ArHi FF: Sweet Escape UPD 2/17/12 P31 - Page 20

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but as i keep saying- real like SUCKS!

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Chapter 5: An Epic Night of What The's

Flights from Mumbai to Delhi weren't very long, roughly two hours to be exact. In such a short amount of time you'd think one could barely get past the first few chapters in a book, listen to a few songs on your iPod, flip through a magazine and judge other people's clothes, or maybe even take a nap seeing as to you spent the last two days twisting and turning in a hotel suite fit for a king.

But Arnav Singh Raizada did none of that, no he sat and did the same thing he'd been doing for the last two days. The last two where he should have been focusing on a business deal with an important client, he was busy analyzing what had happened that fateful night at Karan's Diwali party. Overanalyzing more like, and he'd come to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, his wanting something didn't mean it was his.

The ASR glare tended to never fail its namesake, when it was pulled into play, the man tended to get what he wanted. With one simple exception.

The fiery temptress who stood entrapped within his grasp, the unnamed champion of his heart, Khushi Kumari Gupta.

An elegant eyebrow slid up, her expression amused even as her fragile hands pushed away fruitlessly at his ironclad hold. She let out a sigh, as if realizing the struggle was of no use. Unexpectedly, she relaxed in his hold, hands giving up their fight to instead join her arms as they crossed across her scarcely clothed chest.

"Yes, sir," she said in a mocking tone, "I'll explain."

He relaxed his hold, surprised at the yielding along with the addressing, yet cautious enough to keep his hold firm around her.

"The fairy lights," she began, "are from the party store in North Junction, very durable and as you can see, they possess a simplistic design providing for an aesthetic presentation of the room. The flowers are from a flower stand a few blocks away, small mom and pop store, very nice people and gave me a great deal on the flowers. The catering was provided by an up and coming company, they gave me a great deal too, plus the food tasting was a surreal experience. Now the desert-"

Flabbergasted, was an understatement. He didn't know how to define his emotions as she stood nonchalantly in his grasp rattling off the details of the party venue. One thing was for sure, his fury, was climbing steadily up the charts, in a manner only Khushi Kumari Gupta could make it do. It was like they were stuck in a time warp, her slight frame trapped within his, her gibberish as usual weaving a web of confusion over him. Nothing had changed, and yet everything had.

"What," he bit out, "are you talking about?"

She gave him a look that could only be defined as, how could you not know, isn't it obvious? With a shrug of her shoulders she answered, "Well, you said explain. You never specified what. So as an honorable guest at our party I surmised that you simply meant to ask after the party arrangements."

He arms fell away, stunned; first of all, why the hell was she speaking such fluent English, secondly, why was she telling him off in said fluent English, and thirdly, why the hell wasn't she answering his question when they both knew what he meant?

He began approaching her in his usual predatory manner, but to his quickly hidden shock, she didn't back away this time. She sighed, almost as if it were a bother to even be here, moving away only when he was within a centimeter of her. She poked a finger into his chest as a hand rose in the universal symbol for stop.

"Mr. Raizada," she said calmly, "I do believe you're encroaching on my personal space."

Personal space? He thought, since when did that exist between them?

"Khushi Kumari Gupta, answer the damn question."

He held back a frustrated groan as she seemingly ignored him, looking around the vicinity as if searching for someone, "who are you talking to," she finally asked.

He gaped at her, "have you gone insane from all those ridiculous jalebis? I'm talking to YOU!"

"Oh," she said with a slight laugh, "well this is awkward'"

"What the-"

"LANGUAGE MR. RAIZADA, it's Diwali after all."

"I swear to '"

"Ahan, you don't believe in God."

He smirked as he caught the finger on his chest in his hand, "so you remember."

She nodded again, her eyes and eyebrows widening to amplify the obviousness of the situation, "duh, I don't have amnesia."

"What- Why are you talking like this?!"

"Like what?"

"Like'not you."

She groaned softly, her very form exuding the annoyance she felt, "You don't even know me."

He glared down at her, "of course I know you! What the hell does that even mean, I don't know you. You're Khushi, Khushi Kumari Gupta and you-"

"Ms. Krishnamurthy?" A stilted male voice carried down the dimly lit hallway towards the hidden couple. He watched in confusion as her head turned towards the call, instinctively replying back to it.

"I'm here Ryan; I'll be there in a sec."

"Are you'ok?" the voice called back.

