Chapter 16

Chapter 12

Part A

There had been a stunned silence, for two very different reasons soon to be expounded upon, as the two individuals took in each other, standing at the opposite sides of the open doorway.

Arnav it seemed to him was looking at Khushi for the very first time, which was odd considering that he had seen her in a sari many a times - heck she had started wearing that particular garment to most family functions since college and she had looked resplendid back then too but tonight, seeing her negated all the other previous times as juvenile, as just a preparation of sorts for this night, for this sari, for this moment and he couldn't tear his eyes away from her or stop them from running appreciatively from her head to her toe, a strange relishing settling in in his heart as she blushed a light pink at his ministrations, her eyes too engrossed at him to look away and Arnav could feel the heat radiating from both of them in the silence that had enveloped the two.

For Khushi, it seemed as if time had reversed back eight years and for the better too and she couldn't help but question the possibility of that happening for real when it had never even taken place in her dreams! Eight years, countless dreams yet nothing like this had ever seemed the slightest possible! Yet...

Yet this moment existed.

He stood there, in front of her, at her door.

And time stood still at that moment as Khushi felt a lightness swoop within her, gently nudging her heart awaken from the numbness that had engulfed it for so long, telling it that Look, dreams too come true and when they do, they are even better!' and she felt a smile threatening to break out on her lips when instead of the curving of her lips, she felt a warmth draw in on her cheeks as Arnav's appreciative gaze registered.

And Khushi felt an elation like never before sprout within her like a fountain of happiness uncorked inside her heart when just as suddenly came the downpour of the past and all Khushi could do was cover up her heart with a tightly bound fist, lest it drown in misery again, her eyes turning into shards of steel just as her voice as she questioned the man in front of her,

"What are you doing here?"

****

For Arnav the moment had played itself out in slow motion almost from the time the door had opened to the moment Khushi had spoken and it took his hazy mind to recover from the onslaught of the beauty of the woman in front of him to focus on the cold of her tone and the shards of her eyes and it took another moment for him to gather himself and respond to the question she had posed him, knowing well in some recess of his being that the question asked was twofold with one part not put into words at all - what are you doing here?' And what are you doing here now?' and he didn't know which one to answer first, at least not till he opened his mouth and let his heart take the lead for once.

"I am here to pick you up, Khushi...and I know I am a little late but I hope that that could be overlooked now..."

And he didn't need to look into her eyes like he was to know that his answer had met both her questions as they widened just a bit and comprehension dawned on them before she could direct herself to shut them off from him, her mouth opening and then closing before opening to answer him.

"I meant where is Akash?"

And Arnav didn't need to read her eyes one she had shut off carefully to know what she was doing at that moment because no sooner had the words left her, had another word formed in his heart and mind.

Liar.

*****

Liar.

And such a bad one at that, Khushi chided herself as one look into Arnav's eyes confirmed her fears - he had caught the lie which she was not completely sure was meant to be caught or not in itself.

But it didn't matter anymore because the specks of light in his dark chocolate eyes told her that he knew, and that he knew not just about this lie but about all the lies that she had ever uttered to him and the ones she had never given words to as well.

He knew.

He knew like he had known before things had gone awry.

That he was not the Arnav Singh Raizada that she had come to know over the last few years.

No.

He was the Arnav Singh Raizada that she had thought she would never go again.

Her best friend, her partner in crime, her confidante, her soul mate.

Her Arnav.

*****

To his credit, he didn't say a word about any of what she knew he knew as he drove her to the party, his eyes fixed on the road and his hands deft in their touch on the steering wheel and though the city noise traversed in through the open windows, it could disturb neither of the two as they sat in silence which had never been quite so loud.

She looked out of the window as the streets she had always known passed her by as something strange, unique, mysterious, holding within themselves secrets she felt like she had never noticed before knowing well that all that they reflected to her buzzing mind was a reflection of the man beside her, one that she refused to let in on his own in her mind yet he was all she could see, smell, think about, talk about as she sifted through her thoughts.

The mysteries he suddenly seemed to encompass within his strong silent persona, his wide shoulders seemed tense to her as if holding back the words which would lighten them and suddenly she found herself wishing that he wouldn't do so, that he would let the words out, the feelings out, the emotions out so that he could heal, she could heal...they could heal.

But no sooner did that thought cross her treacherous heart, her brain swung into action telling her that it was for the best - this silence. It held her sane and upright and if it were to be broken...she would be greeted back with the pain in full force which had now taken the form of a dull thudding after so very long.

And so she didn't break the silence and let it be, hoping fervently that he too would follow suit.

Stupid naive girl...if only she knew that even silences speak.

****

And speak they did.

He felt a connection to her that he had feared lost for all this while as she sat in the passenger seat of his car, her face stubbornly turned away from him and if he did not feel as miserable as he did, he would have allowed that small smile threatening to break out on his face to do so but he felt miserable but more than that he felt scared.

Scared of what the silence spoke to him, scared of what her eyes had said out loud and clear, scared that she still had feelings for him...scared that maybe he did too.

And the car came to a screeching halt as soon as the last scare hit him - center first in his chest, slamming against his heart as it raced a mile a minute and the fingers which had been tightly grasping the leather of the steering wheel pried themselves loose and made their way to his heart - lying against it listening to its beats - in each beat words resounded, words that he had never thought of before, he had never felt before, never even imagined before yet suddenly they seemed unanimous in their decision, in their declaration, in their desire...words which spelled out his desire.

Khushi.

Just Khushi.

His Khushi.

Next Chapter - Page 135

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First of all Happy New Year to all of you and also a big thank you for your support and your kind words through this difficult time.

I have been unable to reply to all those who commented on the last chapter and for that I apologize but I was just not in the right frame of mind to do so, I hope you will understand. I also apologize for the delay in posting this chapter and I thank you all for your patience.

I realize that this chapter may be a short one but I hope that the content and the realization on Arnav's part makes up for the length :)

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