Hi everyone dw I am not dead. I am still alive I have just been very busy. With regards to PM's I just want to explain that if you no longer get PM's from me then its due to your failure of comments or due to the fact that I have sent you continuous PM's for a while now and you have not opened any of those PM's. Those people that have PM'ed me and explained their failure to comment dw you are still on my PM list.
And may I suggest that you guys listen to this song whilst reading this chapter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtlfbdqV-Kg. This song was my inspiration for this chapter.
And this chapter is a little sensitive so you have been warned.
Here goes Chapter 9:
The next morning Khushi woke up with a high fever. She knew she would get it because she had fallen asleep with wet clothes on. But she could not help it. Last night had just made her feel numb. She felt completely stoic inside so she slept with the wet clothes on in an attempt to make herself feel something. But suddenly a feeling of nausea shot through her and she covered her mouth with her hands and dashed to her bathroom. Khushi threw up horridly. She felt as if she had thrown up all her internal organs it was that bad. She had thrown up a number of times which resulted in her throat being scorched. After throwing up once more she slumped by the toilet seat and tried to summon some strength before she could stand up on her feet to get up. Khushi felt devastated because where the majority of mum's to be would have their mum's or mum- in- laws there to guide them through this stage she had no one. Khushi felt completely and utterly alone. No one was there to help her. She was once again alone. But for the life growing inside of her she would have to live. And so she managed to summon a newfound energy and picked herself up of the floor and made her way to the basin unsteadily and rinsed out her mouth to get rid of the bile taste in her mouth. She then brushed her teeth and changed her clothes and made her way back to her bed and laid there clutching her phone. She went into her text message inbox. She still had all the messages he had ever sent her pre- marriage and post- marriage. She had never deleted a single one. She scrolled all the way to the top of her inbox and began to read every text message that he had ever sent her and she was once again returned to her fairytale land.
Meanwhile Arnav woke up the next morning smiling recalling his last conversation with Khushi. He had not been able to sleep last night and had stayed up tossing and turning. He could not understand why he could not sleep peacefully as he had had such a good conversation with Khushi and hurt her not so long ago. Though deep down he knew he could not sleep from the guilt of hurting her he was never going to admit that. And so he had taken a sleeping pill and forced his brain to sleep. And now he woke up feeling content knowing that he had gotten a goodnight's sleep (even if it be with the help of sleeping pills) and she had not.
Arnav followed his regular morning routine and got ready for the day. Checking his e-mails on his phone he realised that he had to go to that girl's hometown for a business deal. He cursed the situation. He hated that city with a vengeance. It was the city which he had to stay in for the period of the time that he had spent trying to woo her. Each and every nook and crane of that city was a 'witness to their love' as that girl had put it. And Arnav hated that! He hated the fact that that city carried memories of that period of his life. He hated that period of his life and was working hard to erase it from his memory. But still work is work and so he knew he would have to go there. And so Arnav went upstairs to pack a holdall to take with him of his necessities just in case he had to stay the night. As he was not sure whether or not he would have to spend the night there or not he decided to go and visit Anjali now just in case he did not get a chance to later on.
Meanwhile Khushi had tears in her eyes by the time she had finished reading the texts. It was as if those texts told the story of her dream. One that was only an illusion. One that she had mistaken to be true. Khushi put the phone down not wanting to get tempted to text him once more. She remembered what he had told her yesterday. And she planned to respect it. Because she knew that she had obviously done something to cause him pain and distress. He would not hate her without a reason. She knew that if he hated her this much then her presence would obviously cause him pain and distress and so she wanted to respect his decision and stay away from him.
Arnav had come back from visiting Anjali and had made his way down to his driver who was waiting for him in the car. He slept for most of the car ride as he still felt groggy from taking that sleeping pill last night. But as they entered into Khushi's hometown his slumber broke. He looked out of the window and saw the massive big tree which had both their names carved on it . As they drove further in with the wind lapping onto his face feeling the wind in his hair he closed his eyes and remembered the day that he and Khushi had carved their names on to it.