She gasped in horror, her face possessing that familiar expression of shock he'd grown so fond of, "shoot," she whispered. Her hands flew to the earpiece hidden by her flowing hair; a nervous chuckle escaped her as she fingered the device. "I'm fine guys, sorry, I forgot about this, carry on, I'll be out in a sec," she declared.

He watched in fascination as she shook her head, giving a gentle tap to her forehead as in berating herself. What had just happened? He reacted too late as she looked back at him. "Enjoy the party Mr. Raizada," she said with a sweet smile. He stared after her as she walked away, her confident stride emphasized by the four inch heels he saw peeking out from beneath her slightly lifted skirt.

"By the way," she said turning back, "my name is Khushi Kumari Krishnamurthy."

..'''..

Khushi Kumari Krishnamurthy, as it turned out, was quite different from the Khushi Kumari Gupta Arnav was used to. And if Arnav had thought his night couldn't get any worse when she'd left him standing in the shadows befuddled by her new name, he'd thought wrong. Because for the rest of the night he'd tried cornering her again, and yet in each relentless pursuit he failed as she was constantly surrounded by a sea of unfamiliar faces.

He didn't quite understand why he wanted her to answer her to answer questions when a gently persuaded Payal or possibly threatened Akash would have maybe done just as well. Although, the more he saw of this new world, the world of the Mehta's and Krishnamurthy's, he realized that not only was the city different, the people he'd thought he'd known were different too. In that given scenario maybe this new Akash would have laughed in his face when he demanded answers, as it was, he'd already denied them twice.

If he was honest with himself, he knew the truth; at least he'd managed to unearth most of it. And taking in the setting about him, any rational mind could put together where and why his brother, his wife, and Khushi had been for the past three miserable years. When he questioned their actions he didn't want answers, but more so excuses. An inkling of regret, except, he admitted to himself, they had nothing to regret. Only he did.

As the night stretched on, Arnav had all but given up his quite recently acquired ASR persona for the one his recently relocated family- because deny it all they did, that is what they were- knew quite well. The polite and agreeable businessman was left in the shadows as the night droned, replaced steadily by the menace that he knew he must tame. But it was so hard, especially when her antics throughout the night pulled at his memory strings.

And then there was the Karan angle. Arnav had all but forgotten his true reason for attending the event, hell bent and practically obsessed with his one objective- the truth. And his fury was only fueled each time one or the other reached was a swinging hand, laid a gentle touch on the other's arm. They didn't seem to part for more than a few minutes before the searching began.

It disgusted him. Well, disturbed him. Even more so it brought within him an emotion he'd killed and buried a long time ago, jealousy. The green eyed monster emerged with a vengeance unknown to Arnav Singh Raizada. It had been easier last time, when he was sure he'd affected her like she had him, but now like everything that was different. He was sure only of his long half buried feelings, to him, she was his. Just like she'd always been.

"Mr. Raizada." Arnav came out of his thoughts as the painfully familiar voice addressed him in that unfamiliar way, he turned to face the somber face before him, the glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose in that achingly recognizable manner.

"I came to bid you good night," Akash said, "it's late and my wife and I are heading home. I hope I'll be seeing you again."

Arnav stared at him expressionlessly as they shook hands, "me too," he replied in a stony voice. "Trust me, you have not seen the last of Arnav Singh Raizada," he assured his brother.

If he was unnerved before, this took the cake. His brother smirked back at him, amused it seemed as he chuckled and said, "And some people just don't change '"

"What the-"

"Akash!" Arnav's attempt at unnerving his brother with a glare was interrupted as Payal came to a stop beside them. "Ready to go?"

He felt utterly ignored as she barely threw a good night his way, yanking her husband away, chattering more than Arnav had ever seen her do. "Khushi and Karan said they'll come home later. They don't want to leave till all the guests go home and Khushi has to supervise clean up too'"

They'll come home, she'd said, home. Not Khushi will be dropped off at home'home.

"Chote?"

His feet paused before entering his room as the soft voice called out to him.

"How was your trip?"

He turned to face the hesitant gaze of his sister, inching slowly towards him; he attempted to smile then gave up. "Fine Di, I'm going back in a while, I'll tell you the details later."

She nodded, knowing better than to prod further.

"Good night," he said turning away, "I'm tired," he offered in explanation.

"Ok," she accepted, watching as he shut the door behind him.

He lay in bed that night like every other night, eyes staring at the ceiling, out through the skylight he'd put in at the stars shining down upon his chiseled face. Sleep was never his best friend.