3-shot: Betwixt & Between (Gutter OS) - Page 4

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Khushi seemed like she would faint any minute. Arnav was not sure how to handle this. He stepped forward slowly.

"Khushi, don't worry. Just don't move. Ok?"

She did not even nod. He went closer to her.

"Which leg?"

"Right." Her voice hardly reached him.

"Ok." Arnav kept talking. "Can you feel where it is exactly right now?"

"Yesss ..,"

"Grab it." Arnav ordered.

"Kya ..!?"

Arnav feared Khushi might faint. The mere thought of getting hold of the cockroach made her even paler.

"I cannot grab it. No way. Do something please."

"Come on Khushi." Arnav tried to convince her. "It is inside your cloth. So you are not even going to touch it. Just grab it over your clothes."

"Arnavji, I can't." Khushi starts sobbing. "Please do something."

"Ok. Wait!"

Arnav wasn't sure what to do - his brain was working fast.

"Look Khushi. I don't know where the cockroach is. So I can't grab it. Ok? If you don't want to grab it there is only another thing you can do .. get rid of your petticoat too."

Arnav could not believe he had said that - neither could Khushi.

"Wha .. at??" Khushi was flustered. "That's not possible ..."

"I know Khushi." Arnav assured her. "That's why I need you to do it yourself. Let me do one thing - I am holding your hand and we together will grab it, deal?"

"Okay .." Khushi swallowed.

Arnav held her hand and nodded to her. Khushi very unwilling started to move her hand along with Arnav's and she stopped when their hands reached near just above her right knee. She looked at Arnav helplessly. Arnav pressed her hand to give her confidence and pushed their hands a bit forward. Khushi closed her eyes, took a deep breath & quickly grabbed a part of her petticoat near her knee.

"It's moving." Khushi screamed.

Arnav had trouble to keep her still as she started to collapse.

"khushi, no, wait, it will get loose again." Arnav shouted. "I am holding it, wait."

Arnav pushed their bodies near the wall, made Khushi stand against it pushing her with his body. His right was holding Khushi's hand that was grabbing his petticoat. With the other hand, he took charge of her petticoat.

"Khushi, you can let it go now."

Khushi immediately released her hold and started sobbing.

"Let's go to room, we need to deal with this creature." Arnav said softly.

As they moved to the room, Arnav took a deep breath because what he was about to do would need a lot of courage from both of them. By now, he had realized that he could not expect much from Khushi in getting rid of the cockroach. He turned to Khushi who was still sobbing and trembling.

"Khushi, I need you to do something. I am still holding the cockroach inside your cloth and I am turning around. I need you to take your petticoat off. Can you do that?"

For the first time, Khushi seemed to come back to her senses a bit. She suddenly realized she did not have her saree on and Arnav was holding a part of his petticoat inside which was a living coackroach. Instinctively, her hands moved over her chest. Arnav saw her reaction and he started to feel a bit uneasy too - but this needed to be over.

"You have any better plan? If you are comfortable with it, you can go to washroom and deal with it yourself."

Khushi started feeling more helpless - she knew she could not do this by herself. Since childhood, she had been scared of this dirty, nasty insect and she never had been able to overcome her extreme fear. She had past records of fainting over a flying cockroach. She shivered as she remembered the feel of filthy creature moving insider her hand. She took a deep breath.

"Arnavji, can we go to bathroom?"

Arnav nodded his head.