Here is the update...
At the end there is an Important question so please answer it... please...
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~||Chapter 23||~
Arjun just sat there. The man's words kept on playing in his mind without any stop button, and his heart would always skip a beat as the 'Love' would make its presence. Was he really in love with his wife? But how is that possible? How can he love someone when he doesn't even know the meaning of love? But then why wasn't his heart denying that he might love her? Why does just thinking of the word love swells his heart. Could he really be in love? "God," Arjun murmured as he held his head in his hand. What has that man done to him? Why did he have to say all those things? Now he couldn't help but think about anything but those things. Arjun looked up, towards his wife, and he felt a tug in his heart when he remembered the man saying, "That young man out there will whisk her away from under your nose." 'No!' his heart shouted. No he couldn't let that happen. He couldn't . . . No he wouldn't give Sanchit even a chance to think about Arohi. Not even in his dreams. Arjun didn't know if he was in love with Arohi or not but now he was sure about one thing . . . he 'was' jealous of Sanchit being so close to 'his' wife.
With that thought, Arjun stood up and marched towards where Arohi and Sanchit were standing. "Hello," he said as he placed his hand on Arohi's waist, pulling her a little towards him. Arohi gasped as soon as she felt his hand on her waist and snapped her face towards him. Her eyes were wide with shock and her breathing was hitched. It wasn't the first time that Arjun had touched her but, this time she felt a jolt of current pass through her body as soon as his hand touched her. Though it wasn't uncomfortable for her, but still it kind of left her in shock.
Arjun could feel her eyes on his face. He didn't know what had gotten into him, which made him do what he did. One moment he was sitting on the bench and the next moment he was standing beside his wife with his hand on her waist. Maybe it was the jealousy which made him do this? No he was sure that it was the jealousy. He just couldn't sit there and look at his wife and her friend, talking and laughing. He looked at Sanchit and the man's words came into his mind, "Go there and show that man, that he doesn't have a chance with that woman. Not now, not ever, because she is 'your' wife and 'you' are her husband. Go." So Arjun narrowed his eyes at Sanchit and growled, "May I have a word with 'my wife?'" he emphasized on 'my wife,' as if telling Sanchit to back off.
Sanchit who was looking at Arohi and then at Arjun and back and forth, winced at Arjun's tone. He could feel the anger in Arjun's voice. He didn't know why Arjun was suddenly so angry with him but he knew that now wasn't the time to point that out. "Sure," he said a bit hesitantly. "I'll see you guys later," he added and then walked towards where Romit, Shefali and Dhruv were sitting.
The moment Sanchit was a little farther from where Arjun and Arohi were standing, Arohi pushed Arjun's hand from her waist and started walking away. Arjun felt her push his hand and looked towards her face which was seething with anger. He winced as he saw her walk away in so much rage. "Arohi," he called running behind her, trying to catch up with her. "Arohi," he said as he came and stood right in front of her. "Where are you going?" he asked, he was a little breathless from the running. "I don't want to talk to you Arjun," she said and walked forward, pushing Arjun to the side. Though she had already forgiven him but she didn't want him to know that yet. She wanted him to know that his moody behavior was hurting her and was also making her angry. "Why?" Arjun asked as he started walking beside her. His eyebrows furrowed together and he was looking at Arohi. Arohi stopped and narrowed her eyes at him. First he's being all angry, then he has the guts to ask her why does she care and then he asks her why doesn't she wants to talk to him? Doesn't he have any idea? Not even a bit? She then quoted what Arjun had said to her last night, "Why do you care?" she wanted him to feel the exact way she felt when he had said those words to her. And her mission was accomplished when she saw the change in his stance and pain in his eyes.
It hurt; it hurt so much as if someone had struck thousands of needles in his heart. He could only imagine how Arohi must have felt when he had said those words to her. He bowed his head and looked at his shoes and then he put his hands in the pockets. "I'm sorry," he whispered and Arohi didn't have to ask him for what. She knew exactly for what he was sorry for. She placed her hand on the crook on Arjun's elbow and tugged at it, as if telling him to remove it from his pocket. As soon as Arjun removed his had from the pocket, she took hold of it and held it between hers while Arjun just looked at her. She was looking at their hands and was thinking of the correct words to talk to him. She looked up and met his eyes which were a little sad and was asking her for forgiveness. "It hurt, Arjun. When you said those words," she looked down at their hands again, "I don't know what has happened or if I have done something to make you angry," she looked up again and saw that he was about to say something but she shook her head, as if telling him to let her continue, "You have to tell me if I have done something Arjun. If you are angry with me, you have to tell me. I'm not a mind reader. I'll not know my mistakes until you'll tell me about them. So please . . . Please tell me if I have done something. Please."
