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This is unbelievable! We are on thread 5 of THE SEED OF PASSION. My story has come this far thanks to your love and encouragement dear readers! You have been so sweet with your responses. I can't thank you enough for your support. There will be many unfoldings in the story on this thread so do read on and keep encouraging me with your likes and comments as always.
Missing you...
Her mind full of Arnav's thoughts, Khushi tiptoed to the window, careful not to wake up her Jiji. She looked up at the vast inky skies with their twinkles, and sighed!
How unabashedly did the heavens hug their stars but how well nigh impossible it was for her, to run to Arnav...to throw her arms around him...to tell him that she would be there for him always!
"I wish you were with me now..." he had said on the phone. She had felt the pain in his voice...
Her big hazel eyes welled up with tears and her soft pink lips trembled with a wistful longing to be with him... She rested her head against the bars of the window...
It could have been a second or an eternity or neither when the dark skies lightened and blossomed into a rosy sun...
It reminded her of the beautiful twilight hour she had shared with Arnav in his Maa's rose garden...
A small smile played on Khushi's lips. She could meet him now! It was daylight!
All she needed was an excuse to go to RM! Surely her sanki brain would think of something!
Her smile deepened like the sun outside...
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Aman was awakened by the sound of his phone ringing. He looked up at the roof of the Lucknow hotel dazed and then suddenly sprang up on the bed. He answered the phone immediately. It was the private investigator he had appointed to follow each and every move of Shyam Manohar Jha!
"Yes?" Aman barked into the phone excitedly, "What news?"
"Sir, as you had predicted Shyam is at the airport to catch the first morning flight to Delhi! He has been pacing up and down the airport and seems very tense!"
Aman permitted himself a smile. "Great! Make sure he is on the plane and inform me again!"
"Yes sir, will do!" said the crisp voice of the private investigator at the other end and the phone went dead.
Aman called ASR immediately.
Arnav answered his phone on the first ring.
"Tell me Aman..." his voice sounded distant.
Aman hesitated for a second before saying, "ASR! Sorry, did I wake you up..."
"No Aman, I was awake all night thinking about..." Arnav started and then stopped abruptly. What was wrong with him! He was on the verge of telling Aman that he was thinking about Khushi all night and had not slept a wink!
There was an embarrassed silence at both ends.
Arnav recovered first and asked in clipped tones, "Why did you call Aman?"
"ASR you were right! Shyam is flying back to Delhi in a rush! He has probably heard that Aakash is in your house ! And only one person could have told him to find out what is cooking in RM!"
"Dadi!" Arnav said smugly.
"Yes,"Aman agreed. Then clearing his throat he said, " I need to tell you something about Shyam!"
"Yes?!" Arnav had a bad feeling about this.
Aman said in a hushed voice, "Shyam is probably involved with a woman in Lucknow. She is Sheela, your erstwhile Secretary...the one Ajit Mallik had planted her in your office to spy on you, the one that went missing later...Well, Shyam has purchased a house for her! And on his visits to Lucknow he lives with her ."
There was a long pause before Aman heard him rasp,"Are you sure Aman?"
"I am afraid so..." Aman felt uncomfortable. He knew his elder sister meant everything to his boss. "I am sorry ASR!" he whispered guiltily.
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Aman gulped as he put down his phone. He hadn't had the heart to tell ASR that he had seen Shyam getting into a murderous rage in threatening to kill someone...probably Anjali ji!
He shuddered to think what ASR's reaction would be!
He had heard Shyam mentioning that some woman had threatened Dadi! But he wasn't sure if Shyam had referred to Anjali ji! There was only one way he could confirm that Anjali ji had threatened Dadi and that was by asking Anjali ji herself! Once he was sure he would tell ASR! He scoffed at his inner voice that said the only reason he did not want to divulge this information to ASR was because he wanted to help Anjali ji on his own , to save her from the clutches of her evil husband, to be her savior!
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Aakash dashed out of the guest room and ran down the stairs! He glanced at his watch again! Hope he was not late for breakfast! Yesterday bhai had warned him to strictly abide by the rules of RM and eating together at the breakfast table was a must! He was relieved to find only Anjali di sitting at the breakfast table and HP hovering around.
Anjali heard Aakash's footsteps on the stairs and looked up and smiled sweetly at her cousin.
"Good Morning Aakash! Did you sleep well?"
"Good Morning Di!" he said cheerfully. " I slept like a log! But it seems I am not late for breakfast but... big boss is!"
Anjali laughed, "So it seems!" Then turning to HP she joked, "HP Chhotey is late for breakfast! So cancel the Aakash juice' on the menu today and get the usual orange juice for Chhotey!'
HP giggled!
"You too Di!" Aakash rolled his eyes at her!
Anjali laughed merrily and hugged him tightly. "Sorry for pulling your leg dear Aakash!"
