Shopaholic V/S Workaholic - Thread 7 (Epilogue 10/10)

"Asshole!"

Shyaam quirked an eyebrow curiously as he observed the enraged lady, who was pacing in the middle of a suite like a more-than-furious lion in a cage. Her hands were balled into tight fists due to which her knuckles had turned whiter than white, while her body was taut, almost trembling with unrepressed wrath towards a particular constantly-angry young man. He was having a hard time hiding his amusement. He desperately tried to frown at his newspaper as Khushi stomped her foot again.

"Jackass!" she hissed. "How dare he?"

"Just calm down, Khushi."

That was a huge mistake, Shyaam realised as she turned her infuriated eyes onto him vehemently. He cringed into the sofa, hoping that Anjali would return soon or that the fury would miraculously subside. By any means possible, that is; he didn't mind if that meant Khushi had to faint. She usually didn't get angry, but when she did, it went past all the limits of control and incidentally, whenever Khushi would be this angry, it would remind him of Kali Ma.

God, why had he even spoken and made his presence known? His destruction was certain now that he had crossed her warpath. No one could survive this temper. Anjali was the only one who knew what to do to escape it with minimum damage but now that he was on his own, he could expect to get out of it with at least a few broken limbs...

"Don't you dare take his side!" she thundered, her gleaming eyes wide.

He jumped to his feet and, gulping, glanced at the door to his room. There was enough distance between them for him to reach it unscathed... He hesitantly raised his hands in surrender. "Okay... I'm sorry..."

Her jaws clenched tighter while the fury in her eyes escalated wildly and he knew that he was done for it. As quick as his legs would take him, Shyaam bolted into his room to lock himself in. Maybe he should call Anjali since she ran the anger management department better and right after the brilliant idea had struck him, he realised with a dang that his mobile was out there on the table, with the blood thirsty vampire burning the room down with her rage...

***

"I am so sorry!" the person spoke hurriedly, her hands folded apologetically in front of her mouth as Ulka panted, recovering from the jolt. "I was coming to see you, then I saw Arnav coming, so I hid behind the bushes. I'm so sorry I scared you!"

"It's okay," Ulka wheezed before giggling and rubbing her baby bump softly. "How are things going on your side?"

"Great! Arnav seems pretty... upset?" Ulka pouted mock-offendedly before she finally let the laughter flow out of her.

***

"What the f-?" he growled. "How dare she?"

"Arnow Bhaiyya?"

His eyes rolled upwards as he gritted his teeth together. Any moment now, he would either have a ruptured nerve or vein or he would have killed someone. "What is your bloody problem now you, retarded pea-brain?" he roared at Om Prakash, who unflinchingly beamed back at him with some kind of adoration he neither understood, nor wanted.

"Arnow Bhaiyya, aayi bhaf jaft tayling you dhaat you aar craffing da flabharj." (Arnav Bhaiyya, I was just telling you that you are crushing the flowers.)

"What?" Arnav grimaced as he tried to understand a word of what Om Prakash had just told him. Just a second later, he changed his mind and closed his eyes, throwing away the crushed remains of lilies on the ground. "I didn't understand what you just said, and you know what? I don't give a damn! I have had enough. Pata nahin kahaan phasa diya Ulka ne. I'll go mad!"

He stormed away from there, whipping his mobile out. He had had enough and he would not stay here for another minute. What would he stay for? To watch the girl he loved get married to that lousy leech of a lawyer? He scoffed. And he had not been just watching, he had been helping in it dammit! How had he let Ulka and Khushi make such a fool out of him? But that's it! Not any more. He was calling to arrange a car that would take him to Jaipur right away and he would take the first flight to...

F**k! Where would he go now? His job in New York was done, they didn't need him there anymore since they were managing well. He had sold his flat in London just before coming here. Damn! He'd go someplace somewhere but he would definitely not been staying there!

***

The room was suffocating her. Her own anger was suffocating her. She felt like her head would explode. She knew she shouldn't be so angry but it was all that duffer's fault. How dare he? He only had to pray he didn't cross her path because right away, she felt like whipping him against a wall until he died! He was a first class bloody idiot! If only she could-

"Ouch!"she yelped rubbing her head energectically.

"What the-?" Her eyes went up immediately to clash with his blazing glare. And the desire to throttle him hard filled her again...

***

"Oh dear!"

Ulka glanced at the person beside her. "I think that omitting the truth had not been a good idea. They look like they want to kill each other."

"Let them take all their frustration out. Khushi has been pretty knotted up for the past few year and I can guess that Arnav has been through the same. So once they get all the heat out, we'll be able to forge the iron and make this wedding happen."

Ulka smiled. Yes. That was definitely wise. But still... Maybe she ought to have an ambulance waiting outside the hotel? Just in case?

***

"You?" he exploded.

She meanly narrowed her eyes and stepped forward daringly. "Yes, it's me," she hissed. "Can't you ever watch where you are going? Where are your eyes? On your butt, maybe?"

"Oh, yeah?" he sneered, equally taking a step forward to close the distance between them . "And yours? Did you leave them on the moon or what?"

"None of your damn business!"

"Then, the location of my f**king eyes shouldn't be your bloody business either! And maybe you should start looking where you put your feet Miss Khushi Kumari Gupta, because the ground on which you walk does not belong to you."

"How could I have forgotten? It all belongs to Mr Arnav Singh Raizada, right?"

"Right! And you are not Arnav Singh Raizada, remember that."

"As if I wanted to be?"

"As if you could be?"

"What do you mean?"

"You don't have the brains to be Arnav Singh Raizada."

Khushi gasped, her mouth forming a perfect round O. "How dare you?"

"Oh, I dare very much," he crossed his arms across his chest and shrugged with as much nonchalance as he could. "I just showed you how I dare and how much. It sees how empty-headed you are, Khushi. Had you had the least bit of intelligent cell you wouldn't be marrying that idiotic Shyam!"

***

"What the hell?"

Ulka repressed her giggles and glanced sideways at her partner in crime. "Calm down. You said they had to let the steam out! Don't do anything stupid."

