Ishq Bulaava ||An ArHi SS|| [New Thread Link-Pg152] - Page 61

Chapter- Nine (b)

Khushi merrily came downstairs in the morning, as she would be stepping into the kitchen for the first time after marriage and as per rituals she was supposed to make a sweet dish before cooking something else. Even the family members were looking forward to have breakfast, and knowing that their daughter-in-law belonged to a sweet-shop owner's family, they were sure to get a mouth-watering dish!

"When it was my first day at kitchen, I made sooji halwa... It was a tradition to make that, but not necessarily." Himani said in a jovial tone, as she showed the places of all ingredients to Khushi, "So what are you going to make?"

"Anything... Which is Arnav's favorite..."

"Oh, so that's the case." The lady smiled widely as Khushi gave an innocent answer & looked away, "Well, you must know that Arnav is not much of a sweet-lover... But yes, he quite likes badaam halwa."

"Can I make that?"

"But that will require a lot of time..."

"I can at least try... If you don't mind?" Or else..."

"Why would we mind?" Devyani interrupted in between as she came into the kitchen, "Infact we're happy to know that you want to make Arnav's favorite dish..."

"Yes of course... And we know that you won't need any help since you must be an expert...Still, if you need any help, just call me..."

Khushi smiled at both the ladies before they walked out of the kitchen, and then she immediately began with the preparation of badaam halwa, hoping that it would be liked by everyone, especially Arnav.

***

It was just the wait for the family members to settle themselves on the breakfast table, and Khushi began serving them from her hand-made badaam halwa in little bowls. She watched nervously as they took the first morsel, while Arnav was surprised to see the dish in morning meal.

"Is there something special today, for which this has been made?"

"You can ask your questions later on, first eat it and tell if you like it or not." Devyani looked at him, and then passed a wide smile to Khushi, "I totally love this!"

"True Dadi, this halwa is delicious!" Anjali joined in and then looked at her brother, who was eating silently, "Come on Chhotey... Khushi has especially made this badaam halwa for you and you're simply busy eating it? At least tell whether it's tasty or not!"

"Don't you know Anjali, he just goes on eating if something is delicious?"

"I know that Mumma, but Khushi would want to hear something from him... See, how she's looking nervously at him!"

Himani and rest others looked at Khushi as she heard what her sister-in-law said and innocently moved away her gaze from Arnav, while he finished eating the halwa in his bowl and asked for some more from her.

"Don't worry di, she'll very soon understand my own ways of complimenting!"

He gave a frank answer and smiled a little at his wife, who was initially startled by this remark as everyone flashed a wide smile at the couple, but then she had a feeling of ecstasy while he ate the dish to his heart's content.

"And yes Arnav, you remember right that today you've to drop Khushi at Madhumati Ji's place?" Shekhar asked, finishing his meal and looking at him, "I'm still saying you to stay back at home today instead of going on work..."

"Don't worry Dad, I'll manage it. I shall drop her there and on my way back from office I'll pick her up."

***

"Why couldn't you simply say that the halwa was tasty, instead of commenting indirectly?"

Khushi questioned sternly, while fastening the seatbelt as she settled in the car with Arnav to leave for her aunt's place. She found this a nice time to talk to him about it, since she didn't wish to embarrass herself in front of her in-laws.

"The last time I complimented someone was criticized if you remember... So I preferred to be silent rather than to give a single comment." He gave a frank reply, much to her irritation.

"Very funny... But there's a difference between I and halwa... Yes I was expecting to hear a lot from you about myself, but even I understand that you can give a single comment on halwa."

"Thank God... At least you have that much common sense..."

"So till now what you thought about me?" Khushi heard him murmur slowly, "Let me remind you that I am a teacher..."

"I very well remember that!"

"Good for you, then."

Khushi didn't realize how quickly they reached at their destination while humorously arguing with each other. Arnav was getting late for work because of which he promised her to meet her family in the evening when he would come to pick her up.

"Khushi... That halwa was really very delicious."

He called her to admit, making Khushi smile cheerfully before she went inside and he drove away from there.

***

Around late evening, while Himani instructed the servants about the menu of following night's dinner, Devyani leisurely sipped on her sugarless tea, watching television with her son. It was hardly a day since their daughter-in-law stepped into the mansion and they already started missing her as she was yet not at home. Along with her, even Anjali was being missed, since she went with Shyam after her brother's wedding rituals were done.

A while later, Arnav arrived at home, his eyes being glued at phone, and expecting Khushi coming behind him, Himani happily came to her son, but her smile almost started fading away when she couldn't find her.

"Where is Khushi?"

She asked, trying to peep behind him, not able to find her daughter-in-law there. On the other hand, this single question made Arnav blank as he stood silently, realizing his stupidity of coming home without his wife!

"Arnav? I'm asking you something... Where's Khushi?" Himani repeated her question worriedly.

