Chapter 8: Matters of the Heart (Part 3)
"Maaf kar de, Khushi, usko nahin bulana chahiya tha na," Renu Bhabhi said. Arnav seemed to be on a rather serious call, considering the time of the night that it was and Khushi had decided to check on Bhabhi, to see what was taking so long with the chai. Turns out the gas cylinder had got over and Khushi had entered the kitchen to see Bhabhi trying to negotiate with the cylinder but with no avail. How very inconvenient that they had to run out of cooking gas exactly when someone was home and that too right on New Year's eve. If she were the superstitious sort she would consider this as foreshadowing for what the rest of the year was going to be like. Them struggling and tugging and pulling at things. But thankfully she was not the particularly superstitious sort. There were enough problems in their life without the added burden of planet alignments and stars.
"Lagta hai faulty piece hai," Renu Bhabhi remarked, finally giving up. Khushi shook her head and asked Bhabhi to move. She had a lot of practice with this. Rolling out empty cylinders, pulling the seal of a new cylinder with her hands and rolling back the new one in place of the old. Even at Gupta Mithai, it was she who did this and not Baba. Though Maa, her more conservative parent, did not care for the fact that her husband was making their daughter perform what she believed to be unfeminine tasks. But Baba did not care for this notion, and neither did Khushi.
"Champion ko aata hai, jhat se ho jaata hai us se," Baba would always says. With some pride even. Khushi had on a number of occasions even helped some of the other vendors on Chandni Chowk with this much to Maa's chagrin.
But not today, Khushi's palms were hurting and they also smelt vile and poisonous by now. Bhabhi even bought their largest kitchen knife to somehow use that as a tool, but that didn't help either. And to make matters worse, the whole exercise was so noisy that they were probably going to end up waking up their neighbours, or at the very least Aarav.
"Need some help, Khushi?"
Of course, he would show up here. She knew that. It was only a matter of time, she thought. Bet he was annoyed that these two idiotic women were unable to even make him a cup of chai. He was probably looking at her struggling with the cylinder and thinking what kind of poor-people hell he was in the middle of.
"No, we will manage. Why don't you sit down in the hall, I will be there in a minute."
She knew that her pointed comment would be construed as rude perhaps, but she did not care. She did not want anyone to know about her struggles. Even if it was just with a knob of a cooking-gas cylinder. Especially she did not want to see him struggle. She just wanted to be done with this night as quickly as possible.
"You are pulling it too hard, you just need to snap the metal at the bottom."
Great. He won't go and he was now giving her advice on how to go about this. Like he would know anything about this. Maybe she could get the old hot plate they had somewhere and use that for now. This can be fixed after Arnav leaves. She stood up.
"Bhabhi, woh electric hot plate nikaal do. Chai toh us mein bhi ban jayega."
"Acha," Renu Bhabhi looked at her doubtfully. The hot-plate was an old one and Khushi remembered that Maa had used it once a really long time ago, much before Renu Bhabhi's time. For all she knew, it might not work now, or worse, cause a short-circuit and plunge all of Chandni Chowk into darkness. That is all she would need to truly make this night memorable.
"If you don't mind, I can try... main koshish karoon... Bhabhi."
"Agar problem nahin toh, please kar dijiye."
Clearly Renu Bhabhi was making all the decisions for the night. And Khushi did notice how Arnav decided to address his Bhabhi instead of asking her. She had not even made formal introductions and he had caught on. On the one hand Khushi was annoyed that she needed a man to fix the current problem at hand. It was annoying because she had been able to perform this task a thousand times before. At the same time, it was disconcerting that the boy who was embarrassed to be seen with her because he was so conscious about their class differences was today comfortable enough in her space, taking charge, as if he did things like this all the time. And sure enough, one gentle tug and he managed to unhinge the metal and get their kitchen fires burning.
"Shukriya. Aap se kaam karwane ke liye maafi."
Bhabhi was more gracious than her, Khushi thought. She wasn't sure how she felt about this take-charge of everything version of her though. In a way it is was comforting that there was someone taking care of things and watching out for her. Bhabhi then threw a pointed look at her and Khushi led Arnav back to the hall.
