Hey, I am back, with a new story. Pls do comment, constructive criticism is always welcome.
ARSHI OS-COMPROMISE
Arnav Singh Raizada, thought as he sat in his posh office that he would never like to revisit that place, though he studied his college over there but then too. Here in Hyderabad, he was more than happy with his life. This city had an old charm and calmness that he liked. Just then he was lost in these thoughts that he realized it was past his lunch time.
Arnav was a big time stock broker or should say he with his father and brothers are the top firm in stock market. His father and brothers stayed in Delhi, they were a big happy Punjabi family and his father travelled to Mumbai for business purpose. But now his father was planning to retire wanted him to shift the base in Mumbai
As he was thinking to order something from caf, he saw Khushi , as usual she was looking bubbly, she was a high end fashion consultant for home dcor, she with her some friends ran an exclusive consultancy where they were allotted empty spaces for decoration or redecor of the places. Here she was wearing a mustard coloured princess cut shirt and blue jeans with multicolored scarf. She entered the office and with her came the peon, he put the white sheet on the coffee table and then she kept the purple picnic basket. She bought out the crockery and cutlery and his favourite Lebanese.
Though his intention was not to drag Khushi in his problems but his parents loved Khushi more that anybody else. After 3 sons, Khushi was their daughter, they always wanted to have basically, even his brothers whom he had terms of fighting like hell were totally in her team, he had never seen them to have rough terms with her. Akash and his wife Payal fangirled Khushi because she helped their arranged marriage into a love one. Plus with his other brother NandKisore or NK was close to marrying his girl friend Lavanya, it was a time they were to last details of their relationship and as usual Khushi was the one who was also helping them.
They sat down together and as usual she talked about her day, he loved the way her hands moved when they discussed life or that twinkle in her eyes. He never said it but he loved when she came to his office giving him surprise and they had lunch together. She did it most of the times when she was in the city. They had a beautiful kothi near old Hyderabad, she had decorated it beautifully and he loved warmness of this city, she has being regularly juggling with her life in multiple cities especially after he moved to Hyderabad a year ago, though they still celebrate all major festivals in Delhi with his family. Khushi and he had an arranged marriage 5 years back, she was a single child of a single mother, so she loved being a part of a big family.
After the lunch, he quietly broached the topic that Dad wants him to move to Mumbai, feverly praying that Khushi makes his parents understand that it was not a wise move rather they should let Akash settle in Mumbai as he has being in business for few years. But Khushi only said "Arnav, I leave the decision to you. I can set my business from anywhere, it's your career that's important to me, but rather I would suggest Mumbai would be good place to change of environment." Arnav knew he was fighting a lost battle because he knew one day he will have to face his fears.
So he informed his father that he will shift, and as usual he left house hunting and decorating to her, plus the interiors of his office in Mumbai. She moved to Mumbai a month earlier than him and found a posh penthouse in one of the high rise buildings plus a great office redecoration was in place.
The building had only two penthouses and as talking to Khushi, he realized only a single woman who is in some sort of music industry lives there another one. Plus with the diagrams, Khushi shared it looked that now Mumbai office is ready to the hippie version of stock broking firms. It is now more of lively place she created using vaastu and other monetary favouring theories. There was use of a lot of glass and the dcor had a flowing touch in it to give it a flow to market transactions. And though he was not much not home dcor, but she still liked his views , the penthouse looked like Japan inspired cherry blossom looks, giving it flowery yet sopsticated looks with lots of use of Turkish dcor making it look very contemporary Asian. He had to agree his wife was amazing in her work. But something moving to Mumbai was very stressing for him. Thankfully when he moved in, Khushi was going out of town as she a major project in Kolkata, where 25 high end bungalows needed to designed, plus at last NK and Lavanya are engaging so she would be there. With Kolkata project and engagement he was looking to 3 months of solitude as she would be really pressingly busy these months. So they just had a regular dinner, he liked what she did to the house and was looking real nice. He as usual also appreciated her choice of staff because it was perfect and that night when he took her, it was different from all other times, it was tensed and worried, plus kindda that made her feel that he was just doing that as a routine but didn't enjoy it.
The next morning he was alone to home as she had early flight and driver drove her to airport, he was feeling guilty that in a way in his anxiety he was making Khushi unsecured because this was the first time in their marriage that she didn't woke him up before boarding the flight, but he felt a bit relieved when he saw a message from her in his room, her old habit of writing notes.
"Don't worry, had very early flight plus it got preponed so left in great hurry that's why didn't wake you up. Best of luck for your first day at Mumbai's office. Love you, take proper meals and I will call as soon as I land.-Khushi "
He was returning from a tiring day at office, but staff responded well to the change . And as he reached his floor, he saw a girl struggling with lots of grocery as she was trying to open the gate on the other house, so he helped her by carrying some of her bags but when she turned, he was shocked to see the face.
The other pent house belonged to Sheetal Munjal; the only person he didn't want to see is the one who's his neighbor.
Sheetal was also shocked to see Arnav after so many years. They lost contact 10 years back, when he moved out of their relationship after teenage disputes. Sheetal was also shocked but then using her brains, she invited in as he was moving she saw his nameplate in other side of wall "Arnav "Khushi didn't like the formal nameplates and plus all her mails came by to Potter's House, so the nameplate said "Arnav" They had coffee and he left to his house, when he saw that it was first time in years that he forgot work and had something else to think.
