Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Phir le aaya dil...Majboor kya kije?

Raas na aaya...Rehna door kya kije?

Arnav drove the car in silence while Khushi watched the rain knocking on the windows.

"Where are you staying?" She finally broke the silence.

"Not far from here" He replied.

"Hotel?" She asked.

"Yes" He answered.

Khushi stopped talking after that.

Another five minutes passed by, and Arnav's cell phone started ringing.

"At what time? 10:30 a.m.? Wasn't there anything earlier than this? I want the first flight out" He said on the bluetooth. Khushi purposely kept her face neutral, as if she couldn't hear him.

"Talk to them, then. And keep me posted" He said and disconnected.

More silence prevailed.

"That's my hotel" Arnav said, pointing to the approaching building.

"Oh. I can get down here and catch a taxi. You don't have to drive me all the way to my home. You have a morning flight," Khushi said tentatively.

Arnav looked at her with undecipherable eyes.

"What?" She said.

"Nothing" He replied and hit the brakes. The car stopped in front of the building. Khushi realised that he was really dropping her here. She couldn't help but feel a little angry. He didn't even insist once on dropping her to the house. Then what was the need to offer the ride if he was so desperate to get rid of her?

Both of them stepped out of the car and a man appeared out of nowhere to take Arnav's car keys. Arnav gave him the keys and the car was taken to parking.

Khushi stood at the gate with Arnav and rain kept pouring, drenching both of them.

"You think you'll get a taxi in this weather?" He asked her. Khushi looked at him with angry eyes. If he knows so much, why didn't he drop her all the way to her house? She was only being polite when she said he didn't have to go all the way.

"Don't act like you care an inch about that. Just....Go. I"ll manage," She replied, letting the anger slip into her tone. The rain kept hitting them

"Come up!" He said, his eyes boring holes into her face.

Khushi didn't know if she heard him correctly. Did he just say 'come up'?

"We should talk" He further said.

"Did you purposely bring me here?" She asked him, realising that he knew his hotel would come before her house.

"Does it matter? Now you're here, and I am here. Let's go up. You can get dry, have coffee, and then we should talk. I am leaving tomorrow. That's the least you can do for an old friend," He said, and for the first time in the night, Khushi saw the crack. There was no arrogance. Only a request.

She thought for a minute. What would it mean if she agreed to go up to his hotel room? Would it mean she is ready to listen to him? Would any explanation bring back the lost time? Will an apology heal her pain?

"No" she said.

Arnav's face became expressionless at her outright refusal. She knew it would have taken him effort to ask her to come up to the room and talk. But, no amount of talking was going to change anything. He'll still leave in the morning. She'll still be engaged to someone else. Wisdom lies in walking down the separate paths they are already on. Their roads do not meet.

"Thanks for the lift" she said again and started walking away.

The rain by now had thickened and was coming down in heavy showers.

Khushi had barely taken three steps when she felt Arnav coming after her.

She turned back at once to admonish him, but found him right in front of her. Barely an inch away from her face; looking at her with restrained fury.

"I am leaving tomorrow. You don't have a few hours for me?" His words came out angry and accusing, his eyes burning with intensity, refusing to look anywhere but at her.

"It's your decision to leave. Mine is to go home. Now" Khushi answered, fuming at his audacity. He is the man who left without so much as a goodbye. And standing here, he demands that she give him a few hours? For what? So that he can leave her again tomorrow?

Arnav ran a hand through his dripping hair.

"Khushi.."

"I am booking a cab, Arnav. Please, excuse me!" She said, removing her phone from her clutch and noticing that it was half soaked as well. Damn the rain! Damn her! Why did she have to ask him not to drop her off at the house? Why did he have to agree? In fact, why did she have to agree to come with him in the first place? He hadn't forced her to come with him. What was she thinking then?

"That's enough, Khushi! Come up with me. You're going to get sick standing here in this rain" He said again, snatching the phone from her hands. Khushi looked at him with a scathing glare.

"This phone is going to be dead before you reach home. Stop being stubborn, Khushi" He continued, regardless of her angry look. And despite all her anger, Khushi knew he was right. At least about the phone. The phone's battery was almost dead. Maybe she can go up with him. What will be the harm? She can use his phone and call Lavanya to come get her.

Deciding that, she extended her palm and nodded stiffly. He placed her phone back in her hand and started walking inside the hotel. She followed in silence.

After three minutes, they stepped outside the elevator and Arnav directed her to the only room on the floor. A complete floor for just one person? What a waste of space!

While Arnav opened the door with a keycard, Khushi decided she'll dash straight to the phone-charger.

She was not going to spend another second here, than was absolutely necessary.

Light flooded the room as Arnav pressed some buttons and Khushi found him standing face-to-face with her.

She instantly stepped away.

"I'd like to use the phone here, if there is any. And a charger until someone comes to pick me up" She said, looking at the walls, ignoring his presence.

But he didn't speak a word or move a muscle. He just stood there looking at her and Khushi finally looked at him. In his eyes. A cloud of emotions had gathered in his eyes. She could feel it forming in her eyes as well. She looked away and then realised she was dripping all over the carpet. So was he.

