SS ArHi:Reflections & Revelations final ch, Nov19 - Page 3

great update...good to know they're getting married, even tough it's forced...please update soon and thanks for the pm

Originally posted by: hkhb17

can i just say that was brilliant!!! I loved every bit of it. the tension between them and oh my - 2 days!!!! cant wait!! its nice to see anjali being strong and using her head for a change!!!

thanks for the pm!!!

Thank you so much 😊 2 days is the perfect time. Its not too long of a wait for Arnav and Khushi still gets to have all the wedding rituals and celebrations like she deserves 😃

Originally posted by: tina_1234

damn nyc part...wish dis happens in serial

😆 I dont think it'll happen unfortunately. That's why us audience turns to FFs and SS hehe

Originally posted by: Honkytonk

Wow, talk about out of this world...am loving this SS...please do PM me if possible.

Many thanks

😳 Aww shucks. Thanks missy (or dude.. depending on what you prefer) PM to follow on the next update 😊

Originally posted by: booksfreak07

Really really nice

Please add me and send PM

Thanks!

Originally posted by: sanash

you are a really good writer I just started reading your story today and I am hooked please send me a pm

Thank you so much, that's a lovely compliment. I'm glad you liked it! I hope you continue reading the updates as well! 😃

Originally posted by: angelina_angel

good part

😊 shukriya

Originally posted by: shybabe

I LUV UR TITLE GREAT READ.

Thanks! I'm glad somebody commented on the title-- Its for the characters who reflect on their lives, which inevitably leads to revelations for both the readers and the characters themselves 😊

Originally posted by: minimuffin86

you are frekking awesoem!!!

Thanks a ton Ms.Muffin. Keep reading!😃

Originally posted by: Lip-a-Licious

that was fabulous

⭐️ gracias babe

Originally posted by: immayurfan

Awesome part

Loved it

😊 Glad you liked it!

Originally posted by: areeba_blossom

Brilliant!!!

😳 thanks

Originally posted by: roseycheek

Anjali was amazing!

😃 I really think Anjali has potential. I'm pretty pissed at the poor way her character has been developed so far in the show so this is my attempt at giving her some depth.

The next update should be coming up within the next day (just working on some finer points). Thank you all for the comments! I hope I don't disappoint anyone 😊

Cheers😎

Thank you so much!

As for this: "good to know they're getting married, even tough it's forced."

I hope you don't mind but I took the liberty of explaining this with the next update. Maybe that'll make you feel better about the circumstance under which they get married 😊

Hello all,

So here's part 6. This one is a tad bit on the smaller side but I promise to follow it up with an uber long update the next time around!😃

Now, please indulge me while I explain something from ArHi-Sarun's comments.

"good to know they're getting married, even though it's forced."

They aren't forced actually. If you think about it, at no point in time do either Khushi or Arnav say (or think) that they are being forced into marriage.

Khushi'd reluctance stems from the fact that she feels that she is getting married to a man who does not reciprocate her feelings. She believes that he dislikes her. Even when she confronts him about the announcement, she never says that she doesn't want to get married- she only says that she cannot back out from it (thereby absolving him of any responsibility) like Lavanya did. In her mind, she knows that in the kind of society she lives in, there is no option other than being a social outcast (punishing her family along with herself) if she declines marrying the man after being caught in a compromising situation. She knows Arnav is right in announcing their marriage- she just doesn't agree with his reasons.

As for Arnav, no one forced him to step up and protect Khushi after the incident. But the fact is that he decided to do it anyway. He opted for a more practical reason of saving her and their families from scandal rather than delve deeper into his feelings to find the real reason. He simply isn't ready for any other reason either.

Yes, they both feel like this decision is forced but if they stop for a second and be honest with themselves, they'll realize that it is not true. Anyways, sorry for the long rant but I hope everyone who finds the idea of a forced marriage unpalatable (like I do) can now rest in peace. 😊😊

Thank you as always for reading and commenting.😊 These comments help tremendously in encouraging to write more. I absolutely love❤️ reading them. Your insights and observations make it better so please please leave a comment this time around as well! (Thank you Arhi-Sarun for the above mentioned ranting opportunity 😆) 🤗

"Here you go, bhaiyya," Akash handed his brother the steaming cup of coffee. Accepting it with a nod of his head, Arnav Singh Raizada ran a tired hand over his face. Finding comfort in the rich smell and velvet feel, he relished the slight bitterness of the drink. He really shouldn't be drinking more coffee, he thought, sipping the warm brew. He was having troubles sleeping anyway. He leaned back in the soft lounge chair as his brother started punching details of the trip into his laptop. "How much longer before we board?" he grumbled, hating the wait. Patience was not one of his strong suits.

