Part 7:
Simi and Alisha giggled at the thought of their first installment of Project Joy-way as they came down the stairs the next morning. On their way, they passed by Arnav and Khushi's room, and to their not so great surprise, heard the two bickering fiercely. After a second or two, Khushi burst out of the room, while Arnav roared, "Khushi!" his hand outstretched. She hurried past the sisters, who exchanged a look, and hastily wiping her tears asked, "Aap yahan?" she asked. "Woh.. Hum dono breakfast keliye niche jah rahe the.." Alisha trailed off. "Oh! Aacha thik hain! Hum bhi aapke saath chalte hain…" She gestured at the stairs, making it obvious that the girls were to follow. Simi burst ahead, saying, "Bhabi, humko aapse kuch baat karna hain.." she fidgeted nervously with her ring. "Haan, Simi, bolo!" Khushi replied, oblivious to the desperate look on Simi's face.
"Alisha-aur-mujhe-aap-ke-problem-keh-baare-meh-paata-hain!" she got out, in one breath. "Kya?" Khushi asked, vacantly. Alisha sidestepped Simi smoothly, and taking Khushi's hand, said, as gently as she could, "Mujhe aur Simi ko aapke musibat keh bare meh pata chal gaya hain.. Hum aapko isiliye bata rahe hain kyunki humari plan meh aapka shamil hona bohoth zaroori hain…" Khushi's mouth opened and closed, and her eyes filled with tears, at the fact that two almost complete strangers had grasped her problems, and were trying to help when nobody else had. "Haan, Bhabi! Aur sirf hum dono nahin, BJ, Sid, aur Akshay jiju bhi humare plan meh sehmat hain!"
Simi put in cheerfully. Then, noticing Khushi was struggling not to cry, she put a hand on her shoulder, and asked, "Kya huwa Bhabi?" in the way that Payal always had, and at that moment, Khushi pushed herself into the two girls arms, and sobbed for all the misfortunes that had taken place with her. Simi and Alisha comforted Khushi, and then Sid stomped his way downstairs.
It didn't escape Khushi's notice when a blush swept onto Simi's cheeks, despite of her misty eyes, and she hurriedly started walking downstairs. However, Sid was faster, and he grabbed her from behind. "Kahan bhag rahi ho?" he asked, cheekily, and then he noticed her eyes. He pushed her chin up, and then, as quickly as he had come to catch her, his mood changed. "Kya huwa? Who made you cry?" he looked around, as if finding the source of her unhappiness would make the tears go away. Then he noticed Alisha and Khushi smiling through their tears, and sighed in relief. "You came to India, for less than a day, and you're already acting like a bahu in an Indian soap?" he teased. Simi pushed Sid away, and ran downstairs, only to barge into the Creep-wa. He caught and steadied her, his slimy hands staying on her shoulders for much longer than necessary. Sid clenched his hands, and made to step forward, but was stopped by Abhishek and Akshay, who had come downstairs just in time to see the scene. "Aap yahan kya kar rahe hain, Shyam JIJAJI? Hume toh laga tha ki aap Anjali ji keh paas rahenge." Simi half-shouted, emphasizing the word Jijaji. Out of the corner of his eye, Akshay saw Arnav coming out of his room, and punched his fist mentally. Yes! It's going according to plan. Now to solidify Arnav's doubts… Simi saw Alisha give her a discreet thumbs up, and tried not to jump in happiness. "Wah, Simiji. Kaal humne aapki behen koh toh kaha tha, aur aaj hum aapko bhi keh dehte hain. Aap dono toh Khushiji aur Rani Sahiba seh behad khoobsurat hain. Kaash hum aap dono seh pehle milte!" Arnav, who was out of his room, saw the whole scene, and shouted, "SHYAM!" he started downstairs, and the group of people saw Anjali come out of her room two. Alisha was the first to recover from horror, and motioned at Abhshek to go and distract Anjali. He hurried upstairs, and Arnav was so angry, that he didn't even notice. He ran downstairs, and grabbed Shyam by the collar. "YOU BAS***D!" he shook Shyam, but then a loud, "Anjali ji, aap toh joh bhi raang kah saari pehne geh, aap aachi hi laagenge.." broke through the silence. Then a giggle that Arnav hadn't heard in a while filled the air. Abhishek and Anjali walked downstairs, and Arnav hastily let go of Shyam's collar. The two strode off to the table, and Abhishek and Anjali followed. Everyone came out of their respective hiding places, and congratulated each other in exalted whispers. Phase One of Project Joy-way was complete! Now to prepare for Phase Two…
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