"She is not going to come."
"She has to come."
"We have been waiting here for three hours. Let's go home now. It's already 1 P.M. Are you planning to wait here the whole day?"
"That is not needed", he said, his lips curling to form a smile, as he found her at the large entrance.
"Is she the one?" said the other person with a horrified expression plastered on his face.
"Of course she is", he said confused.
"Then you better handle her yourself. All the best", saying this he scurried from the place.
"What the hell!!! Akki, where are you going?"
"Sorry bhai. I am not ready to listen to her lectures. I will be there at the parking. You finish your work as soon as possible."
His brother's actions were confusing. Did he know her? Well he could get the answers to his questions later. Right now he needed to complete the task at hand- helping the damsel in distress. Getting up from the seat, he picked up the red trolley bag, threw the empty paper cup into the dustbin and started walking towards the area with the board "ENQUIRY".
She walked hurriedly, making her way through the crowd. Just then she spotted him. She placed her right hand on her chest and heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank God. I don't need to search him", she said. It had been only three hours and she was going to meet him again. She cursed herself for being so careless. If only she had checked everything at the last moment, she would have prevented herself from landing into such unnecessary trouble.
She was clad in beige coloured jeans and a red top, her hair tied up in a pony tail. She looked different from what he had seen her in, a few hours ago, he thought. Nevertheless she looked beautiful.
He was in the same pair of faded blue jeans and white T-shirt, hair messed up. She could see the yellow stain on the right side of his shirt from far. It was because of the soup that he had spilt on himself which reminded her of another stain. Was he waiting for her all the while? She thought. Oh shut up. She said to herself. He had a reason to wait.
She reached the ENQUIRY' office and totally ignoring his "Hi", she said, "Your bag."
"Uh. Yes. Here is yours", he said handing her the red trolley bag, "I am sorry but last night I had to shift your bag to accommodate the other luggage. I thought I would inform you in the morning but it completely slipped out of my memory."
"Oh how wonderful of you! First you touch my bag without my permission and then you completely forget about it", she burst out angrily.
"Well I apologise for my behaviour, Miss", he said politely.
"To hell with your apology, Mister", she spat out and walked out of Howrah station in fury.
"Whoa!!! She is one feisty girl."
For the first time, a girl hadn't fallen for the charms of Arnav Singh Raizada!
***************
"How was the meeting, bhai?" Akash asked enthusiastically as his brother got himself seated in the car. He was waiting anxiously for his elder brother to return. "She was hell angry at me", Arnav replied. "So typical of Khushi", he guffawed. "Khushi? You know her. Am I right?" he asked Akash with his eyebrow raised. "Well yes bhai. I know her and unfortunately she is our neighbour." Saying this he drove off.
***************
"Was he handsome?" asked a girl in her mid-twenties as she saw her sister unpacking the red trolley and found her sister rolling her eyes.
"Don't give me that look and please don't tell me that you were so engrossed in your novel that you didn't notice him at all."
"I think he was."
"You think? Now that is some news. My jiji found someone HANDSOME. Seriously jiji. A handsome guy was sitting in front of you and was trying to strike a conversation with you and you were buried in your novel. How boring!" She said and giggled.
"Shut up Payal. He has spoilt my book by dropping that soup on it", she said as she took out her book from her hand-bag and showed the yellow stains on the white paper.
"It is just a book jiji."
"It is one of my Favourite books."
"I understand but then how could you behave so rudely with him, jiji? After all he had waited for three long hours just to return your bag. That was really sweet of him", Payal said dramatically.
"Excuse me", her sister said with her hands lying on the sides of her hips. "It was he who had exchanged the bags' positions. It was he who had forgotten to tell me about it. If he had been waiting for three hours, it was all because of his fault and not mine. Moreover, he wasn't doing any favour on me waiting there. He needed his bag in return too", she said stressing on the word he' each time she uttered it.
"Okay, okay I get it. There is no need to get so angry. You are too tired now. Please take some rest. I will go and check the arrangements for tomorrow."
She slumped into her cosy bed after a long time. As sleep started engulfing her, she remembered his face which had been her company for seventeen hours, not to forget the brief encounter later. She had just come out taking a refreshing shower after the tedious journey. She decided to unpack her bags when she realised that her bag wasn't locked. Panic-stricken she opened the bag only to find shirts, t-shirts, trousers, jeans, track-pants along with shaving kit and things indicating that the bag belonged to some male. She closed her eyes in frustration realising whose bag it could be. It was none other than her co-passenger with whom she travelled from New Delhi to Kolkata in the New Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express.
