About Last Night THREAD 3**Part 27 - 37** - Page 23

Khushi's behavior was very much justifable!

congrats on the new thread..

amazing story so far i just luv the concept

Congrats on the new thread!
Loved the update!

omg!!!! u had me in tears... brilliant update👏👏thanks a ton for all ur pm's... and congrates for ur 3rd thread🥳 truely u r a great writer😊

"Because they are cheap--like me?" she said...

Her husband was blessed with a superior dimaag--as he himself would boast--however, the danger of a strong mind, untempered by an open heart, was that his mind could convince him that wrong was right, and right was wrong...

Retaining as much dignity as a woman who has just been kidnapped from her own kitchen could maintain, she climbed into the passenger seat. She waited for him to clip the seatbelt on. She knew he would.

He did.

Their eyes collided as he stretched the seatbelt across her torso. Hers said 'And, you say I make scenes?'. His replied 'It's not a scene when Arnav Singh Raizada does it.'...

This is Arnav Singh Raizada in love.

Nobody could accuse her of doing anything without deep joy.

"...I wish you found it impossible to believe one ugly thing about me. You have always found it remarkably easy to believe the worst of me. That hurts."

He looked at their enfolded hands and nodded. He felt her fingers tilt his chin up, and he had no choice but to let her see the tears in his eyes.

Hayeee! Poor Khushi, hurt at his belief that she was going to wreck his sis' marriage.

And Arnav, finally understanding how much he has hurt her.

Waiting for the next part! Be merciful, dear M!

Congrats for the new thread..luvd the convo btween Arnav n khushi..

Originally posted by: AngelTeen

Just to let you know I am stalking your thread... ;) :D

Part 29

No doubt. No doubt that those who have truly loved will fully comprehend the sensations that arose in Khushi's heart when she tilted her husband's chin to meet his eyes. No injury he had caused grieved her as much as the wetness of his eyes. A tear suspended on his eyelash dropped and she caught it on her finger.

He instantly turned his face aside and shot out of his seat. He took three steps away from their table. With his back towards her, his hands at his hips. Though a new wife, Khushi easily read the turmoil in his posture. Her pain made him powerless, and Arnav Singh Raizada was uncomfortable--if not unfamiliar-- with powerlessness. She waited. Sometimes that was the role of a woman in love. To wait.

He returned to the table, met her eyes briefly--though the message in his eyes was inscrutable--and seized his phone. He scrolled and jabbed at the screen and put the phone to his ear. The person at the receiving end must be the unluckiest soul in the world today, Khushi said to herself. For he would be the recipient of every wretched feeling Arnav could not express. She hoped it was not Aman. She quite liked Aman and hated to see him suffer.

"This is Arnav Singh Raizada..." he began. And continued, "oh, you know who it is? The reason I felt it necessary to introduce myself is that you have had my brief for four full days and I have not heard a word of progress...if you cannot handle the assignment, then say so! Don't f*** me around!...Ah, you have something to report? Is this how it works at your firm? You wait for the client to call and you then inform him that the work is done?...Yeah, right! Fifteen minutes. At my office. "

It was when he ended the call, and turned his attention to her that Khushi realized she was holding her breath.

"Chalo," he said, dropping some money on the table to cover their bill.

For the second time this morning, Khushi had to nearly run to keep pace with her husband. He spun out of the hotel parkade and drove headlong into traffic shattering ten traffic violations in the same number of minutes.

She felt for him; yet, she was not so altruistic to not feel for herself also. He had asked what hurt her, she had informed him; he must suffer the consequences, as must she. But, she was certainly not going to comfort him for misjudging her. That she had decided.

No sooner was that decided, that it was promptly forgotten.

Khushi simply could not bear it. Whatever it was that he was persevering, what it did to her was no less. Again, any woman who has loved would forgive her her next act of weakness.

They screeched to a halt at a red light, and she reached out and placed her hand on his thigh. She couldn't meet his eyes, but it was not necessary, as she immediately felt his own warm hand cover hers. She exhaled softly, her eyes stinging with tears, and she turned her blinking eyes to blindly look out of the window.

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It was a very lucky thing for Mr. Chopra that he was already seated and prepared to brief when Arnav Singh Raizada--followed by his wife--entered the conference room at the AR Group offices.

Arnav showed Khushi to a chair, and then shook the hand of Mr. Chopra who now stood to greet his client.

"My wife," Arnav indicated Khushi, and then watched Mr. Chopra's face for a sign of recognition.

Khushi greeted the man with a cordial namaste.

Mr. Chopra responded with the same greeting--began to lower back into his seat--but halted midway.

