OS: Her Tears

Kaise koi ek insaan do logo ke liye itna alag ho sakta hain? Apne Di ke liye itna pyaar, itni fikar aur humare liye… itni nafrat.

Khushi couldn't stop the tears from forming in her eyes. She didn't understand the sudden sadness that was engulfing her. She felt lost even though she lived in a house full of people who cared for her. Ever since the fancy dress performance, she had been feeling different. She had been expecting to hear something from Arnav but had instead got an unnerving outburst. She didn't know what she had wanted to hear but for some reason her heart ached every time she looked at Anjali.

…

Anjali was worried. She had been observing Khushi for the past few days and was alarmed to see the change in her. She behaved normally enough but her eyes gave her away. There was no sparkle in them and they were downcast most of the time. And every time she would glance at Arnav, her eyes would drown in an unexplainable sadness and tears would often start welling up. Anjali had tried speaking to her many times but she never managed to get anything out of her. She hoped that whatever problem was going on between Arnav and Khushi would be solved soon. She hated to see Khushi in such a state.

…

Arnav had come home early from office and on his way to his room he heard Anjali sneeze. He immediately rushed to her and berated her for not taking better care of herself, especially in her present condition. Having reassured himself that she was fine, he went into his room. He threw a quick glance around the room to check whether Khushi was there but couldn't find her there. He had barely seen her in the past week and even when he had caught a glimpse of her, he had been stunned at the sight. He'd never encountered a Khushi like this. The couple of times that he had made eye contact with her, he had been shocked to see the lost, helpless almost pleading look in her eyes. It had bothered him a lot but then he had caught her gazing at Anjali wistfully and anger had instantly consumed him. He was just about to roughly remove his tie when he heard a soft voice from the poolside area. He quietly walked out to see Khushi sitting under one of the trees, looking at the water in the pool and speaking to them, her back turned towards him.

"Anjali di kitni kismat wali hain. Woh unse kitna pyaar karte hain. Unka kitna khayal rakhte hain."

Arnav could feel his temper rising as he used all his effort to check himself from giving this girl a good shaking. Here he was actually worrying about her and she was busy envying his sister because of her husband. There was a limit to this disgusting behavior.

"Anjali di se itna pyaar par humse…"

Arnav stopped his train of thought at her last words. Wait, wasn't she talking about Shyam? Then why was she saying…

"Hume toh pata bhi nahi hain ki humne aisa kya kiya hain ke who humse itni nafrat karte hain."

Arnav frowned as he began puzzling over her words. They didn't make any sense. What was she saying? And who was she talking about?

"Hume bhi th-thoda sa pyaar chahiye. Anjali di j-jitna na sahi par thoda sa toh…"

Arnav felt his heart clench as he heard her choke on her sobs. She clutched the pillow in her hand as tears rolled down her eyes. She shut them tightly and tilted her head upwards. Arnav felt so helpless seeing her like this. He couldn't understand why she was crying like this and he began to doubt whether it had anything to do with Shaym.

She hugged her pillow tightly and uttered the words that pulled the ground away from under Arnav's feet.

"K-kyun aap humse itni nafrat karte hain Arnavji? Humne aisa k-kya kiya hain?"

For a moment Arnav's breath stopped and he felt like the world was ending. Did he hear correctly? Khushi was crying because he hated her? Because she thought that he only loved his Di and didn't care a bit about her? But why would she do that? He felt tears form in his own eyes as he saw her shudder and clutch onto the pillow for dear life. Every time she sobbed, he felt a fresh stab in his heart. He didn't know what he was supposed to do now. So he let himself go and slowly sank down onto the cold floor of the poolside.

...

I can't think of a good way to make this a happy ending. So it might just end here. Unless of course I have a bout of inspiration and add a second part to it. Do like and comment people.