Chapter 4

[MEMBERSONLY]
[NOCOPY]




Last part.

Silence reigned for a few minutes. Everybody was stunned. It was very unusual for ASR to be so vocal.

Sheetal was in tears. Finally, controlling her emotions, she managed to say:

"I am glad that I met you Khushi. I made a mistake by insulting you. I learned the real meaning of Love. I came here in search of love. I always thought that I was the only woman for ASR. But today I have realized that real, selfless love is not everybody's cup of tea. ASR will always have a special place in my heart, but I will be lucky if somebody loves me in my life, ever. I was foolish to think that I would be able to create a crack between you and ASR. I am very sorry Khushi.Will you forgive me, please ?" She asked.

"Ek shart pe, Sheetal ji,hum aapko maaf kar sakte hai!"

"Huh?Shart? kaunsi shart?"

"Yahi ki aap Aarav ko unke Daddy se milwa dijiye."

Tears were replaced by disgust. Sheetal said in very dry tone,"Mai Aarav ko uss insaan se nahi milwa sakti Khushi. Aarav ka daddy Aarav ke laayak nahi hai."

"Lekin yeh toh bataaiye ki aakhir aisi kaunsi baat hai jo aap Aarav ko nahi milwana chaahati unke daddy se?"

"Aarav ke daddy ne hi yeh faisla liya hai ki Aarav ka unki zindagi mai koi sthaan nahi hai.He is a selfish man and a jerk. Aarav's mother, my elder sister Shuhana, died of cancer when he was only one. After few days Mr. Dhruv came to me and said that he wanted to get married again and he didn't have time to waste his jawaani to look after this "boj" ; and so told me to do whatever I wanted to do with this child. He refused to take any responsibility from then on. From that day,I became his mother; and I'll be till last."

Khushi's jaw dropped and when it closed again Sheetal thought she heared something like "soov...la"

"But Shetal ji, you said something about a cup of tea. Let's all have one." Khushi changed the atmosphere with her characteristic enthusiasm.

Everybody was so preoccupied in their own thoughts that nobody noticed NK sighing. He was listening to everything very intently. He was heart-broken when he realized that Sheetal loved Arnav!!!! He felt proud when he heard his Nannav, but was sad as his first love Sheetal loved his brother and now he was afraid of telling her his feelings. "Doesn't matter. I will discuss the matter with Khushi ji. She as solutions to all types of problems', he thought.

He wanted to be alone for sometime, so he excused himself.

When Aarav returned from school, he saw his mother's eyes and understood that she had been crying. He hugged her and said "Mom, please don't cry. I'll never ask you about dad." He couln't bear his mom's tears. But when Sheetal told him to get ready he was confused,"Why mom?"

Sheetal told him that they were shifting from here to their home. He became sad, his eyes were moist and run towards Arnav,"Please ASR!Ask mom to stay for few more days!! I want to stay here, I want to play with you an' NK. I'll be a good boy...please..!"

Before Arnav could reply, Khushi came forward "Oh! Toh Aarav apne ASR an' NK ke saath rehna chaahte hai ? Par yeh log toh pura din Office mai bitaayeinge. Phir aap kya karoge? Aapko apni school bhi toh jaana hoga na? Lekin hum ek kaam kar sakte hai! Aap Sunday ko aa sakte ho apne ASR aur NK ke saath khelne. Kyo, kaisa lagaa hamaara idea?"

Satisfied, Aarav kissed Khushi's cheeks.

Aarav turned towards Sheetal, when she nodded in confirmation, he looked at Arnav, questioningly. Arnav said,"Of course Big Guy! You can."

Aarav hugged him and said "You're the best ASR, I Love you my buddy."

All were happy that their Chhote,Arnav Bitwa or Bhai had been changed for better. Everybody was aware of Khushi's love for him and his protective side for his loved ones. Arnav Singh Raizada was a man who couldn't express his love in words, it was his actions and anger through which he expressed his love;, but you'd got have eyes to read his actions and anger with bottom of your heart. Khushi was the only person,after his Di and mom, who could read this and she had forgiven him when he had apologized to her. How couldn't she ? Their journey started with hatred towards each other and it became worst after guest house incident; but it was their destiny that bound them together for ever. During those taxing times,they had not only fought with each other; but with themselves too!!!

It was time to sleep. Again Arnav thought of their stay at farmhouse the previous night, which had added one more feather in his cap of happiness.

FLASH BACK:

Sunday evening ! When they cleared all the matter about Sheetal, Khushi asked him to return home. He denied and said,"Khushi, muje lagaa ki tum mere saath kuchh samay bitaana chaahti ho!!! Par tumne mere dil tod diya !"

There came his all-time favorite expression on her face, 3 perfect 0...and after seeing that smirk on his face she understood his intentions. "Awww toh aap hamaara majaak uda rahe hai? Jaaiye hum aapse baat nahi karte. Par dekhiye, kuch shaitani karne ki sochiyega bhi mat. Hum akele nahi hai."

"Khushi, what are saying? We are alone."

But she didn't answer.

After so many minnate from him, She made him promise a few things.

She wanted to learn English, so that she can speak fluently.

She wanted to start small restaurant that serves Lucknowy chaats and sweets along with her Dabba service.

She wanted to wear beautiful salwar suits that are designed by him only and for her only.

"Aur aap yeh mat sochiye ki hum yeh sab aapke liye kar rahe hai, ye hum apne liye karna chaahte hai. Aur yeh aapki taraf se hamaara tohfa hai."

She told him,"Arnav ji hum sahi keh rahe hai , hamaare alaawa bhi koi hai. Aap Papa bannewale hai." She blushed and hid her face in ASR's chest.

Monday morning he took appointment of the best gynecologist. He wanted to share this news with their family but before that he wanted to know about her health, so he decided he'll talk to them but only after talking with Dr.Mala.

FLASH BACK ENDS.

Tuesday morning was as usual bright and laughter filled. Arnav told their family that he wanted to take Khushi with him for 2 hours, maximum. No one asked him any question as they knew they would not get any answer from him but they noticed that Khushi was blushing and had a very sweet smile on her lips.

After 2 and a hours when they returned home, Arnav broke the news to Nani that she was going to be great-grandmother. As usual they celebrated this news with shedding happy tears and Manorama mami was happy as now she had one more reason to buy beautiful designer gold jewelries and branded make up kits.

When Arnav was doing some work in the evening, he received an email from Sheetal, that was a resignation letter and she had requested to accept it. When Khushi entered pool side area, she saw that Arnav was in deep thought and when she asked the reason, He said, "Got an email from Sheetal. It's her resignation; and now I will have to search for the new head designer."

"Oh! But why ? Don't accept it and if she asks the reason, then you just remind her of some rules. By the way, I want you to offer a job to Nanheji in AR." When he looked at her face, she was grinning ..like she had some weird idea in her mind ... "Wait," thought he, "Why did she want NK in AR?"

Aloud, he asked, "Khushi, why do you want me to offer a job to your Nanheji?"

"You'll get your answer in a few months." she said, visualizing NK and Sheetal together. The dreamy look on her face told Arnav that she was going to make two more people happy. One was NK; who was the other? Only time will tell.

He got up and walked towards dining area where rest of the family was animatedly discussing Khushi's health.