"I need to wash my hands."
Khushi directed him to the wash-basin and went inside to fetch a fresh towel for him. Right next to the wash-basin, there was a cupboard which has several of Khushi's prizes in them. Assorted medals, shields and cups in varying sizes. These were all the sports-related achievements of her life from the time that she competed as a child, up to the last race that she had competed in, a few week before the Ahmedabad National games. For a long time, this cupboard was in the hall, occupying a place of pride and showed off to people irregardless of their interest levels for it. But after Khushi left Alchemy, it was Maa who removed them from the hall. She was unsure why Maa did that. Was it to spare Khushi's feelings of disappointment by seeing them as a reminder of her failure? Or was Maa punishing her for being a disappointment? She had put them all into cardboard cartons and into the attic. But before Maa and Baba moved to Lucknow, when they resorted all their possessions, Baba resurrected Khushi's prize shelf and put them all back. Except that instead of putting the cupboard back in the hall, it was in their backyard, right next to the wash-basin. However, by this time, Baba and her relationship had deteriorated considerably, so Khushi took this as a small victory.
Arnav was looking at this shelf now. Intently. He was so focused on it that he was almost startled when Khushi came near him and handed over the towel.
"That is a lot of prizes, Khushi."
"Well, you probably have got more because.."
What was she going to say? She let the sentence in the middle. Yes, her shelf would have been possibly fuller if she had continued in Alchemy. If.Or maybe she wouldn't have won anyway. She needn't bring this up now. She just needed to focus on being polite and pleasant and send him home after chai.
"Because I wasn't forced to stop competing in sports like you?"
"Let's go to the hall. The chai is ready."
"Khushi?"
"I think Renu Bhabhi is calling me."
**
This was by far the worst cup of chai that Arnav had ever had to drink. Renu Bhabhi, nice lady that she seemed like, was not much of a cook. At any rate, was not a particularly good chai-maker. The cup she had brewed for him was too milky and sweet for his liking. But the weather was cold, conversation was hard to come by and was mostly just awkward, so he focussed all his attention on the sweet chai and decided to drink it up. In the middle of this, Renu Bhabhi had chosen to make herself scarce and disappear somewhere. Arnav felt simultaneously uncomfortable and relieved because of this. On the one hand, he would get to talk to Khushi alone. On the other hand, he would have to talk to Khushi alone. Seeing that cupboard of all her sports medallions and trophies languishing was an uncomfortable moment for him. A reminder of what his family had taken away from her. And why had they done that? Something for which answers still seemed elusive to him. Khushi had got a call and had just gone inside, so now he had the time to think of possible subjects for conversation. Alternately he could speak with Anjali Di who was trying to reach him for the last half an hour. She probably wanted an update, but he wasn't prepared for Di's scrutiny for now. While it was inevitable, he wanted to put that for as late as he could.
"That was Aakash, he said that he has reached home after dropping Payal."
Ah, of course. His cousin, he should have guessed. He was a little surprised that his cousin allowed Khushi to be with him and actually decided to escort Payal home. Just as surprised as he was to see his fiance go along with the plan. But then again, it was really not that surprising. Payal liked Aakash. Okay, liked was stretching it, but she didn't have the same level of disdain that she reserved for others. If at all the one thing that bothered her about Aakash was the two important women in his life, Seema Bua and Khushi. In that sense Payal was not very different from his mother, but for one fundamental difference, which was that she was much more secure than his mother was. He felt like he had this sudden moment of epiphany, he wasn't sure why had he not realised this before. It was of course baffling for any outsider to consider that Poonam Raizada was anything but secure, but she was. Though he was not sure what the source of it was, and there must be one of that he was certain about. He was so lost in his thoughts that it took him a while to realise that Khushi was going on about something and he had not been paying attention. He noticed that Khushi had changed her clothes. When did she do that? Probably the time when he was on the phone with Divyesh a while ago, who had called to speak to him about Baig Sir's condition. It was surprising that someone like Divyesh was so regularly in touch with Baig Sir and was actually concerned about him. People were constantly surprising him.
