Chapter 35

"I hurt you a lot, don't I?"

She pretended to have not heard anything and kept staring at the screen where another episode of Ghost Whisperer had been loaded. Arnav sighed. The hurt was so evident on her face he could have shot himself dead right there for inflicting that on her. He took her hand in his.

Aakhein band karloun jo main
Dekhoun bas tumhein

"I'm sorry, yaar..." he whispered, trying to bring her knuckles to his lips and kiss it but she deftly snatched it away and tucked her hand under her chin on her knees. Defeated, he buried his face in her hair, on her shoulder. They stayed like that in silence for quite a long time. Khushi's gaze remained fixated on the television although she didn't really see what was happening there as her vision was clouded by her own tears.

Khwabon mein hi keh sakta houn
Apna tumhein

"Why do you always do this to me?" she finally spoke, her voice leaden with agony, making Arnav look up at her. She stared back at him, the hurt in her brown depths sending arrows and spears of guilt through his heart. "You always hurt me, you make me angry, and you make me want to never speak to you again... I want to punish you in the worst way possible..." she sobbed, hiccups interrupting her from time to time as he watched burning in the fires of culpability. "Sometimes I want to leave you and go off somewhere and never come back... and let you die of regret! But then... you come back with this... this apology that melts my heart and determination and..."

Rehne de mera yeh vehem pe hi yakeen
Na jaa abhi...

Frowning, he cupped her cheek and brought her head to his shoulder, shifting both of them so that she sat there, nestled in his lap, while he hugged her tight. Her tears dripped silently from her eyes onto his crisp shirt. Arnav let her pour it all out.

Pyaar ki yeh raat hai
Ab na jaa
Chhoti si ek baat hai
Ab na jaa

"I'm so sorry, Khush..." he muttered as he rocked her slowly, his forehead against her temples. "I don't want to go away from you, ever, but you must try and understand... What I am doing now, it's for us, for our future..."

She lifted her head to look at him in confusion and he smiled, wiping her wet cheeks. "I love you, Khushi Kumaari Gupta," he chuckled. "I don't know what you think, but I love you with everything I possess, and even if it's not today, not tomorrow, or day after tomorrow, whatever, I assure you that there will be one day that I'll ask you, beg if I need to, to accept this miserable guy into your life forever as your husband."

Tumhi se hain meri neendein
Na bhi ho to kya

Khushi's jaw fell open but he continued, nonetheless. "If you say no," Arnav smirked, despite the sheen of moisture on his eyes, "I'm warning you already that I won't be taking that as an answer, get that? And when we'll be married, Khushi, I think I'll be wanting to give you and our children all of my time possible. That's why I'm killing myself now! You know, my mother used to complain to my dad he never had time for her. I think that's why their love died out so fast. I don't want that to happen with us too, because what share is more precious that my own life to me. You are the reason why I live, Khushi. And I don't ever want to lose you..."

Tumhi se hain meri baatein
Na bhi ho to kya

As his voice broke over those words, she bit her lip and ran a hand in his hair. It was a gesture to tell him to stop, to make him know she understood but he did not seem to get it.

"I love you so much it hurts, Khushi... Every second without you is like hell. This world burns me up, but you're like a soothing shade in my life... I... You must be thinking I'm such a selfish man, I think just about myself, my company and all but..." he paused to hide himself in the hollow of her neck and she pulled him closer by smoothing her hand down his head to his back repeatedly. "I'm sorry, Khush... That's all I can ask from you. Just try understanding me... I love you."

Kehne de taaron ko kahaani ankahi
Na jaa abhi...

His grasp on her tightened as hers did too. She rubbed the tension and fatigue from his back and massaged his scalp slowly as she held him to her heart with a small smile. This man was no more than a child at heart, she realised. Khushi turned her head to press a kiss in his ebony hair and she remained that way, inhaling his scent.

Pyaar ki yeh raat hai
Ab na jaa

Arnav pulled back some time later, his eyes slightly reddened. He blinked and a tear pearled at the corner of his right eye. She flicked it away immediately with her thumb.

