Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Change In Weather

Thank you for the lovely comments and the great patience after that... and the get well wishes too... Thanks again. Anyways a new thread was long due for this one and finally I managed to write the chapter. And then I went on and on and realised that this must be my longest update ever or something😆. Hope you like it.

And yes coming back to the story. I know Arnav has been a monster but NO he wasn't faking the nightmare like many of you thought. He does suffer from nightmares too. Since when??? I guess you'll have to wait till Khushi herself tries to find it out...😉

And no, just because Khushi witnessed Arnav's nightmare doesn't mean she'll melt like Chocolate Ice cream and run into his arms...😛 Nevertheless it's something rather than nothing...😕 😆

~~~~~~

Next morning when Khushi woke up, she was facing Arnav. He was fast asleep holding her hand but the expression on his face still wasn't peaceful somehow. She waited for a few minutes not sure if she should withdraw her hand from his. But it was past 7 and she still had to do her packing, so she slowly withdrew her hand without waking him and sat up.

What happened last night had brought up a million questions in her mind. She couldn't help but keep glancing at him every few seconds as she gathered her stuff to take a bath. But she couldn't think of anyone who could answer her. There were only 2 people who knew the whole truth, she and Arnav and no matter what she wasn't willing to talk to him about it at least not yet.

When she came out of the bathroom she saw that Arnav was already awake waiting for her to come out. They saw each other and quickly looked away. Both couldn't look into each others eyes. Arnav didn't like to show his weakness to anyone and last night Khushi had seen him when he was in the most vulnerable state.

"Um... let me know when your tickets arrive." Arnav said hesitantly.

"Hmmm." She replied.

"I'm not going to work until I drop you at the airport." He continued.

"Okay."

He moved towards the wardrobe and Khushi exited the room to help Payal with the breakfast. By the time breakfast was done, her tickets arrived and she returned to her room to pack. Arnav was still downstairs asking Akash to manage at work as he'd be coming late. While Khushi was moving around the room gathering her stuff, she stumbled against the table on which Arnav's laptop was left on. Instinctively she caught it to save it from a fall and some random buttons got pressed, bringing it out of standby.

She stared at the screen as her own image smiled back at her. It was a photograph of her in the red lehenga that was taken during the Diwali celebrations in AR Group over a year ago. Vivid images of the day flashed in front of her eyes. His eyes filled with passion, his burning touch... Goosebumps erupted on her body as she turned away from the laptop.

Those memories seemed from a different lifetime... A time when she had been different... when HE had been different... Those memories of his eyes looking at her, he holding her in his arms or those of their first dance, first kiss didn't fill her with disgust. She could never forget them. But then he had gone ahead and ruined it all. She wondered how life would have been today, if not for that one fateful day that had destroyed everything.

She realised she had tears in her eyes. Wiping them off, she turned one last time to look at her picture on the screen. She wondered if he too remembered those times with the same feelings as her.

~~~~~~

"Take care of yourself and call me once you reach." Arnav said cupping her face and eyeing her assistants Shaan and Susie who were busy flirting with each other at the airport.

She just nodded looking at him searchingly.

"I'll stay in touch, let me know if there's any problem."

She nodded again wondering why he was being so caring all of a sudden. The way he spoke, he sounded very sincere and she didn't feel like arguing, especially not in front of her assistants so she merely agreed to whatever he said and anyways it wasn't much.

~~~~~~

By the time they landed in Chandigarh, the weather seemed to have changed a lot and it had become very cloudy. As soon as she switched her phone back on it rang.

She sighed and answered. "We've just landed Arnav."

"Then why didn't you call?" he asked impatiently.

"Because you are probably the most impatient person in this world and started calling me even before I could switch on my phone." she said annoyed.

There was a moment of silence from his end before he spoke "Are you alright?"

His voice held so much concern that she was momentarily stunned before she slowly replied, "Yes"

He called her again after an hour to check if she'd reached at her hotel.

Khushi had been trying to call her amma and Payal ever since she landed but they weren't answering her calls. She tried several times but gave up when it was time for her meeting. Rohan had arranged for a car for them and while they were on the way, Arnav called again.

"What is it now?" she asked annoyed avoiding the strange looks Susie was giving her.

"Are you in the meeting?" He asked.

"No. I'm on my way" she replied exasperated. "Look Arnav please don't call me for the next few hours. I'll be with the client and will not be answering my phone."

"That's fine." he replied quietly.

"And can u do me a favor?" She asked uncertainly.

"Is there a problem?" he enquired.

"No. Jiji and amma are not answering my phone. Can you inform them that I've reached?"

"They know it. I mean... I spoke to Payal she informed your mother." he said hesitantly.

"You spoke to Jiji?" she asked a bit surprised. "But then why aren't they answering MY calls?"

"I have to go now. I'll call you after your meeting." he said and abruptly disconnected the call.

