest cars for parking.
Arnav had gone to talk to the main reception desk to confirm something, and he had left Aaradhya with Aman. She stood there holding his hand. They were standing by the main entrance of that building which was an elevated floor. Few steps down, they could see visitors' cars come in as people would get down from their cars and then valet would take over to park each car. Aaradhya's other hand was clutching her soft toy- Fluffy, when someone slightly bumped on them and the toy fell from her hand, tumbling down those few steps, coming straight in front of the slow-yet-moving cars. And she jerked aman's hand, running behind her toy,
"Miss fluffy, oh miss fluffyyy..."
.
.
Khushi was sitting in the back seat of the car as they came in front of the venue where this workshop was happening. The whole journey she had refused to as much as look up from her lap to view outside the window, but that moment as their car was stopped behind another moving-car which was approaching the entrance, she saw a small kid run down the stairs and almost come in front of the next car. And she dashed out in an instant. And just as the vehicle was about to touch the baby, she pulled her in the safety of her arms!
Both of them, Aaradhya and Khushi, were wrapped in a hug, totally oblivious to their real relation to each other. But then again, Khushi hadn't even seen the baby's face clearly yet.
Khushi could feel the kid's breathing in the crook of her neck where she had hidden her face, obviously frightened of the near-miss accident. And that made khushi hold the baby even closer to her heart...
"Beta, aap thik ho (are you fine)? Aapko kahi chot toh nahi lagi na (you aren't hurt anywhere, are you)?" she asked the slightly sobbing child in her arms. However, holding this child was a very distinct feeling, a very unique one for her, her heart had found peace after years of restlessness...And she felt as if she were not holding any stranger kid but her own- and as that thought stuck her, she tried to slowly move the child away from her hug so she could see her face, when both of them jumped apart hearing a loud voice.
"AARADHYA" came Arnav's panic-stricken call. From his place on the stairs, he could only see her face in the arms of a woman whose back was facing him. He ran to that side of the road.
And as he came face to face with the woman who had saved his baby, time stood still.
Both of their hearts taking in this sudden moment of reunion that they had pined for yet lost hope of. They stood mere feet apart yet there was a distance of 3 years in between them. And then millions of things that were left unsaid. While the things that were said were far from true...
Khushi had imagined many things she will do when she saw Arnav, like she will slap him, she will shout at him, even turning away from him but when he actually came in front of her and stood there holding their child, she just froze. So much of wait, so much of patience finally showed her this day yet, she didn't feel any energy to say or do anything.
.
.
"Papa, that aunty...she was so sweet na? and you know, she was just so soft. Just like miss Fluffy. No, actually more than miss Fluffy." Aaradhya said, as a dazed Arnav carried her in his arms, towards the creche...
"hmm" came his distracted reply. Khushi was here. She was here. Why was she here? What else she wanted to demean him for this time?
--*--
But there was one person who was neither frozen not dazed. He was very much in senses and had realized this was his chance to make things right which had gone wrong because of him somewhere.
And so, Dr. Nishant found Arnav in the lobby just before the main hall where the workshop was supposed to start in a few minutes.
Arnav's jaw hardened as Nishant approached him and he started to find a hasty exit,
"Arnav, wait” Nishant called him making it impossible for Arnav to escape,
"What do you want Dr. Nishant?"
"Let's drop the pretenses Arnav. I am here to talk." Nishant said, folding his hands on his front, donning a seemingly casual stance for the onlookers.
"Talk about what?" Arnav asked confused,
"You and me can talk about what else than that one person we both have failed, Arnav?"
He looked at Nishant sharply and turned his face away, "I don't want to talk about it." he honestly didn't have it in him to let his break again, by the same set of people. Whatever justification Nishant had; he didn't want it. If she was happy in her life, he was happy for her. Period.
"But you have to listen to this!" Nishant reached out and held his arm, "Do you even realize how she must have felt that day Arnav? It is no secret from you that I and Khushi share a past but that day, we had finally gotten a closure. I apologized for what I did to her, and she told me I didn't even matter to her anymore!" Arnav looked him in shock hearing that, "Yes, that is what she told me. I was no longer there in her heart because it was long taken by you, Arnav! and I can swear on my life, I had never seen her happier before that day. She was so happy, when she told me she was in love, with you! She was going to tell you she loves you Arnav, and you-"
Arnav stood there rooted to his place. All his believes, all his theories that she had still loved Nishant, that she had never loved him stood false today. And he felt so many different emotions jumbled in his head. She had loved him, she wanted to tell that to him.
