~Part 6~
Khushi quickly finishes her shower and gets ready to leave. She gets out and closes her door and is about leave when she tops and looks at Arnav's shut door. She wonders whether she should wait for him or if he's already left. She hears some movement inside the room. She says out aloud "ek baar dekh lene mei kya jaata hai."
She stands in front of his door and has second thoughts again. She thinks she'll just knock once and if he doesn't come, she'll leave. She just raises her hand to knock and the door is jerked open and Arnav marches out right into her. With a squeal she falls back as he bangs into her head on. Reflexively, Arnav reaches out to hold her by the waist. She has her eyes clenched shut in anticipation of hitting the ground.
Arnav looks at her face for a few moments and says "aankhein khol hi lo. Kisiko girte waqt ek ghanta nahi lagta zameen tak pahunchne mein. Kitni nautanki karti ho tum!"
Khushi opens her eyes and looks at Arnav. She fleetingly wonders if she was getting used to falling into his arms every now and then. Arnav says "uthna hai ya koi photo khichvane khade hai hum?" She shakes herself and quickly pulls away from Arnav's arms.
"Aap dekhke baahr nahi aa sakte the?" she says.
Arnav rolls his eyes "haan ye toh koi khatarnaak terrorist ka adda hai no jo mai apne hi room ka darwaza kholke pehle jaanch karke phir bahar niklu? Mujhe thodi pata tha ki tum mere darwaze ke andar jhaakne ki koshish kar rahi thi!"
"Hum kuch jhaakne ki koshish nahi kar rahe the. Neeche jaa rahe the toh socha aapko saath.." she stops wondering what she was saying.
"Kya socha?" Arnav prompts.
"Ji.. Ji woh kuch nahi. Abhi chale?"
"Nahin thodi der aur rukte hai. Tum mere kamre ke andar jhaak bhi lena theek se."
Khushi glares at him and turns around and starts walking. He shakes his head and joins her. She stops after getting off the stairs as there were two passageways. He comes near her and says "kal raat ko toh bol rahi thi ki ab nahi kho jaogi? Phir se kho gayi ho?" She turns to look at him and forgets what she was about to say. She just stammers "ji.. hum.. woh.."
He shakes his head and says "is taraf" and starts walking and she hurries after him.
Only Anjali is near the dining table when they enter. She looks up and smiles when she sees them "aagay aap dono? Chaliye jaldi se baithiye aur naashta kijiye. Sab khaa chuke."
As always, Khushi goes and sits on Arnav's chair and he just gives her a look and goes and sits opposite her. This doesn't go unnoticed by Anjali, but she doesn't say anything about it. Instead she says "Chote aap bata rahe the ki Khushi ko kahi jaana hai aaj?"
Arnav looks up realizing he had been meaning to tell Anjali about why Khushi is here "Oh haan Di. Aur mai kal bolne waala tha aapko ki Khushi mere saath ghar kyu aayi thi. Phir mai jaldi so gaya tha na toh bhool gaya."
"Haan jaldi so gaye the aur kaafi der se uthe bhi. Itni der kaise ho gayi tumhe aaj?"
Arnav steals a glance at Khushi who refused to meet his eye and he says "Woh di raat ko beech mei uth gaya tha." He nods towards Khushi and says "beech raat mei isko pyaas lagi thi aur pure ghar ko uthaane waali thi paani ke liye. Toh mujhe hi uthke apne kamre se dena pada."
Khushi glares at him and says "hum kisiko uthaane nahi waale the. Khud paani lene jaa rahe the lekin bahut andhera tha toh kuch gir gaya humse bas."
Arnav retorts "haan agar khud paani lene kitchen tak jaane deta toh pata nahi kitni baar khud girti aur aas paas ke cheezo ko bhi todti."
Anjali intervenes "bas bas! Ab bas bhi karo tum dono. Aaj se hum khud check karenge ki Khushi ke kamre mei paani ho. Chote tum hume bataa rahe the Khushe ke kaam ke baare mei?"
"Haan di woh aapko pata hai na calendar launch aaj shaam ko hai? Toh iss baar woh Arjun Malhotra event attend kar raha hai aur woh insist kar raha hai ki saare models aur behind the scene crew ko bhi launch attend karna padega. Ab kyunki sponsors Malhotras hai toh mai Khushi ko le aaya attend karne ke liye. Uski family Lucknow chali gayi kal toh jab tak launch ki saari events khatam nahi ho jaati woh yahi rukegi humaare ghar pe."
"Ye toh bahut achchi baat hai Khushi ki aap humaare saath rukengi. Lekin ghar pe sab theek hai na? Sab Lucknow kyu chale gaye achaanak?"
Khushi says "Ji ghar pe.. ji humaare Amma Bauji thode pareshaan hai apne karobar ko lekar. Isliye humaari Jiji aur Buaji kal chale gaye Lucknow unke paas."
"Oh. Bhagwan kare jaldi se sab theek ho jaaye. Vaise aap kyu nahi gayi unke saath."
Khushi looks at Arnav and then back at Anjali "Ji woh. Aaj shaam ko ye funtion attend karna tha na."
"Kya? Ye sab toh hota rahega na Khushi. Aapko ghar jaana tha toh aapko chale jaana chahiye tha."
Khushi stammers "Haan.. woh.."
Arnav interrupts "Di woh chali jayegi ek hafte baad. Waise bhi 2 ticket hi liye the train ke. Toh woh dono chali gayi. Ye ek hafta ruk jayegi aur saare function attend karke chali jaayegi."