"Less than an hour bhaiyya."

"Hmm." Throwing his head back, he closed his eyes tiredly hoping to catch a quick nap. Unfortunately, sleep evaded him for the same reason it had in the past two weeks, her image forming against the darkness of his mind. She was nowhere near him, yet he was unable to keep her thoughts out. Absentmindedly, he twirled the plain gold band adorning his ring finger.

Earlier that morning, Arnav had escaped to his only sanctuary near the pool to work on the presentation he had to conduct the next day. His tickets to Bangalore had been confirmed for early that evening, much to the consternation of his family who left no stone unturned in lecturing him about how his first trip out of town after marriage should be with his wife, not his brother.

After the chaos of discovering his jija-ji's deceit, and the ensuing announcement, he had married Khushi post haste to make sure that neither of their families had to bear the brunt of the scandal. The 48 hours between him making the announcement and taking his wedding vows had been the worst he had ever experienced. Though his Di had taken charge of explaining the situation and getting the family ready to receive a new member, he had felt scrutinized with every breath he took. He had been terrified that Khushi would do something stupid to hurt herself or worse, run away to avoid marrying him. Using what had happened with Shyam and the fact that media had gotten wind of the issue and were continuously probing into their lives as an excuse, he had stationed a small fleet of guards outside her home as a precautionary measure until the nuptials took place. Now safely wed, he had succeeded in turning the story about in a way where the media portrayed it to be a love match, his gallant rescue throwing everything into a more forgiving, romantic light. If only they knew the truth.

Unable to focus even in the silence, he had been pacing around the pool like a caged tiger, reading Lavanya's note for what felt like the hundredth time since he had first seen it, when his Di had shown up unannounced. He'd hastily stuffed the paper back into his pocket but not before he saw her cast a cursory look at it. Her expression changing in an instant, she had smiled brightly at him, asking to join him for tea.

"We haven't had much alone time to sit and talk recently, what with everything happening so suddenly, right chote?" she'd begun after taking an obligatory first sip. "How are you doing, brother?" she prodded him gently.

"How am I doing? Di, I should be asking you that question."

"I am... ok," she answered him with a pause, as though searching her mind for the right words. "It will take a while to get over it all, but I'm doing better than most people think I am. Really."

After a few moments of strained silence, he burst out- "Why didn't you tell me? I could have done something to help you instead of letting you go through it alone!"

"But that's exactly why I didn't tell you chote. I know you love me, I know you're hurt by everything that happened to me. But I needed to face this alone. And you wouldn't have let me do that. You would have tried to protect me, shield me when what I needed was to face the truth."

"But.."

"I am grown up now brother, and so are you. But you have yet to learn that it isn't always your job to protect others. To protect me. I had to learn to do that for myself too."

Nodding his head, understanding her but not agreeing, he sat back as they both stared into the blue waters dancing in slight breeze. His low voice cut through the quiet- "weren't you scared to face it alone?"

She had looked pained for a second before assuming the same neutral expression she'd had before. Looking down into her mug, she had replied in just as low a tone as his. "Yes. I was terrified. But I got over it. I had to. For love."

His head had snapped towards her then. "You still love him?!" he'd exclaimed in outrage.

Anjali looked at him, surprised at his outburst before tilting her lips in a rueful smile. "Not him silly! Well, that's not entirely true. Somewhere deep, there are some remnants of the love I felt for him. Those will fade with time. But that isn't the love I was referring to."

He shook his head at her in a confused gesture.

"I meant the love I felt for you, for our family. I had to get over my fear and face him because I couldn't let anyone take advantage of our family. And I had to do it for me. For the sake of my love that he insulted," she said strongly.

"I told you there was no such thing as love. You never believed me before," he returned, uncertain if he even believed himself for saying that.

"When did I say that, chote?" she chided him gently for jumping to conclusions "Of course I still believe in love."

"After everything that man did to betray you, how can you still say that with so much conviction?" he bit out, the mere mention of his ex- jija inciting anger.

With the patience of a nun and a tone that elders used to teach a particularly difficult concept to a willful child, she explained, "Just because I loved the wrong man does not make it wrong to love altogether."

"Even though it ended in so much pain?"

"Yes, chote," she nodded, happy that he was finally asking all the questions that she knew he'd kept buried in him. "It is worth it, because with the right person, it gives you the greatest pleasures. And the warmest security."

He had looked like he needed a moment to take all that in. Quiet again, he had been unable to clamp down on his curiosity. With what looked like the innocence of a 3 year old, he bent his head low. "How do you know... if.. I... I mean... if someone is in l.. love?" he stammered.