"I'll go and ...get her..." Arnav mumbled.

"What do you mean by I'll go and get her? You... forgot... To pick her up from her home?" She suspiciously looked at him, while he gathered courage to speak up.

"I... actually remembered it... But I..."

"How can you be so careless, Arnav? You literally forgot to pick up your wife from her place?"

"Himani... Calm down..."

"You're asking me to calm down even now, when my responsible son has shown such a stupidity?" She yelled on top of her voice, silencing her husband and glaring at Arnav, who apologetically looked at everyone, still feeling surprised on him.

"We can talk about this later on..." Devyani said firmly, moving forward to Arnav, "You go and bring Khushi first... She must be waiting for you..."

"I never expected such carelessness from you..."

Himani went in her room, mumbling those words which were heard by his son as he quickly made his way towards Madhumati's house with a strange guilt in his heart.

Chapter-Nine (c)

Madhumati joyfully made her way towards the main gate on hearing the doorbell, expecting Arnav to have rung the same. She opened the door and let him in, while he brought a normal expression on his face, not wanting his in-laws to realize of his silliness. He settled down comfortably in the living room with Shashi, while Sonali too joined him, and there Garima asked her daughter to hurry up for going with him.

"I'll... Be back in a while."

"Sure, uncle..."

Arnav allowed him with a little smile as Shashi got a phone call and he went in to receive it, and in the meantime Khushi came to him, wearing a gloomy expression on her face which made him anxious.

"Hai re nandkisore... Arnav beta, you should stop referring to Shashi as Uncle... He's your Father-In-Law!" Madhumati commented in her usual tone, making him a bit abashed.

"Khushi... You should be happy that your husband is here... Why are you sad?" Garima carefully looked at her, while Arnav too waited for an answer.

"I'll...miss you all..."

Khushi admitted innocently in a teary voice, hearing which both the women present there looked nostalgically at her and Garima immediately pulled her in a warm consoling hug, begging her not to cry for the sake of her parents. Arnav excused himself to look for Shashi and reached in the room, where his father-in-law sounded worried on the phone.

"Is there any problem?"

"No, not at all..." He brought a forced smile on his face & replied to Arnav, abruptly disconnecting the call, "Some workers in the sweet shop are having a few troubles and I'm not there right... So... just a little worried about it."

"Can I help you in anyway?" Arnav questioned readily.

"Oh no...I mean you don't need to take the pain... I'll be reaching Lucknow by tomorrow afternoon so I'll handle it."

***

Khushi happily handed over the gifts to each of her in-laws, keeping aside the gift packets of Shyam & Anjali, which would be given to them later on. Arnav sighed to see his father & grandmother in a good mood, but Himani still seemed to be quite upset with him, as she still couldn't get over what happened in the evening. She was silent on the dinner table too, but smiled forcefully for the sake of Khushi.

Another thing which disturbed his mind was a kind of sadness visible on Khushi's face. Though she kept a normal interaction with everyone, Arnav could easily notice how hard she tried to smile widely and that didn't go well with him. However, he simply wanted to get some time alone with his wife so that he could at least try to cheer up her mood.

***

Khushi changed into a pair of cotton salwar kameez once she came in the room, still not in her good of moods. She went at the poolside to get some fresh air, gazing at the plants absent-mindedly. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she couldn't realize when Arnav came in the room, saw her in a gloomy state, and went out, wondering what to do for her.

***

"I hope you weren't asleep...Did I disturb you?" Arnav asked in a low voice on the phone, while standing in the dark hall behind the staircase.

"Oh no, not at all... We were just packing our stuffs... You and Khushi must have reached at home long time before?"

"Yes... Actually...I need some help from you."

"What happened? Did... Khushi say something to you? Beta, please don't..."

"Relax Aunty..." He interrupted, and then corrected himself, speaking further, "I mean... Amma... She hasn't said anything.. Infact, she's quite silent since we returned back from there... And I don't know how to cheer up her..."

"That's it? You know, cheering up Khushi isn't a difficult task... She's totally a child at heart... Probably a chocolate ice-cream can do that work!"

"Chocolate ice-cream? Seriously? I mean..."

"I know it sounds quite absurd, but that's the fact." Garima grinned widely, "Khushi is too fond of such stuffs... Ice-cream, chocolates, Pani puri..."

"Okay... I shall get an ice-cream for her."

"And Arnav, I've said it to you before also, still I'm requesting you again... Take care of my daughter... She's childish at times, but she would never purposely even think of hurting someone... And you can talk to her openly if you have some problem from her... She won't mind that at all..."

"You don't need to be tensed about her, Amma...I'll take care of her, since she is my responsibility now."

Finishing his conversation with his mother-in-law, Arnav turned behind to leave when he was stopped by his father, who seemed to have heard everything and looked at him with a slight smile on his face.

"You're still awake, Dad?"