"A towel will be good" She said.

He still didn't move or stop looking. What in hell was going through his mind? She thought.

"Towel, Arnav!" She repeated, this time a little loudly.

He seemed to finally hear and instantly turned his eyes away from her. And then walked off.

Khushi didn't turn to look where he went.

In ten seconds, he came back with two towels. He handed her one.

Khushi took it wordlessly and started with her head. The lehenga she had worn was sticking to her like second skin. She realised she was practically on display. Was that why he was staring? Her cheeks became red at the thought. She didn't know he still cared to look.

She too looked at him stealthily. He was removing his socks. The shoes were already removed. It felt strange. To see him barefoot after so long. There was something intimate about seeing him standing there, wearing the wet shirt and a trouser, water dripping from his hair.

She looked away and wiped her hands and legs. Then she looked at the phone. It was dead. Great.

"I need to charge this" she said.

"Here" He extended his palm to take her phone. She carefully placed it on his palm, avoiding any contact at all.

He went to a corner and plugged the phone in charging mode.

Then he came back to her.

"Coffee?" He asked.

"Yes. By then, the phone will also start" She said.

Khushi thought he would call for room service, but he disappeared into what looked like a small kitchen.

Was he going to make the coffee?

Khushi started looking around. There was a packed bag placed in a corner. He was leaving tomorrow. She couldn't help but keep thinking that. What was she doing here? What if someone finds out?

"Make yourself comfortable, Khushi" his voice came from the kitchen.

Khushi avoided a laugh. Comfortable and with him around? Good joke.

She decided to go check what he was doing.

She walked up to him. He was pouring the coffee in cups. She didn't know what came upon her but she kept walking until she stood exactly behind him.

He stopped pouring the coffee as if he sensed her there.

He turned to look at her. And there it was! The same emotion she had seen so often in his eyes before he left. The one he had been hiding so well in the party tonight.

"I shouldn't be here" She said, shaking her head.

"Tell me about your fiance" He said.

Was this what he wanted to talk about? Her fiance?

Fine, then.

"You know him" She said. Arnav's face became expressionless. Khushi wished she didn't enjoy it but she did. He deserves this.

"Who?" The word was a whisper yet a demand.

"NK" She replied.

She watched the disbelief, then anger, then hurt play on his face!

"Shyam's brother?" He asked tightly.

"One and only" she replied, and side-stepping him, she reached for the coffee mug.

If Shyam Manohar Jha was a money-loving bas***d, NK was an absolute womaniser, or at least that's how Arnav viewed the two brothers.

"Why?" He asked her.

"He's changed" Khushi answered. She really hoped he had. The marriage had been arranged by her family. She barely had a say in it. But, obviously, she wasn't going to tell him that.

Arnav stared hard at her. It had been crushing for him to know that she had been engaged, and he had deliberately avoided any efforts to find out who she was engaged to. But, NK? How can she marry a man like NK? Arnav had met him once or twice in board meetings. The man was an absolute nightmare for girls. Did she not know that? Didn't Anjali tell her about her brother-in-law?

"Are you trying to ruin your life, Khushi?" He asked sharply. She simply sipped the coffee. Was she doing this purposefully? Why?

"Everyone has a past, Arnav. And NK proposed me. In my office. In front of everyone," Khushi was sure NK had done that to pressure her into saying yes because she had asked for some time to think after their first meeting.

But, to his credit, he had never tried to be inappropriate with her. Maybe he really was a changed man.

"He is a bloody womaniser! Do you think he loves you? Do you think he'll stay loyal to you?" Arnav demanded, shooting daggers with his eyes.

Khushi could see he wanted to break something. Why did he care so much?

"Careful, Arnav! He is my fiancé. And there is never a guarantee who will be loyal, who will stay and who will leave!" She said, looking at him with a piercing gaze and placing the empty coffee mug on the kitchen slab with a loud noise.

Arnav looked at her back. Had she...? Did she...? No. She wouldn't do this.

"Did you agree to this marriage to get back at me, Khushi?" He asked her, the truth dawning upon him.

In a split second, Khushi stopped seeing logic.

"Why in HELL will I want to get back at you, Arnav? For what, huh?" She was enraged.

And then Arnav saw it. It was on her face, in her anger. She had knowingly agreed to ruin her life, well aware that this would hurt him.

Oh, Khushi!

Arnav felt his heart sinking with anguish.

"Khushi" In a second, he had reached her and cupped her face in his hands.

She tried to struggle away, but he held her.

"I am so sorry" He said the words and she stopped struggling. Tears lined her eyes.

"I hate you," she said.

"I know, Khushi. I know," he said, as he rested his forehead against hers. Khushi couldn't stop the treacherous tears that rolled down her cheeks.

He sensed her tears, pulled back a little, and leaned in. Khushi couldn't do anything but watch, transfixed, as his lips slowly reached her cheeks. He softly kissed away the teardrops, one by one.

