Chapter 30

Chapter 17

Shashi Gupta was smirking. Oh yes, he was.

And he had a good reason to smirk also. Because finally, finally, FINALLY he had realised what exactly was being hidden by him by his darling daughter and sweetheart wife since last night.

The reason behind that brilliant smile on his daughter's face and the lightness in his wife's eyes. The reason behind why his daughter and his wife had spent an entire night talking and yet not a tinge of fatigue had marred either of their beautiful faces.

HE HAD FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT!

And who had helped him with the realisation or rather the confirmation of what had been going around in unrecognised circles in his ageing but still sharp mind? Who else but the one man he had always trusted to be by his side in his most troubling times, the one man on whom he leaned the most right after his wife and daughter, the one man who went around by the name of Arnav Singh Raizada.

The way Arnav had sprinted on hearing Khushi was unable to attend the office because she was behaving strangely had finally put two and two together in his mind and viola! he had his answer!

And the answer you ask?

Well Arnav and Khushi were friends again!

And finally, after a long long LONG time Shashi Gupta let out a long breath of relief because finally after a long long LONG time things would be back to the way he liked them - peaceful.

Just how mistaken he was would become clear to him soon, very soon because just when had things concerning Arnav and Khushi ever been peaceful?

Even when they had been friends in their childhood, they had wrecked havoc together. From destroying the neighbours' garden by letting lose Arnav's honestly malicious beagle (who was so aptly named 'Ma Beagle' after a character who was not nearly half as malicious as her when the USP of the character was that she was one evil beagle!) in it whose favourite pastime was digging holes just because the neighbour had refused to partake in the chanda' for Ganesh Chaturthi to disabling a teacher's chair in school so that it fell and she sprawled on the ground because she had dared to slap a classmate ("Corporal punishment is not allowed, Papa! Arnav and I were just teaching her a lesson!") to the times they used to dismantle various appliances around the house just because they were bored.

Yes, you read that right.

Because they were bored.

No other reason.

None at all.

And they did this not in their own houses...

They did this in others' houses because they were bored.

Bored.

So going by this historical record, Shashi Gupta's relief seemed to be a tad bit...misled.

But he was not yet aware of his miscalculation and so he called his PA to his office and declared that he was off to his house and if need be he can be contacted on his home number before picking up his briefcase and sauntering out to the basement, whistling to the tune of Suhaana safar aur yeh mausam haseen'...

__________

He entered his house on this Friday just like he did on every Friday since his marriage to Garima, his briefcase in his left hand and a bouquet of assorted flowers wrapped in recycled paper in his right, yelling out her name just like he did every day as soon as he stepped foot inside their house.

But today Garima did not come rushing downstairs to welcome him with a peck on his cheek like she had every day since they had gotten married, today no one but Om Prakash came to take his briefcase from him and to, after that, answer his questions regarding the anomaly.

"Madam ghar pe nahin hai, Sahab. Woh Khushiji aur Arnavji ke saath baahar gayyee hain."

Shashi allowed Om Prakash to carry away his briefcase, distractedly telling the man who had been their family's loyal companion for about 10 years that he would not be needing his usual tea and snacks that evening and that he would prefer to be left alone unless absolutely necessary, the last part coming out in a vaguely biting tone making Om Prakash decidedly cautious.

*****

"Arnav! Stop it!" she admonished through gritted teeth, glaring at him from beneath the long curly lashes, her eyes purposefully drifting from his to her mother standing a few feet away and back to him as she made her point.

"Maine kya kiya?" he replied in an exaggerated whisper, a picture of innocence in double quotes as he gave her a decidedly NOT innocent wink.

"Haath pakadne ki koshish band karo!" she ordered, her eyes darting over to where her mother stood carefully perusing through the pasta aisle for her preferred brand and type.

"Main kyon koshish karoonga when you yourself keep brushing your hand against mind, Miss. Gupta! Really Khushi, thodi toh sharam karo! Your mother is right here!" he tsk-ed at her aghast expression before taking a couple of giant steps and standing right next to her mother, engaging her in a conversation about how he wished to eat Fusili and that should clinch all arguments about what kind of pasta to buy but not before turning back and smirking at her.

And though Khushi felt like smacking him right in the middle of the swanky supermarket, she more strongly felt like laughing herself silly and jumping on his back to take piggy rides like she used to in their childhood, thanking her stars for the millionth time for working out the way they had and she found herself shaking her head, a smile lighting her face and walking over to the two of the most important people in her life and of course making sure that her hand did brush across Arnav's as she did, smirking back at his shocked expression and telling him without any words that two could play the game...and specially when the said game was so enjoyable!

But only to gasp out almost as she felt his fingers trail up her arm and rub the insides of her elbow gently before she had the good sense to tug her arm out of his grasp and attempt to glare at him, only to find her gaze softening as he assaulted her with his personal best version of puppy dog eyes.

"Tum dono ki flirting khatam ho gayyee ho toh kya hum log dinner menu pe concentrate kar sakte hain?"

Thus spoke the mother and the change in mood of the youngsters was instantaneous as they both almost fell over each other and the various cans and tins stacked in the aisles in their haste to make it look like they were not affected and of course succeeding in flying colours in the exact opposite making Garima chuckle and shake her head at the stupidity of her children.

"What Maa?! Me and him?! YUCK!"

"What aunty?! Me and he-what did you say?"

