Hello. It's been a while since I put up a One-shot ("Lucknow Times" being the last one). And, finally, inspiration struck. This OS is, basically a sum of many things that I love-the rain(watching it, only, no getting drenched), hot coffee & Arnav-Khushi. It's been raining, here almost everyday & I just had to write something about it. And, thus, this OS happened.
Disclaimer: I have used the title of a musical for this OS.
My previous OSs if you are interested in checking out:
Coloured Halos- https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/iss-pyaar-ko-kya-naam-doon/4335656/os-coloured-halos
Sleepless in New Delhi- https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/iss-pyaar-ko-kya-naam-doon/4344189/os-sleepless-in-new-delhi
Chocoholics Anonymous- https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/iss-pyaar-ko-kya-naam-doon/4351884/os-chocoholics-anonymous
Turning the Big 30- https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/iss-pyaar-ko-kya-naam-doon/4368750/os-turning-the-big-30
Lucknow Times- https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/iss-pyaar-ko-kya-naam-doon/4393919/os-lucknow-times-4th-anniversary-special
Kindly, ignore typos if you find any. So, here goes the OS.
OS: SINGIN' IN THE RAIN
Till a very long time, monsoons hadn't been anything more than an unavoidable nuisance to Arnav Singh Raizada. Traffic became sluggish, roads got blocked when it poured. How the hell was he supposed to run a business when employees came in 30mins late to meetings, drenched!
That, though had been Arnav Singh Raizada of the pre-Khushi Kumari Gupta times. Once that little whirlwind had entered his life & turned it upside down, he had ended up taking quite a number of walks in the rain. He would've liked to say the walks were for romantic reasons, but the truth was quite far from that. Whether it was to get her out of the way of a car (because he had been a big enough ass to give her parking duty out of sheer spite) or because the sight of her in a red saree had burned itself into his retina & brain once & forever( and he had barely managed to cope with the onslaught on his senses), he had found himself standing in the middle of a road in the pouring rain more than once, not with any romantic sentiment, at the time, but to try to cope with the primitive burning heat that the woman had evoked within him.
It had been an effective way to vent & calm down. And maybe, it had served as a half-decent cold-shower too, mused Arnav as he went to the balcony attached to his bedroom. He reached the balcony doorway & stopped when he caught sight of her.
Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada stood in the balcony in a white kurta-pajama. Her face was turned up towards the sky, her eyes were closed & her open hair was flowing in the breeze. She seemed to be taking delight in the raindrops falling on her face. The sight made Arnav's sappy heart skip a beat & then, some. The woman was going to give him arrhythmia, one of these days, he thought. Anyway, this sight of her was what he had been associating with monsoon for years, now. Monsoon hadn't become any less of a nuisance, but he had figured that it had its own appeal, too.
Arnav shook his head at her when he saw her trying to lean further beyond the chest-high railing to feel the light drizzle on her face. He went & stood leaning against the railing while looking at her.
"Enjoying ourselves, are we?" he asked, smiling at her. Khushi opened her eyes on hearing him & stood back under the roofing.
"Well, it could've been better but, my husband is a buzzkill. He had these insanely tall railings fitted here & it keeps me from getting drenched in the rain." Khushi said while wiping the water droplets from her face. Unable to resist, Arnav bent his head & kissed her jaw. Khushi sucked in a breath & looked at him quizzically.
"There was water, there. Since my two hands are occupied-" pointing at the two mugs in his hands "-I used my mouth. I was only trying to help." he said with a smirk.
Khushi raised her eyebrows & said with slight exasperation, "Helping? Really?"
"Of course. What kind of wife doesn't trust her husband's word!" he said, smiling and nuzzling her cheek.
"The kind that knows how horny you can get, Arnav." she said dryly, even as she melted against him, clasping handfuls of his t-shirt to pull him closer.
"Touche *." he said, chuckling as he pressed a wet kiss on her cheek.
Arnav lifted his head & looked at her upturned face & asked, "How about a Masala Chai? Will that be enough compensation for getting tall railings fitted?" Arnav asked holding up one of the mugs in his hands to her.
Khushi grabbed it & felt the heat of the chai warm her hands. She looked up at his expectant face & said lightly, "Well, that's a start, but we can negotiate on appropriate compensation, later, perhaps."
"Oh, I look forward to it." said Arnav, catching on to her line of thought & grinning.
