Arnav paced furiously in his room, where he'd escaped to avoid watching Khushi joke around with Shaan. It had only been three hours and Arnav was already finding this unbearable. The fact that he would have to bear that man in his house for the next couple of weeks made his blood boil. And he could see that Khushi liked his company.
He tried hard not to feel jealous, as he knew that Khushi and Shaan were old friends and that there was no possibility of anything happening between them, but he just didn't like all the attention he was getting, especially from Khushi. Arnav's musings were cut short by a knock on the door. It was Nk.
"Hey, Nannav! What's up?" he asked "Why so serious?"
"Go away, Nk. I'm not in the mood for jokes" Arnav said dissmissively.
"Whoa whoa, no way, okay? You're tensed. What happened? You can tell me.."
"Nothing"
Nk turned Arnav around. "Come on, Nannav. Natak mat karo. Tell me, what happened? Khushiji again?"
Arnav sighed. "No, not her"
"Then?"
"Her friend. Shaan"
"What about him?"
"He's kinda overfriendly, don't you think?"
Nk snorted. He knew where this was going. "You're jealous, Nannav" he stated blandly, fighting to control his laughter. Arnav glared at him.
"What? No! Of course not! I'm not jealous! I was just making an observation" he retorted.
"Accept it, mate. Seeing Shaan with Khushiji makes you feel bad. And its natural, I understand. But he's a nice guy, Nannav. He literally had us all in splits downstairs and he's great at striking up a converstation. I already feel like I've known him for years".
"Oh, great! He officially has a fan now"
"C'mon, Nannav! Don't be such a spoilsport! He's not that bad! Have you even tried talking to him? You're just being judgemental because of Khushiji. Talk to the guy once. I'm sure you'll like him"
Arnav muttered something under his breath, grabbed his laptop and left the room in a huff. The last thing he wanted to her was everybody singing Shaan's praises.
Somewhere, he knew he was acting a little 'bitchy', but he didn't care. This was about Khushi.
"Kamaal hai" Nk said, as he watched his brother walk out of the room, and then smiled to himself. Arnav was such a baby sometimes.
******
Khushi roamed around the house, looking for Arnav. She couldn't find him anywhere. She'd even checked his room, the poolside and the garden, but he was nowhere to be found. She sighed. Where was this man when she needed to talk to him? Usually, he was always around to poke his nose into her business but disappeared when he was required. She was walking back to the stairs dejectedly and was almost about to reach them when she tripped over the carpet. She frantically looked around for some kind of support but found none. She was going to fall off the stairs, headfirst.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Her lips formed a scream as she fell, hands outstretched, her long hair flying all over her face when suddenly someone caught her hand. She jerked to a stop. Khushi whipped her hair around to find Arnav holding on to her, his expression shocked. And then it suddenly happened.
Somewhere, at the back of her mind, there was a flash. She saw a woman, dangling off the edge of a room and the only thing that held her in place, was a hand. There, at that moment on the stairs, Khushi felt herself being consumed by the memory. She felt as if the girl was her. She couldn't see who held her, but she felt the fear grip her heart as the person began letting her go. The hand began to slip away, farther... farther... farther till it no longer held her. Khushi began to fall.
"KHUSHI!" a loud voice brought her back to her senses. She found Arnav trying to hold on to her and realized that right now, she was the one who was trying to wriggle out of his grasp. "What are you doing? You're going to fall!"
"You're going to let me go, aren't you?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.
"What?! Are you out of your mind? Why would I EVER let you go?" Arnav screamed back.
"I saw it. You're going to let me fall"
Arnav tightened his grip and pulled her towards him. She crashed into him and he gladly welcomed her into his arms, holding her as she trembled. But soon he realised that her body wasn't shaking as a result of shock. Khushi was crying. He grasped her shoulders and moved back so he could see her face. Tears streamed down her face.
