ArHi - Devil wears a Smile - Ch7 - Pg7 - 31/7 - Page 3

Akash tried to stretch his back to remove the knots forming in his back. He had been driving for 200 km now right from his father-in-law's place. In his father-in-law's car because his dear Payal found it 'comfy'. But this monster of truck was playing with his back now.

"How long more! My ass is catching frost bite."

Wow how fascinating.

"We should be there soon Payal. Your dad said we should be there before dark. I hope he was right."

He had been married all of two years and Akash was already sick of his wife and her family. He had made the mistake of taking a dowry of 5 crores for marrying her. So whenever he was summoned he was supposed to appear along with his wife in front of her daddy dearest. Even if it was at the cost of his job. He couldn't for his life figure out what it was that Payal wanted a 'vacation' from! Well he supposed people probably needed a break from nothing every now and then.

And so they were now driving to some god forsaken resort home stay just so Payal could get some fresh air. His stomach was rumbling in hunger and there was not a decent dhaba in sight. The last one they had stopped at had been packed with flies and it had made Akash literally puke. He was scared to even stop the car to pee in the bushes. Who knows what kind of snakes crawled these part of the woods. This was supposed to be his second honeymoon trip and a lot was riding on his manhood to deliver the goods. If he managed to get Payal pregnant on this trip, he would be free at last!

His phone rang startling him out of his private reverie.

"Yes we are reaching. We should there in 15-20 min...Yes I will look out for the sign post on the main road and turn...ok 4 km again on a dirt path? Sounds great. Yes..ok...fine...ok...yes we will be staying tomorrow night as well. Thanks."

He hung up to hear snoring by his side. He sighed and soldiered on along a path with no streetlights.

By heavens grace and no thanks to Payal's great navigation skills he managed to read the sign post which read 'Ranna Farms'. Ok good, at least this place existed. He had begun to doubt it. He hadn't followed what the man on the phone was saying about the route in broken English. The place appeared to be a no-brainer. The last stretch leading to the farm seemed pleasant enough. Without much incident Akash reached the farm.

Which wasn't quite so bad by the looks of it. The tall gates of the property were in good condition with no visible signs of rust. And then there was the light! The entire pathway leading up to the gate was flooded with some kind of halogen bulb up high. Finally Akash felt a little relaxed. This place was far from this father-in-law's town no doubt but it was quite near to the mega city of Banglore on the other end.

May be. Just may be. This trip wasn't going to be nearly half ass bad.

Khushi:

Khushi thought like a woman of action. Meaning to say she always thought about doing things. Not about her thoughts per say. Meandering random musings were so not her thing.

And that evening as she was sitting in the spa getting herself a much needed manicure and facial she thought about what she needed to do the next day. Number one, she had to fry Aman's rear just like she did every other day. That man was practically useless. But she still kept him around in case she needed a manly figure in some sort of emergency situation like late nights. He was harmless and didn't really care about things like ego, pride, being a man etc. All these things put together made Aman the perfect punching bag. If he was greatly troubled all he did was whimper.

Number two, she had to meet the banker. Not for banking purposes. But for a potential mate. If there was one area where her mother refused to be convinced it was this. Khushi had to get married. Period. Never mind that her heart was basically made of stone and she hated anything that called itself a man. Weren't people supposed to have feelings to be called normal? Yes, but try telling a mummy this. Supposedly her mother had read a detailed article about a nice lady called Marissa Mayer. The lady in question was only the CEO of a company called Yahoo and barely had time to wipe her own ass. Let alone get married and have children. But still she had managed both. Gotten married to a banker, had a baby, maternity leave of two weeks and bam she was back to work.

So her mother was convinced that if Marissa could make it with a banker, so could Khushi. The supposedly infallible logic of this argument failed her though. Result: she was meeting this cute faced joker the next day. She sighed.

"Khushi! Wait!"

It was NK. The banker? Who introduced himself as Nand Kiss-sore and preferred everyone to call him NK. Why ever with such a great name huh. He had chosen this particular pub to come to of all places available. She was too old for this shit. Didn't he know how to treat a 29 year old?

"Khushi. What happened?"

"NK. I think I am done here. I am leaving."

"But..."

"I thought the whole point of this meeting was to get to know each other better. And you brought me to a club where I cannot even hear myself think, let alone speak?"

