Arnav and Khushi were in Taj Hotel to have lunch. Placing their orders they sat looking at each other not saying a word. There was an uncomfortable silence that had resided amongst them and Khushi was the first one to break it.
"So Arnav, how have you been?" she asked trying to not sound stupid.
"Really Khushi? We have been together all morning and this is all you find to ask me?" asked an amused Arnav trying hard not to laugh.
"Well I was only trying to break the silence." Replied a skeptical Khushi. Looking at her confused face, Arnav couldn't hold back and started laughing. He couldn't even remember the last time he had laughed so much. Khushi on the other side couldn't stop looking at him, she thought he looked beautiful while he laughed, he looked much younger this way. When Arnav's laughter died down a bit he looked at Khushi who was looking at him dreamily. He looked at her amusedly. He kept looking at the different expressions that crossed her face from admiring to wondering and then back to admiring. He liked the fact that she was as much affected by him as he was by her. He didn't even know how much time had passed with them looking at each other when suddenly the waiter arrived with their food. Embarrassed by their behavior they both looked down and started nibbling on their food.
Finally getting frustrated by both their behaviors and the tensed environment between them Arnav decided to break the silence.
"So Khushi tell me something about yourself, you know your likes and dislikes." He said moving back in his chair, sitting comfortably. Taking this as a good chance to get herself distracted from thinking about her ogling on him and being caught a few minutes back, Khushi spoke.
"Well I love reading and listening to songs. That's my favourite past time. And I totally hate cooking, I actually know nothing when it comes to cooking, all I can do to help is eat up everything you present in front of me. That's how its always been, in Lucknow mom used to cook and I used to eat and now here jiji cookes and I eat. The only thing that I can cook is Jalebies. They are like a stress buster for me. Whenever I am upset or confused about something, I make jalebies, oh god jalebies." She said with a sudden twinkle in her eyes by the end of her speech. She was almost moaning by the end thinking about her beloved jalebies. This on the other hand was not doing any good to the control-freak Mr. Raizada. He was having the sudden urge to hold her and shut her with his mouth on hers. Trying to break her trance before he did something he would regret he said.
"Ok well that's nice. I would have loved to try some of those jalebies of yours had I not been a diabetic." He suddenly sounded a little sad to himself. He had never in all these years yearned to have anything sweet but suddenly he felt like eating the jalebies that Khushi made.
"Oh, that's sad. I didn't know you were diabetic. I'm sorry." She said, sad that she couldn't make some for him.
"Oh no please don't say sorry. Its not like its your fault." He said trying to lighten her mood.
"Yah well that's true. Anyway now you tell me something about yourself." She said eager to know him.
"Well you can easily say that I am one of the most boring person you could come across. I'm not into any kind of socializing-" he started only to be interrupted by khushi "says the owner of the biggest fashion house in India?" He smirked at that and continued.
"Well yes, I hate any kind of socializing, that's just not my thing. Anyway coming back to my likes. I love my family to begin with. I can do anything for them and specially my di. Actually when our parents died I was only 14 and di was 17. I had seen how di had broken after that incident and I was determined to always be her support system and give her everything she wanted. And then I love my plants. That's actually a way for me to keep my cool. Whenever I think I'm going to loose control at someone I love dearly, I always tend to my plants, they give me a sense of peace. And well the rest of the time you're going to find me working." He said. He didn't know why he told her things about his parents because he had never shared that side of his story, he loved his parents a lot and when he got to know about their death in a car crash he never liked talking about it. It would just show people his weak side. His family has always been his weakness. He had always wanted something or someone who would also be his strength and suddenly he felt like he had finally found someone who would be the same. As if Khushi had heard him and wanted to tell him that she would be his strength she put her hand on his hand which was kept on the table in a tight fist and said
"Arnav, I would not say that I can understand how you feel right now because I have no idea about that and I don't think I would know how it felt to be without your parents because I have myself always been my fathers princess. He had always made sure that I was never hurt or had to face any kinds of problems, so I don't know how it feels to loose the warmth of your parents at such an early stage of life but all I can say is, I would like to be there for you but only if you allow me to enter your heart, I would want to be there for you whenever you feel like everything is tearing apart in life. I would like it if you would open up to me and tell me when you have any kind of problems. I would like you to trust me" she completed looking into his eyes.
There was silence with Arnav looking into her eyes for a re assurance. He was searching her eyes for any kind of sympathy but finding none, all he could see in them was her trying to give him confidence, like she was trying to transfer all her positive energy to him. He suddenly knew that she would be his strength, that she would be there when he would want to share his hidden sorrow with someone. His fist started loosening and he gave her a faint smile and moved his hand so that now he was holding her hand.
"Khushi, thank you so much for saying all of that. I have never opened up to anyone, never told anyone how I feel because either I would gain sympathy or look like a weak person but today I know I would be able to open up to you, I will be able to share my sorrow and my happiness with you, I know I can trust you and that's how I would like it. I want you to be there for me, as my strength but in return I would want the same from you. I would want to be there for you as well, can I?" he asked with a skeptical look. She suddenly gave him her dazzling smile.
