Part 4: Words with Friends"Hey, A-Dawg! Whassup," a cheerful voice called out to him.
Arnav didn't have to turn behind to know that it was his cousin Nandkishore, or NK as everyone called him.
Great, exactly what the doctor ordered. Not. Arnav thought to himself. He stopped and turned towards NK waiting to be enveloped in a giant embrace as was typical of him. After the hugging, NK punched him on his shoulder and said, "What is new A-dawg?"
"Stop calling me A-dawg? We were expecting you two days back." he said.
NK launched into a longwinded explanation about some storm and the airport being sealed. But he wasn't paying attention, for out in the distance he could see Khushi and Shyam, the chef, deep in conversation. He couldn't see their faces clearly from afar, but he could make out that it was a serious conversation and Shyam seemed upset with whatever it is that Khushi was saying. Arnav started walking towards them, NK followed evidently not even perturbed in the slightest that Arnav wasn't listening to him.
As he reached close to them, he saw that Khushi had seen him and judging by how she stopped mid-sentence, it was clear that it was a very private conversation. He was about to turn back when NK suddenly squealed, Khushiii and enveloped her into a big hug. If NK seemed a little too excited about seeing Khushi, she was even more excited when she saw him judging by the fierce hug.
So these two drama queens know each other, he thought to himself. Why was he not surprised?!
"Nandu you idiot, what you doing here," Khushi demanded after the pair of the them had untangled themselves from each others arms.
"Akash is my cousin. Wait. The Payal he is marrying is your sister Payal? Woah! Small world. So Shyam Jha is.." he trailed looking at Shyam's face and stopped.
"I am the chef of the wedding. I was just discussing some changes in the menu with Khushi. Will be off now, lots to do. Good to see you, man. See you around," saying this Shyam walked away.
Khushi gave him a bright smile. Brighter than necessary and nodded.
What was NK going to say about Shyam Jha, Arnav wondered. Clearly Shyam was something more than just a former neighbour of Khushi and Payal. Shyam and Khushi were perhaps together. And Khushi and NK? Hmm. Heck, he had enough things to worry about and Khushi's fanclub was none of his concern, was it?
"The haldi function will start any moment now, I will see you around, Nandu," Khushi said and walked away. He couldn't help but notice that her statement was directed only at NK and not at him.
He didn't really blame her given that he had been giving her the cold treatment since last afternoon. He had run into her before the Sangeet but after witnessing the drama involving Shyam and Asya he was not in a mood for pleasantries. Later during the Sangeet he skulked around the bar, completely determined not to socialize. Anjali Di and Akash had gamely tried to get him involved in the dancing, but he had excused himself in the pretext of expecting a call from his editor.
"For heaven's sake, you and Akash are two pods in a pea. Such workaholics. No calls tomorrow and day after, please," Anjali Di admonished sternly and he had agreed.
Of course there was not going to be any call. But he sat in his spot and watched people. It was amazing how thrilled everyone seemed about some two people getting married. Akash and Payal couldn't take their eyes off from each other, full of love and promise. Arnav was glad that Akash met Anagha. Closure was important after all. He felt bad about eavesdropping into their conversation, it was such an uncharacteristic for him to do, but nonetheless he thought of it as watching out for his family. After their parents death the siblings always watched out for each other, sometimes having borderline boundary issues. But Akash was in love with Payal and turned out Anagha was getting married too, to the same boy she loved. That had worked out well. But as Arnav was heading back to his room he realised that Shyam was at the garden too. Before he could say anything, Shyam said, "I knew you would come to meet me. I knew you would not break my heart again." Arnav had moved away from Shyam's vision, just in time. When Shyam turned around to face the person who had come to meet him, his face fell.
"You? What are you doing here?"
"Hi, Shyam. Small world, eh? The one person you don't want to meet, you run into them. What are the odds?"
"Hmm. I am sorry, Asya. I know this is awkward. Especially since you are here with your... boyfriend."
"Arnav and I broke up."
"I am sorry. Was it because of... us."
"No. Arnav doesn't know that we went out for a year. It wasn't working out. He seems to like the bride's... anyway, never mind that. I just wanted to apologise for the bitter way things ended between us. I am so ashamed about the way my parents behaved with you. But I swear I came to know about all of that only much later. By then you were gone."
"It is okay. No apology necessary. I will always be a middle class boy and your family very rich, nothing was going to change that. Anyway, I was waiting for someone, but looks like she is not coming. I better head back to the kitchen."
"Who were you waiting for?"
"It doesn't matter. It is over. It has been over for a long time."
Shyam offered a wry smile and walked away.
Arnav who heard this entire conversation did not know how to react. he wasn't sure if he ought to go and console Asya, who sat there near the fountain, forlorn and teary. In the many years that he had known her, he had never seen her this... broken. But he wasn't sure if it was his place to do so and had walked away.
Later at the Sangeet he saw Asya, no sign of her afternoon heartbreak, looking beautiful, smile intact and not one strand of hair out of place. Arnav had noticed that Asya was sitting next to an aunt of his and surely must be at the receiving end of completely unsolicited advice. He would have considered rescuing her at any other time, but he was feeling particularly moody that evening. His already dark mood took a turn for the worse when Khushi made a grand entrance along with her cousin swaying her hips to one of those overplayed songs that really annoyed him. Radha on the dance floor,
Radha likes to party.
Radha likes to move that sexy Radha baady... the lines went. And the enthusiastic crowd broke into a thunderous response.
