Posted:
OS - Start Of Something New: ArHi
He got into the driver seat of the car, telling the driver he'd like to drive himself. He saw her from the corner of his eye as she bid a happy goodbye to everyone. His eyes fell on the light bruise on her forehead and his grip on the steering wheel tightened. She silently sat in the front seat next to him and he drove off. His eyes were fixed on the road, he was physically sitting there in the car with her but mentally, he was in a different world. Events of last night flashed in front of his eyes and he mentally cursed himself for the nth time. He remembered how her face had fit perfectly in his palm. He stole a look at her from the corner of his eyes and saw the bruise again. Had it not been for her, he would have already killed the guy who had to dared to touch her. He wondered what had triggered that possessiveness towards her and the fear of losing her in him. Confused and irritated, he decided to ask her is she was okay and then let go of the topic. Whatever it was, he needed to keep his mind off it.
"Khushi? Are you sure tum theek ho?" He asked.
She turned to look at him and vinced in pain as her still head hurt from the injury. "Haan hum theek hai." He passed her a 'ya right' look and went back to concentrating on the road. "A-aap theek hai?"
"Kyun? Mujhe kya hona hai?"
"Arnav Ji, aapka dimaag kharab hai?" She asked, turning to face him. "Aapko kya hua hai? Ye hua hai." She held his bleeding fist in front of him. Gently releasing his hand from her hold, he passed her a nonchalant look. Here we was, trying to forget everything, and then there was her, who just wouldn't shut up about it. "Unhone hume itna sa dhakka maara, aur aapne unhe itna maara. Agar wo hum pe haath uthate to?"
I would have killed him. He thought to himself and his anger levels rose. In his fit anger, he applied sharp brakes to the car and told her to get out. Why did she have to talk about such nonsensical things?
"Par hum ghar kaise jaenge?" She asked innocently.
"Get. Out." He tried to keep his voice calm, hoping that the fear that was building up inside him wasn't audible, the fear of losing her. She obeyed and silently got out of the car. Once out, he started to drive away when he saw her reflection in the side mirror. Her face was a composition of annoyance, anger, fear and worry. And suddenly, something flashed in front of his eyes ' Khushi telling him that his brain stops functioning when he is angry. He applied the brakes again, and rested his head on the head rest, closing his eyes. Why is she affecting me so deeply? And why am I letting her? And without thinking a second time, he put the car in reverse gear and went back to where she was standing. Rolling down the window on her side, he said "Khushi, gadi mein baitho."
"Arre hadd hai. Jab chaha tab nikaal diya aur jab chaha tab waapas bula liya?"
He rolled his eyes at her drama. "Khushi naatak mat karo aur gadi mein baitho."
"Hum Dilli khud chale jaenge."
"To tum aise nahi maanogi." As if his voice had fallen on deaf ears, she continued to stand in her position, not moving an inch. "To tum nahi maanogi." With that, he got out of the car and walked up to her. "Seedhe tareeke se to tumhe baat samajh mein aati hai nahi, to ulte tareeke se hi samjhani padegi."
"Karenge kya aap?"
"Wo tum khud hi dekh lo." And he lifted her off the ground, cradling her in his arms and walked to the car. She protested but one look from him silenced her. Making her sit in the car seat, he strapped the seat belt across her. He suddenly stopped as he heard something. Dhak-dhak, dhak-dhak. "Khushi, tumne koi awaaz suni?" He asked, looking around to find the source of the voice.
Meanwhile, Khushi silently hoped that the thudding of her heart wasn't too obvious. "J-ji na-nahi. Kyun? A-apne kuchh suna kya?"
"Abhi bhi sunai de raha hai." He felt something thud inside his chest, and that's when he realised that it was his heart. Before he knew, he had stepped away from Khushi and stared at her wide-eyed.
"Kya hua Arnav Ji?" Hey Devi Maiiya, kahin inhone humare dil ki awaaz to nahi sun li.
"K-kuch nahi, kuch nahi." He stuttered wiping the few beads of forehead forming on his head. Was that his heart beating at the proximity of her? He decided he'd need to check if that was the case. "Uh Khushi, mujhe tumhari seatbelt sahi karni hai."
"Theek to hai."