" But seriously, I wonder what is taking Chhotey so long?"
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Arnav raced his SUV to the airport! He had to catch hold of Shyam as soon as he landed at Lucknow! He was sure of one thing. He was not letting that b***** near his house or his Di again!
He was certain now that Di too must have had her suspicions about that smelly rat but had hesitated to tell him! He was perceptive enough to notice the change in his Di's attitude towards Shyam in the last few days especially after his accident. Earlier Di could not speak a sentence before referring to her "Shyamji" with a coy smile but recently she had hardly mentioned her husband! He was not sure if Di was aware of his affair with another woman! Well he would certainly talk to her!
At the same time he had to deal with Shyam in such a way that he did not suspect that they were aware of his reality! Ajit and Subhadra Malik had planted Shyam as a mole in RM and he could still be useful in extract incriminating evidence them!
Abruptly a shot of pain struck Arnav's chest and he broke into a sweat!! Dammit! Why cant I protect my women from unscrupulous men! First Ma, now Di, tomorrow maybe Khushi...No! His heart screamed! Never! That is why I wanted Khushi to stay with me forever but that obstinate girl...
Thinking of Khushi calmed him suddenly. Her huge hazel eyes, her cute red nose, her trembling pink lips, her heaving breasts, her creamy waist...he smiled, his heart was racing again but to a different tune...
He took a deep breath and stepped on the accelerator towards the airport...
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"Buaji I was thinking of making some jalebis and samosas for Anjalidi! What do you say!" Khushi said handing over the morning cup of tea to her Buaji.
But Sankadevi, today is shanivaar (Saturday)! Anjali bitiya must be fasting today!" Buaji pointed out.
"Oh! You are right Buaji!" Khushi was disappointed!
She thought for a second and turned to her Babuji. "Babuji, have you finished seeing the file Arnav gave you? The file is important isn't it? If you want I can return it to...
Even before she could finish her sentence, Shashi Gupta started shaking his head.
"Don't worry bitiya, one of Arnav's employee picked it up last night!"
"Oh!" Khushi bit her lips in distress.
Its all the Arnav's fault, she thought angrily!! Here I am trying to think of excuses to meet him and he hasn't even bothered to call me up again after last night! Laad Governor kahin ka!
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"Anjali di Arnav bhaiya is not in his room!" HP told Anjali scratching his head.
"What! Chhotey' s not in his room! How can that be HP!I did not even see him going for his jogging today!" Anjalli was perturbed.
"Maybe he had to go somewhere in a hurry..." Aakash tried to help.
"Chhotey never leaves the house without telling me..." Anjali sounded worried.
Suddenly Aakash's phone rang...
"Hello," he answered it without checking the caller ID.
As he listened to the voice at the other end Aakash's eyes filled with tears...
"What happened? Who is it?" Anjali asked alarmed.
But Aakash did not answer. He just sat like a statue with the phone glued to his ear.
Anjali panicked! She snatched the phone from Aakash's hand and put it to her ear
A choked voice on the other end was saying, "... Aakash speak up, bitwa! Where are you, my child? Why didn't you return to Kolkata? Manorama is so worried for you!... Did you meet Arnav and Anjali...What did they say?"
Tears of joy sprang up in Anjali's eyes and rolled down her cheeks as she recognized the voice...
It had been ages since she had heard that gentle voice...
"Nani..." she whispered into the phone.
There was a pause at the other end before Devyani Raizada shocked but joyous voice whispered back in disbelief, "Anjali...Anjali bitiya...is that you!"
"Yes Nani...its me..." Anjali trembled with emotion, "And Nani don't worry Aakash is in our house, Chhotey brought him here!"
"I am dying to see you and Chhotey," Nani sobbed, "Can you ever forgive me for deserting you?"
Anjali said sweetly, "Shhh...Nani...let's not talk about that now... I promise we shall come...okay?"
Devyani Raizada dropped the phone and burst into tears!
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"Saale sahib!" Shyam was astonished to see Arnav at the airport, "What are you doing here? Don't tell me you have come to receive me!" he tried to hide his sneer.
Arnav was disgusted at the very sight of the man. But he controlled his rage and said in a normal voice, "Actually , I have come to receive you Jijaji only to send you off on another trip!"
"What! What do you mean, another trip?" Shyam was flummoxed.
Arnav raked his fingers through his hair pretending to be worried. "Please Jijaji, I am in real trouble and you have to help me!"
As Arnav had expected Shyam looked rather pleased that his Saale sahab was asking for his help!
"Of course, ofcourse..." Shyam said strutting importantly, "Anything for my saale sahib!"
"Great! I am relieved" Arnav smiled slowly. Then handing him a bulky envelope said, "Here Jijaji. This is your passport and ticket to Stockholm. You already have a valid Schengen visa from your honeymoon trip with Di to Europe two years ago, so visa is not a problem. I have told the Swedish Embassy to take care in case any other problem arises! The plane will be leaving in four hours, just take the international terminal..."
