Chapter Five: Brighter Than A Thousand Suns
"So a man walked in to a bar" NK said maintaining a poker face as he crunched a potato chip between his teeth. Shyam looked at him expectantly but NK just shrugged his shoulders as if the joke was obvious. Khushi stifled a laugh as she twirled her hand expertly over the hot oil, the sound of frying jalaibies calming her down somewhat. She hadn't seen that Laad Governer all day, not even when she had made up an excuse to go by the poolside. She had found the Dragon Lair closed, the curtains drawn. She huffed as she pushed back at her fringe, telling herself she didn't care where he was, she was actually grateful that he wasn't around looking at her the way he did.
"And?" Shyam said spreading his hands as if asking for an explanation.
"Ouch" NK elaborated and Khushi guffawed. Shyam frowned still not getting the joke when Khushi intervened. "OK my turn; there is a man in the middle of the ocean and he has two cigarettes with him. He has no means of lighting the cigarettes but he has to have one. How will he manage that?"
"He'll use a magnifying glass" Shyam said immediately and Khushi shook her head as she smiled down at the frying jalaibies. She didn't notice Akash come and lean against the kitchen door, observing her with soft eyes and an even softer smile.
"He'll rub the ores together" NK suggested turning his packet of chips upside down over his mouth to catch the crumbs.
"No yaar, I already said he doesn't have anything but two cigarettes" Khushi said shaking her head.
"Achha what then?" Shyam said giving up for the both of them.
"Well duh!" Khushi spun around to face them "he has two cigarettes right? So when he throws one in the ocean the boat will get lighter" Khushi said seriously motioning her hand up and down to show the boat is now light weight "so he will take the lighter and light his cigarette." Khushi smiled triumphantly at her logic then burst in to laughter when she saw the confused faces of her friends.
"Bhain choud!" Shyam swore in awe "you guys have the weirdest sense of humor! I need to find new friends."
Akash walked forward loosening his tie a little. He could get used to this sight, coming home after work to find Khushi in the kitchen frying away jalaibies while chatting to his younger brother, or assisting Di with something or the other, waiting for him. NK noticed him first and jumped off the counter slapping Shyam on the back. "Your right. Let's go find you some now" he winked and Shyam who had just seen Akash enter got the hint and smiled back at NK.
Khushi saw them grinning and turned around to find Akash looking at her with a soft smile, his eyes sparkling with mirth. "I thought it was funny" he said. Khushi watched her friends leave and smiled gently at Akash before turning back to the stove not sure what to do.
Akash leaned on the counter beside her picking up a jalaibie from a pile stacked next to her, biting in to the crunchy sweet, sugary syrup flooding his mouth. "Mmm this is good" he said appreciatively and Khushi grinned. Akash fingered her errant fringe, tucking it behind her ear, making Khushi shudder at the touch.
"You brushed your hair today" he said in wonder taking in her wavy locks, the absence of unruly curls taking him by pleasant surprise.
"I've been known to brush it once a month Akash Bhai" she said laughingly, trying to lighten the charged air. Akash tried not to laugh thinking it best to tackle an issue which had been annoying him for some time. "Why do you call me bhai?" he asked as he took another bite, not looking at her, trying to act nonchalant.
"Because Shyam does" Khushi said simply "like I call Anjali ji Di because Shyam does, and Nani and Mami and Mama…"
"I get it" Akash interrupted his lips lifted in an amused smile, his eyes brimming with relief. "You can call me Akash you know" he said quietly as he toyed with the half eaten jalaibie in his hand looking down at his shoes.
"OK" Khushi said not really seeing what the big deal was. Akash gave her a beaming smile confusing her for a minute. "Akash!" they heard Anjali call and Akash gave her another beaming smile before he turned around and left the kitchen.
Khushi shrugged and went back to twisting more jalaibies. Om Prakash bustled in smiling at Khushi like he always did. "How are the kids back home OP ji?" Khushi asked.
"They are well Khushi ji! My wife loved the suits you sent" Om Prakash gushed. Khushi blushed a little at that. Her mother had thrashed her to within an inch of her life when she had given all of her glittery pom pom suits to OP's wife. "Don't mention it" Khushi said.
Om Prakash set a trey with a single cup of tea and some samosa's sparking Khushi's curiosity. The entire family was in the living room enjoying their tea, so this could only be for…
"Who is the tea for OP ji?" Khushi asked casually as she removed piping hot jalaibies and placed them in the sugar syrup. "Baray Sahib Khushi ji" Om said as he nudged the kitchen door open with his elbow and walked out.
So the rakshas is home, Khushi thought, her insides were suddenly jumping and rollicking in excitement, her head fuzzy. She piped in more jalaibie's, munching on a hot one as she chewed over how to get a chance to meet the rakshas, not because she wanted to, but because she was spoiling for a fight. Right.
She chewed some more and then her eyes widened as an idea struck.
oOo
Arnav was perusing a file in his hand, a file he kept locked and away from prying eyes. He fingered the papers caressing the details of his past, of his present, the future still unwritten. He was so intent on his file that he didn't see Khushi walk in only lifting his head when he heard the clatter of crockery on wood. Khushi spun on her heels, her heart suddenly racing a mile a minute, her eyes on the floor not daring to look at him.
"What's this?" his bewildered question gave her pause and she turned around.
Spoiling for a fight, she reminded herself, right. "What does it look like?" she said rudely "its jalaibies."
"I know what they are" he said patiently as he looked at her steadily "but what are they doing here?"
