Khushi came out of the bathroom of freshening up while her gaze clashed with that of Arnav Singh Raiazada as they played Anjali's words and the incidents of the past in their minds.
Arnav started covering the distance between them and but unlike the times in the past Khushi took the courage to stand in her own place. Arnav appreciated this newly found courage of her in his mind while still maintaining the eyelock, and moving towards her till the distance between them was of only an arm length. He started unbuttoning his shirt, still maintaining the eyelock, which made Khushi shiver thinking of his possible intentions at the moment.
He was about to throw the shirt taking it off when Khushi held his hand stopping him. He eyed the hand for a few moment before bringing it towards his face to kiss her wrist. He made a circle of kisses around her wrist and she said in a voice which stuttered mildly,
" Yeh Aap Kya Kar Rahe Hain, SIR?"
Arnav stopped what he was doing as he was shocked to listen 'Sir' from her. He straightened himself up and questioned Khushi,
"Sir? Have you become mad, Kshuhi? I am your husband not boss then why are you addressing me as 'Sir'?"
" What else can I call you? I believe you don't like listening to 'Mr.Raizada' from me."
He definitely didn't like listening Mr.Raizada from her as it was meant only for the clients and formal meetings and he spoke in a matter-of-fact tone,
" My name is Arnav, incase you have forgotten, darling"
"Taking the name of husband is not considered to be good."
Yeh Baat, thought Arnav who had understood her move. If you are smart then I am two steps ahead of you, Mrs.Raizada, thought Arnav as replied,
" And a bigger mistake is not listening to your husband. I want you to call me by my name, Khushi " A victorious smirk adorned his face which Khushi wanted to erase at any cost.
" Nahi!" Khushi retorted.
" Achcha? Dekh Lete Hain Kitna Samay Ke Liye!!" Saying that he started moving towards her as he encircled his hands around her waist and looking at her passionately. Doubting his intentions, a fearful Khushi pushed him by his chest and ran into the poolside and locking the french doors shouting,
" Nahi, Nahi aur Nahi!"
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After some time,
Khushi thought he would have forgot the conversation in the morning and came out after chanting her daily prayers into the thin air. She went downstairs to hear Arnav speaking to his Nani,
" No, Nani. She cannot complete the rituals because she is coming to my office as my PA. Now when we are married, why to appoint a new PA? I will get the company of my wife and my work will also be done. " He said like a loving husband who didn't want to part with his wife even for a single second. Khushi was shocked listening to this and was left as a statue in her place.
Nani and Anjali left to Mandir to give the news to the priest as they knew that Arnav would not change his decision and it was waste arguing with him. Arnav leaned closer to Khushi and whispered in her ears in his husky voice,
"You love calling me as 'Sir' right sweetheart? Now you will be able to call me that how much ever you want but I don't think you will have to call me, because I will be right beside you, always". That was the last thing she wanted to happen; staying with him 24/7.
" Theek Hai! If doing that makes me talk less to you then so be it. I don't want to waste my time arguing with you."
Khushi immediately started walking out of Shantivan to the car, where she silently took the passenger seat and throughout the journey she stayed silent and Arnav was looking at her with concern as she seemed to be extremely hurt.
When they reached to the office everyone greeted her as 'Mrs. Raizada' as everyone came to know of the marriage through Aman. Girls had a jealous and angry look on their faces as their most desirable boss was no longer single. Almost everyone was eager to know about their love story but Arnav was in no mood to answer them so he grabbed Khushi's hand and made her follow him to his cabin, which she silently did.
He locked the door as soon as they entered the room and gave a file to Khushi for verifying the details and scheduling the meeting according to the fixed schedule. She immediately took the file and started working on it as she didn't wanted to talk to this person who was her boss-cum-husband to argue with him.
Arnav was noticing this behaviour and he decided to confront her when she will give him the completion report. After two hours and a meeting, finally Khushi's work was complete as the file was completely wrong, so she went over to Arnav to handover the report. When she handed over him the report and was about to leave then she felt a tug on her dupatta and the wrist as he pulled her over him making her crash onto him. She glared at him with pain in her eyes, which made him loosen the grip on her and Khushi efficiently freed herself to only see Arnav proceeding towards her with a smirk and she started moving backwards. This continued till she hit the wall and Arnav pinned her down the wall as he whispered,
"Are you upset with your husband, baby?"
" Someone used to say personal is personal and professional is professional, SIR. And you are nothing but my boss here." Khushi's hurt reflected in her words as all the determination she tried to show in the morning went out of the window.
Now Arnav was angry as she was using his own words against him and decreased the distance further,
" Par Pati Patni ke bich mein nahi darling!!"
" We are living like husband and wife but we aren't, Mr.Raizada."
" Aur woh kis liye?" Arnav questioned her while eyeing her with surprise as according to him they completely every ritual of marriage.
" We might have completed all the rituals but you didn't make a way into the heart. Do you even know the meaning of the seven promises you took with me? You promised to support me, take care of me, respect me and my wishes. But look at the irony of my life, Mr.Raizada, the marriage itself was a forced one and you promise to respect me and my wishes. You know why husband is called as Parmeshwar? Parmeshwar is Lord Shiva, that Shiva who was ready to destroy the world when his wife got killed, that Shiva who loved beyond any measure and here I get a husband who married me to satisfy his ego and someone who was ready to destroy my world for his ego.
Maybe I was expecting too much, Mr.Raizada. A bit too much from my life and my twisted destiny. My mind might accept all this as fate bu my adamant heart will never accept this marriage, which is wrong according to me. My heart will never be in this relationship, no matter what. I am really sorry to have wasted your precious time. Do let me know if I have to face a punishment, but before that I request to be excused for 5 minutes. Thank you, Mr.Raizada."
Khushi walked out on him while Arnav stood numb; numb with pain which Khushi was enduring because of him. He didn't feel that behind the challenging facade she carried, she had so much of pain bruising her heart.
Her pain suddenly scarred his own heart, as unknown feelings pricked his eyes with warm remnants of her pain. Guilt gushed over the wounds like a cold wind gushing over a deep wound, making Arnav close his eyes in the anticipation of tearing away from the reality but nothing of sorts happened. The reality stood undaunted in front of him, and he was turning a blind eye to it. He had clearly forced her to be with him when he didn't even know her feelings for him.
It was no longer a question, it was a negative statement now. Khushi didn't love him, in fact she hated him.
Would he be able to change that?
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Advocate Anjali Awasthi
Current Affairs
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