"Need help with the bag?" he had asked her. She had nodded a no. "Are you travelling to Kolkata?" he questioned. "Yes", she decided to keep her reply short. "That's great! I am going there too", he had said trying to start a conversation. She smiled in reply. She never liked conversing with complete strangers.
***************
"Wake up lazybones."
She opened her eyes hearing her sister's screams. "What is it, Payal? Let me sleep", she said pulling the duvet over her again. "It is 8 P.M. jiji. You have been sleeping for five freaking hours. Get up now. I came to inform you about Groom alert'".
She woke up immediately listening to the term Groom alert'.
"What?" she screamed, "Not again."
"Well I can't help. Ma will be here anytime. Be ready to listen to the qualifications of your prospective groom. I can just say one thing about him. He is damn handsome", Payal said with dreamy eyes.
"Have you met him?" she asked.
"Well, sort of."
"What kind of answer is this?"
Before Payal could answer her questions, she saw her mother barging into their room.
"Khushi, I see that you are up already. I have to talk to you", said Mrs Garima Gupta with a plane face.
"Don't tell me that you have found another match for me, Ma"
"Of course I have since you don't bother to find one for yourself. How long are you going to remain unmarried? You are turning twenty-seven next month. All your friends have already got married and even having kids. You just returned attending your best friend Lavanya's marriage in Delhi."
"So what, Ma? Is it a sin to remain unmarried?" she retorted back.
"No. Not at all. It is my mistake that I want to see my daughters married and well settled in life. It is my mistake to dream about playing with my grandchildren. I think I am going to die without even seeing my grandchildren's faces since my daughter has vowed to remain a spinster all her life", said Mrs Gupta trying to bring out some fake tears.
Khushi hated her mother's melodrama. She could never win arguing with her. She knew that however hard she tried, she had to give in to her mother's emotional blackmailing.
"Fine, Ma. I will meet him. I Promise. Please don't cry. When do I have to meet him?" she asked dejectedly.
"This time you won't have to go anywhere. He is our very own Anamika's son. He lives in Delhi with his grandmother Devyani Singh Raizada. He has come only for two days. Just make sure that you talk to him nicely tomorrow during the Puja. Don't put on this grumpy look. Okay?" Mrs Garima Gupta said smilingly.
"Okay Ma", she replied.
"I am going to prepare dinner. Both of you come in time", she said walking out of the room.
"I swear jiji Ma should seriously join those saas-bahu dramas. How does she bring those fake tears every time she asks you meet a boy? She doesn't even require glycerine", said Payal and giggled.
"Payal sometimes I wonder what papa saw in her that he decided to spend his entire life with such a drama queen."
"Probably papa's life was too boring and he needed some spice in it", Payal said and both the sisters burst out laughing.
"I need his details immediately", Khushi said with a strict tone.
"Whose?"
"You know whose. Ma's prospective son-in-law."
" Umm. Name-Arnav Singh Raizada. Age 29. The CEO of the Raizada Enterprises Delhi branch, presently handling the entire businss there since Arvind uncle and Akash are busy with the Kolkata branch they are planning to start. Soft-spoken. Has a great sense of humour. He has already impressed each member of our family except YOU. In short, Ma's ideal son-in-law", Payal said in a flow.
"You have done quite a research about him", said cheekily.
"Yeah! Collecting information about your prospective grooms is my duty jiji", said Payal with an amused expression.
The sisters giggled.
***************
He literally choked on his food when his mother had declared that she had decided Khushi to be the elder daughter-in-law of her house. The Raizada family had shifted to Kolkata some eight months ago and Mrs Anamika Singh Raizada had hit off instantly with Mrs Garima Gupta. She had grown a liking towards their elder daughter Khushi. She was polite, disciplined and strict in her principles, a perfect blend of traditional values and modernity. She had been coaxing her elder son Arnav from a long time to marry and always faced denials from him. So this time she decided to make him meet his prospective bride directly.
Arnav was on cloud nine already. After all he couldn't get the image of the girl in purple churidaar with French plaits, scrunching her nose when he spilt the soup on her book, out of his mind. This was going to be interesting. For the first time in his life he was hell bent on impressing a girl who was going to be his prospective bride. Girls always fell for his good looks and his cheesy dialogues. However, this young lady was different. She hadn't given him even the slightest of her attention.