His sister had looked at him, not with surprise like he had expected. Instead, there was an expression of contentment. And... triumph? Leaning forward to place the empty mug near his computer, she answered.

"When you start caring for someone not because of an obligation or because someone asked you to, but because you just couldn't help yourself. Their concern is foremost on your mind when before, it was all about you. When their happiness, their smile becomes addicting, and their safety- your life's goal. When two people come together despite trying to stay away. It is love, chote, when they look at each other like no one else exists- like you and Khushi look at each other," she finished, the glint in her eye daring him to deny it.

Surprised but unable to counter her statement, he had looked at his sister searchingly, before turning back to stare at the restless waters. He had heard her sari rustle as she got up to leave. Just as she was nearing the door, he'd sighed. "She doesn't love me."

"What?"

"She hasn't spoken two words to me beyond our wedding day. She avoids me. She doesn't even look at me if I am in the same room," he informed her, his frustration evident with each word.

Cupping his face and looking at him straight in the eye, "She looks at you," his Di said, the conviction in her tone soothing him a little. "I've seen it. When you aren't looking, or when she thinks you won't notice- her eyes follow you. She hasn't spoken much because the poor girl is probably too scared to say anything after everything that lead to your marriage. She looks like she is this close to a nervous breakdown," she put her fingers about a centimeter apart to emphasize her point. "I'll be surprised if she can even think straight." Smoothing his hair in a motherly gesture, she continued, "And she isn't trying to avoid you. She is trying to avoid getting her feelings hurt again. She doesn't know you love her, chote, she can't read your mind."

Getting up and giving him an encouraging look, "Tell her about your feelings. Maybe that will give her the freedom and courage to act on hers." She'd left him with that to ponder.

And ponder he had. All the way to the airport, through customs and checking and into this lounge, he had done nothing but think about the conversation he'd had that morning.

"Let's go bhai," Akash tapped him on the shoulder. "I think they'll start boarding soon."

The house was silent. It was the first time in a long time that she could hear herself think, not that she really wanted to. It was in fact safest, she agreed with herself, if she didn't think at all. About anything. Definitely not about the mess her life had become- almost married to an already married man only to end up with a woman-hating aristocrat who didn't even spare a glance her way, much less actually attempt to speak with her. And despite all this, Khushi Kumari Gupta knew that she had fallen irrevocably in love with her recently wedded husband. The only thing she could do now, she had decided, was make sure that he didn't find out about it. It was the sole way to salvage her nearly crushed heart.

As hard as it was, she had kept away from him, busying herself with work around the house and spending time with Nani and Anjali-ji. Oops! You mean Di, she mentally reprimanded herself, still unused to using that while referring to her sister-in-law. She was biding time until she could go back to work for Rohan-ji and get away from the awkward encounters and the unbearable silence.

I miss him, she thought sadly about her new husband. A relationship where we don't talk, don't look at each other, don't even sleep on the same bed- and I still miss him. When she'd heard that he had left for the airport before she returned from the temple, she had nodded, accepting the information as Di and Nani had looked at her pityingly. Declining their invitation to go dine at a friend's house, she remained back, finding comfort in looking through his clothes and sorting them just as she knew he liked. It was a guilty pleasure for her, to stand there and run a hand over the smooth shirts and vests, leaning in to inhale his scent. She even dreamed of it now. It was the one thing of his that she could take without even asking him- and she wouldn't have to give that up either.

Hearing someone clutter about, she made her way downstairs. "Om Prakash ji!" she called out, making her way to the kitchen. Mentally going over the list of items she needed, she almost stumbled over her feet when she heard a voice close to her call out her name. Whipping around, she exclaimed, "Aap?"

"What are you doing here?" she asked nervously, her eyes never straying from him.

He quietly answered- "I'm here for you."

Hehe😆 I know its pretty mean to leave it hanging like this but I promise, the next one will be worth it 😊 Hope you enjoyed reading this!

Cheers😎

Hindi words explained:

Bhaiyya / Bhai: elder brother

Aap: You (in respectful terms), used for someone elder or higher in status

Another wonderful chapter...good tosee Arnav trying to open up to himself and trying to admit to his true feelings for his new wife...unfair of u to leave us at such a teaser ending.

Beautifully written! Loved the convo between Arnav and Anjali!
Keep writing 😊

i hope its Arnav and not Shyam 😉

loved ur story...please pm me when u update...

thanks

So beautiful! Loved both new parts, especially how you've turned Anjali into the woman I saw in her more towards the beginning of the show.

Also, a huge thanks for translating the Hindi bits. Nobody else bothers to, but it means the world to me!

Eager for the next part! ❤️

awesomest part..loved it dear

wow! wonder what arnav will say to khushi. hope its good.