"Maine kaha na mujhe sahi karni hai, to bas, sahi karni hai." He bend forward and sure enough, he felt his heartbeat raise. Stepping away weirdly, he continued to stare at her.
"Arnav ji? Aap theek hai?"
"Haan, main theek hoon." He shook his head and sat in the car. But before he started to drive, he bent towards Khushi and opened the tray in front of her, pretending to look for something. Yet again, he heard his heart and quickly moved away. "Chalo." He mumbled.
"Haan to gadi aapko chalani hai na, to chaliye."
They drove off and an awkward silence enveloped them. His mind drifted back to the morning, when her skin was blazing hot because of the fever. He shivered at the thought of something happening to her. "Khushi, apna haath do."
"Ji?"
"Apna haath do, temperature check karna hai." The moment he took her hand in his, he was sure he felt something burn his skin. He looked at her and noticed her wearing the same expressions as him. Had she left the same thing too? Taking in a deep breath to focus on what he was meant to be doing, he quickly checked her tempratutre. "Thoda fever hai abhi. You better take some rest once you get home. Aur kal kaam pe aane ki zaroorat nahi hai. Tum araam kar lena."
"Uski koi zaroorat nahi hai Arnav ji. Hum theek hai."
"Just shut up and do as I say."
She was about to argue but didn't bother. Pata pada aur ghussa aa gaya, kal raat ki tarah. "Arnav ji?"
"Haan?"
"Humara haath to chodiye."
"Oh, sorry." He mumbled casually and he turned to look at her to see shock plastered on her face.
"Humare kaan baj rahe hai ya aapne...?"
"Tum ek kaam karo, so jao. Thoda araam kar lo." He saw her pass him a disapproving look and then look out the window. Whatever had just happened had seemed so natural, like it was meant to happen. The sorry that he had said so casually said seemed natural. He didn't need to make an effort to utter than one word like he had to when he said it for the first time. He realised how much the presence of this girl in his life had affected him. He had no control over his emotions whatsoever when she was around. He did the craziest things ever, like what he had done yesterday. Never in his life had he imagined lifting a girl on his shoulder's and carrying her to a room for their 'wedding night'. And then the outburst on her in anger that he hadn't meant to... he wondered why the thought of hurting her always managed to send him on a guilt trip. He remembered how he had nursed her, how he had taken care of her and how her silky skin had felt against his own. He hadn't shown that much care for anyone in the world, except for his Di of course. He remembered how he had beaten up the goons just because they had slightly pushed her. He really had wanted to rip his head apart for doing what he had done. He remembered her asking him the question that had irked him so much that he had thrown her out of the car. "Unhone hume itna sa dhakka maara, aur aapne unhe itna maara. Agar wo hum pe haath uthate to?" He slammed the breaks again and saw her head jerk forward. He caught her in the nick of time to avoid her from getting hurt again. "Sorry, I thought I saw a dog or something on the road. Tum theek ho? Lagi to nahi?" He was surprised to hear his voice laced with worry.
She nodded meekily and said, "Arnav ji. Hume chodiye." She felt as if her heart would pop out any moment. Not getting an answer from him, she hesitantly shook him by his shoulder.
"Huh? K-kya hua?"
"Hume chodiye aur gadi ka steering wheel pakdiye." She let out a small giggle and wondered where he was lost.
He straightened himself up and started driving again. His mind drifted back to wondering why he had felt what he had felt for Khushi today, why he had felt that fear of losing her and in turn had lost his cool. He remembered his di telling him how his heartbeat would stop if he lost that one person. He'd told her he would keep that girl away from him, but that was easier said than done. He now understood what his sister meant when she had talked about finding 'the one'. He now understood what it felt like to have found the one. He now understood that all this while, his 'the one' had been right in front of his eyes and he had just been ignoring her like a fool.
He turned his head to look at her and she did the same, feeling his gaze on her. She smiled at him and he couldn't help but return it. He saw a look of shock pass on her face and almost laughed. Almost. He knew that in the last 1 and a half day, something at changed between. He knew that this was the start of something new.
A quick OS. Do let me know how it was! :)
IMPORTANT: Okay, so if you guys want to be added to my PM list for all my work on ArHi, please like this post =) I will add you myself. The account will be Jojo_PMAcct1. Note that this is not the same as account as the AR one. This is different! =D
Lots of Love
Jyotika
🤗
10