Chapter 36

-Archi-

@-Archi-

Main aa gayi!

Thanks so much for your patience and wishes! The exam went well and I landed safely in India. So, without more delay, I present the next chapter:

Comments Pg. 44 (above)

Jaane Doh Naa

-CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE-

First Light of a New Dawn

"I told you - I'm not moving!"

"And I told you - I'm not letting this go!"

"Seriously Khushi! We have been through this a billion times!"

"And we can go through it another billion times if you continue being stubborn!"

Ayesha threw up her arms in frustration and flopped down on the nearby sofa in the luxurious living room of Shantivaan. While there was no difference in the lavish mansion from the first time she ever visited, almost six months ago now, there was definitely a change in her feelings towards it. The walls looked familiar, if not homely, its inhabitants welcoming and the servants polite. In fact she had visited the house so many times that even the milkman, Ramesh recognized her!

And yet, these pleasant modifications in her life did not include her best friend who recently took up a daunting task of getting into an argument with her every time she visited.

"Just listen to me Ayesh... this is-"

Ayesha stubbornly kept her eyes on the floor, not wanting to listen to anything on the matter. And her intent was successful, for Khushi let out a sigh and stormed off upstairs, leaving the latter completely alone save for the sudden rings of her phone.

A smile spread up her face upon seeing the name flashing across the screen. "So much for picking me up at the airport..."

"Sorry!" said an apologetic Aman. "I had a lot of work to finish... but I will be done in an hour."

"Great... I need to get out of this house!"

"Let me guess - the same argument as last time?"

"Yes!!" Ayesha exclaimed. "Your Bhabhi and my best friend is being so irrational right now! I don't understand why she doesn't get it that I want to move back here?!"

"Because your reasoning is... well, unreasonable."

"No, it isn't! You know very well-"

"That the Delhi branch is still new and hence, the boutique in Pune needs to be taken care of by you. I know. How about we talk about the real reason instead?"

Ayesha sighed. "Fine! But please don't be as immature as Khushi."

"She is worried for you," he answered. "And she has a right to be."

"No she doesn't... and I really don't understand why she doesn't see that I don't belong here. This house is hers, everyone here is her family-"

"And you are her best friend..."

"Aman-"

"Tell me one thing Ayesha," he interrupted. "Why exactly don't you want to stay here? Is it because of Nayan?"

Ayesha was hesitant. "That's part of it..."

"So what's the other part?"

"Things are different now..." she said slowly. "Before it was just me and Khushi. Now, she has a family. And I don't want to be the one to pull her back. I know if I stay here, she is going to put all her time into making me feel comfortable, when she should be spending it with Arnav and her sister and god knows who else!"

"And?"

Ayesha was almost surprised to realize how well he knew her. It was only a few months since they met and yet, he heard things that at times even she herself couldn't pinpoint.

"And... I don't think I will like the fact that she is no longer just my best friend."

Aman seemed to be expecting that answer, for his voice held no surprise when he spoke after a brief pause. "Change is a good thing Ayesha... you should welcome it, and not run away."

"I knew you were going to say that... but I don't want to face it okay? I'm done with losing everyone I love."

"We never lose the ones we love... If we do, then we never loved them in the first place."

"Easy for you to say!"

"Maybe... but I know that this is one change you will like to see. And things are different now than what they used to be. Bhabhi may have found a family, but so did you... in her."

And in you...

That thought struck Ayesha hard, but she was glad it did, for it was nothing but true. She didn't know if she would be able to handle all the changes that happened in her life in the past few months, without him.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Aman asked, after a few moments of silence.

"Nothing much... why?"

"Well, I was thinking we could go out of town... and visit my mother."

Ayesha almost dropped the phone in surprise. "Your mother?!"

"Yes, my mother," he replied, a grin spreading across his face.

"You are taking me home to meet your mother?"

"Only if you would like..."

It was a while before Ayesha regained her voice. "Yes... yes, I would like that very much."