"I am sorry, I was a little distracted, what were you saying?"
"I was just saying that I hope Baig Sir makes a full recovery. I was going to meet him last week itself about the sports academy he is going to start, but I went away to Lucknow. I should have met him."
"I have the same feeling. You at least meet him annually once, I haven't met him in years until he called me the other day. And I didn't go to meet him even then. I feel so guilty. Even Divyesh of all people seems to be in touch with him."
"Hmmm. So you don't know that Divyesh Thakur is on the Executive Board of the academy."
"Really? Wow. Divyesh played cricket and Baig Sir never coached the cricket team. I had no clue they were that close."
"Well, Divyesh and I got into Delhi University via sports-quota, so Baig Sir's endorsement letter was important for us. I think it started because of that. And when Divyesh had that injury, it was Baig Sir who worked on his physio and training."
Okay, this was the most surprising piece of information that had emerged tonight, that Khushi Kumari Gupta was actually keeping tabs on and was in touch with Divyesh? That made no sense at all.
"You are in touch with Divyesh Thakur?"
"Well, yes. Only because of Baig Sir. I used to do some joint-training with him after.. college. I needed the money and Baig Sir needed help."
"You really do get around?"
"I don't understand what that means."
Oh great, he had offended her. Rather unfortunate choice of words that was.
He should just leave now and end both of their miseries. Her misery. But he wanted to linger just a little longer. Clearly he was a glutton for punishment.
**
Maybe she should ask him to sleep at home, because it did not look like he had any intention of leaving tonight. How long can a cup of chai last. Apparently forever. The longer he stayed, the more chatty she would get and inevitably she would say something stupid. Or he would stay something stupid and inspite of not caring at all, she would find herself feeling hurt.
"Divyesh always seemed such a cocksure sort of guy, I am surprised and rather annoyed with myself for judging him harshly."
"Hmm."
"Not for the first time, right?"
"I don't know. I don't know what you want me to say, Arnav."
"Okay, let it be. A lot of people in school teased you with Divyesh, they thought you guys would be cute together."
Why did he say that? Why had their conversation found its way into almost friendly territory now. Was he teasing her? Was this some New Year resolution of his to be friendlier with people like her? Ever since Arnav had returned into her life, she had felt her carefully constructed equilibrium shatter. She sometimes felt that she was some kind of project for him and he intended to complete it no matter what. At other times she felt that he was as confused as her and was doing his best to overcome the immense awkwardness between them.
"Even Baig Sir had suggested that the two of us should get married."
Did she just say that to him? Why did she do that? It was one of the most bizarre, and possibly only bizarre suggestion that the normally careful, kind and minds-his-own-business Baig Sir had thrown her way. She had been taken aback for a while, unsure if it were a joke or if he was being serious. She, of course, politely and firmly told him that it was not possible. Anyway, it was a random suggestion and one that she had not shared with anyone. Not Preeto. Not Aakash. And not her parents. But today, Arnav was her best friend and she wouldn't shut up.
"Haha. Really? And what happened?"
"Obviously nothing. We are not even friends. Why would we marry?"
"So you think one must be friends to get married?"
"Don't you? You are marrying a friend, aren't you?"
This night was turning out too long and her motor mouth would just not stop. She should probably tell him something about neighbours wondering why a young man was in a house with two women at this hour and make him leave. In fact, she was pretty certain neighbours were already gossiping. Nothing escaped the grapevine of Chandni Chowk, a neighbourhood that truly never slept.
