FF: Arhi: The way IPK should've been[Ch9/Sc3 pg99] - Page 67

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[Garden Club and Resort , at night]

The Garden Club and resort was, as the name suggests, a garden resort away from the madness of the of city. It had a monolith of a building at one end of the resort with the amenities for a banquet hall, indoor sports, lounge, bar and even an indoor swimming pool. The lawns were lush green, interspersed with trees and beautiful flowers. The entire garden had been adorned with beautiful fairylights of varying colours making it look ethereal. People had already started coming in bearing gifts. Aman stood at the main entrance looking dapper in a suit, welcoming his guests in. However, he was anxiously awaiting the arrival of his boss.

Parties were never the thing for either Aman or Arnav. Excessive neck nodding, hand shaking and making forced polite conversation weren't to their liking. However, the line of business they were in warranted for socializing. Aman craned his neck over the next group of guests walking in. Where was he?

Garlanding the party venue were the beautifully decorated food stalls. There were a good number of people gathered around eating pani pooris and papdi chaat, nodding and murmuring their approval of the taste and quality of food. A few feet behind the food stalls behind a huge tent, hidden from the gathering, five cooks were cooking food over large utensils. A harrowed looking Khushi was walking amidst them supervising.

"Manohar ji, aap rehne dijiye, mirchi ka powder hum daal dete hain," she says stuffing the pallu of her saree into her waist.

"Khushi Bhabhi, woh galti ek hi baar hui thi," Manohar replies not quite meeting his eyes.

"Ohho, hum aapko daant nahin rahe hain Manohar ji, hum bas ye nahin chahte ki aaj kuch bhi gadbad ho." Khushi replies dismissively. Suddenly, Shukla ji walks into the tent asking how everything was going on. He looks taken aback to see Khushi in the tent.

"Khushi bhabhi! Aap yahan kya kar rahi hain?" Shukla asks her confused.

"Khana banwa rahe hain Shukla ji. Itna kaam hai, baap re," she mutters and walks towards the next cook.

"Woh to hum dekh rahe hain, par kyun? Aap yahan par ek mehmaan hain. Aap jaakar Aman ji se ek baar mil to lijiye. Yahan ka saara kaam hum sambhal lenge." Shukla says assuredly. Khushi looks at him doubtfully.

"Acha theek hai. Hum jate hain. Par agar kuch bhi gadbad hoti hai, to humein turant call kar dijiyega, theek hai Shukla ji? Aur haan," she adds in a whisper, "Manohar ji ko mirchi ki powder se door rakhiyega." Shukla laughs and nods in response. Khushi walks out of the kitchen tent. She notices that with all the time she spent in the kitchen cooking, she was now perspiring very badly.

"Arre aise jayegi tu jalse mein Khushi? Na baal theek se saware hain aur na chaal. Kam se kam paseena to ponch le chehre se." She decides to make a detour to the washroom instead and slowly starts walking towards the club house building.

[In the meantime, elsewhere in the party]

Arnav has finally arrived. He walks up the red carpet, completely in ease with himself. Aman is thrilled to see him but doesn't show it.

"Happy Birthday Aman!" Arnav smirks and the two shakes hands.

"Thank you Sir," Aman smiles back conspiratorially. He pulls him to the side for a moment. "Sir, ye jo itne saare gifts sab staff leke aaye hain, uska main kya karun?" he whispers urgently to his boss. Arnav looks up at him in surprise.

"Ye to tumhare presents hain. Mujhse kya pooch rahe ho? Use them," Arnav slaps Aman on the arm and walks inside the venue. Aman smiles at his retreating back.

Arnav surveys the gathering with narrowed eyes. It seems to him like his entire staff did turn up; normally there were always a group of people who never bothered turning up for any office parties. I guess people do like Aman a lot, Arnav thinks and allows himself a small smile. He strolls casually in the gardens, occasionally meeting up with someone, occasionally shaking a hand here, a nod there. This isn't too bad. What was I getting so worried about? Arnav wonders as he stops to admire a beautiful batch of blooming blood red roses next to a bunch of petunias. It had been a good decision to keep the party in the open gardens. It was calming Arnav's senses with each passing minute. His eyes finally fall on the food stalls at the end of the garden. Judging by the number of people flocking around the various stalls, even the food seems to be a hit that night. Arnav smiles faintly as he notices people happily eating appetizers. His wandering eyes finally stop at the first table amongst the food stalls, plates and spoons decorated elaborately on it. Pinned to one of its sides yelling out in loud words was "KKGSR Dabba Service and Shukla Catering".