(Flashback): 'Nahin hum apki baat nahin sona chahteh. Apneh aiseh kyun kaha? Hum hain aise mazak bilkul nahe pasand' said Khushi with tears in her eyes. She was about to walkaway from him when she felt a tug. He was holding onto her wrist stopping her from walking off. As she was forced to turn back around to look at him she saw that he had removed his hand from her wrist and was now holding onto his ears as if awaiting punishment. 'Sorry Khushi maaf kardo aaj she phir kabhi aisa nahin kahoonga' and with that he pulled her into a tight hug. He then pulled her under the big old oak tree which was shading them from the blistering sun. He put his hand into his pocket and pulled out his keys His bunch of keys contained a mini pocket knife key chain. He opened up the pocket knife and began to carve something onto the tree as Khushi stood watching him curiously. When he was done he finally movedaway and let Khushi see what he had carved onto the tree. He had written 'Arnav & Khushi always and forever' on to the tree. He did nothing expect open up his arms for Khushi who ran with a smile as wide as a Cheshire cat into the awaiting arms of the man she loved.
Arnav and Khushi had spent a lot of time underneath that tree on long hot summer days with each other. Arnav silently wondered if that tree was still there and then admonished himself for thinking such an atrocious thing. As the car drove deeper into Khushi's hometown he saw the little hut that he and Khushi had run into so that her noisy next door neighbour had not spotted them together. Further down he saw the cinema that he and Khushi use to regularly visit every night Friday night. All those memories were coming back to him. He cursed himself for still being able to remember every second he had spent with that girl. Anger coarsened through him and he closed the tinted windows of his car in a bid to stop anymore memories from re surfacing and ordered the driver to turn on the ac. However suddenly the car screeched to a halt. 'What the?' Sighed a frustrated Arnav. But before he had a chance to shout at his driver his driver informed him that he would go to find a mechanic. The driver then told Arnav to go and have a wonder and that he would ring Arnav when the car was ready and get his location and then come to pick him up to which Arnav agreed.
Arnav did not know how or why but his feet dragged as if on his own accord managed to drag him to the dabba that he and Khushi used to go to regularly. He did not even know why he was here. But it was as if an invisible magnet had dragged him there. Well now that he was here he may as well sit there for a bit as he had nothing better to do. Not noticing the guys who were sitting next to him giving each other odd looks he sat down on the table next to them.
Khushi finally got up from her bed when she heard that the whole house was quiet. Knowing that they all left to got the offices to discuss something to do with the new political scheme they came up with Khushi slowly went downstairs. She made her way into the kitchen for some food. She looked into all the pots and pans and found that the sight of such food made her want to throw up. And for some odd reason she was craving the food from the dabba that she had gone to growing up. That dabba was the one she used to go to with her biological parents. And after they had died she had kept the tradition and continued to go there every once in a while and today her urge to eat food from that dabba was just so strong that she felt that it had overpowered all her senses and so she set off.
Meanwhile at the dabba. The four men sitting at the table next to Arnav had clocked on the very second that he had entered that he was a rich man. So they planned to rob him and then leave him for dead. Those boys were locals from that town and so they were allowed to do as they please in that town as most people feared them and so turned a blind eye to all the things that they did. The ringleader signalled his ally and he went over to Arnav. He tapped Arnav on the shoulder which resulted in Arnav standing up and turning around to see whom it was. As he did so the ringleader smacked him around the head causing a moment of temporary relapse. They all then bundled Arnav into their car and set off with him to a derelict area.
Khushi was walking along when she saw a car rush past her on the road opposite. Curiosity got the better of her and she decided to see what they were up to. As she hid behind a tree and followed them she saw them pull out an unconscious looking man from the back of the car. As she moved closer she saw that the ringleader of the gang was no other than Raghu the guy who had had a crush on her since childhood who know carried a personal vendetta against Khushi as she had rejected his advances every single time he had tried to pursue her. The man that they held was slowly regaining consciousness. But because there were four of them they had all managed to restrict Khushi's view of the man. Khushi knew what Raghu and his gang got up to. Whenever a rich outsider came to their town he and his posses would rob them and then leave them for dead after beating them black and blue. The locals had many tried to get the police to intervene but because of the position that Raghu's father held the police could do nothing.