"She is a no-nonsense girl. I am telling you bhai", Akash tried to warn his brother.
"Thanks for the information Akki though I know it already. I have spent seventeen hours with her."
"How on earth did you land in such a situation bhai? Did you not get any other girl to exchange your bag with? Moreover you ruined her book. Forget about agreeing to marry, she won't even talk to you", Akash said frantically.
"Relax Akki. Relax. We will see to it tomorrow whether she talks to me or not. Don't underestimate the power of your brother", Arnav said smiling and winked at his brother.
***************
It was a beautiful morning. How could it not be? It was Saraswati Puja today. Goddess Saraswati is the Goddess of Knowledge. She is worshipped by people of all ages in Kolkata. The people of Kolkata were busy checking the arrangements for the Puja. The idol of the goddess adorned in a white sari with the veena in one hand and a book in the other with a white goose settled at her feet was standing gracefully at the small pandal formed in the open space near the parking lot of the compound. The pandal was decorated with garlands made of marigold flowers. It was a small Puja organized by the families residing in Shantivan Colony.
It was traditional for the girls to deck up in various shades of white or yellow saris and boys to wear white and yellow kurtas.
Standing cross-legged with his back resting against a pillar, he watched her checking the arrangements for one last time before the puja started. Dressed in a white sari with golden yellow borders, a yellow three-quartered blouse, matching earrings, a wooden bangle in her right hand, and a small black bindi, she took his breath away. Her long black hairs left untied. She was an epitome of pure beauty in the traditional Bengali attire.
He walked towards her mesmerised.
"Hi! We meet again."
Her eyes popped out hearing his husky voice from his behind. She looked behind shocked. He had been dying to see that million dollar expression on her face.
"You? What are you doing here?" she asked shocked.
"I guess I am stalking you", he said with a lopsided grin.
Before she could bash him again, she heard her mother speak.
"Khushi, meet Arnav, Anamika's son", Mrs Gupta introduced shocking her even more.
So her co-passenger is her next prospective groom. She sighed at the thought. She folded her hands to say a Namaste without uttering anything. The puja had begun.
During the puja, while receiving flowers from the priest to offer to the Goddess, his hands brushed against hers accidentally. Both of them felt a jolt of electricity run through their bodies. She shut her eyes tightly pretending to pray though a myriad of emotions ran through her body. He smirked seeing the effect of a mere touch of his on her.
After the puja, she busied herself in distributing Prasad to everyone. When she reached near him, he extended his right hand to take the Prasad. She placed the contents in his hand very carefully avoiding any touch. "Khushi, are you still angry at me for the bag exchange fiasco? Look I didn't do it intentionally. I am extremely sorry for the trouble that you had to undergo.", he said in an apologetic tone. She didn't reply.
"Uh bhai. Ma and Garima Aunty want both of you to talk to each other regarding the proposal. Um. I guess you need some privacy. Why don't you take Khushi out for coffee?" said Akash smilingly gaining a glare from Khushi in return.
"Only if she forgives me Akki", he said disheartened.
She walked away without speaking a single word. He kept staring at her retreating form.
"I think you are right Akki. She won't talk to me ever", said Arnav.
"Apology cannot be bought. It has to be earned", came a voice behind them.
"Hi. I am Payal Gupta. Khushi's sister. I can help you in pacifying my jiji", she said extending a hand towards him.
"And why will you do that?" Arnav asked while shaking hands.
"That is because for the first time my jiji has been talking about someone for such a long time. You are quite lucky. Oh and she even finds you handsome. Another first", she grinned.
***************
"Come on jiji. He apologised to you. Don't be such a jerk", pleaded Payal.
"Oh! So I am acting like a jerk now. And what about him? Can't you see his audacity? How dare he gift me?" Khushi retorted back.
"Jiji he gifted you the same book which he had spoilt just to earn your apology and here you find this as his audacity. Unbelievable."
"Why are you trying to be his lawyer Payal?"
"Fine. Do whatever you feel like. But please meet him once. At least for Ma", Payal said and walked out of their room.
After the heated conversation with her sister, she sat on her bed and took the book in her hand.
Wuthering Heights' by Emily Brunte was one of her favourite English Classics. A smile automatically formed on her lips as she ran her fingers on the crisp white pages of the new book. She smelled it once. She loved the fragrance of new books. She read the note attached to it again.
