OS:Moving On

The cold wind blew across his face, ruffling his perfectly set hair. He pulled his overcoat more closer to his body to shield himself from the cold. He looked at the building in front of him. He was here to finalize a crucial deal for his business. He glanced at his watch. It was 9:00 a.m. There were still twenty minutes to go before the meeting began.

He gazed around the crowds of people rushing beside him in the New York's Times Square Centre. The people rushed past him, each one busy with their own thoughts and work. It looked chaotic, but each one knew their purpose and destination. He himself was lost in his own thoughts, when he suddenly heard a small boy's voice behind him.

Boy –" Mom, Let's go fast. Dad must be waiting for us."

And then he heard that familiar voice.

Mom –"Wait Chinnu, can't you see I have your Baby sister in my arms. And I also have to carry this huge bag in my arms too." She glared at her son with huge eyes.

Boy- "What the ...! Mom, stop calling me Chinnu in front of everyone here." He said glaring back at her. "My name is Anish OK!" he said in an American accent, furrowing his eyebrows quite visibly upset at his mother. "And give me that handbag and stop complaining!" he pulled the big bag from his mother's hand and held it in his small arms. The bag was just too big for the five year old boy. But he was adamant in helping out his Mom.

Mom –"Did you just swear?" she smacked him on his head. "Say Sorry, and that you shall not repeat it once again."

Anish –"I will only say sorry when I'm wrong." He protested back.

Mom- "You are just like your father!" she exclaimed before she saw the man in front of her turn around to see them both.

She felt her eyes pop open wide, with shock and utter disbelief at the sight of the man in front of her. She felt those familiar memories, hidden away all these years, come crashing in front of her eyes, as both of them got lost in each other's eyes.

Arnav stopped dead in his place seeing that woman and her son in front of him. He felt as if a tornado had struck him and uprooted him from his life.

"Khushi... "he whispered, involuntarily stretching out his arm in her direction, as memories of that fateful day, five years ago, flashed in his eyes.

It had been a month since their marriage. Arnav had married Khushi to save his Di's marriage. He had felt that by marking Khushi as his own, Shyam would back off from her. He had loved Khushi, but the hate towards her for betraying his Di and him, had somehow overpowered his love for her.

He used to pretend to be in love with her in front of his family, especially in front of Shyam. Khushi had tried to convince him about her innocence. He had even believed her for a moment. But when memories of Shyam and Khushi hugging each other, flooded his mind, he lost his sense of rationality.

Khushi had never lost hope in her husband. She had definitely seen the love in his eyes for her. Yet, she couldn't blame him for the hatred he portrayed towards her. Afterall, she should have confided this truth with him. And deep inside, she started blaming herself for it.

Arnav was a changed man after their marriage. He was cold and ruthless, towards her. But somehow with him, she felt protected and safe. She believed that time would eventually heal their wounds and everything would be back to normal.

And one night, a month after their marriage, Khushi was all alone in their bedroom changing her saree, when she heard him enter their room. He scanned her from top to bottom once, before he turned away his gaze and went to sit on the couch beside the bed.

Khushi didn't shy away from his presence. She had completely accepted him in her life because deep inside, she loved him unconditionally. After fixing her saree, as per the routine, she went towards him, and took away the laptop bag in his hand.

Khushi –" How was your day?" she asked him, just like every other day of their married life. And he as usual continued closing his eyes in silence and didn't reply to her question. She had learnt to accept this silence in return to her question.

Khushi- "Dinner is ready. I'll ask Hari Prakash to bring it to the room." She said like all the other days. That was their routine this whole past month.

But this time, before she turned around, Arnav held her wrist tightly and stood up.

Arnav- "Why Khushi, Why do you do this to me? Can't you see I hate you? Why do you care so much about me? WHY?" he said gritting his teeth, his whole body trembling.

Khushi- "Because I love you Arnavji." She said calmly looking into his eyes.

These words sent his mind spiralling downwards and he felt his mind lose its sense. He had enough of it. The hate was too much for him. He felt a dam of emotions burst open, flooding his mind and body, which had, all this while, been securely protected from the world, from Khushi.

She felt him grab her waist and suddenly pull her towards his chest. The next thing she knew was that his lips were pressed against hers and she felt her body tremble along with his. She hadn't expected this, she wasn't prepared for this.

All she knew was that she was transported into bliss, away from the world, away from their sorrows and pain. She felt him undress her and she followed the same, stripping themselves of every boundary that withheld their bodies to be united into one.

She found herself thrown on their bed as he hovered over her, making love to her in all possible ways, she didn't even dream about. Both of them felt pleasure and satisfaction like never before, as they rocked each other's world with happiness and bliss. Her body screamed out in ecstasy, as only one thought floated in her mind. He had finally accepted her. Yes, that was the last thought before they fell asleep, entwining their bodies, feeling relieved from the tension of this past month.

