Very interesting chapter this has been. And also my favourite till now, obviously due to arshi😛 Did Pari say that reading about khushi viewing arnav's state in the bathroom gave us the fastened heartbeats? It did, quite shockingly😲 I actually never have faced this before in any story. Your arnav is just so sophisticated and manly that I can't help it. To top it all, he has that blushing and fumbling state when he's conscious around khushi. That makes it more irresistible.
Whoa, so that was a date for arnav, but for their newly formed friendship's sake, he didn't want to say it outright to khushi. His anecdotes from nk's failed bachelor's night was so interesting. Anjali joined them too! She one cool woman then. Anyway, their ''date'' was going well until that moment when she had to bring aman in their conversation about that new years when he and aman returned bruised. Regarding the notion that aman had turned unscrupulous years before, that hint is right there in chapter 15.
1. "No, Khushi, my friendship with Aman was shot the moment he met Sheetal, and if I'm being honest, a long while before that."
2. "I may not have liked the man he turned into over the past couple of years, but he was my best friend---I miss him, you know?"
My theory that aman and sheetal have been having an affair behind arnav's back when they were in harvard (please correct me, was aman also in harvard?) may or may not be true. When khushi apologised to arnav for ruining his friendship with aman because of their supposed ONS or whatever must have happened between arshi, arnav mentioned that it was spoiled right when he met sheetal. Now we know that the supposed arshi ONS happened before the sheetal fiasco. So when arnav here says 'the moment he met sheetal', it may mean that aman and sheetal met each other before too when they were in harvard and had an affair. 'If I'm being honest, a long while before that' - this definitely implies that aman-arnav's strained relationship began in college years due to his cheating, or most probably (and most certainly) due to some tiff (either started by aman or it was mutual) because of aman's fraudulent nature and unscrupulous ways in his personal and professional life.
Arnav's fight with aman that khushi was asking him about, refers to the same year's New Years when he discovered aman with sheetal on bed. He sent aman to Boston in January (say in the first week or second week), and then khushi remembers this in chapter 8 -
"I remembered this year's New Year. Aman had returned from his trip with a black eye and bruised ribs. Arnav had bruised and torn knuckles. For a brief moment, when I spotted them both at the airport, I feared that Aman had found out about Arnav and me. But then, it hadn't explained role reversal in injuries.Aman and Arnav had not been on speaking terms since. Their interactions had always been short and stifled ever since then; as though there was a huge secret, a rift, a crack hanging between them. When I had questioned Aman about it, he had brushed me off---and given my own relationship with Arnav, I had dropped it; believing it to be for the best."
And in chapter 17, she says this - ""After you and Aman got in...in that fight after New Year's, things just...shifted. You were never mentioned, you guys were never mentioned. It hadn't just become a taboo, it was forbidden unless we were in direct company."
I feel it's that same New Years that she referred to. And then khushi says that after that New Years, aman never even took arnav's and his family members' name. It's as if whatever little they had of their friendship was severed after that fiasco. According to arnav in chapter 15, it was strained long before that. Interestingly, it should be noted that aman did nothing to better the equation between arnav and khushi. Chapter 2 - "Aman had never been blind to the animosity between the two most important people in his life. Actually, he would have had to be both blind and deaf to miss it. But he had never commented on it. He never requested either of us to stop for his sake or tried to bring some peace between us, and so we continued fanning the flames, encouraging the spark to grow into a wildfire, until nothing but abhorrence was left." The fact that aman never found it necessary to sooth the broken relationship between his girlfriend and friend, does not sit well with me. Ok, after khushi became his fiance, his friendship with arnav deteriorated severely due to sheetal fiasco, but at least before that, he could have tried. This proves all the more that arnav-aman had been having a tiff long since after passing Harvard, because of which aman never wanted to see any good happening to arnav. There are so many things which point out towards aman's dubious character. Either he was really jealous of arnav since a long time, or he just wanted to punish him for something. Whatever may be the reason, it was due to some tiff. I won't say much of the incident where aman hold hands with arnav's crush at school, because they were just twelve.
