Chapter 3
"Chalo Mohan." said Arnav. They left the RM, and began there way to the Airport. The city and its livelihood flashed through his eyes. Arnav looked at his watch, 9:30am. "Mohan meri flight 11:30am hai, thoda jaldi chalao,"said Arnav. "Ji sir,"
"Khushi ab vahan jakar Payal ki madat karna ghar ke kaamon mein," said her mother. "Voh bahut thak jaati hai, ek toh voh university mein padti hai aur job bhi karti hai." "Haan Mummy." said Khushi. Her mother smiled knowingly. The car was silent then her parents started giving each other looks as if to indicate something. Khushi narrowed her eyes and looked at them suspiciously. "Yeh kya ho raha hai?" she questioned. "Kuch nayi beta, "said her father. "Mumma?" said Khushi, not believing her father. She was aware that something fishy was going on. Her father signalled her mother and she nodded back. She cleared her voice and spoke. "Beta, tum ab 23 saal ki hai aur 2 mahine mein mein 24 ki ho jayegi'"she was cut off by Khushi. "Haan toh, Mumma? Iss mein kaunsi koi badi baat hai?" she said. "Khushi, tu 24 ki ho jayegi, toh mujhe aur tumhare Papa ke khayal se tumhein ab shaadi ki baarein mein sochna chahiye.." she said. Khushi was shocked! She wasn't expecting that her mother would say this to her, at this time. "Mum..mmyy, shaadi?"she stammered. "Beta, hum toh bas tujhe keh rahe hai, abhi zyada dhyan math de, hum bas tujhe kehna chahte hai ki ab tumhari umar ho rahi hai shaadi ki..aur tumhe sochna shuru kardena chahiye ke tumhe kaisa ladka chahiye. Humari taraf se bas ek hi cheez hai jo hum chahte hai ki tu apne dhyan mein rakhe, ke voh ladka punjabi hona chahiya" she justified herself. Khushi was lost, "Shaadi?" she thought to herself. "I have never even paid attention to any guys in my entire life till date. How will I know, what kind of guy I want ?" she asked her Mum. "Dheere Dheere tu sab samajh jayegi," said her father. "Tu tension math le.." added her mother. Khushi nodded her head, and decided not to think about it. She rested her head on the window and stared through it.
"Sir, we're here" said Mohan. Arnav got out of the car and went to the back of the car to open to the boot. He took out his luggage and signalled Mohan to close the boot. "Main ab ja raha hoon, tum vapis ghar jao" he said. Mohan obeyed his instructions and left the airport. Arnav put his jacket on and closed his buttons. He got a trolley and put his luggage on the trolley. Just as he was about to go in the airport he received a call. He answered the call through his Bluetooth.
Yeah, Aman, just make sure to call the clients and to fix the meeting after 1 month. I'm going to check in now and I won't be answering any phone calls'. so I will call you back when I reach Dubai. Ok?" instructed Arnav. "Sure Sir. Aap fikar math kariye..main sab sambhalunga." said Aman.
Arnav walked towards the Airport with his baggage. He entered the airport through the revolving doors and scanned the airport for the flight boarding times. He matched his flight number and the counter number, where he had to check in.
"Chal beta, hum pahunch gaye hai" said her father. He parked his car into the parking slot and then opened the boot to take out the luggage. "Khushi, vahan se ek trolley lekar aana," he said. Khushi nodded and went. She helped her father put the luggage on the trolley. After everything was done, they walked towards the airport. "Khushi, tikh se khana, Payal ki madat karna, time par apni flight pakad lena aur Dubai jakar hume phone kardena yeh batane ke liye ke tum tikh se pahunch gayi ho, tikhe?" reminded her mom. Her eyes were watery. "Tikhe Mummy,"said Khushi. "Ab aap itne bhi senti math hona. Main apna khayal rakhungi, tikhe?" she consoled her mother. "Sun, jo baat gaadi mein hui thi, uss baat ko lekar tu tension math le, tikhe?" said her father. "Nayi lungi Papa," said Khushi. They reached the airport entrance and Khushi stopped there. She gave her mother a hug. They both couldn't hold their tears back anymore and they both let it out. Khushi hugged her mother even tighter. "Arey Khushi, itna bhi math ro, varna tu apni bidaai ke liye aansoon kahan se lekar aayegi?" comforted her mother. Khushi lifted her head and laughed at this. They both wiped their tears and her mother kissed Khushi on the forehead. She went over to her father. She gave him a hug and this time tried not to cry. "Tum apna khayal rakhna, tikhe Khushi?" said her father. She tore away from the hug. She cleared her eyes again and held both her parents hands in her hands. "Aap dono apna khayal rakhna aur meri zyada yaad bhi math karna..tikhe?" she said. They both smiled at her. "Chal, ab tu ja, teri check in time 10:15 bandh ho jayega," said her father. Khushi looked at her watch 9:45am. "Challo, bye!" she said. Khushi waved at them as she pushed her trolley and went inside the airport. She looked over her shoulder and gave them one last wave and then she started looking for her check in counter.