***

Khushi laughed humourlessly. "Bloody asshole!" she almost yelled. "Had you had the least intelligent electron in your body you wouldn't be saying or even thinking all this crap!"

"What the f**k do you mean? Oh, I don't even give a shit about what you mean, dammit! You are the most complex and troublesome girl in the universe and I'm glad that I am not the one who's marrying you! Good luck to you, and good luck to that fool who's committing suicide! I don't want to see you again, I don't even want to hear from you again. I'm leaving and I hope you spend a great life killing your husbands! Good bye!"

***

"Shit! That must have hurt... Just when she swats you playfully, your skin can keep burning for hours. And that slap was given with full force and her blind fury. I think you were right about the ambulance... What are you-?"

Ulka shook her head as tears ran down her cheeks. She was trembling with silent laughter. She took a deep breath of air and straightened herself, wiping her cheeks. "Bhai's face when she slapped him," she explained. "Oh! It's going to start again!"

"We should have brought popcorns, you think?"

***

He stared at her his eyes round with a mixture of shock and anger. His mouth opened again but he closed it on thing her tear glazed eyes. If he had thought that taking her out her anger with that slap was enough, he had to be dreaming. Because no sooner had he recovered, she was already shoving him backwards with harsh pushes on the chest.

"What goes on in that f**king brain of yours, you idiot? How could you even...? I hate you! I wish you would die, I wish I could kill you myself! You think that you are always right and that you have all the rights in the world, right? Jerk! Go to hell! But before you go, let to me well, and cram the piece of information I am going to give you well in your skull and live with it! I AM NOT GETTING MARRIED TO ANY-F**KING-ONE!"

His jaw dropped open in shock. "But... But... You told me were getting married to Shyam!"

"I never f**king told you that, asshole, that was your assumption!"

And just like that, his anger returned with a blow. His hands closed around her wrists to stop her from beating him. "What the hell? And you let me believe that? What's wrong with you, dammit? Are you crazy?"

She growled as she struggled to free herself. He ended up letting go of her and Khushi stepped back, breathing heavily. "I told you what you wanted to hear," she said harshly, even as a tear rolled down her cheek. "You didn't care for what happened to me during the past twelve months, why the hell do you care now?"

***

"So? What's the score?" came a whisper from behind them as they watched Khushi stomp away while Arnav stood there, stumped.

Ulka sighed. "They both lost. Were we right to do it this way, Anjali?"

Anjali squeeze her hand and smiled. "Yes, we had to let them take it all out so that things would be easier to work out. If they had kept their frustrations it would have been disastrous. But it's such a pity that you missed out on the fun, Shyam!" she frowned at the man who had just arrived.

He grinned and draped his arm around her shoulder. "Not at all sweetie. I saw and heard everything, even when Arnav called me idiotic. But I don't mind. For Khushi, anything. She has done a lot for us, now it's payback time."

The three of them smiled at each other and they quietly waited until Arnav had gone. Then Anjali clapped her hands excitedly. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, the proper planning, begins!"

He took deep breaths in to try and calm himself down desperately. The air conditioning was working but he was sweating as if someone had shut him in an oven. The things that he was having to do for love...

He caught sight of Ulka and she smiled brightly at him, giving him a quick thumbs-up in encouragement, making him only more nervous. No. He could do it. Would he remember everything?

Shit...

***

She [jewellery and coiffure] checked that her dupatta was correctly pinned in place one last time even as her anxious mind stressed over the fact that NK had disappeared off somewhere. Seriously, where was he? She perceived Ulka walking in towards her in the mirror and turned around hastily.

"Have you seen NK?" the words fell out of her mouth hurriedly and she grasped her sister-in-law's arms. "Voh ladka phone bhi nahin utha raha hai!" (...That boy is not even answering his phone!)

Ulka smiled at her encouragingly. "Hey, don't worry, okay? Your partner will be there on time."

"Anjali will kill me if anything goes wrong!"

"Kuchh galat nahin hoga, baba! You just don't worry! Are you ready? Abhi shuru hi hone wala hai aur tumhaara number pehle hai." (Nothing will go wrong! [...] It's going to start soon and your number is first.)

Khushi nodded, taking a deep breath. She just had to remain calm and concentrate. She could not allow herself to even think about the man she had slapped in the face days ago, especially. He unsettled to the point that... No. These coming days were going to be very special for her best-friend and she could not at all ruin any of it. Anjali and Shyam had already had to go through a lot to get this wedding happen...

"Khushi? Are you coming?"

***

She tapped her foot lightly with the beat as the music, willing her cheekiness to take over and her smile naturally stretched itself on her lips. Her cheery self was back and she could swear her mind was completely off a particular man as she whipped around, her lips shaping themselves around the lyrics.

The loud claps and whistles only widened her grin and boosted her confidence as she shimmied to the front.

Smirking, Khushi shot a quick wink at the crowd, raising more cheers. For a moment, she worried about NK. Where was he? He was supposed to make his entry in just seconds.

Hum lut gaye ainvayi aake tere mohalle (x4)

She turned to the other side, from where NK was supposed to enter, haughtily and her eyes wide-opened with feigned surprise, expecting her friend, but instead, she found the man she had been trying to forget, his eyebrows raised and he sauntered mockingly towards her and her mouth fell open. This time, her surprise was for real!

***

All his tension drained away the moment her jaw dropped. The expression on her face was truly priceless and he knew it was going to have a good time on this stage, even if it lasted for just a few minutes. With a teasing grin, he bumped his hips into her and she almost toppled over but he caught her arm on the nick of time, dragged her back against him and flung an arm around her before circling her around roughly.

He released her abruptly and she stumbled slightly, unstable on her feet. He noticed that her mouth was still comically hanging open. It took an extreme willpower not to laugh at her but he managed to keep his face straight as he kept dancing his part, starting to enjoy the attention from the crowd.

