Chapter 34
Khushi sat staring at him with glistened eyes, tears pooling in her eyes. The dam would be broken any moment. She felt disgusted to even defend her family if this man thought like this.. Without any further talk, she guided him to Kedars house, as if nothing had happened..
ASR was more angry at himself. One he knew he had let his tongue loose, two, she was not shouting at him and behaved as if nothing ever happened, and last but not the least, he was once again the reason for her tears. He could not bear to see her face.
Once they reached Kedars house, Khushi went rushing in to bring Payal out. All were surprised to find Khushi at that hour in the night, not to say Payal was too. It was for the good Shashi had gone out with Kedar leaving Payal at his house, to the hospital to see his Kedar's aged mum else he would have not been happy to see Khushi with ASR, and that too with her eyes red.
When Payal was out in his SUV, ASR snarled, "What has happened to my brother, he is not receiving any calls, he has not returned home, the last we heard was he went out for lunch with you
Even though Payal was really really really angry at his behaviour and was reminded of Khushi missing on the night of the guest house incident, she closed her eyes to collect herself and replied calmly, "Sir, We met for a lunch meeting at ABC's cafe but had to end the meeting abruptly for various reasons, and I returned to the office immediately. I do not know where he went after that
"Then why has he not called anyone or not picked up any calls, Why did meeting end abruptly, what happened?" ASR was basically shouting at Payal. Khushi was biting her teeth not to shout at him and stood listening to his outbursts. However Payal was cool by now and replied more calmly irritating him even further, "Sir, if he is not picking any calls or making any calls, there must be some reason, the most obvious being no charge or no network. If this matter is so concerning, let us go to the police as I have no clue where he is. However, your brother is a grown man, and I trust him to be sensible enough,.., giving him a stern look, she continued, "If you are done, you can leave Khushi here and go we will return
ASR was very very angry by now. This girl was showing him the door!! And for the second time, and she did it so gracefully, he could not even shout at her.. (The first time was when he had got an unconscious Khushi home from the guest house)
Before he could answer her, at that very moment, he received a call from his dear sister. When he was done with the call, he looked at them sheepishly, "Akash is at home now, come I will drop you both home
"No, both the sisters echoed, but ASR was not less. "Look I understand, I had to get Khushi suddenly at this time of the night, let me drop you both, both were going to refuse, but being practical, thinking it is not possible for both to stay in Kedars house, they made their way to Gupta house only after Payal had confirmed with her Babuji. Need I say not a single word was spoken on the way? Though Payal was eager to know if Akash was alright, she knew better to keep her mouth shut..
Thus began the game of hide and seek again for Khushi and ASR in the office. Why had ASR said all those things about her jiji? And what right did he have to talk like that to anybody? She was very cross, really angry with him and did not want to face him unnecessarily. Well she was a pro in this game, and she had played very well,.. But this time she couldn't get away from the project meeting with all the team members.
Arnav's constant gaze was making Khushi restless. He kept glancing at Khushi to catch her attention, but sanka devi had other things in her mind. Come what may, she avoided looking at him. Come what may, he did not stop glaring at her. This was of course not missed by his Di, Payal, Akash as well. Anjali began to have second thoughts about Lavanya staying at RM. Anyway, Khushi was happy the meeting was over.
It was a similar situation with Payal and Akash, with Akash trying to get her attention. The Gupta sisters tactically avoided the Raizada brothers,.. Would she be able to dodge him for long,..
Seeing the sombre faces of Khushi and Payal, Anjali knew her chote had a hand in this when he went looking for Akash last night. She was sat with both Khushi and Payal in her cabin trying to apologise for his behaviour "Sorry Payal ji, I know chote must have spoken a lot yesterday. The matter was quite grave, Akash went missing . No phone calls, no messages, and you know how dramatic our family is. Each one had their own reasons
When both the sisters did not talk, she continued, "It so happened, Akash went off to the Noida branch after your meeting and he was working from there. He would always call and let us know if he were late, but yesterday, he did not answer anybody's call or call anybody, but came home intact however very late. He has never done this before, so we all got worried..
Giving Payal an understanding look, she spoke, "Don't know what is in his mind, he is acting weird
Again Anjali was disappointed to see no reaction from both the sisters. When they were about to leave her cabin, Khushi came to Anjali and said, "Anjali ji, I would like to take 15 days off, please could you sign my leave form.
Now darling Anjali was all excited, "Oh really Khushi ji, are you going to London? Are you going alone or are you going with anybody else?"
