Chapter 19

Chapter 13

Akash Malik, as has been proved already, was a smart man. A very smart man actually if added to his instincts about Arnav's feelings for Khushi were his business accomplishments. Members of one the millionaire families of India, Akash Malik had taken a keen interest in his family business since a young age, coming up with his first design at the tender age of 9 years, albeit it had been a superman-esque suit but it had so impressed the Senior and Super Senior Malik that they had taped their young scion's achievement on the double sided doors of their imported American refrigerator.

He had attended a prestigious design school of the United Kingdom for his graduation and had interned with renowned designers before coming back to India to learn the craft of handling the business side of the fashion world from the able teachers he found in his ancestors leading to this particular occasion where he stood beside his very proud parents and grandparents as they beemed at how well their son had turned out, as was much evident from all the attention he was being lavished with from all families with a girl of a marriageable age.

The Malik family had no intention of getting Akash married to any one of the ladies so fawning over him themselves or their parents donning the duty of doing so, of course not! They had no intention at all to take any such decisions for their aankh ka tara' but the knowledge that the attention was there was empowering in any case, as they replied to cheery hellos with big smiles and answered questions regarding Akash patiently trying hard to not sound pompous while making sure that the more...vicious of the admirers' were battled away with wit and words.

It was in the middle of this interaction that Manohar Malik witnessed his cream complexioned son turn a dark hue of pink before changing to a bit of blue and finally settling on a soft pink, his eyes seemingly fixed on something...or was it someone?!

Manohar Malik sidestepped the conversation one of his more useless relatives was trying to engage him in and allowed his eyes to match the line of sight of his son's and soon his lips curved into a naughty all knowing smile - the one that father's sport when they find themselves in on a secret their children are trying hard to hide, or rather a secret someone their children are trying to hide in a way so obvious that it would be like not noticing Mount Everest while you stand right in front of it.

His son was in love.

And Manohar Malik could not be happier with the choice!

*****

Akash Malik on the other hand felt as if someone had wrapped their fingers around his throat and were now pressing them strategically making it very difficult for him to breathe in as much oxygen as he normally required while at other times it was as if he was being forced to gulp much more than just enough making him resemble a somewhat panting giraffe (he was very tall, hence the comparison!) and it was all Payal Subramaniam's fault!

(Note 1 - Payal Subramaniam was a name befitting the one formerly known as Pretty Receptionist'...Payal...sigh, so dainty just like her name and so musical just like her voice...yes, a very apt name indeed!)

She looked stunning. There were no two ways about that little fact, Akash noted with a bout of pride as he roamed his eyes over her svelte figure wrapped in a delicate kanjivaram silk sari of many hues coming together to create that perfect blend - who knew narangi and violet could come together so beautifully...well kudos to whoever did because if not for them he would not have had the pleasure of this rather pleasurable sight...maybe he should find out about the designer and offer him a job...

And it was with this thought and behind it the all consuming desire to converse with the model of the dress he so admired that found Akash Malik standing right next to Payal Subramaniam before of course it hit him that his plan' may not have been very well planned out but he had not even started to panic fully when Payal turned towards him and fixed him with a gaze which spoke of her deep lying disdain of him and could he really blame her? He had after all not really ever made a great impression on her...but that was a matter of the past, Akash promised himself grandly! He would impress Payal Subramaniam and he would impress her now.

Yes he would, oh he would, he definitely wou-

"Your parents have been calling your name for the last 5 minutes, Mr. Malik."

-ld impress he-wait what?

"I said your parents have been calling out your name for the last 5 minutes...and no, they don't look particularly impressed with the delay."

And it was then that he realized that he had spoken out loud his last thought and what else could a well meaning but misunderstood man do in such a situation except flush the darkest shade of scarlet before sputtering out an apology and hurrying away from the situation but not before almost tripping over a waiter in the process though.

*****

"We would like to thank you all for coming tonight and allowing us two oldies to feel so special! A special thanks to our son for organizing this wonderful gathering, Akash you have outdone yourself and we are so grateful bachche!"

"Thanks Papa, you and Maa deserve the best and thanks to everyone who is here tonight and to all who couldn't make it but have sent their wishes. The dance floor is now open, ladies and gentlemen, so please enjoy yourself!"