As per the choreography, he and the other men circled about the girls, dancing goofily. He saw her blink quickly as the realisation set in and something akin to the fury he had witnessed when she had slapped him flared in her dark eyes again. He would have expected her to lash out on him but she didn't. She simply fixed her glare on him, her eyes silently promising to make him pay for whatever this was, as she caught herself and started dancing too. He knew the price for this was going to be very high but he was having fun. Surely, it would be totally worth it!

Her venomous look was supposed to scare him but he only chuckled heartily. God, she was beautiful... He lifted an eyebrow and she suddenly moved in on him.

Kara lo ji, kara lo, dil ki FD kara lo

At the word dil' she thumped her fist on her chest. She was not supposed to do it very hard, but she did it hard enough to make him lose his breath. Dammit! This woman could definitely be stronger than a woman when she wanted to! Both the pain and the choreography fell him to his knees but he kept his taunting expression, no matter what, and that did have the desired effect. She got even more riled up.

Angootha bhi lagwalo, dil pheinka tujhpar

He winked cheekily, throwing his hands up at her, in the gesture of giving her his heart and he got a disgusted look in exchange. He could have laughed at how perfect this song was for them right now. He flashed a grin at her, which made her face fall in exasperation, as if she were on the point of breaking into hot, angry tears.

Hum lut gaye ainvayi aake tere mohalle

***

She felt like she could lift something - anything - and whack him on the head with it as she watched him lip sync to the cheesy lines and dance like a complete goofball. And at the same time, a small vulnerable part of her wanted to get her hands firmly around the collar of his pristine white shirt, drag him down to her and kiss him senseless. She didn't know what he had done to NK, she didn't know what he was planning to do to her, but she knew he was being painstakingly adorable. She could act like it was not working on her but he was definitely winning this.

He dropped his head on her shoulder as his part began and she ducked away quickly but that did not stop him from chasing her.

She slapped the hand he had latched around her wrist to pull her against him and stepped away.

He audaciously pushed his tongue into his cheek, his eyes never leaving her, and, grabbing her by the elbow, he twirled her around.

Badha lo ji, badha lo, relationwa badha lo

She narrowed her eyes in warning but the man did not look scared at all. Half her heart was melting for him already...

Nainon ke penchh lada lo aajaao na chat par

He returned with his silly dance, flapping his jacket around him and she had to bite the insides of her cheeks to keep herself from smiling. He looked like a stupid over-grown penguin.

***

He wondered of this grin was ever going to leave his face. Not that he minded! The anger was not dimming from her eyes either but he had certainly not missed the crack that was starting to form in the dam. The plan was working!

Hum lut gaye ainvayi aake tere mohalle (x2)

And oh! He was definitely enjoying himself. This was even better than a presentation, in the end. Well, given that Khushi was his partner - rather, his unwilling and angry partner. But he was ready to do it for her again. Hell, he was willing to do anything for her! How could he have been so stupid?

He went down on his knees and winked at her again, making her roll her eyes.

Deewane hain dilon ko hum toh jodeinge

She slapped her dupatta in his face as she turned on her heels, pretending to leave.

Na ghar ka tumhein ghaat ka na chhodeinge

His hand fisted around the end of the cloth and he tugged, lightly but hard enough to catch her attention.

Kyun paas na aati hai kheencha taani se

Scowling, she grasped it to try and free it, causing an impromptu tug of war to arise.

Hum popular hain apni manmaani se

And he kept pulling her to him slowly, inch by inch even as she tried to resist.

