Khushi woke up to the sound of running water. Her eyes flew open as she took in her unfamiliar surroundings, her heartbeats rising with panic. She willed herself to calm down as yesterday's happenings slowly came back to her, confirming that she was indeed in the Raizada house. In Arnav Singh Raizada's room. Alone. And the sound of running water was coming from behind the locked washroom door. Khushi almost leapt out of bed and winced as the sudden movement caused her sore back to protest painfully. She had just started to hurry out of the room when the door behind her opened and she turned to find a freshly showered Arnav Singh Raizada making his way out of the washroom.
Oh man. He defined the word 'perfection'. Khushi couldn't stop herself from admiring the beautiful specimen that stood before her in just a pair of trackpants and a towel around his neck. Unknowingly, she ran her eyes over his wet hair, his cheekbones, his neck and followed the water droplets which had not been dried off, down his body, over his perfectly toned abdomen, till they disappeared into the waistband of his pants. Her eyes snapped up to meet his as she realised what she was doing.
"Do you like what you see?" he asked, a small smile playing about his lips. Khushi blushed furiously and averted her eyes, not knowing what to say.
"N-no. I mean, Yes.I mean NO!" she almost shouted in horror, wishing the ground would just open up and swallow her so she didn't have to face the barely clothed Raizada standing in front of her.
Arnav's lips twitched. Khushi would always be Khushi, no matter how hard you hit her on the head. Some things never changed. Even though he knew it wasn't the proper time, he couldn't fight the urge to tease her just a little more, like always. Slowly, he started walking towards her, making sure she was well aware of his every move. He saw her eyes bulge out even while staring at the ground, as she saw his feet approaching her. She lifted her eyes to pin him with her shocked gaze, as her feet automatically moved backwards. But Arnav didn't stop. The sight of her creamy skin, her large, hazel eyes and those soft lips were like a piper's call to him. He was under a trance. They kept on walking till Khushi's back hit the wall.
"Arnavji" Khushi managed in a quivering voice. The way he was staring at her was doing something to her. No, she wasn't uncomfortable. Not at all. She was- hot. All over. She felt this heat creep up from her toes, all the way up to the roots of her hair, making her lightheaded. Her cheeks flamed as she saw him lean closer and she fought the temptation to close her eyes as the strong smell of his aftershave enveloped her. Khushi tried to move away from him, but he placed his hands on either side of her head, on the wall behind her. Now all she could do was stare at him, into his glorious chocolate brown eyes which threatened to drown her in their depths.
Arnav raised his hand to gently brush back the locks of hair that had fallen forward on her face. He felt her shiver at his touch and saw her close her eyes in pleasure. He traced his fingertips over her eyes, her ears, her cheeks, her lips and down her neck, and felt her breathing quicken by the second. Her chest heaved to match up to the thundering of her heart. Arnav felt himself smile as he heard the faint, yet familiar 'dhakk dhakk' of her heart. God only knew how much he'd missed it. No matter how much time they spent together, he could never get used to the way his heart raced to match up to her rhythm. Their hearts always beat in unison, not even missing a beat. That was his confirmation. They were made for each other and no matter what happened, they would always be what khushi liked to call 'do dil, ek jaan'. He had been wrong. Khushi DID recognize his touch. Her heart remembered him, his love and it loved him too. Her mind might have forgotten all the times they had spent together, but that did not stop her from responding to him. Somewhere, deep down, Khushi was there. And she was calling out to him.
Khushi couldn't stop herself. What was he doing to her? He was wrecking a havoc on her senses and she just couldn't stop him. Electricity coursed through her at even the lightest of touches. It was such a strange thing, she thought, given that she barely knew him.
That did it. She felt like someone had poured a bucket of cold water on her head. All her fuzzy feelings flew out of the window, only to be replaced by horror at what she was doing and anger at what HE was doing.
"STOP!" she screamed, and pushed him roughly away. "Get your hands off me, you pervert!"
Arnav was momentarily stunned. His hurt was mirrored in his eyes as he felt the wall between them slam back again.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she spat at him. Arnav's expression hardened. He caught hold of her arm and jerked her towards him, tightening his grip as she struggled to free herself.
"Do not talk to me like that" he said, equally icily.
"Let go of me!" Khushi cried, struggling wildly. He was beginning to hurt her. "Let go! You're hurting me!"
"I'm hurting you, is it?" he said, his voice deadly "Can't you see how much YOU are hurting me, Khushi? As much as i try to make you remember, you keep going away from me. You keep running away. What you're doing to me is nothing compared to this, you understand?" he shouted, now shaking her violently. "DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH?" Khushi started at him, both scared and confused by his outburst.
"Remember what? What do you want me to remember? What am i doing to you?" she yelled back, clueless on what he was talking about. His behavior had mystified her from the moment she'd met him, back at the hospital. She still hadn't been able to figure out why he'd claimed to be her husband. And now this. Did this have something to do with it? What did he want her to remember?
"Answer me!" she cried "Jab kuch yaad karne ke liye hai hi nahi, toh hum kya yaad karein? Why are all of you behaving so strangely? From the moment i stepped into this house, I felt as if you all were hiding something. Everybody seemed to know me so well. They were so nice to me. Why? What is happening? And why won't you tell me anything?"
