Chapter 41

She winced as she lifted the last suitcase and dumped it on the belt, but as soon as she straightened up, a hand closed around the handle and pulled it back down. Her eyes widened, following the arm until she found a pair of dark orbs glaring at her with stark fury.

"What. The. Hell."

She jumped at his growl although she had expected it. The tears she had been holding pooled in her eyes again and she gulped, gathering her scattered courage.

"How dare you leave me, Khushi? Do you have any idea of how worried I was?"

She bit her lip to cease the pain that was rising inside her and snatched the suitcase back to place it on the belt again.

"Please, send this in right away," she told the check-in officer.

"Will you really leave me?" his voice came out in a heartbreaking whisper. She dared herself to look at him. Her lips parted when she say the raw hurt that filled his beautiful eyes. His hands immediately reached out for hers. "Don't go."

"Arnav, please," she sniffed, looking away. "Don't create a scene."

He frowned and pulled her closer, willing her to look in his eyes, reddened with weariness and sore lack of sleep. "Don't leave me."

A lone tear spilled on her cheek and she closed her eyes. The machines whirred to life and she knew her last suitcase was going in. There could be no turning back. "You don't want me in your life..."

"I never said that!" Arnav gasped. "How could you even think-?"

Khushi looked up in his eyes. "You said that taking me with you to New York was the worst mistake of your life, Arnav!"

His expression hardened at once. "Yes. I had said it then, I'm saying it again. That was the worst mistake I could ever have made. And I mean it."

He said it so easily. Had he even thought what she would feel on hearing such words? She felt her heart shatter, releasing a poisonous feeling through her with an unbearable burn. She dropped her head in towards her chest as she broke into a sob. How could she have fallen in love with such a heartless man?

But he had closed his hands around her face, forcing her to look up at him. "Do you know why? Don't you want to know why, Khushi?"

She struggled to free herself, but as usual, he was the stronger one. And she was at her weakest...

"Because New York tore us apart."

She stilled, frowning in confusion. What was he-?

"Remember how we had ample time for each other here, in London? We used to meet every day. Every single day... We never fought... Ever... But in New York? We practically never even saw each other. I slaved myself at work and you bored yourself at home. And we fought so much, especially..."

His voice broke and he closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, it was to look deep into her.

"I can't believe you misunderstood me, Khushi. What did you think? That being with you was the biggest mistake of my life? Because if that's what you understood, you don't know me at all. You're the best thing that could ever happen to me, Khushi Kumaari Gupta! The best... I love you, dammit!"

She sniffled again and bit her lip, breaking into another sob. She had been so stupid...

"Look, I'm even sorry for whatever my mom could have said, okay? But it really doesn't matter. Whatever she thinks, she doesn't know the Khushi I know. Just forget about it. come back, we'll make this work. We won't need to go to New York. We'll start all over again, if you want... Just don't leave me."

He looked so sincere, she almost gave in. But Khushi shook her head slowly. "Arnav... I have to go..."

"Why?" his voice broke, shattering her soul with it. "No! You can't just leave me like that! I'm really sorry, Khushi. I'm begging you, don't leave me."

"Arnav, no!" she sighed and cupped his cheek. He leaned in to rest his forehead against hers.

"I'll die without you," he whispered.

As she silently wept, her arms slipped around his shoulders. "I should be sorry. I never understood you. I said some bad things too... You may hate New York, Arnav, but admit it, living there together showed us our faults. If we want a future together, we have to change. And I think we need some time apart to figure that out, to grow up."

Stunned, his eyes snapped open to stare at her in bewilderment. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"Arnav-" she tried to appease him, but her had already moved out of her embrace to stand a few feet away.

"No, it's okay," he growled at the floor. His hands had fisted up. He looked up at her, his eyes redder and brimmed with tears. "Will you at least let me buy you coffee before your flight?"

***

He had been stupid, stupid, stupid. If only...

If only what? He didn't know what to wish for, anymore... He just wanted her to stay. With him. But he didn't want to force her to do anything she didn't want to. It had taken him some hours to get out of the shock of finding the New York apartment empty. And when he had, the first person he had called was Anjali; she knew Khushi better that anyone else. But she had been mad at him until she had realised he was not completely right in his mind right then.

So, she had ended up telling him that Khushi had arrived in London the previous day and she was planning to return to India soon. Without thinking, he had taken the first flight to London to find her. And when he had, she was breaking up with him. They stood in the queue, an awkward silence shrouding them.

"What will you have?" he finally asked.

Her hand rose to wipe her cheek. "I'm not hungry."

"I'm not either."

"Could we just talk?"

A cold sneer played on his lips as he gazed at the sky. "About what?"

She took his hand and pulled him to an occupied bench. "I'm not breaking up with you. Do you think this is easy on me? I love you too, you big duffer. More than you think."

"Don't go, then," he urged, squeezing her hand.

But she shook her head firmly. "We need this, Arnav. If we get back together just like this, we'll just go on taking each other for granted and things will get worse. Please, let's try this. I'm sure that if we are apart, we will do everything to get back together. You will be handle to handle your New York branch as you should until it is stabilised and without any supplementary responsibilities. And I will try to find myself during that time."

He blinked at her for a few seconds before nodding with a chuckle. "See, that's why I love you. How do you manage to be right all the time? Your arguments are just unbeatable. That time you won the debate on that TV show so easily and you're doing it again."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Do you mean that-?"

"That I agree with your decision? Yes. Because it's true, if you stay back today, Arnav Singh Raizada will never change. And he needs to. So I'm letting you go. And I'll change him during your absence."

For the first time in days, she cracked a smile and threw her arms around his neck. "I love you."

"I love you too," he smirked. "Just tell me one thing, what do you mean by you are going find yourself?"

Khushi pulled away with a pout. "Well you don't expect me to remain jobless for my whole life, do you? And none of the jobs I take are interesting, even journalism. So, I have decided. I'll go to Lucknow and find something there."

"Why Lucknow?" Arnav tried to frown, but her enthusiasm was so infectious that he couldn't keep himself from grinning.

"My family's there."

He nodded silently in agreement. "And what will you do?"

"I don't know," she shrugged.