Chapter 16

It was the end of the world. It had to be.

There was no other explanation for what Khushi was seeing infront of her eyes. It was another afternoon in the boutique, and Arnav was once again found with the two girls, his excuse this time being some paperwork to be completed. But what surprised Khushi was not that he found a valid reason to enter, but that him and Ayesha were completely alright with eachother. No snarky comments, no sarcastic remarks; It was as if they were meeting eachother for the first time, and instantly became buddies!

 

"No no," Ayesha said, shaking her head. "It's not like that. It's supposed to be worn this way!"

 

She proceeded to demonstrate how the duppatta should be draped over the new lengha she designed.

 

"It looks nice," Arnav replied, completely relaxed. "But I think it looks better the other way."

 

If it was a month ago, Ayesha would have had a biting reply to his suggestion. However, today, she merely asked him to elaborate on the idea.

 

"It does," she agreed, once Arnav finished arranging the duppatta. "Okay, so we will stick to this then!"

 

Khushi's head began to spin as she watched the duo work together.

 

Hai Devi Maiyya!, she called inwardly, her eyes flickering to the ceiling. Protect me! Protect me from seeing this… this blasphemy!

 

Arnav's voice interrupted her silent prayers. "You know," he told an intent Ayesha. "This actually reminds me of the time when-"

 

And they went on, completely oblivious of the watchful Khushi.

 

How did this happen? She thought, raking her memory for any signs of the enexpected twist, she seemed to have missed. How can Ayesh be okay with that Laad Governor? Did she forget what he did?

 

She looked up once again, her eyes full of questions. Why are you silent Devi Maiyya? How are you letting this happen?

Ayesha suddenly began to laugh, drawing Khushi's attention once again. It appeared that Arnav cracked a joke.

 

"Seriously?" Ayesha asked, her tone dipped in disbelief.

 

Arnav nodded with a grin, causing her to roar with laughter.

 

So now he tells jokes, Khushi thought bitterly. Unable to bear the amicable atmosphere, she turned around and made her way to the designing room.

 

"Wonder what black magic he did on her," she muttered to herself, pulling out a fresh piece of cloth. "Ayesha was not like this…"

 

She picked up a piece of chalk and began etching the seams of a dress. "It's disgusting," she continued. "First of all, he comes here everyday despite knowing how much we hate him and now, he is hell bent on ruining the one good relationship I have left."

 

She paused and glanced up at the ceiling, before saying, "and you. You just sit there and watch-"

 

Khushi abruptly stopped, upon feeling a presence behind her. Knowing it was not Ayesha, she looked back down to her design and tried her best to concentrate. But like always, it was useless.

 

"What did your Devi Maiyya do this time?" came Arnav's voice.

 

Khushi gritted her teeth in answer. "She doesn't kick you out of my life, that's what."

 

"Oh come on," he said, his voice exasperated. "Not again!"

 

She turned around, confused. "Not what?"

 

"The whole 'you-hate-the-sight-of-me'," he explained, his fingers forming quotation marks in the air. "I thought we were past this!"

 

"Just because you have somehow managed to convince my best friend to talk to you, doesn't mean I stop hating you."

 

"I didn't convince Ayesha for any-"

 

"Oh!" she said, interrupting him. "So Ms. Kapoor is now Ayesha. Lovely!"

 

"Wasn't it always Ayesha?"

 

"No," she muttered, turning back to her task at hand. "Not you anyway."

 

"So, you hate me because I call Ayesha, Ayesha?"

 

"No," she replied. "I hate you because you are calling my best friend Ayesha. There is a difference!"

 

"Well I don't see one."

 

"But I do!"

 

"Khushi, you are being completely absurd. I-"

 

"No," she said, whipping around. "You are being completely absurd."

 

"What is your problem?!"

 

"My problem is that you show up here after two whole years pretending everything is alright. My problem is that you went out of your way to help Ayesha, when you are supposed to be rude and arrogant and… and a jerk! And most importantly, my problem is that you are taking away my best friend, who is about the only person I have left in my life. Is that enough or do you want me to send a detailed report to Amanji, so he can summarize and present it to you?"

 

Arnav didn't reply, and instead watched Khushi glare at him before resuming her work. A slight smile was pulling up at the corners of his mouth.

 

"So you care," he said after a few moments of silence.

 

"About what?"

 

"About me… what I do, what I want… all of it matters to you."

 

"Are you deaf or did you miss the point of me hating you?"

 

"If you hate me," he said slowly. "Then why does it bug you that I am here, pretending everything is alright? Why don't you like the fact that I helped your best friend and most importantly, why are you getting jealous of my friendship with Ayesha?"

 

Khushi froze, his words striking her hard.

 

"So," he continued. "You care. You care a lot."

 

Silence followed his conclusion as Khushi remained rooted to the floor, her mind whizzing away at the new information.

