"What the..." Arnav blurted though he had been trying to keep himself calm for the past half hour. Making a guest appearance in the trunk of his car was none other than the 'Pittara of disaster' Ms. Khushi Kumari Gupta. Making her discovery in his car sleeping like a baby had shocked him for several moments. She was equally surprised, and then shocked when he had told her that they were in Nainital. He was beginning to have some evidence of some higher power who did not want him to live peacefully and would hence keep giving him doses of Khushi Kumari Gupta. Now she had landed up in Nainital, hidden in his car and was fighting with him as if it was all his fault.
Khushi kept on muttering: "Devi Maiyya, yeh hum kahan phas gaye. Ghar par amma bauji humara intezaar kar rahe hongay. Aap bhi kamaal hain... koi apni gari ki dikki check karray bagair kaisay itnay lambay safar par nikal jata hai... Aap main toh waqai buddhi nahi hai. Aik toh humain andar lock kardiya aur uper say tevar dikha rahay hain aap. Humain pahunchnay dain wapis Delhi ... dekhiye hum Anjali ji say kaheingay kay aapko roz subha saat badaam (almonds) khilaayen takay dimag ki batti toh jalay."
Arnav: "Khushi tum yahan kya kar rahi ho... aur tum meri dikki main pahunchi kaisay?"
Khushi in her Lucknow Express super speed mode answers: "Ajeeb baatein kartay hain aap. Ab humain dikki main safar karnay ka koi shouq toh nahi hai...aur na hi jadoo (alien) nay humain yahan pahunchaya hai. Zaahir hai ghalti say pahunch gaye.. Jadoo ko toh jaantay hain na aap??.. Woh Hrithik Roshan ki film wala... neela neela sa"... As an after thought she added: "Waisay yeh Lavanya ji kahan hain, humain toh bahut bhook lag rahi hai." and she opened the tiffin containing pakoraas and started munching on some while sitting up in the open trunk...
Arnav now had his hands in his hair, and was trying to control the anger piling up inside him at this latest development.
Arnav: "My meeting is in the morning. I can't drive you back. We'll have to stay here for the night. Main andar ja raha hoon, aana ho toh aajana otherwise you can sleep in the trunk. I think you're comfortable there anyways. Lavanya is not with with me, she stayed back". And he strode off inside the hotel.
They were now standing in a well decorated room with romantic ambience... fluttering curtains, candles, and rose petals made the picture 1000x more romantic sight. It was where Arnav stood shell shocked with his train of thought limiting to only two words: "What the.."
Khushi who was right behind him had not seen the image inside as Arnav was blocking the doorway.
Khushi: "Arey phir wahi... Aap ko 'What the' kay baad english nahi aati kya. Hamesha do words bol kay chup hojatay hain." She squeezed through the small passage between Arnav and the doorway and the sight inside greeted her.
Khushi slapped a hand to her forehead: "Oh teri... Hum toh bhool hi gaye thay kay yahan yeh sab bhi hoga.. Hum hi nay plan banaya aur khud hi bhool gaye. Kitna sundar sajaya hai hotel walon nay" She said scratching her head. She stepped in and received a shower of red rose petals from above. She looked up smiling at the petals falling on her while she spread her arms around and spun once. She then walked in on the carpet of rose petals towards the dinner table set out awaiting the two newcomers, She felt mesmerized as she hypnotically walked towards the table in a trance-like state. With her eyes on the multi-storey cake she read the inscription on it:
Is pal main, Is ehsaas main, Tumharay saath main
Arnav: "You are testing my patience to an extreme degree Ms. Khushi Kumari Gupta.Yeh mera room hai, tum apnay room main jao. The one which was booked for Lavanya, samjhi. Aur tumahin wapis kaisay bhaijna hai yeh kal subha meeting say wapis laut kar decide karengay. These are the keys, now go away from here."
Khushi with hands on her hips: "Aaye Haiii... aisay kaisay... aap humain foran wapis bhaijiye... hum yahan aik minute nahi rukain gay... humain jiji kay paas jana hai. Unki bahut yaad aarahi hai aur amma bauji bhi toh pareshan hongay na." By now, she had gotten depressed remembering her family back in Delhi. She had never in her life been away from her family. Atleast one person was always with her, but now she was all alone in the strange, unknown place with the weirdest guy she had ever met. But before Arnav could say something apologetic for making her nostalgic she strode off and began searching for her room. She found it, turned in the key and stormed inside and banged the door shut. She called Payal at home, informing her of her situation and begging her to take care of everything at home.
It was 11:00 at night but still Arnav couldn't sleep. His mind was still on the way he had misbehaved with Khushi earlier. He also knew that she was scared of sleeping alone. He feared the blackened night might scare her. He made up his mind to get up and check up on her. He went out and saw her sitting in the hall rather than in her room.
Arnav: "Khushi, what are you doing here sitting all alone at this time. Don't you know how dangerous it can be to stay outside your room like this. What if something happened to you?"
Khushi raised her face and looked at Arnav. Her eyes were filled with tears and she looked drained out as if she had been fighting a battle. She saw him and in the heat of the moment left her spot, got up and threw her arms around him engulfing him in the first hug which for the first time atleast one of them had knowingly and willingly initiated. She hugged him tight closing her eyes, and thanking God in her heart for atleast having one familiar face with her in this time of distress even if it was Arnav. She had never realized this before but this accident could have happened to her anywhere and she could have accidently landed in anyone's car due to her accident prone nature... but having Arnav there with her felt like a blessing in disguise in that moment. She was not alone. While she clung onto his arms for strength, and support she had never been so thankful to have Arnav Singh Raizada with her.
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Part 2: page 12
Part 3: page 22
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