* * *

"Unbelievable!" Khushi muttered, storming into her room. "You won't believe what happened! After all that we have been through she is being stubborn and unreasonable! What is so bad in moving back here? I mean I get it that it holds bad memories, but I'm not asking her to move back into her old apartment and remember all the bad things. I'm just asking to come here to live with us! I mean, doesn't she get it that I'm worried? Pune is so friggin far and how am I supposed to know she is okay? If she was in my place would she be fine with me acting so cranky?! On top of ev - are you listening?!"

Arnav did not look from his laptop to answer the angry glares being passed his way. He knew better than to interrupt the frustration boiling out of his wife.

"Fine," she snapped, pacing along the length of the room. "Don't answer... stay on that stupid laptop of yours. I will deal with Ayesha myself... it won't be long before she realizes how idiotic she is behaving! Maybe I should take her shopping, it always calms-"

She broke off midsentence as a strong set of arms suddenly encaged her from behind. She melted into Arnav's warm embrace, while her annoyance at his lack of response struggled to stay.

"Don't bother," she muttered. "I'm not pissed at you."

"Do you need to be pissed for me to hug you?"

Khushi snorted in reply.

"Let it go," he said quietly in her ear. "It's not a big deal."

"Big deal?" she repeated, turning around to face him. "She is alone in Pune for six months now and you're telling me to let it go?!"

"She comes here almost every week," he reasoned. "She practically lives here."

"That's my point! She might as well stay here permanently!"

Arnav didn't answer and instead chose to rub his thumbs around in small soothing circles in the small of her back.

"You're on her side," she said slowly, her shoulders falling in disappointment.

"Only because you are there too..."

"I don't get it... what is wrong if she moves in here? I mean-"

"She grew up alone Khushi," he interrupted patiently. "She understands the value of a family more than anyone of us, not to mention missing them. Imagine how she would feel if she stayed here and saw everyone together?"

"Everything that is mine, is hers. This family is hers too - everyone accepted her-"

"-out of what she thinks is pity. She wants a family of her own. She is not going to be comfortable here, being constantly reminded that she is an orphan."

Khushi wasn't however convinced. She knew better than anyone how caring and plain-hearted Ayesha was. It didn't even take her a second to dismiss the idea that her best friend could be envious of things that were practically hers. No sooner had this conclusion crossed her eyes, Arnav cupped her face.

"Just put yourself in her shoes," he murmured. "How would you feel if you were put in a place where all you could think about is your parents' death?"

Arnav paused, watching her thoughtful eyes before continuing on, "And if not that, would you be okay staying at a place where you were convinced that you are ruining your best friend's happiness?"

"She is not-"

"I know," he said calmly. "Trust me I do. But Ayesha doesn't think like us - she is scared she will ruin your happiness."

Khushi looked away as silence fell about the room. She hated the helplessness seeping through her and wished beyond anything that she could change it.

"Don't worry," Arnav said, reading her thoughts as easily as he would if they flowed through her mouth.

"It's just... I feel so bad that I can't do anything... she did so much for me and-"

"And you are returning it by standing by her. She will come around one day - she has been through too much to believe that she deserves to be happy as much as you and me. Look at Di - it took her two years!"

Khushi nodded, the feeling the weight on her shoulders lessen a little. "You understand her so well," she said, looking up at his face.

Arnav grinned. "Not more than you!"

She smiled in acceptance and rested her head on his chest, feeling the gentle rhythm of his heart as she did.

* * *

"And then, you know what he does?! Runs off and hides behind Chote, as if I am yelling at him for no reason whatsoever!"

Karan looked at Anjali, absorbed so deep in her recount of Varun's antics that she didn't even notice that they arrived at the shopping mall she had relentlessly pestered him to visit.

"And Chote - oh my god, don't even get me started on him," she continued, not noticing his stare. "He doesn't want to hear a word against Varun. I swear, he doesn't even listen to Khushiji as much, and that's saying something. Ever-"

Karan decided to interrupt, knowing that her chatter was never going to find an end, not that he wanted it to anyway. "What are we doing Anjali?"