Khushi had just turned on her heel with the intent of whisking a glass of wine to cool down her rather unsettled self when the very reason for all her worries made himself appear out of nowhere right in front of her, his intense gaze only heightening her need for the aforementioned concoction.

"May I please have the pleasure of this dance, Miss. Gupta?"

"NO!" she almost shouted out to him, lowering her voice in the very last moment but her eyes flashing out the level of her annoyance as she made to brush past him, suddenly feeling a painful itch in her eyes, only for her arm to be caught by his hand gently but not light enough for her to shake off the hold and she had no choice but to turn back and look at him, only to look down as his eyes fixed her with a pleading look she had never seen on Arnav and was not sure whether she liked to see it at all.

"Please, Khushi..." his words would have been inaudible to all else but for Khushi they vibrated loud and clear in her ears and she could not help but let her eyes wonder up to his face again.

Misery highlighted his features mixed with a yearning she knew had mirrored her own face every time she had ever spied Arnav dance with any one right from that very first time she had been made to witness it. There was anguish too in the way his eyes had tightened at her delay in responding but what caught her eyes most was the absence of the one emotion which would have made her run away at once - pity.

There was no pity in his eyes, there was no sympathy in the way he looked down at her. He was not doing anything he was doing tonight out of a feeling of pity for her and her broken dreams and that made her heart feel lighter even in the midst of the storm it was being put through.

"Okay..." she heard her voice state, startling even her own self but before she could take back her consent, a brilliant smile had lit up his face and he was leading her onto the dimly lit dance floor with her silently letting him because anyone who has ever been in love would know that for that kind of a smile on the face of your beloved, you would do anything.

And no matter what had happened in the past or what would happen in the future, that was one fact no one could change not even Khushi Gupta herself.

She had lost her heart to Arnav Singh Raizada a long time back.

*****

He probably had not known how much he had missed holding her till the moment his one arm went around her waist and hers looped around, albeit reluctantly, his neck, their free hands holding on to each other as he swept her gently but grandly onto the dance floor, the pallu of her sari tickling the side of his face making him close his eyes and inhale deeply, the effect on Khushi not lost on him either as she squirmed in his arms only to be cocooned further into them.

And then the world ceased to exist.

It was just the two of them, just her for him as they matched their steps to one another, the awkwardness they had both expected floating away just as the music surrounded them - a tune that they both had heard and enjoyed many times before yet it took on a special place in their hearts as the first strands of the familiar music floated in on the unfamiliar moment - mingling with it so beautifully that it became a music that would be etched in their hearts forever as they found the warmth that they had missed for so long.

The last time he had held Khushi so close to himself or rather held her at all had been that day whose night had changed their lives...he had ran to her as soon as he had managed to throw off his excited teammates' heavy arms off him when he had scored the winning runs. He had not even paused before he had with all the right in the world caught hold of her in the midst of the jubilant crowd and pulled her out into his arms.

He still remembered the way she had thrown back her head and screamed out her happiness, laughed till she had tears in her eyes before swooping down and hiding her face in the crook of his neck, hugging him close to herself whispering into his ears that she had never doubted, not even for a minute, that he could do it, that she always knew that he would win, that she always wished that he would win.

And he had only tightened his hold on her waist, leaning her closer to himself, whispering back that he knew, that he had always known and that he was thankful, that he would always be thankful.

And he knew now, as he felt her heart beating against him, that he would give anything to see that carefree smile on her face again, to see that look of pure joy in her eyes, to feel that sense of trust in her touch again.

Because anyone who has ever been in love would know that for that kind of a smile on the face of your beloved, you would do anything.

And his anything started tonight, started now.

And it started with a word.

A word which he whispered in her ear like the ones he had whispered all those years back,

"Sorry."

Next Chapter - Page 27

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*Not proof read

The song that I have imagined Arnav and Khushi dancing to is the Love Theme by Ennio Morricone for the movie 'Cinema Paradiso' -

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq3-s9G25q8[/YOUTUBE]

Please do tell me which song did you imagine! :)

Also I am extremely sorry for the delay in updating but the reason as outlined on Page 6 stands...college is hectic and hence updates are/will be slow :)

Please do leave your feedback for this chapter because I wrote various drafts of parts of this chapter before finally I could allow myself to post this one and so I would love to know what you thought! :)

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