Chapter 6: Aware of a stranger
It was way past midnight and the last person Arnav expected to see up waiting for him on top of the stairs was his sister, "ohh..!?" he stopped mid-flight staring at the inexplicable; sincerely hoping that it was just a coincidence that his sister was here now, "Di" which was more like a question in itself, he took his time to frame the next few words, "You shouldn't have waited up" toning down his reaction mindful of not to hurt her sentiments. He had to get her to understand it was exactly this sort of babysitting that made him want to go away but he wasn't going to try and make that point at the dead of the night. She made way for him, but made it a point to follow him to his bedroom holding on to a bottle of water in her hand.
"Don't get any ideas" she clarified, "I just needed some water" she lifted the bottle as if reinforcing her claim.
His sister was a terrible liar, he simply stared at her, shook his head and wished her good night before walking into his bedroom. "Good night Chotte" her voice was low making him instantly regret that dismissive tone of his. He walked back out of his room and called out, "You know Di..." and deliberately paused forcing for her to stop, "you were right about that list of yours" he said removing the tie that hung low, "List?" not sure what exactly he was referring to, she stood with her back to him, waiting for him to elaborate further.
"No one recognizes me anymore..." his effort brought a smile to her face. Anjali turned around eager to see how he'd take this forward, "Looks like I'm losing my touch..." he said even as he threw the tie back to his room, rather uncharacteristically, "Who's number one on that list of yours?" he asked again, "Is that shit even real or were you just messing with my head?" he asked.
"I thought you didn't care for that shit?" she narrowed her eyes at him, "Or is that just the drink?"
"You know" he shrugged, "I just don't like losing" he smiled, one of those rare moments, mostly reserved for a select few.
"You better do something about it then...the stakes are high, waise..." he knew where this was headed and so nipped it in the bud before she went that route again, "Go to sleep di"
***
A few hours ago.
"Khushi, Mohan will drop you home" Akash insisted and Khushi didn't refuse. Two reasons, given this city's reputation, she didn't want another dressing down from Jiji about being careless about personal security. And second, well she was tired of the freaking heels as her feet had begun to hurt. There was no way in hell she'd be able to walk around trying to find an auto in this god-forsaken-neighborhood inhabited by insanely rich people. There was also a third she didn't want to acknowledge, she just wanted to flee this place - that pair of eyes and go home, where she could just be herself.
Khushi's list of admirers had always been a long one, but never had anyone made her want to flee, not even Bankelal or that nerdy guy in the neighborhood tuition class who followed her everywhere had ever made her this uneasy. But this man, with his penetrating gaze made her want to just get away. And Khushi had enough sense to know, when it told her to flee, she had to run!
He knew he shouldn't have changed his travel plans but his ailing grandmother's call was hard to ignore. She was his weakness, and she knew. He knew she had blackmailed him during the FaceTime call making that forlorn face but he simply could not refuse. That and a little matter of evaluating Akash's progress was on the top of his list. Except he had not accounted for unforeseen distractions that had literally lured him out of his cave and to his horror even made him shake his leg, in Di's words, that was the highlight of the evening. Luckily, it was dark when and where it happened, saving him the blushes. But following a certain encounter with Red, the unattainable Ms. Gupta apparently aka Akash's fiancee-to-be, W*F...!, he needed some fresh air. So here he was seated inside his latest purchase ready to reclaim that peace of mind.
Except, it was so badly messed up that even now when he looked down at his left hand, firmly grasping the steering wheel, he saw invisible imprints of that moment that lingered on, "f**k" he cursed, not particularly pleased with his own behavior. He had acted so bloody out of character, like a hormonal teenager. She was his brother's girlfriend or soon-to-be-anyway, for Christ's sake; Arnav didn't poach on women. It usually worked the other way around. Unfortunately, her presence tonight had hit him like a bolt of lightening, a flash of red so intense it scrambled his thought process, and now made him feel like a pervert hitting on her. It was purely by accident, yeah sure, designed to seem like one, the words didn't sound convincing at all. Except, why was there no objection from her? If anything, she was as intrigued as he had been! He needed to get to the bottom of this, for Akash's sake than anything else. Right. Of course. The mind was a mess.
He had only driven out to the front yard when Khushi walked out mumbling to herself, he saw the fleeting image of the red fabric on the rear-view mirror before a rap on the his window forced his attention to the side, "Chalo, Mohan Bhaiyaa...Laxmi Nagar chalo..." he watched in bewildering fascination as a woman sat herself down at the back seat of his posh BMW like she owned this badass, "What the...!" the next few words just died right back when he realized who it was. Khushi snapped her head up to look at him but froze upon realizing that the driver wasn't, well... a driver or Mohan!