"I was going to get myself a glass of water... Your mom as so tensed today that she forgot to keep one for me in the room."

"I know she's still angry on me. But what can I do if I forgot about Khushi? I always return back to home from work and even today I did that!"

"Don't worry Arnav, she'll soon be fine. She was just worried about what would Khushi's parents think if you reached late there..."

"Whatever..."

"But in a way she's right. Now that you're married, you should be a little caring towards Khushi... And I know, once you start caring for her, there won't be anymore such issues..." Shekhar said out of concern.

"Hmm... Anyways, I'll be back in a while."

"Where are you going?"

"I've to get ice-cream for your daughter-in-law!"

Arnav replied in a carefree and humorous tone, hearing which his father laughed out joyfully and patted lightly on his shoulders before he left from there. Even after knowing that the couple would need some time to develop the strong bond of love & trust for each other, Shekhar eagerly waited for the day when Arnav would look upon Khushi as his wife rather than just a responsibility which has been given to him by his in-laws.

***

Khushi turned back when she heard the door open and saw her husband step in with a small carry bag in his hands. She wiped her tears quickly and walked up to him with questioning eyes, as he handed over to her the bag, opening which she saw two cups of chocolate ice-cream.

"This ice-cream is for me?"

"Yeah obviously...There's no third person here for whom I'll get this and... I'm not too fond of it."

"You have no idea how much I love ice-cream... And chocolate is my favorite flavor..." Khushi smiled in delight, "I can even skip my meals for eating ice-cream! You know when I was a kid, my parents used to say that they'd gift me an ice-cream factory in my marriage! How much I love this..."

Arnav watched her as she went on blabbering proudly about her love for ice-cream & other desserts hearing which, he wondered about her sudden mood change that seemed weird to him but also somewhat fascinated him! He chuckled slightly on observing how cutely Khushi ate the ice-cream, not realizing the fact that he was being drawn towards her each moment. However, her question brought him back to reality from his own world of thoughts and looked at her apologetically.

"By the way, can I know the reason behind this surprise ice-cream treat?"

"You seemed quite upset today... And you were even silent throughout the time while we were on the way back to home... So I thought to lighten up your mood. Garima Aunty told me that ice-cream would be helpful because you love it."

"I do love ice-cream a lot. But I didn't know that you notice my moods so much... I mean, you easily guessed that I'm feeling very low today..."

"Of course you must be feeling so... And I'm regretful for that..."

"You're regretful? For what?"

"Khushi, I nearly forgot to take you from Buaji's home. I realized it on reaching here and... Everyone was quite disappointed with my silliness."

"Oh... So now I understand why they were silent during the dinner..."

"Yeah... But I don't know how I could forget to..."

"So you think I'm upset because you forgot to pick me?"

"Yeah."

"Arnav, how was I supposed to know whether you forgot about me or you were busy in work? I was assuming that you were busy with some work because of which you got late. But whatever the reason be, it's fine... No need to feel regretful about it."

"Then what were you upset for?"

"My family...I'm missing them a lot, Arnav..." She replied, looking innocently at him.

"I know no one can ever take place of your family... But we all are also your family now and I'm sure you won' take a long time to adjust yourself in this house..."

"Everyone here is so kind and gentle towards me that I don't feel lonely being surrounded by them..."

"And being your husband, I have some responsibility towards you..." Arnav said after taking a deep breathe, "I promise to you that I shall put in all efforts from my side to keep our relation strong..."

"Why are you talking this way all of a sudden?"

"Because I don't want you to feel lonely here. I am with you... Always."

His serious tone made Khushi look at him keenly, thinking that he did not even need to voice those words since his eyes spoke them louder. Lowering her gaze shyly, she smiled a little, knowing that after this much needed conversation, she would always need him by her side as he could easily make her smile while she missed her home.

"And if we're done with serious talks, can I finish up my ice-cream before it melts?"

"Crazy woman you are... Just few seconds ago you were upset and now this sudden mood change?" Arnav asked amusingly.

"I know it's a little weird, but I think if we get a reason to be happy, we shouldn't let it go.."

"Means what?"

"I'm missing my parents, but I have a companion like you with me... And this chocolate ice-cream in my hands, what else do I need to smile!"

Little did she know how content Arnav felt on seeing that adorable smile on her face as she continued eating her ice-cream leisurely and he gazed at her with affection. It was just a lively start to their married life where he promised to be a good husband for Khushi, who unknowingly made him realize that his mere presence can also be the reason for her bliss.

Only if they knew that more of such blissful moments along with some bitter ones were stored for them in coming days!

PRECAP-:

Shekhar- Your honeymoon tickets for Goa!

Arnav- Honeymoon..?

Himani- Come on Arnav, you're behaving as if we're sending you on exile... You're supposed to be excited for this trip... It will be your first outing with Khushi, go and have fun!