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Ch 5
Arnav waved his hands high amongst the growing crowd, to located his niece in the swarm of school children outside the school. His niece took just a second to find him, and ran towards him after bidding bye to her friends.
"Shall we go?" Arnav asked, making her take off her school bag and she crawled up to the front seat, nodding her head.
"Where are we going?" Mish asked, as Arnav started the car.
"Option 1, Mish and Mamu will have lunch together. Option 2, Mish and Mamu will go to the new carnival fair. And Option 3, Mish will meet a new friend. What do you want to do?" Arnav chirped in a childish voice, making Mish chuckle and scratch her little head to choose the appropriate option.
"Mish will meet a new friend and then we three will go to the carnival fair and then we will have lunch together!" She smiled proudly at her answer and waited for Arnav to say something.
"Very smart girl!" He pulled her cheeks, laughing and kissed on top of her head, before heading to his farmhouse.
Mish continued to look out of the window, trying to paint her own world with her hope-filled eyes. Occasionally, she spoke about her teacher and how everyone at school are left amazed by her smartness, while Arnav was lost in the chain of thoughts, that ultimately lead to Khushi.He hadn't himself discovered the reason why he was doing this. He understood her feelings, respected her feelings, and somewhere of course, a feeling of sympathy too resided; but if he asked his own heart whether he would have behaved like this with anyone else who was a sufferer and care for that person like he did for Khushi, his heart would most probably turn down the question with a simple no. There was something more than just a display of humanity, which needed to be found out soon.
"Farmhouse?" Mish asked in confusion as she came out of the car and looked at the building in front, "My new friend lives in our farmhouse?"
"Yes, come" Arnav picked up Mish in his arms and went into the house, which wasn't as huge as his mansion, but still couldn't be termed as small.
Silence crowded the place as usual along with blinding darkness, except for the dim light of the room adjacent to the kitchen where the maid resided. Even in the bright afternoon of the sunny day, the sunlight couldn't light up the place, due to the orientation of the building which just allowed natural light to sprinkle in for just a few initial hours of sunrise.
Arnav turned on all the lights, illuminating the whole area within seconds. He placed Mish down and told her to sit on a couch, while he walked to a room. He opened the door to reveal nothing but darkness spread and an unobtrusive figure cuddled against the french window. Her head rested against the the frame of the opened window and her hair swayed with the occasional gust of wind that blew from the poolside.
"Khushi?" He whispered inaudibly, catching her attention the very second and she straightened up, struggling to stand up.
He helped her get up, while she tucked her hair behind her ears again and again with trembling hands.
"Tum theek ho?" He asked as he found her getting too nervous in his presence. She looked up in his eyes that showed concern with care and sighed helplessly. She was tired of crying and being sad, she was tired of living a life of pain, she was tired of being suppressed by the person whom she loved and demanded equation in their relationship. All she wanted right then was an atmosphere where she could breath on her own, where there would be no one to object her freedom.
"Shyam.." He started in a soft voice and her eyes shot up immediately hearing his name and her body flickered with fear and anxiety. He gulped and continued, "He has been put in jail for a span of eight months."
She stepped back and her back collided with the window frame, tears accumulating in the rim of her eyes. Her breaths turned shallow and her gaze dug down to the ground, not even a word leaving her mouth.
"Shh relax.." His arm lifted up involuntarily in her direction, at which she stared for a few seconds, before tears made way down her flushed cheeks. His hand moved an inch more and he wiped the tears off her cheeks, holding his hand in the same position for some more time till she feels fine.
Some unsaid conversation got shared between both of them through their eyes and an unknown bond took birth.
"Mamu?" Mish peeped into the room which was still dark, and found him standing on a corner with a girl.
"Mish.." Arnav moved away from Khushi, and she flinched at the sudden loss of contact, coming back to the reality.
"Here's your new friend!" Arnav came back to his original position with Mish and Khushi looked at the little girl, her eyes glistening with adoration, while Mish looked at her curiously.
"Mamu, this is that auntie.. that day in the car...?" Mish tilted her head cutely to look at Arnav and he knelt down to her level, holding her by her tiny waist, amazed by her sense of recognition.
"Yes, she is Khushi, and Khushi, this is my niece, Mish," he spoke having a small smile on his lips, waiting for Mish to take up the given opportunity to spread happiness in her own way.
"Hello auntie," Mish moved forward towards Khushi, making her step ahead too and Arnav got up and turned on the lights before excusing himself to bring some ice-cream for them, with an objective to let Khushi comfort herself in Mish's presence.
"I am Nimisha Dhawan urf Mish" Mish smiled proudly, showcasing her little window formed by her broken teeth and Khushi bent down and scooped her up in her arms.
The little girl let out a loud giggle, expecting Khushi to laugh with her, but she didn't even smile. Her tiny fingers went up to Khushi's lips and she tapped them, her eyes conveying hundreds of unsaid things to her.
"Why don't you smile?" She innocently asked her, her fingers pushing the corners of her lips upwards.
Khushi looked at the innocent soul in front of her and closed her eyes in despair. She placed her down and turned her back towards her, trying hard to just give her a small smile, but failing terribly. She needed a reason to happy again, for her heart had forgotten how to dance in elation without any reason.
"Are you sad?" Her innocent voice gave her another reason to feel hopeless. She wanted to laugh, really hard, but her heart just couldn't make it happen.
Mish looked at the opened door and then at Khushi, thinking whether she should ask help from her Mamu; but then, her creative mind concocted a plan and she moved in front of Khushi. Giving a gentle tug at her kurti, her fingers curled in a gesture for her to kneel down.
"Close your eyes" she said and Khushi abided by the order.
Mish took out a red colored pen from her school bag that was left unattended near the door and did something with Khushi's face while Khushi's just raised and dropped her brows, feeling ticklish.
"Come" Mish made her get up and walked with her towards the mirror which was replaced in the morning over the broken one, "Now open your eyes!"
Khushi's eyes opened in the slowest of manners and what she saw in the mirror made her insides go numb and a countenance of awe covered her dull face. The red colored ink smeared near the corner of her lips in the upside direction, forming a smile-like pattern.
"Now you will always smile, even if you don't smile!" Mish cutely clapped her hands, grinning at Khushi's reflection in the mirror.
Round beads of tears rolled down Khushi's cheeks as she felt so overwhelmed by her adorable action. She turned and took the girl in her tired arms, her lips finally curving into an actual smile.
Arnav just entered the room with a bowl of ice-cream and saw the most beautiful scene his eyes had ever come across.
And before he could think of anything else, he realized there and then, he's in love with her.
Yes you read it right! Mish's father's name is Varun Dhawan 😎
Like and comments would be loved!
Edited by -SanjanaSobti- - 10 years ago
Udne Ki Aasha
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