Posted:
very good chapters 25 & 26...
absolutely loved the touches you added .. :)
The last of Nani-Arnav verbose combat.
Idol Worship -Chapter 27
"Where were you last night Arnav?" her aged eyes rested firmly over her grandson, scrutinizing every twitch that her abrupt question might cause to his otherwise impassive countenance. But to her disappointment he maintained the same calm while replying her with yet another question.
"Are you keeping a watch over me Nani? You should know, it's very rude to do that."
"Answer my question straight Chote."
"I was with Lavanya."
Devyani puffed in anger. The family sitting around the large dining table fell absolutely silent. "It is to my deepest regret dear grandson that you don't seem to appreciate or have any reverence towards propriety in conduct. That you are unreasonable, indifferent and disgustingly irreverent towards the accepted norms of our society and religion." she stated in arrant disillusion.
"And which religion permits you to tamper with my freedom?" he snapped.
"Not one but all permit me for my cause is for your greater good. For it hurts me to great extent that my own grandson whom I wished to be a man of great virtues should be making insult to piety and visit a girl whom he is not married to at such unholy hours of the night for god knows what purpose."
"And sleuthing over me is indeed very scrupulous." he remarked sarcastically. "Nani you being a self proclaimed regent of propriety will stick to your natal prejudices but I have already made it amply clear that I do not give a damn to the so called norms of a hypocritical society." he said leaving his chair and added looking at his sister's saddened face, "but you know what hurts me? That you should always spoil the day for me." He picked up his coat and turned to leave.
"Arnav, wait... we can talk this over, please it's a gentle request." pleaded Shyam.
"No jijaji. I cannot stay here anymore."
"Arnav for your sister's sake please..."
"Let him be Shyam." said Devyani.
The lawyer looked around the table disconcerted, "Will anyone tell me what's going on (what now heady brat)?"
Arnav hurried over to his car and sped towards the towering AR Designs. His logical capacity- averse to ponder upon relations was being dragged to a jagged ground of perception of the same. His grandmother was annoying him to say the least. He brisked towards his cabin, sensing the welcome Sunday silence that had whisked away the week's hubbub. A tiny population of his employees still occupied scattered positions, too scattered to appreciate anyone else's presence. ASR's jog came to an abrupt halt as his eyes fell over an unoccupied desk at his right just below the stairs. The sight of an idol of a goddess and a couple of cheap looking small containers juxtaposed made a stark contrast to the decor of his office, but that wasn't the only misery they caused. They brought in a swirl recent memories of their obvious owner to his puzzled mind.
The hireling lightly dozing off near the reception was jolted awake from the commanding master's distant call to him. He rushed immediately to serve him. "Whose stuff is this?" asked ASR frowning.
"Sir, Khushi Ma..."
"Whatever. Send it to her place." he barked and marched away.
Occupying his usual high backed armchair, for about an hour ASR struggled to concentrate on his work, he was intrigued... how just the mere sight of her belongings had flooded his mind with her images again. He gave up his resistance for once, freed his hands of the keyboard and eyes of the notebook screen.
He leaned back in his chair, resting his hands on the sides of the chair and closed his eyes letting the maiden's image titillate his senses. He was reminded of the innocent radiance of her eyes, the glow of her skin, the silk of her hair, the sweet nectar that her lips seemed to offer... for a moment he wondered how would it feel like to kiss her... the next moment he realized she probably hated him... and so did he, the last thought made him stiffen. But it wasn't over, he wasn't over with her yet... when he had seen her at the temple, he had wanted to talk to her but she had seemed too dazed for having any sensible talk and on top of it, she wasn't even being reasonable. He was annoyed that she should avoid him like that. Dammit! Nobody had ever dared to behave with him the way she did.
While his eyes were still closed he felt a soft breezy sensation hit his face, for some obscure reason he felt she was near him. Arnav, more often than not responded to his intuitions. He left his chair and walked over to the glass walls.