"Haiii Devi Maiyaaa!" she exclaimed in panic as her eyes took in the blue color of the man's shirt. That was some expensive fabric as was this car she was sitting in.
"Unbelievable!" he snapped, her eyes widened further in shock as his face came in clear view, forcing her to gasp out in frenzied panic. This.was.awkward.
Khushi had never felt so out of depth. Talk about throwing a fish out of water!
"Akash you idiot!" Arnav lashed out, "I can't believe he asked Mohan to drive you home" she had no freaking clue why he was saying what he was saying, "This is unacceptable!" he exclaimed.
Khushi just stared back in sheer panic. One that was bubbling dangerously on the surface and was about to go bat-shit-crazy soon.
***
Earlier in the evening -
Life is strange. For the longest time, it moves about regularly where nothing out of the ordinary happens. Then suddenly, one fine day, one random moment, something clicks. And everything changes. Quite literally as this intangible force buzzing with excitement seeps through to every little fiber of your being bringing everything to life. The buzz so intoxicating that you get swept away by its wave.
You know it because you feel it instantly - as if the universe just opened a door you previously had no idea even existed and you find yourself peering through the opening into the spectacular awed, a little apprehensive but also know in your heart that it is inevitable - crossing over that threshold, into that unknown.
It must have been the third or fourth number when the euphoric haze lifted a little, and Khushi stopped to take a breather, slowly ambling towards the sidelines until he was in direct line of sight. The impact was immediate. Too strong for her to ignore or to look away. She stilled, frozen - momentarily everything ceased to be, did the world stop spinning too? That spell was broken when he got pulled to the dance floor, where a beaming Anjali - the woman Akash had introduced to her earlier embraced him. The music was still going strong but Khushi was pretty sure most people around them had stopped dancing. Everyone was vying for his attention while his were focussed on Akash and Anjali. After a moment or two, she felt like an outsider prying into someone's private moments, it just felt wrong. Random words, loud music, strange names all filtered through to her, she knew one of them was his. This cacophony where the voices presided, didn't make it easy for her to discern one from the other, she couldn't figure out which was him. Averting her eyes away from an obviously private affair, Khushi moved away from the dance floor, "Where are you going?" only to be pulled back forcefully.
"Water" she replied absentmindedly not even looking at the person who had asked, "Not so fast Khushi" Lavanya pulled her back, her eyes pinned her to the edge of the dance floor , "You are not allowed to leave so soon"
"I wasn't...umm...I... just need some water" Khushi motioned, "I'm exhausted"
"But you are coming back right?" she asked, strange that she should, they weren't like best buddies, Khushi nodded. When her eyes darted back in his direction, they locked with a pair of deep dark ones, it paralyzed her. An alien heat flamed up her cheeks and Khushi turned away mortified. The need to get away from a place had never felt as paramount. She walked away without looking back this time, willing her racing heart to slow down.
A little while later.
She stared at the crowd dance from the sidelines. Just a moment, ago. She had been drinking water, iced - the coldest water she could get her hands on. Evidently even that was not enough to thaw her clamoring heart on overdrive.
Then somehow, found herself pulled back into the eye of the storm, so calm momentarily till she got knocked out into the wilderness. She loved dancing so it didn't take long for her to get into it, forgetting everything else. Tired, exhausted maybe but not beaten down anymore, it felt good. No scrap that, it was exhilarating. Not since that night when Jiji's wedding was fixed had she been so excited, serving hot jalebis to everyone in the neighborhood. And it sure felt good. Being sad was tiring, happiness was the brand she'd endorse if life gave her that option. A moment's reprieve from the realities was more than welcome as Khushi realized, its worth more than gold. So lost was she in music that not until he was next to her did she realize who it was. Then it happened, that fleeting touch awakened a trail of fire in her searing her with a burn so deep she could feel its itch for days afterwards. Just as they were following Akash, mimicking his personalized dance steps, her hands brushed against something warm. She looked right trying to discern the source and found him next to her instead, their hands touching even as they moved about in that crowd, and neither made a move to pull away. She didn't know how long but it stayed there for longer than she had allowed any man's touch previously. And then he was gone, in the blink of an eye. Just like he'd appeared, leaving her in a frenetic daze. Was this really happening?
***
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Real Estate
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