~Flying, Finally~
"Aaj!!! Par kyun?? Amma please!! "
"Khushi bitiya when they are saying so adamantly that they want to meet you like this then what can I say?" she tried to calm her agitated daughter down by keeping her hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it off and slid out of the bed and started pacing back and forth the cluttered room.
"I am not going..aur who bhi..uss'."
"Hawai jahaaz" Garima uttered , feeling a sense of distaste as she did so. The thought of her daughter in those strange flying boxes scared her. But she had to forget that fear for khushi's future.If the boxes let her have a future, the devil in her mind prodded.
"You cannot be thinking of telling them to cancel the tickets khushi" Payal entered holding a pile of clothes, ready to help cajole her pagal sister.
"Yes I am Jiji..I will call Varun right now" She sought out her phone in between the mess of clothes and dialled his number with fumbling hands. There was no way she was going on that plane or whatever they called it.
"Don't you want to see him?" Garima interrupted.
Khushi grimaced.
The truth was that she didn't care. Varun was a good guy.Her would be fiance. He was funny, friendly and a smile was always on his face. He seemed to like her too. A fan of her jalebis, he had eaten atleast thirteen.She had burst into peals of laughter at the sight of him gobbling up her Jalebis with such a delighted expression on his face, but somehow she couldn't think of marrying him. The fact that he lived in Mumbai was bothering. It was too far away from lucknow for her. And now he and his parents had actually booked tickets for her to come to Mumbai, not knowing that she had an immense fear for heights and that the hawai jahaaz was a new and frightening experience for her.
She was saved from the trouble of answering that carefully planned question by the ringing of the land phone.Garima rushed to answer it while payal started folding khushi's clothes and placing them in her suitcase.
She heard Garima muttering something followed by a click of the receiver being kept back. She hurried back to the room and avoided khushi's eyes as she declared "They are expecting you by evening. Wear that green Salwaar khushi. I have mended the duppata for you"
Khushi slid down to the floor, realizing that her opinion and feelings were far from important now.
***
He ran his practised fingers over his ipad. In a flourish he had gone over the details of his upcoming meeting scheduled for the evening. He would bag the deal without much effort. A thin smirk arrived on his lips at the thought of his previous meeting with the GN company. They had been easy to convince.
He was a true businessman.
All it took was a few carefully calculated offers and a Presentation. And they were done.
"you informed the others about the time?"
"S..sir?"
The driver jerked around surprised to hear his boss talking to himself. Somebody else would have pointed out the bluetooth placed near his ear. It would have been simple enough. But Arnav carried on , paying barely any attention. He droned away in a tone which fluctuated from anger and boredom causing the driver to cast anxious glances at his boss as if expecting him to grow another head.
"Yes, get the new employee familiar with the game. I hate that we have to depend on him. But you should have done that already dammit.. just cut the call. I have had enough crap from you today.And just remember that if things don't go the way that I want it to you just might lose your job"
That was the breaking point for dheeraj's patience.There was no use in staying mump now. Not after his job was being put at stake.
"No Sir please, I promise that I wont leave the AC on like I did last time sir. I just forgot that day sir..I"
"What the..Dheeraj You left the AC on?. What are you saying?"
Arnav jerked the bluetooth of his ears in irritation and that is when the driver caught sight of the weird little object in Arnav hand and realized that he may not be as connected to the new developments of the modern world as he thought he was.
However he breathed a sign of relief as he slowed down the car and saw the parking sign. They had reached the airport and there was every chance of Arnav forgetting about his mistake.
He opened the door for Arnav in silent terror, and Arnav stepped out. He walked forward without sparing a glance at Dheeraj.
Dheeraj sighed in relief.
"We will talk about your..mistake when I am back"
He felt a smirk arise on his face as he saw the expression of the driver.
He was truly Arnav Singh Raizaada.
Too bad he didn't notice the blur of green and blue that rushed past him clutching her pink bag beaded with the pearls and corals. Too bad he didn't feel the change in atmosphere as she touched his arm oh-so-lightly in her alarm at being at the place she never thought that she would have to be.
Too bad Arnav didn't sense his soul.
*******
He stared at magazine, his eyes on the figures related to the latest business news but his mind elsewhere. Why did he not get the same satisfaction these days? Why did he want to be free? He envied the creatures around him now. Dheeraj, his employees, his family and most of all the birds, free to roam the sky.
He took in a deep breath. This was not him. He needed to buck up and get back to himself otherwise he would lose everything that he had gained. Until this very moment.
This was how he lived. Some mornings he would get up with a smile on his face. A stamp of a good dream perhaps. But as soon as he realizes of its existence he would vanquish it. Relaxation or happiness would do him no good.
A cursed life perhaps, but a safe one, he thought.
It was only then that he realized that passengers had started to file in into his compartment. He tried to focus on them. The magazine was not at all helping him pass his time. He saw a family enter. There were two small kids who seemed hell bent on making a lot of noise during the journey, a consoling mother and a doting father. For a second, just a fleeting second, he wondered whether he would ever be part of such a family. But he dismissed the idea then and there. Who would want to marry him?
No, he was not foolish. He knew that his money would give him many willing brides. He knew he was reasonably good looking too, his eyes and voice being the topic of discussion among the female employees of his many offices.
But if he married them, would they be able to live with the broken pieces? Yes, he was broken. H e had been scarred by life too many times to forget, forgive and move on. He was what someone would call a "monster" and tended to derive a sadistic pleasure out of hurting others at times. He knew exactly what he was doing, but still was not in control of himself. Was that even possible? He didn't know.
His eyes became slightly unfocused due to the impact of a thread of unwanted memories, but nothing was able to prevent him from seeing the green maiden that had entered.He surveyed her with an amused air and watched as she looked around the compartment and the passengers as if they were terrorists and had secretly planted a bomb there.