Arnav stops in his tracks. Bewildering thoughts rush into Arnav's mind. Aman had invited Khushi too! Is she here? Why didn't I realise this before? Damnit! I need to leave. Ahhh, this was a bad idea. He immediately turns around to walk back towards the entrance when a waiter bearing a tray of drinks collides heavily with him, spilling red wine all over Arnav's suit.

"WHAT THE- " The waiter looks up scared at Arnav and starts apologizing profusely for his mistake. Arnav just stands still, gritting his teeth in anger, not really listening to the waiter's babbling. This was a new shirt! The red wine stains were so damn difficult to get rid off. The waiter was still apologizing. Arnav suddenly raises his hand and the waiter immediately stops talking.

"Where is the rest room?" Arnav seethes, every last bit of restrain keeping him from yelling at the waiter. The waiter meekly points towards the direction of the club house. Arnav nods and sets out, trying to soak out the stains on his shirt with his handkerchief as he was walking. He follows the small sign boards that lead him straight to the washroom.

[In the meantime, elsewhere in the clubhouse]

Khushi is lost. Yep, there is no other possible explanation for her having circled the club house twice so far, without any success in finding out the location of the washroom. She almost stops a waiter or two to ask for directions and then changes her mind feeling awkward. She is a woman, how would it look asking for directions to the loo? The heels of her shoes were getting smudged with earth as she walked from one lawn to the next. "Lucknow ke bhulbhulaiya se tum 15 minute mein bahar aa gayi thi Khushi Kumari Gupta! Ye to bas ek club house hai." she mumbles to herself encouragingly.

Suddenly she notices a bunch of ladies walking out between two small buildings. Khushi had noticed whenever Lavanya had taken her to parties that women always visited the restroom in groups. Suddenly motivated, she walks up to them confidently and asks them, "Restroom yahin hai kya?" to one of the surprised ladies. She nods and points behind her towards one of the buildings behind her. Khushi thanks her and confidently strides towards the building.

Arnav has taken off his coat and hung it carefully on the coat hanger by the washbasins. He is moving his hand in purposeful strokes over his shirt, dabbing it with a spare wet cloth. It was one of his favourite shirts which Di had gifted him. He cursed mentally at the waiter again. "But I think I was at fault, had I not got so surprised, I wouldn't have crashed into him." He mumbles to himself. Then he looks up at his reflection on the mirror. You're not wrong, you're Arnav Singh Raizada! He mentally admonishes himself and goes back to rubbing the red wine stain off his shirt.

Khushi finds the door of the restroom finally and walks in. She finds herself in a kind of alcove before the final chamber. She quickly takes off her shoes in one corner. "Jooton ko hum baad mein theek kar lenge. Pehle saree theek kar lein." She thinks to herself and continues walking inside and looks down readjusting the pleats tucked inside under her petticoat.

Arnav listens to the jingle of small bells and looks up at his reflection in surprise. Was he dreaming? Or did that sound just like...? He glances sideways and the vision that meets his eyes knocks the wind out of his lungs. He had wine spilt all over him because he was trying to avoid her and there she was, standing right in front of him, completely lost in her own world. Khushi? Arnav felt his heartbeats slow down. She was draped in a gorgeous bright pink saree; exquisite glass work scattered all over it, accentuating her features. Her long hair was open, and cascading down her side like a sheet of silk. He goes on gaping at her in utter disbelief, quite forgetting to wipe the stain on his shirt.

Suddenly as though she realised someone was staring at her, Khushi looks up. Her jaw drops open on seeing Arnav standing in front of him, looking equally shocked. The realisation clicks in her mind for just one tiny moment before she opens her mouth and lets out an ear-splitting shriek!

"AAAhhh!!!"

Arnav suddenly snaps out of his reverie. "What the hell?" he gasps in shock. Her loud yell of panic was sure to gather attention outside. And sure enough, he hears faint footsteps outside the restroom. Adrenaline courses through his body. He quickly covers the distance between himself and Khushi in two long strides and pins her to the wall behind her. He brings his palm upto Khushi's mouth to shut her up. She starts struggling against him and mumbling in protest. "Shut up Khushi! Nahin to hum dono problem mein pad jayenge." Arnav whispers menacingly as he peeks around the corner to check if anyone was coming in. But as soon as Khushi's shrieking stops, even the footsteps stop. The guards must have diverted their attention to another direction.

