OS: The Rescue & Regret path - Page 13

Khushi was satisfied with what she got--his mere presence in her life. Because she now knew what life without him would be, she dint want to push him more, until he pushes her away too much—that's what she thought. Arnav was determined to keep her happy, so he was just still being there for her. He was known as someone who always had a plan, but now he dint, he dint want to make one. He wasn't even giving himself totally to her, he is still holding back, pushing away a bit, but then he couldn't help it. This mind and heart war that happens within him isn't something new. It's been there always and it isn't easy to come to his terms. He is trying though and khushi is aware of it.

khushi, was just hopeful; she believed he is there for her and tried to ignore the bitterness sometimes in his voice, but she was determined to wait and be hopeful like the khushi always would. He was waiting too, for her to completely be alright, she even knew this. She somehow knew she has time until then, may be after that he is going to speak his mind(not his heart) and let her know his intentions.

Merely after fifteen days of proper rest and medication, khushi seemed fine and normal. The color returned on her face which was a huge relief to everyone. She dint seem to be acting happy, he liked that fact. Her shoulder strap was gone, another relief for him—he was growing impatient of that thing around her petite body and just wanted to get rid of it. She looked her usual self and after being bead ridden for such a long time, it was like all she wanted to do was to run around and do everything she can to make every one smile. Arnav had a tough time taking care of two careless women in his life but their smiles were all mattered to him.

As for shyam, he was a bit surprised that he dint turn up for a revenge yet, he had been waiting for his come back to expose him properly. He dint want his di to go through emotional panic state and into a confusion to believe or not to believe. Instead he had been planning a direct confrontation with Shyam manohar Jha but the pit head was too ashamed to expose himself out—he thought.

**

It was just like any other day where everyone was seated at the dining table for the breakfast and as usual khushi was blabbering about something that she did in her childhood in the rainy season which Arnav could barely follow. He ignored her though, there was an important meeting he needed to attend and his mind was already preoccupied about it.

"Voh, di, hum mandir jaane ke liye soch rahe the, aap challenge hamre saath?" she asked suddenly.

"Voh, khushiji, hume na doctor ke paas jana hai, toh--"

"Doctor?? Doctor kyun, sab theeke hai na di?" Arnav asked suddenly snapping out of his thoughts all worried.

"Chote, general checkup ke liye, nani aur payalji bhi chal rahe hamare saath, tum chintha mat karo" she assured and he nodded when suddenly his mind replayed something else.

"aur tum" he called out suddenly to khushi beside him and she was startled.

"Kya?" she asked

"Tume kahin jaane ki koi zaroorath nahin hai, chup chaap ghar main rahon" he ordered in his usual way.

"Kyun, hume devi mayya ke mandir jaana hai" she tried to explain.

"Maine kahan, nahin matlab nahin, and that's final" he snapped.

"Chote--" Anjali tried and he gave her one look that would surely shut her up. Nani who wanted to try dint even try observing that look.

"Iski tabeer poori tarah theek nahin hai di, itne saari dawayiya kharahee hai, theeke se khaana ni bhi nahin khaathi, ise dekhrahe aap, pata nahin kab kahan gir jayegee" he said in a taunting manner.

"Hum bilkul theek hai, aapko pareshaan hone ki koi zaroorath nahin hai, hume mandir jaana hai bas" she argued.

"Khushi--" he was about to snap.

"Kya khusi? hamesha aapki nahin chalegi, hum mandir jaana chahthe hai aur aap hame nahin rokh sakthe" she declared and got up from the dining table. All through their little arguments, the rest of them were just rolling their eyes from him to her wondering how they could even stand each other is beyond them.

Anjali was staring at khushi who walked back angrily into her room and was worried. Soon Arnav followed in such a rush as if he is in a mission to bring another world war.

"App chintha mat kijiye Anjali bitiya, hame pata hai, kamre mein maamla isse ek dum alag ki hoga, humko laagathe chote khushi bitiya ko manane gaye uuper" Nani laughed teasing him.

Anjali too smiled thinking that would very well be possible. "dekhiye abhi thodi der ma, dono neeche ayenge aur bolenge ki saath maa mandir jaarahe" nani laughed more and so did everyone around.

**

"Khushi, khushi..!!" he came right behind her screaming her name in anger.

He caught hold of her at her arm right when she was about to enter the room and twirled her around to face him. She was taken aback by the sudden force and that resulted in her standing dead close to him, her hand being held in his.

"Kitni baar kehna padega, don't walkout on me!" he snapped.

She struggled against his grip noticing which he finally let her go but immediately caught her face in his hands. "Zid kyun karrahee ho khushi, baad main chalee jana, poori tarah theek honeke baad" he tried to talk to her smoothly and she was once again surprised. Lately she had been observing this in him a lot. One moment he will be his natural angry self and in the next moment he will try and talk as softely as he can something that looked to her like he is forced to do so, it looked like he is determined to be something else other than himself and this somehow irritated her.

