Part 16

Carefully handling a tall glass of turmeric-milk and some medicines, Anjali made her way to Khushi's room later that evening, with a worry-filled heart. Vikrant had briefly told them about his conversation with Khushi and to be patient with her. And they all decided to take one day at a time!

That was why Anjali apprehensively approached her erstwhile sister-in-law, a girl she had unknowingly wronged and now-a-sister, all 3 relations made Khushi as dear to her as Arnav was. So, she patiently waited for any signs of anger or any words of question from Khushi long after she silently took the medicines.

And finally, unable to contain her anxiety, Anjali asked, "Humse naaraz ho (are you upset with me)?"

Khushi frowned and shook her head in denial.

"Toh ghussa ho (then are you angry)?"

"No, Di, I am not angry with you."

Anjali cupped the side of her face with love, "you have every right to be angry and upset with me, Khushi. Just don't hurt yourself with keeping everything within, ok?"

All secrets, all lies, all broken trusts aside, one thing was sure to Khushi that Anjali had never meant bad for her. At least not knowingly. In fact, in the past 3 years, all Khushi remembered was how Anjali did everything in her capacity to ensure that Khushi's every small and big wish was fulfilled, had given her maternal warmth in capacity of an elder sister, had ensured that Khushi didn't feel alone when the nightmares of her forgotten past haunted her, and perhaps had taken unimaginable measures to keep her away from whatever mystery her past had.

Including Arnav.

Sighing, Khushi allowed Di to envelope her in a warm hug.

A moment later, separating from the hug, she then heard Anjali ask in a carefully soft tone, "Ek baat puche? Sach sach bataogi? (If I ask you something, will you tell me the truth)?"

Khushi nodded.

"Are you not happy knowing that you are Arnav's wife? I thought you liked him."

"I did."

"You did?" Anjali asked, confused about the use of past tense.

"I mean, I probably still do. But knowing of our marriage- that he is my husband, I cannot think of him that way now, Di. I don't know how we were before, how we fell in love, how he proposed to me, how we married, I don't know anything. It is all unknown. He is unknown. So, I just- I don't think I am ready to be his wife, yet, di." Khushi franticly confessed, breaking Anjali's heart for her.

"Hey, it's ok, gudiya." Anjali said, comforting her as well as feeling guilty, "You don't have to accept everything right away."

Khushi didn't know all the skeletons of her past but knew that Anjali had legit reasons for what she did.

Still one thing bothered her. And she had to ask it.

"Di, if I ask you something now, will you tell me the truth?"

"Yes." Anjali's reply was instant, as she said so wiping the corners of her teary eyes.

"Why did you hide that Arnav was my husband?"

Anjali's eyes held truth as she answered, "Because I believed he was wrong for you. I believed you would be happy without him."

"And now you don't think so?"

Anjali smiled, holding her hand in her own, "Now I believe you to take right decision for yourself! You will decide if he makes you happy, you will decide if he can be your husband, Khushi. And I will always be there with you in every decision that you will make."

Somewhat satisfied with her answer, Khushi nodded and turned to switch the nightlamp.

Her Di said the decision was hers. But why did it feel it was better when she didn't have to decide anything?

--*--

It was the next afternoon that ASR's cabin saw an intense discussion going on with the information given by Anjali about Khushi's reservation against Arnav. She had acted indifferent to him post the truth-revelation because the in-between steps from crush to dating to proposal to marriage were entirely omitted for her!

"Naturally. If tomorrow, someone I have a crush on- say Robert Pattinson, tells me one day that I am his wife, I would also react in similar ways." Kashish said shrugging her shoulders and made Aman give her a deathly glare.

She was there to help her brother with this strange fix his life had landed him in. And in this mission with her was her new boyfriend Aman and Arnav's ex-girlfriend-turned-friend Lavanya.

Speaking of boyfriend, after that unexpectedly filmy way Aman had expressed his feelings for her a few weeks ago through that riddle, she had chickened out and made an excuse, ending the call abruptly. And that had got him so worked up that he landed at her door-which in this case meant Raizada mansion's door- to confess his love. Thankfully, he had not rung the doorbell and only called her to meet him at the door. So no one, especially Arnav, was aware of this late-night love confession! And upon her excited approval of Aman's feelings, they had officially started dating...

