Beauty And Her Prince #ReadersChoiceAwards Ongoing G

Chapter 20

Published On Sunday,Jun 07, 2020 06:28 AM GMT-06:00

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Chapter - 20

It was then he realized that he didn't know where Khushi’s room was. Deep in thought, he looked at her as she held onto his collar with her one hand, a small smile made its way to his lips and he started walking briskly towards his room before someone saw Khushi in that condition.

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Khushi woke up the next morning with a pounding headache. Confused, she pressed her hands against her temple while struggling to open her eyelids, which felt heavy like big rocks. As she slowly managed to open her caramel orbs and looked around, her confusion only increased. Swiftly sitting up she tried to absorb her surroundings. This is not her room? Where is she? Why is her head aching like crazy? Why is she feeling so strange? And worst of all, why can’t she remember anything about the previous night? While all these questions bombarded her mind, her confusion turned to panic which only made the pounding worse. Suddenly her mind came to a standstill as her eyes landed on Arnav who was lying on the couch just a few feet away from her bed. As if struck by lightning she jumped out of the bed, knocking the water mug next to the bed in the process, engulfing the room with a loud resonating sound making him leap out of the couch.

Jumping out of the bed didn’t do Khushi any good. The sudden moment made her headache worse and she lost balance. Just when she closed her eyes tight with the anticipation of hitting the hard surface, she felt something move around her waist gripping it and her body being pulled at rapid speed as it hit something hard. Soon, she realized that it was not the floor. Nervous and now, with her heart pounding just like her head, she opened her eyes to find herself looking straight into the chocolate brown orbs which were looking intently at her. She stood there, frozen as if lost in the depth of those eyes. It was his husky voice that brought her back from her reverie.

“Uhh!”, she said, not hearing him and still trying to break out of the trance.

“Khushi! I asked if you are alright?”, he repeated softly.

Suddenly aware of the surroundings and her close proximity, she pushed herself away from his hold and him. Putting a little distance between them she questioned, her voice filled with uncertainty, “Where am I? Why are you here? Where is Payal Jiji?” She has so many questions she wanted answers to.

“You are in my room at the Sinha’s house.”, he answered looking straight at her.

“What!? Why am I not in my room? How did I come here? Did you get me here?..”

Sensing her agitation, he answered by cutting mid-sentence, “Yes. I brought you here yesterday night. It was becau..”

This time she cut him off before he could explain. She got her answer. “What!? Why did you bring me here? What did you do to me? I thought you were a good person, but lavanya was right about you. I should have believed her. How dare you? How could you? Why?”, her voice grew stronger as she spoke.

Her questions confused Arnav. “What is she talking about?”, he thought as he answered, “What are you saying? What did I do? I did nothing.”

More panic resonated in her voice as she bombarded him with all the questions that filled her mind. “You did nothing? Then, why don’t I remember anything about yesterday night? Why do I have this horrible headache? Why does my body feel so numb? Why am I in your room? On your bed? Why!?” Pausing, she took a deep breath as tears started rolling down her cheeks, and almost shouted, “And you say, you did NOTHING?”

Wrapping his head around what she said. Trying hard to suppress his anger he answered her as calmly as he could. “Khushi, you are getting it all wrong. Nothing happened.”

“Then, why don’t I remember anything?”, she spat back with accusing eyes.

“That is because you___”, he stopped. At this point, he was not sure if it was the right time to tell her about her being drunk. He didn’t want her to get any more ideas than she already did. Sighing hard, he said, “Nothing happened as you are thinking. You were not well, so I helped you home. I didn’t know your room, so I got you to mine. That is all. You are taking this all wrong.”

“I am taking it wrong? If you are speaking the truth then why do I feel the way I do? Ok, let us say I really was sick like you said. You could have taken me to Payal jiji or Anjali ji. But no. You chose to keep me in your room. Why? What are you not telling me? Why did you get me here? Why should I believe you, Mr.Raizada? I won’t believe anything you say, not even a bit. You are a liar. You disgust me. I can’t stand people like you. I don’t want to see your face even for a second. Stay away from me.”, she said walking towards the door. Right before she opened the door she turned back to him and said, “Don’t think it is over, Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada. You will pay for what you did to me.” And then she was gone.

