Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Ashadaan was bustling with activity this Saturday morning. The children had woken up early, freshened up without any of the usual fuss, gotten dressed and were now bursting with excitement and energy. It was these rare occasions when they were happy to get away from the orphanage premises, breathe fresh air of the outdoors and enjoy the day without any restrictions. Three huge buses had been hired to carry the children to the decided destination, while the small team of teachers had been equally distributed amongst the groups. The Raizadas were going to travel in their own cars, leading the way towards their farmhouse. Khushi was a little anxious, being all too aware of the fact that, Arnav's entire family was going to be around. She wanted to create her best impression, even though Ananya was already very fond of her. Also the surprise for Arnav was going to get difficult to execute, with so many people around. At the moment though, she did not have the time to think about either, as she ran around, finishing the pending tasks at hand.

The six-year-old little Kriya was tailing Khushi, on her tiny feet. Khushi smiled at the little angel, who most of the time, had been acting like a devil' with Arnav. "Kriya, please go and sit with your Pooji didi. You don't want to be tired when we reach the picnic spot, do you? We have to play a lot of games and challenge the boys in some. Save all your energy for that, otherwise you will fall asleep, while the rest of the children will be having fun!" Khushi tried to reason it out smartly with the child, in turn, making Kriya ponder over what her didi had said. She made up her mind, nodded solemnly, placed a swift kiss on Khushi's cheek and ran towards the rest of the children. This is what Arnav saw as soon as he entered Ashadaan. He was always amused by the fact, that a six year old could make him feel jealous. How much he craved to be in Kriya's place to be able to kiss Khushi so freely. He smiled in resignation and walked towards his angel.

Khushi straightened up to look at Arnav Singh Raizada standing in his casual avatar. He had donned sky blue shorts teaming it up with a darker blue linen shirt, that moulded itself snugly to his sculpted body. How was she going to stay away from this deliciously handsome man? He seemed to be in a completely picnicky mood and she was sure that he was going to act like a kid himself. Arnav Singh Raizada, was not in a very different position either. He was stunned by her simple beauty... the sleeveless pink floral tunic top left her slender milky arms bare, making him itch to glide his hands over them. The black leggings accentuated her shapely legs. His Maa, his Dad and Nani were going along on this trip and how was he supposed to keep away from her?

"Hey! Is everything sorted?" Arnav asked huskily, making Khushi look into his deep brown eyes. She nodded and quickly set off to complete another task, not knowing how she was going to conceal her excitement at the surprise, she had planned. "Are you ignoring me, angel?" he was beside her in a flash, demanding her attention and not liking the fact that she was ignoring him. She turned around to look at him and said softly, "Arnav, there are children around, your parents are going to come along with us... it's tough enough to keep myself away from you and you really want to test my patience?" Arnav looked at her, shocked at her open admission of how much he affected her and then grinned wickedly. "I am glad to know this secret, Khushi and will make sure to cash in on it." Glancing around once, making sure they did not have an audience, he bent down and placed a quick kiss on her cheek. And then he was gone, as quickly as he had come, leaving a completely flustered Khushi, trying hard to keep a check on her dhak dhak'.

Once all the children were comfortably seated in the bus, Arnav pleaded with Khushi to come along with him in his car. His mother, father, Nani and Anjali were taking one car and he had planned to take her along with him in his Ferrari. However, Khushi had immediately thwarted his plan and had insisted on accompanying the kids on one of their buses. Akash had accompanied them on this trip only because of her and she did not want to leave her friend alone. If Arnav felt a little jealous at the mention of Akash, he did not let it show. To Khushi's surprise, he parked his beloved car in Ashadaan and accompanied her on the bus along with Anjali, who did not want to miss out on all the fun either.

The ride to the farmhouse was exciting, with everyone on the buses playing antakshari and loudly singing songs, totally off-key. Looking at how happy the children were, Khushi could not contain her own delight. These lovely children deserved all the happiness in the world, and she was glad that the Raizadas were providing them so many opportunities to be happy, have a comfortable life and eventually go on to make a mark in the world. The journey was a two-hour drive from the city. Arnav settled comfortably beside Khushi, leaving a very uncomfortable Akash sitting next to Anjali, who in turn decided to make the most of the opportunity handed to her. "Hi... you are Akash right? I am Anjali, Arnav bhai's sister," she quickly said, before she lost her confidence. For the first time ever, he looked at her, his eyes taking in her innocent face. Her big round eyes, the fringe of hair that settled perfectly on her round face and that flashing smile. Her beauty stunned him and he could only manage to mumble, "Hi, I am Akash... Khush's friend." As a new friendship sparked between these two, the couple seated on the seats ahead, were busy flirting with each other.

