Chapter 5

"Jalebi! Oh my god! Its JALEBI! Move over, everyone! Those jalebis are mine!" And with that Khushi Gupta perched her bottom over the railing of the winding staircase of her house and slid down, finishing her journey with a bow as she leapt down from the staircase and all but ran to the small table in the foyer of the house where all guests were met just as they entered the Gupta Mansion.

Ripping open the sticky hot brown paper package, Khushi let out a whoop of joy, before plunging her fingers into the orange gold goodness inside and dug out a piping hot jalebi and bit into the sweet delicacy, moaning out her approval as she closed her eyes and savoured the explosion of chaashni in her mouth.

"Hayye! Subah subah jalebi! Mera toh din bann gaya aaj! Kaun leke aaya isse-"

She paused to pop one more jalebi into her mouth, sinking down on the cane sofa, her feet propped up in front of her on the stool and the bag of jalebis clutched close to her heart before continuing,

"Jo bhi laya hai usse millions of thank yous! And its sooo delicious! Yeh woh school ke paas wale Ram Halwai ke yahan se hain na...haan hai toh! They make the bestest jalebis in the world! Papa laaye kya, Maa?"

Before Mrs. Gupta could reply however to her daughter's query, the man who had actually bought the sweets did and Mrs. Gupta leaned back against the sofa she was occupying and watched as her daughter's eyes bulged out, her mouth opened in its characteristic 'O' and her hold on the pack of jalebis slackened so much so that they were in the fear of falling off on the polished white marble floor and would have too had it not been for the agile movements of the young man who caught the paper pack just before it hit the floor.

"Tum?! Tum yahan kya kar rahe ho?!"

Her daughter was now standing tall and stiff, glaring at the man in front of her who painted, noted Mrs. Gupta, quite a sorry picture'much in contrast to his usual haughty, arrogant, self assured self!

From the corner of her eyes she spied her ever faithful maidservant Jaya Devi coming over to most probably ask about the lunch menu but Mrs. Gupta waved her away with her hand, her sole interest at this point lied in understanding what had changed the dynamics between her daughter and Arnav, why had Arnav got jalebis for Khushi and why was he so forlorn as Khushi's eyes spat fire which no doubt her vocal chords were itching to put into words.

And she did...oh boy she did!

"I asked you a question, Raizada! What the hell are you doing here?! I took today off for a reason, you know! Then why the hell are you here?! And woh bhi with jalebis! Answer me! Cat got your tongue or worse did you bite it off yourself with all the sarcastic comments you so relish making?!"

Garima Gupta turned her head expectantly towards Arnav, waiting for the fireworks to begin and Arnav to retaliate with a word bomb of his own but to her astonishment he remained quiet, his eyes downcast adding not only to her earlier confusion but also to her worry as to what could possibly make Arnav demure in front of Khushi?!

"Bolo na!"

"I...I just came over to...ummm...go over the Malik Mansion plans and uhhh I knew you weren't coming in today so errr I thought I would come over...as I already said...I mean...yeah...and the jalebis...woh I was passing school on the way over here so I uhhh picked them up for yo-all of yo-us."

Khushi looked at him curiously while Garima had to bite the inside of her cheek trying to stop a giggle which threatened to erupt any moment.

Aaj kal ke bachche! She thought to herself fondly, remembering all the times of the past when Arnav and Khushi had fought like cats and dogs, often being sent home from school with a note in their respective diaries complaining of their 'no less than animalistic behaviour' and with an excuse ready on their lips which most often began with an emphatic growl and a firm "He/She started it!"

Things had not changed during their college years either...it seemed to have only gotten worse as their verbal sparring became stuff of legends within the four walls of School of Architecture, Mumbai. She had herself heard a group of students whisper to each other in awe at the sheer verbal power and mental tenacity of the two seniors who were aiming to chew off the other's head in a short distance when she had gone there for the graduation ceremony of the two.

And it was the same tale at the office too if her husband's tired and frustrated accounts were anything to go by! Be it home or work, these two were always at loggerheads! Garima shook her head as the thought crossed her mind, willing herself to pay attention to the strange happening once again of Arnav actually being non-responsive in the much known Arnav VS Khushi games!

"School on your way here?! Dimaag aur tameez ke saath saath raste bhi bhool gayye ho kya?! School is on the opposite end from your way to here!"

Garima watched as Arnav coloured at the reminder and then spluttered out an explanation which was so much of mumbling that neither she nor Khushi, if her loud "WHAT?!" was any indication, understood.

"Unbelievable! Jalebi laya hoon toh khaa lo! Why are you being so bloody inquisitive?! You don't need to prove every second that you have some grey matter in there, you know?"

"What The! Ehsaan kar rahe ho jalebi laakar?! I know why you have got them and yourself here today but too bad, Mr. Raizada, its not going to work! Get lost!"