“What was that? How did it all come to this?” Never in his wildest dream did he imagine that things would take such a turn for the worse. He stood there as her words “You are disgusting” echoed in his ears. His body stiffened and rage-filled his veins. “What the hell is with this woman? Who does she think she is? How dare she speak to me like that? I should have just left her at the party yesterday. What? She doesn’t want to see my face? Huh! I never want to see her face ever. Let her think what she wants. It doesn't matter to me. Her words don't mean anything. She is a nobody. She doesn’t mean a thing.”, he told himself.

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Once out of his room, Khushi in daze started walking towards her room engulfed in thoughts when she bumped into Anjali. Looking at her Anjali asked concerned, “Khushiji, are you ok?” Khushi looked at her blankly, still lost in thoughts. “Khushiji, are you ok? You look pale?” she repeated herself now worried.

“Umm…. I.. I am ok.”, she replied mechanically looking at her.

“Are you sure? Payal is worried about you. Are you still feeling sick?” she asked, concern written all over her face.

Khushi looked at her surprised and asked, ”I was not well..?”

Anjali was confused with Khushi’s response. Wondering if Khushi was asking or answering she said, “Akash told me last night that you got sick yesterday at the party and Arnav got you home. Also that Payal was really worried.”

More confused as she tried processing the new information Khushi mumbled, “Anjaliji, sorry. I am fine. I will talk to you later.” and walked straight to her room.

Looking at Khushi as she's walking away, a very confused Ajali enters Arnav’s room. “Chote, was Khushiji in your room just now? Did something happen? She looked disturbed”

“What do you want me to do, Di?”, he snapped.

“Chote! What happened to you? Why are you so irritated early in the morning? Akash said, Khushi was not well last night and you got her home. So, I was just asking ...”

Cutting in he said, “She was unwell and I got her home, that’s it! You know what, I shouldn’t have bothered. Let her think what she wants, I don’t care. I have some work in Lucknow today, once I am done with that I will be immediately leaving for Delhi.”

Puzzled, Anjali asked, “Chote, What are you talking about? Yesterday only you said you are going to stay for a few more days. What happened? Why all of a sudden..”

“Di, please. I don’t want to talk about Khushi”

“Khushi? I am talking about you leaving today. Did something happen last night?”

Arnav paused for a moment and said, “Nothing happened Di. And I will never let anything happen. Some important work came up so I got to go. Inform everyone for me, ok. I don’t want to explain every one. I am leaving now. Call me if you need anything.“ as he was speaking he grabbed his laptop and other items and walked out at the speed of light.

“What is happening? What happened last night that he is so angry? Is it because Akash manipulated him into going to the party?”, she thought perplexed.

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Khushi ran into her room and sat on the bed. Her head was still pounding but it didn’t bother her anymore. She sat there trying to think what conspired the previous night and how she ended up in his bed. Irrespective of everything she said to him earlier, there was still a part of her that believed him. That kept telling her there will be a valid reason for all this. But her sanity was telling her otherwise making her imagine the worst of the worst. Holding her head, she rushed to the bathroom and splashed her face with water. And she kept splashing.

After god knows how long she walked back to the room and poured herself some water. As she was drinking it, she remembered her drinking something at the party, then crying on the patio and someone talking to her. As she closed her eyes tight trying to remember, she heard someone call her name, “Khushi!”. “It was him, I was talking to him. Hey Devi Maiya! What happened last night?”, she thought.

As if it would help her remember she pressed her temple hard with her hands as she tried remembering more. “THE STARS!? We were walking looking at the stars.”, she suddenly shouted, raising her hands in victory. “Then…..then…”, digging through her thoughts she absentmindedly gulped down another full glass of water in a rush that she started coughing. As her cough finally subsided, she screamed, “Yaad aya! Yaad aya!”(I remember! I remember!). “I was coughing. Just like right now. And… and… my throat it was burning”. And suddenly she heard his voice, ”You should be feeling wobbly too? You had 3 glasses of wine earlier.” Opening her eyes into huge saucers she clasped her mouth hard with both hands and froze. “Hey, Devi Maiya! Yeh maine kya kar diya?”(What have I done?)

A single moment of misunderstanding is so poisonous