The tone of Arnav's voice fell a notch lower as he scrutinised Khushi with narrowed eyes, all of the attempt at pretending to not be affected by anything unusual discarded without a second thought and Khushi could only roll her eyes at just how easily Arnav gave himself (and her by extension!) away in front of her mother.

But even as she rolled her eyes at the man in front of her, a big part of her heart rejoiced at the authenticity of Arnav's reaction to the possibility of her not being on board with the alliance that her mother was proposing between them, even if she was lying about it.

However Khushi was saved from having to respond verbally to Arnav's moment of insecurity as peals of laughter from her mother bought about the realisation in Arnav and he was left blushing in front of the two Gupta women.

"Aunty!!!!" he whined even as Khushi joined in and the mother and daughter laughed at his expense.

"Uff...you two! Itna toh tum log tab bhi nahin sharmaaye the jab you two sneaked in Ma Beagle* to school and let her lose on your principal!" Garima gasped out, pinching the bridge of her nose to stop the laughter and once that mission was achieved, she pinched Arnav's nose with the same hand before beckoning him into a warm hug, whispering a "Finally!" into his ears and succumbing to laughter once again as she felt his cheek warm up at her teasing.

*****

The trio reached home only to be told by a harried Om Prakash that Sahab had locked himself up in his study since he had returned home and had even refused his customary cup of chai and had not even peeped out once, even to attend to couriers which required his signatures.

"Nikle hi nahin matlab? Office mein toh kuch nahin hua na, Arnav?" a stressed Garima asked Arnav even as she climbed up the stairs to her husband's office.

"Nahin aunty, jab tak main wahan tha tab tak toh kuch nahin hua tha...I dont know mere jaane ke baad kya hua but as far as I can remember, aaj kuch khaas kaam tha nahin office mein..." Arnav replied as he made to follow Khushi who was already hot on her mother's heels.

But before Khushi could add in her two cents or Garima could process Arnav's reply and cross question, Shashi Gupta had exited his study and stood at the top of the staircase peering down at the three of them with a decidedly grumpy expression.

"Shashi? Are you okay? Aapki tabeeyat theek hai?" Garima asked him, halting for a second before sprinting up the remaining stairs and coming to a stop next to her husband, who to her annoyance, decided that he would much rather not answer her question and instead go downstairs.

She opened her mouth to confront him regarding the same but something about the way he looked at Khushi and Arnav caught her attention instead making her rewind back on her reaction and motion Arnav and Khushi to remain silent as well as the three took in Shashi walk sulkily into the kitchen and then hear him berate poor Om Prakash for not even offering him a cup of tea, not listening to any of his explanations and then witness him stomping out of the kitchen and glaring at the three of them before attempting to make his way back to his study.

Attempting because he did not succeed as he was apprehended midway by an amused looking Garima.

"Mujhe meri study jaana hai!" he muttered, not looking at her...until he heard an "Awww" from his wife at which point he glared at her but was unable to hold it for the desired time as he suddenly found himself being hugged tight by Garima, much to his and from the look on their faces Arnav and Khushi's surprise.

"Khushi, take a picture of your Dad because what you are witnessing right now is a classic Shashi Gupta tantrum!" she joked as she let her husband struggle out of her embrace but not before doing a long "Awww" once again much to her husband's chagrin as he scowled at her.

"What happened Dad? Kya hua?" Khushi asked her father, not entirely convinced of how lightly her mother was making the entire situation out to be.

"Kuch nahin." Shashi replied in a tone that suggested otherwise rather strongly and Khushi exchanged a worried look with Arnav who too was trying to gauge Shashi's mood and reaction from where he stood.

But before he could put out his own question, Shashi had burst out in annoyance, indignation dripping from every word, "Tum sab ne mujhe bataya bhi nahin!"

"Kya nahin bataya Uncle?" Arnav asked, his eyes requesting Khushi to keep her composure as he spied her own eyes widening and discomfort descending in them, realising in that split second that Khushi was not entirely ready for their little secret to come out in open in front of everybody just yet and to be honest he too felt the same way. Garima aunty knowing about the two of them was still okay because she had always been more like a friend but for some reason Shashi knowing exactly how not plaintive his feelings were for his daughter was not something that Arnav looked forward to at the moment.

"Tum toh chup hi raho!" Shashi retorted before turning to meet Garima's loving gaze head on and saying in his best sad voice, "How could you not tell me?! Me?! Me who has had to bear the repercussions of this thing the most?! Me who had to almost make Dispirin a regular feature of my diet because certain two people could never keep their voices down when talking to each other?! Me who had to bear the two of them fighting like cats and dogs and actually pay employees extra because of the mental trauma these two put them through with their constant fights?! How could you not tell me?! ME?!"

The three accused looked at each other - in part guilty and in part alarmed as they tried to consider all possibilities of how Shashi could have possibly come to know of what had transpired between the two of the three accused and they were in the middle of trying desperately to telepathically communicate their concerns with one another when Shashi spoke up again,

"How could you not tell me that Khushi and Arnav were on talking terms again instead of wanting to bite each other's head off every conversation?! How could you not tell me that Khushi and Arnav were friends again?!"

Next chapter - Page 120
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*Ma Beagle - MojoJojo's (Arnav's current dog) mother. The dog that Arnav rescued as a kid and then threw a tantrum to keep.

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