He was gone and she didn't know when he would come back.
She was sitting on the recliner by the poolside where her face was glowing under the moonlight. They had always loved this place and found peace when the other was not around. This was their way of staying close to each other.
She sat there, remembering all the beautiful memories that have been engraved in their heart and soul in this very place. The good and the bad times they had spent here. The times when they had found solace in each others arms in this very place.
But now he was gone. 2 weeks! He had gladly left her because for the great Arnav Singh Raizada, nothing was more important than his work. What was she thinking before marrying him? Hadn't she already known that the love he possessed for his wife, his laptop, was much more than the love he had for her. Why couldn't she think twice before marrying him?
Her thoughts took her back to the day he had proposed to her. Oh, that day, of course any girl would have agreed to marry him.
Khushi was in an extremely bad mood. Why wouldn't she be, afterall her best friend had agreed to marry some girl. Oh wait, it wasn't some random girl, it was Sheetal, his girlfriend of 3 years. She knew they had been serious, but it hurt. It hurt her to let go off her love.
She had loved Arnav since they were 16 years old. Initially she had thought that it was some stupid childhood crush, but as time passed, her feelings for him only grew stronger but she had never had the guts to go and tell him. He was her best friend and she wasn't going to let some stupid feelings come in between their friendship.
When she had gotten to know about his marriage she was hurt and so she refused to talk to him. He had called her multiple times but she had refused to answer any of his calls. There were times when he had even reached outside her room, banging on the door, requesting her to open it for him, but she had said that she didn't want to talk to him.
Of course he had asked her why she was behaving so strangely and what could she say. There was no way she was going to tell him the truth so she had told him that she was hurt that he never found it important to tell her.
Eventually he had stopped contacting her which only worsened her situation. Three months, and he had never come to talk to her. And the stubborn girl that she already was, she had refused to even come out of her room, unless someone saw her state. Those puffy eyes, messy hair. The only person allowed in her room was her mother who would always try to comfort her in every way possible. Her mother had told her to forget him and move on, but it was easier said than done. How would she know what it felt to loose your love of 8 years.
It had finally been the day of his engagement. She had refused to go but finally given in when his sister and nani had come over to her house only to plead her to attend the ceremony. She had been extremely confused as to why her presence was so important because the persons whose engagement she was going to had refused to even acknowledge her presence in 3 months but they had told her that she was important to him and he would be very happy to have her there.
How was she supposed to say no to that? She knew how important she was to him. He would even refuse to let the engagement take place if she was not around and so she had finally given.
She wanted her love to be happy and if he was happy with Sheetal then she was not going to come in between them. She was going to keep a happy face for him and she did just that.
She was scared as to how he was going to react to her presence that evening. She was guilty to put him through the tension. But when she had reached, all those thoughts had taken a backseat only by looking at him. She had noticed how he looked much more handsome and man- like that evening. She could clearly see how the immature boy she knew 3 months back had been replaced by a mature gentleman.
She didn't know how she was supposed to keep her feelings intact with him standing right in front of her. She wanted to cry, cry in front of every guest present there, she didn't care what they would think of her because at that moment all those pieces of her heart that she had picked up and put together had broken again. Seeing him standing there with his hands around Sheetal's waist. She didn't even have it in her to congratulate him and so she did just that. She refused to go anywhere near him.
About an hour later she came out of the washroom after crying her heart out. She couldn't understand where she got so many tears from, because she was pretty sure that she had used up everything that she had, yet seeing him today, brought back all those memories she had once shared with him.
She walked back to the hall where the engagement was taking place. She was surprised to see everything dark when suddenly a stoplight came on her. She had no clue what was happening. She stopped walking when she heard that husky voice which had always drawn her to him.
"Khushi, come down please." She heard him say in a very soothing tone. As if in trance, her feet started moving on its own accord.
Slowly she came down the stairs when she saw another spotlight pointing on him. His hands were in the front, asking her to take them. She looked him in the eyes and slowly slipped her hand in his. He walked her to the stage and made her face him. That look in his eyes, never had she seen them. There was calmness as well as nervousness, there was peace mixed with anxiety but above all of that, there was love. That one feeling she had started running away from, she could see it in his eyes, those eyes which were not leaving hers. She saw him slowly going down on one knee, still holding onto her hand.
