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CHAPTER 13
Arshi and Navkush walked back home from their school, which was nearby. Both were silent. Today...today had been a bad day. They had to speak a few lines on the topic 'Father', but they couldn't...How could they? How could they say anything about a father they had never known, a father with whom the only communication they'd had was the cards they recieved... Both were dejected as they walked into the house.
As they entered the house, the sad thoughts were gone. They couldn't understand why that Frisbee-waale-Uncle was with them. Is that how people were thanked when frisbees were returned, they wondered, by letting people visit their house. And there was that sweet lady they had seen this morning before leaving for school. She was old, and she had insisted that she be called Dadi. Nani had smiled and encouraged them...And Mamma. *Sigh* Mamma hadn't said a word throughout.
"Arey, you're home!" they heard their Nani ask.
Garima came and helped them with their bags. "Nani, where is Frisbee-Waale-Uncle?" Arshi whispered.
Garima was confused for a minute, and then laughed. "Beta, he Aakash Mausa's brother!"
Arshi's mouth formed an 'O' and Garima smiled, as she could see her Khushi in her grand daughter...
After unpacking, Arshi and Navkush went to their room. "Navi, have you seen my colors anywhere?" Arshi asked.
"Nope!" Navi said, as he flipped through a picture-book.
Arshi sighed, and went about the house searching for her colors. Finally, she stopped feeling annoyed at not finding them anywhere. Then she remembered something, and smiled victoriously. "Mamma draws dresses! She will definitely have color pencils!"
Clapping her hands in glee, she ran towards Khushi's room, glad that she had finally found an excuse to use her Mom's best color pencils. She frowned as she realized that Mom must have kept it somewhere beyond her reach...No matter. She would find it no matter where it was hidden.
Khushi remained silent throughout the journey, lost in thought. That song made her feel strange. The car stopped suddenly, and almost impulsively, Khushi said, "No I won't get out!"
She cocked her head, shocked. Why on earth had she just said that?!
Arnav looked up and saw the board 'Kapoor Law Firm' and he braked the car, making it screech and halt abruptly. Then he heard Khushi say, "No I won't get out!" she said annoyedly, surprising Arnav.
He was surprised, because there were innumerous times when he had stopped the car and asked her to get out. He felt a relief, though very small, that she seemed to remember atleast very very little. He smiled amusedly at her. "Fine, but whose gonna give your brother lunch?"
Khushi peeped out and saw the board. She blushed hard, and mumbling an apology fled. Arnav saw that she had left the lunchbox on the dashboard. "Pagal."
He thought, and he parked the car and headed towards the firm with the lunch box.
Arnav walked behind her, ignoring everybody's looks which clearly expressed 'OMG! Arnav Singh Raizada!' Khushi kept walking, taking stairs, leaving Arnav to wonder why she didn't just use lifts... Well, his wife was crazy! He smirked.
Finally, they reached a floor, which was nearly empty. A huge glass wall, overlooking the main road, and a grey carpet. The room was a lounge, he supposed. There were black and white funriture and bright green potted plants with abstract paintings. On one side was a large black door, with the plaque: Advocate, Anand Rajwardhan Kapoor. He saw Khushi's hand on the knob of the door, probably her brother's room and called her. "Khushi!" she stopped immediately, and turned around inquiringly.
Arnav held up the lunch box, and Khushi smiled sheepishly in return. "I-I forgot..."
"Yeah I can see that, " Arnav smirked.
She held out her hand for the lunch box, and he obliged. He handed it back to her and walked away, hearing the doorknob click as Khushi walked into her brother's room. Not a moment later, he heard the sound of metal against floor, punctutated by a scream. Her scream. He turned around, and at the same time a sobbing Khushi bumped into him. She didn't stop and was too quick for him to catch. She just left.
After taking the lunchbox from Arnav, Khushi walked into her brother's room. "Bhaiyya, I brought you-"
She stopped dead in her tracks as she saw the man her brother was talking to. She froze as she felt images whiz in her mind, and fear numbed her. The lunch box fell to the floor with a clash. THAT MAN infront of her Bhaiyya, brought back sickening, painful but still vahue memories...Memories her mind had most carefully locked away.
She could hear random phrases in her mind
"Still doubts you"..."Doesn't trust you"..."Doesn't believe you"
She remembered staring at the rat poison in her hand before she threw it into her mouth...Then she had staggered out, feeling sick of life and then sharp pain shooting through her feet...
Disoriented by the sudden flow of images, she shrieked and ran out, sobbing. She crashed into someone, but did not bother to check who it was. She simply ran out. It had begun to rain, and she stopped an auto and asked him to take her to Kapoor Mansion. She cried all the way...
Panic and confusion engulfing Arnav at the same moment, he turned around just in time to see Anand walk out of the room, pale with anxiety and worried out of his mind. It wasn't until a moment later that he noticed someone else standing behind Anand. SHYAM MANOHAR JHA.
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