She put a good resistance but not really enough to get out of his grasp, and he had to admit he was not even trying hard enough to hold on to her dupatta. At the end of the song, however, she gruffly snatched the cloth from him and stormed off-stage, leaving him alone with the other dancers. Arnav awkwardly bobbed into a gauche curtsey to thank the audience for their applause, still grinning widely.

~~~

Song: Tere Mohalle
Movie: Besharam

She kept darting angry, madly furious eyes at him as he watched Anjali and that friend of hers, NK, try and calm her down. He saw her sigh and roll her eyes a lot too. However, where he should have felt triumph, he was feeling worse and worse... He had upset her, and the thought unsettled him. He had even lost the right to pacify her and ask for her forgiveness. What was he thinking? He never should have listened to Anjali, because that had only caused Khushi more pain.

His mouth upturned, Arnav looked at her sadly, one last time before he dragged himself out of there, the sinking feeling returning to him and lodging itself in his heart, deep inside. He kept walking aimlessly, trying not to feel the ache in his throat. A soft weight landed on his shoulder, tightened around it, turning him around. He looked up reluctantly to find a pair of warm, familiar brown eyes.

"Ma?"

***

Pavitra Raizada gave him a tight smile. "Are you alright, Arnav?" Her step-son looked at her with wide, lost and confused eyes that made her heart constrict painfully. "Ulka asked me to come, beta. She said you might... you might need me..."

His eyes watered and he looked down, blinking fast, and her arms immediately went around him, hugging him tight as his body shook. "Sh-she... she d-doesn't..."

It took her a lot not to break down too. She had to remain strong for him but she had seen him like this, worse than this, and she could not bear the mere thought of letting him sink into this again. Not this time. She might not have given birth to him, but Arnav was and would remain her son, her little boy, her life even.

Carefully, she led him to his room even as he shivered uncontrollably. This was exactly what she had been scared of when Ulka and Anjali had informed her about their little plan. She had not completely agreed with them. According to her, Khushi deserved the truth, she ought to have been explained what had happened during the past year but the girls had been sure everything would work out well. She had been right in the end - she hated it, but she had been right. She was a mother and she knew Khushi well enough. She had always known that, albeit unknowingly, Khushi would hurt her son again...

Sighing, Pavitra tucked Arnav in bed as if he were still the child she had known when she had just married his father and smoothed his hair. Now she had to patch things up herself to protect her son.

***

With a decided air, Khushi stomped up to his door the next morning. Why? She didn't even know. The plan was to shout at him for a few minutes until she was not flustered and then leave. But the amount of meltdown he had caused in her heart might have compromised that...

She stopped at the door hesitantly. Would he be up by now? Was it right to come and shout at him this early in the morning? Before she could decide herself, the door opened before her to reveal Pavitra Raizada, who looked as surprised to see her there. But she composed herself much more quickly.

"Khushi. Good morning," she said formally, tonelessly, almost coldly.

Khushi felt her stomach turn to ice all of a sudden. She forced herself to smile as she greeted the lady. Pavitra stared at her silently for a few seconds before tilting her head sideways.

"Can I talk to you, beta?" A small smile appeared when Khushi gulped and nodded, and she nodded, asking the young woman to follow her. She went to her own room where she bustled around, making tea for the two of them while Khushi fidgeted uneasily on the couch, repeatedly asking if there was anything she could do to help. Pavitra merely shook her head with a slightly wider smile. Finally, she handed Khushi a cup of tea and sat down on the other side of the couch with one of her own.

"Khushi, may I ask you why you are so angry at my son?"

Cheeks burning, the girl looked down at her hands. She would certainly be brick red by now.

Pavitra shifted, her eyes still firmly on Khushi. "I am not angry at you at all, Khushi," she smiled gently, causing Khushi to look up sharply, her lips parted in surprise. "There are two people that I am absolutely furious at, but I will handle them later. For now, I need to know so that I can solve this matter as soon as possible. Why are you so angry at Arnav, Khushi?"

She looked away, biting her bottom lip. The tears were rising back in her eyes. To say that she had been fighting them for more than one year now... And she still sucked at it... "He... He just doesn't care about me!"

"Who told you that?"

"I know he doesn't!" she mumbled and a sob shattered her despite herself. "It has been one year, one whole year, and he... I kept waiting every day, I... I th-thought h-he was g-going to call b-but... N-not eve-even once! I-I... I c-called him... s-so m-many times... He never... never picked up... W-when I g-got through the s-secretary s-said he w-was too busy o-or h-he was n-not th-there... or I j-just w-went o-on v-voi-voicemail..."

She was shaking so uncontrollably she had to curl up on herself, wanting to hide, but Pavitra slid next to her in the couch and rubbed her back, giving her some strength. She lifted her head, sniffing and sobbing. "W-why...? W-what did I d-do? Why d-doesn't h-he l-love me anymore? I-it h-hurt so m-much..."

***

She had not known Khushi for such a long time, but the amount of time she had gotten to know the girl, she knew there was a pure, selfless heart in there. She knew Khushi was the right girl for her son, and perhaps, because of that, she had begun to love Khushi as much as she would have loved her daughter if she had one. And now, it was close to unbearable to see her like this...

Of course she knew the extent of the pain Khushi was talking about. Hadn't she seen Arnav suffer the way for so long?

"Khushi," she whispered, making her sit up straight. Gently, she wiped the girl's damp face with a tissue she had grabbed off the table and shushed her until she had calmed down, then took a deep breath in, sqeezing Khushi's hands in hers. "Khushi... Arnav loves you."

She started shaking her head in protest but Pavitra stopped her. "He does, Khushi, believe me. I have seen him... He cannot live without you..."

"But he never tried to-"

"Yes. I know. It's because he cannot live without you..."

A frown drew itself on Khushi's face. "What do you mean?"

"He... Khushi..." Pavitra looked away for a minute as she prepared herself to say this, and to see those scarring images again as she said it. "Arnav... He... Khushi, Arnav fell into a depression when you left."

Khushi paled, staring back in disbelief.

"He was in such a bad state, Khushi, and nobody could know because he could have lost his investors and Adhiraj and I didn't want that. The business was already in a difficult position. We had to stay with him in New York, Adhiraj managed most of the work and we told everyone he was not feeling well enough to the office but he was handling things from home. But... he was not... Arnav was not speaking, not listening... He went in a different place in his mind... We tried so hard to get him out of there, it really took a lot of time and patience. And finally just a few months before he got better, then we started taking him to the office little by little so that he could stand up again, think less about you, get out of his depression... After that, I think he got ashamed of himself for it... You know him... He didn't know how to face you, he didn't want you to know, he was scared of what you would think... That's why he didn't call you when he got better, Khushi. He was very scared. He still is... And it looks like he might be falling back in there..."