Next morning, the sunlight seeping through the French windows, had awakened her up. Still smiling at the memories of the last night, she turned her head to look at Arnav, sleeping next to her, cuddling her bare body. She raised her head a little, to place a light kiss on his lips. But when her lips touched his, she saw his eyes suddenly open up. What happened next would change the entire direction of her life.

He suddenly sat upright on his bed, his eyes looking around the room in confusion. He got up from his bed and quickly grabbed his pant lying on the couch beside them and wore it. He looked back into the eyes of his wife, who was now confusedly looking at him. He closed his eyes, as only one image flooded his mind. Shyam and Khushi hugging. He opened his eyes, and that was when Khushi saw that terror returning back into his eyes.

Gone was that love which was in there, last night. It was replaced with ruthlessness and indifference, this time more magnified than before. The next thing she knew was that he grabbed her naked body from the bed and threw her on the floor.

Arnav- "GET OUT OF MY BED! GET OUT OF MY LIFE!" he had screamed back at her. When she hit the cold floor, she felt her heart shattering to million pieces. Never had she expected this from him. She thought everything was fine between them. She stared back at him in confusion, as tears rolled down her eyes. Never had she felt this humiliated, that too from the man she had loved whole heartedly.

Arnav banged his fists on the wall and grabbed his shirt and went out of his room, slamming the door behind him.

In the evening, he had returned home, after driving about aimlessly around the outskirts of the city. He didn't know what had happened to him. He felt guilty for behaving like that with Khushi. He felt himself die a million deaths for hurting Khushi like that. He had to apologise. No! apologies wouldn't be enough for his crime. How much he hated himself for doing this to her.

He just hoped that she would understand him. She would atleast try to forgive him. He would make up to her for every single time he had hurt her. He loved her, deeply and irrevocably. It was just that he was going through a tough time in his life and couldn't control his emotions.

He slowly pushed open the door to his room. He was hoping to see her inside. But as he stepped inside, he felt it eerily quiet. Something was wrong. She wasn't in his room. Maybe she was at the poolside.

He went to the poolside. But she wasn't there either. Then as he returned back to his room, he noticed something weird. Something missing. He looked at the dressing table and found it completely empty. He went towards it to investigate it further. He opened the drawers. He was shocked to see the bangles, which Khushi usually kept inside were missing. Rather it was all empty.

Panic rushed into him as he ran towards the cupboard. He found it half empty. Only his clothes were left behind. He rummaged through all the drawers in the room, to find any traces of her. But they were all gone. Then he saw a note on the pillow. On it, scribbled in shaky handwriting was written, I'm Sorry. He could still see the teardrops on the note, which had spread the ink a little bit.

He ran downstairs to ask his family about her. But no one knew anything. He tried to call her cell, but it was switched off. He ran out to his car and rushed to the Gupta house to find her. But she wasn't there. He searched through every nook and corner of Delhi. But he found her nowhere.

Defeated and destroyed, he stopped his car in the middle of the road and got out and dropped down to the road, screaming out aloud, "KHUSHI!!!"

Khushi sat in the bus, looking out of the window, her eyes still teary. "Madamji, where do you want to go to?" she heard the conductor ask her. "Last stop." She said handing over the money to him. "Here's the ticket to Chandigarh." The conductor said before handing her the ticket and the change.

She had laid on the floor crying for an hour after he had left her in the morning. And then, she knew what was to be done. She had got up from the floor and quickly dressed herself up. She picked a bag from the cupboard and packed every single thing that was hers. She had to leave him. She had to go very far away from him, his life, if that was what he wanted.

And that afternoon, when everyone in the house was busy in their rooms, she had sneaked out of the house, leaving it all behind, glancing one last time at the place which she considered her home.

Reaching Chandigarh, she didn't know where to go. But somehow, she had made a new beginning of her life. She had dared to venture out in the unknown world all by herself.

Arnav snapped back to reality, when someone rushing past him in the New York's Times square brushed against his shoulder. And he saw Khushi do the same in front of him. Before he could call out her name, once again, he heard a voice behind him call, "Khushi!"

He quickly glanced back to look at the source of the voice. And then he saw a man rushing past him and hug Khushi before he placed a kiss on her lips.

Anish- "Oh Dad! Your finally here." The small boy finally exclaimed out with relief.

Man- "Yes, Anish, I'm here." He said before patting the boy on his head. He turned back to Khushi who was still staring at Arnav. "Now what is my princess doing?" he said turning to his baby daughter in Khushi's arms. He lifted her from her arms and cuddled her, before placing a kiss on his daughter's cheek.

It was then, he noticed that Khushi wasn't looking at him. He followed her gaze, only to find her staring at a man in front of her.

Man- "Do you know him?" he whispered into Khushi's ears, breaking her gaze.

Khushi- "That's Arnav..." she gulped before continuing, "Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada." He still looked the same like five years before. Only this time, he looked a little tired and dreary.

Man- "Oh!" he said before placing a hand on Khushi's shoulder. She had to face him anyhow. Why not get over with it as fast as possible? She thought to herself.