"Angel, I have to take you to this one secret place in the farmhouse. It was my favourite place when we used to go there as kids. I am not going to allow anyone else there, and I will require your undivided attention for those few minutes," Arnav whispered, making Khushi tingle with excitement. Some privacy would do them both good, but how were they going to get away from all these people, she wondered. In the meantime, the other duo was deep in conversation. More like, Anjali was busy talking and Akash was listening to her animated chatter. She spoke about how she admired her father, how her brother had taken the Raizada Empire to greater heights with his ideas and made AR Designs what it was today. She spoke of her interest in textile designing and how that could help in innovating his fabrics' exports division. She could have continued forever, telling stories of her entire family and friends and about her business ideas, had they not reached the beautiful, lavish estate of the Raizadas.

Khushi noticed the huge ornate iron gates, opening to the even bigger Raizada Estate. It was a breathtaking sight to look upon the vast expanse of trees and plants, lining the driveway to the main house. These were covered with an amazing profusion of flowers, in every hue and colour. There seemed to be a well-maintained garden and a huge lawn that spread across the estate from her vantage point, which then led to a beautiful modern version of Shantivan. Khushi had imagined an old-looking farmhouse with a traditional style roofs, but nothing had prepared her for something as stunning as this. Arnav said, "Mooh band karo, Khushi... What had you imagined? An old, ramshackle farmhouse...? We have gotten this whole estate renovated a couple of years ago. With our changing lifestyle and needs, Anjie and I had designed this whole place, as per our tastes." He had been noticing with great interest, her shocked expression as she took in the entire property.

Arnav mentally wished that he had brought Khushi here earlier. It would have been wonderful to spend some time alone with her, show her the entire estate, take her through the beautifully laid gardens and take her to his secret hide-out. As the buses came to a halt and the children got out in excitement, Arnav pulled Khushi along with him to show her around the farmhouse. Akash and Anjali followed the duo with Anjali, still chattering about her love for soft toys and how she had got some toys to gift the children today. Akash kept silent, taking in her bubbling excitement, marveling at how someone could be so innocent and happy. Anjali reminded him a little of Khushi, yet she had spunk, a confidence that was like nothing else. He was smiling freely after days, and he thought, coming on this picnic might have been a good idea, after all.

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The kids went crazy, running all over the massive lawn. Some ran towards the swing, some towards the small activity area, some to the basketball court and some just ran towards the pool. However, no one was allowed to jump into the water for safety reasons and were quickly re-directed towards the garden area. Khushi looked at the happy faces of the children, an involuntary smile brightening her face. She remembered the times in the Lucknow orphanage, when Ananya used to come to meet the children with goodies. The knowledge of being loved, of being wanted by someone, was like no other. She gathered the older crowd, instructing them on the various activities they had to carry out with the children. Arnav and she were on the same team to play basketball with one group. The other two teachers were assigned to play some fun games in the lawn area with another batch of children. That left Akash and Anjali together, to lead a group of children and teach them craft and art in the garden.

Anjali was thrilled by this arrangement and to Akash's surprise, he felt happy too. Seeing Arnav and Khushi together, was anyway not going to be a good idea. Anjali was fun and she did most of the talking, leaving him with very little to do. They gathered their group of children and ushered them towards the beautiful rose garden. Akash noticed how well it had been maintained. It had a variety of roses, from red to pink, from white to a very unique purple. The children were running behind pretty colourful butterflies that flew swiftly across the blooming flowers. He heard Anjali speak excitedly, "Bachha party!! Come on here; sit down with your drawing books. I will distribute these crayons, which you will use to draw and colour this beautiful garden on your paper with. Draw the flowers, the colourful butterflies, the green grass and the clean blue sky. Chalo chalo... sab shuru karo..." Akash looked at her, as she very sweetly made the children settle down and urged them to begin their art.

On the other hand, Nani and Ananya had gone to the kitchen to check on the food preparations. Kriya being Ananya's favourite followed her around, leaving behind, the fun filled games. She just wanted to spend time with her badi maa, as the little girl called her. Ananya was the only mother figure that the children in Ashadaan had ever seen. Her affection and warmth is what they craved and Ananya Raizada, had love to give in abundance. Ajay Raizada sat in the grand hall, discussing future plans with the Directors. Even though he was retired, he had a lot of things to share and his inputs were valuable. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, forgetting their age, their status or their responsibilities. With the children, they had turned into children too, experiencing once again, the innocence that they had lost along the way of growing up.

