ArHi SS|The Search for the Perfect Bride Thread 2 - Page 79

You are back

I didn't know you write ArHi stories :O

I'm gonna read this and be back <3

Hey i had almost missed this thread..

Chapter 20:

Tired, yet anxious to get the conversation over with, Khushi stepped into her house quietly, surprised when she didn't hear the television blaring in the living room, when she didn't see her father sitting at the table, perusing the newspaper. Taking off her shoes, she called out to her parents, "Amma? Bauji? Buaji? Are any of you at home?"

And within seconds Buaji stormed out of the kitchen, halting a mere two feet away from Khushi as she positioned her arms across her chest, "Anything you have to tell us, Khushi?" she asked her niece, her eyes shooting daggers at the woman standing in front of her.

"Ji Buaji? I...what...?" Khushi began saying, suddenly a bundle of nerves. "Ji..woh...kya...kya hain na ki..." she began saying, but she was interrupted by Buaji.

"You called off the rishta" she declared, her eyes bugging out. "Khushi, YOU called off this rishta with Anand. Is this some kind of a joke to you? Why would you go and do something like this without telling anyone? Without talking to us? Do you realize how embarrassing it was for us when Anand's father called and asked what was going on?"

Tears began to stream down Khushi's cheeks, "Please...please listen to me Buaji" she began pleading, but this time she was interrupted by her mother's voice, her mother who she hadn't even realized had been standing behind Buaji.

"Haan, do tell us Khushi. Is this what we raised you to become? Someone with no respect for her family, someone who's willing to drag her family's name through the mud. Anand apparently called his parents immediately after you...you went and told him. But you don't value your parents, your family enough to talk to us? This entire relationship must have been some joke to you. If you didn't want to get married, you could have said so, but YOU agreed to this relationship. YOU agreed to get married to him," her mother threw her a furious glare, her usually quiet, calm, and serene mother, who rarely ever got mad at her kids, no matter what they had done. Khushi broke down completely as she saw the looks on her Amma's and Buaji's faces, sinking to the ground, not knowing how to defend herself as she heard their words. She knew she had disappointed them, I did make a mistake, and now I...I have to pay the price, she thought to herself despairingly.

"Do you want to make it so that your father will never be able to raise his head in the society? That's what you want, isn't it Khushi?" her mother shouted, and that's when someone else stepped in.

"Enough. That's enough, both of you" Khushi's Bauji stepped in right then, holding his hand up as he ordered the two furious women to stop speaking. He bent down to where his daughter was seated, "Khushi?" he said softly, patting her head lightly, and Khushi flung her arms around her dad's neck, burying her head against his chest as the tears began to flow freely.

"Shh, it's okay Khushi. Everything will be fine" he continued quietly. "Come on, let's go sit down, and we can talk Khushi. It'll be fine" he said reassuringly, trying to console his clearly devastated little girl.

The father-daughter pair stood up slowly, making their way over to the couch and settling down. And Shashi waited patiently until his daughter's tears completely subsided, whispering comforting words as he assured her over and over again that it'll all be okay.

Amma and Buaji remained standing in the background, identically mutinous expressions on both of their faces as they waited to hear what Khushi had to say.

"I...I just couldn't go through with it Bauji, not...not when I realized I didn't care for him" Khushi began solemnly, her gaze focused on the table in front of her, as she was unable to meet anyone's gaze. "I thought I was ready, and I know, I know, that I should have known this before hand, but I didn't realize...I didn't realize that it would be so difficult.. I can't get married now. I..I can't get married to anyone now. I'll need more time before I can ...I'll need more time before I come to terms with the idea of getting married. I just know that it's not going to be now."

She knew there was so much she was leaving unsaid, she knew that her reasons sounded weak, but she didn't know how to say it any better, how to explain her reasons without giving away the fact that she was in love with someone else.

But it seemed she didn't have to give those explanations as her father merely sat there, nodding his head, a contemplative look on his face as he seemed to be thinking about what he would say. After what seemed like eons, Buaji broke the silence, questioning her brother as to what he was thinking, and that's when Shashi looked up, not at his sister or his wife, but at his daughter. He smiled softly at her, squeezing her hand gently, as he told her, "And that's what we needed. It would have been better if you had told us this, known this earlier, but Khushi, we want what's best for you, and whatever makes you happy. After seeing Payal married, my biggest wish has been for you to get married, but not at the cost of your happiness, never at the cost of your happiness."