"Ofcourse you can. I don't really have any sorrows since I have always been protected and pampered but I do have a lot of happiness that I can share with you." She said
"Its still going to be that way Khushi, you're still going to be protected and pampered by this friend of yours." He said smiling faintly at her.
"Thank you Arnav. Honestly, even though I haven't told this to anyone but I was really scared to live in Delhi without my dad protecting me from everything, but today I'm so glad I could find someone who would be there when I need protection." She said with her grateful look in her eyes. They looked at each other for a few minutes before Arnav broke the silence and told her that it was time for them to go back to office. He paid the bill and they left from there.
The rest of the day went in a blur. Both Arnav and Khushi got extremely busy with their respective works. It was already 7 when Khushi heard a knock on her cabin door.
"Come in." she said to whoever was standing on the other side of the door. She looked up when she heard the door being opened and saw Aman looking at her with a smile on his face.
"Hey Khushi, its already 7. You can leave for the day." He said
"Oh no Aman I just need to finish some work. You leave. I'm going to take some time." She said looking at him.
"Khushi you should leave, you can finish the rest of the work tomorrow." He tried explaining.
"No Aman, I'm in a habit of finishing things that I start. So I'm going to finish this 1 file before I call it a day." She tried reasoning. Aman didn't know what to say so he just agreed and after saying a quick bye he left her cabin to go talk to ASR. He knocked on his cabin door once asking for permission to enter and when he heard ASR asking him to come in he opened the door and stood in front of him on the other side of his desk.
"Sir, everyones left for the day and I am leaving as well, only Khushi is still here working on one of the files." He said suddenly earning Arnavs full attention.
"Why is she working now? She could have just finished them tomorrow" he said a little concerned about her working at this hour.
"I told her to finish it tomorrow but she said that she wanted to finish it today itself." He replied
"Alright fine. You can leave. I'm going to be leaving in a while as well." He said looking back into his file.
"Thank you." He replied before leaving.
After Aman left Arnav picked up the phone and called Khushis extension. She immediately picked up the phone.
"Hey Khushi, why haven't you left yet? You can finish whatever file you're working on tomorrow." He said
"Oh hey Arnav, actually I can't leave work undone. I always need to complete whatever I start so I'm just going to quickly finish this file and then leave." She replied smiling at his concern.
"Alright. How much time will you take? I will leave you back, its getting late and its not safe for you to be travelling alone." He asked.
"I guess I should be done in another half an hour, maybe? Think that's okay with you?" she asked loving the concern he was showing.
"Sure then I will meet you in the parking in half an hour." He said before keeping the phone.
After half an hour Arnav and Khushi were sitting in the car and driving towards Khushis house when Khushis phone rang. Seeing it was Payal calling, she picked up the phone.
"Yes jiji? I'm on my way. Will be there in 10 minutes." She said looking at the road.
"Khushi actually I'm going out for dinner with Akash. Hes been whining all day and I just entered home. I haven't made anything to eat. Do you think you would be able to manage?" Payal asked a bit concerned about her sister.
"Ofcourse jiji. You should go ahead. You haven't met Akash in 2 days now, hes bound to whine about it. Go out and spend some time with him and don't worry about me. I will call for something to eat." She said suddenly gaining Arnavs attention at the fact that she would be alone. After talking to Payal for another 2 minutes she kept the phone.
"Anything wrong?" Arnav asked.
"Oh no, jijis going out with Akash for dinner. She said hes been whining all day, so I am going to have to call for something to eat from outside." She said looking at him.
"Why don't you come home with me? Anyway everyone at home was remembering you this morning. They would like to have you around." He asked
"No, I don't think that's a very good idea. I don't want them to stress out because of my arrival." She said.
"oh come on Khushi. They are going to love having you around. And I think they should get a chance to meet Arnav Singh Raizadas first friend." He said adding a smirk by the end.
"Uh, okay fine but only for a little while, I need to head back home in some time." She finally agreed. Giving her his rare genuine smile he turned the car to his house.
After 10 minutes Khushi and Arnav were waiting outside RM for someone to open the door. HP opened the door and after a quick greet he left to get coffee for Arnav. They entered the house to find everyone sitting in the hall and talking withen themselves. They looked up and were shocked to see Khushi.
"Khushiii"
"Khushi Bitiya"
They had all gotten up from their seats and were walking towards Khushi, extremely glad to see her. They all came in front of her and were giving her loads of hugs. She smiled at all of them. She loved being in this house. It made her feel like she was home. She suddenly missed her mom and dad and her eyes started to fill with tears. Everyone was shocked to see her in tears and started questioning her. She just smiled at them and told them it was nothing.
They took her to the hall and sat down with her to talk while Arnav went up to his room to freshen up. He came down after 15 minutes and sat down next to Shyam when he heard his di ask
"Khushi, I hope my brother isn't troubling you. He does get very angry very quickly." She asked concern laced in her voice. This made Arnav and Khushi look at each other.
"Ofcourse not di, Arnavs been really good with me. I'm glad to have gotten a boss like him." She said looking into his eyes and smiling. This made him give her a small smile.
