Holla!!!
I'm back 😆 yup with time with a... umm ... idk a five shots? I hate to call this a SS, so I'll go with an FS. I'm still figuring out how many shots it will be, but definitely not more than five.
I tried a different concept. So please do give me some feedback and if you like this piece, peh-lisss don't forget to like (and comment of course😳) Love you all for always being such wonderful readers and for always appreciating my work.🤗ILY
10 minutes...
Well, 8 minutes to be precise. Khushi Gupta has been sitting on one of the high-back wooden chairs at the Doctor's cabin, endlessly fidgeting with the hem of her floral frock. Her heart pounding at her chest vigorously, so much so that she is sure anyone standing at the entrance of the room would hear.
It's okay...It's gonna be fine! I'm fine...
Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply and held her breath.
1, 2, 3...
Exhaling loudly, she started continuing the process to calm herself down.
"I'm not going, La! Stop this nonsense, please!"
"Khushi, love, Look what you have done to yourself! You don't like to hang around, you lock yourself out, you don't laugh, you don't smile, you can't sleep at night, tell me from which angle does it look like the lifestyle of a normal person?"
Staring at her bestie for a long minute, Khushi gulped, "You...you think I'm mentally ill? You think I...I am not normal?"
All Khushi got from the look of Lavanya was pity and sympathy, to which she lowered her gaze.
Cocooning her bestie to her chest, Lavanya kissed her hair and murmured, "You need help, Khushi."
She was gonna continue the process when she sighed, exasperated.
To hell with this BS! I'm not doing this... I'm totally fine!
She was about to get up when she heard a knock on the door. And before she could raise her gaze, the person on the other side, opened the door and peeped in.
"Ms. Khushi Gupta?"
Khushi got up as the 6 feet tall man in a black and grey plaid shirt with jeans entered the room.
"Hello, I'm Arnav Singh Raizada, your counsellor. How're you doing today?", greeted the dapper man with a smile infront of her.
The huge hazel eyes took more than the time intended to take in the person's friendly gesture. Probably the first one in months...Except La's of course!
As she saw the man infront of her holding his smile, expecting a reply from her, Khushi quickly made an attempt to smile but dropped the idea. She's tired of faking smiles. And this is the last place she felt the importance to fake anything. Khushi cleared her voice before replying dryly, "I'm doing great, Mr Raizada. Thanks for your time."
"Oh, don't mention. It's my pleasure to meet you! Please have a seat", Arnav replied, pulling the chair for her as he went around the table. Taking a file in his hands as he started going through it, he asked, "So what brings you here today, Ms Gupta?"
She stared at him for a long moment, long enough for him to raise his gaze and put up that charming smile back with his palm on his chin, staring back at her.
Caught off-guard, khushi fixed her dressed and dropped her gaze.
"I... I...don't know.", she answered honestly as she raised her eyes again. She spoke the truth. She really didn't know what she was here for. Well, except for that fact that Lavanya had said she needed help. She honestly didn't know why she's fighting this lost battle. Even if something is not right, it is obviously not getting back on track just by talking to a so called counsellor. She was too tired to even fight back anymore...to the point that she sometimes wanted to give up...on life!
Her eyes and voice held so much vulnerability for those couple of seconds that he felt as if someone has clutched his heart too tight with the purpose to suffocate him. For the first time, he noticed the dark circles under her eyes, giving him an idea of her restlessness to the point that she's suffering from Insomnia. Of course, when he entered the room, the first, he or any normal person with the right state of mind would probably notice is her extremely innocent beauty, be her huge hazel green eyes that spoke thousands of her painful stories as soon as she raised her gaze to stare at him for a good one minute before greeting him back, or her non-exaggerated appearance with a simple floral frock, a pair of summer pump shoes, her hair half tied neatly, and not to mention, her face glowing with minimal amount of makeup, probably just a pink lip gloss and some Kajal. Lavanya, his family friend, requested him to take up this appointment in such a short amount of time despite his busy schedule, avoiding the 3 months long procedure of usual wait time. She had given him a general overview of her symptoms, telling him how it's getting worse day by day. She had also planned to lightly inform him about issues related to her family and friends that had caused her to be in the state she is in now but Arnav had stopped her. he assured her that he will try his best in the one month he has before he goes back to America for a 6 month project related to hospital ,however, little did he know that this 5 feet 3 inch girl would become his utmost priority for the next few months... or may be...for the rest of his life?
