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LAST PART
"HAYYE-RE-NAND-KISHOR!", bellowed a livid Madhumati as the thal in her hands slipped in shock, and clattered onto the floor noisily, spilling its contents all over the entrance to the Gupta house in the process.
Khushi looked from the dal that her Bua had been swifting through before they had arrived, to her horrified face. Her one hand resting on top of her head, and the other covering her mouth that was open as wide as a cave. Her eyes as large as saucers, she gaped at the Sanaka Devi forth her as she bellowed again.
"HAYYE-RE-NAND-KISHOR!"
"We heard you the first time!", Arnav snapped at Khushi's Bua impatiently. If there was one thing he was not looking forward to in this alliance with Khushi, it was this particular acquaintance. The woman just got on his nerves!
"HAYYE-RE-NAND-KISHOR!"
"I SAID WE HEARD YOU THE FIRST TIME!", Arnav bellowed back at the annoying lady. Could she not get past the Nand-Kishor part quickly and let them in! They had others to break the news to.
"HAYYE-RE-NAND-KISHOR!"
"That's it!", he ground out, pulling Khushi inside with him, pushing past the still frozen Bua. He did not have the time to let her remember her Nand-Kishor a hundred times before she could programme her pea sized brain to move on and let them in.
But now it was their chance to get stumped. He now knew where his family had been all day. They had been here, but why he wondered.
"Chote!...What?...What is all this?...", stammered a shocked Anjali, getting up from her seat and walking up to where Arnav and Khushi had been standing.
Arnav was a man of a few words, and despised having to explain himself to people. Hence he decided to show them. Since actions were louder than words, he had had Khushi dressed up in a bridal red saree. It was a beautiful saree, encrusted with genuine kundan work. Khushi had been dead against buying such an expensive saree, but Arnav had insisted that, making it clear that "Arnav Singh Raizada's wife will wear nothing short of this!". The saree alone had cost twenty lakhs. And then Arnav had also got her a beautiful jewellery set, complete with a necklace, bangles, earrings and mang-tika, encrusted with red rubies. She looked magnificent with her diamond mangalsutra glittering above her expensive saree, and the sindoor delicately filled below her mang-tika.
And with the red hue her cheeks carried from their intimate ron-de-vous a few hours ago in Arnav's bedroom, she very aptly looked like Mrs. Arnav Singh Raizada.
This is the exact effect Arnav had intended to have on everybody. And it was good that they were all there together. Best to get it done with at once! Khushi's attire told them what needed to be told. And he did not have to work very hard now.
"HAYYE-RE-NAND-KISHOR!"
"Oh god! Not again!", he grumbled under his breath, now annoyed beyond limit.
"Yeh sab kya hai chote?", Nani asked.
"Hello Hye Bye Bye!", Mami exclaimed.
"Yeh tumne kya kiya Khushi?", Amma questioned.
"Bhai!", Akash blurted.
"Khushi!", Payal yelped.
"ENOUGH!"
How could he have thought that everything was going to be easy. The questions still remained, and try as he might, he'll not be able to dodge them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Guptas and the Raizadas sat in silence as Arnav finished explaining how he and Khushi had unknowingly fell in love through their entire WWF fight sequence, realized their feelings, and then when Arnav had learnt of Khushi's engagement with some slime ball Shyaam babua, gotten married in haste.
He also told them how Lavanya had been very supportive of their marriage, and extremely relieved. 'Cause she had herself eloped with her college sweetheart that morning and gotten married. He had come back from England in a chase and four when he had heard of her engagement with ASR, and begged her to not punish him thus for his stupid mistake. Unable to help the intense love that her heart still bore for him, she had broken down, and agreed to elope.
"HAYYE-RE-NAND-KISHOR!"
Arnav winced at this. This Nand-Kishor was beginning to hammer him now.
"Oo Lavanya ka mamla to theek ho gaya, lekin ab humare Shyaam babua ka kya hoga! Sanaka Devi! Tune hum sab ki naak kata di! Ab hum kya jawab denge Shyaam Babua ko?"
"Hum inse pyaar karte hain Bua Ji!"
"Are chup karo tum! Tum aur tumhara pyaar!..."
"I SAID ENOUGH!", Arnav screamed again, as he felt a headache coming on.
This was going to be a long discussion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arnav jumped the main gate and crept through Khushi's backyard silently. Making sure to not make any noise. After hours of shouting down everybody's indignation, he had finally managed to pacify both the families. But Nani had declared that Khushi will be brought into the house as the Raizada bahu only after getting properly married to Chote. She had refused to recognize a signed document as enough grounds to accept the marriage. She had said that she did not want Khushi to pay the brunt of Arnav's hot headedness, and that her Khushi bitiya deserved a proper wedding, complete with all the rituals.
Arnav had tried to shout his way out of this, but Nani had put her foot down. So it had been decided that Arnav and Khushi would get married with Akash and Payal [who it had turned out were very much in love too], on the same day.
Arnav grunted again as he crept up the stairs that led to the corridor right outside Khushi's window. All this meant was, that he couldn't have her to himself.
He was on the last step when he heard muffled voices.
"Akash Ji...aap is waqt yahan..", whispered Payal shyly.
"Woh... Payal Ji...aap se door nahi raha jaa raha tha...", Akash replied, even more shyly.
"Kya main...kya main aapka haath pakad sakta hoon?", he asked nervously.
"Unbelievable man!", Arnav muttered to himself as he walked past them. Akash and Payal stumbled, scared witless as they saw Arnav walk past them
"Bhai! Aap!...Woh mai..."
"Relax Akash...it's not like you were doing anything anyways...", he muttered to himself as he walked to the window and skipped inside, much to Akash and Payal's bewilderment.
Khushi woke up to a gentle caress on her forehead. As she slowly opened her eyes she saw Arnav bent over her, kissing her face tenderly. Hey Mrs. Arnav Singh Raizada. Miss me?"
Khushi blushed. She had been missing him so much. And had finally drifted off to sleep thinking about him. He pulled her up and started kissing her lips. Khushi shuddered with his intensity.
"I'm here to give you your second lesson in love making", he whispered between kisses.
Wrapping his arms around her, he buried his face into her hair when the door to her room suddenly opened and the annoying voice from earlier that day boomed through the house
"HAYYE RE NAND KISHOR!"
"HELL MAN!"
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