ArHi OS Series: Seasons Of Romance ||Shot 2:Colors of Spring(Page 12) - Page 5

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Shot 2: Colors of Spring

"...'Now that,' he leaned closer and murmured into my ear,' is a very sexy giggle. In fact, some people may even go so far as to say that is a oh-please-take-me-home-and-turn-me-from-a-bud-into-a-flower giggle.'

He looked down at me, his eyes teasing. 'Am I right or what?' I got on to my toes and kissed him - an open, Boost-warm kiss, in the madhumalati-scented garden, as a barely smothered, many-lunged cheer rose from the house behind us.

'You're right,' I admitted happily."*

Khushi closed the book and ran to open the door. The door bell was ringing since the last seven minutes.

"Where the hell were you Khushi?" Payal stormed inside the two-bedroom apartment, which they have been sharing for the last five months.

"Uh.. I was reading. I was in the last chapter and Nikhil and Zoya* were about to kiss. You know I don't like interruptions while I read that part. That is my favourite part in the story. You know that", Khushi said as she walked inside her room, settled on the bed and pulled the book again. The Epilogue still remained to be read.

Payal followed her inside and said, "Khushi you have read that book at least a few hundred times and that particular part at least a few thousand times."

"So?"

"So, nothing. Reading about kisses and imagining yourself and a certain someone in place of the protagonists is obviously more important than opening the door for your flat mate. I can totally understand babe", Payal gave her a saucy wink.

"Argh! I was not thinking about Arnav", Khushi replied defensively.

"When did I mention about 'Arnav'?" Payal's eyebrows were narrowed and a teasing smile was on her face.

Khushi closed her eyes at having been caught red-handed.

"Aww! Someone is blushing", Payal teased.

"I am not. Why were you ringing the door bell? Did you lose your keys again?" Khsuhi changed the topic.

"No, I forgot to carry them before leaving. Anyway what's for dinner?"

"Roti and palak paneer",Khushi replied not even looking up from the book.

"Sound delicious. I will be at the dinner table in twenty minutes."

Khushi Gupta had landed in Delhi five months back with a job in an advertising agency and had been been lucky enough to find a good friend and sister in Payal Mishra, her colleague. Payal had been searching for a lodger to share her apartment after her previous flat mate had left. They had hit off instantly.

Forty-five minutes later, both retired to their respective rooms and exactly three minutes after Khushi had turned off the lights, a frantic Payal came rushing into her room.

"Khushi, get up. We need to go out now."

Khsuhi sat up, tuned the lights on and said calmly, "What happened?"

"I need to get my phone. I left it."

"What? Are you sure it isn't anywhere here?"

"No, Khushi. I have searched everywhere. It is not here. I remember where I left it."

"That's good. At least you remember the place. And where exactly did you leave it?"

Payal had a habit of forgetting things.

"Er..the park. Akash and I left the park at around 9:45. If we go now, I think we can get my phone back."

"Hold on. It is already eleven fifteen. The park must have closed by now. Let's go in the morning."

"But I don't think there will be any possibility of getting the phone if we go in the morning. It hasn't been a month since I bought it", Payal said, tears spilling from her eyes.

"Okay, okay. Calm down. We will go. But first call Akash and tell him." She handed her phone to Payal.

"Akash is at Arnav's place", Payal informed, "He will take half an hour to reach here whereas we can reach the park in fifteen minutes, if we walk fast."

"Uh..Payal I think we should wait for Akash to come."

"Are you coming with me or not? I am quite capable of walking alone, you know."

"Okay, okay. I am coming with you."

Payal could be stubborn at times.

***

"Akash, please come soon", Khushi prayed mentally. She knew her crazy flat mate could be handled by her boyfriend of five years, Akash Mittal. Payal had been persuading the security guard in the park from the past ten minutes, with no luck. Though the park was meant for children, it became lovers' point after sun set.

"Dekhiye Madam, we cannot open the park now", the guard repeated the same dialogue for the twentieth time.

"Payal, let's go. We will come back in the morning", said Khushi.

"Ek minute, Khushi. Aise kaise chale jaaye?"

She turned towards the guard and said, "Bhaiya, samajhne ki koshish kijiye. Mera phone bohot important hai mere liye. I promise, hum dono andar jayenge, phone leke wapas aa jayenge. Hum aisa waisa kuch nahi karenge. Hum dono bilkul straight hain. Haina, Khushi?"

Khushi's mouth fell open while the guard looked scandalised.

"Theek hai, jaiye", he said and opened the gate.

"Thank you, Bhaiya", Payal flashed her pearl-white teeth and entered the park dragging Khushi along with her.

