Hate That I Love You #4 epilog Pg.61 06/07 - Page 42

Epilogue:

After the fashion show, Akash had been a very disgruntled man. Arnav, knowing what he wanted and what should be done to get it, had easily talked to the Guptas and had got their permission to wed their younger daughter. Akash had tried too. We cannot exactly blame him for not even attempting to talk to Payal's parents about their love story. But all he could stutter was a question about Lucknow's weather! Arnav and Khushi had exchanged amused glances, and Arnav had looked at Akash as if he was a disgrace to the Raizada family.

It was Anjali, who finally took pity on the man, and talked to the Guptas about him and Payal. This, they did not seem to have noticed, and were rightfully surprised when they heard it. For, the love between Arnav and Khushi was like an open book, privy to none, and the Guptas had known it when they had seen the haggard state of Arnav during the whole duration of Khushi's unconsciousness after her accident. But the secretive, adoring smiles that had been passed between Akash Singh Raizada and Payal Gupta had gone completely unnoticed by them. But they had agreed for this proposal too, having no qualms about their daughters becoming the daughters-in-law of one of the most esteemed families of India.

Hence, the twin marriage, which was arranged after almost a month after the fashion show, was a grand affair, pompous edging on the lines of ostentatious, all thanks to Anjali! The Raizadas seemed to be wanting to announce to the whole world that they were taking two gems of women as the newest members of their family. All of this never for a second bothered Arnav. For he was concerned only about getting to spend his whole life with Khushi, and being a part of her life meant a lot to him. Though the customs started to seem endless after a while, he tamped his irritation, and remembered the smiling face of his happiness. Soon the marriage was done and over with, and after taking the blessings of all the elders present there, Khushi had left the mandap to change into casual clothing, as per Arnav's request.

Arnav had just informed her that they would be leaving for their honeymoon right after their wedding, but had not disclosed the location to Khushi yet. And she did not seem to be complaining a lot about it too. As long as she was with Arnav, the "where?" part did not matter to her. So she changed into a pair of skin tight jeans, and a pink tee, of full arm length, and joined her husband, who was talking to her father about some newest business news. Trust Arnav to talk about business, when she was almost shivering with anticipation for tonight. He looked down at her, and she could practically see him throwing away all thoughts of business from his mind. He had changed to a cotton, button-down white shirt and a pair of basic blue jeans and looked absolutely mouth watering. The guests had left and only the family members had remained, to see off Arnav and Khushi. After showering the two with so many innuendos, that Khushi thought her mind was scarred for life, they let them both drive away in Arnav's SUV.

She sighed and laid her head on her husband's shoulder, who moved his arm so that his wife could hug it properly. Even as Khushi was trying to get comfortable, the car stopped, and Khushi looked out of the window to see nothing but darkness. She looked questioningly at Arnav, who seemed to be having a whale of time. She smiled as she saw the grin stretched across his face, and got down when he opened her door for her. He took her hand in his and walked forward towards a massive looking bike and Khushi noticed that Shyam was standing there too. "Thanks, Jiju. . ." Arnav said, and Shyam smiled warmly at him, as he handed over the keys of the bike to him and took the car keys from Arnav.

"Have a nice time. . . ." Shyam smiled and wished them both as he drove away. Khushi saw Arnav seating himself on the bike, and was wearing the jacket. He held out another jacket to Khushi and she looked at him curiously as she took it from him and wore it. She sat on the pillion when Arnav motioned for her to join him. "Hold on tight, sweetbottom. You will be having a ride of your life. . . ." Arnav said as he turned his head and spoke over his shoulder to his bride. The slight suggestive voice made Khushi shiver once, which she masked easily and laid her chin on his shoulder as she replied in a saucy tone, "If the bike ride is what you are referring to, I shall have to wait and watch. If you are referring to the other type of ride, I know you are right already. Though I'm not against the idea of you proving it to me again!"

Arnav chuckled, as he left the handle of the bike they were sitting on, and let his hand roam from her knee to her thighs, before his hands stiffened and he removed it off her completely. "Lets get out of here." growled a suddenly very frustrated Arnav. It had been more than three months since he had made love to Khushi. Knowing what he had been missing for all these days just made things worse. First her leg was fractured, and then her final exams had neared. Khushi Kumari Gupta had become a famous designer on the national level, and then had given her final exams. Almost laughing all through her exam at the irony of it.

Throughout the ride, Khushi had a loving smile on her face, as she rested her head against Arnav's strong shoulder and thought how lucky she was to get such a thoughtful husband. He had bought this bike and was giving her this ride because he had seen her sigh wistfully when she had seen some woman speeding away on her vehicle. She had not known that Arnav had noticed it, but apparently he had. She sighed and fisted the lapels of his jacket in her hands from behind, suddenly craving for his touch. Arnav lifted his left hand and held hers as he said, "We'll soon be there. . ." Khushi nodded against his shoulder and relaxed. "Are you not liking this?" Arnav asked, and Khushi lifted her head and replied, "I am! Thank you so much, Mr. Raizada. . ." She kissed his the strong column of his neck, making him growl and mutter, "Keep your lips to yourself for a little more time, Mrs. Raizada. Or we're stopping right here!"

Khushi jerked back in surprise and giggled at the thought. Arnav slowed and finally stopped in front of the massive gates of what looked like a very solitary farmhouse. Khushi got off the bike and stood next to him as he sat on the bike and measured her expression. She turned and lifted her eyebrow as she asked him, "You thought this farmhouse would be good for our honeymoon?? None of the exotic locations??" Arnav shrugged as he said, "If I had taken you to any of those places, you would have asked to go out and see them. But I don't plan to do any such thing." Khushi just blushed in response, and shook her head at his blunt declaration. "And our clothes??" She asked, mainly to change the topic of their conversation. He put a hand at the back of her neck, and pulled her to him. His lips hovered over hers as he said in his husky voice, "I ban clothes for our honeymoon. . . ."