Tilting his head, he replied,"That's okay. It often happens to us that we go to a place or to a person but we don't even know why we are here for. We just... I guess we come here for the sake of it. But not to worry, we will figure out why you're here." He finished with a polite smile.
Probably the first person who is so eager to talk to me
Khushi smiled mocking herself for she knew this eagerness would die in a moment like everyone else she wanted to share things with.
"Let's start off with... Last night. Kya khaya?"
"Excuse me?"
"What did you have in dinner last night?", Arnav repeated, his palm holding chin, telling her he really want to know the answer and that she has his full attention.
Realizing that he's not joking, she answered, "umm... Salad?"
"I see! Why not proper food?"
Shrugging she brushed off the question.
"How's uni going? Lavanya told me you're studying Medicine?"
Gulping as the question she wanted the topic she wanted to avoid the most struck her, he took a moment to compose herself. She was about to mask herself saying all if fine but she realizing that this is the last chance she's giving to herself, she decided to be atleast truthful if not an open book for him to read the problems and find solution. She was too sensitive to let such matter be shared with a stranger.
"Uni isn't too great. I...was planning to drop out, actually. And yes, I am in third year of uni, studying medicine."
Arnav looked at her keenly as she answered with her gaze low as if she committed a crime.
"Are you ashamed of yourself Ms Gupta?"
Khushi jerked her head back at him at the question. Her temper hit her back with a huge blow. Her conscience questioned her self-respect for even hoping for a change when in these three years, no one has listened to her when she wanted to share her pain. The only difference between them and him was that they indirectly mocked or insulted her, and he just said it on her face.
She regretted every moment of this decision of coming here. She regretted listening to lavanya. Exasperated, she grabbed the paper weight and slammed it on the floor - something she did quite often.
Arnav knew exactly what she has thought of his question. And her action just displayed her inner turmoil and sensitivity to such questions. Such reactions don't build up in an instant or in a few hours or days. Of course, you can get angry and decide to throw whatever is infront of you but someone needs to push you to your threshold to usually extract such reaction. In khushi's case, all he asked was a neutral question. Unless she has been at the receiving end of such question being thrown at her in nothing but more blatant way, there's no way one would react to a question as neutral as this in such way. And there he got his answer.
She is being tortured mentally - directly or indirectly is for her to tell! His heart became restless each passing second to gather this broken soul in his arms and just give her everything that she needs to get back to her old self. But he needs to take it slow. He swallowed the bulge in his throat.
But soon he noticed something- she kept breathing heavily, flaring her nostril in fury as her eyes started throwing daggers at every in the floor. Her eyebrows knitted, lips pressed in a thin line whine her little button nose turned into tomato red.
A firecracker! But definitely an adorable one...
He chuckled at his thoughts.
The next thing khushi knew was that he was sitting beside her in the chair with her hand on his right palm while his left hand drew circles over her right hand.
"You know, Khushi, when I was in first year of university, I hated my life. I was forced into engineering - something I could never imagine myself to do... I hated circuits, and programming. It just wouldn't get into my head. I wasn't just made for it. I used to bunk classes My dad said I was a disgrace to his family. Di and Akash both studied Electrical engineering. And so, as a tradition, you may say, my dad assumed I would be an engineer too. They never asked me what I wanted to do and I also thought, may be after getting into the uni, I would actually start getting it sisnce it's a new beginning. But..."
"But?"
Arnav raised his gaze from his palm to notice her looking at him intently, all composed, anger long forgotten. He shrugged, "I failed my first year and was kicked out of the university."
Looking at khushi, he could tell it must have come to her as a shocker.
"Hold up, I haven't gotten to the best part yet!"
He smiled and khushi frowned. HE continued, "My dad kicked me out of the house too!"
He chuckled as khushi's eyes became as big and round as saucers. Taking a deep breath, he turned her chair to face him as he looked into her eyes.