By the time she had entered his room, her throat was aching so much she felt dizzy. She gulped her tears down, breathing convulsively while her eyes searched for him. And she found him in the little living room, perched on the low coffee table, with his back to her. Pavitra had pulled the heavy curtains open and he appeared to be staring out of it. He didn't move at all but for the subtle rise and fall of his shoulders as he breathed. She settled her eyes on him, forcing herself to calm down and then resumed walking until she stood next to him.

She sucked in a gasp when he looked up at her, his eyes wide with surprise, as if he had expected to remain alone. He looked so vulnerable. She had never seen him like that. She hated herself for doing that to him.

"Khushi?" he sounded almost scared as the whisper left his lips. Blinking her stubborn tears away, she lowered herself next to him.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, but it backfired on her. She realised with a wince that it sounded more like an insult. Sorry' is for when you break someone's favourite vase, not their heart.

He frowned at her. "For what?"

"Everything..."

He shifted slightly, looking away. "You have every right to be angry at me..."

"No-"

"Khushi..." his hand twitched, she noticed, as though he was going to touch her but then decided against it. "The way I had treated you was not right. I gave my work more importance, I gave... Varsha more importance... I didn't want to see that you were right until you weren't there and then... I... I ignored you again... and now, I'm hurting you again..."

"I hurt you too! And I know you didn't ignore me..." she whispered hoarsely. "Why didn't you tell me, Arnav?"

He sighed, looked at her and gently placed his hand on hers. "It doesn't matter, Khushi. I know Ma thinks I'm... I'm going back there... but I am fine. I needed some time to think. Khushi, I love you... Even when you are not there, it keeps growing. But that doesn't mean you should love me back... It's okay if you hate me. I won't hurt you or trouble you anymore, I won't expect you to take me back. What I did remains horrible and you don't have to forgive me. I will leave from here today itself and give you your space..."

Her lips parted with a soft gasp. It was not at all what she had expected. The hammering in her chest only increased as she fixed his defeated expression, while he stared at the ground. She felt his skin slide over hers only slightly and she immediately realised he was going to pull away. Without thinking, she turned her hand to catch his tight and he looked at her, frowning and startled. Khushi blinked, no knowing at all what to do next. His eyes held a question and her heart was screaming its answer but she could not find a way to formulate it in words.

An exasperated sob left her lips. She squeezed her eyes shut for a second to rid herself of the troublesome tears that blurred her vision. "How can you do this to me?" she choked, finally. He opened his mouth but she vehemently shook her head to stop him. "Again, Arnav? Will you just shut me out again?"

***

"What do you mean?" he asked, leaning closer to her. He hated to see her cry more than anything else and somehow, he never knew what to do to stop it. Somehow, he was always the reason behind her pain and her tears. He tried to lift his free hand from his lap, wanting to cradle her face and dry her tears but he knew he had himself lost that right.

Her grip on his hand tightened, almost cutting the flow of blood. But she didn't care. He didn't think he cared either. "What if it's not what I want?"

His heart was pounding, lurching, somersaulting, all at once. He felt nauseous. He didn't know what to think anymore. "Then, what do you want, Khushi?" he whispered and a whisper was all he could manage for the ache that was building up in his chest. It felt like someone had shot him in the heart. He was going cold all over.

Her mouth twisted as she closed her eyes again. "What I want is you, Arnav! I was so angry at you because I thought you had forgotten all about me. I thought that this one year had been easier for you because you really never tried to contact me and ignored me. And all this time you... I am even angrier right now because you didn't tell me but... Can't we just ignore it, forget about it? Can't we just go back to how we were?"

***

Arnav's frown deepened. He stared at her, awe-struck. Minutes ticked by and she waited for one sign from him. Eventually, he smiled at her. But it was nothing she had expected. It was a sad smile that broke whatever remained of her heart and at once, she knew he was not going to agree with her.

"What if that's not what I want, Khushi?"

Her heart sank. She felt dizzy suddenly, as though someone had cut off her air supply. She needed to get out. Everything was lost for her. With the sound of a wounded animal, she tore her hand off of his, scrambled to her feet and started to make her way out. But the room swam before her and she had to support herself against the furniture.

She had barely walked a couple of steps when he caught her by the waist and, turning her around gently, steadied her. Weak, she folded her arms between their bodies and pushed, hoping to free herself. "Please, just let go..."

"Will you always keep misunderstanding my words, you crazy woman?" she heard him hiss viciously. Her head snapped up involuntarily to catch the anger and irritation in his dark eyes. "You never listen to what I mean, you just hear the words and then you leave me and I... Khushi, why are you so stupid sometimes?"

"But you said-"

"Yes! I said I don't what to go back to what we were! I don't want it, dammit! Do you? I don't want to be in a crappy relationship with you, where I don't have time for you and give you the impression I don't care about you. I don't want you to be my last priority, I don't want to sacrifice you and time with you for something completely stupid. And above all, I don't want you to be my girlfriend. I don't want any of that! I am sick of it! It ruined us!"

Her head fell to the side and she slumped against him, as if she were physically exhausted. He tightened his arms around her protectively. "Then?" she gulped.

"I want us in a relationship where we mutually respect each other and take time for each other. We won't ever ignore or distrust each other. We won't hide anything from each other. You will be my first priority. You and any of the children we might have. You will come before anything and anyone else. You will be my only real family, you will be everything to me. I will never do anything without tell you about it and if you have doubts about it, I won't go ahead with it unless they are cleared. And this girlfriend-boyfriend thing just doesn't work for me. It sucks. And it's not something you deserve either. We'll have to do better than that."

Her breaths uneven, she swallowed another wave of tears. "What do you suggest?" she tried to say, but her throat was hurting so much the words came out without a sound. He understood her, however, and smiled, hopefully this time.

"I was thinking about marriage, you know... You could... you could be my wife... Maybe? If you wanted?"

The hope on his face went to shock and confusion very quickly when her face crumpled into relentless tears, making her hide her face in his chest to cry. And she cried quite loudly, without even trying to make it more aesthetic. He desperately tried to pull her face away so he could see her, try to calm her down but with no result.

