Part 16
Golmaal hai
Khushi had previously only had an inkling that something was bothering Arnav. But the agitated look on his face when he arrived at the poolside gave her all the confirmation that she needed. Khushi Kumari to the rescue, it was.
Without hesitating for a second, she held Arnav's hand to stop him from walking away, and asked Akash to leave so that Arnav and her could talk.
Akash did not need to be told twice, and he hastily left, looking extremely relieved.
Khushi spared a moment to frown at his retreating back. It was normal that he should want to take things slow, and not want the whole family to jump on his head at such an early stage of his relationship. But why was he so petrified that his family might find out about Lavanya? So what if his filmi mother threw a few tantrums, and so what if Arnav tried to dissuade him? This was his life, and he had to develop the courage to stand up for his choices, if not for himself, then at least for Lavanya.
"What is it?" Arnav said, shaking her out of her thoughts.
"You tell me," Khushi replied gently, letting go of his hand, "Is everything alright? I couldn't help but notice that you have been behaving strangely lately."
"What is it to you?" he snapped back.
He knew that his anger towards her was unjustified. She was not his fiance and was in no way answerable to him. If anything, it was the situation that angered him. He had been somewhat relieved by the fact that Akash had a girlfriend and was therefore out of the picture as far as Khushi was concerned. But maybe the girl who was with him at The Taj had not been his girlfriend to begin with or maybe they had broken up since, because Akash was most definitely in the picture now. Yes, there was no reason to be angry at Khushi at all. But be that as it may, he was angry, and he could not help but lash out at her in that moment.
"Arnav," Khushi breathed, taken aback, but forging on all the same, "We're friends, you can tell me... Is it something I did?"
"Do friends have to tell each other everything?" he retorted. Clearly, he was not the only one keeping secrets.
"No, but -"
"There's nothing," he said with an air of finality.
"Okay," she replied, attempting to mask her hurt with a small smile. His unwillingness to confide in her only confirmed her insecurities pertaining to how insignificant a place she held in his life. And then it hit her - given his recent behaviour towards her, maybe she was the problem!
"Sorry," she continued, in a small voice, as tears began to well up in her eyes, "It's your life, I should not have pried. I guess you may be getting worked up because my family is now involved in our little charade. Everything has become really complicated, hasn't it? I think we should prepone our breakup and get it over with, before some family member blows our cover."
Arnav felt his insides wring themselves with guilt as he saw how upset she looked. It was enough to momentarily distract him away from the thought of Akash and Khushi being together.
"If we prepone the breakup before you have convinced your family to let you be an actress, wouldn't they want you to get married?" he said, softening his tone. No matter how angry he was, the sight of tears glistening in her eyes was still just as disturbing.
"What is it to you?" she said stubbornly, echoing his own words and throwing them back at him. Khushi prided herself on being tough and resilient and hardly ever allowed herself to be affected by the words of others, but somehow, Arnav's rudeness towards her was exceptionally hurtful.
"True," he replied dryly, reminding himself that that was a problem for Akash to resolve, not him.
"Let's break up in a few days' time then," Khushi said, beginning to feel defeated at last, "And thanks for trying to help me with my family situation."
"Why are you in such a hurry anyway?" Arnav asked irritably. She was already making out with Akash, wasn't she?
"Because you're clearly not happy... and I... I just can't see you like this."
Arnav stared at her, shocked at how sincere her answer sounded. She really was thinking about him even though he was behaving so rudely towards her? As he watched, a small tear attached itself to her eyelashes, then dropped down and rolled across on her cheek.
"Why are you crying?" he asked in a pained voice.
She did not reply. How could she tell him that she was crying because, even as she realised that her presence in his life was creating problems for him, she could not bear the thought of parting from him?
"Please, Khushi," he insisted, before finally allowing himself to voice out what he felt, "I can't see you like this either. I'm sorry for being rude, but I really can't tell you what's bothering me because... it's silly, it's something that shouldn't be bothering me in the first place. But why are crying? If you are worried about your family forcing you to get married, please don't. You have my word, we will keep up with this engagement for as long as it takes to convince your family."