"Khushi, this society loves talking behind our back, mocking, insulting, esp when you're the center of the attention, they find it more convenient to make you the victim when you fall in the journey of life.Just fall one step behind the expectation of this society and they will not leave any stone unturned to taunt and destroy your confidence level. And the best part of such case is that it is totally in our hand how we handle it. Uni kicked me out, dad disowned me and look at me now. I'm a successful surgeon and a counsellor. Failing is not when you get a 45% in your exam, failing is not when you slip and fall during your track run. It is when you decide to give up trying. If you trip and fall in the journey of your life, that's okay. When you decide to just give up standing up and run back to catch up on life is when you fail."
"I don't know what happened to you, or what your problem is, Khushi. Lavanya was gona tell about all your issues but I stopped her. And I won't force you to tell me until you're comfortable enough to share it with me. but from whatever the little I have known in this 45 minutes, I know You can relate to my life, even if very slightly and..."
"I get bullied"
Such a sl*t!
Did you hear what happened between Khushi and Siddharth?
God I can't believe she can be such a b*tch
Jiska character hi aisa ho usse aur kya expect ki ja sakti hai!
Bechara Sid...
Arnav stared at her to understand what she's trying to say. Her voice almost cracked making him gulp.
"People call me names and..."
"What do you do when they call you names?"
"Sorry?"
"What do you do when they call you names?", Arnav repeated with the same tone as though a tape recorder is being played
Khushi looked at him incredulously. He is the first person who didn't want to know anything about the names that they called her, or anything that caused them to call her so. He just didn't dig into the story- something that caught a sense of satisfaction deep inside her, giving her assurance that there's someone who is not being nosy about her life but actually want to listen whatever the little she is trying to say with her monosyllabic answers and try to help. Till now, people would get her talk about her life only to bash her, not share the pain if not to help her. He is the first and should she say, the only person till now who didn't ask any question about her past.
"Nothing...just...I just go to my lectures and umm... well people don't talk to me anyway. I...don't have...friends. They just talk in the hallway and I happen to hear while I walk to my next lecture...Oh... sorry I didn't tell you. I'm just ...a loner!", Khushi finished, as a lone tear flowed down the corner of her eyes, making her sniff. And then she realized that she is bearing herself infront of this stranger. She is at the beginning of sharing the things that she finds too sensitive to share with people now, especially after begging her "loved ones" to hear her out in these three years and all they did after she shared her pain was mock and insult her. Will she get the same treatment from him too? Her heart started pounding loudly as she realized where she put her feet into. Is this going to be yet another decision in her life to regret?
She looked like a vulnerable kid with her face bowed down who couldn't make any friends on her first day of school. All Arnav wanted at that moment was to gather her in his arms and lull her to sleep not before telling her that the next morning would be a new beginning. That whatever it is that she has one through so far is just a nightmare. That she doesn't need to worry about anything because he will be here to protect her in every step of her life from now on.
"Do you need a hug?"
That just came out of the blue... and before Arnav could put the words back, they were already by the subject. He knew he needs to take it slow.
But does he regret saying it? You wish
Khushi looked at him and shook her head in a no as she wiped her tear.
"Too bad, I'm gonna give it to you anyway", and before she knew what was happening, she was pulled out of the chair to stand on her feet as a pair of arm went around her, rubbing her back.
"What are you-"
"shhh, don't move!"
Khushi was going to protest but something stopped her. Something different... Something she has been searching all this while. A cocoon... not of sympathy, not of pity, not of mercy. But just a hug... a protective one, a loving one, just a...hug, to tell her that she's not alone, that's all! She gulped closed her eyes as tears started flowing down her cheeks. She snuggled deeper, her hands still on his chest.
"Better?", came a voice that put her back to sense and she was pulled back.
Khushi wiped her tears as she nodded.
"Good! Next time you feel like your heart is pounding vigorously, just hug the person next to you and forget whatever caused that irregular heart beating. Just close your eyes, and take deep breaths."
Khushi nodded but something caught her attention.
"Wait...you... how did you...you could hear it too?!", she asked with her eyes as big and round as the saucers but the next moment, she slapped her head embarrassed, "Never mind!"