"Khushi... Look, I'm sorry... If you don't want to marry me, it's fine... just... just stop crying... Khushi..."

She lifted her head and opened her mouth, trying to say something but it was too difficult. So, she merely nodded and he grimaced in confusion. A giggle burst through her tears and she stopped crying to sniff and wipe her face, accepting a paper napkin when he grabbed one from nearby and offered it to her.

Smiling, she shook her head, her eyes riveted on the carpet. "It's just... just that I... I have been wai-waiting f-for so... so long t-to hear th-that from y-you..." Another ugly sob rose while he processed her words.

Guilt hit him square in the heart as he realised what she meant. It must have been hard for her all along and he had not even bothered to think about it once. He hugged her, burying his face in the crook of her neck and holding her tighter against him. "I'm sorry..." he begged shakily. "I am so sorry, Khushi... I have been such a blind idiot."

She tilted her head closer to his silently, her sobs starting to recede as she swayed in his embrace. And as soon as she was calmer, he sprung away from her. His eyes were wide and bright as he grinned delightfully. "Wait for me, I'll be right back, okay? You wait for me right here. I'll just... There's something I need to do."

He disappeared through a door before she could react and reappeared seconds later, looking completely disoriented because of his happiness. He strode to her almost impatiently and lifted his hand from his side. Her mouth fell open.

"When did you-?"

"I don't remember... Perhaps about a month before you left, or was it more? I can't say... I just... I don't remember..." he explained excitedly. "I had been thinking about it, you know? Since then. We had just secured a deal with an important client and I was heading back to the office but then I saw this jewellery shop and I remembered I had really been ignoring you too much so I thought I could buy you a present or something and this ring was on display and I saw it the moment I went in and... I just didn't want anything else. It was like the first time I saw you, Khushi... I... I knew this was something you would love because it's so much like you... Simple, very simple... and yet so unique and so beautiful... I bought it. I just took it. I didn't think, I went and bought it. But then I started thinking about giving it to you... It's an engagement ring, so it brought all the nerves. I didn't know if I could do it... if I should do it... I was confused so I just hid it and then you left and... and I realised I should have done it ages ago... I always kept it with me, I was hoping you-"

"Stop talking!" she giggled, eliminating the fresh tears with the heels of her hands. "At this rate you will break my record!"

"Sorry," he laughed nervously. "Should I get down on one knee?"

She bit her lip and shook her head. "Just put it on, Mr Raizada."

He raised an eyebrow. "Sure, Miss Gupta?" She nodded as she gave him her hand eagerly, only to pull away abruptly. He stared at her, alarmed.

"Wait! There's something..." A frown appeared on her face as her voice faded away, but only for a moment because she was looking at him decisively, next. "We cannot not hide anything from each other."

"What?"

"Yes! See, if I'm planning your birthday, obviously I cannot tell you about it, right? And if there's something that could potentially hurt you, I cannot tell you that either, until I've done something about it or until I'm sure that you will be fine with it. And I think it's not so different with you..."

He chuckled. "You are right... Okay, we will not hide anything from each other unless it's absolutely necessary as in the cases you mentioned. Happy?"

"Happy!" she gave him her hand back.

[The ring]

Smiling, he crossed the perfectly maintained lawn in a few strides, his eyes fixated on her while she sat on a secluded bench, smiling softly at the ground. He sat down next to her, as close as he could, his arm around her shoulders, and she looked up at him with a big grin.

"Can I assume Sabrina had some good news?" he raised an eyebrow.

She giggled. "Yes. She negotiated with the publishers and now, the release of my next book has successfully been postponed for one year, as you asked."

"Good," he replied, smirking surreptitiously.

"Will you tell me why you wanted that now?" she demanded, slightly annoyed.

Arnav chuckled. "You'll have to wait a few more hours, Khushi."

She looked away, sulking, but he still kept his eyes trained on her. Khushi Singh Raizada. Finally. After two years of waiting, he was finally his wife. Frankly, it had not been easy at all for him to wait so much. But he had complied, hoping that no one would mess anything up again.

He had had to wait for Anjali and Shyam's wedding to be over, and that had taken another week, thanks to the Jha family insisting on completing all the rituals that had been in their royal ancestry for ages. Then, when he had gone to Lucknow with Khushi, Ulka and his parents to officially ask for Khushi's hand after the newly-wed couple had flown off to their month-long honeymoon, and there had been the whole debacle with Tanishq who was not very willing to forgive him and grant him the permission to marry his baby cousin. And he had to admit he admired his cousin-in-law's courage because he knew that Tanishq was usually a shy and sweet man who barely ever got angry, and it also actually made him realise how deeply he must have hurt Khushi.

Finally, when things had settled, the elders had started off consulting a priest to set a date for the wedding and the stupid old man had discovered that they could not even think about it for the next nine month-period, otherwise something terrible' would happen. It didn't matter that Arnav did not believe the bullshit. Buaji arranged an array of frantic prayers for everybody, Garima insisted on taking the evil eyes off him and Khushi at every given opportunity, Pavitra cleanly refused to help him with changing their minds and so did the fathers. So, Arnav was forced to settle for it. Nine months of painful waiting, and he thought he would have been able to marry Khushi then, but he was still not that lucky.

When it was decided they were not getting married yet and some problems surfaced in the company, Arnav decided it was time he returned to London to get his hold on Raizada Communications back, possibly with a few quick detours to New York. That would probably help keep his mind off the disappointment too. He wished Khushi could come too and she was going to, but just on the day they were supposed to head to London, Anjali returned from a prolonged honeymoon and announced that she had gotten pregnant. And obviously, she wanted her bestfriend to keep her company while she stayed at the Jha's ancestral mansion in Udaipur, as they had demanded. For friendship's sake, Khushi had stayed back - very reluctantly, of course - and he had returned to London. They spoke everyday but Khushi was getting bored. He was always busy with work and she had nothing to do but to stay around with a moody Anjali - who got a major part of her entertainment from her own husband actually, but she still refused to let go of her friend - and sight-seeing and shopping. She really needed something to do. So, without telling him in the beginning, she set off on a journey', taking his advice.