Arnav sighs in relief and bows his head to rest his forehead on the wall behind Khushi. For a long moment they stand just like that.

Khushi stops her mumbling. She's in a trance like state, her breath heaving as she realises how close their bodies were to each other. She has no control over her heartbeats which are racing in breakneck speed. His hand was still pressing down on her mouth, but that is still bearable when she thinks of the way he has her pinned against the wall. She doesn't move a muscle, waiting for him to relax and free her.

Arnav's breathing slowly comes down to normal. He lifts his head and looks straight into Khushi's eyes. He realises his hand is still on her mouth and his weight is pinning her against the wall. He looks into her eyes; those beautiful eyes which always made his heart skip a beat. His eyes slowly follow down to look at her nose, her cheeks and then his gaze returns to her eyes. She looks faintly scared and she is perspiring. Why does she look scared? I'm not going to eat her up! He thinks to himself.

"Main haath hatane wala hun. But DON'T SHOUT. Theek hai?" he whispers, his voice unintentionally husky. Khushi's eyes widen a bit, but she slowly nods, not breaking eye contact.

Arnav slowly withdraws his palm but still doesn't move away from her. His gaze goes down to her trembling pink lips and he feels something funny in his stomach. She notices for the first time that he is not wearing his suit or waistcoat. He is in a white linen shirt with a weird looking stain on the chest. The first three buttons of his shirt are open and she can see his bare throat. She gulps, her breathing picking up again. Her hands start fidgeting with her saree again and she looks away. Arnav's eyes fall on her bare fingers and he remembers their last meeting when Khushi had returned the ring to him. He immediately takes a step back, as if the memory had suddenly cleared the fog of his emotions. Khushi looks up at him in surprise.

"Tum yahan kya kar rahi ho?" he asks her, his voice businesslike. Khushi suddenly remembers the reason why she had shouted.

"Aap humse pooch rahe hain? Aap yahan kya kar rahe hain?" she retaliates back, her voice spiked with irritation. Arnav looks at her in annoyance.

"Khushi, ye Men's washroom hai. To obviously main yahin aaunga na?" he asks her rhetorically.

"Hum pagal nahin hain! Humein bataya gaya tha ki ye ladies washroom hai," she retorts back defensively. Arnav crosses his arms and cocks his head slightly, amused with her annoyance.

"Really? Chalo khud hi check kar lete hain." And with that, he pulls her hand and walks her out of the rest room. They stop outside the entrance and Arnav turns her around to face the door.

"Ye aap kya kar rahe hain? Chodiye humein!" Khushi struggles against his hold. Arnav leaves her hand and wordlessly points to the caption written on the door. It says in bold letters: KING'S ROOM. Khushi's eyes widen in shock as realisation seeps in. He then quietly points to the other building beside them. Khushi's eyes follow the direction where he is pointing and she sees a similar door with big brass letters screaming: QUEEN'S ROOM. She looks back towards Arnav sheepishly who looks like he is absolutely enjoying himself.

"Tum pagal hi ho Khushi Kumari Gupta," he mutters scathingly. "Ab isse pehle ki koi tumhe men's washroom se nikalta hua dekhe aur kuch ulta soche, chup chap yahan se- " before Arnav can complete his sentence, Khushi again walks inside the Men's washroom. Arnav gapes. Didn't she hear what I was saying? He wonders in disbelief. But in the next instant, Khushi walks out, holding a pair of heels smeared with wet earth, looking extremely pissed off. She sneers at him irritatedly and then walks off towards the ladies washroom, leaving an extremely amused Arnav who was trying very hard to control his laughter.

As soon as she reaches the door of the ladies washroom, she turns around and again looks at him in irritation before disappearing behing the huge door. Sanaka Devi, bilkul sahi naam rakha gaya hai iska, Arnav smiles and walks back inside.

Laad Governer kahin ka! Khushi thinks vehemently and drops her heels on the floor. Khud ko bada tees maar khan samajhta hai! Uski to! Angry thoughts keep coming into Khushi's mind as she starts adjusting her saree in the ladies washroom.

English Version