**
He knew that he had overstayed his welcome just by looking at the number of times she kept removing her ring from one finger and putting it back in the next one. Repeat. Rinse. He had noticed that she always wore this ring, he knew this from way back in their time together at New-Ons. There was also an episode with the rings, when they had to go for a track camp in Bihar and Khushi misplaced her ring. That was one of those rare times that he remembered Khushi having a meltdown. She realised it just before they were to leave for the station and decided to go back and check her room. Arnav had waited for her, at first patiently and then increasingly impatient he went in search of Khushi. He was so annoyed with her, he had every intention of giving her an earful. But when he eventually found a rather distraught Khushi, he held back and helped Khushi retrace her steps to find it. And they found it after almost two hours of looking. A triumphant Khushi had remarked in a rare moment of candour how the two of them made a good team. After this she immediately quietened down probably embarrassed and desperately wanting to take back her words. But the trip to Bihar, which was almost Apocalyptic in nature with mosquitoes, flash-floods, fallen trees, bee inside a gulaab jamun and an asthma attack that saw them seek out medical attention from a quack of a doctor had in fact established that the two of them worked well together and were more similar than it would seem superficially. But that trip, was their last moment of shared kinship. The search for the ring had led them to miss the train and his mom had been livid with him when he showed up almost a day later than his original return, that too after an unpleasant bus journey. He was unwell and dehydrated by the time he was back and had been hospitalised. When mom pointed out to Dhiraj Singh, their coach that he should have taken better care of her son, the coach had ratted on Khushi. He remembered mom telling him how he ought to stay away from that girl'. Arnav was still recuperating and was too tired to react. In hindsight, it had seemed like his mom was reacting out of a bad Hindi film script asking young lovers from different worlds to stay away from each other. Except that he and Khushi were not lovers and his mom did not write her a blank cheque. At least he hoped, that she didn't.
"How is training the Joseph's team? Do you enjoy it? How is their team?"
"They are okay. I have a few good students. I enjoy teaching I think."
"Even Anjali Di is a professor at JMC, she enjoys it as well."
"I met her at the university other day. We had chai together."
"Yeah, she was telling me about it. I guess that was right after we met. Probably you thought every one in my family was running into you and were worried that we might be stalking you."
Looking at the expression on her face it was clear that his shot in the dark was not really off the mark. At least she had not run into his parents yet. He considered it for a moment, what if his mom were to see her today, would she react differently to Khushi? Maybe even feel a little guilty. Though he was not sure why, but his mother seemed a little kinder lately. Less prone to flying off the handle as she once was. Though, he was unsure if this was merely silk hiding steel, or whether the changes were in fact real.
He got up, to put his teacup in the kitchen, but Khushi stopped him and took the cup from him.
"I will leave now. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for Baig Sir and all of us. I will see you.. around."
They walked to the door and Arnav noticed that the street was buzzing with activity. There was music playing somewhere, loud chattering, lots of light, firecrackers and half a dozen snack shops were open. Some of the shops had begun preparing for the next morning even. This was surprising given that it was still very cold and he expected everyone to be wrapped up in razais.
"Wow, Chandni Chowk is really quite a sight on New Year's isn't it?"
"It is always like this. Every single day. You should come to the terrace and check the place to get its full impact, you will see how crazy it is."
He noticed that she immediately bit her lip after saying that. Clearly, she felt that she had said too much. He did not want her to feel uncomfortable and ignored that bit.
"You really love this place, don't you?"
"Well, it is home. So, yeah, I guess, I do. I can't imagine living anywhere else."
She looked thoughtful at this, like she was seriously contemplating her life outside of this place. He did not get this aspect of life. He was not the type who was fiercely attached to a piece of land or a physical place. If tomorrow he had to leave Raziada House and live elsewhere, he would be happy to. Though he would probably want to be around his family. He knew that his mother was that sort of person, the one who would wilt away if she were to move to another place. Which is why, unlike a number of their acquaintances who had moved to bigger and fortress-like houses as businesses grew, they had stayed put at their Greater Kailash home, because mom was too attached to everything around the place.
"I will let you know if I hear anything about Baig Sir and you will let me know too?"
"I will."
"I have only your landline number.. you can give me your cellphone number maybe?"
As Khushi said the digits out loud, he pushed the numbers and dialled her phone. He could hear the ringing from inside and Khushi ran in to fetch her phone.
"I will save your number too. Happy New Year, Arnav."
"Happy New Year, Khushi. Thank Renu Bhabhi for the chai."
"I will do that. I thought that the chai was probably too milky and sweet for your liking."
"Yes, it was. She makes terrible chai. Don't tell her that though."