Once, Arnav had told her she wrote well, that he really loved her way of writing, that she had a unique way with words. The memory had come back to her one night, when she was talking to him, reminiscing the old days when they had first met and she had secretly started working on it. Finally, when he had paid her a visit in Udaipur - which he did as often as he could - she had shown him the first draft of her novel, and she had expected him to make some fun of it, not take her very seriously, maybe read a few pages and put it aside. But no. He had been very surprised but he had surprised her even more by patiently reading her book, finishing it in one night, while she nervously sat next to him, fidgeting. And he had loved it, he had suggested a few ideas to improve the story and he had even offered to find her an agent and a publisher. She had agreed for the agent, but not for the publisher. She didn't want to be published because she was related to Arnav Singh Raizada and he had respected that. A couple of weeks later, after she had polished the draft, she had joined him in London to meet her new agent, Sabrina Lloyd, who had helped her from then on. It had taken her some time to get her novel accepted. She had received so many rejections that she had almost lost hope but then, just a few days after Anjali had delivered a beautiful daughter, a publication house had contacted her to inform her they were accepting her.

There had been a flurry of activity, she had to give the novel a few finishing touches, discuss the illustration for the book covers with the creative team, work on the promotions, and so, Arnav had willingly given her another couple of months. Things were working out so well, Khushi was ecstatic, and well, everybody was. Still, within a week after the book release, things went even better; for Khushi's career, that is, not at all for their wedding. Because before they had realised it, she had become a worldwide best-seller, her book was already getting nominated for awards, every magazine and newspaper wanted an interview, the publishers wanted to sign a contract. Eventually, Arnav had personally taken the responsibility of her PR management and where he was very willing to wait for the wedding, his little soon-to-be wife - who should have been the happiest - was starting to regret it. He had had to explain to her that this was her opportunity. And he really didn't mind it, he had always admired her writing and her articles and now that she was having her chance, he was not going to let her drop it, especially not for him.

He finally convinced her to accept the world tour the media was requesting and it lasted for around six months. Finally, Khushi herself realised that he had been right. Somewhere, deep inside, she had wished to be this famous one day. The wedding plans started soon after the tour. There was a lot to do. Sheesh Mahal was booked for the next three months and the monsoon was following up quick after that, so the wait was further extended but it gave them ample time to plan and prepare everything. Khushi released another book meanwhile, which also made it to the best-selling list, and there they were now, finally married. Her next book was due in eight months but that impeded Arnav's mysterious plans. He had told her to ask Sabrina for an extension, which she had finally gotten them.

Grinning, he wondered if it would be wise to tell her about his plan. She chanced a peek at him, caught him staring, and looked away at once, her cheeks red. He chuckled, anchoring her firmly to his side. Khushi tried to disentangle herself crossly.

"Leave me! I am not interested in sitting here with you."

He chuckled. "Just because I don't want to tell you?"

She pouted, scowling at him. "Yes."

"It's a surprise, Khushi."

"But you know I don't mind spoilers!"

Arnav shoved his tongue in his cheek as he narrowed his eyes at her, thinking, while she batted her eyelashes at him. He laughed. "Okay, fine. I'll tell you." She squealed and punched the air before hugging him. He waited until she had calmed down again. "You do know what comes after the wedding reception, don't you?"

She frowned, genuinely baffled. "What?"

"The... honeymoon?" he grinned maliciously. Her eyes widened immediately and colour rushed up her face as she spluttered in shock. He shrugged amusedly. "That's why I asked for the extension."

"What?" she croaked. "W-we... we are g-going f-for... one year?" He winked flirtatiously, making her blush even more. An incomprehensible mumble left her lips and he raised his brow.

"I didn't get that."

"What do you intend to do with me?" she whispered, reddening.

He snorted cheekily. "We'll see."

She bit her lip shyly as he bent and brushed his lips against her cheek. When she recovered from the initial shock, she looked up at him. "Where are we going?"

"Where are we not going would be a better question." Her jaw dropped open at the response. He took her hand and held it tight. "I want to compensate for every minute we had to spend apart, Khush, and I know you had always wanted to travel the world. Yes, you just went on a world tour but it was very quick and you had a schedule full of interviews, I knew you didn't get the time to visit around. So this is my wedding gift to you. We'll go wherever you want to go, all over the world. Just the two of us."

She watched him in awe, speechless for a moment and tearing up. "Thank you," she finally muttered. He was just leaning towards her, wanting to kiss her for the first time as his wife when Payal's shrill voice interrupted them, calling for Khushi. Arnav groaned, Khushi giggled.

"See, this is exactly why we need time to ourselves," her husband grumbled under his breath. "Whenever our families are around, they are interrupting."

Payal called again.

"Like last night," Arnav fumed. "It was supposed to be our suhaag raat, for f**k's sake! But everyone was obsessed with playing bloody antakshari. Seriously? And they even had to drag us in?1''"

Flushed, she smiled and gave his hand a little squeeze. "They don't know, Arnav. They just want to spend as much time as they can with us because we are almost always far from them."

He rolled his eyes and turned his face away. Then, abruptly, he snapped his head back to look at her, grinning. "Two more hours, and you will be all mine." Her nose scrunched up in confusion, making him chuckle. "We are leaving for our honeymoon in less than two hours, Mrs Raizada."

She gasped. "So soon?"

His expression darkened and his nose flared. "Why? Do you want to stay here with the cock-blockers?"

And her bursting into loud laughter made it even easier for Payal to find them and drag them back to the reception. But he simply sighed in defeat and helped a hysterical Khushi to calm down and walk back to the Sheesh Mahal ballroom. Two more hours, he counted.

"I wish we had never returned," she sobbed, blowing her nose loudly in the tissue paper Anjali had handed her. Meanwhile, her best-friend balanced her baby of four months in one arm while he fed and with the other hand, she rubbed Khushi's back sympathetically.

"Aww, come on, Khush. It cannot be that bad. You know he loves you."

"No! He doesn't!"

"Uhm... Is this a bad time?" Anjali looked up to find Shyam standing awkwardly in the doorway, holding a squirming three-year old Mayera. "She wants to stay with you." As her husband darted anxious glances at Khushi, Anjali bit her lip to hide a smile. He was still quite scared of their friend...

But before she could reply, Khushi was already getting up, wiping her face with the back of her hands. "I'm so sorry. Here, Shyam, sit with your wife and children. I shouldn't be bothering you with my stupid..."

"No... I could take her to mom..." he started but Khushi's frown immediately silenced him.

"Of course not! At least one man who cares about his family... I won't disturb you guys..." she sniffed sadly and walked out.

Shyam ogled at Anjali. "What's up with her?"

"I don't know," she sighed.