"I cannot remove the stain on your book. I can definitely try to replace it. Once again I AM SORRY. :)
Your Co-passenger."
She was confused. Her big fat female ego asked her to return the book while her mind had forgiven him at the instant he had gifted her the book and apologised again. She is going to meet him, she decided finally shedding her ego. For the first time her mother had selected a guy who matched her likes in some way.
***************
He waited with bated breath for her reply. He had not seen her for quite some time. She had disappeared from the Puja venue. Just then he saw her bringing the lunch for everyone. The end of her sari pallu was tucked at her waist. Her hair was tied in a loose bun exposing the creamy skin of her back. He was dazed at the sight. He gulped seeing the sight. Stop it Arnav. She hasn't even accepted your apology and you are already trespassing forbidden territories.' He mentally rebuked himself. His trance was broken by a tug at his white kurta. A small boy handed him a chit and ran away. He opened the chit and read the contents. A smile appeared on his lips reading the phrases written on it.
APOLOGY ACCEPTED. WILL WAIT AT THE Cafe Coffee Day AT 5 P.M. ONLY IF THE OFFER IS VALID. ;)
He looked up contented. His smile turned into a grin when he found her flashing her beautiful smile turning her head a little looking at him.
The cupid had started playing its part finally.
--
PART 2
You are ten minutes late, Mr. Raizada. Didn't my sister inform you that I like punctual people?" A furious Khushi Gupta had asked Arnav Singh Raizada as he entered the Cafe Coffee Day.
"Will I be forgiven if I say I got late trying to select the perfect bunch of flowers for you?" asked Arnav while forwarding a bouquet of yellow roses.
"Are you trying to impress me?"
"Are you getting impressed?"
She couldn't hide the small smile that had started forming on her lips listening to his words that time, and even now she was smiling widely remembering her first coffee date with Arnav.
She had been very angry at him for making her wait for ten minutes. Who on Earth made his girl wait for so long? She had thought. Wait. His girl! When did that happen? While her mind was struggling to find answers to such questions, she saw him coming towards her with his usual smirk adorning his lips. She had wanted to lash at him but the cheesy dialogues that came from his husky voice had surprisingly calmed her. She didn't like such dialogues. In fact she hated people who used such words to impress her. But Arnav was different. Somehow his words, his flirting didn't irritate her. He was attractive and had the charms to woo any woman. She had admitted but her ego didn't allow her to confess it easily. Instead she had said, "Just because I have agreed to have coffee with you doesn't mean that I am ready to marry you." The date had ended there and Arnav had returned to Delhi the next day.
***************
Arnav Singh Raizada had a tiring day with back to back meetings and video conferences with the foreign clients. He slumped into the chair loosening his tie and ordered for a cup of strong black coffee without sugar. It was time to wrap up things for the day but before that that he needed to go through the details of an important project. While grabbing the cup of coffee, his eyes fell on the photo frame with the picture of the ever-radiant smiling face of his wife. As the bitter taste of the coffee made its way through his throat relaxing it in the process, he remembered her comment.
"How does he manage to utter such sugary sweet words in spite of drinking such tasteless bitter black coffe? Eww." Khushi had muttered under her breath but Arnav's ears were sharp enough to hear them. He had smiled inwardly.
Khushi Gupta was a tough nut to crack. They had talked over phone a couple of times after he had returned to Delhi but there had been no sign of her agreeing to marriage. The more he had talked to her, the more he had been attracted to her. However cracking business deals seemed easier than impressing Khushi Gupta. After a lot of pestering from her own family, especially her mother, she had agreed to the marriage proposal but with a condition.
***************
How silly she had been! She thought. She didn't want to marry because of her own insecurities. She didn't want to leave her home and her family. She had already rejected five grooms citing various reasons. However, a certain Arnav Singh Raizada had somehow managed to break her resolve of not marrying.
She had tried finding faults in him to reject his proposal but had failed miserably. Instead she had started falling for him. Every time she had conversed with him over phone, she could feel her heartbeats racing hearing his husky voice which felt sexier. Moreover her family wouldn't listen any of her excuses this time. They were hell bent on marrying her off. Finally she had come up with a stupid plan. She had declared one day that she would marry Arnav on a condition that she wouldn't leave her job in Kolkata and go to Delhi. She would live with her in-laws in Kolkata.