 

Jealous?, she thought. Why would I be jealous? And even if I am… it is because Ayesha is my best friend… not because I care for him…

 

"What?" Arnav asked, when she continued to be quiet. "No cutting reply?"

 

Khushi took a deep breath, trying to clear her head of the contempt she felt all morning. "I am not jealous" she said, picking up the chalk she unconsciously released. "You can do whatever you like…"

 

Arnav grinned, and covered the distance between the two in a quick stride. He stopped an inch from her and carefully wound his arms around her petite torso. Hearing a gasp escape from her mouth, he firmly gripped her right hand and slowly directed her fingers holding the chalk across the dark fabric.

 

Khushi stood in shock, feeling her skin tingle at his touch. She felt the warmth from his body seeping through her clothes as her breaths began to scatter. Her mind yelled in protest, urging her to push him off and yet, her hands remained immobile, captive of his touch. Somewhere in the corner of her eyes, she noticed that he was flawlessly drawing the seam lines of the dress she started.

 

"Is this 'whatever' okay?" he whispered.

 

Khushi opened her mouth to answer, and yet no voice seemed to emerge. She closed her eyes, wishing for her heart to slow down.

 

And they stood there, for what felt like endless minutes. Arnav continued to direct her hand across the cloth, as she stood dumbstruck, trying to will her lungs to expand.

 

"I am talking to Ayesha," he said finally, when the lines were finished. "Because I know she is all you have left and one day or the other, she is officially going to be part of my family. And like you said, I am selfish – I care only for my family."

 

And with that, he released her hands and made his way out of the room.

 

"You are wrong," she said, turning around. "Ayesha is never going to be your family because I am never going to forgive you."

 

Arnav stopped and looked over his shoulder. "I think its high time you acknowledged how fast your heart was beating two minutes ago."

 

Khushi turned a nice shade of red. "I… erm… I h-had too much coffee…"

 

He smirked in response and left the room.

 

Khushi was mortified.

 

You are such an idiot, she told herself, wishing she never uttered anything. Who cares if he touched you? He is human, you are human… end of story.

 

And yet her silent consolations weren't enough to wash her embarrassment away. It was like being caught staring at a good looking man on the street, but worse for Arnav Singh Raizada was not a stranger who she would never cross paths with again.

 

"Do you know if the new order arrived yet?" came Ayesha's voice. "It was due last week! I swear Rohit is getting sloppier by the day. And why are you red?"

 

Khushi took a deep breath, trying to force the blush off her face. "I am not red. And Rohit said the order will come in tomorrow."

 

"Yes, you are red. Did Arnav say something?"

 

Khushi gritted her teeth and didn't answer.

 

"What?" Ayesha asked, watching her closely.

 

"Nothing."

 

"Khushi," Ayesha replied, seating herself on the counter. "I know every single feeling your heart has ever felt. So, whatever it is, just spit it out!"

 

"So Laad Governor is Arnav now?"

 

Ayesha burst out laughing, causing Khushi to look up and say, "what's so funny?"

 

"So this is about you getting insecure about him?" asked Ayesha between fits of laughter.

 

Khushi rolled her eyes. "This is about me caring if I had a best friend left or not."

 

"Relax! Me and Arnav are just trying to be friendly, because its really awkward otherwise."

 

"Oh yeah," Khushi replied, picking up scissors to cut the fabric. "So awkward!"

 

"I am serious!" Ayesha said, catching the sarcasm.

 

"And so am I. How can you be okay with him after all that he is done?"

 

"All he did was help me… he listened to me, he believed me and most importantly, he is now in an open war with Nina because of me and being rude is not the way to pay him back!"

 

"He did all those things because he knew you were right. Not because he is a nice person and definitely not because he cares for you!"

 

"You're right," she agreed. "Because it's not me he cares for… it's you!"

 

"Don't put this on me," Khushi answered hotly. "Just accept it that you forgive him for helping you."

 

"I do," Ayesha replied calmly. "Because even though he did it for you, I am the one who got anything out of it. So tomorrow, when I get credit for my work, it will be thanks  to him."

 

Khushi glared at her in answer. 

 

"And stop looking at me like that," Ayesha continued. "I didn't betray you okay? Its not a rule that I can't be friends with your enemy. If you got beef with him, then it's between you and him. I am neutral!"

 

"You know what?" Khushi said, exasperated. It seemed as if no one understood her today or rather, everyone seemed to be misunderstanding her. "You can do whatever you want with that Laad Governor. Its not my concern."

 

"Not your concern?" Ayesha exclaimed. She then turned Khushi to face her and said, "Honey, everything he does is your concern."

 

"I. Don't. Care."

 

Ayesha snorted, but decided not to argue. She jumped down from the counter and said, "By the way, the only reason I call him Arnav is because Laad Governor is copyrighted by you."

 

Khushi opened her mouth to disagree, not missing the intended double meaning of that statement, but Ayesha cut across her. "Save it! And you can come out of hiding now… Arnav left for the day."