Arnav turned his back towards her, regretting his outburst. How was he going to answer her? What was he supposed to say? He should've seen this coming. Why did he have to loose control, dammit? This would not have happened if he'd kept his fantasies to himself. Without a word, Arnav grabbed a sweatshirt from the closet and strode out of the room, leaving a flustered and fuming Khushi behind.
******
Arnav left for office without having his breakfast, as he wanted to avoid Khushi at the moment. He had no idea what he was going to say when he came face to face with her and most definitely did not have the answer to any of her questions, so staying out of her way was the best option, he decided. His doting sister fussed over him as usual, almost bursting into tears when he refused to have breakfast, inspite of her repeated pleas. Finally, he had to carry a tiffin to make it up for the missed meal. He sighed as he made his way out of the door. He had the craziest family in the world.
Meanwhile, Khushi tried to stay out of the hall for as long as possible, unaware of the fact that the person she was trying to avoid had already made life temporarily easier for her. Her self confidence seemed to have ditched her as she roamed around the house aimlessly, going anywhere but into the main hall and the dining area.
Finally she allowed herself to be dragged off by an over-enthusiastic NK who had made big plans for her first day in the Raizada household.
"Khushiji! Welcome, welcome!" he said, dragging her into what she thought was probably his room. Had to be, she thought, as she saw the walls covered with posters of weird instruments and scary men, with tattoos all over their upper bodies. She wondered how anybody could ever like such horrible stuff. Nevertheless, she decided to keep her mouth shut as she focused on what he was saying.
"Khushiji, maine aapse dhaaga kiya tha na, ki main aapko bore nahi hone dunga?" he said. Khushi couldn't resist bursting into laughter.
"Nanhe ji! Dhaaga nahi, vaada. And yes, you promised me. I hope you're not going to let me down" she told him.
"Of course not, Khushiji! You just wait and watch. You'll soon be having the time of your life, I promise!"
******
It was almost seven in the evening when Arnav returned. Even though he hadn't planned on coming home so early, the urge to see Khushi again had weakened his resolve. He did not want to face her yet, but he couldn't stay away either. The house was unusually quiet as he entered.
"Where is everybody?" he asked Hari Prakash, who had opened the door for him.
"Mami, Naniji and Anjali didi have gone to the mandir. Akash bhaiyya and Payal bhabi have gone to some party. Khushiji and NK-" HP was interrupted by a shout from somewhere inside the house.
"What the? Is that Nk?" Arnav asked him. HP nodded guiltily. Nk's shout was followed by a gleeful squeal, which was undoubtedly Khushi's.
"What the hell is going on up there?" Arnav muttered and stormed upstairs. He flung open the door to Nk's room and saw Nk and Khushi standing on the couch, eyes glued to the tv screen, fingers attacking the remote control furiously as they battled each other in some game on Nk's Xbox.
"You can't just do that, Nanhe ji!" Khushi shouted "Aap ramanchi kar rahe hain! I mean- that's cheating!"
"No way, Khushiji. I won fair and square. Nk 10, Khushiji 9" Nk retorted, and thrust a 'V' made with his fingers, in front of Khushi's face. She slapped his hand away.
"If you hadn't distracted me by shouting at the last minute, I would've won this too!" she said, and jabbed him in the chest.
"Ye kya ho raha hai yahan pe?" Arnav shouted. They both jumped at his voice and turned to look at him. Arnav's eyes met Khushi's and she immediately looked away.
"Nannav! Mere bhai!" Nk sang, and sauntered forward "Khushiji was amazing! Today was her first day on the Xbox and she totally beat me at it! I've never seen a girl play this well before!"
"Really?" Arnav said, his voice sarcastic. Khushi looked up at his tone. "How wonderful is that, Khushi. You and NK, bonding over the Xbox". Khushi's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"I really had a great time today, Nanheji" she said, ignoring Arnav completely. "We should do this more often"
"Absolutely, Khushiji!" Nk saiid "You haven't even seen half of it!"
"And IF" Arnav cut in "this merry playtime is over, I would like to talk to you alone, Khushi" he said, fixing his fiercest glare on her.
"But I don't want to" she told him and left the room. Arnav followed her.
"Khushi, stop" he called, but she continued walking. He strode forward and grabbed her hand, twisting her around so that she was now pressed against him. "I'm telling you this once, and I won't repeat it again. When I'm talking to you, don't walk away. I don't like it"
Khushi snatched her arm from his and pushed him away. "And I don't like it when people force themselves on me".
"Listen, Khushi Kumari Gupta-"
"Chhotey? Khushiji? Nk bhai?" came Anjali's voice from downstairs "We're back. Please come down for dinner"
"We'll be right there, Anjali ji" Khushi called back, before Arnav could say a word, and walked away. "Nanhe ji?" she called from the top of the stairs "lets go" she told Nk, when he came and went downstairs with him.
Arnav clenched his fists, groaning in frustration as the green-eyed monster reared his head again, bringing back the same feelings of hurt and jealously he'd experienced during Akash's wedding. Nk and Khushi. Together. Laughing, enjoying each other's company. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined facing such a situation again.
"Unbelievable" he muttered.
So?? How was it?? Please don't forget to leave your comments as its always a pleasure reading them!! 😊
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until next time then... 😊
Part 10:
Pati Patni Aur Panga
Jaane Anjaane Hum Mile
Tum Se Tum Tak
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Vasudha
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