Hi! So I recently...very recently joined India Forums and decided why not? Let me post a story about ARHI that is different. It explores a theory (that is completely false) about Khushi's real family, not her adopted one... So give it a try...and constructive criticism would be lovely.
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Manorama Raizada wasn't usually the type to glance at anyone 'lower' than her, but for this girl, this Khushi, she might just make an exception. She didn't notice the girl because of her 'chamkeli' clothes, or the way she talked with Arnav bitwa, although that did raise her eyebrows more than once. The girl seemed to have a way of making Arnav incredibly angry, but she could also see that Arnav was actually exaggerating his anger many times and had looked at the young woman with something other than hate at times.. No, what drew her towards this girl was her infectious smile, bubbly personality, and stunning looks. Khushi reminded her of someone, someone very dear to her who had died fourteen years ago in a car accident. Khushi reminded her of Malti Oberoi, her precious sister. For the longest time, she couldn't bear to look at the lively woman who was looking more and more like her sister as the days went on. Every scrunch of her nose, every wrinkle of her forehead, the jalebi eating, every time Khushi would discretely wipe away her tears after Arnav said something stupid, that was Malti. The fact that she looked nothing like her 'family' didn't escape her. She was too light skinned to be part of that family, and at times, there was an almost regal look about her that not even Manorama herself could pull off. She had first glimpsed this Khushi at Diwali.
A little while before Diwali, Anjali had told her that Khushi was adopted, and she too knew the pain of losing parents. When Manorama had fleetingly asked Anjali how long ago, Anjali had said twelve years. That was two years later after her sister had died. Regardless, Manorama had made it a point to observe Khushi from the background, halfheartedly insulting her just to keep in character. Something about the girl was familiar, and she was going to figure out what.
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Delhi Airport was crowded as always, but to one man, it was refreshing in a way. He hadn't been to India since...his mother and sister died, that was fourteen years ago. Being born and raised in Sydney, coming to India was a novel experience. Usually, the Raizadas, his family through his mausi's marriage, came to visit them in Australia every year or so. But this year, Akaash, his cousin was getting married to a girl named Payal so he had finally decided to come to India. He was happy for Akaash, and even happier to see an actual Indian Wedding. His father, Jai Oberoi had vehemently denied coming back to this place, as it brought back too many terrible memories. Thinking of his father, the man sighed. If there was one man who could rival Arnav Singh Raizada, it was his father. After his wife and daughter's death, the elder Oberoi had closed himself off from the outside world, throwing himself into his work, and making Oberoi Industries one of the biggest manufacturing plants in the world.
The man smiled as he stepped into Indian air for the first time in fourteen years...and promptly gagged. The people around him chortled in amusement as this foreigner coughed after inhaling such a lovely scent. It was hard for someone to adjust to the smell after all. But after a couple moments, he beamed again and walked toward the man in a white uniform who was holding a sign with his name on it. He couldn't wait to meet everyone once more, and of course, he needed to see the woman who had stolen his cousin's heart.
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Hai re Nand Kishore! Khushi moaned to herself as she ran herself ragged in Raizada Mansion. This was getting too much. Payal jiji and Akaash jiju were getting married in two weeks, and she was the one who was left doing all the work. Poor Anjali ji was tired due to her leg, and Nani ji was resting in her room. That idiot snake Shyam was doing god knows what, and the even bigger idiot, Arnav was at work. Typical male. The second the words 'wedding' and 'planing' came out of anyone's mouth, he was off faster than a bullet leaving a gun. Only Akaash jiju and Mama-ji seemed to help, along with OP, HP, and JP. But the last three were paid to do so. At this moment, Khushi Kumari Gupta felt like the mistress of this house. She was giving orders, the servants were asking her what to do, and JP had even called her Khushi-Bhabhi by mistake. Seriously, Khushi-Bhabhi? That would make her Arnav Singh Raizada's WIFE! Well, judging by the way the two of them constantly fought...she knew that Anjali-ji had compared them to an old married couple more than once. Just thinking about the two of them like that made her laugh. As if that would ever happen. He hated her, she hated him. Kahani Khatham.
