CHAPTER 3
Boho chic avatar and she loved it. She raised her left eyebrow,smiled and appreciated what she saw in the glass window.,as she waited for the door to their home to be opened. Honey skinned,flauntingly beautiful,sassy. The pastel of her knee length silk dress with an earthy touch to it falling in subtle yet crisp layers. She turned around and assessed the 'hari vadiyaan' as she liked to call it with a snort. Wonder whats so great about them,she thought,that Arnav liked it so much. Oh well! That she'd see.
The door opened and she turned back. Hari Prakash emerged out to be greeted with a sunny smile and ''Hi Hari Prakash in Hari vadiyaan!''
''Huh? Jee.. Sahab told me that you'd be here. He has asked you to take rest as he would be here only after 2 more hours.''
''What?! Oh..okay HP.
Umm..Can you get me some coffee.?''
As HP nodded in affirmative and left,she walked upto the mustard coloured couch,the heels of her footwear clicking on the polished wood. She glanced around,disappointed. How elated she had been to come here to him. Let him be here. She had loads to talk to him. But first she'd eat up the tea-man for being absent from home when he knew she'd be here today.
Lavanya Raizada sighed and sat down with a thump on the couch. Looking out of the wall to floor length glass wall at her opposite,she thought that she really would have to do with this greenery for now. And much surprised with herself,she was already liking it.
**
Arnav stared at the now empty space where that girl just stood. He blinked and averted his gaze to the checkered yellow and white table cloth atop the table. Darjeeling oolong. Come to think of it.,yes it does. Why had'nt he thought of his eyes like that before? And just why was he even thinking of what she said?
It was'nt as if he had not noticed her. It was hard to not to. There was a warmth and tenderness about her. Happily dancing eyes. The love and affection with which she made tea and served it. As if she was just made for to do it and it came naturally to her. Not thinking of it as a chore. The way when she said something silly and then her whole body shook as she laughed at it. How her head nodded in understanding,listening patiently and eyes gave assurance to any troubled familiar being of neighbourhood who came down for a cuppa. The combination of sneakers and salwar suit.
She was not the most beautiful woman he had seen but had that charm of an ordinary face. Even her eyes were Darjeeling oolong but the colour of a little less brewed one. Wavy,voluminous hair that reached a little below her shoulders.
Her voice had that extra tinkle to it and just like that Arnav felt a bubble in his heart,like it bloomed to life once again because of a pacemaker.
And hence he knew. He had to nip it in the bud. He is not to let himself wander like this.
**
Does she remember she is 26? TWENTY SIX for Devi Maiyaa s' sake! Running away like a teenager who has just seen her crush. Its not her. Its just not her. She could have talked about how is he finding Darjeeling and then should have moved on to talk about different kinds of tea.,and he would have been impressed with her knowledge. And she would have just waved her hand trying to be all humble and modest. And then he would smiled at her,appreciated her..
''..would have called you up for a cup of tea at his place..''
Taken aback at the intrusion at her imaginary progress of a chit chat with Arnav,who currently sat lost in deep thoughts sipping his tea, Khushi looked around to find Cheeku,clad in his grey hoodie and dark blue jeans, staring at her amusingly.
Acting all non chalant,she questioned,'' Who would have called whom?''
''Err.. The one who has oolong eyes would have asked the one called them so.'' he drawled.
Turning back,she started setting up cups and saucers after putting the used ones in the sink,she said,'' I don't know what you're talking about.''
'' Oh, c'mon Di, I saw.''
''You saw?''
''I saw.''
''I was just trying to make a small talk okay?''
''yeah, I believe you.'' he replied in a teasingly sarcastic way and continued,''but sorry to burst your bubble di,he just did'nt seem to be interested in making that small talk. Ofcourse not everyone likes to play 'chaupal' or 'rendezvous with Khushi Gupta' here now.''
'' Can you remind me as to just who came to me last week needing help to pacify his angry girlfriend Leechi? ''
''Fine. But still Di, bhaiya doesn't seem to be of a very friendly or even keeping an acquaintance kind of a person. He just talks about work with related people. Nothing much. As much as they like him for his zeal and competance , they do love to stare at his unusuality.''
Khushi Gupta frowned. Ofcourse she had seen that visible something like a hump on the right side of his back. Which actually was due to abnormal lateral curving of his spine causing the ribcage to rotate a bit. Had'nt she spent hours in the nearby cyber cafe waiting for the slow like a snail internet to connect and then find out all what and how of it,known as scoliosis.
Its not as if Khushi was the kind of person to lecture about how wrong it is to talk and think less of a person if he or she is not what is 'beautiful' or 'perfect' to the eyes as it is meant to be. She just knew what is right and that is what matters. And the truth is, it does'nt matter. She is drawn to him.,she concluded the already known fact in all honesty to herself. She likes him. She likes how his brown hair fell over his forehead. She liked how his lips subtly rounded just before he touched the rim of cup to it to drink the tea that she made. She liked how his eyes crinkled at the corners to give way to tiny lines and lips curved up in an ever so slight smile when he gazed at the green expanse of cedars. She liked the faint thumps his footsteps made when he came here and the peace she felt. She liked it how adroitly he spoke yet at ease when with tea pickers and not hesitant to do so given the bade afsar sahab that he is.
''oh! oh! You did'nt take me seriously. You do like him. Hai na? HAI NAA?! Aaye hayye.. Khushi di and Arnav bhaiyaa!''
''Just go away, Cheeku!''
**
Finally he'd be seeing her,Arnav thought lovingly. It had been just over a month since he had seen Lavanya but it felt like ages. As Arnav climbed up the couple of stairs and reached the door of his home,it opened with a jerk and he was engulfed in bear hug with a loud ecstatic,"Bhai!!"
*********
A/N-
so, how did you find this one? I really need to know. any kind of criticism and suggestions are welcome.
but most importantly a big THANK YOU to each person who read,liked and commented. You don't how much it makes me happy to see that its all for my story. I cherish every word of it.
Now as for Arnav,He is mostly an eye candy all the time. He still an eye candy 😉 but isn't that perfect Adonis. There have been lovely stories where Khushi is physically flawed but Arnav falls for what she is and ofcourse Arnav Khushi are meant to be. ❤️ But seldom it is with Arnav. Plus I wanted some reason other than Arnav Raizada s' non belief in marriage,commitment, non belief in God for him being unwilling for any kind of plausible romantic relationship in this ss.
Any kind of physical deformity,big or small,do tend to make a person think that he/she isn't good enough to be loved.
And I chose this scoliosis cause it is easier for me to write about a person with it. yes,I know what you're thinking and right it is. but but but! M not as dukhi as Arnav in this one coz of the simple reason that I am 😎
take care!
next update on Sunday!
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