Payal had been quite lucky to find her phone.

As they headed out of the park, Khushi's phone rang.

"It's Akash," she said handing the phone to her.

"Akash, I got the phone."

"What do you mean alone? Khushi is with me."

"But Akash..."

"Okay fine"

The one-sided conversation was enough for Khushi to understand that Akash was not too happy with Payal's decision of going to the park.

"What did he say?" she asked.

"He asked us to wait. He ordered me not to move an inch from the park and lectured about how unsafe it is for girls to roam around at midnight."

Khushi gave her a I-told-you-so smile. However, the next moment her smile vanished hearing Payal's words.

"Arnav is also with him." Payal smiled devilishly at her.

Arnav Singh Raizada, Akash Mittal's cousin and best friend. Payal, Akash and Arnav had studied in the same college. While Arnav and Akash had joined the corporate world, Payal entered into the field of advertising. Khushi met Akash a week after she had moved in her new apartment. He was like a brother to her.

It was Payal's twenty-fifth birthday, two months ago. Khushi had opened the door thinking it was Akash, who was supposed to bring the birthday cake. There stood a 6-feet tall man clad in white shirt and jeans with a bouquet and gift in his hands. He looked exactly like the male protagonists from the romance novels she read.

"Hi. You must be Khushi, Payal's new flat mate? I am Arnav."

She had heard about him from Payal but his husky voice and that slight curve of lips as he smiled messed up her brain. She stood at the door step like a complete idiot for ten seconds before she found her voice again. Her voice came out as a squeak as she said, "Yeah. Please come in."

The car screeching in front of them brought Khushi back to the present.

Akash came out first and started lecturing Payal. But Khushi's eyes drifted to the person on the driver's seat. Arnav came towards her and said, "Hi, Khushi."

She replied with a polite "Hi".

Awkward silence!

In the past two months, Arnav and Khushi have met exactly on five occasions and every time awkward silence had prevailed after the initial "Hi". Khushi did not know what to speak and so even if Arnav tried starting a conversation, her short and crisp replies did not help.

"Akash, can you please save the lecture for another day. It is quite late and I am sleepy."

Khushi wanted to thank Payal for taking her out of the awkward situation but looking at her face she knew something was cooking inside her brain. And the next moment she found Payal sitting at the back of the SUV along with Akash, leaving her with no option but to sit on the passenger seat next to Arnav.

"Khushi, seat belt."

Damn it! Why was she so nervous around him? She was fiddling with the seat belt. A lean tanned hand came to her rescue. Khushi pressed her back to the seat. The close proximity created havoc to her senses.

Payal coughed meaningfully. Khushi shot an angry glance at her and saw her winking. Arnav's lips curved into a smirk while Akash looked at the trio clueless.

The six-minute drive seemed like hours to Khushi.

***

Khushi Gupta's life was like a dry wintery spell, awaiting for the arrival of spring. It was not like she had not been approached by species from the opposite sex, she did not find the right kind of guy, mostly because they did not match the list of criteria she had prepared based on the qualities of the male protagonists from mushy romance novels, until she met a certain Arnav Singh Raizada.

He was handsome, charming and witty. She could drown in his chocolate pools and melt into a puddle listening to his husky voice. His smile could brighten up her day. And he was a gentleman.

***

The next morning when Khushi came out after her shower, she found Payal in front of her laptop, eyes dancing with naughtiness. She had left her Facebook profile open. Shit!

"What are you doing?" She asked furrowing her eyebrows.

"Ah, nothing. I just confirmed Arnav Singh Raizada as your friend", Payal shrugged.

"You did what?" Khushi asked exasperated.

"I came inside your room to borrow your blue dress. I found your laptop open and a friend request. Out of curiosity, I clicked the link. Lo Behold! There was my dearest friend's request. There were two tiny little boxes. One said 'Confirm Friend' and the other said' Delete Request'. I placed the cursor on the first box and clicked it. As simple as that."

That was quite some explanation! Khushi opened her mouth twice to say something but closed immediately.

"Relax Khushi. I eased your job. See, from the past two months you have been stalking Arnav's profile from my account and... no you cannot deny it. I have caught you doing that several times. You could not even send him a friend request. Forget talking to him. I know what you would have done if we saw his request. You would not have deleted, neither confirmed. Every day, you would place the cursor on the 'Confirm Friend' option, stay there for fifteen seconds and then log out. So when he has taken the first step, I grabbed it on behalf of you."

Payal had a point and so Khushi just nodded her head in agreement.

However, the progress had been just that. A day had passed since that incident. With those 24 hours, Khushi had contemplated 1456 times about typing "Hi" but had backed out thinking she was just being desperate.

