Arshi FF: Jeene Laga Hoon (NOTE pg. 68) - Page 24

After Khushi had broken down her barriers, Anjali was beginning to come to terms with everything that had happened. The idea that her child would always be with her brought her great solace. She spent the first few nights after her talk with Khushi talking to the stars, locating the most beautiful one to represent her baby. It didn't matter what she said, just the fact that she felt like she was talking to her child was more than enough. Even Aman sat on the balcony with her on some nights and joined her in the conversation. It was a way to bring the two of them closer together again and closer to their baby.

Days had gone by and, with Aman by her side, Anjali began reverting back to her usual self. She came out of her room and began talking to the rest of the family members, most of whom were shocked to see her talking and out of her room. Her appetite was back to normal, and Nani was sure to overfeed her knowing that she was going back to her usual self. Khushi gave Anjali her stamp of good health after her first week out of her room. She was once again talking, smiling, and laughing. She had her moments of sadness, but they were overshadowed by the good moments that the family tried to create to make her feel better. Everyone was happy that their old Anjali was back.

Despite the normalcy with Anjali that had returned, there was still tension in Shantivan. Even after the fight two weeks ago, Arnav and NK were still not on good terms. They were civil with each other around the house, but acted like complete strangers. They didn't talk to one another and did their best to avoid each other throughout the day. The other members of the family could sense the tension, but did not know how to go about solving the matter between the two. Even Nani, who knew how to handle the two of them, didn't know how to go about restoring their friendship. She had tried convincing Arnav to go and talk to NK, since he was the elder among the two, but he disregarded her requests, stating that NK was the one who started this and he hadn't done anything to deserve this. It seemed that their anger was too deep. However, after two weeks of this behavior, Nani had finally had enough. If she wasn't going to be able to get through to Arnav or NK, then she knew someone who would.

~

One mid-afternoon, Khushi came to Shantivan after her early morning shift at the Desai Hospital. She had been coming everyday for the last two weeks to check up on Anjali. Even though she was in good health, Aman wanted her over to make sure that everything was okay. The truth was Anjali was more cheerful when Khushi was around and just wanted her to be happy. Khushi didn't mind coming at all, especially since the people in Shantivan welcomed her like family rather than a family friend. Dressed in a black, half-sleeve kurti, and white pants, she stepped into the house and saw Nani sitting in the living room with a cup of tea. She was alone, which was odd considering the fact that Payal was usually always here. Khushi ran her fingers through her open hair and made her way to the elderly woman. She set her bag down on the chair before taking a seat next to Nani on the couch.

Before she spoke, Khushi took in the tense look on Nani's face. She had tried to hide it behind her smile when she saw her sit down, but she hadn't done a good job. The tension lines one her forehead were clearly visible, making Khushi wonder what was troubling her. Nani set her cup of chai on the table before turning to face her. That was when Khushi noticed the serious aura around Nani. She knew something was definitely up, but didn't know if Nani wanted to share what was wrong.

Khushi smiled, "Hi Nani. I'm back. How is Di?"

"She is fine, but I'm afraid she's not here," Nani stated.

"Where is she?"

"Damadji took her out today. He suggested that they spend the day out of the house. I don't know when they will be back."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry you had taken the trouble to come all the way here."

"Oh Nani, it's no trouble at all. Really. How are you feeling today?"

"I am doing well," Nani paused. "It's just..."

Khushi's smile faded, "Just what? Are you okay? Are you feeling ill?"

"No no. My health is perfectly fine. I'm just a little stressed about the situation between Chote and Nandkishore. That's all."

Khushi nodded in understanding. Every time she came to Shantivan and saw Arnav and NK, she could sense the tension between the two. When they were in the same room together, they had the ability to render the rest of the people in the room with the feeling of uneasiness. The fight between them had seriously built walls between them. Two weeks had gone by since that day and it seemed that nothing had changed. The two men were at a standstill. Now it seemed to be taking its toll on the rest of the family.

"Have you tried talking to them?" Khushi asked. "Maybe try and convince them to at least talk to one another?"

"I tried to, but neither of them will listen," Nani said. "I tried multiple times, but it seems that what I say falls on deaf ears. Especially Chote. When I try to bring this topic up, he either ignores it or goes to the office to avoid the conversation in general."

Khushi remained silent, but continued to listen.

Nani placed a hand on Khushi's, which were placed on the couch, "Khushi bitiya, would you try and talk some sense into Chote?"

"Me?!" she said startled. "But I-."

"He'll listen to you. You were able to make him step away from work during Akash and Payal's haldi. You even got him and NK to stop fighting when you intervened between them. Surely he'll listen to you."

Khushi hesitated before sighing in defeat, "Okay, I will try, but I can't promise anything."

"Thank you bitiya. That is all I'm asking."

"Do you know where he is?"

"He is in his room. Go up the stairs and it's the second door on the right."

Khushi stood up and headed up to Arnav's room. As she slowly made her way up the stairs and down the hall, she wondered what she could say in order to convince him. Nani had entrusted her with this responsibility and she couldn't let her down. She stood in front of his bedroom door for a good five minutes, contemplating how she would go about her mission. However, realizing that planning might get her nowhere, Khushi decided to just wing it and prayed for the best. She took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

There was a pregnant pause before the door opened. She smiled as she saw Arnav standing in front of her, dressed in his back pants, white-button down shirt, and black vest. He was taken aback to see Khushi at his bedroom door. He closed the file in his hand, pulled out his bluetooth from his ear, and opened the door wider to get a full view of her.

"Khushi?" he said disbelievingly. "What are you doing here?"

"Well hello to you too," she laughed. "I'm doing fine. Thanks for asking."

He smirked, "Seriously. What are you doing here? Do you need something?"