He grinned at her and waved and left. As he drove back home, he was stuck by two thoughts. By saving his number, she now had caller ID to know how to avoid his number. And when she had suggested that to truly experience the splendour of Chandni Chowk she he should go on top of a terrace to check it, he realised that he would have liked to do that very much. But it was never going to happen.
**
Poonam Raizada checked the numbers again. It did not tally. There was a problem, she could tell that much for sure, though she had been unable to narrow it down to exactly what it was. She had suspected that something had been off for the last few months. Ever since they had appointed a new CFO for one of the key businesses of AR Constructions, there was some problem with the way that the funds were being managed. As a business with large interests, it was not uncommon for them to siphon funds from one unit to another. However, inspite of how large they had grown, they did all of this within the confines of the law. Anand's training as a lawyer had meant that they did not use the knowledge to bypass it on technicalities, but instead be a stickler to them. She was a calculative business-woman, but even she did not care for business gains by being on the wrong side of the law. But some months ago, she began noticing some fund movements and got suspicious. She got Shastri to send her a compiled list of all financial transactions of the last few years and some of the things that it revealed to her were surprising. For example, she learnt that a corpus fund had been created in the name of Anjali, for which Arnav had been appointed as the guardian. This fund would be eventually transferred to Anjali or any children that she were to have. She did not not why her husband and son had made a significant decision like this and had not taken her into confidence. Of course, she was happy that Anjali's future had been somewhat secured because of this, she worried about her since she had married that anarchist. She knew that there was not enough money and some day Anjali was sure to realise that marrying down might seem like a romantic thing at first, but ventrally she was going to realise that she had been a fool. She was not rooting for this to happen, but she wouldn't be unsurprised if it did. But she was also hurt that her son and husband did not care to inform her about this. As a mother and as someone who held a significant stake in the company, she deserved to know this. This was much in the same way that her husband had appointed Mihir Gupta, as the CFO of AR Constructions without consulting her. She had been upset with her husband that one of their existing financial managers was not promoted to this important position and instead an outsider was brought in. She believed in rewarding people for their loyalty, but Anand had said that everyone was getting too comfortable and fresh blood was required. She had asked Shastri to pull out all the files of Mihir Gupta to check his credentials. On paper though, he was perfect. That was suspicious too. She would ask for some background checks to be done. She just was not sure her family could handle another Gupta fiasco.
She looked up from the spreadsheets when the phone rang. The Caller ID surprised her. It was Payal, her soon to be daughter-in-law. Why was she calling now, she wondered, especially since they were going to be meeting in a few hours for lunch.
"Yes, Payal."
"Aunty, I am sorry that I can't make it for lunch today... I have to.. the party has organised something and I need to be there. I am so sorry to bail.."
"That is fine. Do you want me to tell Arnav?"
"Of course.. I mean, I have told Arnav. I thought I will tell you as well. I will come and meet you later in the day."
"Sure, Payal, Happy New Year."
"Happy New Year to you too, Aunty. Please let Uncle also know."
Once she hung up, she wondered if there was more to the fact that Payal was missing the New Year lunch. This was the first time that they had invited someone who was not family and she had decided not to come. She did not always understand this girl or why her son and she had decided to get married.
"Why are you sitting down with work already? Isn't it too soon into the year for you to be scrutinising the books?"
Her husband had just walked into the garden with a cup of tea. She decided not to tell him about the funds fiasco or the Gupta situation. She had in the past made accusations with very little information in her possession, she was not going to be doing that again.
"I was just looking through some emails. By the way, Payal called, she said that she won't be making it for lunch, apparently some party event has suddenly come up."
"That is a pity. But with elections round the corner, it is understandable."
"I am sure."
"You don't really approve of her for Arnav, do you?"
"She would not be my number one choice, yes. I would have been happy if he had married the Kashyaps daughter. But he could have done worse. I feel she puts her career ahead of every thing in her life. I am not sure that is good for the future."
"Basically she is like you. It is true after all, sons do seek to marry women who are just like their mothers."
Just then HP walked in and said something about wanting to discuss the menu for lunch. Of course, the lunch menu had been decided a week ago, but she decided to leave. She was not going to start the first day of the new year battling with her husband. She would save it for another day. Today they would play perfect family as per schedule.