Suddenly the cute face looked crestfallen.

"I am sorry Khushi. The last time I did this I took a girl to a Cafe. She said she was bored out of her mind. I didn't know what to do. Seeing you dressed like that, I thought..."

Khushi clenched her fist in anger "Did you apologize? I CANT HEAR YOU!"

Then people began yelling. There was a fist fight. The DJ decided to increase the volume to drown out the unpleasantness. Khushi felt her ear lobes splitting in half. The neon lights, heavy dark air and stale food odor began acting on her. Her head began swimming and she felt she was losing balance.

"Khushi! Are you ok? Why..."

That was the last thing she heard before everything went black. When she came onto, she was sitting on a bench and could still hear the music faintly. Or may be it was her ears ringing. It was the same bloody song.

"Are you alright Khushi? I am so sorry.", NK was looking sorry indeed.

She forced herself to smile "It is ok. It is just that I am not used to this kind of environment. I haven't been to a pub like this. I might not look like it but I am a simple person inside. I like calmness and serenity. I don't think we are matched. Obviously you like a fast paced lifestyle and I am a workaholic bore."

NK sat down beside her "I don't know what to say. I don't usually do this either. Yes I do visit pubs every now and then with friends. But nothing beats the noise here. I am not who you are thinking I am. Can you give me another chance? Look I am really interested in you. I am just being honest. I am a workaholic too. You ll see."

Khushi sighed. She made an attempt to get up but collapsed back down. She had absolutely no energy to get up. What was happening?! Finally she managed to call Aman. She did not call her mom. No use in getting her mother upset over nothing.

"NK see you. All the best. My assistant will be here soon. You can leave if you like."

"Nothing doing. I will stay here until your assistant comes."

NK was kind of sweet actually. But probably not her type. She could very well imagine herself throwing things at him in her usual fits of anger. No he deserved somebody nicer than her. He was a people pleaser. And people pleasers deserved other people pleasers. Not a shrew whack job like Khushi.

Aman duly arrived and she made him drive her to her family doctor and he did not appear pleased when he saw Khushi.

"Stretch your tongue out Khushi. Ah see there. You are acutely anemic. I know you work impossibly long hours with little sleep and no recreation. Please understand that you are only burning yourself. When you have achieved so much in your life why are you still taking so much stress. My daughter admires you and wants to become like you. If I tell her you had a breakdown of sorts and cannot function properly what will she think? A lot of people are counting on you for their livelihood. The hordes of women working in your company want you hale and healthy.

I recommend that you getaway for a vacation for atleast two weeks with immediate effect. Don't give me that look. It is for your own good. I am giving your iron and vitamin supplements. You are going to take rest, drink plenty of fluids and sleep plenty in the coming days. I am giving you sedatives to sleep atleast twelve hours a day. And you are taking them. I am calling your mother and making sure you will take them."

Khushi smacked her forehead. She should have known better than to go to a doctor. She should have just slept it off. Although she hated to admit he wasn't completely wrong. Lately she had been feeling acutely tired. A vacation at that moment sounded like heaven. But two whole weeks! Come on. There had to be some sort of middle ground here. As if on cue her whatsapp beeped.

"Khushi you won't believe this place I am in right now. It is pure heaven. There is a bird sanctuary on one side and a lake on the other. It is 400 acres of pristine resort glory. We haven't spent any time together in years! Why don't you come here for a couple of days. Akash would love to have you here as well. Come na Khushi."

Ya right. Akash was her dear brother-in-law. She supposed he was an ok lad but his face resembled a horse a little too closely and his body was a smooth drum. Looks were not his forte.

The message was followed by a flurry of pictures of dark shrubs which looked very prim and prosperous.

"It is a place called Ranna Farms. The food here is awesome too."

In the meanwhile the doctor was still talking "Khushi will you put that phone down and listen to what I am saying? Take a vacation. You will be back as good as new. I promise."

"Fine! I will take a vacation. Whatever. You and mom are the same!"

"It is not good to be so materialistic. Sometimes..."

Hai Devi Mayya! The last thing she needed in life was philosophy. It was then that she decided. Three days. A trip away from work, mom, doctor and Aman. With Payal. Who to be frank Khushi missed sorely.