And with that Khushi was off, stomping her way upstairs to her room, her arrival there announced by a loud slamming of the door which made Garima almost jump out of her seat and Arnav cringe before his shoulders drooped and he looked at the discarded packet of jalebi despondently.

"I should leave now, Aunty, see you later." Arnav made to leave but Garima was quick to halt him.

"Whats going on, Arnav? Tum log ladaayi karte rehte ho sabko pata hai but for you to give up so easily...kuch zyaada ho gaya kya, beta?"

Arnav looked back at the kind woman who was so much like a mother to him, one with whom his own mother had become best friends with when their husbands had met each other after a long period of lack of contact.

"I...I said a lot of things yesterday, Aunty...stupid things...and she took it to heart! She knows I didn't mean them-I mean not like that anyway but I guess..."

"Uff...tum dono bhi na! Tabhi Madam ka mooh kal se sooja hua hai! You two should keep fighting for your own and others' sake...nahin karte toh kuch ajeeb sa lagta hai! And now go upstairs and talk it out with Khushi! I want you both to be normal when you get out of that room, okay?"

"But Aunty..."

"No buts! Arnav, you two are working together on a very important project, aren't you? Toh phir aisa kaise chalega, beta? Go talk to her or else she will again have 'stomach ache' tomorrow morning and miss work and your Uncle will get very angry! Go now!"

Arnav grinned at the air quotes Garima used to describe Khushi's 'ailment' for missing work today and with a loud thankful kiss on the cheek of his favourite aunty made his way to Khushi's room, stopping only to blow another kiss towards the middle aged woman as she called after him to get things good soon and stay for lunch as she was making his favourite 'Kadhi chawal'!

*****

"Damn idiot! What does he think of himself, huh?! So mean last night and today comes here with jalebis! JALEBIS! As if I will forgive him for jalebis! Like hell! Although the jalebis were quite tast-stop it Khushi! Its from Ram Halwais! You can get it for yourself! You don't need that Rakshas' jalebis! Ugggh! ASSHO-"

"Talking to yourself - first sign of madness." Came a lazy drawl from her doorway and Khushi turned sharply only to find the bane of her existence leaning against the white panel of wood, smirking at her that famous smirk of his and her temper escalated even more.

Turning away from him, she tucked the pillow in her arm tighter.

"Go away."

"No." was his simple, to the point reply and Khushi couldn't help but groan out loud, burying her face in the pillow.

"Why?"

"Because."

"Huh?" she raised her face again to fix him with a confused glare - confused because of his reply and glare because he had taken a seat (uninvited!) on her bed, right next to her with his feet pulled up and crossed!

"Get off my bed!"

"Sharing is caring, Khushi! When will you learn the basics of manners?"

"Thats a bit rich coming from you, don't you think? After all that you did and said yesterday?"

Arnav had the decency to look down at her pointed jibe but sighing he nodded, accepting her accusation making Khushi almost fall off her bed.

"You are actually agreeing with me that its your fault?!"

"When did I say it was my fault?! Galti toh uss saale flirt ki thi! But yes, I could have handled it better!"

"What The! You are unbelievable, Arnav!" she screeched at him, whacking him with the pillow on his head as he tried to save himself.

"Meri kya galti thi?! He was flirting with you and being a pompous pain in the ass generally with all the intros as if he owned the damn place and all!"

"He did own the damn place, you fool! It was his property!"

"Not his, his ancestors! Saala show off!"

"What the hell is wrong with you, huh?!"

"Nothing...anyway main uss bewakoof ke baare mein baat karne nahin aaya tha...I came to apologize for taking out his anger on you..."

"Anger at him for what?!"

Arnav looked at her for a moment, an intense moment where Khushi found herself catching her breath and her heart beating erratically before she forced herself to focus and squaring her shoulders fixed Arnav with a 'Explain' look which seemed to break his trance as he looked away uncomfortably which for some reason felt like a stone dropping in the pit of her stomach to Khushi but before she could deliberate on the feelings, he spoke up again,

"Kuch kuch hota hai, Khushi, tum nahin samjhogi..."

And there was a minute of silence following this declaration before...

"YOU BLOODY RASCAL!"

*****

Garima looked up the stairs as the sound of her daughter screaming intermingled with Arnav's laughter made its way downstairs making the cook jump and add salt instead of sugar into the besan laddoo mixture, the maid to crash against the balti and spill water all over the floor and the gardener to snip at his hand instead of the weed and Garima to smile and stir the kadhi with more gutso than before...

All was well again.

Next chapter - Page 19

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Yes, Arnav is much inspired from SRK's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai but what a man's gotta do, he gotta do! ;) :D

And I have used Hindi dialogues in this chapter...if such use is okay, then cool...if not, tell me so that I can give translations from next chapter onwards! :)

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Hope you enjoyed the chapter...your feedback (which has been a bit of a disappointment really :p) is much cherished! :)

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