This is what all liked about Anjali, she was pure in her heart, nobody could be angry with her for long However Khushi was still not in any of her jovial mood with any of the ASRs, "Anjali ji, Mehta uncle's son Kunal and daughter in law Preeti bhabhi are going, so I will go with them. My Babuji has agreed...
ASR was getting impatient. Khushi's face kept playing in his mind. He could not sleep, eat or think properly. He knew she was cleverly avoiding him when he was desperate to speak to her and er, apologise. Really, he thought..
Finally Akash caught on with Payal. After refusing another of his urgent meeting, she could not escape when he came to their room during the end of lunch hour. Not being in a good mood, Payal had stayed back when Khushi and Anjali went to the cafeteria. Payal sighed, "Oh, lunch is nearly finished, I should not sit and brood, Khushi and Anjali ji will be here soon. However when the door opened, its was not Khushi or Anjali, but Akash.
Coming close to Payal, Akash spoke, "Payal ji, please I want to talk to you.
But Payal was not too keen, and replied, "Akash ji, please this is office, its nearing lunch time, Khushi and Anjali ji will be here any moment, in fact, I thought it was them who had walked it. Please, we have spoken already, lets not drag it..
Akash was desperate, "Please try to understand Payal ji. Since yesterday I have not been able to do anything properly. Am I that bad that you don't think it is possible? I am ready to give up anything, please let me know your feelings
"Akash ji, Yes I got to know about your yesterdays disappearance act from your brother and your sister. Like I told you already Akash ji, please don't thing any lowly of you. It is not you who is my concern. We live in a society where things don't always go how we want and that's why I repeat, please listen to your family. Your mum would have by now already chosen a wealthy daughter in law. Please leave me alone.. " Payal tried again, but Akash was adamant,
"Tell me you don't harbour any feeling towards me? Do you not think I am worthy?
Fed up of this probing, Payal finally broke down. Sitting on the chair, she spoke, "Akash ji, I stopped harbouring any amorous feelings when my marriage broke. You cannot imagine what goes through a brides mind when her marriage preparations are going on for months in the house. And then on the day of the wedding, he is not man enough to stand up against his mum only because of money and the breaks the wedding? At that moment, I thought Khushi should not have gone with the property papers, I wanted the marriage to somehow happen, only because did not have to listen to the people talking. But now I am happy it did not happen. I know it was Devi maiyyas wish it was not to happen and I am happy Khushi did what she did..
Akash was disheartened listening to Payal, but wanted her to continue, which she did. For the first time she was opening her heart and speaking..
"Do you know Akash ji, I am too scared to show any emotions. I cant imagine how vulnerable I was then, now my mind stops me from doing it even if my heart wants. I know it will take time.. But I cannot say that to my Babuji, they have already been through a lot. So if my Babuji wants me to get married, I am ready because he knows best and I trust him. Then there was the shocking incident of our so called PG trying to get married to Khushi. But you know, now all of us are so scared, until the wedding is finished, none of us are sure of it. The whole marriage topic is too scary for all of us. That's how matters are now Akash ji. Your world and our world are completely different, so please don't think it is you.. it is me.. "
Akash was heartbroken. How could he console her. After a long moment, however, he went up to Payal, patting her shoulder, he spoke, "Payal ji, don't worry everything will be ok. I do understand. and he strode out confidently, only to stop at the door to see Arnav, Anjali and Khushi staring at him.
"Akash both Anjali and Arnav spoke, but Akash was in no mood to reply and went to his cabin. Khushi ran inside to hug a shocked Payal. Khushi kept saying, "I am so sorry jiji, so sorry.
"Arre pagli (silly) don't you be. Dont you see, we are all more than fine now. It happens for the best. It is all devi Maiyyas wish.
Arnav and Anjali gave each other a painful look. Anjali was well aware of Payal's apprehensions, while Arnav was guilty of his hand in all the mishaps,..
"Di, I will come back later for the file, you carry on. saying so ASR walked away to his cabin. He still couldn't get hold of Khushi alone to talk to her, "Has Khushi told Di about yesterday, Is that why Di refused to send the file with Khushi and asked me to come and pick up? Is she trying to protect Khushi. " Thinking of Khushi's eyes glistened with tears, he felt miserable, "Oh, how could I? Di knows, but I know Khushi has not told anyone Feeling disgusted at himself, he packed for the day!!
Next chapter,..
Akash's plans... May be
Should Khushi leave and go to London
Comments (1)
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Iamlee @Iamlee
3 years ago
ASR needs a reality check, only if kh is away can he do. And no I don’t want him to crowd her in UK too, God🥵the man is so impatient