IPKKND - Family: Lost and Found updated page 3 - Page 2

This is so interesting! Please continue!

A great start!! Seriously it was worth the read!!

hey that was just FABULOUS!!! completely new take on the whole relationship angle and I must say it is sooo refreshing... 😊

I love the characterisation - youve captured them all perfectly. Im really looking forward to reading more.

Originally posted by: the_breeze

hey that was just FABULOUS!!! completely new take on the whole relationship angle and I must say it is sooo refreshing... 😊

You have portrayed every minute detail with such care and attention that it was amazing how easily I could imagine each scene in my mind... 👏

Mami catching on to Khushi resembling her sister, acting tough and unkind to her just to keep up the charade was simply awww...

And boy oh boy, NK is her brother and the best part is Arnav has absolutely no idea!!! yaayyy we are gonna see a jealous Arnav!! OH WOW that is a treat in itself ☺️

please continue soon... I am adding you to my buddy list, a pm would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks so much for your kindness! I'll be sure to pm you sometime soon!

Interesting new take; you captured my attention throughout!

Wow great start!! If NK and Khushi are siblings...and NK's dad's still alive...why does Khushi think she's an orphan??? Can't wait to read more of your story and find out! :)

I am so thankful for all of you who enjoyed the story! Please remember to buddy me and like my post for a pm😊

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Arnav Singh Raizada was fuming. In the back of his mind, he knew that something like this was bound to happen, but still. He didn't know why seeing Khushi in the arms of that idiot made him so mad, but it did. He felt like Bruce Banner who was about to turn into the Hulk. Arnav's muscles were tense and he could feel the veins bulge out of his neck and forehead. He was all set to rip NK to shreds for even daring to touch his Khushi. Woah...his Khushi? Where did that thought come from? It had been too long of a day at work for him to deal with this nonsense.

He knew that those two had heard him, so why the HELL were they not letting go of each other? Finally, Arnav had enough. There was no way that this...this cartoon was holding Khushi the same way he had held her whenever she decided to fall. The cartoon shouldn't be holding her at all!

"NK!"

Dazed by Arnav's furious voice NK nearly dropped the woman in his arms. How long had they been together like this? It seemed as though some sense of rationality in the woman had arrived as well, and she detached herself from his arms. A quick glance thrown by both of them to Arnav told them that he was very very angry.

"Aap theek hai?" He asked the woman in thankfully unbroken Hindi. She gave him an amused look and threw a pointed glance at Arnav.

"I'm fine, thanks. But he's not." She sniggered in a very un-ladylike fashion. NK couldn't help but smile along with her. Her smile was radiant and blinding. It was contagious. A wave of nostalgia ran through him. His father had that smile, a smile which he hadn't seen for fourteen years.

"Nanav's never okay." NK smirked causing Khushi to giggle again. NK looked straight into Arnav's eyes, as if daring him to intrude. He just wanted to talk to this girl, get to know her.

Arnav was standing behind them, losing his already non-existent patience. They were laughing at him, making small-talk about him, while he was standing within earshot? NK usually never tested his anger this much. What had caused the sudden burst of courage now? Enough was enough. Just as he was about to storm up to them, Khushi gave him a look that said 'don't even think about it.' That stopped him in his tracks. He didn't like that look on her. It made her look a hell of a lot like himself. He really had been spending too much time around her if she was actually starting to copy him.

"Hey Nanav!" NK yelled, waving his hand at Arnav like a madman. Arnav gave him a glare filled with venom.

"NK." Arnav's tone was frigid. He ignored NK and walked straight up to Khushi. "What are you doing here? Why haven't you gone home?"

Khushi stared at him with an incredulous expression before she nearly snarled at him. "What do you mean, 'what am I doing here?' Have you seen the time? It's so late. Akaash jiju said I should spend the night."

"Spend the night!" Arnav was at his wit's end. No! He couldn't let that happen. She would be staying in the same house as him which meant that he would have no sleep because he would be thinking about...her? He would be thinking about her? "NO! That won't happen" He didn't realize that he had said this out loud and Khushi took to mean that he won't let her stay in his house.