**
"What the hell, Di, I was getting changed, why did you creep into my room like this."
Arnav was out of the shower, wearing a pair of jeans and was in the middle of wearing his t-shirt when he spotted his Di stretching on his recliner.
"Oh come now, Chotey. I have seen you nangu-pangu as a child, this is nothing. Anyway, stop acting like some Victorian era prude."
"This is entering disturbing territory now. How are you here so early? Lunch is not for a few hours. And where is Jeeju?"
"I can come to my house only after getting an appointment? How is Baig Sir by the way? And what happened last night."
"No improvement. But stable. There will be a surgery today evening or tomorrow. And what happened last night?"
His sister knew pretty much everything. Just like HP was mom's informer, he was pretty certain that his sister too had someone. How else did she know when something was afoot. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree after all.
"Nothing did? But Aakash told me that he met you at the hospital last night and Khushi was with him. I thought something would have happened."
"I didn't know you and Aakash were chit chatting with each other. How sweet."
"You are my Brother No. 1, do not be jealous."
"Seriously, Di. Why don't you go down and talk to mom and get your approval points from her."
"I called Aakash to wish him a happy new year and so we chatted for a while. That is all."
"Okay. Yes, Khushi was there and I dropped her home, Aakash dropped Payal home."
"Sounds like a plot twist. But Aakash and Payal, that is an interesting equation. What do you think they spoke about? Their shared love for you?"
"You forget, Aakash and Payal were classmates too, so they do have stuff in common. Besides, Payal does not dislike Aakash."
"Really? By Payal's standards that is tantamount to her being in love with him."
"You need to stop being fanciful. Where is your husband anyway? Why did he allow you to be let lose?"
"Jun has gone for playing cricket with friends whom he calls comrades. I don't think I can handle his communist friends on the first day of the year. He will be coming in later for lunch. Heard that my to-be-bhabhi chose politics over you for lunch. Tsk tsk."
He nodded and picked up his phone to check if there were any messages or calls. There were a few dozen cheerful and banal new year wishes from people he had barely spoken to in years. Maybe he was getting too old, but such messages only annoyed him instead of kindling any feeling of warmth and affection towards the sender. He was amused to read some of them for they were way too cheesy.
"Who has texted you? Why are you smiling?"
"God Di, really. I am smiling at the idiocy of humanity."
"I see. So you dropped Khushi home? Did she invite you in for a cup of chai?"
"As a matter of fact, she did. It was not particularly good chai though."
"You are a tea-snob. Actually you are just a snob. But Chotey, I have to say this again, you are starting something that really has no future, you know."
"I am not starting anything, Di. Why do you keep saying that?"
"Because you are pulling this girl in the middle of yet another potential Raizada shit-storm. And plus you are going to get married soon."
"How is that even connected, Di? Did Aakash tell you anything? Did he put you on to this?"
"What? No. Just saying what I see. You are too involved with this girl, you always were. I don't know if it a crush or a fascination, but it is there. The two of you have zero future, so better not open the window here. If not for your own sake, for her sake at least. That is all I am saying."
Him having a crush on Khushi? Why would Di assume something like that? He didn't have a crush on Khushi. Did he? But he was a grown man, an adult, who was soon going to marry the woman he.. cared for and respected. The only thing he felt was guilt and repentant and even if it was too little too late, he couldn't wish it away. Khushi had asked him at Lavanya's wedding, why now and not before. It was a legitimate question and he honestly did not have a defence for it. He was not proud of the person he had been, but he had been in a bubble, comfortable and insulated from the misdoings of his past. Maybe he did not directly do anything, but what he had done was worse, because he did not stand up for wrong that was done against her. But being in a bubble had helped him stay focussed in life. When he ran into Khushi at Tewari & Sons, it was for the first time that he considered the consequences of the actions of his family in all seriousness. Anjali Di was wrong. He did not have any repressed, romantic feelings for Khushi, but she surely made him want to become a better version of himself. And that had to count for something. But Di was right about one thing. He had to ensure that he kept his family as far away from Khushi as possible. That is the very least he could do. And for that, he had to keep a distance from her.