But sadly no, the kahani would never be khatham as long as he was Arnav Singh Raizada and she was Khushi Kumari Gupta. Their stars had been aligned since birth, and no one would tear this 'made for each other jodi' apart, not even themselves. Alas, the road to love would always be rocky as there were no big machines to transform the rough gravel into lovely paved roads.
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"Sir, are you alright?" The driver of the car asked the man in the back seat who currently had his head out the window, whooping in delight. Mentally, the driver shook his head. This man, whose name was Nand Kishore, was nothing like Arnav sahib. A small smile came upon the driver's face when the man said nothing, keeping his head out of the window. It was good to know that someone in the Raizada extended Parivar was not as cold as Arnav.
NK smirked at the people who were giving him weird looks. Really, more than one billion people lived here, surely they had seen odder behavior than his. But no matter. He was here to enjoy, to live! It didn't matter what anyone said.
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"Khushi-ji?" Akaash's voice broke the exhausted woman from the self induced trance she was in. With bleary eyes, she looked at her future jiju. "Are you alright?" He asked, concerned for her health. She looked tired, and ready to fall asleep. Guilt crept into him. He should have helped, but Bhai insisted that they stay in the office all day. One person couldn't manage all of these marriage tasks.
She smiled at him, happy that her jiji had found a nice, caring man, so unlike his Bhai, that...ugh! She couldn't even think peacefully where he was concerned. "I'm fine, jiju. Just tired." It was then that she looked outside to see that it was nearly dark. Hai Devi Maiyaan! How long had she been here? Checking the clock on the wall, she found that it was 8:30! Nine hours, she had been here for nine hours?
"Khushi-ji?" Akaash asked once more. She had a vacant expression on her face.
"Sorry jiju. I should really go home, jiji must be waiting." She said, standing up, wincing as her back cracked. He winced along with her. She didn't look like she could go home. She looked like she needed to collapse on this couch and just sleep.
"Khushi-ji? Why don't you just stay here tonight? I'll call Payal-ji. I'm sure she'll understand. No one would mind, and you can have one of Di's dresses to sleep in. Is that okay?"
Khushi wanted nothing more than to curl up on the couch and just sleep, but knew that she couldn't. And after such an exhausting day like today, she definitely did NOT want to see that Laad Governor's stupid, stupid, stupid, handsome, stupid, stupid, face. Wait...did she say handsome? Hai Nand Kishore! She really was tired.
"Ji...it's alright, jiju. I'll go home." She protested feebly, but Akaash clearly saw through her lie.
"Khushi-ji." He said patiently, waiting for her to relent. Tick tick one. Her nose wrinkled. Tick tick two. She rubbed her elbow. Tick tick three. "Alright jiju, but only because you said so." She sighed.
Akaash one, Khushi zero. He thought, grinning widely. "Great! I'll just let Payal-ji, Dadi, and Di know! You just stay here and I'll have HP bring you a cup of coffee." Before Khushi could even say anything else, Akaash was off. She stared at her jiju's retreating back and smiled. If only Arnav-ji could be as great as Akaash.
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Speaking of the great ASR, he was currently holed up in his office, reading over contracts that he had read hundreds of times...literally. Today in the office was slow. He didn't like slow. Bit by bit, the great ASR was looking his infamous temper, and for that reason, all of the workers had steered clear of him, including Aman and Akaash. He had sent both of them home some time ago, just because their presence was irritating him. Akaash kept on clicking his pen, and Aman was arbitrarily tapping his foot. It took all that he had to keep himself from shouting at them.
For a split second, his thoughts trailed back to Khushi, and how she had made his office life entertaining, while he had made her life hell. A fair trade if he said so himself. Khushi. That infuriating woman. How was it that only she had the power to get under his skin, make him make irrational decisions like Lavanya? No person, especially Khushi Kumari Gupta should have that power over him.