It had been almost 3 weeks now.

Even though Arnav had not confronted them yet, Kashish and Aman suspected he already knew about them...

But right now, the spotlight wasn't their story, it was Arnav-Khushi's story.

So, she ignored Aman's glare at her previous comment and straightened in her chair as she heard her brother say,

"So, Khushi doesn't know me well, I am a stranger to her, that's the problem, right?" Arnav asked.

"That is THE problem, brother. Knowing your social and interpersonal skills, we have no hope of making any progress for the next 10-20 years!" Kashish said in sarcasm.

"What rubbish! I can woo her; I did the first time remember?" ASR remarked, rolling his sleeves.

Lavanya, Kashish and Aman exchanged looks. It was not that they did not believe him but it was not exactly easy either to imagine a romeo- Arnav!

It was then that Kashish came up with an idea to make a breakthrough!

"Why don't we try with personification? I mean, let's assume that Lavanya is Khushi, and you have to charm her. Show us how you will do it."

Hearing this, Lavanya's eyes twinkled with mischief. As far as her association with ASR went, he didn't know S of sweet-talks! Well, in his defense, he didn't need to. His good looks, his impeccable grooming and his gentlemanly aura automatically attracted women's attention.

But "the woman" in question here was beyond all this. She was already his wife, with a memory loss and in denial of letting him come closer!

Arnav couldn't believe he was really doing this. In fact, he wasn't really on-board with the idea at all. But with 2 ladies and a personal assistant looking at him with challenge and disbelief, he had to prove that he could indeed charm Khushi.

So, taking confident strides, he came and stood in front of Lavanya. He tried hard to imagine Khushi's face in her place, her shy smile in Lavanya's mischief-filled one and her perfectly silky hair framing her gorgeous face in Lavanya's curtain bangs!

Here it goes, his mind uttered and he spoke,

"Khushi. I want to say, ki tum mere sath dinner pe chalo. Tonight." He said in a single breath, without any emotion. Phew. Done. That wasn't so hard.

But he was proven wrong.

"Why?" Lavanya asked.

"What do you mean by why? Bass chalo." came another flat, clinical reply!

Lavanya gave up. Raising her hands in surrender, she turned around. "ASR! If you ask her out this way, let alone dinner, she will not even come for a cup of tea!"

Kashish too slapped her forehead while Aman whispered in her ears, "Kash, I do better than that right?"

Kashish's reproachful glare made him zip his lips.

"Whatever! I don't need this stupid drama to talk to Khushi. I will handle it." Arnav said and rudely dismissed the 3-very-helping-people!

.

.

Everything said and done, Arnav soon realized he had a difficult task at his hand. Not because he was speaking with her emotionlessly as Kashish had described, but because khushi was simply not giving him the time of day! Resolute to avoid any alone time in his presence, she ensured that they were always surrounded by people whether at home or in the office and thus he found it almost impossible to reach her, to reach her heart.

And if he couldn't reach her heart, how would he make her trust himself as a closer ally than a distant entity as she had kindly termed him?

It was the 3rd day of her successfully avoiding Arnav's attempts to get her alone. Khushi knew they had to talk eventually, but she was simply delaying that inevitable moment...she didn't know what he expected from her. But from her side, she was not able take the role of his wife yet.

And thus, when she saw him leaning against the wall next to the door to her room, she turned on her heel with an intention to take the opposite direction.

"Until how long do you plan to avoid me, Khushi?" he asked loud enough, making her stop in her step.

And in just two long strides, he reached her.

Although he had not touched her physically, his presence around her enveloped her and she felt that same pull towards him that she always did in these 3 years. It was thankfully familiar...

She slowly turned around, and lifted her downcast eyes to look at him...

Her startled, nervous hazel eyes met his resolute gaze. And with just a raised eyebrow and tilt of his head, her denial and refusal to his blame had vanished.

There was no way out now.

So, she chose to tell the truth. At least it would help him adjust his expectations from her. "I cannot accept you my husband suddenly Arnav...I- our marriage, I don't remember any of it."