Even being angry, she knew he cared for her. Even now in his anger she could clearly see him care and love. He doesn't have to do deliberately something to let her know he isn't really angry, she have by now learnt to understand his ways of showing love and she is more than happy with it.

She then let out a sigh, caught hold his hands and looked in his eyes straight. "Samajne ki koshish kijiye Arnavji, jab aap yahan nahin the, devi mayya ne hamaree bohath madat kee, aapko doondne mein humare saath di, hum unhe dilse dhanyawaad kehna chahthe hain, is baath ke liye ki aap sahin salaamath wapas ghar pahunchgaye, hum is kaam mein aur dheri nahin karna chahthe, please Arnavji, jaane deejiye na hame?" she pleaded and he had to think again.

Isn't his responsibility too, to visit and do something in this regard? As soon as this thought and his challenge to the statue in hospital crossed his mind, he rechecked himself, really? He wondered, if he could ever believe in something like almighty would exist and decide fate for him, but again it is only the unknown fate that brought khushi into his life, if he were to write his own fate, he would have never written something like this, and now he couldn't even imagine how different it would be without khushi in his life, it was too hard to think of it in the first case.

"Theeke, I'll go with you" he said bluntly not giving any hints of what's going on in his mind.

"Kya?—hum driver"

"Maine ek baath tumharee manee, ab tumharee bari, bolo, jana chahthee ho, toh mere saath, varna nahin" he offered. To say she was shocked would still be an understatement. Arnav singh raizada, aur mandir? Voh bhi khud jaana chahthe hai? What would I want more than this? She thought and quietly smiled looking at him, he rolled his eyes.

"Ab isko zyada drama banana ki zaroorath nahin hai, main bas tumhare saath araha hoon, okay?" he again clarified and she did everything she can not to laugh out loud.

They descended the stair case together and walked across the hall way. "Main ghadi nikaltha hoon, jaldi ajana" he said and went ahead ignoring everyone.

"Di, hum mandir jaake ate hai" she said and hugged Anjali.

"Dyan se khushi ji, aur chote ko kehna ki aapko wapas ghar chod den" she said caressing khushi's hair and she nodded.

"Anjali bitiya, aapko laagathe chote khushi bitiya ko akele choddenge?" Nani said and smiled while khushi took her blessings and hugged her too.

**

They reached the mandir and as soon as he hit the breaks to stop his SUV, she instantly looked at him with a question mark on her face. She dint know to ask him to come along with her or not. She wanted him to, she truly wanted him to accompany her but she was skeptical. Even he had the slightest intention of coming he would deny as soon as she asked—she knew it.

Ulta waar karna hamesha kaam ata hai, laad governer ke liye

"App yahin par rahenge? Hum jaldi ajayenge" she said and he nodded in his attitude style.

She opened the car door and deliberately skipped her footstep to let him know that something might be wrong.

"Khushi dyan se" he immediately became all caring.

She was now standing outside the car and he inside, she first looked at her leg and then at the long stair case and then at him. His vision also followed along with that of hers.

"chad apogee?" he asked as expected by her.

She then looked back again at the steps. "Haa chadna toh padhegaa na" she mocked "aaap chintha mat kijiye hum yun gaye aur yun aaye" she said and turned around.

"Khushi" he called out and she smirked without turning around.

He locked the car and got down, walked around to reach her side. "Pair pe chote lagee hai kya?" he asked all worried.

"Kya, nahin nahin koi chot nahin bas thoda paaw phisalgaya, hum theeke , hum bas abhi ate hai" she said and started walking away.

"Khushi" he called and held her hand stopping her from going. He knew she was fine, he knew she wanted him to go with her, he knew he could just stay back and wait, but suddenly he wanted to go. It's not like he have never been to a mandir before, he did, a lot of times but not once out of his own intention. It was always his di forcing him or to look for khushi. Today he felt like he needed to go up there and see whatever it is properly and recheck himself if he really wanted to be there or not—if that makes any sense.

"Chalo" h"Chalo" he said plainly and entwined his fingers with that of hers, a mere gesture which made khushi feel on the top of the world. In the divine place of her own devi mayya, with the most important person in her life holding her hand as if it was eternity, it was making her very very emotional and all of a sudden she felt the familiar way she always would whenever her devi mayya gives her some signals.

She felt as though she is been given some hints about something and she also felt today, at this moment she would surely realize what it is.

They went hand in hand, ascended the stairs –khushi glancing at him every often while Arnav though feeling strangely good he dint show her the right emotions.

They reached the center of the mandir and khushi tried to get her hand off from his hand a bit, he instantly looked at their locked hands and then at her eyes. She brought her dupatta over her head with the free hand in a way letting him know that she would need her other hand to complete the process. He looked in those eyes and all of a sudden a lovable smile spread across his eyes. Oh—how he loved her—he thought and suddenly rechecked his own mind---

I love her! Hell I know that, so why did I get this though suddenly??