Arnav took a sip of coffee from his own mug. He noticed that Khushi seemed to have become engrossed in draining the chai. When she had drained half the mug, she looked up at her husband.
"Your masala chai making skills are beginning to give me a complex. Must you do everything with such diligence & perfection!" she said with mock exasperation.
"I am sure, you'll come up with a way to deal with your bruised ego." he said, eyes glinting with amusement.
Khushi rolled her eyes at him and returned her attention to the hot chai. In between the sips, she looked at the man standing with her in the balcony, in his track pants & t-shirt, staring at the cityscape, sipping away at his black coffee. She noticed the grey hair that had started appearing at his temple & his stubbled jaw. The feel of that stubble on her skin was as familiar to her as the smirk gracing his lips (because he knew she was ogling him) & the quirk of his eyebrow asking her to explain the cause of her preoccupation. Khushi just shook her head & smiled at him.
In that moment, Khushi had realised, Arnav was the same as she had known for years & still not quite. In fact, he had looked like the perfect amalgamation of what he innately has always been-the person that she had lost her heart to-and the man that he had grown into, in the past nine years of their marriage. There was the flash of the same insufferable arrogance & a twinkle of teasing adoration for her. But, there was also something else that had smoothed out the sharp, jagged edges of his personality. It wasn't just happiness. She wondered what it was.
Arnav moved to sit on the comfortable two-seater sofa they had placed in one side of the balcony. He noticed that his wife was lost in her thoughts & called out to her. She snapped back to reality & gave him an inquiring look.
"Come to me." he said & Khushi joined him on the sofa, comfortably snuggling up to the warm body next to her. He pulled her closer as she shivered due to the slightly cool breeze.
Khushi looked at the small potted plants lining the parapet wall, the city getting wet in the rains & the man sitting next to her. "Have I told you how much I love this part of the house!" she said, sighing.
"Only about five hundred and sixty eight times." said Arnav, amused.
Khushi gave him a superior look & ignored his statement, pointedly. "I mean, adding a balcony to this house was a genius idea." she said, cupping her empty mug with her hands to absorb all the residual heat.
Arnav chuckled. "Of course, you'd say that. It was your idea." he said.
Khushi quirked her eyebrow at him-nine years of marriage was long enough to learn that, you see-and said, "That just makes the idea more credible."
"Sure, it does." said Arnav, with faux sincerity, controlling his mirth.
They sat in comfortable silence as it continued to pour. Khushi extended her legs beyond the roofing of the balcony, trying to get her feet wet. Arnav looked on as he idly played with her fingers that was intertwined with his.
"One of these days, you'll come out in the rain with me." Khushi said abruptly.
Arnav turned to look at her face. Her eyes were still focused on her feet. "I would go out in the rain with you now, but I am not going to babysit you when you catch a cold & bring the house down." he said without any rancour.
Khushi laughed softly before letting her head settle against his shoulder. "You're all bark & no bite. You'll be hovering over me like a mother hen, no matter what you say, now." she said with confidence.
"Good Lord, I have spoilt you!" he said, pulling her closer, not contesting her claim.
"Want to go for a walk in the rain?" he murmured into her hair.
"With an umbrella?" she asked, knowingly
"Well, people don't get everything that they want. They just have to compromise." he said.
"Even you?" she asked.
"Except me, I suppose." Arnav said, thoughtfully and Khushi rolled her eyes at his arrogance. And, then, he continued speaking, "But that's because all I ever really wanted for myself was you & well, you're stuck with me for life."
Khushi sighed & pressed the cool skin of her nose against his throat, smiling at that confession. Regardless of their unfortunate torrid beginning, the man had been making her happy for a long time. She kissed his jaw before extracting herself from his embrace. She looked at him having had a new found realisation as to what had been different about him compared to their early days together. Contentment. And, she recognised something similar in her ever-so-restless self, too.
Khushi looked at his dear face & said, "Look at you waxing lyrical."
"I'll blame you for it." Arnav said without missing a beat, as he brushed her wind-blown hair into place.
Khushi smiled. "Of course, I'll take all the credit, Raizada. Whatever would you be without me!" she said, winking at him.
Arnav laughed at her sass & it quickly turned into a moan of approval as Khushi threw herself at him, kissing him senseless & making both their hearts sing.
Singin' in the rain, it was, indeed.
P.S: Check out "Singin' in the rain", the musical. I have heard only good things about it.
CID
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