What had he done? To himself? To her? To their child, their family?
But then why did she leave if she really loved him? That day as well as today? Why didn't she fight for him, for them? And would she still take him back if he accepted his mistake? Or would she leave him alone again, this time in worst condition? The previous time when he stripped his heart naked in front of her, telling her about how his worst fears were not being loved, she had mercilessly used it against him. Granted she didn't betray him, but she had used his worst fear as a weapon against him in their fight. She had said his parents' act of abandoning him was right...what if she once again used his guilt against him? He was confused, scared, and lost...
--*--
Shashi was shocked to see khushi's call at that time. It was barely 6 am in India given the time difference. And when he picked the phone; heard her sobs, it alarmed him further. Garima too woke up by then so, he put the phone on speaker to she too can console their daughter for whatever had hurt her,
"Khushi, what happened? Why are you crying?"
"She is so grown-up papa, she is so - and she was about to get hit by a car- and I- " Khushi spoke amidst her sobs and cries
Neither Shashi nor Garima understood, "Khushi, who are you talking about?"
"My baby, aaradhya! I- I - she was in my arms maa, she hugged me, and I felt so much peace- but he- they left again maa, I let them go again, I didn't do anything to stop them again." she broke into hiccups and finally Shashi and Garima understood whom she was talking about.
On one hand they felt extremely elated that finally their daughter's estranged family was found but on other hand they were worried if she and Arnav could at least now resolve their issues. And so, making an immediate decision, Shashi booked two plane tickets for himself and Garima, it was time to ensure both Arnav and Khushi realized their mistakes and didn't commit any more of them!
--*--
Precap: "I want Aaradhya's full custody." Khushi declared in front of her parents and Arnav where they had met to try to resolve the issue. Arnav stood up, ready to retort.
And an enraged father in Shashi had enough, "Listen to me carefully, if you both take this to the court and fight over her custody, I can promise you that I will be testifying against both of you. I will tell in the court that you both are incapable parents for my granddaughter and her upbringing will be my responsibility. It's enough that you both have played with your lives, but her grandparents won't let Aaradhya get pulled in your immature tug of war!"
--*--
A/N - I didn't really want to add a precap but wanted to show you the direction where they are heading. They both might realize their mistakes but their egos and their anger towards each other may create more blunders. They needed someone who will authoritatively and sternly put a full stop to this. As always, comments, thoughts are welcome.
Also, I don't know if it is evident enough, but Khushi from this story is different. Her character is not that of our normal, 'always right' super-human female leads. At least that is what I wanted to portray. She made mistakes as much as our hero did and she will have her own redemption. Something i tried with nsiv1 too. I just feel that heroines in our stories need to be more human who go wrong, than always-ideal girls who never make mistakes...make sense?
The promo was a perfect prompt for me to write something in my ishtyle! ...
Amidst the tumultuous storm of a high-stakes trial, Anushka Raisinghani, a ...
Comments (6)
View all
Jasmine @jasminerahul
+ 8
1 years ago
Khushi got angry with shyam for driving away arnav.then why is she angry with arnav?aradhya requesting arnav to take her to her mom was emotional. Arnav thinking that he wants to take her there but khushi doesn't want them was sad.loved arnav telling aman that he won't break the promise he had given to khushi.khushi thinking that aaradhya is really her daughter and then seeing arnav was emotional. Nishant telling arnav that he had no place in khushi's heart as it was already taken by arnav was lovely.
javeria @Javeria3991
+ 5
1 years ago
This is an amazing story! I hope Arnav will understand that raising finger on his wife character was his biggest mistake.
chinnulu @chinnulu
+ 9
1 years ago
Loved the UpdateFinally, Khushi found her daughter and Arnav. Though Arnav was not happy seeing Nishant, was glad to see Arnav came to know what actually happened between him and Khushi and felt guilty for his behavior towards Khushi. Felt bad for Khushi when Aradhya addressed Khushi as "aunty" though she was talking to Arnav. No mother should hear that from her own daughter. Till now Shashi thought not to interfere between Arnav and Khushi thinking they will solve their problem on their own maturely but knowing how these two are dragging the matter, glad to see Shashi taking initiative and want to put some sense into these two who are behaving immaturely. Loved the precap, hope Shashi's threat brings Arnav and Khushi on track. Eagerly waiting for the confrontation between Arnav and Khushi