A PROMISE : PART 9 complete - Page 2

"Khushi?

Khushi?"

"Huh?"

"Arnav ji?" Khushi moans and turns around on the bed. It shows 9.30 in the clocks. Some tings seems missing. Last night she felt and remembers being cradled into his arms, all night long. But where are those hands? Why does her heart again feel empty? Where is the beating? And to be precise where is her heart?

She jumps up on the bed and opens her eyes wide, looks around and finds emptiness and silence. Looks at the cell phone and the messages that she got last night. One after another she opens them up and a new sensation lingers in her senses. Same exact feeling that she had last night. A promise, a word and commitment.

He promised that he will never let her miss him

He promised that he will never let go.

He promised that he will be hers forever. And he said it. Loud and clear ! Arnav Sing Raizada, told her that he cannot stay without him. What girl can resist such an offer and survive knowing that a man loves her like this? Is it still real? She again gets the uncanny feeing of insecurity.

It is a wave of complex feeling ''''...one comes after another. Joy'happiness. Loneliness'fulfillment'anxiousness'sadness'.desires''dreams'..faith'belief'morality'..pressure'

Khushi remembers him saying a few days ago:

"Khushi, my life was going on ok, before you came. You came into my life and everything turned upside down." Arnav clearly spoke him mind. In fact it is true that after they met, life has REALLY changed upside down. Now Khushi is in LOVE, the four letter word that can change a entire universe in a nano second, a four letter word that can rip out a should form a living body and hand it in a silver platter to the ne owner, while the body still beats'a four letter word that can make the moon shine bright as a day 'and the sun cry a river in a whisk of a separation. And the emptiness, does love also come with the emptiness when he is not here life seems barren''.alone'...lonely'empty'."AH! Arnav ji! What have you done to me? I cant think 'I cant cry..i cant understand'.everywhere I see, everywhere I look, everything I feel relates to you. It is like I am wired in your senses. My life seems like a mirage, an illusion. nothing makes sense unless you are with me. I LOVE YOU , Arnav ji!...this separation is killing me..i am dying one step at a time''''.Arnav ji! Please my love, please my jaan, come to me'"

Khushi feels horrible that she fell asleep. She doesn't remember when or how she fell asleep. He asked her to let go of his hand and let him leave. It was almost morning. The first night she was supposed to stay away from him , for their re marriage. And what did she do all night long? She was clasped into the iron grip of her man. Her very own man. Someone she can call her own. Someone who will be with her forever.

She whispers in disgust; "how could I fall asleep? Ufff !! hum bhi nah?"

"Oh Khushi , get up, there is no Arnav here. Are you insane? Did you again fall asleep and see him in your dreams?" Payal stares at her with a smirk in her face, while folding some of her clothes.

"Oh! Jiji? You here? Why? How come? When did you come? And why did you not wake me up? How are things at home? Is everyone angry with us? How is Arnav ji?"

Payal comes and puts her hand on Khushi's head.'Uff! baas bhi kaaro Khushi, how many questions will you ask me at once? One by one ok. Cool down. Everything is ok. Everyone is ok. Not sure about your Arnav ji! He has been out since last night, still not at home. Di is very worried. He just left without a word and was very upset. Just after you left, he left home. We called many times and Akash even followed him . But he just vanished in thin air. Akash said not to worry. DI is also a bit calm. She said that Arnav ji is like that, when he is upset he goes for a long drive and last night he was very agitated. He had an argument with Dadi as Dadi told him something about their family.

I am not sure what, but she kept on mentioning his mother. Arnav ji shouted out loud and nani ji got tensed too. There was a long episode of tears and back and forth argument between Di and Arnav ji. But they all came to a halt after they talked it out. Maybe it was necessary. They do not talk that much now a days. After you left, things got worse, but the talking made it a bit better. DI seems calm that now Arnav JI has accepted to marry you with the rituals followed."

Payal puts her hand on Khushi's hair and sooths her down. "Do not worry dear. Arnav JI can be very pushy; I know he might have done something that you agreed to marry you in a hurry."

"NO jiji! Do not talk about him like that, please, I beg you. You do not know a lot and I will not talk about it. What happened was a sudden plan, I am saying the truth, we were not ready. But what happened, just happened. So please do not bring it up. I do not wish to remember those nights anymore. I just made you people cry and suffer for me. What dadi told yesterday was horrible. How could she call buaji up and told her those things? How could she put our name in such bad tongue? Buaji was very upset. I need to talk to her more. Clear things out."

"and about Arnav ji, please do not say anything bad about him. I cannot bear it. He is my husband and wish to give him what he deserves. I do not wish his name to get stained in anyway. I will be the best wife ever and make everyone proud."

Payal pokes her in the head "ah! Best wife? Nah? Hum se bhi better?"

Khushi: "OH ! jiji, you are the best in everything and I love you. I can never compare to you. I do not have the patience that you have. How can you sustain under mami ji? Ha ha ha'.you are an iron woman. JiJI, please just tell me that I can stay without him till we get together again. this emptiness is killing me. I never felt so bad. It hurts. It hurts from inside out. I knew I like him, I used to long for him. But now that is far away, I feel like a dead soul."

Payal: "dear, this is love. I know it hurts. But you are strong. You have withstood a lot and dear sister, this phase will also pass. He will be yours and you, his. Everything will be ok. I know buaji has seized your phone and the phone is now in your hands ''ha ha '.so you are coping right?"