She was dressed in a midriff bearing ink-blue lehenga choli. She looked gorgeous and inspite of his determinedly unsociable mood, he couldn't take his eyes of her. She also met his eyes and almost had a challenging expression on her face as she gracefully waltzed around the stage.
Hoga woh laakhon dil ka chor, humko toh laage bore... the words went. Was it his imagination or did Khushi point in his direction during these precise lines?
The lil minx, he thought to himself. He was unsure if he should feel insulted that she thought of him as a bore or be flattered that she thought he had stolen a million hearts. He chose the latter and raised his half empty glass and offered her a cheers and smiled at her. She looked away.
**
The haldi madness was on. While tradition demanded that the groom and the girl have separate haldis, but they had decided to combine it because the Raizadas and Guptas were not that big on tradition. Plus, it was just more practical, considering both parties were having an out of town wedding. Khushi stood in the corner, with Payal's giant SLR camera in her hands and randomly clicking photos of backs of people. Of course the wedding had a professional photographer, but Payal the photography enthusiast that she was, also wanted some more candid shots. Khushi giggled as she took a few photographs of some balding extended family members whose names also she did not know. While the camera barely fitted in her hand and probably weighed more than her, she was thankful for it. She was not a big fan of this particular ceremony and would have liked nothing better than not be part of it. But family duty trumped personal disgust for random people putting icky things on your face. Plus her daaadi had thrown the trump card at her, if your mother were here... She didn't need to complete the sentence. Payal's mood immediately turned sombre. After all, every girl's dream is to have her mother help her get dressed at her wedding. Khushi was determined that Payal did not have a single blue moment at the wedding and promptly decided to cheer her up by not just being present at the haldi, but also participate in it enthusiastically. Payal had beamed. Khushi still could not get over her unease over the fact that she had not met Shyam and had misled Payal.
The haldi ceremony looked like it would never get over. After a while, it seemed that thanks to NK's goading, it had turned into a match between the girl's side and the boy's side. Anjali Di, was one heck of a competitor, but seriously, nobody could beat her Daadi. This was going to take forever, she thought woefully. Just then NK squealed, Khushiii, come here, why are you skulking around there??! It took her a while to convince a very persuasive NK that she was fine where she was. Being on her feet was exhausting, she collapsed on the nearest chair and exclaimed, F*L.
"Really," an amused voice drawled.
Startled, she realised that of all the empty chairs in the room, she had managed to find herself plonked on the one right next to the impossibly handsome and impossibly maddening Arnav Raizada. She was pissed off with him. Though she wasn't really sure why. He left her feeling all confused and somehow goaded her into making extravagant and inappropriate statements that she regretted later. She was going to be civil and nice to him. But very proper, she decided. After all, her Daadi had said that they are the ladkiwalle and needed to be the bigger people. Plus, he was so good-looking. Shut up, Khushi, stop being so shallow, she admonished herself.
"A penny," he said, looking at her intently and evidently amused.
"My thoughts aint that cheap," she said in miffed tones.
"How about in exchange for a meal," he asked.
"What!" she said incredulously, "Are you asking me out?"
"Who is asking whom out," NK demanded to know interrupting their conversation.
"Nothing, Nandu," she said, before Arnav could answer, "You got bored of the haldi too, eh?"
"Not at all, it is fun. Just taking a break," NK said cheerfully, "Why are the two of you behaving like guests and sitting here."
"I hate this haldi," they said in unison.
"Wah!" NK exclaimed, patting them both on their backs, "You guys are so strange. Actually since you guys are both in London, you'll should hangout together. Both of you are so alike."
"That is what I was telling Khushi," Arnav interjected smoothly, "We could do lunches and dinners together."
She didn't know what to make of this man and started fiddling with the camera.
"Great idea," NK continued enthusiastically, "Just make sure you don't ever play Words with Friends with her though. It is impossible to beat her."
Saying this NK walked away. Khushi too got up, feeling simultaneously confused, jittery and excited at the prospect of making dinner plans with Arnav.
"What is this Words with Friends," he asked as she got up.
"It is a wordgame you can play on your phone, with friends," she said mechanically.
"Who would have thought, that is what it meant," he said wryly.
"Whatever. Anyway, I am damn good at it," she said, as she began walking away from him.
"Wait," he called, "Are you saying you will be better than me?"
"I am pretty sure, I am," she said in what she hoped was a completely confident and haughty tone.
"You do know that I am a writer," he said assessing her amusedly, "words are what I deal in."
"So," she said, "My record tells me that I beat everyone - friends, family and strangers."
"Okay, you know what," he said, getting up, walking towards her, "let us play against each other . A best of three match. The winner can make the loser do anything. Deal?"
"Anny.. thing," Khushi asked nervously.
"Scared," he asked in the softest, silkiest tone.
"Of course not," she said pouting, "it is a deal."
He extended his hand and she hers tentatively. He held her hand firmly. She didn't expect Arnav Raizada to have a weak handshake, so she was glad that she was not wrong. Somewhere in the back on her mind, a tiny devil was ticking off a list:
Handsome
Well read
Funny
Rich
Unafraid of seeing the truth in its eye
Firm handshake
Good lord. She had to get away from his presence immediately.
"I got to get back to taking photographs," she said, "we will play later."
"Sure," he said, "Tonight. It is a date then."
Flustered, she ran away, almost dropping Payal's overpriced camera and getting a stink eye from Payal, who was watching her. Jeez! Why couldn't they put two pieces of cucumber on the bride's eyes while they did the haldi.
**
Part 5: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/3412364/arhi-ss-bucket-list-note-pg-94-12-08-15?pn=16 Edited by TabassumR - 12 years ago
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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