ArHi OSes: When I Knew | Ugly Chaise | PG 53 | NEW UPDATE (21/8) - Page 32

When the Ugly Chaise Knew

She had been with Arnavji long before that... that... Khushi came along. She had served him well for years. She had hosted his rowdy, rambunctious friends as a young child, been his support as he mourned the death of his parents, and served as the location for countless business proposals made on her.

Without her, Arnavji's life was nothing.

Oh, he had others. He had his bed, he had the couch downstairs, he had the dining table, but at the end of the day, he always came back to her. There was nothing to compare to the comfort of leaning back on her gently curved figure, the dull green velvet cover muted by years of use.

No matter how much his bed tried to brag about her perfect corners and spongy mattress, in the end, Arnavji always came back to her.

Which is why she was so indignant that she was being replaced.

Replaced!

Didn't Khushi know how much Arnavji and her had been through together?

She held back a sniffle, not wanting to stain her beautiful, beautiful cloth. She had been the key player in getting them together. Without her, Khushi and Arnav would never have been hamesha.

After all she had done for them, Khushi had the nerve to try and replace her.

She had borne witness to their tumultuous initial relationship, to their slow acceptance of their feelings. She had borne witness to the darkest secrets in their marriage, when no one else had known. And she had borne witness to the forgiveness, the joy of being in love and coming together as... well, she didn't particularly want to relive that memory, but she had been thrilled when it had happened.

And through it all, she had been there for them. She had suspected it for ages, what was transpiring between them. No other woman had come into Arnavji's territory as easily as Khushi had, and right when he had whipped her around and pinned her against the wall, she had known that Khushi was different.

She had quietly watched as he had forcibly married Khushi, tossing and turning on her as Khushi slept outside. She had been there for him, giving him her body to lay on and offering comfort.

There had been the unmistakable chemistry between them when Khushi had tried to irritate him, draping that ridiculous dupatta around her head and calling him Swami the entire day.

She had almost been uncomfortable when Khushi had leaned down with glee to press her forehead against his and apply tikka... only to get caught in his burning gaze. She had shivered when their skin had touched, awareness crackling in the atmosphere as they remained there, unable to look away.

It had finally taken her indignantly asserting that Arnavji was getting his hair gel all over her beautiful green cover for them to pull away in haste.

It was unfair, really, how easily the bed got credit for being the one to bring together a marriage. Because in reality, it had been her that they had first slept on together.

Where the bed had failed, she had prevailed.

It had been the night of that god-forsaken Bali-in-Delhi honeymoon. Anjaliji had spent all day decorating their room, giggling and grating on everyone's nerves. Anjaliji had draped their room in red, spending all her energy on decorating that bed instead of focusing on her. There were flowers in vases, silky rose petals arranged in the shape of a heart on the satin sheets.

Arnavji had been less than pleased when he had walked into the room, grumbling unhappily. Khushi had attempted to compensate, excitedly taking in the decorations while completely ignoring her.

They had tried and failed to turn on the lights, finally giving up in annoyance and lighting a match. But it had only stoked the flame of desire between them as Arnavji stumbled, pinning Khushi underneath him on the bed.

She had watched as the dim glow of the candle lit Khushi's face, the shadows playing against her skin. Arnavji had been oblivious to the fire in his hands, his eyes trailing over her face and lingering on her lips as they parted. Khushi's eyes were wide as her breathing deepened.

They had moved towards each other as one unit, drawn together by an invisible thread.

But the heat between them grew too hot to bear, the flame creeping far too close to Arnavji's fingers. Khushi had screamed, resulting in Arnav flinging the matchstick away, only to have it set their bed on fire.

The moment had broken abruptly, amid the chaos of the fire erupting on the bed, doused in water and far too wet to sleep on.

She wasn't ashamed to admit that she had chuckled in glee.

They had fought furiously over the bed, and she had finally been able to catch a glimpse of the old Arnav and Khushi. There was a certain lightness in their verbal sparring, the vicious remarks intended to wound shelved for the night. They fought like a married couple, snapping back and forth on who would get the wet bed... until they finally, finally realized that she was there.

They had looked over at her once, realization hitting them. And then they had looked over at each other before dashing towards her. She hadn't been able to hold back the self satisfaction as she looked over at the bed, woefully bedraggled from the water.

She was the star of tonight, she thought, as Arnav and Khushi fought over the right to sleep on her. She leaned back, lounging as they claimed their territory over her. They were determined to remain as far apart as possible, but she knew that with her slim figure, they would come closer than they had ever come before.

