Hello everyone! I have a regular FF up and running in the FF section, but I wrote an OS and wanted to put that up here. It's set after the events of Friday's episode. Here it is, with special thanks to Lexaxel (Nancy) for helpful suggestions!
OS: ASR's new clothes.
Lavanya and Khushi came back from their shopping expedition smiling furtively. They were laden with bags. It seemed like Lavanya had bought up the entire store.
"I bought some stuff for Khushi too," she said when Anjali asked her what all she'd bought. The Raizada women demanded to see their purchases ASAP, of course.
Lavanya looked at Naniji and said quietly, "No, Naniji. We won't just show them to you. We'll model them for you." Naniji, Anjali and Mamiji smiled at her excitement and asked her to change immediately.
"Not just me. Khushi too, of course," said Lavanya. Mamiji made a face and a snide comment about "phatee saree". Khushi ignored it as usual. Lavanya actually made a face at Mamiji and said, "Mamiji, you need a new line. This insult is old and boring now. In fact, its barely even insulting anymore." Lavanya walked off, with Khushi leaving Mamiji open-mouthed. Naniji smiled. She liked the spunk Lavanya had just displayed. She wished some of it would rub off on Anjali a little and she would be a little less trusting and a little more wary of her smarmy husband. Naniji knew that he was up to no good. She had a sixth sense about these things.
"ASR. Come down now. Khushi and I have something to show you." Lavanya spoke in clipped tones on the phone.
"Lavanya, I'm busy. Whatever it is, I don't have time for it." He snapped.
"Oh, ASR! Believe me, you don't want to miss this. Come down to the living room in 15 minutes." She hung up. ASR looked at the phone slightly shocked. Lavanya had hung up on him. He decided to go check out what she was talking about.
15 minutes later, on the dot Lavanya walked out to the living room. She was wearing a pale pink lehenga choli with silver embroidery and a net dupatta. She wore a diamond choker round her neck and silver bangles on her wrists. Tiny diamond drops hung from her ears. Her hair was done in a French knot, and she had a few loose tendrils hanging around her face. She sashayed up and down a few times for them, pretending she was doing the catwalk. She looked lovely. She laughed and joked with them, but her eyes looked stormy. ASR didn't notice of course. He'd given her a cursory glance, and then retired to the security of his Blackberry. After Anjali and Naniji had raved about her appearance a little, Lavanya spoke.
"Oh, but you guys haven't seen the real star of this evening. Come on out Khushi." Arnav's ears sprung up at 2 things. First, that Khushi was coming out. And second, that Lavanya had called Khushi by her name, not that ridiculous nickname, he hated, Chamkili. He looked up quickly and his jaw fell open at the sight in front of him.
Khushi Kumari Gupta stood there looking absolutely fabulous. The word he was looking for was, smokin'! She looked smokin'. She was wearing a tiny, fire-engine red dress that hit halfway down her thighs. It was sleeveless and had a deep neck that revealed a hint of cleavage, but not quite. Her hair hung loose about her shoulders. She wore 3 inch high black pumps on her feet and no jewelry at all. Her lips were red and pouty. She then did a catwalk down their living room that would put Kate Moss to shame. She swung her hips suggestively as she walked. Then she came to a stop in front of them and posed, with her hands resting low on her hips. She held that pose for a second, before tossing her hair, and turning back. This gave them a view of the back of the dress, which was completely scandalous. In fact, it didn't exist down to her waist. She repeated this walk once more, this time coming to stand in front of him on purpose. She looked him straight in the eye. He swallowed. She looked hot. There was no other word for it. He stole a glance at the rest of the party. Nani looked scandalized. Anjali and Mami were flabbergasted. Aakash had joined them. His jaw was slack as stared at this sexy new avatar of Khushi. ASR came to his senses when he saw Aakash salivating at the sight of Khushi.
"What the hell are you wearing?" he roared, standing up in a hurry. She stood her ground and stared at him fearlessly. "Go and change this minute," he said. She didn't move. He walked up to her. "Didn't you hear me? Go.And.Change." he bit out.
"No," she finally spoke.
"What the! Khushi! Why are you dressed like a tramp? Go upstairs now!" he said imperiously.
"ASR! I bought Khushi that dress. Any problem?" asked Lavanya.
"Yes. Yes, Lavanya. I have a problem. I have a problem with her walking around in that excuse for a dress. She looks like a floozy. Why did you buy her that? And you Khushi? How did you agree to wear this thing!" he yelled, now totally worked up to an ASR grade 3 level fury. He took his blazer off and tried to drape it awkwardly across Khushi's shoulders. It fell off, and she made no attempt to pick it up. He picked it up and put it around her more securely.
"ASR! It's the kind of dress I used to wear all the time. You never had a problem with what I wore. Why do you care what the hired help wears?' asked Lavanya sternly.
