Arshi FF: 31 Candy-flosses and Lollipops[Sneak Peek Pg 10/Aug8] - Page 2

Before you begin reading, this is mainly to thank everyone who has liked , commented and encouraged me to go on with the story.
So, Chapter 1, divided in two parts, until November, until my hibernation is over!😆

Chapter 1(A): Sugar Processing

"No! Stop, the window seat is mine," bawled Khushi, clad in a sapphire dress, with a necklace of black and white beads, hanging by her neck and an unblemished chunk of vermillion on her forehead, hastily, not before shoving the debonair businessman away and, plunking into the seat. She grinned and he directed apologetic glances to the fellow passengers for the petite ruckus his wife had created.

"What?" Damn, his infuriating glare was penetrating. "I thought that you would run off with my seat!"

"Khushi, can you please shut up? And, remove this sindoor and the mangalsutra. It's highly irritating."

"But, these are the identity, the constitution and everything of a married woman and..." she swallowed back her words, giving him back his defiant glare and removed the ciphers of a married woman, that had been assigned to her, by her.

"Knock. Knock." He tapped her forehead, sort of pulsated his fingers on her forehead rather, "Recalled? We are not married, are we? And, you are still Khushi Gupta, neither Khushi Mathur, nor, by the grace of god and my good luck, Khushi Raizada."

She giggled and pouted, "I was having so much fun, here."

"Great, because I was not."

"Why are you so irate Arnav? Because of Dr. Tyler's mail? Or, is it due to the fact that we, correction, that I forced you to help me in fleeing from my marriage and later, changed my mind, plan and strategy, and forced you to come back and, falsified a charade that we both were married?"

"Both." He looked really in wrath and that was not the usual Arnav.

*

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Elisa Bernot and I'm your chief flight attendant. On behalf of Captain Defrock Blackburn and the entire crew, welcome aboard Manchester Airlines flight MHK007, non-stop service from Manchester to Dubai.Our flight duration will be of 11 hours and 5 minutes. At this time, make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position. Also make sure your seatbelt is correctly fastened. Also, we advise you that as of this moment, any electronic equipment must be turned off. Thank you."

Khushi wriggled incessantly in the clutches of the seatbelt, endeavoring to tie that snake-like designed structure to its catch, futilely. After three minutes, which seemed like an eternity, she gave up and concluded: either she had taken up weight, or the belt was in conflict with her and, never receded. Her eyes scrutinized the entire aisle for the air-hostess, to pop in a helping hand but she was nowhere in sight. If she strived further to bolt the belt, she would surely, fluently, tangle herself and even squirming would not get her out.

Glancing above her head, was resting Arnav Singh Raizada, his eyes sunk in his file. She writhed with the seatbelt, occasionally tapping it on his seat, merely trying to grab his attention. He tore his gaze from the blue covered dossier, and smirked, "Tangled? Need Help?"

She nodded, with pleading eyes only to be rewarded by his smirk, which never faded away, "Come on Khushi! You are twenty-five, an adult. It's high time you manage your problems by yourself." Khushi grinned sheepishly, recalling her words, a few hours back, and implored, "Please?"

He bent down, into his file, before pressing the call button above his seat, and paying no heed to Khushi's further qualms. The stewardess was by their seat in less than no time and assisted Khushi into fastening her seatbelt, who glowered at Arnav, swearing to take revenge, the vindictive person she was. "Even when Stella stole Pink's sharpener and accused me of the theft, I took my revenge. So what if he's Arnav? So what if I love him? No one messes with Khushi," she pondered and smirked, wickedly, but returned to her normal self as Arnav peeked over his current commitment to glance at her.

"You'll be a bad husband," retorted Khushi, out of the blue.

"Excuse me?"

"You're not excused."

"God Khushi, what is it now?"

"I was giving such a golden opportunity to romance with your pretense-wife but, instead, dodging it was a cowardly act. Are you afraid?"

Arnav rolled his eyes and narrowed them, "Not of ghosts, but of you."

"Haha... Trying to be funny, are you? Fun doesn't suit you, Arnav Singh Raizada."

"I'm well aware of it. Sarcasm is my better half, for your knowledge."

She vividly ignored him and bounced, "Do you know how many love stories have started in the plane? Did you ever watch Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha or Up in the air? You know, you had to fish profit out of the situation, and look at me with desire filled eyes, locking my eyes in yours, while carefully, twitching and twisting with the belt- which portrays the character of a villain and the cupid- and finally bending down, and, sealing it all with a kiss!"

Arnav visibly looked irritated and that was mission accomplished!

"Madam!" he hailed an air-hostess, "Could you check if there's any first class seat left?"