"Khush, today I don't know how to face you. I know I am responsible for this state of yours. I can clearly see the vulnerable state that you are in right now and there is no one else I can blame except myself. I am very sorry for everything you had to go through in the last 3 months. I am sorry that I was not there when you needed me the most. I was stupid, I should never have left you that day because no matter how much ever you deny, you needed me. I should have known that you have always loved me but I was dumb, I had seen the love in your eyes but had always chosen to ignore it. These three months have been hell for me. Not meeting you, not talking to you has made me realize one thing, that there is no way I am going to let go off you in my whole life. These 3 months have made me realize what life would be without you, without your craziness, without your non-stop blabbering, and there is no way that I am going to live without it. It has made me realize how much I love you, Khush. Yes, I love you very much and today all I can ask you is for you to do me the honor of marrying me and spending your whole life with me."
He looked at her while she cried. She was sure that it was all a dream and in a minute or two she would wake up to find everything had disappeared. She waited for everything to end but instead found herself being engulfed into a warm hug. She stood there without hugging him back. She was in shock. Five minutes back she was crying thinking he was going to become someone else's and now here she was standing in the arms of that one person she had wanted to hug all the time in the past 3 months.
Finally giving in, she hugged him back as fiercely as she could. She dug herself into his arms, not wanting to be anywhere else. He had noticed her need to be close to him and so pulled her closer to himself, allowing her to weep for as long as she wanted.
After the initial shock, when she got back to her senses. She pulled back from his arms and started hitting him, yelling at him.
"How could you do this to me? How could you just disappear for 3 whole months. Did you never think of me? Think of what I might be going through?" she shouted still hitting him.
"I am so sorry Khush. Please forgive me?" he asked, pouting like a little kid.
"No I wont forgive you. What do you think of yourself ha? You think you could just leave Sheetal and marry me? You think this is so easy?" she asked her voice becoming smaller. She wanted to marry him but she couldn't forget that Sheetal loved him as well. She couldn't take away someone elses happiness only to satisfy her needs.
"But Sheetal and I were never getting married." He said and this shocked her to no ends. She looked up to see the truth in his eyes.
"What do you mean by that?" she asked.
"After you had refused to meet me I had become very lonely and I had stopped indulging myself into anything that took place around me. Sheetal however had noticed my state and had made me seen the truth. She was the one who made me realize that I love you." He answered her question.
"Then why didn't you come back and tell me so?" she asked
"Because we decided to play along and not tell you anything till today." He said and she immediately started hitting him again.
"Funny, isn't it? You think this is all a joke? You think you could just play with my feelings that way?"
"Khush, please listen to me. I am really sorry." He said in an extremely small voice which she could have easily missed had she not been standingso close to him. At that moment she felt something hot on her hand and noticed it to be water.
She cupped his cheek and made him look at her when she noticed tears flowing down his cheeks. She could see how broken he was and she could never bare that and so she pulled him to herself and hugged him tightly, running her hands through his hair and said very softly, only for him to hear.
"YES, I will marry you."
Khushi came out of her thoughts when she felt someones hands going around her waist from behind. She knew who it was and couldn't help but lean back into his warmth.
They stayed like that for a few moments when he pulled apart and turned her to face him. She felt his hands cupping her face and his thumb running along her cheek. At that moment she noticed that she had been crying.
"Baccha, whats wrong? Why are you crying?" she finally heard him speak in that same old husky tone which would usually send a shiver down her spine, but at that moment she realized that she was supposed to be angry with him.
She jerked off his hands and moved back. Narrowing her eyes, she pointed her finger at him and said,
"What are you doing here? Why are you back? Are you finally done with your work and you realize that your wife is waiting for you at home." He smiled back. He knew he would have to deal with a hormonal wife once he would come back home. He had gotten used to her mood swings in these past 3 months.
"Baccha, I am sorry. You know this meeting was important. Okay I promise, no more trips till you don't want me to go for any." He said, pacifying his 3 months pregnant wife. He drew her close to himself, keeping his hands on her non- existent bulge. He stroked her stomach lightly as she finally gave into his warmth.
Picking her up, he took her inside the room and lay her on the bed. He came and lay down next to her, pulling her closer by her waist, he kept his head on her stomach and started to talk to his baby while she kept her hand on his head, running her fingers through his hair until they both fell asleep.
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