i opted to continue with the back story. the other chapter which is back at the hotel room, will maybe be used in the future or i'll re-write everything. I don't know. i try my best to give you the vision i have, i hope i'm succeeding.
Just have to say, her dada is named george costanza because i love seinfeld. un wanted information?? I know =)
I didn't proof read it, sorry
Anyways may I present
Chapter 8: The one with the blockbuster
Khushi had been busy as a bee this day. Her day started with college and all the classes that meant. After that she had a group meeting for the project they had gotten in one of the subjects. Then she had gone home to tidy up, the apartment had started to look like a dump the last twp weeks. After that was done, she had rushed to the coffee shop to start her shift. She had almost been late, even if that wouldn't get her in trouble with Dada, but still the girl on the earlier shift would not have liked having to stay late. And then the work load today had been unusually big. She had been working for almost four hours, and she hadn't even gotten the chance to take a breather. All the tables were occupied and still people kept on coming in. Some opting the take away option, while others kept circling the room almost as vultures stalking their prey. Before a customer even got the chance to pick up it's belongings someone claimed that seat as his or hers. The whole situation was quite absurd, the coffee shop had been popular no doubt. But this Friday night was something else. Khushi had thought that she would finally get a chance to slow down at work after the rush that occurred at six o'clock, but man had she been wrong. It was eight in the evening and still there was no sign of the rush decreasing. It's not that Khushi was one to shy away from work, but sometimes a girl needed some time to think. The last two weeks had come and passed by, bringing about large changes in her life.
When the clock struck ten, khushi finally got the chance to sit down. She had been working for six hours strait, her legs were demanding her attention. Her back had long ago quit on her and her arms were as heavy as lead. The first thing she did after taking a seat was to thank Devi Maiya for the opportunity to rest. And then her mind went where it had started to drift the last couple of weeks, to Arnav.
The day they spent together a fortnight ago, replayed itself in her head time after time. It was like a bad cassette that got stuck on repeat. It always started with her seeing him outside of the mall, then came the bickering about who would and would not take the car. And after that everyone started to fade away little by little and the only person left in the universe was Arnav. She saw the day play from a third persons perspective, and she didn't like what she saw. She didn't like the rude behavior she had opted for. She felt a bit ashamed, she gave him the nickname "laad governor", but she was the rude one. He had tried to make the best out of the situation, he had initiated the talk. And he had been the one considerate of her feelings. The film reel stopped when they reached her doorstep, almost like an intermission. Instead of her walking out of the theater to buy something like she would do when she went to the cinemas, she got a chance to taken in a gulp of air.
And then act two started, she saw how she asked him to eat lunch with her. How he first accepted the offer, to then in a matter of seconds change his mind. This was the part that exchanged her feeling of shame to confusion. Why was he so difficult to understand? She had been totally caught of guard that day and today when two weeks had gone by she still was as fare from an answer as that day. The thing that irked her the most was that after he changed his mind. She had still wanted him to stay and therefore she had almost begged him to stay. She saw how she asked him why he changed his mind, She saw him explaining that he didn't eat street food. And lastly she saw her tell him that she would agree to going any where, that she would not mind as long as he would agree to going with her. This is the moment her confusion changed to disbelief and anger at herself.
Khushi Kumari Gupta didn't beg and certainly not in front of boys.
The reason she kept on playing this particular movie was that, even though she was angry with herself. She had enjoyed that lunch and epeciallt that day, it had been one of the best days of her life. The food had come and gone without Khushi noticing, and that says everything, because khushi usually savored every little taste. She had enjoyed herself thoroughly. After the lunch Arnav had asked her to join him for ice cream and she had happily agreed. After the ice cream she had asked Arnav if he wanted to take a walk with her. When they had walked for a while, Arnav had asked if he was allowed to walk her home. The whole day had gone by, with one or the other of them trying to prolong the time they got to spend together. When they eventually found themselves outside of her house, they had been reluctant, but had been forced to accept defeat. There was no possible way to extend this day, they had to bid their good byes.
The good bye was another thing that had left its mark on her brain. This was the last scene of the film in her head. She saw how she said good bye, while he was busy looking at her. She then saw a small smirk on his lips, that metamorphosed into a big smile after he said his good bye. The good bye was soundless it was a soft kiss on her cheek.
She had meet him a couple of times after that day, but it hadn't been the same. Arnav acted as if that kiss hadn't occurred and as she would be no less, she put on a mask of indifference. But she knew that she wanted to spend time with him alone, because when they had, it had been incredible.
The fact that they still meet sometimes wasn't a matter of choice, it was the result of her jiji and Aakash getting involved. She hadn't been shocked, he was just her jiji's type, handsome and loving. The thing that shocked her was that her jiji had changed Aakash completely, he had gone from a shy and composed guy to a love sick puppy. The only change she could see in her jiji was that she had less time for her and their chores at home. But that was understandable. She was happy for her but she couldn't help feeling a bit lonely sometimes. It was a good thing she had this job, to keep her mind from wandering away and pondering over things she couldn't control. Thinking of the job, shouldn't she hurry back.