Khushi whimpered in response, and his hand unzipped the jacket off her immediately. And just like that, the teasing shifted to a whole new level of tension. Arnav got off the bike too, and stood towering over her for a while, looking deep into her eyes, promising days and nights full of pleasure as his hands fished out the keys for the gate and the mansion, from his the pocket in his jeans. He had made sure that they were completely alone, knowing that the next few days would be noisy and a little too much.

Soon they were inside the mansion, and Khushi stood a little ahead from where Arnav was standing, and looked around. She turned to him, where he stood after closing and locking the door. She bit her lip and looked at him as if she did not understand why he was standing so far away. He rushed to her and captured her lips in an intense, toe-curling kiss which alone showed how desperate his need was, for her. And that is exactly where they started their honeymoon. Against the wall of the huge living room, which happened to have a very lavish couch on it. But understand that the lovers were too impatient to walk to it.

---

"All men are dogs!" Lavanya had stated, her voice showing how infuriated she was at the moment. She had looked at NK when she had said that. She had not understood why, but NK always seemed to push the wrong buttons for her, and he seemed to enjoy doing so too. NK had widened his grin and barked and howled as if he indeed was a dog, irking Lavanya to no end before she had stormed out of the room. This had happened when she had first met him at Arnav's beach house in Mumbai. She laughed at that memory and straightened his tie for him now, as he stood in front of her, nervous to meet her parents. He looked at her and asked for the upmteenth time, "Tumhare parents mujhe na-pasand tho karenge na??", in that Australian accent which she used to find irritating at the start, though now she had grown very fond of it too.

He had proved that women could be bitches too, for he had faced a heartbreak before coming to India. He had never uttered a word about it to anyone from his family, but had shared it with her. Things had just got better from there. He seemed to be a very dependant kind of person, which suited well for Lavanya's take-charge attitude. But when she needed anyone, he would always make sure that he was her wall too.

"Yes, baby! Woh tumhe zaroor pasand karenge!" Lavanya said as she brushed the non-existent dust on his impeccable suit, stressing on the word pasand, to point out his mistake. Normally he would have caught on and gave her a sheepish grin. But today, he was too nervous to do that. She sighed as she cupped his face, and looked straight into his eyes, "Right now, he is a little overprotective about me. Because of what happened with Steve. And no doubt he would try to have the biggest showdown with you. But if he does not like you, that's his problem, Nanduuu. Things would never change between US!!"

NK seemed to feel a little relieved by that and smiled lovingly remembering her calling him "Nanduuu" Initially he had complained that it sounded as if it was a name of some house help, but coming from her, he had liked it too. They had just started to kiss, when Lavanya's father cleared his throat behind them and he muttered an expletive, making the old man raise his eyebrows in disdain. . . .

---

After a week from the day of departure of the two newest couples, Anjali and Shyam watched in concern as Dr. Gargee went through the report of Anjali's latest check-up. She looked up and smiled at the couple and congratulated them. She announced they were parents-to-be. There was a minute's silence before Shyam gasped and Anjali squealed in joy. Anjali and Gargee had become closest of friends while Anjali visited the hospital when Khushi had been admitted there. Not wanting to see any other doctor, she had gone straight to Gargee, when she felt nauseated for three days, in a row. Gargee was again made privy to a scene which held an enormous amount of love. She felt a little twinge of envy, on seeing that everybody were getting their happily ever afters. And God seemed to just make her watch those happily ever afters. She was so immersed in these thoughts, when she came out of her chamber and closed the door behind her, giving a moment of privacy to her newest friend with her husband. She turned and had walked a step ahead when she ran into somebody. Rubbing her nose, where she had hit herself, she lifted her face to look into the warm brown, at the moment, concerned eyes of a tall guy. "You okay??" He asked in a husky voice, and Gargee simply blushed at the embarassment of being so clumsy in front of such a handsome guy. She nodded and mumbled her gratitude. Before she was about to leave, though, the guy held out his hand and said, "I'm Barun." A smile, so cute adorned his face, that it took all of Gargee's self control, not to stutter her name in front of him. . . . .

---

Arnav and Khushi arrived to Shantivan, after enjoying each moment of the two-weeks of their honeymoon, to be greeted by their whole family. There was going to be a dinner party that night. Anjali and Shyam had arranged it. Khushi looked curiously at her husband, asking him whether he knew anything about it. He had the same look of curiosity as he looked at her too. So they both shrugged and let the matter go.

The party was nobody else than the whole Raizada family, Lavanya and NK, Dr. Gargee and her love interest, Barun. They had started seeing each other, immediately after they had met, a fact that Anjali knew, and was so delighted about!

Anjali and Shyam, after dinner, when they were relaxing in the lounge, announced the happy news to all of them, and their audience made a lot of din over the subject, congratulating the couple. Such news always elicit an "Awww moment" for the other couples who come to know of it. The creation of another life, as the symbol of love between two persons, is one of the happiest things that could happen to anybody, you see. Anjali-Shyam, Arnav-Khushi, Akash-Payal were the couples who looked so lovingly into each others eyes, as Lavanya and NK grinned saucily at each other.

And this time, after watching a room full of love, Gargee turned to Barun who was smiling oh-so-sweetly at her, before he bent and kissed the back of her hand, making her sigh in contentment.

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Thanks for the love y'all gave to me for this FF! You know you are all most welcome to read my other FFs. . . .

But if you ain't interested, please do remove HarshuSmilesfrom your buddy list! I won't feel bad, let me assure you that! 😃