"I didn't want to give you any but I was making some for everybody and Di insisted I give you some too" Khushi said, the lie escaping her lips easily.
"You're lying" Arnav stated flatly snapping the file shut and crossing his arms, regarding her with cold eyes.
"Am not!" Khushi said offended.
"Di would never send these for me" Arnav insisted.
"Oh yeah and why not?" Khushi retorted placing her hands on her hips, her stance belligerent.
"Because Di knows I'm diabetic" Arnav replied smoothly his mouth lifting slightly at the corner in a triumphant smirk.
Khushi's eyes widened and her face reddened, she spun on her heels and ran within the space of a few seconds. Arnav stared in amusement where she had been only a few seconds ago, his insides bubbling with laughter and he couldn't help but chuckle at the silly girl who obviously had a school girl crush on him. He walked forward and picked up a sticky mesh before he bit in to it tentatively.
oOo
"Puhleeez" Khushi said as she showed her palm to NK "do you even know what the song is about?"
NK shrugged "I couldn't hear what he was saying above all the noise."
"Iron Maiden is not noise you Neanderthal!" Khushi shot back.
"And Bruce is Dickens son, which makes his existence quite sad" Shyam put in. "I bet he's gay."
"You take that back" Khushi said through gritted teeth, egging NK and Shyam on to push her over the frustrated edge.
"I agree with you" NK said as he lounged back in to the sofa "I mean just look at the title of the song 'Brighter than a Thousand Suns' it's like Hussaini's 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' and we all know Hussaini is gay."
"I bet they stole the name from Hussaini's book" Shyam piped in.
"No they didn't you morons!" Khushi cried as she launched at Shyam and started pulling at his hair, NK lifting her off easily, and holding her back as she clawed at the air spitting mad. NK and Shaym laughed making her angrier and she calmed down enough to aim a kick at NK's shins. NK yelped in pain and let her go.
"Bhain…"
"What's going on here?" Khushi's curse died in her throat when she heard Arnav right behind her. She didn't dare turn around but walked straight to the sofa and picked up her bag, an act not going unnoticed by NK.
"What were you saying Khushi?" NK asked noting her high color and the fact that she wasn't looking anywhere but at the floor.
"Nothing" Khushi said as she slung her bag on her shoulder "let's go home."
"But I don't feel like going home just yet" NK said as he settled next to a grinning Shyam. Khushi gave him a furious look and NK grinned in to her seething face. "Fine!" she said "I'll take a rickshaw" she muttered as she took the long way out of the living room, making sure not to come within two feet of Arnav who was staring at her amused, another fact that did not go unnoticed by Shyam and NK.
"I'll drop you home" Arnav said when she reached the door.
"No thank you" Khushi said through gritted teeth.
"Chali ja na" Shyam said as he sunk lower in to the sofa NK switching on the XBox, gearing up to shoot some zombies. Khushi spun around and went over to her two best friends. They didn't know what hit them when Khushi came up from behind and knocked their heads together hard.
"Ow!" NK cried holding his head, the other one gripping his controls for dear life. "What the f**k is wrong with you!"
"Maiden does not suck and you bhain ke bhai's would do well to remember that" Khushi huffed before she walked out the door ignoring Arnav who looked at her as if she was Diana of the many breasts.
*
"Get in" she heard him call and she snapped her head around to find him opening the door to a silver Honda City. She was stuck between showing him the finger and taking the much needed ride. It was the end of the month and she was running low on cash so couldn't afford to hail a rickshaw. Plus she was saving for that mint green ACDC shirt. Oh crap!
She closed the door with a sharp snap and placed her bag on the floor, not looking at him as she fastened her seatbelt.
"Seatbelt?" Arnav asked "that's quite daring of you."
"I'm brave, not stupid" Khushi mumbled.
Arnav started the car and drove out in to the streets of Delhi, keeping his gaze on the road. Khushi sat beside him, a nervous wreck, not really sure what to do with herself. "So what was the argument about?" Arnav asked casually.
"An Iron Maiden song" Khushi said thanking Devi Maya he hadn't chosen to talk about anything else, cursing him silently for talking at all.
"Which one?"
"Brighter than a Thousand Suns" Khushi said "the morons think that it's about gay people when in reality it's about the Manhattan Project and nuclear bombs and how we are going to destroy ourselves with our own creations. Idiot's judge things without actually getting to know about them" Khushi ranted.
"Like what you did with me" Arnav said smiling softly.
Khushi's anger flared "I told you I didn't want to know you!"
"Is that why you brought me the jalaibies?" Arnav asked cocking his eyebrow.
Khushi's mouth opened and closed as her mind went in to complete shutdown. She looked away mortified. The rest of the drive was quite, both keeping their thoughts to themselves. Khushi would point her finger once in a while telling him where to go and before she knew it they were standing in front of her door. She didn't know why but she was sad the drive was over.
"Thanks for the ride" Khushi muttered grudgingly as she opened the door and stepped out.
Arnav smiled up at her, his ruggedly handsome features softening, making him strikingly good looking. Khushi wanted to go back in and take a closer look. "So why did you get me the jalaibies?" Arnav asked one hand resting on the steering wheel and the other draped on the back of the passenger chair.
"f**k you!" Khushi shouted and slammed the door, storming up her small drive and slamming the front door for good measure.
Arnav chuckled at her tantrum. "You just might" he said as he pulled away from the curb.
Bhabhi Ji Ghar Pe Hain?
Geet - Hui Sabse Parayee
Cricket
Anupamaa
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