IPKKND FF: JALEBI by Jalebi Jane Thread 1: EPISODE 001-042 - Page 52

JALEBI by Jalebi Jane (EPISODE 023)

LOVE HAS A WAY OF CHEATING ITSELF CONSCIOUSLY, like a child who plays at solitary hide-and-seek; it is pleased with assurances that it all the while disbelieves.* And thus it was for Khushi. She could not believe Arnav desired her---she knew this demand for a kiss was the continuation of that courtship ploy he had begun this afternoon. Another stage of his pretending to be a suitor. A game for which the motive still eluded her.

Yet, his reference to the kiss---the undeniable reminder of it---sent a shiver of something through her. The spot where his thumb and her mouth met became a new erogenous zone. And then an outrageous idea entered her rebel mind; what if!---what if, she parted her lips just now, and drew his thumb into her mouth? Oh! It would be worth it to see that smug-confidence wiped clean off his face! Or maybe she would see more than surprise---would he be aroused by it, she wondered---

---Disturbed by the wayward capacity of her thoughts, she flung off his hand.

And it was at this moment when Payal turned towards Arnav and said, "how do I begin to thank you? And your impressive timing. You can't imagine my relief when I came around the corner and saw you two at the door. But why do we stand here? Do please come into the house. The least we can offer you is a cup of tea. I confess, I'm desperate for one."

"Mr Raizada doesn't drink tea, Jiji," Khushi said, to her sister.

Payal amended her offer, "coffee then---"

"I'm afraid we only have instant. And I know you are quite particular about your coffee." This Khushi addressed directly to Arnav.

"True," he said, "I'm particular about what I put in my mouth---but I'm sure I'll enjoy whatever you offer."

Khushi could not pretend to miss the innuendo. She was preparing a sharp rejoinder when her sister leaned towards her and whispered the dreaded word "Shyam" with a meaningful look at the garden room door. This jolted Khushi into realizing that her secret sleuthing and timely escape would lose all its value, should their lodger arrive now to find them all gathered outside his room.

"Please come this way, Mr Behl," Khushi said pointedly to Aman, leading the way back to the house, leaving Arnav to follow with Payal. She took them through the kitchen door, and urged her sister to show the gentlemen into the front room.

(What the two sisters did not witness was a non-verbal exchange between those gentlemen; a slight indication of the head by Arnav towards Payal, which Aman correctly read as, "keep this one here with you and find out what they were up to.")

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Khushi began to prepare both tea and coffee, while inwardly grumbling about Payal's ill-timed hospitality. Oh, why did Jiji invite them in?---especially at such a time when she was eager to discuss with her what she had found in Shyam's room. What had been in that envelope taped to the ceiling fan.

She turned to the shelves, and strained on tiptoes to reach the cups+saucers Buaji reserved for special guests. They were on the very top shelf---

"Need another lift?" Arnav's voice came from behind her.

Startled, Khushi swung around---and immediately took a step back. The countertop blocked her---but she managed to create some distance.

He said, "don't look so alarmed, Miss Gupta. I want to speak to you. It must have occurred to you that I came to your house this evening on a particular matter. Not because I had a premonition that you might be trapped in a locked room."

To be quite honest, Khushi had not thought that far. Yes, she had heard Payal just say that she found Arnav and Aman at the front door---but beyond that she had not yet had time to extrapolate.

"Or are you afraid that I'm going to extract that thank-you kiss?" he asked, lifting a brow.

"I'm not afraid of you," she quickly stated. "And I've already thanked you. In the only manner I intend to."

"I could say, the loss is mine' but that would be a lie."

It took Khushi a full second to realize that Arnav Singh Raizada had just insulted her. But before she could respond, he added the words, "Not that kissing you could never be a pleasure---however, I see that you lack experience."

A soft gasp of outrage spluttered from her lips.

But he appeared not to notice, as he continued, "in the future, when I've tutored you on what constitutes a proper kiss between a man and a woman, I have no doubt that I'll enjoy---"

It was now absolutely time to interrupt this arrogant insolent man!

"Excuse me, Mr Raizada---" said Khushi, her voice trembling with barely-checked fury, "there will be no such future and no such activity between us. Also---understand this!---I do not require tutoring from you. On any subject. Especially not that! I'm not a child."

It would have been well if our Heroine had stopped there. But his affront had entered that area so personal that it led her into an angry blindness, wherein she failed to realize that he was obviously setting a trap. The trap can be seen by you and I, Sisters---but Khushi missed it entirely.

She stumbled on in the same impaired state. "Do you think I've never kissed a man? What you interpret as my lack of experience, was my lack of will. I did not kiss you properly this afternoon, because I didn't want to! But, had I wanted to, it would have been a kiss that you would have never forgot."

Arnav raised his brows in mocking question at that possibility. He said, "You need not be embarrassed by your naivete. I understand that being talentless in this area is considered an attraction in a woman of your upbringing."

This was to0-too much. Unendurable! No woman could have listened to such impudence. Khushi did what she had to do. She seized upon all her imagination. She placed her hands on his shoulders and lowered softly parted lips onto his, tilting her head as she had seen done in -Dhoom 3-.

She had just closed her eyes, when they flew wide open---!

Arnav's tongue plunged into her mouth, as his arms went around her, lifting her off the ground, crushing her against his hard muscular chest---so she was trapped, unable to prevent his mouth as it searched, savaged, stole from her her very breath. Her lips throbbed, her heart throbbed---and this wild rhythm beat almost out of her chest. Or was it his beating heart she felt.

And just as instantly as he had gathered her, Arnav released her.

She fell back against the counter and in a daze---almost an out-of-body experience---she saw that he grasped her left hand. Before she could register his action, he had slipped a ring onto her finger.

He said, "I came to tell you that I'll be away for a few days. When I return, you can tell me whether you want to be mine."

And then he was gone. Not only gone from the room. But gone from the house.

*Adapted from George Eliot's -Adam Bede-

By Jalebi Jane

Originally posted by: eroni

Wahahaha crazy khushi. What has she got herself into. And arnav is no less

Originally posted by: srmirji

Oh my was that something or what... This is one amazing piece of work... Always want to read more...

I find this khushi to be exactly the khushi we saw in ipkknd... Full of fire, totally naive and falls into all traps of asr...

Thanks

Sri.