Chhoti si ek baat hai
Ab na jaa

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

"I'm fed up with your being sorry, Mr Raizada!" she half-smiled. "You'll have to learn from your mistakes soon."

Relieved, he chuckled, caressing her neck with his index. "We've known each other for seven months, we've been dating for six... you think you can wait another five or six?"

Pal do pal ka saath hai
Ab na jaa

Khushi laughed, a scarlet blush flooding her cheeks. Was he insinuating he could be ready for marriage in that time? She grinned. "Well, I guess you should be a bit quicker than that, beause you know, next time you cross the line and hurt me again I might just leave you in your burning world to die in misery!"

Jaadu si yeh raat hai
Ab na jaa

His expression hardened instantly, and before she had the time to know, his large hands were locked around her wrists in a painful grasp. His anger at that precise moment reminded of the Wolverine. Arnav did not even notice her cower in fear of this sudden change.

Ab na jaa

"Don't you dare, Khushi!" he growled. "Don't you ever think of leaving me again!"

Her lips parted in an inaudible gasp. He could be so possessive when she provoked him. "It's okay, Arnav," she murmured. "I won't leave you. I was just joking..."

"Don't you ever say that again, Khushi," he still warned her. "And don't even think of doing it, because I'm not letting you do such a thing!"

Maathe pe pyaar ki boondein
Bikhre se kayi savaal

Smiling, she extricated her hands from his to run them up the side of his head. She tugged him closer and kissed his forehead. "You think my heart will beat without you?"

Aakhon mein kitne mausam
Pal mein beete kitne saal

Arnav sighed and pressed his lips against her lower jaw, getting a shudder from her. "I love you."

Behne de jahaan bhi lejaye zindagi
Na ja abhi...

"I love you too."

Pyaar ki yeh raat hai
Ab na jaa

He took a last firm hug from her before he drew both of them to their feet. "Okay, now get ready. We're going out for dinner."

Chhoti si ek baat hai
Ab na jaa

Her mood would have brightened if she had not remembered Varsha. "With your mother?" she mumbled, trying to prevent the grimace from settling on her face.

"No," he shook his head with a short laugh. "It's a new investor of mine, Mr Ram Dhawan. He wants to meet you."

Khushi frowned up at him. His investor wanted to meet her? "Why me?" she gasped.

Arnav grinned down at his adorable girl. "Well, he wanted to meet the reason of my worry earlier today!"

Pal do pal ka saath hai
Ab na jaa

Her eyes widened in surprise. "The reason of your worry?" she echoed, somewhat puzzled.

He shook his head with a dramatic roll of the eyes and pecked at her damp cheek. "You were angry with me when I left, Khush, of course I'd be worried!"

Jaadu si yeh raat hai
Ab na jaa

***

Arnav released his breath quite uncomfortably as he waited for her to reach him stiffly. It made her worry, the way some kind of displeasure was clear on his face. She mentally checked her outfit. She was wearing a jade dress with a lacy white bolero on it, the translucent sleeves fitted against her arms and reaching just below her elbows. She had a thin white satin ribbon cinched at her waist in guise of a belt whereas nude coloured ballerinas adorned her white long and beautiful feet. Her waves cascaded down her shoulders freely. Her only jewellery were a pair of turquoise studs Tanishq had given her for her birthday and a silver watch.

He Devi Maiyya! What if she was underdressed to meet his investor? Was that why he seemed to be so uncomfortable? A frown marred her face as she approached him uncertainly.

"What happened?" she breathed with some difficulty and gulped, feeling his coffee brown gaze boring into hers lazily.

"You're punishing me, right?" he lowered his head slightly towards her as the valet opened the door of the car so that they could get in. Khushi's frown deepened in confusion. "Did you have to look so temptingly beautiful, Miss Gupta?" he ended up smirking, his eyes glittering disarmingly and his voice husky. She stared at him with her eyes wide until he gently pushed her inside.