TS : To think of him or not! Pt. 2 on pg.3

"Oh, I hate you! How I hate you!!" Khushi muttered under her breath as she saw the smirk convert into a full-fledged grin on her adversary's face.

Yes.

Arnav Singh Raizada was no less than her adversary, Khushi justified her thoughts as she gazed unwaveringly into his warm brown eyes. It had always been like this. Right from her birth, she knew, though she did not remember. What she remembered was, him pulling at her hair when she was hardly 5 or 6 years old, and laugh when she cried out at his pranks.

Not the thousands of miles of separation for more than fifteen years had changed this.

Arnav chose that moment to take an elaborate bow, irritating her even further. She huffed indignantly as she turned around and stomped out of the room, yelling, "Jiji! JIJI!!"

The moment she stepped out of the room, Arnav's smirk turned into an adoring smile. Even the way she had told that she hated him in that slightly British-affected accent of hers had touched his heart. Though he also smacked himself mentally for irking her like that. He really did not mean to do it. He swore he did not. But that never meant he could help it. She was at her cutest when she was irked, frustrated. The way she blew her hair off of her forehead seemed cute when she was five, and now it somehow had started seeming sexy.

'You're a freak! A perverted freak!!' Arnav chided himself mentally and went out of the room himself, his eyes already searching for her, and his mind going on an overdrive to find new ways to aggravate her. He was looking over his shoulder and moving forward when he collided with someone. His hands automatically went around the person and he looked down into a pair of mesmerizing inky blue eyes. Mesmerizing for the fashionista in him. For, Arnav Singh Raizada could only be mesmerized by a certain Gupta's eyes ONLY.

"Hey! I am so sorry! Thank god you are strong!" exclaimed a heavily British-accented, slurry voice. Arnav did not even bat his eyelashes as he recognized the obvious flirting. Nodding once at the British woman, he did not think too much about who that woman might be. There was this pooja in his house, to which he was sure that his sister had called the whole of the female population. From all of the world, he sarcastically added in his mind. He was about to walk away when he saw Khushi staring at them with a frown on her face. She used to get this cute little V in between her eyebrows, and her lips would automatically pout, when she used to frown. He observed that the V between her eyebrows remained, but the pout seemed even more sexier as her lower lip had become more fuller. Arnav wondered the reason for her annoyance and jerked his head back when a thought crossed his mind. Not being so sure about his theory, he decided to test it again, and walked back to the British woman. He stood in front of her and with a surreptitious glance that Khushi's eyes had narrowed and she had started walking towards him. "Hi, I am Arnav. Arnav Singh Raizada." he introduced himself, holding his hand out. "Oh, hello! I am Emily Wright. A friend of Khushi's. You know her right?" So Emily was Khushi's guest from Britain, where Khushi had completed her education.

"Khushi, who??" Arnav asked on purpose, and heard a gasp from Khushi who had neared them. As he bit the insides of his mouth to stop himself from laughing out loud, at that priceless expression on Khushi's face, he heard her ask him, "Achcha! Tho aap humein nahin jaante?!"

"Thank your divine powers that your Hindi is not affected by that fake accent you have built!" Arnav exclaimed and heard her gasp in shock again. "Haww. . . I so do not have an accent!" Khushi shrieked and turned to Emily to inquire her about it. "I do not have an accent, do I?!" she asked and when Emily smiled sheepishly at her, nodding her head, she frowned as she muttered Arnav's name to check whether she indeed had developed a British accent. Arnav smiled inwardly at the sound of his name rolling out from her beautiful mouth, before he said, "Aur tum kabse mujhe aap-vaap kehke bulaane lagi? It ni respect?!!" ("Since when did you start showing me so much of respect?!")

Tum. Khushi had wanted to address him like that, like she used to, when they were kids. But it just did not seem right anymore. "Anyways, Emily. Have you had your tea?" Arnav asked, and Emily sighed, before answering, "Khushi is not eating today. In fact, none of them are eating today. I did not have a mind to have anything."

Arnav made a big deal of gasping and "athithi-satkaar", as he took her arm in his and guided her to the dining room, leaving a completely piqued Khushi behind. So it did not matter to him that Khushi was not eatingor so much as even drinking a drop of water. All he suddenly seemed to be interested in, was the bloody Emily! Her thoughts were disturbed when she was called by Anjali then.

Anjali had to be the sweetest person, Khushi thought, as she helped her with her saree and let her thoughts wander to her "guest", Emily. She had brought Emily to India, as she was totally fascinated by the Indian culture, and that day being karva chauth, she had seemed even more fascinated, though not really understanding the concept of why only women had to fast and pray for the long lives of their spouses. Akash had seconded her question as he had proudly announced that he would be fasting for his wife too. Khushi had felt so happy that her sister had got herself such a sweet husband. 'Unlike someone else who does not even think about me!' Khushi made a face at the reminder of Arnav.

Such reminders of him did not even bother her anymore. He would always pop into her mind, at the most inopportune moments of her life. And those inopportune moments seemed to have increased when she had moved to Britain. She remembered the first few days of her life there. She had been so home-sick! And the relief would only come when she whined about Arnav being a jerk and she had told it all to her nanny. The old woman reminded her of Arnav's Nani and she listened to Khushi's complaining with equal patience and love. And each time Khushi spoke to her parents and their friends and neighbors, the Raizadas, Arnav would make sure that he would tease he over the phone.

And just before she was about to shift back to India, she had been to meet her nanny of her childhood days when Arnav had come up. Khushi had started admonishing about Arnav not taking care of his health even when he was suffering from diabetes now. "You worry so much about him, child." Rose, her nanny, had calmly stated.

"Psht!! Please, Rose! Why would I worry about him. I don't even think of him these days! Never have, actually!" Khushi had denied Rose's allegations.

"That is the difference child. You never do it consciously. Thinking about him is like. . . Like breathing to you. It comes so naturally to you!" she had explained, and Khushi's eyes had asked Rose a question then. 'What are you exactly trying to say here??'

And Rose had smiled reassuringly and nodded once.

Damn old women and their cryptic ways!

"Khushi. Please iss thaal ko neeche rakh dena?" Anjali requested, and Khushi complied as she carefully carried a thaal laden with numerous items related to the pooja that night. She heard a shrill laughter and another rumble of a chuckle as she started walking towards the huge table that was placed at the side of the living room. She bent to see Arnav wiping something off Emily's cheek and the thaal fell out of Khushi's hands. "Oh, my god! Are you alright, Khushi, darling?!" Emily asked, but no one bothered to answer her as Khushi stood there, staring at Arnav with hurt-filled eyes.

Arnav, over all these years of teasing and making her cry, had never seen such look on her face and he suddenly realized that he had felt defeated just by that single look of hers. He stood up and saw her take a step away, her eyes showing that he had. . . . betrayed her. But he never had the time to understand why she would feel so, as she turned away and ran from the room, leaving Arnav with a cold feeling in his gut.

Part 2

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A two shot!
Some random thoughts which came to my mind. . .
Please do let me know what you think. 😳