Khushi entered the edifice, unaware of his presence. "Now stop fretting Khushi, he's not here. He is not here. He is not here. He is not here..." she chanted to herself while he watched her move in stupefaction. She stopped at her desk, familiar surroundings made her think of him and forget her purpose of being there till the peon came to her.
"Khushi Mam?"
"Oh, I...I came here to collect my stuff." she said and looked around her table to find her things missing.
"Mam, Arnav Sir asked to send them to your place but there was no boy available, so I kept them in the store room."
"Khushi come to my cabin. I need to speak to you." his deep voice startled her. She looked up to find him staring down at her from his cabin, something inside her crashed, another yelled at her to run away, a third was too terrified to even breathe. But she was too obstinate to heed to any of the three cowards, she boldly broke her gaze from ASR, "Show me the way to the store room." she told the peon.
"Khushi..." his tone assumed the I-am-warning-you flavor.
"Where is the store-room." she said louder to the confused peon. He looked up and back at her, for some reason the tall man standing above him seemed more patient then the madam ahead him, who seemed to tear him apart from his limbs if he did not show her the store room. He tailed behind her, though it was a massive error in judgment on his part to believe that the man above was 'patient'. ASR clenched his fist and stormed out.
Khushi scrambled hastily, this part of the office she had never seen, the corridor was as broad, long and elegant as any other corridor of the building but it appeared to be older. The walls on both the sides seemed like a picture gallery, she quickened her steps towards the door the peon informed her it to be of the store before leaving her on her own.
The wooden door was certainly old, though the varnish coating was flawless. Behind it was a square room with wooden shelves from ground to ceiling on two sides; the third wall was hidden behind decks of paper cartons similarly arranged from ground to ceiling. In the fourth wall was a large window shut like all the other windows in the office. Alongside were many piles of bound documents, boxes and other oddities neatly arranged. She looked for her idol around, fidgeted with the strap of her bag, sometimes clutching it tight enough to break. She found her idol, placed at a significant height from the ground on the fifth number shelf. She looked around for a ladder or stool but found none, just a bean bag that was incapable of serving the purpose of raising her up to the height of the shelf. She wondered if her idol had got there magically by itself. Without much thought she began climbing the shelf, one foot on the second rung, another over the third, grasping the fifth shelf with one hand for support she got her other hand around her idol.
ASR strode in through the door and saw her in that awkward position, she looked funny. That little carving over plaster of Paris must be very dear to her he mused but he couldn't have cared less about it, she had offended him by daring to ignore his call, "What do you think of yourself Khushi Kumari Gupta?" he yelled.
Poor thing, her legs trembled in fear at hearing his yell, clumsy as she was, her hand shoved the idol that it had barely secured sending it flying in the air. What Arnav did next, insulted his profanity. He dived to catch her precious idol before it could crash on ground and shatter into a hundred pieces. He had barely returned to a humanly posture when Ms Klutzy made her second move, her hands slipped off the wood and she sent her trembling limbs in the air, her foot kicked the startled man in his knee before she landed on the cushiony bean bag. A soft gasp left Arnav before he toppled and fell on top of her. With her Devi Maiyya in one hand, he held ground with the other propping himself over it thereby saving the girl from being flattened under his weight.
Forever in the event of collision of their gaze, all of the boastful worldly sense... all of the spoken repugnance was conveniently chucked away to sulk in a corner and like the great archer who had eyes only for the bird's eye he was supposed to hit in, Arnav's gaze was fixated on her doe eyes, not that he meant to shoot arrows into them yet, for her all the figurative senses were turning literal under his impassioned, fiery look that seemed to incinerate her right there. She whimpered under him but too lightly for him to notice, her eyes frenzied and nervous, skimmed all over his face, while his were dead still in his moment of bliss, drawn to and drowned in the sublime innocence she exuded that he conceived to be non-existent in the world in which he lived. He let his hand gently slip to the side making his face inch closer to her only for the first time to notice that Khushi was nearing a nervous breakdown. But the look on her face wasn't as distracting as the abrupt blare of 'CHALO MAIYYA KE BHAWAN...BHAWAN' - the ringtone of her phone.