~~~~~~

It had started raining by the time their meeting began. It was 10:30 in the night when it ended. The rain was pouring quite heavily by now. Khushi tried calling her amma again in vain. There were several missed calls from Arnav but she ignored them, however as soon as they reached the hotel Arnav called again.

Khushi was really annoyed by now. Why was he calling so many times? Can't she spend some time alone? "This is too much. I'm not going to answer." she said aloud and was about to disconnect the call when Susie snatched the phone out of her hands and answered.

"Hello, Mr. Raizada?"

Arnav was a bit surprised to hear a new voice. "Who's this? Where's Khushi?" he asked urgently.

"I'm Susie, Khushi's assistant. Actually she's in the bathroom. Could you call after half an hour?" Susie lied smoothly.

"Yeah ok." he relaxed and even Susie could sense it. She disconnected the call and turned to Khushi who was glaring at her.

"How dare you Susie?"

"Oh give that to some who'd actually get sacred." Susie said rolling her eyes. "Come on Khushi, you guys got married barely 2 weeks ago and you are here on a business trip. He's WORRIED. I could hear it in his voice, I saw it in his eyes this morning. The number of times he's calling clearly shows how much he cares for you. All you have to do is reassure him that you are fine. Why are you being so hard on him?"

Great... Now I'M being hard on him... Fabulous... Khushi thought sarcastically. She just snatched her phone back from Susie and walked away to her room. But when Arnav called exactly half an hour later, she did answer the call and told him she was fine.

~~~~~~

Early next morning Khushi woke up to a loud banging on her door. She opened the door sleepily and saw Shaan and Susie looking at her with panicked expressions.

"What is it guys?" She asked rubbing her eyes.

"Khushi, it's been raining heavily all night and it's still not stopped. We must leave for the airport early." Shaan said urgently.

"Oh... Ok... Let's leave in half an hour then." Khushi said and the 3 three of them rushed away to get ready.

When they reached the airport there was a lot of commotion. Passengers were running around in confusion. Shaan tried to find out what was going on and found out that no flight had departed since the last 4 hours. The rain was still pouring and it didn't look like it would stop anytime soon. They waited on the airport for the next two hours and after that it was announced that all flights were cancelled until the weather got better. Khushi, Shaan and Susie called up Rohan who informed them that the Hotel was completely booked and even the car was hired just for a day and it would need some time for him to rearrange everything as it was raining.

Khushi groaned in frustration when her phone rang and she saw Arnav's name flash on the screen.

"Arnav I'm stuck here and in no mood to answer your questions." She said rudely.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"How does it matter? Just let me handle this ok?" She said trying to keep her volume under control.

"You can't handle every thing on your own. Tell me what has happened." He ordered.

She sighed in defeat. "My flight has been cancelled and there are no flights until the weather gets better. There is no hotel booking and the car that was hired has also left and the three of us are stuck at the airport." She narrated their pleas in a monotonous voice.

"I'll call you back in 10 minutes." He said and the line went dead.

Khushi rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

The three of them tried to get a taxi so they could get to some other hotel but taxis were hard to get and they didn't know the place. They were really frustrated now.

Exactly 10 minutes later, Arnav called as promised.

"Hey Devi Maiyaaa... Arnav what is it now?" Khushi hissed through gritted teeth as she walked away from her assistants.

"Relax Khushi, I know you are worried because of the flight." He replied calmly. "I've checked and there won't be any flights taking off until tomorrow. Trains and roadways are affected too due to the rain."

"That's genius Arnav." She said sarcastically. "But we know that much already."

He ignored her jibe and continued as if she hadn't spoken. "I've arranged for the Raizada guest house to be opened up. It's a bit far from the airport but it'll be best if you stay in your own house than try to find a hotel at a time like this."

"You have a guesthouse in Chandigarh?" Khushi asked surprised.

"Yes, We do and the care-taker Mohan is on the way to pick you guys up. Wait near the exit. I'm sure you'll be able to recognise a Raizada car." He informed.

Khushi didn't know how to react, after a moment she spoke in a softened tone. "Alright, I'll call you once I reach there."

"Thanks. Mohan's wife will cook for you and make all the arrangements by the time you reach there."

"Thank you Arnav." She said slowly.

"It's your own house Khushi, you don't have to thank me for it. Just take care of yourself." He sounded very tired she thought.

She walked back to where Shaan and Susie were waiting. Susie looked as if she had a bad headache and Shaan was just ending a call looking extremely annoyed.

"Khushi, I spoke to Rohan. Weather's really messed up. He'll take time to arrange transport and accommodation for us." Shaan said frustrated.

"That won't be necessary." Khushi said and the two of them looked at her surprised. Khushi flushed a little, "I mean I spoke to Arnav, he has arranged for us to stay at the Raizada guesthouse. There's a car coming to pick us up."

Shaan whistled and Susie's eyebrows rose. "My God, I had almost forgotten that my boss is Mrs. Arnav Singh Raizada." She smirked.

Khushi rolled her eyes.

"Raizada guesthouse? Car? What are we waiting for? Let's move already." Shaan's mood had instantly elevated.