She stepped back away from him, as she said, trying to hold back the sobs threatening to engulf her, "It's nothing. I guess I am being silly too. Don't worry about it. Thanks for offering to help, but now with both families involved, the sooner we end this, the better. Anything can go wrong at any time."
Khushi wiped her cheeks resolutely and tried to divert her thoughts away from Arnav and her heartbreakingly one-sided love for him so she would not succumb to tears again. It was impossibly difficult to do, with his eyes poring into hers with such burning intensity.
Meanwhile, there was something in the sight of Khushi stepping away from him with tears in her eyes, that seemed to prod Arnav into action. To hell with looking silly! His heart was overflowing with a multitude of feelings aching to burst out of him.
"Okay," he said, finally, exhausted, "The reason why I was upset is because I... I was feeling jealous."
It felt good to finally confide in someone, in his friend. He felt his former annoyance melt away as relief and solace washed over him.
"Of whom?" she asked, understandably confused by this unexpected answer.
"Akash," he blurted out, instantly regretting it, and hoping she would drop the subject.
"What? Why?"
"It's personal."
Khushi's mind was reeling as she tried to process this new piece of information. Why on earth would Arnav be jealous of Akash, of all people? Akash was the person who had been living in his family's shadow for so long that he broke out into sweat at the mere idea that they should find out that he had found a girlfriend for himself. And then a thought occurred to her -
"Do you know who his girlfriend is?" she asked, her heart pounding with apprehension.
"Yes," he sighed.
"Does it have something to do with her?"
"Look, just drop it, okay? I do not want to talk about it."
"You like her, right?" Khushi prompted him, even as a part of her wanted to run away rather than receive a confirmation that he liked Lavanya after all.
"I said, I do not want to talk about it," he said looking away.
Silence prevailed for some time, before she decided that as a friend she probably needed to comfort him, instead of wallowing in her own melancholy.
"I understand how you feel," she said softly, sadness lacing her words, "I also like someone who likes someone else."
"You mean Akash," Arnav stated without thinking, more to himself than to her.
"WHAT? Of course not!" Khushi spluttered.
"But you were so upset when you saw him at The Taj with that girl!"
"That's because I wanted to set him up with... um, someone else. But turns out that was the girl who he was with at The Taj. So it's the same girl whom you like whom Akash likes and who I was trying to set up with Akash."
"What the - what is this nonsense? Which girl are you talking about? And why the hell were you trying to set her up with Akash? What are you, bloody shaadi.com?"
"Don't you know who the girl is?" Khushi replied, just as confused, ignoring the shaadi.com jibe.
"I have absolutely no idea what you're on about. Who was Akash with? And who were you trying to set him up with? And who is it that you like but who likes someone else?"
"I can't tell you," Khushi replied, biting her lip nervously.
"What the - You can't tell me anything?"
"No, sorry."
"So, wait, you said that Akash is not the person whom you like. Is that right?" Arnav asked, feeling his eyes positively light up with hope.
"That's right," Khushi replied, "But you like his girlfriend, right?"
"That depends. Who the hell is his girlfriend and why is that so bloody confidential? Did Akash tell you not to tell anyone? He's a moron, do me a favour and don't listen to him. This is getting way too confusing."
"If you don't know who the girlfriend is, I can't tell you. Technically I can't even tell you that he has a girlfriend to begin with. And I can't tell you why I can't tell you either but I am sure you will know soon. As for me, no, I don't like Akash, not in that ishq wala love way, I mean. He's just a friend. But maybe I should tell you who the girl who may or may not be Akash's girlfriend is, so that at least you can know if the person whom you like, likes Akash or not. But then again, I can't tell you that, and I can't tell you why I -"
Khushi's rambling monologue was cut short, when Arnav, having reached the limits of his patience, and for some reason, finding her irresistibly adorable in that moment, suddenly cupped his palms around Khushi's face and brought his face so close to hers that he could feel her breaths caressing his lips.
"The person whom I like, doesn't like Akash in that ishq wala love way," he said simply, unable to stop himself. To hell with looking silly!
Edited by whimsical - 9 years ago
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain
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193