"Don't call her that! She's not the hired help." He said.
"That's exactly what I am ASR!" said Khushi, dispensing with the formality of Arnavji.
"Khushiji, I don't understand. You look very nice, but this isn't your usual style. Why are you wearing this dress?" asked Anjali looking worried. "And Chotey! You need to calm down." She threw an admonitory glance at her brother.
"Di! I asked her to wear this dress." Said Lavanya.
"Why?" asked ASR in a very stiff voice.
"To make a point" Said Lavanya.
"Which is?" he asked.
"The point, ASR is this. You don't give a rat's ass about me. You agreed to marry me to spite someone. You never gave a damn what clothes I wore, but one look at Khushi in the kind of dress I used to wear regularly and you're about to bust a blood vessel. I changed myself completely to please your grandmother. But guess what, I don't please you. All this adds up to one thing and one thing only" She trailed off.
"What are you saying Lavanyaji? I don't understand any of this." Anjali looked very worried.
"Let me explain Di," said Lavanya.
"ASR is not in love with me." Her voice broke a little, "He loves Khushi. The only reason he agreed to this engagement was because Khushi got engaged to someone else. He wanted to punish her."
"Shut up Lavanya!" said ASR.
"No. Aap shut up!" said Khushi. He gave her a dangerous look, but she didn't back down.
"ASR, I don't care who you love and why that is. All I want to know is this. Why me? Why make me a pawn in your little game? If you didn't love me, all you had to do was say so. I would've left in a flash. Instead you played me like an instrument. How dare you?" said Lavanya, enraged.
ASR had the grace to look ashamed. "I'm sorry Lavanya. I never meant to hurt you," he said feebly.
"That's a laugh. It's all you know ASR. To hurt people. Hurt me. Hurt Khushi. Hurt yourself. The thing is, you hurt yourself far more than you hurt any of us." She finished quietly. "Anyway, this whole farce has played itself out. I refuse to participate in your miserable little game anymore. I'm leaving," she walked up the stairs. The family just stood there, gaping.
"How did she find out?" ASR asked Khushi who was still standing there.
"She saw our little exchange in the fitting room. Then she saw me crying. She said she'd noticed something between us several times. She made me tell her everything. I'm glad I told her. I can't go through this torture anymore" said Khushi. She handed his jacket back to ASR and walked up the stairs behind Lavanya.
Anjali walked to ASR and said, "Chotey, what's all this?" tentatively, laying a hand on his arm.
"Not now Di. Not today," he pushed her arm away. He sat down on the couch, staring ahead blankly. He felt awful about how he'd treated Lavanya. Not to mention all the pain he'd caused Khushi. Lavanya and Khushi came down a few minutes later. They'd both changed their clothes. Khushi was in her salwar suit, Lavanaya in Jeans and a tee. She carried a bag with her.
"Naniji, Anjaliji. Thank you for everything. You made me feel like family," said Lavanya heading to the door. Nani and Anjali just stood there shell-shocked. They were still processing what had happened here in the last 30 minutes.
"Lavanya where are you going at this time of the night?" asked ASR.
"I made reservations. I have a plane to catch. I'm going to the UK," said Lavanya.
"Lavanya, I'm sorry. I behaved badly," said ASR.
"You did ASR. And I can't forgive you just yet. I'm not that magnanimous," said Lavanya. Lavanya and Khushi walked to the door of Raizada Mansion.
"At least let me drive you to the airport," said ASR.
"I have a cab waiting," said Lavanya. "But thanks for offering."
"Khushi, let me drop you home," said ASR.
"I have a cab waiting for her too," said Lavanya. "And ASR, she is coming to the UK as soon as I can organize a visa for her," she finished.
ASR's eyes widened. "The UK? Why are you going to the UK Khushi?" he asked. "You can't go," he said panicking.
"Why not? I am 18. I don't want to be married. Not to Shyamji, not to anyone. I want to study. I want to work. I want to travel. I want to live a little. Lavanya is offering me an opportunity to do that in spite of how badly I behaved with her. I hid the truth from her for the longest time. She doesn't deserve that. I take some responsibility for what happened here. But now I have the opportunity to make things better for myself, even though I can never repair the damage I did to her" said Khushi remorsefully.
"Khushi, I love you. Don't go!" He said, baring himself to her entirely for the first time. Faced with the possibility of losing her, he spoke the words he'd left unsaid for so long.
"I know. But I can't stay," said Khushi quietly. "Loving you hurts too much." She walked out of his home and his life without looking back.
Too angsty? I just felt like poor Lavanya needed a voice😊 Let me know what you think!
Here is a link to my regular FF, if you want to check it out:
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/48610174
Cheers!
Vidhya
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