She was good looking, he decided.Tall, thin, pale. Nice, but he would prefer one of his models over her everyday. He decided to go back to his magazine and would have succeded in being engrossed if not for the small voice that requested him to move his legs.
She wanted to sit near him.Made sense. She had no idea about his less than inviting attitude. She walked towards him ,clutching the sides of the seats that came in her way as if she was afraid that the ground would split right under her feet and take her into hell.
He moved his legs, but with an expression that made his irritation evident. The girl paled more, something which he hadn't believed would happen and she clutched a bag to herself. The corals and pearls were enough to scandalize him but the gold lined green pompoms were the last straw.
He burst into laughter causing the girl to start.He pretended not to notice and neatly folded the magazine and kept it inside. He would'nt need the magazine for entertainment.
********
"Devi maiyya devi maiyya devi maiyya"
Arnav broke his promise to not look at her and hint her of his upcoming prank. He couldn't help himself. The situation was hilarious and one he would never ever want to miss. She had folded her hands together in prayer and scrunched her eyes shut. Her lips moved in a hypnotic manner as she chanted the names of various gods that he hears about every day. Devi maiyya seemed to be her favorite. He caught words like Dar, Raksha etc.
This confirmed his theory that this was her first time on an aeroplane. The way she fumbled with her seat belt, The way she flinched when she made the mistake of looking outside and seeing the clouds so close, The way she had clutched the seats as she had walked towards him..
Wait, he reminded himself. This was just another prank. A prank for the pleasure of seeing one brought down. A prank for the pleasure of experiencing a superiority that he had always craved and fought for.But why was the paying so much attention to the girl? It was not normal. He had taken the resolve not to look at her, but here he was again shamelessly attracted to..wait..attracted? He was not.Arnav Singh raizaada was not attracted to this girl.
Yet he noticed his obsession for her growing over each and every passing second,Now his eyes zeroed in on her lips. They moved with a certain grace that rendered him speechless. They were pink and perfectly shaped. Inviting too, like dew on flower petals. He wondered how it was this pink without makeup. He had seen too many models to know the secret of the added and extravagant colors but this was original alright.
Her skin was plain delight. No she was not just pale. She was pure. She glowed. The clouds he could see behind her made a perfect background setting. Angel on earth. Or rather sky.
She was slightly rocking back and forth in the vigor of her prayers, not even realizing that she was.Her plaited hair had come loose. Probably in the anxiety and worry regarding the flight, she had been careless in tying it properly. A strand of hair fell down on her forehead, teasing him with all its might. He raised his hands to push them away from her face as they were most unwelcome. They were framing his vision.His hands were just inches from her forehead when he stopped himself.
He thanked god that her eyes were closed. It wouldn't do him any good to be caught. He would just have to leave things to his imagination now. He wrenched his gaze away, determined to get over this magnetic pull he felt towards her. As if on cue, the air hostess arrived with refreshment. He took two glasses and rewarded the air hostess with a smirk. He saw her blush and rejoiced. He hadn't lost his touch. He hadn't become the typical chocolate hero just because of this one girl.
After the air hostess left, he turned around to the girl.
"Ahem.."He cleared his throat.
She opened her eyes to look at him, appearing a bit shocked at his interruption. He handed the glass of water to her and she took it from him. Her smile was a thanks and he smiled back until she brought the glass to her lips.
"No!" he shouted causing her to pause her action in midair.
"What are you doing? That is not for drinking!"
"Not for..drinking?" she looked back at the glass of crystal clear water as if trying to derive a hidden meaning from it. He took a deep breath before he continued. A precaution from laughing out loud.
"It is Gangajal for god's sake. Cant you recognize even that?"
Before she had anytime to react he bought his glass of supposed Gangajal near his chest, closed his eyes and moved his lips in a knowing fashion. To any other person he would look as if he was praying.After a few more seconds he threw the water to the seat in front of him, knowing that it wouldn't cause an any trouble.
There was no passenger there.
The water splashed on an empty seat and the occupant on the next seat was too fast asleep to even notice.
"Ab tum Karo" he said in a rather patient tone to the confused looking girl.
"Don't you want to reach home safely?" he persuaded.
"Yes" she replied, nodding her head vigorously. He shook his head suggestively and she started doing the same thing that he did. He watched her as she told god about all her fears and wishes, knowing all the while that she was going to be humiliated in a few seconds. She would throw the water onto the man in front of her. He would get angry. She would be embarrassed. Simple as that.
It would have been simple. Things would have gone so smoothly. So according to plans if he had not felt it.
If only she hadn't smiled at him. There was so much trust in that smile that he froze for a second wondering what exactly he was going to do. There was a thankfulness in her eyes for enlightening her of some ritual she did not know. Some ritual which she thinks, will keep her safe. What would her eyes tell him when she knows that he was not a friend but a foe? A foe of the worst kind. A backstabber.
He felt compassion.
So, he pulled her hands back at the right moment not letting the water spill knowing that it was also symbolic of the tears that would have left those doe eyes on humiliation.
Her eyes questioned while his silenced.
The rest of the journey passed in silence.
For the first time, Arnav Singh Raizaada accepted failure.
He didn't know who she was, how she was or how they would be
But he loved her in a way. which would never again be.
~~~~
Ta da!
:D
Well i hope that you guys got the real purpose of the thread. It is NOT a collab Dammit😆
And guys our thread and OSes will not be about transportation as such. This was a similarity that occurred due to our weird telepathic connection :D
And yes you want PM's from me and Risha on our AU stuff from this thread you get it by buddying here-
I assure you this is the last time we PM from our own accounts for work from this thread.
R&R
Gayathri
Love Friendship Dating and Relationships
Bindi
29