Like the Khushi issue was not enough to keep his mind busy there was the added burden of the private chat with dad today.
"Di, Dad wants to have a private chat with me today. Do you have any idea if something is afoot?"
"Oh really? What do you think it is about?"
"I don't know. Taking over AR?"
"Perhaps. But that is more of mom's let us have a talk, beta."
"Mom would never call us beta."
"Of course. The last time Dad wanted to chat with me in private was right before my wedding. He told me that I was making the right choice by marrying Jun and that I must enjoy marital bliss for a while before being bogged down by responsibilities and stuff. I think he was basically saying that I was an unplanned, accidental pregnancy. Bit sad to hear that from your father actually."
"Not looking forward to this then."
"Oh don't worry, I am sure you were a most wanted, made-many-mannats-for kind of child, the heir of the Raizada empire, the breaker of a million hearts and bringer of a billion dowries. So you should be good."
"How reassuring."
"What are you two talking about? Anjali, when did you come? HP told me you came here almost an hour ago."
Arnav and Di looked the source of the voice, their mother. She was standing at the door, not one crease in her sari, not one hair out of place on her head, her gaze probing. Only their mother would ask a question and answer it at the same time. The erstwhile chatty Anjali Di immediately shut up and meekly offered an apology and an excuse to their mother. Mom was formidable. Di was right, he had to make sure that he kept her out of Khushi's way now. Though how much more could she ruin the girl's life? But he was not going to find out. While it was true that they moved in different circles and probably did not have that much of a chance to meet each other, he was still going to keep their interactions to the minimum. It would be good all around. Except that, somehow he did not like this thought. Was Anjali Di right after all? Did he have feelings for her? Surely not. Did he? Maybe.
**
"So the C-Scetion is fixed for 12th January. I don't know how I will survive this thing for that long. Why don't you come and stay with me for a few days? Please, Khushi, please."
Khushi was at Tewari & Sons, as was tradition, one that she had borrowed from Gupta Mithai, they opened the shop early in the morning for New Year breakfast of kachoris, chole, jalebis and Daulat Ki Chaat. Preeto had called her to let her know that because of a complication the doctors had recommended a C-section. Apparently her husband, Ginny was freaking out because of this and Preeto was tired of playing mommy to her husband already. Though Preeto did not seem like one, but Khushi was sure that her friend would make a good mother. She was a warm, generous soul who believed in the concept of tough love. This was exactly what good mothers did.
She was piping jalebis into the karhai, the phone pressed between her ear and her shoulder and heard Faisal Bhaii warning her about how one of those days she would deep fry her phone too.
"I will try. But dukaan ko band kar ke aana mushkil hai. Lekin kal milne aaongi."
"Hospital mein bi rahegi na? Ginny is probably going to pass-out and be completely useless. I am counting on you."
"Don't worry, I will be there."
"Pucca?"
"Pucca."
"Aur bata? Jeeju kaise hai? Has he proposed to you yet?"
"He is not. And he hasn't."
"Bilkul waste ho tum dono. Acha bachon ke naam soch kar rakhna, both boy-walla and girl-walla."
"Acha? I am not sure you will like any names that I come up with."
"I will love them. Just tumhaare New-Ons walle bandoh ke naam na ho. I want my child to be normal."
"My New-Ons classmates were not that bad.. pata nahi tu unke peeche kyun padi huyi ho."
"Acha New-Ons classmates were not so bad?"
Khushi looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young man, tall, dairy-cow eyes, curly-floppy hair and a dimpled smile. He looked at her amused, his hands stuffed into his trousers pocket. It was a cold morning. He looked familiar, and yet she was not sure where from.
"Kya hua, Dhanno, don't recognise an old friend?"
Aman Sabharwal. He was back? Khushi looked at him, her eyes widening and, she straightened her head and that is how her phone fell into the hot oil exactly as Faisal Bhaii had predicted.
**
Edited by YellowBoots - 9 years agoOuch!!!
But then Aman is here to put things into perspective... At least a girl can hope!!! π³π
Coz, Aman is back. It can only mean a good thing.