"I can and I will! I don't care what you say Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada. I am very tired and will go home by myself tomorrow. Is that okay?" She said the last part with fake sugary sweetness.

In the background, NK was quietly laughing to himself. These two...what a jodi. This was too funny. He folded his arms over his chest, completely forgetting about going to the bathroom.

"Excuse me! This is my house." Arnav pointed to himself. "Mine. Do you understand?"

"Ji nahin! This is the Raizada Mansion. Which means it belongs to the Raizadas, not just you. In fact, it should be Nani-ji's house. Not yours." Khushi spat back.

If looks could kill, Khushi would be dead ten times over. In the past, that expression on his face would have scared her to death and had been the cause of many tears. Now though, now she was different. She was strong. The man in front of her wouldn't scare her anymore.

"You little..." Arnav was so infuriated, he had no idea what to say. Instead, he advanced on the girl who unflinchingly met his gaze.

It was at this moment that JP entered the hallway, disregarding bade-sahib and Khushi madam's argument.

"Bhabhi, Nani-ji is calling you to help with the dinner. And she also wanted me to remind Arnav bhaiya and NK bhaiya to come to the dinner table in ten minutes." JP quickly turned around so he wouldn't see the grin that adorned his face. He was sure that it would take some time for them to figure out what he had just said, and he didn't want to be incurring Arnav's wrath.

Khushi easily sidestepped Arnav, waved to NK and set off after JP, registering what he had said half way to the kitchen and silently shooting daggers at the servant. Not again!

***********

Arnav and NK stood in the hallway, looking at the spot where Khushi had disappeared to. Arnav rounded on NK within seconds. "You - !" But NK cut him off shortly.

"You do realize that the servant called that woman "bhabhi?" Ah, the expression on Nanav's face was priceless. He looked stricken. This was just too funny.

NK teased him some more. "So Nanav, did you get married and not tell anyone? She really is a lovely woman. She has the guts to stand up to you. By my thinking, that has to be the perfect woman." With that, he scuttled into the bathroom and firmly locked the door, ensuring Nanav couldn't enter.

He listened as Arnav's heavy footsteps couldn't be heard anymore before letting out a breath and slumping to the ground. He ran a hand through his spiky hair. What was wrong with him? Why had he just frozen with her in his arms? Just because she reminded him of his sister? His dead sister.

His Khushi.

Fourteen years had passed by, and never once had he forgotten his sister. Never once. The last time he had come to India, it was for her to get to know everyone. She had only met Arnav and Anjali's mom and dad before. That was when she was three. They had come to Australia because of Uncle's business trip without the kids. Arnav and him were both nine at that time while Akaash was seven and Anjali was fourteen. Just some years later, Arnav and Anjali's parents had died as well.

NK slid down the bathroom wall, feeling the tears burn in his eyes. He remembered with vivid detail the day his sister was born. July 13^th, 1989 in Sydney. The day had been unusually hot, he remembered. A heat wave in the middle of winter. He was so happy to have a little sister who he could spoil. He had wanted a brother, but then his mom had said that once she got older, he would be able to beat up all the boy's who would want to take her away from them. He had remembered her first words, the first time he had changed her diaper all by himself, the first time she went to school, her smile, her eyes, her face.

It had all been taken from him in this country. In Lucknow. The car accident. The driver didn't have time to swerve out of the way from the oncoming truck. His mother, his beautiful mother – gone. His sister...her body was pulverized. It had taken authorities nearly half an hour to reach the accident scene. By that time, his mom and sister were dead and he and his dad were in critical condition. After that, the two of them were depressed beyond belief.

They hadn't let anyone, not even the Raizada's close to them. Within two weeks, they were back to Australia, stopping to meet Nani-ji because her daughter and son in-law had died the year before. Not even her endless amount of sympathy and empathy could make them smile or even cry. NK was only fourteen at this time. He didn't know how to deal with such a loss. Arnav and him had gotten into a huge argument at this point. Both of them had lost people dear to them, both of them had suffered. Both were hormonal teenagers who didn't know how to cope.