And Arnav couldn't hold back as he threw his head back, a laughter roaring out of his chest, making khushi pout, he cheeks going redder every passing second.
Khushi put her hands in her cheeks as if to wipe the embarrassment and hide the smile that started curving her lips as arnav kept laughing.
Unbelievable!
After several moments when the room was back to a pin drop silence, Aranv cleared his throat.
"Do you have songs downloaded in your phone, Khushi?"
Khushi looked at him confused.
Where does he get all these weird questions?
Khushi shook her head, "I don't listen to songs. They're all boring."
"Oh then you must have not heard the real songs yet!"
"why are we talking about this?!"
"You said you happen to hear people call you names when you walk in the hallway?"
Khushi nodded as he looked at him.
"There is something wrong."
"What?"
"you don't happen to hear them. They make you hear what they have to say."
Khushi frowned notknowing where the conversation is heading.
"You think they constantly talk about you? and when you walk by them, you just happen to hear whatever the BS they are talking about you?"
"Yes of course! It's like there is nothing else to talk about! And -"
"That's where you got it wrong! They don't talk BS about you when you're not around. When they see you walking in the hallway, they start digging everything up! That's when they start calling you names. Because they want you to listen to them, to destroy your confidence level, to mock and insult you. As I said, it's in the society's genes. They love doing it!"
Khushi looked like she's trying to process the information. As if trying to figure out whether he is right or just speaking nonsense.
"Here's your first assignment for tomorrow."
"Assignment?"
"Haan, kyun? You thought I'm gonna let you go just like that? I'm a very strict counsellor, sweetheart!" , Arnav said sweetly.
Khushi felt like all the blood has rushed to her cheeks at the endearment. She put her hands in her cheeks to hide the abnormality.
"So your assignment is, download the song "Fevicol se" on your phone, and listen to it while you walk in the hallway. Mind you, loud enough so every single words go to your brain, because I'm going to ask questions regarding the song in our next session. And you get to do this assignment only during you walk in the hallway or in the caf of your university, basically whenever you're not in class. But only in university. Not at home."
Khushi gave him a "Are you for real" look.
"Oh I forgot to mention, make sure you its not too loud though. I don't want your eardrums to be blown yet! Still have a lot of sessions left where you will have to listen to my soothing voice", he said proudly, raising his chin.
"Anyway it was nice meeting you Ms gupta! See you on Wednesday!", he smiled as he put her hand forward for a shake.
"Thank you so much for your time Mr. Raizada. I will take you leave now.", said khushi as she met his hand for the handshake. Grabbing her purse, she was about to leave.
"Ms, Gupta?"
"Yeah?"
"Next time you feel like grabbing my paper weight and slam it on the floor, please consider cousin backward from 10 to 0. If it doesn't work, you're all welcome to shatter it into pieces", he said with a lop sided smile.
It took her a moment to comprehend what he was saying before realization dawned upon her. Khushi bit her cheeks to hold back her smile.
"I'll give it a try, Mr Raizada. Thanks for the suggestion."
Arnav grinned. Khushi was was about to leave when he called out again,
"Ms Gupta?"
Khushi turned around again, "Yes?"
"Please try not to hide those dimples behind your hands whenever you feel like smiling. I'm sure they want to be displayed as well", he said with a charming smile.
Khushi looked Arnav incredulously before curving her lips into a beautiful smile.
Rolling her eyes, she closed the door behind her to leave but not before bidding him a, "Good bye Mr. Raizada!".
Arnav chuckled
Bye khushi!
Important note:
As you may know already, my schedule is very hectic so I won't promise any particular time for my next updates. I'm sorry, I know it's not professional but it is just not in my hands. But I'll try my best to post ASAP.
This story was in my mind for a while now and I was becoming restless to pen it down. And I'm glad I finally did. This update is a long one however, there's not much that I unfolded in this update. I really wanted to give a general overview of the kind of relationship that is/will be brewing between ArShi. There is a lot to come in the following chapters, of course. So Please stick with me.
Will be eagerly waiting for your responses 😳
Chapter 2: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/4848731/arshi-fs-my-savior-note-pg-15-06-22-2017?pn=5
Bhabhi Ji Ghar Pe Hain?
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