When he looked again into her eyes, still cupping her face, Khushi's couldn't avert her gaze. His face, so close and so perfect...it reminded her of the days she would get butterflies in her stomach from just the way he stared at her. Her heart lurched when his gaze slid down from her eyes to her lips.

They had never kissed before.

He had never taken things so far. It was one of the things she had liked about him. He used to torment her with his looks, grazing touches, but he knew the limits. He had known she wasn't ready. And by the time she was, he had decided to leave.

Can they cross that limit now? Will it make things worse? What could be worse than where they already were?

Khushi looked into his eyes. She could see he was thinking the same.

"Khushi..I.." He began, voice near guttural.

"I know" She said. And just like that, his lips found hers. A slow, delicate brush against her mouth that jolted electricity through her body. She shivered, and he pressed his lips more upon hers.

Her arms found his waist and circled them. He pulled her closer, his lips gently yet firmly moving upon her lips. Maybe she moaned. Maybe he did. And, in the next second, she felt something softer, warmer on her lips. She realised it was his tongue. It danced urgently on her lips, silently seeking permission. She whimpered and her one hand found itself reaching up in his hair. She ran her fingers thhrough them, his hair still wet.

She kissed him back with equal passion. Months of bottled emotions flowed openly between them. She felt his hands moving up and down her back until they finally came to rest on her nape, deepening the kiss.

There was fire in her body. And in his.

Both of them looked at each other as Arnav slowly pulled back a little. His lips had turned swollen. How long had they been kissing? He placed a thumb on her lower lip and sensually wiped it. She wanted to kiss him again at the very moment. His darkened gaze seemed to want the same thing.

But there was a phone ringing somewhere. His. But, he didn't move to get it.

He leaned in again and initiated another kiss, this one slower but more passionate. Khushi couldn't think as his lips roved upon hers; driving away her sanity. She wanted more, her hands grabbing his hair forcibly. He groaned before deepening the kiss, trying to consume her.

But, in the background, the phone rang again.

Arnav pulled back and looked at her. Both of them were breathless, and Khushi's chest was heaving.

"Go, get it" She managed to speak, air filling her lungs.

He seemed hesitant but went towards the phone. She watched him receive the call.

"Yes, Aman? 6:50 am?" He asked and looked at her; visibly conflicted.

Khushi tried not to feel the disappointment. A kiss doesn't change the situation. She knew that.

"Okay. Yes, Good night" He said and disconnected. And Khushi stood there, the reality of the situation hounding her again. He has to leave and she is engaged..for god's sake.

"Is my phone charged?" She said, steeling her voice.

He looked at her quizzically.

"I have to make a call" She said.

He listened and stood still.

Khushi moved to the corner, where her phone was charging, and turned it back on. Silence prevailed in the room.

14 missed calls. 3 from home. 4 from Lavanya. 7 from NK.

And a string of text messages.

She called home first.

"Yes, Amma. Got stuck in the rain. In an hour. No, I am okay. Battery died. Yes. Will talk later. Bye. Haan, Okay" She said on the phone.

Before she even disconnected, NK's call was already waiting.

"Hello, NK" She said softly, but she knew Arnav was listening to every single word.

"I will reach in an hour. Got stuck in rain. You don't have to. Who said that? No, I am not with Arnav. I told you Anjali sent the car. I will talk to you tomorrow. Bye. Good night" Khushi said and disconnected.

Then she turned towards Arnav.

"Lavanya saw me leaving with you. She told NK when he asked her" She supplied.

Arnav didn't speak.

"I am booking a cab" She said, taking her phone, and sitting down on the couch.

"Khushi" Arnav's voice reached her. She looked up to find him standing in front of the couch where she sat.

"Yes?" She replied, looking back at the phone. There were some cabs in the nearby area.

"Will it change anything if I say I am sorry?"

Khushi's fingers stopped running on the phone's screen. She straightened her back and looked at him.

"Sorry for what?" She asked slowly.

"For leaving," he said, sitting before the couch, on the floor upon his knees. He was now at face-to-face level with her. She could see his eyes clearly. The same brown eyes that always made her heart flutter.

She looked at him and then at the ring on her finger.

"Your sorry cannot undo the last twelve months, Arnav" She answered, looking directly at his sombre face.

He nodded slowly his head and stood up.

"So, this is it?" He asked.

"Yes" She replied, standing up as well.

Arnav breathed sharply at her affirmation and turned away from her.

She could see his body was rigid and his hands clenched. Wouldn't he even look at her now?

She told herself not to cry. They had already lost their chance when he had left her all alone, never to look back.

"Bye" She said.

He didn't respond.

She began to walk away, clutching her phone with both the hands. Tears threatened her eyes once again.

"I am sorry, Khushi" She heard him say. The words broke whatever was left of her and she ran to the door. Without hesitating a second, she opened the door wide open to leave.

"Khushi" She heard Arnav speak again and come after her but her legs had already stopped moving. She stood frozen at the door.

Outside the door stood NK, looking at her with burning eyes.

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