Garima Gupta had gone berserk listening to the weird condition that her daughter had put. She had shed buckets of tears repenting on the kind of girl she had given birth to. Shashi Gupta had been busy pacifying his wife and trying to instil some sense into her daughter's mind simultaneously. Payal had rushed to her room and had dialled Akash's number immediately giving him the recent breaking news. Akash had almost fainted hearing the news had his assistant not supported him. He had immediately called Arnav and the three of them had an hour long discussion regarding their future steps.
Khushi Gupta had a victorious smile on her face but little did she know that winning over Arnav Singh Raizada wasn't easy. After all he was backed by his grandmother Devyani Singh Raizada. She had already agreed for the proposal but hadn't met Khushi having faith in her son and daughter-in-law's choice. Arnav had revealed about Khushi's condition and the gloomy look on his face showed his disappointment and confusion. That is when Devyani Singh Raizada tried to interfere in the matter. After all nothing was more important to her than her grandchildren's happiness. She expressed her desire to meet Khushi and the next day Arnav had flown to Kolkata with her.
Just by looking at Khushi, she had known that Khushi was the perfect Raizada bahu. She could see an image of her younger self in her. Having lost her husband at a young age, she had raised her son single-handedly along with handling business. She could see the same fierce and strong woman in Khushi who wouldn't budge an inch from her decision. She had to be dealt her way and had advised Arnav accordingly.
To say that Khushi Gupta was shocked would be an under-statement. Arnav Singh Raizada had agreed to her condition! "Khushi, I don't have any problem with you staying in Kolkata and continuing your job. In fact this is a wonderful decision. Even I am thinking of shifting to Kolkata. We are already launching the new branch of Raizada Enterprises in Kolkata. So I shall handle the business here and Akash will be sent to Delhi." Arnav had said and thanked his daadi in his mind for giving him this brilliant idea.
"Okay, sure." Khushi had replied meekly.
The marriage preparations were in full swing. Arnav was handling business of both the branches since Akash was still inexperienced and needed Arnav's help every other second. Within a few weeks Khushi had realised the stupidity of her decision seeing a stressed Arnav barking orders over phone every now and then. Finally she agreed to stay with Arnav in Delhi after marriage.
***************
Khushi had taken a transfer in the Delhi branch of The Times of India where she was now the Editor-in-Chief. She was tactfully managing both office and home. She smiled thinking how she has changed after fifteen months of her marriage. Now she was a dutiful daughter-in-law and a loving wife.
While she was busy thinking how lucky she was to have a husband like Arnav, she felt a strong pair of arms encircling her waist and the musky smell of the cologne invading her senses.
"Thinking about me, Mrs. Raizada?" She heard him whisper in her right ear.
She turned around facing him releasing herself from his hold and said, "Why do you always presume that I think about you Mr. Raizada?"
"You weren't. Ouch. My heart just broke." He said placing her palm on his chest.
"Dramebaaz. Aren't we getting late for the party, Arnav?" Khushi asked.
"Wait", Arnav said in a serious tone. "Do you want your husband to murder someone tonight?"
"WHAT?" Khushi asked shocked.
"If you are going to the party wearing this sexy red sari looking smoking hot, men will be ogling at you at the party and being the possessive husband I won't be able to tolerate it. Someone will definitely be murdered by me today."
"Thanks for the compliment, Mr. Raizada but we are getting late and I am not going to change my sari."
"I never asked you to change."
"What do you mean, Arnav?"
"Let's not go to the party. I have a better proposal."
"But Arnav what will Mr and Mrs. Roy think?"
"Ahh. Don't worry about them. I will send an apology letter along with a gift. You know how good I am at that. Moreover, daadi is at Lucknow visiting her NGO. Don't you think we should utilise this opportunity in fulfilling daadi's wish." Arnav said with a wink.
Khushi's cheeks turned into deeper shade of crimson remembering daadi's wish. Last month when they had visited Kolkata, daadi had expressed her wish of playing with her great- grandchildren in front of both the Guptas and the Raizadas embarrassing Khushi and Arnav to the core.
"I love to see your red cheeks Khushi. You look cute," said Arnav kissing her cheeks. A shy Khushi is a rare sight.
Arnav pulled Khushi towards himself and asked, "So, Mrs. Khushi Arnav Singh Raizada, do you accept my proposal?"
"Accepted", she said and snaking her arms around her husband's neck, she took his lips in hers as Arnav lifted her and closed the bedroom door with a bang.
The night had just begun.
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