He tore his gaze and for a moment stared annoyed at her bag from where the sound was coming but finally released her. He got to his feet and held out his hand to help her up which she rudely ignored. Placing her hands on the sides of the bean bag, she pushed herself up and snatched her idol from his hand and scurried towards her bag to retrieve the phone that was still ringing causing much of the unnecessary annoyance to ASR.
She wasn't in a shape to but she did pick up Shyam's call. "Hello." she said in a much lower tone than she was used to.
"Khushi I just talked to buaji, where are you...in the office? Why Khushi?" he questioned.
"No I don't want to be here, I just came to..."
Although he should have been least interested in whom she was talking to, what she was speaking of but Arnav's temper was nearing a burst considering the probable caller. Who is she talking to... a friend? A man? A boyfriend? For the devil knew what reason, he wished the caller to just disappear from the face of earth, he was at the end of his patience within a minute, fortunately though Khushi cut the phone well in time. She thrust her idol into her bag, slinging it over her shoulder in a second she made a dash for the door, speedily crossing him.
"DO YOU KNOW anything apart from running away Khushi Kumari Gupta?" he shouted.
She stumbled for a moment but shot towards the door. It was beyond her imagination just how angry she could get him, fuming he covered the distance between him and the door in a matter of few long strides. Before she could get out, he slammed it shut in her face, hard. So hard the room reverberated with the loud sound that seemed to traverse from the frame to the walls around. So hard that the old knob couldn't take the impact and it fell near her feet, she shrank. Slamming the door had locked it and the knob was the only way to open, with it detached she was penally locked in with this man. Khushi shivered in fright, her wide eyes gawked at the fallen metallic knob, she wouldn't dare to turn and face him. She shut her eyes, when she heard his berating voice, "Didn't you hear me, I said you can't..." he was cut by yet another 'CHALO MAIYYA KE BHAWAN...' He clenched his fist tight as his nostrils flared up, reddening at the corners. He breathed hard.
"Hello jiji..." she responded weakly to the call. That did it. The ultimate test of his patience, he snatched the phone from her hands and threw it at the opposite wall. It crashed against it and fell on the ground- broken to three pieces.
"WHEN I AM talking to you, you let me FINISH." he seethed. Khushi shook all over, she shrank further back into the door, her eyes tearing up, a scared little kitten she sobbed silently. Another damage.
His heart wrenched all in one moment to see her cry. He stepped away, spooked by his own reaction... and felt at a complete loss of words. Did he scare her so much? But he hadn't meant to, she just drove him mad. From the corner of her eye she looked at the damaged beyond repair phone, it was Payal's but she had given it to her after her own was broken in the guest house mishap. She turned and began banging her fists at the door, pushing it, slamming it.
"Leave it Khushi, you can't open it." he said taking out his own phone to call for assistance in getting out of the damned store room. The door was a robust thing, it wouldn't budge. But Khushi did not relent. She kept on pushing herself against it.
"Can't you understand a simple fact that it is beyond your physical capacity to open that thing?" he said impatiently disconnecting the call.
"Can't you understand a simple fact that it is useless to try to control other's life?" she shot back angrily. "I want to get out of here and I will get out ."
"You will not go anywhere unless I wish you to. You can go on to break your skull over it, if you please."
She gave up on the door and ran to the window, cursing under her breath. She opened the glass, he rolled his eyes. Couldn't she see the window was barred?
He undid his coat and flung on the bean bag walking towards the water tap. She came hopping after. They reached for the disposable cups kept on a wooden table beneath the tap at the same time and pulled back. Hell. Attempted again for the cup at the same, this time Arnav grabbing it first, Khushi snorted and stepped away. She wondered whether he would offer her first. Stupid thought. He did not. He helped himself with it to cool down his heated insides. He poured another cup for her, "I don't need it." she cried shrilly.
"Look Khushi..." he tried to sound calm.
"No. I will NOT look at you. And you also stop staring at me like that. If you are angry that I refused the glass of water your highness offered me than do one thing, let off your anger. Break it just like you broke my mobile phone."