Late that night when Khushi called, he was distracted so she cut the phone early. Following the week, she didn't have much time so Arnav visited Sheetal a few times as she invited him to dinner. There Khushi was busy in Kolkata, then she just flew for 2 days but that time Sheetal was in Bangalore for a concert, this was the week, she suggested that they should put their personal stuff as that package is still packed due their busyness. But he denied saying that it's not just the time to tire her as she is having hectic schedule. Then she flew to Delhi for a month as there was NK and Lavyana's engagement, then their wedding shopping because wedding was just 2 months away.
He invited her to dinner one night when they discussed Khushi, she said "Your decorator was very passionate about her work; she did everything as if she was to live here. Here what was her name..."
"Khushi, she is my..." Sheetal said "I know, she is your interior designer, and a friend looks she is Akash's friend too, isn't she?"Arnav went with the flow because he would like to spend some time with Sheetal without any complications.
Though when he flew for engagement party, Khushi looked dull, when he inquired she said she just feeling tired some nights, weather caught her as both Kolkata and Delhi were boiling in temperature. She was just too tired and so his attention was again back to Sheetal. Somehow, his life was planning the way he would have liked as his mother didn't let Khushi leave the home because she said it would be better that she helps in wedding plus her regular trips to Kolkata are exhausting so with a family here in Delhi, she would be better cared. And he couldn't agree more.
Here in Mumbai, he went out a lot of times with Sheetal, plus no one knew much of his personal life, so no fuss about that, plus he enjoyed Sheetal's company because with Khushi she only understood old Bollywood or new club songs, but none much than that, but Sheetal had a refined choice in music like they went to a jazz bar, plus electronica theatres and all that kind of music hubs. Arnav never told anybody at home about it but he had a kind of music bar in settling up when he was in college but his best friend cheated him bar and was secretly dating Sheetal, it broke him and he left the place as loser but now if it gave him some peace that music bar failed because very advanced for that decade plus he was cheating with Sheetal with other women.
It was just a regular day till mid day, when he saw Khushi all smilingly in his office, with a duffel bag she was carrying, he didn't knew she was returning today, truth to be told he didn't hears a word she says to him now-a-days though they didn't talk much because whenever she called he hanged the phone early, so she reduced calling thinking it's the new city, new office pressure with lot of office work, and she herself was busy with her ailing health, Kolkata and wedding but he was confident that she had not said something about her return, she was looking as usual, a jeans and a shirt with a scarf, that was also a reason he liked Sheetal, Khushi was predictable and consistent with her life. It was always jeans or Indian wears whereas Sheetal was spunkier and interesting mate he moved with. But he noticed she has lost weight as his brothers said, they were also saying that she was being still nostalgic.
She brought him lunch and today it was home cooked food, she as usual started with her chatter,
"You know we were discussing to have a collage of photos for Mummyji's 55th birthday but I couldn't your photos of college days."
"Khushi you have to arrange without them."
"But, Arnav I am just asking some college photos, not something that will be used otherwise." She was losing her cool when she felt that there is no way she deserved that kind of treatment when she returned 7 weeks after she left their home especially when she has being so supportive.
"Damn Khushi, I just don't want to remember that time" she was speechless but he continued "Yes, I have chosen this life 10 years ago, yes I had to compromise something's in life but who doesn't make some compromises in life."
"Arnav, the life you are saying compromise, I am part of your that life only, is this wedding is also a compromise for you."
"For God sake, Khushi, that's not what I meant."
"That's exactly you meant, Arnav. I am just a compromise for you"
"Lets leave all these. And why had you come unannounced to my office?"
"I was mistaken, I always thought that you liked to share your lunch hour with me and seeing me suddenly over here you will be rejoiced so in your moment of happiness I will tell you that you are going to be a father."Placing a hand over her still flat abdomen. "But, from now on, I will never come to your office, I don't think I deserve this kind of behavior, even after I never tried to sabotage your private life, but now I realize we may share same postal address but we aren't sharing your life, you are not sharing your life." He was stunned for a moment but she continued "But what a pity, now I don't even know you will even happy knowing this."
She left throwing a photo frame at cabin; after she left the peon entered and was cleaning the glass when he saw it was their photo that he had got framed in their last anniversary. A typical Delhi couple photo where they were standing after a Karwa chauth. Now a child, for whom he was waiting since last 4 years , for a moment he was thinking that whether his long forgotten desire was really worth it. Khushi may not be his first love but paved her path to his heart in slow and steady manner by being a constant to his moody and variable nature; she never had in her life tried to change him but rather has adjusted herself.
Is really his college crush worth it that he should risk his four years of marriage, that innocent woman's heart, plus his parents satisfaction, his brother's adoration, his full happy Punjabi family and most importantly now his child. A child which she is giving him. Their love for each other may not be crazy and wild love, but it was something basing on years of companionship, care and love.
But now, he didn't know what to do? So calling an early day off he left to his house and saw her luggage was clearly stacked in room but she was not there, he called for her when the staff told him that she came 2 hours ago and after instructing them about daily work, she left, he found a note saying
"Off to Potter's House, Need some time to think."
Potter's House was her work house and had a bunk bed so that if needed a person or two, he called a number of times at the landline but no one was picking up the phone, so decided to drive over there, and he saw her sitting in front of potter's wheel and trying to make a pot sobbingly. He just sat beside her and started cleaning her neck and face with his hanky and then he firmly holding his hand help in making the pot. He could feel her nervousness as he could feel her back in his front. Then after he carried her in and made her lie in the bed.
And just lied beside her holding her in a manner which made in clear to her that he is no mood to leave her and just caressed her to sleep and falling himself to sleep in turn. He had made his choice and he had chosen his this life with Khushi. He has decided to end matters with Sheetal and before coming here he visited her and told the truth that he was now married and myriad of emotions he persuaded her but now he has understood that he actually want to live with his wife because she is the one who is his true salvation.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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