~~~~~~

Khushi was expecting just a small cottage as she knew AR didn't have much business in Chandigarh but when she saw the place she was all amazed. It was too big to even call it a bungalow, it could've been a small mansion probably. The care taker Mohan was a jolly middle-aged man who instantly recognised Khushi.

"Namaste Khushi Bhabhi, How is Arnav Bhaiya?" He asked.

Khushi was a bit surprised that he recognised her. She didn't recall seeing him during the wedding. When they entered the Mansion, Mohan's wife Sandhya came forward and she too greeted Khushi as if she already knew her.

"Khushi Bhabhi we were hoping that you'll come here with Arnav Bhaiya but never mind." She said with a smile.

"How do you know me? I mean we've never met before." Khushi asked suspiciously to which the couple just smiled and rushed away to their chores.

Shaan and Susie were sure awed with the arrangements that were made for them. The house had been decorated with an antique touch. After a much needed and extremely delicious, late lunch, Mohan directed Shaan and Susie to a couple of guestrooms and Khushi was glad that at least they were comfortable.

"Is there another guestroom where I can rest?" Khushi asked Mohan and he chuckled.

"Bhabhi, that's so funny. Why will you rest in a guestroom? Come I'll direct you to your room. Sandhya has made it ready for you." He explained.

"MY room?" Khushi asked surprised.

"Why do you look so surprised? This is your house right? So obviously you and Arnav Bhaiya have a room for you." He said amused.

"Oh!" Was all she could manage as she followed him upstairs.

Khushi entered the room alone and looked around wide eyed. The room was probably as large as the living room downstairs. She looked around at the antique furniture around her and her eyes fell on the king size bed. She had only seen such beds in the palaces shown in Mythological or historical movies. Her eyes drifted to the wall behind the bed and her breath caught.

There was a life size photo-frame of her and Arnav. How did he get hold of this picture? She didn't even know that it had been taken. It was a picture taken while they had been dancing at the Mumbai party. Her arms were around his neck and his around her waist. She didn't remember that they had been this close at that time, almost pressed against each other. It was the moment when they were lost in each others eyes.

Involuntarily her feet drew her towards the picture to get a closer look. His eyes held so much passion, possessiveness and... She closed her eyes and gulped. She opened her eyes and looked at her image and just stared for a long time. She could see an array of emotions in her own eyes. The same amount of passion as him, possessiveness too, affection and something that she didn't know she had even back then... hopes.

There was a knock on the door bringing her out from the past and she turned. Shaan and Susie came in. Shaan wolf whistled checking out the room but Susie's eyes right away fell on the photo-frame and she moved towards it.

She looked at it for a long time and then turned to Khushi. "I've never seen two people more in love. You guys are just made for each other." She smiled.

Khushi didn't know how to respond, she just returned her smile feebly and glanced at the picture again. Was it LOVE? She wondered. But then the bitterness returned. Even if it WAS love, it's no more there. It was mercilessly slaughtered.

Shaan turned to Khushi then. "By the way Khushi, we came to say that our rooms are really very cosy. Please thank Mr. Raizada on our behalf."

"Yes. Tell him we are really grateful for this." Susie continued.

"It's not a big deal for him so relax." Khushi said.

"I know, he had to do it. You are his wife after all." Susie winked. "But tell him we still appreciate it."

"OK, I will." Khushi smiled and the two of them left her alone. She remembered then that she had promised Arnav that she'll call after she reached the guest house. She settled back on the bed but first dialled her Amma's number without any response and the same result with Payal too. She started to get a bit worried now. Normally if she was out of town Payal at least would be in touch constantly. She sighed and dialled Arnav's number.

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