Arjun sighed and kept his other hand on their joined hands. "I'm not angry at you, Arohi. I never was," he said, his voice was almost a whisper. And whatever he said just now was the truth. He wasn't angry at her, he had thought he was, but now after having that talk with that strange man, he realized or rather that man had made him realize that he was jealous and the anger which he felt towards Arohi could not be termed as anger, it was plain jealousy. There was no fault of Arohi's here. She was simply having a talk with her friend. Though they were talking too much to Arjun's loking, but it was also Arjun's fault. Only if he wouldn't have acted like a jerk and given Sanchit chance to spend so much time with 'his wife.' But now this was the end to it. Now he wouldn't give Sanchit a chance to spend time with Arohi. Not that he would act like those domineering husbands who won't let their wife talk to any other man, even if he was a friend of their wife. He would let them speak but just to a limit. And the moment they would reach the line, he would step in.
He came out of his thoughts as he heard Arohi ask, "Then what is it?" Arohi was curious; she wanted to know what was going on in her husband's mind. Arjun closed his eyes and took a deep breath. What should he do now, should he tell her about his jealousy? But what if she asks her, why he was being jealous? What will he tell her when he himself doesn't know why he was being jealous? 'Love' 'Love' 'Love' 'Love' 'Love.' His heart started chanting as if it was telling him about his feelings. Arjun groaned internally and then shook his head as if he was shaking away those chanting's. He opened his eyes and sighed when the chanting's stopped. He looked at Arohi who in return was looking at him curiously. She was waiting for his answer. He looked at their joined hands and then said, "I . . . uh . . . I was, just having so much in my mind. It was making me crazy. I myself didn't know what was happening to me. My mind . . . it was having a conversation of its own. And . . . And it was just making me crazy," Arjun blabbered whatever came in his mind at that time. He also decided not to tell her anything when he himself wasn't sure and wouldn't be able to answer her questions. Arohi shook her head and said, "You don't make any sense." "I know, I don't even make sense to myself these days," Arjun mumbled. He then looked up at her and saw that she was about to probe him. He squeezed her hands and pleaded her with his eyes to not ask him any further questions.
The plea in her husband's eyes stopped Arohi to ask any further questions. She sighed loudly in defeat, and then asked him, "Will you tell me, whatever is bothering you when you are ready?" Arjun nodded his head, he wasn't sure if he would ever be ready but he wasn't going to say that to her, so he thought it would be better to just go with it for now and finish the discussion. Arohi nodded back and then removed her hands out of Arjun's hold. The moment their hands got separated Arjun felt at loss. He felt some kind of emptiness in his heart. Even Arohi felt something. Something happened to her heart the moment she took back her hand. But she didn't know what it was. All she knew was that she didn't like it. No a bit.
They then started walking towards the other side of the cruise. There was a comfortable silence for some time and then Arjun cleared his throat and asked hesitantly, "So . . . What were you and Sanchit talking about?" Arohi smiled slightly and then said, "He was telling me about his childhood with Shefali. How he once got hold of his mother make-up kit and had given his mother a complete makeover for which he was then grounded." Arjun laughed and said, "Neev had done the same thing once," the only difference was, instead of Neev, Arjun was punished. Arjun was home during his vacations, when Neev had played that prank. Kumud didn't believe that her son could do something like that and blamed Arjun, saying that only he could do such a thing. And for his punishment, he was locked in his room and no food was given to him until the next day. Rudra was not at home and wasn't aware of it and Kumud had made sure that she unlocked Arjun out of the room and gave him food before Rudra arrived.
Arohi noticed a faraway look in Arjun eyes and there was also a little sadness present there. She wondered what was that look about but from the look of Arjun's face she knew it will be a sour topic. "So, Neev was the prankster among the two of you?" Arjun came out of his thoughts and smiled, "Yeah, he was the biggest prankster; no one was saved from his silly pranks. You know one time, when I had gone home from hostel during vacations, Neev wanted to go see the circus. Dad had promised us that he would take us but at the last moment he had to leave the city because of an urgent meeting and this made Neev angry. He threw the biggest tantrum ever. He yelled, he cried. Dad tried explaining to him, but Neev wouldn't budge. When finally Dad yelled at him and asked him to go to his room, he cunningly took Dad's car keys with him and flushed it off the toilet," Arjun laughed loudly and Arohi's mouth was opened wide in shock. Her expression made Arjun laugh more. After a couple of seconds passed, Arohi joined Arjun in his laugh. "So, how did you all got to know about this?" Arohi asked, as their laughter reduced and then went and sat on the bench.