His question cut her up short, as she vaguely looked around and finally realized that they were in the parking lot of the mall. "Um... shopping?"

He let out a deep sigh. "I mean, what are we supposed to be?"

Anjali fell quiet. Having expected this question to be posed ever since the day she visited Tihar Jail, she was quite unsurprised to see Karan looking at her with doubts.

"Karan-"

"Please don't say we are friends," he interrupted. "Because you know there is something more..."

"Then what should I say?"

Karan let out a groan. "You don't seriously expect me to go with the flow, do you? I mean you randomly call me to pick you up one day from a jail and when I do, you are drenched to the core and look like you have been to hell and back, and refuse to tell me anything. Then the next time I see you, you pretend as if every is okay. And then you go through-"

"Get to the point Karan," she said with a sigh. "I don't need a recount of the last six months of my life."

"I love you - and this fact becomes more obvious with every passing second."

Anjali didn't reply.

"No, don't go back into your shell-"

"I don't have one," she interjected. "Look Karan - I know what you feel for me, but I don't know if I return the feelings... these past two years haven't really been easy. I just got my life back together after a lot of complications, so I want to enjoy it. I want to enjoy just waking up and doing my daily chores without thinking about what went wrong in life and how I should have fixed it."

Karan opened his mouth to answer, when she cut him off.

"I know this is hard for you," she said earnestly. "And I know I'm being selfish by asking you to spend time with me, but you bring me peace Karan. You don't look at me like a flimsy doll without a backbone like the rest of my family. They worry over even smallest of issues, and remind me of things I don't want to remember. You don't and that's why I like spending time with you. You make me happy."

Karan stared at her, his heart soaring upon hearing her words. He didn't know what dictionary she used, but in his, this was practically her "returning his feelings". The day suddenly seemed a lot brighter.

"Okay," he said simply, a grin spreading up his face. "We can spend time to together - but I won't stop waiting to hear your yes'."

Anjali rolled her eyes. "I wished you stopped saying that... it makes me feel so bad."

"Good - I don't need to wait as long I thought then!"

His shoulder was suddenly subjected to a smack.

"Ow!" he said, getting out the car. "It's very rude to hit the guy who so kindly agreed to take you shopping."

"Really?" she asked, sarcastically, hurrying across the road into the shade of the mall. "Then it's equally rude for you to irritate the sweet girl who made and brought you food in the middle of the night."

Karan laughed, remembering the event in question, when he lost power in his house for almost two days. Of course, his anger at the electrician died as soon as he was invited to stay at the Raizada Mansion during the repair.

"And by the way," Anjali said. "I went to meet my ex-husband in jail that day. So you can stop complaining that I don't tell you anything."

"What?!"

Anjali, who anticipated the shock, simply continued walking towards the escalators. It was a good minute before Karan caught up with her.

"You did what?" he asked angrily.

"I told you - I went to see the man-"

"Who ruined your life?" he finished, in the same tone. "Why would you do something like that?!"

"And this is why I didn't tell anyone this," she said. "Relax! I wanted to clear up a few things."

When he seemed to argue, she quickly added, "It's fine... it's over. There is nothing you can do about it now, so let it go."

Karan didn't want to oblige, rage coursing through him. While he was a lot more capable at reining in his anger than Arnav, he in no way had less hatred for Shyam Manohar Jha. But he also knew there was no point telling Anjali how unsafe it was for her to venture so far from the city alone and that too, to confront a man who was perhaps even more dangerous than most criminals Tihar Jail imprisoned.

And so, he took a few deep breaths, knowing that he would have loads of time to tell her later, because come what may, he was now the one constant thing in her life which she cherished. And it was with this thought that he happily joined her in selecting clothes for Varun.

__________________________________________________________________________

I'm gonna go ahead and answer the question all of you are going to ask me - yes, there will be an epilogue. I was gonna post it today, but I didn't have time to finish it. But hopefully it will be up in a couple of days (depending on if there is feasible wifi at my grandma's house ).