He was confused, instead of letting her hand go, he held it tighter and she was again taken aback by the gesture. Another lovely little smile spread across her lips and instead of trying to take her hand away she just used her free hand to make her ghunghat. He smirked a little and still continued to hold her hand enjoying every bit of her actions. He then slowly brought his free hand and helped her complete the ghunghat.

She smiled at the gesture and she he smiled back looking right into her eyes. It was a perfect moment, one of the rare moments when both of them together smiled at each other and both of them felt very good about it. They made their way to the statue in the temple, she immediately let go of his hand and joined her hands together—he dint resist this time. He just kept staring at her. Her hands were joined in front of her, her eyes were closed and she was blabbering her usual self and he sighed a smiley way in his usual pagal kind of way.

"Hey devi ma, aapko laakh laakh sukhr hai, aap inhe sahi salaamath wapas ghar leke aaye aur hamare bohath madat kee, par pata nahin kyun hame ajeeb sa dar lagra hai, na chahthe huwe bhi hame bure khayal arahe hai, ab aapko toh pata hai na hum inse---

Haa aaphi ka faisla tha na, ki inse hum" she hesitated

"Inka hamare saath rishtha judjaaye, hum inse pyar kare, ab kya? Hame samaj main nahin araha ki inke man mein kya hai. Devi mayya ab aphi hame raastha dikhayiye, batiyiye ki hume kya karna chahihiye" she continued offering prayers and wishing wellbeing of her dear ones while I he kept glancing both at her and at the statue infront of him.

He dint know if to talk to that statue should he join his hands like khushi is doing right now. His hands however were listening to ASR more than the Arnav in him, He just kept staring at the statue and all of a sudden he couldn't look right into the eyes of the statue like he did before in the hospital while he was challenging it.

'Fine, if----if you insist' he murmured looking everywhere else other than the eyes of the statue.

'matlab, challenge tha, aur-aur main shayad haar gaya, its—its alright' he looked from the corner of his eye. 'toh tum ho, yahin saabit karna chahthee ho na?" he then looked at khushi who looked so pure, so innocent offering her prayers, he then closed his eyes for the fraction of second and he could remember this di with a harthi thali in her plate and a lovely smile when he allows her to do the harthi and theeka to him.

He then opened his eyes and this time he was finally able to look at the statue. "Mujhe vishwaas karna shayad nahin aata ho' the voice of his mind resembled pure guilt referring to his repentance of not trusting khushi; he swallowed hard and continued "Par main, di aur khushi ke vishwaas par vishwaas karna chahtha hoon" he simply declared and one statement would be more than enough to prove his mind at the moment.

'and by the way, thank you' he said.

"Beti?"

Both were snapped out of their thoughts to find a priest standing in front of them.

"aaj mandir main ek bohath hi khaas pooja huwa tha, ye lo pooja ka sindoor" he handed over to khushi.

"Ghar main sabko lagaana, sab kuch acha hoga" he suggested and smiled. Arnav just looked blank while khushi was more than pleased to be able to receive it.

"Shukriya, pandit ji" she smiled brightly taking the sindoor from the box and applying below her bindi. She instantly glanced towards her left to find him staring at her. She slowly moved her hand over her nose towards up to apply the sindoor in her maang all the while looking at him. It felt good, very good at the moment. It was like she was intentionally proving to him that though he never had any value for the marriage rituals, though he did the sindoor on their marriage day in order to insult and provoke her more, she was just at the moment determined to let him know that it all did matter to her. This only added to his guilt.

(I want these two lines to be imagined in male voice)

na kuchh puchha na kuchh maanga, tune dil se diya jo diya

na kuchh bola na kuchh tola, muskura ke diya jo diya

She then looked at him with those expectant eyes slightly taking a little more sindhoor in her fingers. He glanced at her eyes and her hands and has taken the hint. She stared at him wondering whether or not to ask him if she can do it, also at the same time remembering her funny act—how she applied sindhoor forcibly the other day in those teasing days. She smiled a bit but still looked expectantly at him not deciding what to do.

He then held his hair from his forehead with one hand and bent his head a little hinting her to do whatever she wanted to do. She was again surprised by his act. She became way too emotional and her eyes showed wet. With those intense eyes she brought her finger onto his forehead and applied the sindoor.

tu hi dhup tu hi chhaaya, tu hi apna paraya..

aur kuchh na janu, bas itna hi janu….

At that very moment both of them have decided something. Specially khushi, she felt as though she now knew what she wants or rather she now knew how to get what she wants from him. She had become all determined while he had finally started shedding the layers of his gulit. He dint understand why it happened suddenly but at that very moment, he felt as though he would give anything and will go through any kind of punishment if it means to become deserving of her love and have her for the rest of the life with him….

tujhame rab dikhta hai, yaara main kya karu - (2)

(male voice)

sajde sar jhukta hai, yaara main kya karu…

tujhame rab dikhta hai, yaara main kya karu..

rab ne bana di jodi haay…

***

To be continued……

**

OMG is the last part too clinchy????? LOL don't bash me I tried a lot for a kindaa song finally had to settle with this. Hmm do let me know!!!