Arnav and Khushi were leading the boys' and girls' teams, respectively. Arnav was pleasantly surprised to see how well Khushi knew the game. He had a pre-conceived notion, that being a girl she would definitely not understand basketball... maybe cricket, as it is a nation-wide rage. However, his angel had stumped him, as she swiftly dribbled the ball to take a lead over the boys. That broke his train of thought, as the competitive spirit quickly claimed him. He charged up the boys and then quickly led them to equalize the score. While winning the ball away from Khushi, he would touch her slightly, distracting her. Everything that those cheesy romantic movies showed was definitely effective. She tried to keep away from him throughout the game, yet he did not let even one chance slip from his hands, where he could get close to her. A hand going around her petite waist, a touch across her slender arm, a slight brush against her pert chest... he did everything to make her restless and that definitely got the required result. The boys won the game and were seen cheering and gloating for a really long time after the match was over.

"Angel... Are you angry with me?" Arnav asked concerned, especially when he had seen Khushi ignore him throughout lunch. She tried to move away from him, but he was faster. He quickly held her hand and dragged her with him to a corner of the lawn. "Leave me Arnav, what are you doing?? Someone might see us. Your family is close by Arn... please leave my hand," Khushi begged Arnav to let go of her, but he was beyond caring. "I don't care if someone sees us Khushi. What will happen if they do? Eventually we do have to tell them about us right? Toh aaj kyon nahi?" Arnav said in irritation, leaving a shocked Khushi staring at him. Without giving her time to recover, he continued, "I don't like it when you are upset with me, Khushi. I don't like it when you ignore me. I always want to be the center of your attention and your sole focus. I was just teasing you, angel... can't I do even that?" Khushi sighed and wound her arms around him and said, "You can... and much more Arnav. I was just a little uncomfortable with the idea of everyone coming to know about us like this. Isn't it better we tell them ourselves instead?" He looked down at her lovingly and nodded in agreement, kissed her forehead and held her even tighter.

"Oh my God!! Oh my God!! Oh my God!! Bhai and Khushi... Khushi and Bhai... they are together!!! Oh my God!!" Anjali squealed in delight and thankfully, her only audience was an amused Akash. He held her by the shoulders and tried to stop her from jumping up and down. "Shhh... someone might hear. Stop shouting," he spoke sternly. "Yeah shhh... Shhh..." she said, mostly to herself, trying to calm her excited mind, but something clicked in her head and she turned towards Akash and asked, "You knew it already, didn't you? You knew they were dating... that is why you look as cool as a cucumber. How long has this been going on? And, how didn't I notice it? Oh my God!! Mom is going to be so happy... even Nani... I had heard them talking about Bhai and Khushi the other day..." A slightly irritated Akash cut her interrogation short, by saying, "Do you always keep snooping around other people, trying to overhear or see something that you are not supposed to?"

Anjali looked at him suddenly, hurt by his words. The excitement she had felt a few minutes ago, transformed into a slight anger, as she answered his question, "I don't generally care about the rest of the world, but this is about my Bhai... and everything about him is extremely important to me." She walked away, leaving a stunned Akash gaping at her, when she turned around and added, "And one more thing. I am not going to tell anything about this to my family and neither am I going to question Bhai about it. It is their story to tell, not mine... I was just excited by the news and thought you would be too." She turned around and almost sprinted away from him to join the children. If this mini ASR had intrigued Akash Roy earlier, he was completely bowled over now. One moment, she was jumping excitedly like a small kid and the next, she was lecturing him like a grandmother. He recollected how she had spit fire at him right now, muttering curses softly. He smiled at the thought, without realizing that it was the first genuine warm smile on his face, after months of gloom and despair.

The kids had finally been allowed to enter the pool, around which everyone else had settled too... the Raizadas, Akash, Anjali, the teachers and an extremely nervous Khushi. She had managed to take a look around the entire property once, to find a secluded place, where the intrusion of family and friends would be difficult. Not all the children were in the pool, as some loitered around the garden with a few security men watching over them. Khushi quietly managed to sneak away, right under her laad governor's nose. It was time to finally put her plan into action. Her heart was thudding heavily in her chest, as she sprinted across the garden area to a secluded spot covered by thick bushes. Keeping aside the things she had got, she quickly pulled out her phone to type a message. "Arnav, come behind the garden to the small seclusion on the right... alone... fast!" She put the phone back into her pocket and waited patiently, arranging the things she had brought along.

When Arnav glanced at his phone to see a message from Khushi, he looked around to spot her. Amidst the chaotic party by the poolside, he could not see her angelic face. He wondered, when she had sneaked away from there and felt agitated with himself that he hadn't noticed it. When he read her message, immediately he was worried... fast!! What? Why? He dialed her number quickly, as he took quick strides towards the garden. The call went unattended and he almost began running. What had gone wrong? Why had Khushi left alone and what was she doing in a secluded area, dammit!! As he neared the turning towards the area that he thought Khushi had mentioned, he slowed down a bit and then stood stunned. His beautiful angel stood a few feet across from him... and the look on her face made him realize that this was going to be one of the most memorable moments of his life...

Chapter 28

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