And that slim figure was something all the furniture envied. No longer could they sleep at opposite ends of the bed, on the edges to get away from each other. If they were sleeping on her, they would be forced to sleep close together.

She smirked.

They struggled to get comfortable, twisting and turning as they came closer and closer together. Arnav moved into her space as Khushi's head lolled, his hand reaching back unwittingly to cradle it gently.

He had moved farther and farther up until his head rested comfortably on Khushi's shoulder, his legs thrown over hers as she settled her head on top of his. Daybreak brought a stream of light shining into the room, and she watched with bated breath as they slowly came to.

Arnav woke up first, his eyes slowly fluttering open until they fell on his wife. She heard him suck in a breath as his gaze traced her sleeping figure, softening his features as her head fell slightly forward.

He reached forward, brushing her hair just behind her ear as he moved her head to rest more comfortably near his shoulder. He hadn't taken his gaze off of her once. His eyes simmered with unrestrained emotion, a gentleness she rarely saw from the brooding man coming through with surprising ease.

He lingered over her cheek, smiling softly before slowly turning to get up off of her... only to be pulled back by Khushi's mangalsutra. The jerking motion pulled him back until his nose was almost brushing hers, his eyes falling to her lips.

Khushi stirred, her eyes widening as she realized who she had been sleeping with. She could hear the unsteadiness in her breathing as she tried to pull away, discomfitted by the rush of feeling that swept through her at his proximity.

The necklace pulled them back together once more, this time even closer as it wound itself around the button on his shirt. Swallowing nervously, Khushi's fingers fumbled with the necklace.

Silly girl, she thought, if you would take your gaze off of your husband and put it on the necklace, it would actually come off of that button...

She watched with unconcealed excitement as Arnav reached up, his hand lingering against Khushi's as he unwound it, not taking his eyes off of her. She could see the color suffusing Khushi's cheeks as she glanced down then back up again, her breathing shallow and rapid as her lips parted.

They leaned closer, their lips just centimeters from touching. They were lost to everything around them as he held the symbol of their marriage between his fingers, the heat of their bodies swirling together.

Just kiss her damnit! Stop staring at her and lean in and kiss her! She wants you to, can't you tell?

She wanted to scream at them when Khushi hastily moved away, nervously fiddling with the necklace. They both looked away from each other, clearing their throats. Khushi stumbled over her words nervously, defensive as she asserted that this, this... position was not her fault.

Ah, when would they learn that it was neither of their faults... but the beautiful work of her enviable figure that had brought them together that night?

She smiled fondly, the memory bringing back warm memories to her mind. It seemed like such a short while ago that they had been so resistant to giving into their feelings, and now...

Her train of thought was rudely broken by an argument between the couple in question, standing just two feet from her as they faced off.

"Arnavji! You cannot expect me to keep this thing, it has seen so many years of use, and it has become dirty!"

She gasped, affronted by Khushi's remarks. Arnav's brows knit together in irritation as he looked at his wife, glaring.

"It's been with me since I was a kid! It's soft, it's comfortable, and-"

"Exactly! It's old."

Her mouth fell open along with Arnav's, and he narrowed his gaze menacingly at Khushi.

"Did you just call me old?"

Khushi opened her mouth and then closed it, nervously backing away until Khushi's knees hit her as Arnav took steps towards her. Her limbs creaked as the weight of the couple descended upon her, with Arnav coming dangerously close to Khushi.

"N-nahi, Arnavji, I didn't mean that you were o-o-" Her words died away as he reached a finger out, trailing it down her cheek to her neck, where he casually fingered the mangalsutra.

"Perhaps... I can prove to you just how old I am..."

Khushi swallowed audibly as his other hand slid up her side, sending a pleasant warmth up her spine.

"Hmm... you know why I want to keep this ugly chaise, Khushi?" He drawled, rotating the necklace between his fingers. She was far too interested in the conversation to take offense at his insult, shamelessly watching the drama as his lips grazed Khushi's ear.

"Because it's the first place that we did... this."

She closed her eyes and grimaced, blocking out what was inevitably coming next. It was a side effect of her prestigious position in the love story of Arnav and Khushi, an unavoidable fact of life.

But at least they had forgotten about getting rid of her.

*********

Note: So it's been a while since I've written one of these... but I hope to get back to them. I thought the ugly chaise deserved a tribute, since the green velvet is practically (in)famous 😆 I hope you liked it! Let me know what you think through a like or comment. If you would prefer, you can read at the BLOG.

As always, please follow @chotidesi on Twitter or buddy me for PMs/update notifications.

Love always,

Choti.