Khushi was about to leave them to it when suddenly she felt a sharp pain go through her heart the minute one of Raghu's posses punched the outsider on the stomach. She heard him yelp in pain. That voice she knew that voice. Quickly she ran back to the place where she was hiding to get a better look. And that's when she saw who that man was. And before she knew what she was doing, before she could stop herself she was running towards them screaming 'Nahin inhe maat mariyeh please?' and with that she slumped down and grabbed Raghu's feet and begged. 'Areh yeh kya Khushi Kumari Gupta Raghu kip her choraha hain? Aur voh be is mard keh kiyeh?' and with that Raghu kicked Arnav leading to another groan from Arnav. 'Kyun? Agar iseh choordoo to tu mujhe kya dejee?' asked Raghu. 'Filhal meri paas sirf yeh hain' said Khushi as she took of her payal's that once belonged to her mother and the necklace that her father had brought her on her last birthday before he had passed away. Those two things were dearer to Khushi than anything else in the world. They were her most prized possessions. They were the only things that she had left of her parents and Arnav knew the importance of these as she had told him.
He had recovered slightly from the blow to his head and was struggling in the clutches of both of Raghu's henchmen. He saw Khushi beg the ringleader to let him go and how she offered to give up her most prized possessions for it too. It's probably just a set up he thought as he stood there bleeding and in pain in the clutches of Raghu's men. He refused to believe that her emotions were genuine.
'Tere yeh saab mujhe nahin chaheyeh. Tujhe achee tarha she pata hain keh mujhe kya chaheyeh' said Raghu as he cupped Khushi's cheek in a forced manner. Arnav watched how Khushi moved away from his touch or at least attempted to. It was the complete opposite of how she used to react whenever he touched her. But one thing was certain though. He did not like the way that Raghu was looking at Khushi nor did he like the way that he touched her. Call it a male or an ego or whatever name you must but at that moment all he kept thinking was that he was the only one that could look at her like that or touch her like that. 'Mujhe toh chaheyeh ek raat ke liyeh. Aur iskeh badle main isseh chornekeliyeh tayar ho. Manzoor hain?' said Raghu. 'Kya tum apni hosh main toh ho. Tum mujhe yeh kaiseh pooch sakteh ho?' said Khushi. And as she asked that question Raghu and his men began to laugh. 'Areh yeh sati savitri ki doong bun kar. Kya hum nahe janteh tuj jaiseh ladkiyo ko? Areh pora mohola janta hain ke to ek non-Muslim ke saath baagayeetee aur oseh bin shaadhi kiyeh oskeh saat rehbegayetee. Aur to aura b to iss mard keh liyeh mere per be marchooke hain jab mujhe ache tarha she yaad hain keh tuneh kaha keh tu meri per kabhi be nahin paregee. Lekin iss mard ke liye kiya. Kyun kya hain tera yeh mard?' asked Raghu and laughed once more.
Khushi was stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one side stood Arnav the love of her life bleeding, battered, wounded, hurting and bruised struggling in the arms of Raghu's men and on the other side stood her honour and self respect. But as Khushi saw another drop of blood fall from Arnav's body onto the floor it pierced her hear and she realised that she cared about nothing at that moment apart from him and his wellbeing. And with that she stood up and said 'Raghu tumhain jo sochna hain tum soch sakteh ho. Aur mainjanti ho ki meri iss fesleh ke baad log meri bari main kya kya kahengeh. Lekin philhal main sirf inki salamati chahtee hon issiliyeh tum jo chao voh main karneh ke liyeh tayar hoon' said Khushi. 'Areh vah kuch to qaas hain is mard main lekin jo be ho mujhe tum milgaye hain to mujhe ab iss mard seh koyi kam nahin. Chal reh Tony isseh chor deh' and with that the two henchmen let him go.
Arnav staggered to walk but managed to steady himself. He turned around and saw Raghu grabbing Khushi's dupatta and pulling it to the ground. He also saw how Raghu was man handling Khushi into the little hut a few feet away but he did not care. That girl was nothing to him. And he turned back around to face the front and walked off leaving a struggling helpless Khushi behind…
So I got a hand cramp by the end of this chapter so please do let me know what you thought of it.
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