Arnav's gaze softened. Who better than him understood the turmoil of her not remembering? And truth be told, he was ok her not remembering that small part called 'their marriage' for now. At least the specific details of how "grand" it was, what with all him blackmailing her, harshly dragging her to the temple etc...

So, he cleared his throat and honestly replied. "I know you do not remember our marriage, Khushi. And I know it is not your fault. But why are you avoiding me? Why are you keeping your distance from me?"

Khushi nervously fiddled with the helm of her kurti...

"Do you want me to go away?" and with just that one question, he hit the right target. And got the intended result.

Because she instantly looked up in shock, and cried out, "NO!"

He smiled.

Khushi, now totally flustered and confused, tried to explain, "I- I mean to say don't go- uh- I...I mean- I don't know what I want, Arnav." she weakly tried to explain her hazy state of mind.

"Then let me help you." he said, in all honesty he could muster...

Khushi sighed. What was she supposed to say? That her heart was in two parts, one that was still processing the thrill of knowing that this man was hers while the second was utterly scared about what else lied uncovered in her past. What else could be unknown to her. True, she always knew that not all of her past was told to her and her family had hidden a lot from her, but she kept a positive view and hoped whatever it was, it was not going to affect her present and future. Little did she know that her present and future were inseparable from her past!

Because they all led her to one man. Arnav!

And thus, a natural reply came to her lips, as she whispered, "Ok."

His dazzling smile after hearing that was worth all the dilemma for her! How many days she had spent losing her heart to his rare-yet-sincere smiles, how many nights she wished upon the stars that she become the reason for his happiness? And now, knowing that she indeed had a right to receive his undivided love and attention, she felt she could do this, she felt that she could trust him to reacquaint her with what was their love story...

--*--

Inspector Sameer was looking at the report in his hands with frustration. Almost 2 weeks of following with Shyam's call trace with the vehicle dealer and he had no lead.

Currently, he had gathered all his team as they went through the information they had so far.

Shyam had met a car dealer in Lucknow. Tried test drives of a few cars. Met someone named Malik. And then left.

There was radio silence after that.

What was he up to?

"Who the hell is this, Malik? Did you find out?" Sameer asked, but they all nodded their heads in denial.

"I need more leads on this, Team! Someone is helping him on the ground! And what about his car deal? Shyam took test drives of the cars. But didn't buy them. Surely, he was not interested in enjoying merry-go-rounds around Lucknow!" Sameer spoke his thoughts in a loud voice.

"But he could, if it was a BMW sir. Those cars are-" one of his subordinates casually commented, making Sameer's eyes flash in some realization.

"Wait a minute. Which all cars did he drive?" he asked, looking through the scattered papers in front of him at the same time.

His team members frowned but one of them read out from the report, "A BMW, a Toyota, and a Tata Safari."

Sameer quickly typed something into his computer, and exclaimed in disbelief, "That's it! This is the exact fleet of cars that Raizadas own! 2 of BMW 4 series, 2 Toyota Innova's and a white Tata Safari!"

The team members still clueless, one of them asked, "So?"

"So, he is not planning to buy any one those, he is getting himself familiarized with their architecture, their brakes, their driving, their interiors, basically everything that can or cannot lead to an accident."

"But still, I don't understand how he will use that for Raizada family's cars?" one of them asked.

Sameer didn't bother answering, instead he instructed his detective in the team, "Get me all the information about scheduled services of all these cars that Raizadas own. Also, give me personal contacts of all these dealers that do routine maintenance of their cars. I want a biodata, a Janam-kundli, of every single employee of these dealers, got it?"

"Copy, sir!" they all replied in unison.

Shyam Manohar Jha's days were numbered. Or so they hoped.

--*--

Precap: "So, you were waiting for me. And you were worried because I was getting late." Arnav asked her in a teasing tone, making her more flustered than ever!

"N-nahi toh (not at all). I wasn't waiting for you, neither was I worried." Khushi replied with a fake determination in her stuttering voice.

--*--

A/N - Hope the romance part is coming along ok? Especially Arnavji's (in)famous underhanded means to get to her? I had promised you all that this is a story about falling in love beyond boundaries- despite no memories of the past, with Khushi following her heart and with a redeemed Arnav and I hope I'm keeping my word. See ya soon.