Chapter 1 ends with this line -
"It was one of Aman, NK, Akash, Lavanya, Arnav and I, all happy and laughing during the time when the relationships between us weren't so strained. " It was a photo of the group of earlier times. Which times? I assume it must be the time after aman had asked khushi out on the date, and before arnav-khushi's relationship worsened. It's of the time when they still haven't had the supposed ONS. Here again, I must say that the ONS, it it did occur, had happened after aman asked out khushi. So, if it did happen, in actuality arnav-khushi were really cheating on aman and khushi was unfaithful. After reading chapter 1 again, it makes me think so. Aman asked khushi out after a week of Nk's wedding, and the ONS happened few weeks (maybe few months) after that. And the happy photo in 1st chapter was taken within that time frame after aman asked out khushi and before that 'night'.
Now there's this other theory, that what if there wasn't any ONS in the first place? What if whatever happened during that night was a bad fight and misunderstanding between arshi - something which they were wary of letting aman know? Some hints are there in chapter 2 -
"So instead of ignoring him and walking away, like I normally would have done, I stabbed him in the chest with my index finger and called him: "---A cruel, manipulative and spoiled prince who has lived his entire life with a silver spoon in his mouth."
He hadn't taken kindly to my taunt. This disdain in my voice and mockery in my eyes stoked his anger and he snapped. Something intangible had shifted between us that night; as his fingers bruised my upper arms and his lips whispered harshly against my earlobe: "You don't know a single thing about me."
I still remember the ache in my arms as he wrenched himself away from me and walked away. The bruise had stained my pale complexion for many weeks, a reminder that whatever rapport that had hung taut between us like a frail thread had severed. And the rest, as they say, was history."
I don't find essence of an ONS here or anything physical between them, but some big bad fight. There is again this -
"He was introverted, quiet and full of anger at the world while I was outgoing, loud and tried to rise above the setbacks life threw my way by living my life to the fullest. He never liked my upfront and teasing demeanor. When I had called him out on it, knowing that he was uncomfortable around me---he had spat out that he considered me immature and that I did not belong in his world.
Belong.
If there was one word in the dictionary that I hated more than the rest, it was the word: to belong."
Khushi did try to reach out to him and try to better their uncomfortable relation, but he spat out to her. I feel it has something to do with khushi's family or payal. Arnav must have believed the opinion khushi's family held about her, and this might have caused the misunderstanding between arshi. This must have caused arnav to have great disdain for khushi. And this misunderstanding from arnav's side was cleared out when he knew about khushi's innocence in her family matter. Ok, if not her innocence (we don't know if she was innocent or was really guilty), at least he somehow sympathised with her and supported her stand afterwards. Payal may or may not have something to do with the misunderstanding between arshi. Speaking about payal, how she was the only one apart from arnav who got to know about aman and sheetal's affair is beyond my understanding at this point.
So yeah, if it's an ONS, it happened when khushi was aman's gf, and if it didn't occur, it was a fight from a MU.
Oh, I forgot to mention that, in chapter 8, I noticed this particular behaviour of arnav where he was filled with hesitation and abhorrence at the word 'cheating' which La used. His demeanour spoke of discomfort when that word was used.
Arnav ran a hand over his face tiredly, "Don't use that word, it makes it sound cheap."
"Arnav pinched the bridge of his nose, "What he did, it was more than just cheat. He was unfaithful," he looked at me pointedly, as if trying to gauge my reaction."
Is it due to the reason that he and khushi had spend a night behind's aman's back, or is it plainly because he was scared of khushi getting hurt when she would finally get to know of what a cheat aman has been all along?
Let me know what you think Pari😊 Waiting to read chap. 18.
Edited by poojasidd123 - 7 years ago
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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