Anjali looks at him "Chote, kya ye tumhaare kehne pe ruki hai?"
"Di hume der ho rahi hai. Khushi jaldi se khaana khatam karo.."
"Chote hum tum se kuch pooch rahe hai. Kya Khushi tumhaari vaje se ruki hai?"
Arnav sighs "Di aap nahi samjhogi. Aisa nahi hai. Maine bas ek offer diya hai jisse hum dono ko faayda hai."
"Kya? Inke ghar pe takleef hai aur tum faayde nuksaan ki baat kar rahe ho? Kya ho gaya hai tumhe Chote?"
"Di aisa nahi hai. Iske ghar pe takleef hai isiliye mai issko ek hafte baad salary aur modeling ka fees dunga. Uske baad ye ghar jayegi toh unki help bhi kar payegi na. Vaise maine isse zyaada bhi dene ka offer kiya tha lekin.."
"Khushi interrupts. Anjali ji, hum hi maan gaye the. Hume zyaada paise chahiye bhi nahi. Lekin hum ek hafta aur kaam karenge aur apni tankhva lekar ghar jayenge."
Anjali doesn't look very convinced, but she nods, "theek hai jaisa aap dono milke faisla kiya hai, vaisa hi kijiye. Abhi aap dono saath mei jaa rahe hai kya?"
Arnav is relieved to see the topic changed and says "haan Khushi ko function ke liye kapde lene hai. Woh Lavanya ke saath jaake khareed legi. Lavanya ne breakfast kar liya kya?"
Anjali says "Woh toh abhi tak apne kamre se aayi nahi hai. Vaise kal pata nahi kisne darwaza khola hoga unke liye. Humne toh ghanti ki awaaz nahi suni. Hume laga usne aapo phone kiya hoga."
"Nahin Di. Mai usko call karta hu" He dials her number. "Haan Lavanya?"
"Hi ASR" she says very sleepily.
"Did you just wake up? Jaldi tayyar hoke neeche aao. I need you to go with Khushi to pick up some clothes for the function tonight."
"O ASR mai ghar pe nahi hu. I crashed at Lisa's place last night and have a bad hangover. I'm just going to pop some pills and take some more rest so that I am all right by evening."
"What?! You should be a bit more responsible, Lavanya. Ab ye kaam kaun karega? Anyway, I'll talk to you later." He cutes the call.
"Kya hua Chote? Woh theek toh hai?"
"Woh ghar par nahi hai Di. Jiss model se baat karne gayi thi kal wahi pe ruk gayi. Anyway, ab kapde lene kaun jaayega Khushi ke saath?"
"Tum hi chale jaao na. Aur kaun jayega?"
"Haan mujhe hi jaana padega. Lekin saath mei koi toh chaahiye na Di.. Di! Aap chaliye na humaare saath? Vaise bhi ye kuch saari ya salwaar kameez hi legi. Toh aap madad kar dena? Kyunki kapde select toh mai nahi kar sakta."
"Theek hai hum chalenge. Khushi ke saath thoda samay bhi mil jayega hume. Hum 2 minute mei aate hai."
"Di aap tayyaar hi toh hai, aur kya tayyaar hona?"
"Arre Chote hum Nani ya Mami ko bolke aate hai."
"Mai Akash ko boldunga phone pe, aap chaliye vaise bhi der ho gayi."
"Achcha baba chalo. Khushi, chaliye nikalte hai."
"Ji chaliye."
The three of them walk out of the door and Arnav calls Akash asking him to let the folks at home know that they've gone out.
They reach the car and Khushi is about to get in at the back, but Anjali stops her. "Aap aage baithiye Khushi."
Khushi looks surprised "Ji?"
"Hum peeche baithenge. Hume na right side pe kuch dukaane dekhne hai toh hum peeche right pe baithenge."
Khushi looks confused "Achcha.." She looks at Arnav who is standing near the door watching the whole exchange. He just looks back at her and doesn't say anything. Anjali goes and sits behind and Khushi gets into the front seat.
Arnav gets in too and puts on his seat belt. He looks at Khushi and they remember their moments in the car last time he helped her with the seat belt. She takes the seat belt carefully and tries to latch it, but because she isn't pulling it correctly, it doesn't come out enough to reach the latch.
Arnav sighs and leans over to pull it out properly for her and she turns at the same time to see his face a few inches away from hers. They look at each other for a few moments like that while Anjali clears her throat and says "Hum madad karde kya seat belt lagane mei?"They break their eye contact and Arnav quickly puts the seat belt into the latch and starts the car.
During the ride, Anjali doesn't miss the way Arnav and Khushi keep stealing glances at each other. She wonders what is happening with the two of them. She wonders how confused her little brother is. Smitten with one woman and getting another one into the house. "woh apne jazbaato ko kab samjhega?" she thinks and sighs.
They remain silent during most of the drive with Anjali being the only one to make conversation. When they reach the shop, Arnav gives his credit card to Anjali.
"Di mujhe office jaana hai. Mai aapke liye dusri gaadi bhejunga. Kuch achcha ghareedke aap ghar chale jaayiye. Shaam ko 7 baje aap tayyar rahiye. Aur tum bhi Khushi. 7 baje nikalna hai ghar se."
"Theek hai Chote, dhyaan se chalana."
"Haan Di. Bye" and he drives off.
Anjali and Khushi spend a lot of time in the shop and finally settle on a simple, elegant beautiful saari. They buy it along with some accessories and head home.
~End of part 6~
Edited by Janet.Das - 14 years ago
Indian Premier League
Cricket
Arjun
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