Chapter 7
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[MEMBERSONLY]
rulama 2014-01-09 23:07:18
[NOCOPY]
THANKING ARNAV
Part 7
The rest of the guests were enjoying their dinner when Khushi saw ASR motioning towards the steps with his head. He slowly moved away and out of the room without attracting undue attention.
Khushi gave the loaded dinner tables a regretful glance and slowly moved away in the direction indicated by him. She followed him up the steps to his room, crossed its length, went out through his garden by the pool and up the steps to the terrace.
He was standing at one end of the terrace, waiting for her. Mild light from thousands of fairy lights strung in chains all over the terrace fell on his face. Khushi swallowed nervously. It was just the two of them, a fate she had tried very hard to avoid.
ASR turned to look at Khushi. She was standing near the door, hesitant to come closer to him.
"Shut the door and come in, Khushi. We have a lot to talk about." His voice was low.
He watched her turn to lock the door and then walk up to him on unsteady feet, a fairy gliding towards him. She stopped a few feet away from him.
"Closer, Khushi," he instructed.
She moved a few steps closer.
"Khushi."
"Hum aapko bata doon, I have not stolen anything from you." Khushi said, trying to prove her innocence.
"You have."
"I have? What?"
"My sleep."
"Hum machar thodi na he ki I will steal your sleep!" Khushi protested.
"You are more dangerous than machar."
"Uuggh?"
"You have stolen my peace." Arnav said.
Khushi looked at him, her eyes wide, her mouth open. What was wrong with him? But soon her amazement was replaced by glee.
"You can't call the police and complain that I have stolen your neend and chain," she giggled.
"You are a menace, Khushi Kumari Gupta. You won't let me work in peace. You come in between with your smiles and your jokes," ASR said. His voice was casual in the extreme, but his eyes were alert.
Khushi frowned at him.
"Aapko ek doctor ki sakt zaroorat he," Khushi said finally.
"I need you, not a doctor." ASR said.
Khushi looked away.
"Khushi, who do you think about when you go to sleep?" he asked.
"Devi Maiyya first. Then I think about you. How can I not? You irritate me so much that I spend my nights plotting ways to make you pay." Khushi said with conviction.
"And who do you think about when you wake up?" he asked softly.
"You. I think about how I can put my plans to thwart you in action." Khushi smiled.
As ASR watched, the wind blew her unbound hair over her shoulder and across her face. She lifted her hand to brush the strands away.
ASR caught hold of her hand.
Khushi stared at him.
He tugged her closer still and looked at her palm.
"A?" he asked.
Khushi paled and tried to get sole use of her hand back but to no avail.
"Why have you written 'A' in your mehendi, Khushi?" Joy laced his voice.
"Woh... woh... I said 'K'. That lady must have been deaf. She wrote 'A'." Khushi pouted, shifting all the blame on to the lady.
"She wrote right, Khushi. I am not letting you write any other alphabet on your palm. Not as long as I am alive." ASR staked his claim.
ASR looked at Khushi's pale face.
"You asked me, 'Farak kyon padta he?'" he said slowly.
Khushi swallowed. ASR's eyes traced the movement of her throat muscles.
"Farak padta he, Khushi. Everything that you do, say, don't do, don't say... they all make a difference to me. Because I love you," he confessed.
ASR watched Khushi's wan face, her chest that remained still as she had forgotten to draw breath.
"Will you marry me, Khushi?" he asked.
He watched as Khushi's eyes filled with tears. She turned away from him.
"Khushi."
Khushi made to leave him.
ASR caught hold of her arm. "Khushi."
She stood silent, her head lowered.
"Khushi, I want an answer." It was more a plea than a demand.
"Will you change your mind if I say 'yes'?" she asked.
ASR stared at her.
She pulled her arm out of his hold.
"Lavanyaji thought you would marry her. She bought clothes, planned your honeymoon, let her family and friends know... and at the last minute, you changed your mind. She left in tears."
"Khushi."
She turned to face him. She had nothing more to hide.
"If you do the same with me, it will hurt Jiji & Jiju. It will damage the relationship between your family and mine. The Buaji who is now singing your praises will run after you with her belan."
ASR stared at the small smile on her face, his own face drawn & pale.
"So think twice before proposing to me," she warned.
ASR stared at her, his heart in his mouth.
"I"I am tired of crying. Ten years. I"I have been alone for ten years. When I get married, I want a good man who will stay by me for ever, in good times and bad. I don't want someone who changes his mind whenever the wind changes direction." Khushi's direct eyes looked in to his.
"Shall we get married now, Khushi?" he asked.
Her brows flew up.
"I did not want to marry Lavanya, but I do want to marry you. Desperately."
Khushi looked at him.
"Khushi, do you love me?" he asked.
"Yes." What was the use of hiding the truth? "I don't know why, but..." Khushi paused.
ASR swallowed. He needed to go down on his knees and thank her Devi Maiyya for this blessing.
"Like a moth attracted by the flame, I come running to you even after you hurt me with your words and actions," she mused.
"I am sorry, Khushi. For hurting you. For making you cry," he said softly.
Khushi looked at him, silent.
"After the guests leave, I will talk to both families and get their permission. We can marry tomorrow," he offered.
Khushi nodded. "Are you sure?" she asked.
"More sure than I have been about anything in my life." His voice was clear and determined. "Khushi, do you want me to propose before everyone?"
Khushi looked at him.
He walked to her and bent on one knee.
"Marry me, Khushi." he begged.
"I will marry you, Arnavji. But leave the dramebaazi and nautanki to me. Why are you standing on one knee like a kid in nursery punished for some mischief? Udh jaayiye." She helped him stand up. "You don't have to lower yourself in the eyes of the world to prove your love to me. Just don't hurt me like you hurt Lavanyaji. That's all."
"Never, Khushi." he promised.
"She could run away to England to her family. Where will I run off to? I have no where to go if you decide not to marry me at the last minute." Khushi said directly.
"Khushi, as long as I am alive, I will never leave you. And if you leave me, I will"die." ASR whispered.
Khushi looked in to his eyes. She couldn't bear to see the torment there any longer. She rushed to him and hugged him tight.
The lovers stood on the terrace in each other's arms, lost to the revelry downstairs.
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