"YES I WILL." He crushed the cup in his fist and threw it on the ground. Water spilled out. Khushi jumped back retreating in fear again as he advanced in her direction.
"I will break every single thing and will keep on breaking until your deaf ears relent and your dumb brain understands that there is no point in fighting me."
Her back hit the cartons, he pushed his hands to her sides, his palms slamming into the cartons, locking her. She shut her eyes and looked away, feeling his warm breath on her face. Her breathing became uneven. "I hope your everything must include that door too. Why don't you put your anger to some good? Why don't you break that door as well?" she sputtered.
"First you listen to me."
"No I will not. Not anything you say, unless you open that door."
"Khushi..."
"OPEN THE DOOR." she cried out accompanied with a loud snort. "Just open it." she gasped as tears welled up in her eyes. Damn the girl, he sighed. He just couldn't stand her tears. Frustrated he punched the box near her ear, making her pulse jump in her throat, and a huge dent in the carton. He released her finally and left her side, much to her relief.
The loud bang of his solid kick landing on the strong timber door, made her whimper. She slipped against the cartons. But the door had barely budged. Another kick, four kicks in a row and the teak crashed against the marble of the floor. She stared at him, his breathing now heavy from the travail. Was he always so violent? she wondered but gathered herself the next moment, running for the exit.
"Now will you listen to me?" he pleaded.
"No. Not you. Never. But let me give you some good news. Time for you to celebrate for you no longer would have to see my silly face. I am leaving Delhi forever. I am going back to Lucknow and I will never ever step back in your city." saying that she pushed away a shocked Arnav and scrambled out.
"No, wait Khushi you can't..." he whispered. "Khushi..." he called, she did not look back. She left him. He stood there somewhat dumbstruck, somewhat disappointed. He did not know how long her last words would haunt him...I am leaving Delhi forever.
****
Originally posted by: cineraria
Really? Oh my my. What a stroke of luck. Are you into botany and stuff?
dear i was too engrossed in coming uptodate with all the updates that i forgot to comment 😕chap 25 had me at my wits end... i was feeling dhak,dhak out of anxiety...so SMJ/MJ doesnot know about the Mallik connection...that's interesting 😃but it makes me wonder ... all those who did injustice to SMJ have met a nasty end and so what was Dheerendra Mallik's end? also when SMJ went to Lucknow didnt he read/watch the news where it said that ASR has taken over the Sheesh Mehel as there was media coverage for the whole event?oh and i appreciate the character of Anjali - she has been shown as an ASR ... good i like this Anjali 😃chap 26looks like the snakewa has fallen head over heals with our sankadevithanx for the update...pls continue soon 😃
Originally posted by: cineraria
Great, finally someone did point that. 😊Snakewa might have seen the news and even if he hadn't seen it, after the takeover he would have definitely come to know of it from any source. I didn't write about it in chapter 25 because even if Shyam knows about Arnav buying Sheesh Mahal like the rest of the world, he has no way of knowing how Arnav is related to the Malliks unless Anjali decides to tell him. Why Anjali doesn't confide in him is the dicey question.Also with the knowledge of Arnav buying Sheesh Mahal it is easier for Shyam to infer that it might be just another business deal for Arnav. Maybe Arnav had his eyes on it for a long time and was planning to buy it since last three years or so.The facts which Shyam has in front of him, do not point at anything specific. Shyam suspecting a relation between Raizadas and Malliks is mostly because of his hyperactive brain.
yes, the logical reasoning given for the Sheesh Mehel takeover is very much acceptable.Also, with this Anjali, who is definitely clammy about revisiting the past and opening a can of worms,it can be justifiably inferred that she is mature enough to overlook the memories of a life by-gone within the walls of Sheesh Mehel. But it also shows how close the bro-sis bond is bcos what is between them remains between them . Snakewa was saying that 'heady brat's' heart is Anjali whose heart is himself.But this situation goes to show that there is one portion of that heart which has no place for snakewa and beats only for her bro - her Chote. 😃
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