Shyam shrieked, "What! What are you saying? Stockholm? Now? Just like that! I don't understand..."
"Jijaji, there is nothing to understand. My Swedish partners have called for an emergency meeting in Stockolm but I can't attend it due to my prior commitments here..."
"But where is Aman? Why can't he go? He knows everything about your business, while I know nothing..." Shyam said suspiciously.
"AK is a new company Jijaji! I want a new face for it! It will also be beneficial for you...," he said bringing out a fat wad of Swedish kroners from his waistcoat pocket.
Shyam's greedy eyes glimmered at the sight of all that money! Its not a bad deal at all, Shyam thought. Saale sahib is planning to indict me in his new company, which means I can soon control all his money! Meanwhile I can enjoy myself at his cost in Stockholm...! Shyam you have hit the jackpot, he thought slyly!
By now Arnav was really enjoying his acting!
"But I am sorry Jijaji, you will have to leave without meeting Di..." he said sadly.
Shyam patted Arnav's shoulder "That's alright Saale sahib, Ranisahiba can wait, work is more important after all..."
Arnav smirked. Shyam had fallen into his trap, hook, line and sinker.
Shyam raised his hand in goodbye and walked briskly towards the international terminal.
Arnav immediately called Aman, "Please ask Stockholm to keep Shyam busy in unimportant tasks, till I talk to Di and finally decide what to do with him!"
"Yes ASR!" Aman replied gleefully.
Arnav felt a load had been taken off his shoulder...
All he wanted was to see Khushi now!
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ASR took off his dark shades as he stepped onto the Gupta house verandah!
"Good Morning Diwanji!" he addressed the bespectacled figure bent over the newspaper.
Shashi Gupta shaded his eyes from the sun and looked at him with surprise.
"Arnav bitwa!" he exclaimed, struggling to get out of his armchair. "What are you doing here bitwa? If it was something so important you could have..."
Arnav gestured to him not to get up and sat down on the chair next to him.
"Why Diwanji, can't I come to your house?" he smiled, cocking his head to one side.
"Yes of course bitwa, this is your house too..." Shashi Gupta smiled back at Arnav, happy to see him.
"Arrey Khushi bitiya, get a cup of coffee, Arnav bitwa has come," he hollered.
When there was no response he muttered, "Only Devi Maiyya knows where this girl is...she was here a second ago wanting to deliver that New Deal file to you..."
"Really?" Arnav looked interested and jumped off his seat.
"If you don't mind, I will go inside and find Khushi and extract my cup of coffee from her..." Arnav stated.
"Sure bitwa," Shashi Gupta nodded his head vigorously.
Arnav entered the house. He could hear Buaji's loud and Payal's gentle voice in the kitchen amid the clanks of pans and pots. But no trace of Khushi! Where was she he thought frustratingly.
He walked towards her room, and stepped inside. No, she wasn't there too! What the! He was about to turn away when the door to the bathroom opened and Khushi stepped out in a plain white salwar kameez, drying her hair with her towel. Arnav could not take his eyes of her. She looked beautiful...ethereal.
Arnav stood motionless in the middle of the room. Khushi sensed him before she saw him. A soft breeze played with her hair and the air in the room bristled with electricity.
She turned around immediately and saw him staring at her with eyes brimming with passion! Arnav! She mouthed his name! It couldn't be him.
"Hi Khushi!" he whispered teasingly. "Surprised?"
Hey Devi Maiyya it was him! She had been dying to see him! And here he was in her room, looking so devilishly handsome, a lopsided smile playing on his lips. Khushi shivered as a drop of water trickled down her neck and rested between her breasts.
From the corner of her eyes Khushi saw her dupatta flung on the bed. Arnav followed the direction of her gaze...
In two strides he was besides her. "You don't need the dupatta," he teased her. Khushi gasped as he touched her swan like neck gingerly and slowly traced the path followed by the droplet of water.
Khushi felt the world around her spinning out of control! She closed her eyes, involuntarily leaning back, giving him access to her smooth throat. Arnav lowered his head and his tongue licked the blazing path. He circled his tongue over the pulse beating at the base of her throat.
Khushi moaned and bit her lips.
"Don't bite them," Arnav said gruffly, and then his lips were on her mild, gender, tender, caring ...and then pleasuring, enrapturing, gratifying, possessing...
"I missed you Khushi dammit I missed you!" Arnav rasped huskily between the kisses.
"Me too Arnav..." Khushi strained against him... to melt into him...without a care in the world
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Okay, sure I know you want more!😉 But you will have to read the next update for that!😃 You gave me 200+ likes in the last chapter. And I want to thank each and everyone of you for making me so happy!
Please do press the like 😃button if you liked the chapter😃 I am also eagerly waiting for your valuable comments!
Love
wiwy
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