She stepped forward closer to Arnav. "Hello, Mr. Raizada! It's a surprise to see you in New York. I know it's a long time since we last met." She let out a big sigh as she said this.

Arnav was too shocked to react to her words. He was just staring at her, unable to believe that he had finally found her after these five long years.

Khushi –"Come here," she motioned her husband to come forward. "This is Zubin Malhotra, my husband." Hearing this Arnav felt his hope shattered like a mirror, never to be back to one piece again. "This is my lovely Daughter, Zara." She said pointing at her baby in her husband's arms. "And this," she continued pulling the small boy towards her, "Is our son, Anish."

Zubin felt the whole atmosphere go tense between them, and decided to take away the kids leaving the two of them behind to talk. "Come Anish! Dad's gonna give you an ice cream," he said pulling him away from them.

Khushi –"Let's sit and have some coffee!" she said leading him to a Cafe beside them.

He continued to stare at her. She had changed so much. Atleast he couldn't believe her physical appearance. Gone were her Chamkeeli Salwars. Instead, she now wore jeans and a sweater. She had tied up her hair in a single ponytail. She had gained a little weight since the last time he saw her.

Arnav- "Does your husband... erm... Zubin know about us?" he asked her, feeling a little uncomfortable at referring to him as Khushi's husband.

Khushi- "Yes," she nodded as the next minute passed by in complete silence between them. It was only going to be silence between them, she thought to herself as she sighed.

Arnav- "So how did you meet him?" he asked curious to know more about the guy.

Khushi-"I met him in Chandigarh." She paused as she remembered Arnav had no clue that she had been living in Chandigarh after leaving Delhi. "Two years ago. I had been working in his company. He is an investment banker. After my marriage with him, we moved to New York."

Suddenly, she felt an urge to ask him about that one person, who had actually changed her whole life, Shyam Manohar Jha. She wanted to know, what had happened to him, after all these years. But then she fought back the urge. She didn't want to go back to her past. She had left all those memories behind and started her life once again.

Again, silence flowed between them.

The waiter arrived to take their order.

Khushi- "Two Black coffee, sugarfree for him please." She said before he could reply. He looked at her completely astounded at the fact that she still took care of his needs.

Khushi- "So," she paused before continuing, "Have you married someone?" she asked him.

Arnav-"No," he said before looking down at the table between them. "He seems like a nice guy." He said noticing Zubin and the kids at the ice cream shop, nearby.

Khushi- "Yes, he is." She said looking at her husband.

Arnav- "I'm sorry" he said unable to hold it back any longer. He wanted to apologize to her since the time he had seen her first.

Khushi- "I forgive you Mr. Raizada." She said in a cold voice. "Coz if it hadn't been for that day, I wouldn't have Zubin , Zara and most of all, Anish with me today in my life."

Then she saw her son, come running towards her with an ice cream cone in his hand.

Anish- "Mom, you know, Dad allowed me to taste Pralines N cream flavour ice cream." He said trying to hide a mischievous smile on his face.

Khushi- "What! But that's not sugarfree icecream right?" she said shockingly.

Anish- "But Mom, I'm tired of these sugar free ice creams. I wanted to try something new. And Dad said that one spoon won't make any difference." He said trying to defend himself.

Khushi- "But you don't like medicines too right?" she said pulling him on her lap.

Anish became quiet as he accepted the fact. "Mom, why do I have diabetes? No one in my class has it. Why only me?" he asked quietly at his mother.

Khushi stared at Arnav's face observing his expression.

Khushi- "maybe because your Dad has it." She murmured softly. But Anish was quick enough to hear it.

Anish-" But Dad doesn't have it." He said annoyed looking at his Dad and sister standing outside.

And that was when Arnav put all the facts before him and the puzzle was completed. He felt as if he had been splashed with cold water on his face, as he realised that Anish was his son. Ofcourse, Khushi had said that she had met Zubin only two years back. He couldn't be his son. He remembered that fateful night once again. Oh God! Why had she hidden such a big thing from him? How could she do it?

Khushi- "I think it's time for us to leave. It was a nice meeting you Mr. Raizada." She said before she stood up to take leave.

He saw her and his son, walk out through the door. But before they went out, he called out.

Arnav- "Anish!" he saw his son turn around and smiled at him. He saw his son smile back at him and he signalled him to come towards him. Anish came running towards Arnav. He bent down to his son's height and said, "Please take care of your Mom." He said before kissing on his cheek. For the first time, he noticed the boy's eyes. They were very similar to his. The rest, he was completely like his mother.

Anish- "I will" he said before he reciprocated back with a similar kiss on Arnav's cheek. The small boy ran back to his mother. As he left the cafe, he heard him say to his mother, "Mom, he is a really nice man." Before he saw him unite with his father standing outside.

Arnav finally closed this chapter of his life with a heavy heart as he let them go away from him, forever.

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