"Payal, what will I do tomorrow?"

"I told you already. Come with me."

"But I am not invited."

"C'mon Arnav knows you and you know Arnav. So you are coming with me to Holi party at his house. Okay, let me inform Arnav that you are also coming."

"No, you are not going to do anything."

Before Payal could argue, the sound of an incoming message drew their attention to Khushi's laptop. The chat box had popped up revealing a message from Arnav Singh Raizada.

"Hi Khushi,

Tomorrow there is Holi party at my place. I would love it if you join us. :)"

Payal immediately typed "Okay, sure" and said, "Problem solved."

****

"You are sure I am looking okay?" Khushi asked Payal. She was wearing a white leggings paired with a beige kurti, her hair tied in a ponytail.

"Haan, meri Ma. You look perfectly fine." She placed the plate full of different coloured powders on the kitchenette counter and applied a little pink colour on Khushi's cheeks. Khushi reciprocated the same. They fed each other sweets. This was Payal's habit since her time in hostel, playing Holi with flat mate or room-mate first and then with rest of the world.

***

Arnav Singh Raizada had the most amazing Holi till date. Khushi Gupta, the shy, soft spoken, flat mate of Payal had finally come out in full form. He knew he affected her. She would become extremely silent and self-conscious in front of him. But for the first time, he found her freely chattering with his sister, dancing in abandon and laughing heartily. He even got a glimpse of the mischievous side of her when she made Payal drink glasses of bhang instead of thandai while she avoided drinking bhang.

He saw her push the tiny strands of hair behind her ear. He had one regret though. She had not applied colours on him and neither did he.

She looked back at Payal. She was cradled in Akash's arms and has been talking non-stop after consuming bhang. Arnav had offered to drop them home.

As they reached the door, Payal said, "Come inside, Arnav. I have something to tell you."

"You have already told too many things, Payaliya. It is enough for today."

"This one is important and a secret. Shh!" Her voice dropped a little as she placed her finger on her lips.

"Okay", Arnav said as he and Akash helped her to sit on the sofa.

She asked Arnav to lean closer and then whispered loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. "Khushi has a huuuggge crush on you", she said spreading her arms wide while stressing on the word huge'.

Arnav glanced at Khushi once before saying, "Achcha?"

"Yes, but she is too shy to admit. She just stares at your pictures on Facebook, that too from my account. But don't tell her that I told you about this or she will kill me."

Khushi wanted to strangle Payal but first she wanted the Earth to open up and take her in. Akash tried to stifle a laugh while Arnav smirked. This was going to be fun!

"Erm.. I think I should prepare lemon water. It helps in reducing the hangover", Khushi said and dashed to the kitchen.

But Arnav had followed her into the kitchen. He leaned against the counter, arms folded across his chest.

"Is it true?" He asked after his clearing of throat failed to grab her attention. What to do if someone was deliberately following 'Ignorance is bliss' staunchly?!

"What?" she said while squeezing the juice out of the lemon into the glass of water.

"What Payal said just now, you heard it, right? So, is it true?"

"Payal is under the effect of bhang. She is talking all gibberish." She said, picked the glass and started walking out. Arnav stood in front of her blocking her way.

"I have heard that people speak the truth in an inebriated state."

"I don't know what you are talking about", she replied looking everywhere but him.

"Is it? Let's test if you have a crush on me or not."

Khushi stood still as Arnav took the glass from her hand and placed it on the counter. He held her right arm and pulled her closer. She sucked in her breath. His thumb and index finger pulled her chin up as he said, "Look at me Khushi."

He pinched some red powder kept on the plate on the counter and applied it on her cheeks. She closed her eyes as he felt the powdery texture along with the smooth and gentle touch. Arnav leaned closer, their lips just a few centimetres apart. She could feel his breath fanning her lips.

"You sure you don't have a crush on me?" His voice as low as a whisper.

She shot her eyes open. His eyes laced with blatant desire, his signature smirk on his lips. She raised herself on her toes and brought her lips to his ears and whispered, "I never denied crushing on you but do you have a crush on me?"

She rubbed her recently-smeared cheek on his. Her soft cheek on his stubbled one made him loosen his grip on her arm. She took the advantage and pushed him away, only to be pulled back again, this time hitting his chest. She clutched the collar of his shirt.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and said, "Yes", and placed his lips on her ever so softly. She closed her eyes. He deepened the kiss. She wound her arms around his neck and returned his kiss with equal fervor.

Spring had finally arrived!

***

*Adapted from The Zoya Factor by AnujaChauhan. Nikhil and Zoya are the protagonists of the same novel.