"Khushi? What's wrong?" he asked her. Her tears drove him mad with concern. Was she hurt? The jerk of the fall would surely have hurt and her back wasn't healed yet. Was she in pain? Was there something more? Why did she think he was going to let her fall? He shook her gently.
"Khushi, look at me. Are you in pain? Does your back hurt? Talk to me, dammit!"
Khushi pushed his hands away and stepped back. "You were going to let me fall. weren't you?" she asked him bitterly.
"What?! NO! Why would you say such a thing?"
"Because I saw it"
"Saw what?"
"I saw myself falling. From a room. You let me go and I fell".
Arnav's world froze. She'd remembered something. Oh my God, she'd remembered the time he'd let her fall down from his office. And he knew why. Because they had been in almost the same situation today. She had been about to fall, and he'd caught her. He saw it in her eyes, the same old flare of shock and disbelief that had been in them on the day he'd let her fall. Hope seared through him like a lightening bolt as he crushed her to himself.
"I'll never, ever let you go, Khushi. Always remember that. You have no idea what you've given me today, Khushi. I feel like a man who has seen the sun after months of darkness"
"What do you mean? I saw- and I don't even remember that happening to me. But still, I know it was me. And I know you were there as well. What was that, Arnavji? Why did you let me fall?"
"It was just a memory, Khushi. A bad memory. I was wrong to treat you like that, and trust me, I've paid for it enough. I'm just glad you remembered something. But I promise you, nothing like that is ever going to happen to you again".
Khushi didn't know what to say. Confused didn't even define the way she felt at the moment. Was Arnav trying to say that something like that had actually happened? And that she wasn't hallucinating? But how could it be? She'd just met him three days ago!
"Does that mean, you know me? Like, from before? But, how is that possible? And even if you do, why don't I remember anything? What is wrong with me? Who are you?"
"Khushi, shh" Arnav said, and placed a finger on her lips. "Do you trust me?"
Khushi gazed up at him for a while. He might be annoying as hell, but he always made her feel protected. Right from the moemnt she'd walked into this house, she'd felt it. A connection. At first she'd ignored it, but now she felt it again. Like there was something deeper, something intense between them. But she couldn't put her finger on it yet. Slowly, she nodded.
"Then don't ask me anything. Don't ask anybody, anything. Just give it some time and you'll soon know what I'm talking about".
"But-"
"Do you promise?"
"That's not-"
"Khushi. Promise me".
"Fine. I promise" she grumbled and then gasped as he bent and picked her up in his arms."Stop! What are you doing?" she exclaimed.
"Taking you to your room. You need to rest. All this excitement isn't good for you" Arnav said, and made his way towards their room.
"Actually, I was looking for you before, you know.."
Arnav looked at her and saw that she was smiling up at him. He simply wanted to kiss her then and there, but he fought to stay focused on their current conversation.
"Really?" he asked "Why?"
"I wanted to thank you. For letting Shaan stay here"
"No problem"
"thank you, Arnavji. I really appreciate it"
"You're welcome. Now, go to sleep" he told her and placed her on the bed. He tucked her in, making sure she wasn't in too much pain, before he went and sat on his recliner. Then he started typing away on his laptop.
"You're staying here?" Khushi asked him.
"Yeah, in case you need anything" he told her, as if it was the most obvious thing on earth.
"But, I don't. You don't need to sit here for me"
"Khushi, It's fine. I'm working, anyway. Don't worry about me. Go to sleep. I'll wake you up when its time for dinner"
Khushi nodded and turned over, as Arnav continued to gaze at her. He loved watching her sleep and he wasn't going to let this chance slip away. He closed his laptop and made his way to the bed, deciding to watch her for as long as she slept.
DO leave your comments and hit the like button!! Its always a pleasure reading what you write!!!! Hope I made you happy with this update as Khushi finally remembered something!!! đ lots more coming up, so stay tuned!!!! đ until next time, then!!!
p.s- buddy me for pms...
Udne Ki Aasha
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