~Part 11~
Arnav and Khushi get out of the room at the same time and start walking down together. Arnav's phone starts ringing. He gives Khushi a look and then picks up the phone.
"Hi Arjun"
"Morning Arnav. I just thought I'll call and let you know that I will be in your office by around 10. I was going to come in later, but my other commitment got cancelled, so I'm going to be in office earlier."
"Sure, thanks for letting me know."
"Khushi will be in office too, right? I was going to catch up with her."
Arnav frowns and says "Of course Arjun. Miss Gupta will be in office today." Khushi looks up surprised to hear him go back to calling her Miss Gupta after calling her by her name during the past few days.
Arjun sounds a bit flustered when he replies "Yes yes Miss Gupta. Sorry, I just said it coz you keep saying Khushi."
"That's all right. So, I'll see you at 10." While hanging up Arnav wondered why he accepted Arjun's apology or even corrected him in the first place! "It's not like I have the copyright of Khushi's first name" he thought.
They were just stepping into the dining area when they heard a lot of activity in the living room. Anjali sees them from there and calls them both over to the living room.
"Chote dekh lo phir se tumhaari baatei ho rahi hai TV aur newspapers mei" said Anjali.
Arnav and Khushi look at the TV to see the screen showing them walking into the hotel last night with his arm around Khushi.
"Vaise akhbaar mei bhi hai," said Anjali before handing Arnav a copy. Khushi too peeps in and sees a picture of her and Arnav. They had captured that moment when Arnav put his had around Khushi and they had momentarity turned to look at each other.
All the news coverage was speculating who this girl in Arnav's life was. While media was strife with news about Arnav's girlfriend Lavanya Kashyap moving in with him, his heart seemed to be elsewhere is what the news was mostly about. They also showed clips of Khushi falling into Arnav's arms during the fashion show. They were trying to connect dots saying how they started a relationship then which has now reached a stage where Khushi was actually modeling for Arnav's company and arriving for functions with Arnav and his sister in his car.
"Vaise Chote hume pata nahi tha ki woh Lucknow ke show waali ladki humaari Khushi hai" said Anjali. Then, she turned to Khushi and said "yaad hai Khushi, humne aapko kahaa tha ki humne aapko kahin dekha hai pehle bhi. TV par hi tha. Chote ke news clip mei."
Khushi smiled weakly. She didn't know what to think. All she could think of was her family. She looked at Arnav and asked timidly "Arnav Sir, kya ye Lucknow ke TV par bhi dikhayenge?"
Arnav turned to her hearing the suppressed worry in her voice. He wondered if what he was feeling right now was called a melting heart. He looked straight at Khushi and said "Lucknow kya agle paanch minute ke baad ye duniya ke kisi bhi TV channel par kabhi nahi aayega. Tumhaare gharwaale ya mohallewaale kabhi nahi dekhenge ye sab. Leave that to me" he said and walked off flipping open his phone.
Khushi just stared at his retreating back. She wondered whether this was the same guy who released those tapes to make her life hell. That feels like a lifetime ago, she thought.
Anjali kept her hand on Khushi's shoulder and said "aap fikar mat kijiye Khushi. Agar Chote ne kaha hai toh ab koi chinta ki baat nahi hai. Woh sambhaal lega"
Khushi looked at her and smiled feebly.
Anjali went on "Vaise agar baat sirf Chote ki hoti toh hume nahi lagta ki woh kuch bhi karte. Unhe inn sab cheezo se koi farak hi nahi padta."
Khushi wasn't sure what to say. Anjali smiled at her and said "Yaad hai Khushi maine aapse kahaa tha ki itne bhi bure nahi hai humaare Chote?"
Khushi looked at Arnav who was on the phone in the dining room and said "Ji yaad hai. Woh bure nahi hai." She didn't see Anjali raise an eyebrow, but suddenly realized what she said and looked at Anjali and said "Humaara matlab hai ki.. achcha hai ki woh humaari madad kar rahe hai."
Anjali just smiled and said "Achcha hua Nani aur Mami subah subah mandir chale gaye toh unhone kuch dekha hi nahi. Abhi khaane chale?"
"Ji chaliye."
As they were turning around, they noticed that TV channel abruptly started showing some other news. Anjali and Khushi smiled and each other and walked towards the dining table.
Arnav was already serving himself. Anjali noticed how he was sitting opposite his usual chair, which is where Khushi has been sitting in the past couple of days. Khushi, too, automatically went and sat at what she considered to be her chair. Anjali inwardly shook her head at the two of them and went and sat next to Khushi.
"Di maine saari newspapers hatvaane ko keh diya aaj ke liye. Nani, Mami, ya Mamaji puche toh aap sambhaal lena. Jeejaji aur Akash samajh lenge. Vaise woh dono hai kaha?"
"Akash aaj subah hi pahuncha apne trip se toh woh sone gaya hai. Aur ye abhi tak aaye nahi hai. Shaayad thoda aur waqt lagega."
"Achcha" says Arnav and suddenly starts choking. By the time Anjali looks up, Khushi rushes to his side with her glass of water saying "Sir paani pee lijiye" and starts patting on his head. He drinks the water from her hand by holding her glass over her hand.
The moment he stops coughing, they realize the position they are in. Arnav turns his head to look up at Khushi's face which isn't too far from his as she had bent down to give him water. His hand his still on hers on the glass and her hand his on his head. They stare at each other for a few moments until Anjali clears her through.
Khushi quickly takes her hand from his hair and rushes back to her chair. She looks at Anjali and starts rambling "Ji.. woh.. Anjali ji.. Sir khaas rahe the toh.. matlab.. aapko takleef dene ki jaga.. humaara matlab hai ki unke paas paani.. matlab unke paas tha par.. woh khaasne ke beech.. matlab aap yahaa se uthke.. humne socha ki Sir ki.. matlab aapki madad.."
Anjali pats her on the shoulder and says "bas bas bas Khushi.. Humne toh kuch puucha bhi nahi aur aapne hume itna kuch bata diya" she smirks and continues "vaise aapne apne joothe glass se pila diya humaare Chote ko."
Khushi replies without thinking "unhone bhi toh hume apne joothe glass se.." she stops realizing what she was saying and looks at Arnav who was trying his best to concentrate on his food. Hearing what she said, he looks up and says "Maine pilaaya tha tumhe? Ya tum mere kamre mei ghuske khudi pee rahi tih?"
"Aapne hi toh kaha ki aapke kamre mei paani hai! Hume kya pata ki.."
"Bas bas bas" interrupts Anjali "Hum sochte hai ki aap log office mei kaam kaise karte hai. Jhagadne se toh aapko fursat nahi milti hogi? Ab jaldi se khaana khatam kijiye aur nikliye yahaa se. Vaise bhi referee ke role se thoda rest chaahiye hume."
Arnav and Khushi look down and finish their food. They say bye to Anjali and walk out of the house.
~End of Part 11~
Edited by Janet.Das - 14 years ago
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