***

She was crying silently when he found her. The image emptied a bucketful of worry on him. Instantly, he had latched his arms around her tenderly, trying to make her look up at him. "Hey... What's wrong, Khushi? Why are you crying? Did someone say something to you?"

And to his surprise, she gruffly pushed him away. "I don't want to talk to you. You don't love me anymore."

Arnav watched her in wonder as she ran away, weeping ferociously. What the hell was his eight-wonder-of-the-world up to now?

***

"Tanishq, I found you. Finally."

"Oh, Arnavji, I needed to talk to you too," the young man smiled tightly even as he tried to handle his unmanageable four-year old son, Hari.

Arnav sighed impatiently with a deep frown. "Have you seen Khushi?"

His brother-in-law returned the worried grimace. "I have, actually... she has been acting very weird..."

"Did she say anything to you?"

"Uhh... something in the lines of you not loving her anymore?"

"What's wrong with her?"

Tanishq shrugged, looking at his son who had mysteriously fallen quiet all of a sudden. Hari had a finger pressed against his lips as he stared up at his uncle, seemingly terrified although Arnav had barely acknowledged his presence out of worry for their crazy Khushi, but it made Tanishq smile. If anyone could manage his son, it was definitely Mamu Arnav Scary Raizada!

***

"Why would you even think of something like that?" Ulka mumbled, taken aback. She had just been in the middle of organizing the small party in honour of Shashi Gupta's sixty years when a sobbing Khushi had appeared, and it looked like asking her what the problem was had been a mistake...

"And nobody believes me, now?" Khushi whispered, looking appalled by the revelation. She angrily wiped the fresh tears away and shook her head, moving away quickly.

"Arrey..." Ulka watched her go, torn between concern and her work. What was going on?

"Did you see Khushi?" She jumped at voice that had come out of nowhere. Arnav stood right behind her, scowling, and meekly, she pointed to the direction Khushi had taken.

***

"Yes, of course, Khushi. He does not love you anymore. Forget about Arnavji, none of us love you anymore. That's old news, you know?" Payal replied in a bored tone, fishing the pakore out of the hot oil while her little cousin gawped at her, mortified.

An almost seven-year old Akshay, however, wrapped his arms around Khushi's leg and looked at her longingly. "No, Maasi! I still love you! I love you very very much!"

Smiling sadly, Khushi crouched next to him and hugged him tight. "Looks like you are the only one, shona."

"If Maasa doesn't love you, Maasi," the boy whispered to her, "you can come and stay with me."

Payal turned to look at them, her brow raised. "You will keep her in my house?" she asked her son. "I said I don't love her, didn't I?"

Akshay pouted. "Well, Maasi and I can stay in the tree-house Papa made for me!"

Khushi pulled her tongue at her cousin, extracting a roll of the eyes from her, and at the same moment, Arnav burst into the kitchen. "There you are! What the hell is wrong, dammit?"

His wife sniffed loudly and moved away from him. "Nothing. You don't care about me anymore, you don't love me. Aman, your Blackberry and your precious company are more important, right? Go to them, then!"

"Khushi," he gritted out as patiently as he could. "Is this scene for one of your books?" Because she did do this to him sometimes... Play-acting a scene that she had in mind to get an idea of how it would play out. Usually he was flattered that she based some part of her characters on him, but this was really not funny at all.

"Because I am a sadistic liar, now?" she snapped, obviously hurt. Payal gave a snort and Arnav rubbed his face whereas Akshay ran to his aunt for another hug.

"Khushi, I..." he glanced at Payal briefly before hissing nervously, "I love you, okay? This is just a hectic week! I had told you it was going to be busy and difficult for me beforehand, what's gotten into you?"

She huffed and walked to the platter where Payal was placing all the golden pakore. Wincing slightly, she picked one up, regally ignoring her husband of nearly two years, and bit into it, only to have her face contorted in disgust before she hastily spat everything out in her free hand.

"Jiji! What are you doing? This tastes so bad!"

Amused, Payal tried one. "It's fine, Khushi."

Arnav came up to her, smiling with the hope of reconciliation as he took the pakora from her nimble fingers and stuffed it in his mouth. As always, his sister-in-law was amazingly humble; her cooking was delicious. "You know, it's not good to take the anger out on Payal, Khush," he cajoled her gently.

"What do you mean?"

"It's really good."

Her jaw dropped open in indignation. "No! Even the smell is weird, can't you smell it? I wouldn't lie about that to jiji!"

"Khush-" he started, but Her Majesty was already striding out of there, annoyed at everyone, but she had barely reached the door when he noticed her steps faltering as though she had been struck with a bout of dizziness. He leapt towards her and caught her just in time. Khushi leaned against his frame, blinking confusedly, her hands holding on his shoulders for support. He cradled her against him anxiously, checking her face as if it would hold the reason for all of this out for him. Meanwhile, Akshay had ducked behind his mother out of fear.

Payal was the only one who appear to be able to keep her cool. "Get her out of the kitchen, Arnavji. I'll send some juice for her."

Arnav chuckled. "I think it must be the sun. We were out the whole day yesterday."

"That's not why your wife is acting crazy," Payal sniggered. "It's because now, she will be needing double the attention and love." The couple furrowed their brows at her, mystified. She rolled her eyes. "Take my advice and bring this mad woman to the doctor as soon as you can. I think she might very well be pregnant."

He felt the colour drain out of his face, then rush back up. He gulped. His wife sagged against him, equally shocked. Avoiding Payal's eyes, he dragged Khushi out of the kitchen as fast as he could and they blindly walked away, side by side, not saying anything, and without realising, they were suddenly in the garden, at the far end, before the wall.

"So..." she began, then stopped.

He looked at her as she stared, her eyes wide and fearful. "What do you think?" he rasped.

She bit her lip, calculating. "Well... jiji might be right..."

"We..." he blinked, lost, and suddenly, a grin broke through. His laughter came out breathless. "We... could be..."

She joined in nervously. "Parents?" Her disbelieving eyes fell to her flat stomach. She had never thought it could actually happen... The mood swings were probably because of this? When she looked up, he was smirking at her abdomen, amazed. He glanced at her and timidly lifted his hand to rest it on her tummy, thinking. She smiled and realised she wished dearly that it was true.

"So... Should we go and find a doctor? Like right away?" he asked uncertainly.

She laughed, noticing how glittery his eyes had become with the emotion. "I think so?"

He nodded and slid his hand to hers, grasping it, before he led her to the car. He had to know. And if Payal's suggestion didn't turn out to be true, he had already decided that he was going to make it.

Yes, I give you a sorta cliffhanger but this is intended, to give you an idea of what to expect from the next season. And please keep in mind that the second season will not be starting any time soon and I ask for your patience. I have some -a lot, actually - of unfinished business to deal with at the moment.

Also, I would like to thank all my readers who have been here since the beginning. It means a lot to me. And if only I could explain how much ending this story hurts me... Thank you all for being there.