Arjun sat beside her and said, "We were all finding the keys. We checked each and every room, every corner. It was a little unlikely you know. Where would the keys go? They didn't have the legs of their own. So, Dad finally took out the duplicate keys and was just about to leave when Neev came down running. He had this big and satisfied smile on his face and his eyes had that 'I-have-done-something-wicked' look in it. I immediately knew he had done something mischievous. He went and stood in front of Dad and said that he cannot go for his meeting now. And at that instant Dad knew that the disappearance of the car keys had something to do with Neev. So he asked Neev, why couldn't he go and Neev very proudly said that he flushed the keys off the toilet," Arjun and Arohi both laughed heartily. Arohi could imagine a little Neev doing this. At the little time when she was at Arjun's home at Chandigarh, she had always seen mischievousness in her brother-in-laws eyes. "We all were flabbergasted. Sure we knew Neev's a prankster but we had never ever imagined that he could do something like this. It just took a key which was flushed to make us realize that Neev could do anything. From that day, Dad had made sure that he has not only one but at least four duplicate keys for everthing," Arjun continued laughing and shook his head.
Arohi kept on looking at Arjun's laughing face. How his eyes would twinkle and how at peace he looked when he laughed. She liked this Arjun, not the one who was angry and grumpy last night. So, she carried on with the conversation. She asked him to tell her more about Neev's prank, which Arjun told her with a big smile on his face. His eyes never lost the glint and his hands were moving, forming different gestures as he described his brother's pranks. She also asked him if he'd played any pranks in his childhood days to which he said he was always a part of it, even if he didn't want to be, but the mastermind behind it was always Jai or Rajvir and then Dhruv when they entered college. They talked a little more about his childhood and Arohi noticed that not once, did he mention his mother. His talk just revolved around his father, brother, Jai, Rajvir and then Dhruv. She wondered what was wrong with him and his mother. From what she had noticed during her stay at Chandigarh, Kumud was a nice person and cared about her family. Then what had happened, due to which there was a drift between Arjun and Kumud? This was not the first time she'd noticed this. Whenever, Arjun and her would have a talk about their family members, he would never mention his mother. She wanted to question him, but she also knew that now was not the time to ask that. Maybe he would himself tell her about it someday; just like she would tell him about her and her father's relation. She knew that someday she would share that part of her life with him. That part which was just filled with sadness. But it might just be a little while for that time to come.
"Hey there Mr. and Mrs. Singhania," Dhruv yelled, as Jai and him walked towards them. They both were standing afar from past couple of minutes and were just admiring Arjun and Arohi. They both had also noticed how Arjun and said off to Sanchit earlier and since then both Arjun and Arohi had been missing. Both Jai and Dhruv searched for them at every possible place where they thought they could find Arjun and Arohi. And finally after searching for around 45 minutes, they found them at the other side of the ship. And the moment they spotted them, a smile formed on their face. They both were sitting on one on the benches there and were completely engrossed in their conversation. It looked as if the people around them didn't matter to them. Both Jai and Dhruv could feel the love in the air, and they knew that the source of it were the two people in front of them, who didn't even knew that they loved each other. God only know why they couldn't feel the love, when both Jai and Dhruv were sure that all the people around them, even if they were just passing by, could feel the love in the air.
Arjun's and Arohi's heads snapped towards Dhruv and Jai, when they heard Dhruv yelling their name. They were so lost in their own little world that, when they heard Dhruv's yelling they got startled. They were so lost that they didn't notice the sky turning dark. They didn't even notice that the ship had started sailing towards Maldives. They both felt embarrassed when they noticed those things and also when their eyes fell on the watch tied around Arjun's wrist. It was seven in the evening and they have been sitting at the bench from past couple of hours completely oblivious of their surroundings.
"What's up guys? We've been searching for you both everywhere," Jai said, a bit teasingly. Arjun was about to explain himself and his wife when Dhruv said, "Anyways, getup. Go to your room and get ready," he pulled one of Arohi's and one on Arjun's hand, to make them stand up. "Tonight is Karaoke night," Dhruv fisted his right palm and bought it in front of his mouth in a form of a mike and said in singing tone, he then started dancing on an imaginary music. Jai shook his head with a smirk on his face. Arjun just smiled and Arohi looked amused.
Dhruv stopped dancing and looked at his friends. "Why are you all still standing here, Go," he said pushing Arjun towards the direction of his room. Arjun chuckled and then Arohi and he walked towards their room. "Let's go," Dhruv said to Jai. "We have a lot of things to do and . . ." Dhruv's voice trailed off as Jai and he walked away.
~*TMP*~
The bar where the Karaoke night was going was full with people. There was a person on the small stage placed there. He was trying to sing but was completely off-beat and off-tone. The people around were enjoying and were having fun even if the singer was damn bad.
Arjun, Arohi and everyone else were had captured one of the booths and were enjoying themselves. Even Rashi and Rajvir had managed to come. There was a day and night care for children in the cruise. So they left Tanvi and Chirag there for a couple of hours and joined the group. They were now sitting on the sofas and chairs around their table. The guys were all having beer and the ladies stuck to having simple soda. They were chatting, cracking jokes and were listening to the people come and sing.