She was one of the reasons that he had not gone home yet. After his boring day in the office, he really didn't want his day to get any worse than it already was. But there was also another reason. Akaash's cousin NK was coming to Shantivan from Sydney. That was another person he couldn't deal with, NK Oberoi. How could someone who had graduated from Cambridge been so stupid? Honestly...
Arnav growled under his breath. He didn't want to stay here, but he didn't want to go home either. In this situation, it was best that he go home, before he killed all of his employees. It didn't matter if that woman or NK were at home.
Although...it wouldn't be too bad if the driver he had sent for NK "forgot" to pick him up. On the other hand...Mami screaming at him for not picking the man up was not an enticing prospect.
With a great sigh, he heaved himself off of his chair and gathered his belongings, pretending not to hear the sighs of relief that his employees were letting out as he left.
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NK smirked as the car pulled into Shantivan. Not bad Nanav, not bad at all. The house, no, the mansion was huge! What a first impression. Even though it was dark, NK could see the immaculate gardening, extravagant fountains, and numerous cars that filled the driveway. He knew that there were no guests in the house. The cars all belonged to the Raizada's. All of them were white.
"Sir, I will help you take out your baggage, Jai Prakash will lead you into the house." The driver said, already unloading the baggage. NK squinted to see a man coming towards him. He assumed this was JP.
"Sahib, please come this way. You are expected in the house." He said, leading NK into the house. Yes, NK nodded to himself, Not bad at all. He was smirking all the way into the house. And then his smirk quickly changed into a fearful expression at the sight of his Mausi at the front door with Nani-ji and Di flanking her.
Before NK could defend himself, he was swept up into a bear hug by his overenthusiastic aunt.
"Hello hi bye bye NK bitwa! It ish sho good to shee you!" She shouted into his ear causing him to flinch. His pained face worsened as he saw Akaash in the background, laughing silently. Her tight grip coupled with her atrocious English was causing NK to cringe. Quickly detaching himself from the iron grip, he forced a smile.
"Mausi-ji! Nani-ji! Di! Akaash! It's been too long! It's so good to see all of you!" He hugged all of them, and hit Akaash on the back of the head. "Next time, help me."
"Not a chance NK Bhai." Akaash cheekily replied. "Now, we were just about to have dinner, with or without Bhai. Go get fresh and come to the dinner table. The bathrooms just down the hall and to the left."
"Oh! So Nanav isn't here? What a pity!" NK fake pouted which caused everyone to smile. "I'll be right back guys!" With that, he bounded down the hall like he didn't have a care in the world.
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Khushi spent some time in the bathroom trying to reduce the evidence of her fatigue. Splashing cold water on her face felt nice, and immediately refreshed her. From her twenty two years on this planet, she learned that a little water went a long way. Feeling decidedly good about her appearance and comfortable in an old Salwar Kameez of Anjali-ji's which was just a bit too low cut for her liking, she stepped into the hallway only to have something run into her.
Someone caught her forearms before she could fall, and she found herself looking into eyes that were identical to hers, that odd shade of hazel.
"A..aa...aap kaun?" Khushi stuttered. But the man who held her didn't reply. Instead, he himself was stunned by her eyes, eyes that he had only seen by looking into a mirror. Slowly, his gaze traveled over her face. She was a delicate little thing, but by her upturned nose, it was clear she was anything but delicate. Her doe like eyes were wide and slightly fearful. In the dimly lit hall, her skin glowed which made her look like some ethereal beauty.
Yet, he wasn't attracted to her. Yes, she was stunning, something he had never seen before. But there was something else...something deeper. He couldn't place his finger on it though.
"Aap kaun?" She repeated, her voice firmer. Yet, she felt as though she already knew the answer...as if she was forgetting something. And NK too, his face was just as bewildered as hers.
Her face, so familiar, yet he had never seen this woman before.
His face, so familiar, yet she had never seen this man before.
NK was about to open his mouth when suddenly, another booming and positively livid voice called their attention.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
It was then that NK and Khushi sighed in unison.
Arnav Singh Raizada had arrived.
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Please let me know what you think and buddy međ
~DV
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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