As she made her way back to the counter she saw the door opening and in came the main lead of her movie, Arnav.
He wasn't alone, Anjali, Lavanya, Asmita and NK were with him. He walked towards her and asked if they could order. She simply nodded, because she wasn't sure if her voice would hold up. She was surprised to see him here, she had seen the others come and go a number of times. But she had never seen him here. While she waited for them to decide what to get, she checked the time and saw that it was half past ten, they would be closing in an half hour. She didn't want to speak more then necessarily but felt that she had to.
"Hey, guys just so you know, will close in 30 minutes. So if you intended to stay longer maybe you should go to an other coffee shop"
"Are you trying to get ride of me, I mean us" Arnav asked.
"Of course not, I just thought I should tell you."
"Well we can read the sign, you know. It clearly says: closes 11 pm. We were walking by and saw you working. So NK said that we should come in and say hi and maybe have some coffee."
"Oh, sorry. How nice of you. What can I get you then?" Khushi said smiling
They placed their orders and took a seat. Khushi made the coffees and brought them to them and took a seat. She sat next to NK, he was the friendliest of the bunch. The others had grown on her, the girls maybe weren't as bad as she had accessed in the beginning. They did try to talk to her and include her in their discussions. She decided that it was her possessiveness towards her jiji that had initially made her to dislike them. She was sure that the more they interacted, they would grow on her. She was equally sure that the more she saw Arnav the more she would start to dislike him. Every time she belived he wasn't so bad, he gave her reason to differ. Just take this meeting as an example.
It started with him asking if she wanted to get ride of them, when she only tried to help. And now that she decided to come and sit with them, he gave her a look of pure anger.
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The last two weeks had been a complete torture for Arnav. He couldn't believe that he had spent a whole day with Khushi and then to top it of he had kissed her good bye. The thing that was most incredible was that he had enjoyed it. It wasn't the first time he spent time with a girl and it surely wouldn't be the last one. But the other times he had done it to be able to get with them. He would always only need maybe an hour or so, to complete the deal. This day he had been with her for hours and he had still wished that it been longer. He hadn't done it to get into her pants. He wouldn't mind to be with khushi, but for the first time it wasn't the priority. Her company was more then enough for him, and that was certainly a first. Arnav usually considered girls being stupid (excluding his Di) and therefore unworthy of his friendship. But somehow he wanted to know this particular girl. The only problem was that he had kissed her, and even though he didn't know her that well, he knew that she was a bit old fashioned. He was afraid that she wouldn't be interested in getting to know him.
The last two weeks had been a kind of proof. He had decided that when they would met again, he would let Khushi take her time and only speak of the matter if she felt comfortable. He didn't want pressure her. But to his disappointment, she never did. As a matter of fact, she totally ignored him. He wasn't stupid, he got the drift and therefore played along. He upheld her act, that nothing had happened.
He wanted to call her sometimes, he wanted to ask her if she wanted to grab some lunch, hell he simply wanted to spend sometime with her. But he restrained himself, he didn't want to force her to be friends with him. The only times he got to see her was with the others. He was thankful to Aakash for dating her sister and he was thankful to Di for befriending her. This contributed to the times he would get to meet her. He didn't know why he wanted to know her so badly, he jut knew that he did.
In these two week, he had tried to make plans with Aakash as much as possible. Because the math was simple; Aakash equals to Aakash and Payal and in turn AakAsh and Payal equals to Aakash, Payal and Khushi. Today was no different, he asked the gang if they wanted to go bowl. But to his dismay Aakash didn't want to come to the bowling alley with them, he had opted for some alone time with Payal. He had declared that khushi would be working so he had the chance to be with Payal undisturbed. Arnav had instantly wanted to back out from bowling, but the others had insisted.
He had caved but told himself that after he would suggest them to take a walk. And casually direct them towards the coffee shop Khushi worked at. He wanted to see her, it had been three days and for some forsaken reason that seemed like an eternity at this point. He faked receiving a phone call outside the shop, to extend the time he got to watch her. But to his disappointment she was no where to be seen. He looked away and had almost declared defeat when NK exclaimed:
"Look, Khushi is working , we should go inside and have a cup coffee. We can say hi to her."
His eyes quickly looked up and there she was. Looking as confused as ever and super cute. He was happy to hear the others agreeing to go inside and he decided to lead the way.
His happiness was short lived. They hadn't even been there for more then a couple of minutes and she tried to make them leave. He was sure it wasn't them that was the problem, but he. She wanted him to leave even though she denied it.
Then when she came towards them with their beverages smiling, he got a little bit of hope. Maybe he had gotten it wrong, maybe she was glad to see him. But the next second he was corrected. She didn't even glance at him, she choose to sit next to NK, even though it would have been easier to sit next to him. Seeing her next to NK smiling stirred a completely new feeling in him. He couldn't pin point the exact emotion, but it made him incredibly angry.
Why was she sitting next to NK and why did it make her so damn happy?
please let me know what you think. all comments are welcome =)
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Veer Hanuman
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