Anjali on the other side had been noticing the sparks flying between her brother and Khushi. She had noticed how Arnav kept looking at her and when he smiled at what she said, she was sure there was something wrong. She made a mental note to talk to him the same night.
Then next hour flew by and Khushi had just gotten up to leave when she heard Arnav.
"Khushi, don't go alone, its really late. I'll come and leave you." He said getting up.
Everyone around was extremely surprised by his behavior but decided not to show it. They all got up and bid goodbye to Khushi. After she left Anjali turned towards nani and spoke "Nani, did you see that? Chotey is actually acting civil with someone. I think there is something going on between the two of them." She said with a sudden glint in her eyes. She felt as if she would finally get to see her choteys marriage.
"I did see that Anjali bitiya. And I really like Khushi bitiya. I just hope that chotey is serious about her." She said.
On the other side, Arnav and Khushi had just reached Khushis house. They were both sitting there not wanting to leave, but Khushi finally broke the silence.
"Thank you Arnav. I'm really glad I came over today." She said a little sadly.
"Khushi why were you crying today? And don't you dare say that it was nothing." he asked a bit concerned by her behavior.
"Its just that when I come over to your place it feels so homely, it feels like I have entered my own house and then I suddenly started missing mom and dad and well the rest just happened." She said looking out of the window not wanting to show the tears that were dripping out of her eyes. She felt a hand on her shoulder trying to turn her around. She looked at the hand and then at Arnav. He turned her so that she was facing him and he started feeling suffocated. It felt as if he would die if he had to see tears in her eyes. He moved his hands forward and cupped her face wiping the tears with his thumb.
"Khushi, you are family to all of us. You don't have to ask anyone. Whenever you miss home just come over, even if its in the middle of the night. Just don't cry please." He said extremely unhappy to see her broken that way. Suddenly he felt her throw her arms around his neck and hug him tightly and cry in the crook of his neck. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her tightly towards himself. He kept running soothing hands on her back to calm her down. He felt her cry subside after a good 5 minutes but she still sat there in his arms. She felt so good, like she was in heaven. She was sure she could stay there all her life and never complaint. She slowly pulled back and looked into his eyes. Her breathe hitched to see the amount of pain in them, it was as if someone was emotionally hurting him. He closed his eyes trying to control his feelings when he heard her speak.
"I'm sorry Arnav. I didn't mean to loose control over my emotions that way." She said looking a little embarrassed. He looked at her and put his finger under her chin to make her look up.
"Khushi you don't have to be embarrassed. Its absolutely okay to cry sometimes. And I'm glad that you told me how you were feeling." He said trying to not make her feel uncomfortable.
"Thank you Arnav, I think I should be going now. Good night." She said while turning around to open the door when she heard him again. She turned around and suddenly felt his lips on her cheek. Her eyes popped out and she looked at him, she felt as if her heart was suddenly going jump out of her chest. He was smiling at her and she suddenly felt her cheeks burning. She could feel all her blood rise upto her cheeks. She looked at him and smiled shyly and then ran out of the car into her building. She could feel his gaze on her back.
He looked on amused at the reaction she gave when he kissed her. He smiled to himself and drove back home.
He entered home and straight went to his room. He entered his room to see his di and nani sitting on his bed waiting for him with a serious expression on their face.
"Di, nani? Is everything okay?" he asked concerned by their behavior.
"Chotey we are going to ask you something and you have to give us honest answers." He heard his di speak.
"Ofcourse di. What is it that you want to talk to me about?"
"What is going on between you and Khushi? Look chotey, Khushi is Payals sister so you can't be playing around with her. She is family to us. You can't just use her and then throw her away like your previous girlfriends" his di said
"Di, what are you talking about?"
"We saw how you were looking at Khushi bitiya today. Tell us whats going on please?" he finally heard his nani speak. Taking a deep breathe he decided to tell them what he felt for her.
"Di, nani, theres nothing going on between the two of us. We are only friends. But yes I do love her. I do want to spend the rest of my life with her, but I don't know what she feels for me so I can't take a step forward. I will make her mine, that I can promise you." He said sincerely. He looked at them and found tears in their eyes. They were smiling at him.
"Nani, my chotey has finally found a girl that he would want to spend his life with. He is finally in love." His di said cupping his face and giving him a kiss on his forhead.
"Chotey we are with you in this. We really like Khushi bitiya and we want her to be a part of this family just like Payal is." His nani said.
"Thank you. But I don't want you to do anything. Please let me handle this. I don't want her to feel burdened. I want her to come to me on her free will." He said looking into both their eyes. They smiled at him and left the room.
He went to bed with a smile on his face. He couldn't stop thinking about all the moments he spent with Khushi during the day. But everytime he thought about her crying face, he felt as if he would die. He closed his eyes and fell into deep slumber, dreaming about his angel, his love, his Khushi.
Khushi on the other hand could not stop thinking about Arnav either. She loved every single second of the day. She loved how he showed his concern about her, how he gave her comfort when she was crying. She knew she was falling head over heals in love with him. She knew what she wanted from him, she wanted a forever with him, but she wasn't sure about what he felt for her and so she decided to take things slow. She smiled and closed her eyes.
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