Khushi looked at the sparkling diamond rings placed in front of her with a jaundiced eye.
Arnav bit back his laughter. "Kya hua, Khushi? You don't like any of them?"
She shook her head.
The assistants moved the samples away, and replaced them with more diamond rings.
Khushi frowned.
"You don't like diamonds, Khushi?" Arnav asked, laughter bubbling away in his heart.
"Arnavji, they are so... sooo dull. Pheeka! There is no colour in them! What is the fun in wearing a ring with a stone that has no colour in it?" Khushi scrunched up her face.
The sales assistant's mouth fell open in shock. The nitwit was refusing diamonds worth a king's ransom for cheap stuff?
Arnav's body shook with laughter. He asked the assistants to show them rings with precious stones, that too colourful ones.
Khushi looked happily at the sea of ruby, emerald, jade, amethyst, sapphire, & turquoise rings laid out before her.
She dug through them, examining them carefully before discarding them. Arnav sat watching her, amused.
"Arnavji, can I take this?" she finally asked, pointing to a white gold band with two heart-shaped rubies. "It has both of our hearts in it."
Arnav nodded, swallowing hard.
He took the ring out of its box, and, holding her hand in his, gently placed it on her ring finger. Her hand trembled.
"Lagi tumhein?" he asked, concerned.
She nodded.
"Kahan?" he asked, looking at her finger for a cut or a bruise.
"Here." she whispered, placing her right hand on her heart.
Arnav looked into her eyes for a moment, and in front of the startled eyes of hundreds of assistants and customers, the normally undemonstrative, khadoos, akhdoo Arnav Singh Raizada kissed Khushi Kumari Gupta's rosy cheek.
10