Chapter 41
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MARRYING KHUSHI
Part 35
"Khushiji!" Anjali looked up from her laptop. "Everything is ready for the fashion show in Lucknow next month. You & Payalji will be accompanying us, won't you? We can meet Amma, Babuji, & Buaji too!" Anjali smiled widely at her.
Khushi nodded, smiling weakly.
"Nani, Mami, & Mama too want to join us. It will be great fun!" Anjali laughed.
Khushi nodded.
Anjali's laughter died away. "Kya hua, Khushiji? Why are you so pale? And you look as though you have been crying." Anjali folded the girl in her arms. "Are you missing Chotey?"
Khushi hugged Anjali tight and buried her face in her neck. She nodded. Her tears wet Anjali's blouse.
"He called in the morning. It is only for three days, Khushiji." Anjali smiled as she smoothed a kind, loving hand over Khushi's tresses.
They sat together for a while. Then Anjali said softly, "Khushiji, I can't tell you how happy I am that Chotey met you and married you. I was scared he would be alone all his life..."
Khushi lifted her head to look at Anjali.
"After our parents' death... after leaving our home to stay with Nani... Chotey became another man. Hard. Determined to succeed. He tried to outrun our past, to conquer it. Buying Sheesh Mahal, our home, back from Chachaji who threw us out after our parents committed suicide, was all he thought about..." Anjali's mind relived her horrific past.
Khushi's face paled.
Anjali looked at Khushi.
"Khushiji, Lucknow is the place where we were born. The place where we spent a happy childhood. The place where my mother found out that my father was having an affair with another woman and shot herself with his gun. The place where our father killed himself two hours after finding our mother's body."
Khushi felt her head spin.
"It was on my wedding day." Anjali sighed. "The groom refused to marry me and he and his family left us to our fate."
Khushi gasped. She caught hold of Anjali's hands and pressed them in empathy.
"And then our Chachaji threw us out." Anjali swallowed. "Khushiji, Chotey has never been to Lucknow in all these years. Aap ko pata he, the first time he went there in years was to buy Sheesh Mahal back."
Khushi stared at her.
"I don't know where he saw you that day, Khushiji, but I give thanks daily to Devi Maiyya that he did. He returned and began planning a fashion show in Lucknow, trying to get new models from Lucknow, girls not familiar with the industry. I think he was looking for you."
Khushi felt tears leak from her eyes.
"I can't tell you how frantically we looked for you. Amanji, Chotey, and I. And only Chotey knew what you looked like. Amanji & I only had an idea that Chotey had fallen in love with some girl he was searching for."
Khushi tried to dry her tears.
"After weeks of looking for you, we were returning to Delhi when we stopped at the market. And Chotey found you!" Anjali smiled. "When Amanji & I saw him dragging you behind him, we knew it was you he had been waiting for, seeking all these days."
Anjali dropped a fond kiss on Khushi's cheek.
"Aap ko pata he, Khushiji, Nani had been trying to get Chotey to marry for the past three years. He would not even glance at the photos of the girls." Anjali cupped Khushi's face. "Because he was waiting for you. Waiting for you to smother him in love. Waiting to meet you so that he could know what love was all about."
The nasty things she had shouted at him rushed through her mind. Khushi shut her eyes in pain.
"You know, Khushiji, you are his gift. The compensation for all the pain and loneliness he suffered most of his life. I can't tell you how happy I am that you and Payalji, Amma, Babuji, & Buaji have become ours. Mittu too."
Khushi tried to smile. What would Anjaliji say if she knew what had happened in their bedroom last night?
Khushi ran to hug Mittu.
"Mittu, hum se bahut badi galti ho gayi! He Devi Maiyya, why did you make me like this? How could I be so foolish that I couldn't see love in his eyes even as I was looking for it?" Khushi wept copiously.
Mittu squirmed and flew away to sit on the headrest of the recliner. She studied Khushi's penitence with her beady eyes.
"What will I do now? He thinks... he thinks I hate him..." Khushi wailed.
Mittu sang,
Mere piya, ho, mere piya gaye rangoon,
Kiya he wahaan se teliphoon...
Kiya he wahaan se teliphoon...
Tumhari yaad sataati hai,
jiya men aag lagaati hai...
Khushi perked up. "Mittu, I will call Arnavji and apologise. Tell him that I didn't mean all that I said..."
The picture of her husband's furious face flashed through her mind. What if he refused to take her call?
She had nothing to lose. She had lost everything anyway. Khushi quickly selected his number and called him.
The phone rang, but he did not answer.
ASR checked his phone during lunch break. Khushi had called. His face became wan. She must have decided to return to Lucknow, and was calling him to finalise their future plans.
He swallowed hard, looking out of the window at the Taj Mahal.
He should call her back. But what if she asked for a divorce?
What if she went to Lucknow and refused to return to Delhi when he went to bring her back?
He should not have tried to make her jealous. It had backfired on him. He massaged his throbbing temples, clueless as to his future actions. He had messed up, big time.
"What is wrong, ASR?" Aman asked, anxious.
"Nothing. Just a headache." ASR turned to return to the hall.
Aman's phone rang. Khushiji!
"Ji, Khushiji. How can I help you?" Aman smiled.
All he could hear was sniffing.
"Khushiji?" Aman asked. Was she sick? Or sad?
"Amanji! Where is Arnavji?" a teary voice asked.
So she was crying. Why was she crying? Was she missing ASR so much? Aman had to hide his smile.
"ASR is attending a conference. In Agra, as I am sure he told you. He is in the hall right now. I am going to join him." Aman set her mind at rest, his tone kind as if she were a child.
"I phooned Arnavji. But he did not take the call." Khushi cried.
"He is busy, Khushiji. His phone is in silent mode. He may not have noticed that you had called." Aman reassured her, smiling.
Khushi burst out crying.
Aman stared at his phone, alarmed.
"What happened? Why are you crying, Khushiji?"
"I want to see him." Khushi sobbed.
Aman hid his smile. So that was why ASR was distracted today. That was the secret behind his headache when normally it was him giving others headaches. New love and all that! And the marriage was in the honeymoon stage. ASR & Khushiji should be spending a week or more holed up in some beautiful hotel somewhere private, enjoying themselves. Instead ASR was in Agra in a hotel near the Taj Mahal & Khushiji was in Delhi, crying!
An idea flashed through Aman's mind. Agra. Taj Mahal. Love. Romance. He almost rubbed his hands in glee.
"Khushiji, would you like to come over to Agra and meet ASR?" he asked.
Khushi jumped at the chance. "Ji. Ji."
"I will arrange it with Anjaliji to engage Mohan to drop you here. Please pack for a week." Aman smiled.
A week? Khushi frowned. But she had better things to worry about than her luggage.
How would Arnavji greet her arrival?
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