Khushi watched him, tears welling up in her eyes once more, and before she knew it, threw her arms around his neck, and clung to him, "I love you Bauji" and her father patted her shoulder softly, soothingly.

***

Needless to say, neither Garima nor Buaji were pleased with Shashi's reaction to Khushi's actions. After Khushi went into her bedroom to freshen up, Garima lashed out at her husband, "How could you just let her go like that? What kind of a response was that? You know she didn't tell us anything right there" She was furious, and she wanted to get to the bottom of this. "Anand was perfect, for her, for the family. He had a job, well settled, wonderful family. What more could she ask for? What else is she waiting for?"

And Shashi shook his head, "Not what else, Garima. Your question should have been who else is she waiting for?"

"Kya? You...you mean she's...she's going around with someone else?" Buaji asked, scandalized, and Shashi shot her a glare, offended that she would think like that about his daughter. "She's in love with someone else. She's in love with Arnav" he declared quietly.

"I should have seen this coming, but when she agreed to marry Anand, when she agreed for us to look for rishtas, I had thought otherwise, but the only reason she could have broken this would be Arnav."

"And what are we going to do now, Shashiji?" Garima asked her husband quietly, taking in the news he was delivering with a quiet calm. As a mother she had had her own suspicions concerning Khushi's feelings for Arnav, but she had dismissed them, telling herself Khushi would tell her if there was something there. "She still made a mistake though. Anand was perfect and he would have made an ideal husband for her. What if...what if this thing with Arnav doesn't work? What if she doesn't agree to marry anyone else? It's not like we can have her at home forever. What will everyone else say? We should give her some time to cool down and then try to convince her" she suggested hopefully, looking up at her husband.

"We'll think of something, Garima. Whatever has happened, well, it's already happened and there's nothing we can do about it. And I want to make it clear that we're not going to force her to get married to anyone. She's old enough to make decisions about what's right and wrong of her, so let's respect her choices" he said sternly, glancing up at his wife as he acknowledged her last suggestion.

"But.."

"No. We won't. If Khushi has decided she won't get married to Anand, let's leave it at that. We will apologize to his family for the trouble, and we'll move past this" he ordered, a finality in his voice that brooked no arguments.

Khushi, who had been standing inside her bedroom door, listening to the conversation at hand, had a sheen of tears in her eyes, her father's words tugging at her heartstrings. Not wanting to face anyone in her family for a little bit longer, Khushi had turned back around and fallen into bed.

********

So...comments? I'm sure that's not what you all expected in terms of the parents reactions😆 But I'm going to be completely honest, that's not what I had started off writing as well. When I first planned this chapter way back when, it was going to be full of fighting and screaming, but as I ended up writing it, took a life of its own. I ended up drawing from similar experiences in the lives of people I know, and I've heard from quite a few of my friends that their dad is really the rock in their lives, no matter how old they are etc, and that's what I wanted to kind of portray. So Shashi here ended up being really understanding and took everything calmly. That isn't because he wasn't disappointed, because well, like he said, he did really want to see her married, but he recognized immediately that his daughter's happiness mattered first and foremost. And although it doesn't seem like that now, Garima also does want her daughter's happiness, but at the same time she is giving importance to what society thinks and that's her way of venting her emotions in this story, and that's why her and Buaji react the way they do, yelling.

Phew, all that being said, thanks a ton for all the comments on the last chapter! Do let me know what you think of this one :D Would love to hear your opinions on the parents, on Khushi. And THANK YOU for staying with this story! All of you have been so great and patient and the fact that so many of you still want to read this and find out the ending means a lot to me. 😃

And I haven't forgotten Arnav, don't worry! We'll be back in the "present" in the next chapter, and going back to that dinner table with the Raizada family where he breaks the news that he loves Khushi!

Thanks again everyone! I hope you like this! :D

Cheers!

Naina

😲 Oh wow, did not realize I had that much space in the title to write the date updated and everything! But anywho, updated :D

a good update.. so happy to know that you are back and hope you will finish this beautiful story..

Khushi has got an amazing father. Loved the chapter

Thanks a tonne for this update...
Have been waiting for ages.. ;))
And I love Shashi for what he did.. Khushi could atleast have told them before breaking things off... But still he supported her, which I think makes him the world's best dad...
Can't wait for Arnav's declaration..

plz dont leave it again for so long...
gr8 update