There it is, Arnav said to himself. The penny has dropped.

Mr. Chopra frowned at Khushi, and then flipped open his hefty file leafing through some papers and came to a sheaf of camera stills. The topmost image was of the Lucknow fashion show--Arnav could see that from his height. Instantly Mr. Chopra's eyes were fixed on Khushi, who was unaware that she was being scrutinized so closely.

Mr. Chopra began, "Sir, I wonder if I could have a private word with you first--".

Arnav sat down. "--It's not necessary. Yes, my wife and I met at the Lucknow fashion show. Yes, my wife was engaged to the target. Just fill in the pertinent details between those two events."

Arnav felt Khushi's eyes on him. He turned to her to communicate with a brief nod that she should simply listen. Her eyes slid to Mr. Chopra's fat presentation folder.

Mr. Chopra's eyes darted from husband to wife, but wisely settled on the husband. He cleared his throat as though he was an orator, and launched into his monologue.

"The target met Miss Gupta in Lucknow when he rescued her from the insults of goons who were excited by the footage screened of Miss Gupta falling..ahem...into your arms at the fashion show."

Arnav saw Khushi shift uncomfortably in her seat. He placed his hand on top of hers, and squeezed it. Her hands had grown cold. Granted this was not comfortable for her, but he wanted her to hear exactly what he heard. There would be no more misunderstandings and misconceptions.

Mr. Chopra continued: "Target tracked Miss Gupta to Delhi, and presenting himself as a bachelor without family in the city, took a vacancy for a paying guest in the home of her aunt, where Miss Gupta was living at the time. Our sources in the neighbourhood inform us that Miss Gupta was," here Mr. Chopra cleared his throat, "that Miss Gupta was equally friendly to all and showed no particular attachment to the target. The target however showed a distinct partiality." Mr. Chopra flicked through his notes, and said, "the target went out of his way to prepare special food for her, arranged for medical attention when she was injured, and closely attended to the family when the father was hospitalized. Neighbours say that he behaved as one of the family. That it came as no surprise to them when at Diwali the target made it clear that he had an interest in Miss Gupta. They were engaged promptly; her aunt claiming that the rush was due to the ill health of Miss Gupta's father."

The memory of what happened--or nearly happened--between himself and Khushi at Diwali freshly flooded Arnav's thoughts. He felt it necessary to leave his chair and walked the length of the table. With his hand, he indicated that Mr. Chopra continue.

"They were engaged. No wedding date was set. The target was often away for days at a time. Miss Gupta was working outside to support her family. There was little contact between the two. As suddenly as the engagement was formed, it ended without explanation. Neighbours speculate that Miss Gupta..." and here Mr. Chopra halted suddenly, recollecting that the Miss Gupta of his engaging narrative was also the wife of his short-tempered-prone-to-violent-outbursts client.

"Speculate? What?" Arnav snapped.

"That Miss Gupta may have long been involved with her employer to whom she was very recently wed." It was a brave statement to make. Though Arnav and Khushi knew that Mr. Chopra spoke some version of the truth--Mr. Chopra only knew that he had just insulted his client's wife.

Arnav returned to his seat. "Continue."

"The target has left the neighbourhood and not been seen since."

"On the professional front?" Arnav asked.

"The target enjoys an easy relationship with his colleagues. Is generally liked by clients. He executes his work well. He presents himself as a devoted husband. Lives within his means. There have been no criminal or unethical dealings."

Here Arnav made a sound of disgust. "Wrong. If a man is deceitful in one quarter, he is deceitful everywhere. Dig deeper. You've missed something. Get more men on the case. I'll see you back here in thirty-six hours."

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Khushi stalled Arnav with a hand on his forearm as they left the conference room.

"One of the drivers can take me back," she offered, thinking he may wish to stay behind and work.

He stopped, and turned towards her. He said as plainly as Arnav Singh Raizada could speak, "I will remove your pain, Khushi--lekin thora waqt lagey ga."

"Kya?" Khushi asked, puzzled.

Arnav led her back into the conference room and shut the door. He gripped her shoulders--though not harshly--and asked, "what do you want?"

Bewildered, Khushi replied automatically, "kuch nai!"

He seemed to be searching her eyes for some guidance, but Khushi was sure that her eyes only reflected her inner confusion. What was he on about?

"Fifteen days," he said, "we signed our first contract in this room that you would give up your naukri before fifteen days. Remember that, Khushi?"

"Of course. But what does that---" she interrupted.

"We'll make a new contract in this same room," he prevented her from speaking by holding up his hand. "Give me fifteen days to convince you not to leave me."

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