"Now the next person to come on the stage is Mr. Dhruv Malhotra," said the host whilst everyone applauded. Arjun, Rajvir, Rashi and Archana were just looking at Dhruv in shock. Jai just kept a straight face and Arohi, Shefali, Romit and Sanchit were giving Dhruv an amused look. Dhruv stood with his head high. He looked at shocked and amused faces, everyone's but Jai's, and then asked, "What? Aren't you all going to come there," he pointed to the place near the stage, "and support me?" Everyone composed themselves and after the yes's, sure's and why not's they stood up. Arjun, Rajvir, Rashi and Archana, weren't shocked because of Dhruv singing. They had obviously heard him sing before, many times, and they loved his smooth voice, but never in public. Dhruv sang only for his friends and himself but never in public. So when the host announced Dhruv's name, they were left shocked. And the others were amused because they hadn't thought that Dhruv could do something like this, that is, go there and make fun of himself.
They all reached in front of the stage. Dhruv was walking ahead of everyone and Arjun was just behind him. Just before climbing up the stage, he stopped and leaned towards Arjun. "This song is for you, I hope it reduces your confusion," he said and with that he climbed the stage. He walked towards where the DJ was and prompted him the song which he wanted to be played. The DJ gave him the thumbs up, as if telling him that he has the song and it's perfect.
Arjun just stood there, his brows furrowed. Dhruv said that the song might reduce Arjun's confusion. But what about this confusion which he was having now? What was the confusion Dhruv was talking about? He thought. He was so confused now; he just hoped that whatever Dhurv was about to do would really reduce all his confusion. He just shook his head and waited for Dhruv to start the song. Arohi came and stood beside Arjun and Jai stood at the other side of Arjun with Archana on his side and Rashi stood beside Arohi with Rajvir on her side and Shefali, Romit and Sanchit on Rajvir's side.
As the music started, everyone became silent and waited for Dhruv to start singing. And as the first word of the song slipped out of Dhruv's lips everyone started applauding and hooting. It was not for making fun of Dhruv, but because he was singing so well; because he had such a nice voice.
Jab Kisi Ki Taraf Dil Jhukne Lage,
Baat Aa Kar Zubaan Tak Rukne Lage,
Aankhon Aankhon Mein, Iqrar Hone Lage,
Bol Do Agar Tume Pyaar Hone Lage,
Hone Lage, Hone Lage...
Chahane Jab Lagey Dil Kisi Ki Khushi,
Dil Lagi Yeh Nahin, Ye Hai Dil Ki Lagi,
Aandhiyon Ko Dabaane Se Kya Faaida,
Pyaar Dil Mein Chupaane Se Kya Faaida,
Jaan Se Pyaara Jab Dildar Hone Lage,
Bol Do Agar Tumhe Pyaar Hone Lage,
Hone Lage, Hone Lage...
Jab Kisi Ki Taraf Dil Jhukne Lage,
Baat Aa Kar Zubaan Tak Rukne Lage,
Aankhon Aankhon Mein Iqrar Hone Lage,
Bol Do Agar Tume Pyaar Hone Lage,
Hone Lage, Hone Lage...
Uski Khushboo Agar Apni Saanson Mein Ho,
Uska Sapna Agar Apni Aankhon Mein Ho,
Jab Na Dil Ke Bahelne Ki Surat Lage,
Jab Koi Zindagi Ki Zarurat Lage,
Aur Jeena Bhi Dushwar Hone Lage,
Bol Do Agar Tumhe Pyaar Hone Lage,
Hone Lage, Hone Lage...
Jab Kisi Ki Taraf Dil Jhukne Lage,
Baat Aa Kar Zubaan Tak Rukne Lage,
Aankhon Aankhon Mein Iqrar Hone Lage,
Bol Do Agar Tume Pyaar Hone Lage,
Hone Lage, Pyaar Hone Lage...
Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha...
Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha...
Dhruv sang the full song looking at Arjun and Arjun listened to the song in full concentration. His eyes were wide with mouth agape as the meaning of those words dawned upon him. He took slow steps back and looked at Arohi as Dhruv sang the last two lines. She was smiling widely and was clapping. Arjun gulped a few times, his eyes fixed on his wife, and then almost ran out of the room.
~*TMP*~---------------------------------------------------
Please dont kill me 😆
Okay so kindly hit the like button and leave your precious comments 😳
Now the IMPORTANT QUESTION: How do you feel about the death of a character in near future?
Nothing is fixed... I just have something in my mind and i would like to know if it would be okay...
Edited by veds_6791 - 12 years ago
Geet - Hui Sabse Parayee
Advocate Anjali Awasthi