"oh, no jiji! I need to put the phone back. She seized it and told me to never call or text him. How can I jiji? What wrong is in talking? Please jiji, solve this. At least let me keep the phone."

Payal snatched the phone away and hides it under her saari pallu. 'NO, you are not getting the phone back."

She also skip away from the run, having a sad and sobby Khushi running behind her.

Payal goes and hides the phone exactly as it was in the drawer, where buaji put it . Khushi looks at her and sheds a tear. She makes up a face and stomps back in the room. Closes the door and throws herself on the bed.

After a few minutes, a sound alarms her.

Beep!

Beep!

Message # 1

"hi! Love !"

Khushi jumps up and looks around. A new phone? What? How ? from where?and text from Arnav? What? Really? Her smile resurfaces, only to be shared with a laughing and giggling Payal.

"Khushi dear, your hubby bribed me. He told me to come here today and give you this phone, ha ha'this is pretty small, so you can keep it on vibration and tuck it into your clothes. No one will know you have a phone ha ha'crazy girl. I was just kidding around when I took your other phone and kept it back. Ok, so now read your text a hundred time, like you always do. I will close the door behind. Also wake up , ok? You are in buaji's house and she is out. It is almost 10 in the morning. Go shower and get ready.

And when you are done with the text reading, ha ha ''more smiles'..open the closet, there is a new ..umm..something for you'"

Payal smiles a bit more and walks away closing the door behind her.

Khushi opens the text and reads it again:

Message # 1

"hi! Love !"

She types and sends:

" hello"

She was about to write, love , but felt shy and resisted the temptation. She then remembers the closet. She gets up and proceeds towards it.

Opens it up and looks inside.

There are five packets in various colored wrapping papers. All packed neatly, with precision and a bow tied to each. Stacked neatly. She jumps up in joy.

She opens the first box: big, box with a lot of beautiful colored filler papers. Looks inside. In the very last portion, there is another small box: a red, heart shaped box. She opens it up and in note saying:

Te quiero

what? She whispers'.

She opens the second box:

Same , with a lot of papers and underneath a beautiful small box having another piece of paper.

Je'taime

Then the third:

Bhalo bashi

Fourth:

Aku cinta kau

Before opening the fifth box, Khushi looks at the former four and nods her head. Either this is a very sick joke, JIJI is playing or she has lost her mind. What in the world are these?

She shouts

"JIJI !!! where are you?

What are these? JIJI?"

Looking back at the boxes she closes her eyes' and whispers: "oh box ji, please make sense'I am lost here.

Box five: THE NOTE SAYS:

i love you.

"Spanish, French, Bengali, Indonesian''.for I LOVE YOU."a manly voice lingers in the air...

Khushi cannot believe her eyes or ears.

"I LOVE YOU" a whisper in her ears...

ARNAV is standing by her side, the door is open and Payal is standing at the entrance. She looks at Khushi with a joyful teary eye and smiles, she sighs and closes the door to give the love struck couple some much needed privacy.

" Good Morning, wife"

Khushi gets up and without a word or greet or even inhaling, jumps up in his embrace, grabs a fistful of his shirt and hauls her up in his wide open arms. The lovers unite, the sirens ring, the balls play, the tune sings'the sky looks a bit more bright the sun shines a little more sweet'birds chirp. And violin plays'

"you here? How long have you been here?" Khushi muffles her voice from underneath his shirt. Arnav soothes her hair and tucks her more closely into his embrace. Kisses her head , on the hair and on her forehead. Takes his own sweet time to travel back and forth on these three places. On and on..again and again , a kiss followed by another. He draws a line from the forehead, to the tip of her nose, from her hairline to her forehead and then back again. "I have been here for the last five minutes, Payal helped me in putting the boxes where they should have been and the phone. I send her before, so she can see what's going on in your mad house." Arnav replies. "sush! Why you are calling my house mad house?" Khushi pokes him a bit on his chest. "I am calling this the mad house, because the maddest person has been here since last night and the entire surrounding has been glorified with cute madness. Even me the only sane human on the planet to love this mad girl is also becoming mad now."

"Hmm, so I am mad, and you are sane" Khushi makes her voice a bi naughty and pokes him again.

Arnav grabs her hands and pulls her deep into his lap, roams around in the house, almost making her fly in the air and drop her on the bed. Claps her on both sides. Him, sitting on top of her. An arm in each side, eyes cemented together with the intensity of the pull and lips quivering for acceptance. He halts just a few inches above her head and smiles. "I am also crazy to fall in love with you. I am crazy for loving you like this, I am crazy to admit it like a fool, like this and I am crazy that you, out of all girls in this planet is willing to love me back without any warning, without any fear , without any resentment."

Khushi shakes up.

Her existence finds a new meaning.

"how can I not love you? And for this I do not need any reason or threat. You are perfect."

She smooth his face and takes his face in her hands.

Arnav for a fraction loses control and lowers himself on top of her. Kisses her again on the cheek and then lowers him down further on the bed, by her side.

"Khushi! You are mistaking in this part. I am nothing close to perfect"

"NO, Arnav Ji! You are perfect. And please Mr. Arnav Sing Raizada, do not speak like this about my LAAD GOVERNOR, you have no right. He is all mine and I have not given anyone permission to talk about him. He is perfect." Khushi smiles back the sweetest smile, claiming her portion, announcing her rights, defending her love.

Arnav's face still holds a trail of unknown remorse.

" Khushi! I am not perfect, I am damaged, dear.

I am damaged !"