"Sure sir," the latter replied, moving away, probably to have a look at the flight's statistics and had an apologetic look in the next second, "I'm afraid sir, there's only one seat left and Madam will not be able to move in. And in addition sir, the only difference in your class and the first is like two inches between every seat, so no trouble."

"That's like a cherry on the cake. I'll move in. Anyway, there are some creatures out here, clinging on to me. I'd prefer some silence and solitude," he looked at Khushi smirking, who, in return, was bubbling in anger.

"Sure sir, if you wish to move to First Class, it'll be 1oo dollars."

"If you don't mind, I'll move in," said Khushi, smilingly. She was definitely up to something. "Anyway, how will you manage to settle down there, Arnav? Better be seated here, you and your better half won't be two inches apart. You can hug her, cuddle with her, engulf her, romance with her, and do everything legit with her."

She smirked at the questioning look of the stewardess and read her name from her badge, "Emilie, the matter is that, my boyfriend here is committed to his anger, his work and his ego. Sitting in a First Class seat would separate his lifetime commitment by two inches and here; he'll be sitting just next to it, with no two inches' barrier and can romance to his heart's content with it. You see, I care for him a lot. A perfect girlfriend isn't it?" She ended up patting Arnav's arm, who seemed embarrassed and smiled awkwardly to a puzzled Emilie, nodding in sync with Khushi's pat.

As the stewardess was away, he roughly pushed Khushi's hand from his shoulder and bellowed, in a soft tone, that was yet, harsh, "Don't you dare Khushi."

"What? You have a problem with everything I do, isn't it? Called you husband and was reprimanded! Called you boyfriend and was swatted away like a fly! Now, if I call you stranger, will I be alive or not? By the way, I'm going to annoy you for only four months, and then I'll be called, so what""

"Cut the crap Khushi. Neither married to you nor in a relationship to you- you're just my best friend, the bond that I share with you, is much more sacred than all the other bonds. And stop with the four months' statement, will you?" he said, softly.

"I get scared about life, after four months," he barely articulated and wrapped Khushi in a hug, while kissing her forehead.

"Now, you are on track! You look exactly like the man who cried, hugging me, last night," she smiled, and wiped away a lone tear that was only midway her cheek.

"Hey, that's a secret. Shush," he smiled too and said, "I think you need some sleep. Yesterday was really hectic."

Khushi lay back on her seat, closing her eyes; her eyelids tightly fastened to each other and, reeled the events of the previous day in her mind. It was, if truth be told, an eventful day.

***

Author's Note:

No, Manchester airlines does not exist, neither does the Flight Number.

Please, scroll down for Part (B).

Chapter 1(B): Sugar Processing

Khushi lay back on her seat, closing her eyes; her eyelids tightly fastened to each other and, reeled the events of the previous day in her mind. It was, if truth be told, an eventful day.

"Are you sure it's going to work didu?" an edgy Khushi asked while grinding away her flawlessly manicured, glossy nails. She plopped into the couch, the blue silky material engulfing her back and stood up, all of a sudden. "What if he spills the beans?" a harried look reigned in the expanse on her face, as the scowl on her forehead intensified.

"He won't Khushi; you can trust him on that," Payal replied, with the same anxiety and worry as her sister. "But why isn't he here, yet?" she nervously drummed her fingers on her mobile, while the younger one did the job of clomping her feet on the floor. "I'm telling you didu, he'll ruin everything; he must be lying somewhere flirting with some girl!"

Payal took her mobile and typed away fretfully. "Hello? NK, stupid, where are you? What? What are you doing there? Get out of there now! We live in the mansion opposite the sapphire one. Didn't you take note of the address well? I had clearly mentioned, a mushroom colored house... Only if you pay attention, silly! I am coming to fetch you, don't move from there." Payal looked at the inquisitive look on Khushi's face and smiled, "He's at the Gherkins." before leaving the room.

"Hey Khushi! Happy marriage!" NK said, wrapping her in a hug and giving Payal an irritated look. "Nothing's happy about this marriage!" Khushi bellowed, albeit in a soft tone. "What?" NK transferred suspicious looks to Payal, who ignored him, as usual and carefully locked the door. He was brought to a chair, while Khushi got on the table, swinging her leg sideways and Payal sighed, standing.

"We need a favour," both sisters said in unison.

"Khushi is not happy with this marriage and, we need your help in dodging it," Payal let out a huge lungful of air, as though trying to bring an air of melancholy to make the reason sound real. "We need you to act as a doctor and tell amma and babuji that Khushi is pregnant."

He chocked, a reflex action, to what his mind registered and screeched, "What? Khushi is pregnant? How? I mean what?"

Irate, Khushi looked away, signaling Payal to handle the situation. "Of course not NK! It's just a way to pull off the wedding."

"But why? Khushi was happy a few weeks ago- correction she was on the moon, more than ecstatic."