That was the last time they had spoken to each other for three years. Tension was always between them after this and Akaash and Di were the only bulwark between an actual fist fight. Old wounds healed slowly.

Come on NK. Focus. You're here for Akaash's wedding. Don't think about the past. He chided himself and pulled himself up. The cold water that he splashed on his face helped a lot. Looking himself over in the mirror, he decided he was presentable. With his customary smile in place, he skipped out of the bathroom, hungry and curious about the identity of the mystery girl who had his Nanav in such a tizzy.

The table was set nicely, NK noted, and was laden with all of his favorites. Everyone was already seated and being served by the mystery girl. She didn't seem to be a servant judging by the way everyone talked with her and how she had dealt with Nanav earlier. Who was she?

"Arey, NK bitwa! Aao na!" Nani-ji said, seeing he was here. "You can sit next to Akaash bitwa."

NK ignored the glare that Arnav shot at him and sat next to his cousin. "Hey guys! Wow! Yeh kyaa hai? Chicken Makhani? Mutter Paneer? Yeh khaana toh bohot ghatiyan hai!" He exclaimed, hoping to impress everyone with his Hindi.

"Kya!" The mystery girl paused in serving and looked at him with those doe like eyes. "Ghatiyan?"

NK couldn't see what the problem was. "Hey, ghaityan...like...really good?"

She laughed as comprehension dawned on her. "Ghatiyan nahin! Badiyaan! Khaana bohot badiyaan hai!" Her laugh caused nani-ji and Akaash to laugh as well.

He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. Looks like his Hindi wasn't as great as he thought. "Yeah, that's right, that's right."

Khushi found, much to her displeasure, that the only open seat was next to Arnav, right across from the person that everyone called NK. She pointedly ignored his presence and served herself some food.

Clearly, Arnav wasn't used to being ignored. NK covertly watched as his temperamental cousin tried to catch the pretty girl's attention in his own way. Now, NK was no expert on smoothly picking up women, but he was pretty sure that just staring at a girl with such a violent expression was not going to work.

No one else seemed surprised by his behavior, so this must have been a daily occurrence. He really wanted to get to know this woman now.

"So Nanav." NK began, causing Arnav to look at him. "You never introduced me to this lovely lady." NK finished, gesturing to the girl who blushed at his words.

Arnav just sneered at him. How dare he make Khushi blush! Why did he want to know who Khushi was? To get to know her better? What did he want with her? Arnav didn't realize how jealous his thoughts were sounding, and probably never would.

Anjali, seeing as how her brother was not going to respond, answered for him. "NK bhai. This is Khushi-ji, Akaash's future wife's sister."

The girl smiled at him. "Namaste." She said. However NK couldn't reply properly. The spoon that was about to enter his mouth froze. Khushi? HIS Khushi. No...that was impossible. His Khushi was dead, gone. But then this girl...this girl who reminded him of her, whose name was hers...it was too much of a coincidence.

Aware of the odd glances he was getting, he put the spoon in his mouth and swallowed his food and put on a fake happy expression. "It's so nice to meet you, Khushi-ji. My name is Nand Kishore, but everyone calls me NK."

Khushi wrinkled her nose delicately. Her eyes twinkled in amusement which irked Arnav. "Hm, it's nice to meet you too, Nand Kishore-ji. No, saying that is too long, and saying NK-ji is weird. I'll call you Nanhey-ji? Is that alright?"

As soon as she had said that, their eyes locked.

Nanhey? Where did I come up with that name? Khushi asked herself, staring at NK.

No, that's impossible. Only one other person had called him Nanhey before. Khushi. NK thought, trying to see some spark of recognition in Khushi's eyes.

The feelings of familiarity between them were too intense to dismiss, too intense for everything to just be a coincidence.

Something was definitely not right.

Originally posted by: poojdc87

Wow great start!! If NK and Khushi are siblings...and NK's dad's still alive...why does Khushi think she's an orphan??? Can't wait to read more of your story and find out! :)

All will be revealed in a couple chapters. Just keep reading😛