Khushi: Of course, give me a second.
Khushi messaged Arnav asking him to find her so she could introduce him to a friend. Arnav came to her in a few minutes while she was talking to Abhinav.
Khushi: Abhinav, this is my husband Arnav Singh Raizada; and Arnav this is my friend Abhinav Mehta.
Arnav (extending his hand): Nice to meet you Mr.Mehta
Abhinav (shaking his extended hand): Pleasure is mine Arnav, Please call me Abhinav.
Abhinav (continued): I heard you work at GI
Arnav: I do
Abhinav: What do you do?
Arnav: Designing
Abhinav: Oh, great!
Abhinav watched the ease with which Khushi and Arnav spoke to each other. He was jealous when Arnav casually placed his hand around Khushi's waist and she instinctively moved closer into him.
Arnav was then called by Shashi to introduce him to some corporate leads and Arnav excused himself. The rest of the Gupta family joined Abhinav and Khushi and chatted for a while.
Abhinav (extending his hand): Khushi, how about a dance?
Khushi (slightly uncomfortably): No, I'm sorry
Abhinav: Why Khushi? Can't you dance with your friend for a while? Or is it that you are scared that Arnav would get upset?
Khushi (defending Arnav): He is not like that, he doesn't mind.
Abhinav: Alright then, let's go.
Khushi looked around but couldn't find Arnav. Albeit not willing, she stepped out to dance with Abhinav.
Arnav met with his friends at the bar. He looked around to spot Khushi and his eyes fell on the Gupta family... Khushi was not there... but there was Preetham... Arnav remembered what had happened the previous day...
Flashback:
It was Di's Haldi. Arnav arrived at his house earlier in the evening from work. Khushi had left GM in the morning to reach Arnav's place. As soon as Khushi saw Arnav, she took him aside and told him to change out of his formals. She had left his clothes in his room upstairs. When Arnav went up to his room, he was disappointed to see Khushi laying out an embroidered Kurta for him to wear.
"God Khushi, I hate to wear this. I didn't even wear it during my own Haldi", he said.
"Exactly Arnav, that's why you have to wear it now. It is Di's Haldi, she will feel bad otherwise", Khushi tried emotional blackmailing him.
Arnav was amused. He pulled her close. "You little minx, now-a-days you command and coerce me a lot", he said kissing her on her cheek, "Not that I'm complaining", "but everything has its own price", He tried reaching for her lips.
"Not now Arnav", Khushi stopped him, "You will smudge my lipstick", she dodged out of his arms and ran out of the room yelling, "Come out soon Arnav".
Arnav sighed. He didn't have an option now. He changed out of his formals in the bathroom, got into the pants and came out. He took the Kurta from the bed and slid into the sleeves first and then tied pulling it over his head. He realized it was stuck on his head, he couldn't get it out either. Since the kurta was semitransparent, he made his way to the door, opened it slightly and called out for Khushi.
After a while, he was helped by a set of feminine hands, gliding up on his bare chest and reaching the kurta. The buttons of the kurta were opened slowly and the kurta was gently slid over his head with her hands stuck between the kurta and his chest.
Arnav was shocked to see that it was Preetham who helped him. Her hands still rested on his chest under his Kurta. She looked at him with a dark emotion in her eyes that he could not fathom. Arnav instantly took a few steps back while pulling her hands out of his kurta.
"What are you doing here?", he asked seriously.
"Well, it's Di's Haldi, so I'm here", said Preetham slyly.
"First off, she is not 'Di' for you. You should call her by her name; Second, what are you doing in my room?", Arnav asked sharply.
"Why are you getting angry Arnav?", she took a step towards him, "I just helped you", "By the way..um.. Khushi is busy downstairs", she said seductively.
Arnav did not understand if Preetham was suggesting something else because Khushi was downstairs or if she genuinely came to help since Khushi was really busy downstairs.
"Thanks, now you should leave", he said.
"Are you sure?", she asked provocatively.
"Positive", Arnav was now very irritated.
Flashback ends...
Arnav had been struggling since then to tell this to Khushi. How could he tell her that her sister had made a move on him? May be Preetham was just teasing him. May be it was just harmless flirting. "Why would Preetham try to hit on her sister's husband?" Arnav shook his head. He was just imagining things. He was reading more into it than there is. He should just ignore it and move on...Wait a second...
Something else flashed in his mind.
Di's engagement time...someone had kissed him in the morning at GM...not just on face but also full on lips...he had sensed desire in that kiss... Khushi had said that she was not home then... so, was it... was it really... Preetham?... But why???
"Gosh, I should have left with Khushi from GM that day. This is such a sensitive issue", he thought, "How am I going to explain this to Khushi?", "Would she trust me if I said something this horrendous about her sister?".
"But then she said I'm her life", a logical part of his brain argued.
"But this is about trusting me against her family",the rest of his brain asserted.
"But she said I'm her family first", his logical brain argued again.
Damn!... Arnav was confused... thoroughly... he needed to cool down... he needed a battle plan...to sort this mess out...
Arnav was pulled out of his thoughts by a gentle tap.
Sheetal: Hi ASR
Arnav: Hi Sheetal
Sheetal: Enjoying the party?
Arnav: Of course.
Sheetal: ASR, I heard that you resigned, but...
Arnav (cut her off): Not now Sheetal; Actually my mind is already made up, so not now, not ever.
Sheetal: Ok, in that case, can we dance one last time?
Arnav remembered how Sheetal had kissed him at their previous dance. He definitely didn't want to get into a tight spot specially in front of his wife.
Arnav: Sorry, I would like to sit this one out.
Sheetal: Why ASR, why can't you dance with me when your wife is dancing with someone else?
Arnav: Excuse me?
Sheetal (pointing to Abhinav and Khushi): Over there...
Arnav wasn't happy to see his wife on the dance floor with someone else, but he was smart enough not to show it.
Arnav (lied): That's her friend and I don't mind her dancing with him.
But then he saw how gracefully Khushi was dancing and was lost in her charm. He noticed Abhinav joking to Khushi about something, and saw Khushi smile at that lightly.
Arnav felt happy seeing her smile. He kept staring at her.
From the dance floor Khushi's looked around the area to find Arnav; When her eyes met with his, they were locked.
Relieved, she felt at home...
Sheetal was dismayed that Arnav was not angry with Khushi instead was rather lost in her but she stuck with him at the bar.
...Continued in next post...
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