Khushi sighed, threw a deadly glance to Payal, but hastily put on a forlorn stare at the carpet, before telling, "Because, I've just realized, that I am in love with someone else, not Aman, and just can't go on with this marriage..." She looked up to NK, praying that he had taken the excuse in but the latter seemed to be on a roll, "Who?"

"Who, what NK?" muttered Payal, slightly annoyed.

"With whom is Khushi in love?"

Shit. Shit was what Khushi wanted to shriek at that time. She gripped her sari, making a few pearls cascade down, and eyed Payal to handle him, otherwise, she would freak out, and that wouldn't be nice to see. "What was with that man today? So many questions? Enrolled for the job of a journalist or what?" Khushi mentally glowered, rolling her eyes.

Payal stuttered, "With... That guy, you know..." and received a defiant stare from Khushi, which yet seemed as though she was pleading to her, to get her out of that discomfited situation. "Arnav Singh Raizada! Both love each other a lot!" Payal shouted, gleefully, that finally, NK would be satisfied and would just comply with them in their plan.

Khushi's breath hitched and her heart started throbbing against her ribcage, even faster than the alacrity of lightning. "How did didu know?" she pondered silently, "And does Arnav really love me?" Payal heaved a sigh of relief to behold NK's flabbergasted look, indicating that he had taken in the pretense. Oh! The fool! She nudged Khushi who seemed as appalled as him. "What?" she muttered, "We're finally saved Khushi, and this idiot has accommodated the entire charade in him."

"Satisfied NK? Now look what you have to do. My foreknowledge is telling me Khushi is going to faint in a few seconds. I'll call amma and babuji; you have to step in as a doctor and tell them that Khushi is pregnant. Fine? The rest, I'll handle," NK carefully committed all the instructions to memory and paved his way out.

"Didu, I'm scared." Khushi tightened her hold on Payal's hand, who replied, "I am too," and giggled, "Don't worry, I'll handle it all. Ready?"

To her nod, Payal, dashed out assembling her mother in the room.

"Look amma, I don't know what has happened to her. We were talking when suddenly she started feeling dizzy and wobbly. I made her sit down, and brought some water to her parched lips when she passed out."

"Khushi? Khushi?" called Garima, probably in her mid-fifties, her navy sari matching the tears that were spilling down her eyes, "This girl will end up by killing me!"

"Hello, Dr. Clive? Payal Raizada speaking here. It's an emergency. My sister has just fainted here and is taking no name of coming round. Could you just please come over?" said Payal faking a worried tone to a confused NK on the other side of the phone who articulated with the same confused tone, "What? Payal?"

Face palm. Payal was on her nerves. "Damn you NK!" she muttered, moving out of the room, pitying Khushi who was being violently shaken by her mother, simply hoping that she resisted and kept her eyes shut.

She grabbed NK by the collar, who was in the adjacent room and shouted, "Are you crazy or what? That was an indication to call you in!"

"But, that wasn't mentioned in the plan."

"Argggh! If Khushi wasn't concerned, you would have never been here! Anyway, put the damn stethoscope around your neck," she violently, wound that around his poor neck and he winced, "careful, you'll kill me, or what?"

"Now follow me silently. And, don't you dare mess it up." Her glare said it all.

"Amma, Dr. Clive is out of town. He suggested me to give Dr. NK a call, and since he was in the surroundings, he got here, in the nick of time." Payal said, while politely inviting NK in.

"NK? Wasn't that the name of that guy who loved you and was after you during the entire university course? And who even threatened to suicide if you didn't accept his proposal, Payal?"

That was it. Payal was in a fix, and she knew it very well. "No amma. He's another NK. Dr Na... Dr Natwarlaal Nattinglal!" she almost shrieked in victory. "And what are you doing amma? He's a doctor. That's embarrassing!"

NK sat down, relieved that Payal had wittily dodged any further question and had safely lied. He took out his stethoscope, acted as though he was in a great reflection, which seemed stupid to any normal person, and said, "Congratulations madam, your daughter is pregnant."

Payal was relieved. He did not botch anything up!

Garima was flabbergasted. It was as though she was apprised of her death date or as though the stock of laddoos in the whole world was exhausted. Yes, she was fond of laddoos. She then shook her head and shrugged, "Doesn't matter. She's getting married in a few minutes. Aman will be more than happy."

"Amma," Payal uttered, slightly disappointed. This was meant to break this alliance off!

But NK took the whip-hand over and said, smiling, "No aunty, Aman is not the father. It's Arnav. Arnav Singh Raizada."
"Finally, Payal will thank me and my one lie will be able to unite two lovers," he thought triumphantly.

****

Author's Note: Please, like and comment if you liked it, or PM/Scrap me if anything about the chapter, lies incomprehensible. It would be of my pleasure to clarify things!

Buddy me for PMs!

-Sargun