Arnav stood in the line waiting to be checked in. He looked at how many people were ahead of him. "10 more people to go.." he thought to himself. He looked around and waited patiently. Meanwhile, Khushi was looking for the check in line. She finally found the line and made her way to it. As she was walking towards the check in line, her phone rang. She stopped all of a sudden with her trolley and searched her bag for her phone. "Ab isse bhi abhi bajna tha.." she muttered but as soon as she saw the caller ID, her face brightened. "Hey Di!" she exclaimed. "Kaise ho aap?" she asked. She used one hand to hold the phone and the other to push the trolley. She had to use more force to push the trolley and to stop it. "Main tikh hoon Khushi, tu bata? Tu airport par hai na ?" said Payal. "Haan di, voh bas main check in kar rahi hoon. Ek haath se phone pakda hua hai aapse baat karne ke liye aur dusre haath se main trolley ghisat rahi hoon. Itna zor lagana padh raha hai. Khaar voh sab chodho.." she finished off. Khushi was having troubles pushing the trolley...but somehow she managed to reach her check in line. She was talking to Payal and she didn't even realise, that she was about to hit Arnav who was standing ahead of her in the line. Before she could apply more force to stop the trolley, the trolley hit the back of Arnav's foot, causing him to drop his phone. "Di, main aapse baad mein baat karungi ,bye!" she said in a hurry. "I'm so sorry, I didn't see'" she was cut off. "Koi baat nayi, lakdiyon ki toh aadat hoti hai attention paani ki" he said with a smile. Khushi was shocked at his response! "What the hell! Am I crazy, to run behind you for attention. I was just apologising because I hit you with the trolley accidentally, and you turn the whole situation around!" she shouted. "Jaan-e-man, chotti chotti baatein bade bade deshon mein hoti rehit hai, tum chinta math karo. Main bilkul tikh hoon.." he said calmly with a slight smile. "Ugh!" she screamed. "Just shut up," she scowled at him . Arnav laughed to himself and turned his back towards her. Khushi stood behind him with her arms folded and kept on muttering about him.."Kamina, kuch zyada hi samajda hai apne aaap nu." she muttered quietly in Punjabi so he wouldn't here or understand. Finally, when Arnav had been checked in and was about to move towards the Departures area to complete all the other formalities, she breathed calmly and unfolded her arms. But just before he went, he turned around and said.." Menu sab samaj aanda hai" he said with a smirk. Khushi was shocked at this! Her mouth dropped open and formed an O shape. Before she could say anything, Arnav left to be checked in. She was so angry that she kicked the trolley before leaving it, because of that trolley she bumped into him and had to see his face, which ruined her day!
She tried to forget him for a while and focused on other things, like the shops in the departure lounge. She completed filling in all the forms and walked over towards the sofa's. She looked at the time , "10:30am, the boarding should start now" she thought to herself. While she waited for the announcement, she went to the washroom and applied some light eyeliner and lipgloss. She brushed her hair and looked at the time. "10:50am" "I better get going now, she opened the door wide enough so she could roll her cabin bag outside. But the moment she stepped outside she saw Arnav coming in her direction. "Where the hell did he come from!" she muttered. She faced the other direction and waited till Arnav was out of sight. She breathed a sigh of relief when he left. "Uski vajah se mere paanch minute waste ho gaye..hmmph!" she said. She walked to her boarding gate and showed her boarding pass and made her way to the aeroplane. She glanced down at the her boarding pass to see which seat she was allocated. " 32B It better be a side seat.." she thought to herself. Just then she remembered to call her parents and Payal to let them know that she was about to leave and that when she would reach Dubai, she would call them. " The flight is about to leave in about 25mins, so when I reach Dubai, then I will call you. Tikhe Mumma?" she informed her. "Tikhe beta, safar ache se karna..Bye" said her mother. "Bye" said Khushi. "Ab main jiji ko phone lagati hoon" she thought. Khushi dialled Payal's number and while she waited for people to move in the line, she started looking around at the crowd in the plane. Finally, when Payal picked up the phone, the line started moving forward. "Didi, meri flight bas 15 mins mein nikalne wali hai, toh main aapko Dubai pahunch kar phone parungi, tikhe?" she said. She glanced at the seat numbers. "Chalo di, main rakhti hoon..Bye!" she said. "Bye" said Payal. When Khushi found her seat, she propped her cabin bag and purse in the compartment above and noticed that no one was seated at the window seat. She smiled to herself. "Challo acchi baat hai, kam se kam mujhe aur jagah toh mil jayegi sone ke liye" she said. After putting her stuff in the compartment, she went to get a copy of the newspaper, but when she came back she noticed that someone was sitting at the window seat, but she just couldn't see who it was, because the person had his head down and was looking for something. "Maine isse kahin dekha hai" mumbled Khushi. But when he got up and not realising, he faced Khushi, Khushi's jaw dropped open
"Tum!" she exclaimed
He glanced up at her and was surprised to see her standing there. He raised his eyebrows.
"Tum?" said Arnav.
*Just a little note, in this FF, Arnav and Khushi are Punjabi and not from Lucknow. So there might be some Punjabi terms used.*
*I haven't checked for spelling errors, so if there is an please ignore it !*
Please like and comment! 30 likes and I will continue! Edited by --Sarun-- - 12 years ago
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