"I actually wanted to talk to you. May I come in?"

"Yeah. Sure."

Arnav stepped aside and Khushi walked in. He closed the door behind her and turned to face her. He watched as she treaded carefully, taking in her surroundings. He rarely let people into his room because he had an obsession for neatness. However, for some reason unknown to him, he didn't have a problem letting Khushi in. In fact, Arnav was curious to see how she would behave.

She had never been in Arnav's room before, but it actually matched his personality. The room was clean, with a lack of color. Everything was sleek and modern, in different shades of white, black, and grey. Apart from the bed and a recliner there wasn't that many larger pieces of furniture in the room, although it could hold more. One large wall contained dozens of photos, consisting of some people but mostly places around the world. Each photo had a label around it for some indication. The large sliding doors brought in a great deal of sunlight, and also led to the attached pool. Khushi marveled at the beauty of it all.

After a few minutes of her sightseeing, Arnav cleared his throat to get her attention. She had forgotten for a moment that he was in the room with her, so when he made a noise Khushi jumped a little and turned to face him, startled. He chuckled at her behavior before gesturing her to sit on the recliner. She did so while he set his file down on the table next to the recliner and sat down at the edge of the bed. He leaned and rested his elbows on his knees as he stared at Khushi, who was directly in front of him. She pulled her hair to one side of her face before looking to meet his gaze.

"So," Arnav said casually. "What do you want to talk about?"

"First you have to promise that you won't get mad," Khushi countered.

"Why would I get mad at you? Have you ever seen me mad at you?"

"No, but you have a tendency to become this angry ASR if you don't like to talk about something. So promise me that you won't get mad."

"Okay I promise."

"And I also want you to promise that you won't walk away while I'm talking and you'll listen to everything I have to say."

"What the! Khushi, will you just tell me what-."

"Promise me!"

"Fine! I promise! Now what do you want to talk to me about?"

Khushi took a deep breath then spoke, "I know you don't want to talk about this, but it has to be discussed. I know you and Nanhe are not speaking to each other still, and the tension is still there between you two, but it's time to put an end to it."

"Stop," Arnav said affirmatively.

"No, you need to hear me out before-."

"I said stop, Khushi."

Khushi stopped talking.

"I know what you're going to say. I had a feeling Nani would send you at some point to come and talk to me, knowing your relationship with both of us. Look, I don't want to fight with NK, but he's left me with no other option." Arnav looked down at his hands. "Ever since I've come back, he has been so distant. He treats me like I'm a stranger and I have no idea why. For God's sake, he doesn't even call me Nanav' anymore!"

Khushi stood up and walked over to sit next to him on the bed, "Shouldn't this be all the more reason for you two to talk? In fact, this should be the reason you go to him first. If you honestly don't know the reason for his behavior, then you should go to Nanhe and ask him what you did to deserve this."

Arnav looked at her, "But he hasn't even given me a way to talk to him."

"That's because you go to him acting like the great ASR. To the rest of the world you are ASR, CEO of AR Designs, but to this family, you are Arnav/Chote/Nanav above everything else. Since you've been back, you've been acting like ASR, not Arnav. That's why you haven't been able to adjust to your family."

As Khushi calmly explained this to him, Arnav realized how right she was. As the years had gone by, the old Arnav in him had taken a back seat to the ASR in him. He had become such a successful businessman that he had forgotten how to be anything else. Because of this, he had become a stranger amongst his own family.

"Somewhere along the road, you blurred the line between ASR and Arnav to a point where it's just ASR 24/7," Khushi concluded.

"Except around you for some reason," Arnav commented.

"What?"

"For some reason, I always revert back to the regular Arnav around you. I've never act like ASR around you."

"I don't count, Arnav."

He stared at her.

"You have to be that Arnav that held a special place in the Raziada family. Here, in this home, you can't be ASR because you never were that serious, cold businessman in their eyes. You are Arnav. Nani and Di's Chote. Akash's Bhai. And Nanhe's Nanav. Don't let your dream of being ASR ruin your relationship with your family."

Arnav looked away. He felt tense.

"So," Khushi placed a hand on his shoulder. "Will you go and talk to Nanhe? I can't force you to, no one can. It's your decision. However, I will support you. That's what friend's do after all."

There was a moment of silence before Arnav looked back at Khushi and asked, "How?"

"How what?"

"How do I do it?"

She smiled softly, "By just being his Nanav."

Arnav stared at her, studying her face for a moment. Her eyes matched the gentleness of her smile. She radiated a tenderness that made him feel comfortable opening up to her as always. He didn't know why he was able to confide in Khushi so easily, or why she was the one who always seemed to be there when he needed someone the most. However, he valued her. Even after all this time, Khushi was able to understand what he felt. She knew him better than himself. And even though a part of him couldn't understand why, deep down he knew that he held this relationship with Khushi dear. The fact that she was supporting him now gave Arnav the confidence to go and talk to NK.

He stood up from the bed, "I'm going to go straighten things out with NK."

Khushi stood up and nodded, "I knew you would."

"Thanks Khushi."

Without saying anything more, Arnav headed to the study, where he knew NK would be working. However, as he opened the door to his room, he stopped. Arnav turned back to face Khushi, who looked at him confused. She had taken a step forward to follow behind him, thinking that she would go tell Nani that she managed to convince Arnav. However, as soon as he stopped, she stopped. Now, as he stared at her with an unreadable expression, Khushi couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking.

"And Khushi," he said.

"Yeah?"

"You do count. You've always counted to me."

And with that, Arnav Singh Raizada left, leaving Khushi Kumari Gupta alone in his room to control her racing heart.

**********

Okay, so that was adorable. They are so cute! Let me know what you think by leaving your comments and feedback below!

Next update: Arnav confronts NK.

Thanks for reading!