#2 ArHi Collaboration SS: Jalebis and Chillies [ Completed ] - Page 37

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Chapter 16: S... for Sudden Letter!

The living room of the Raizadas was bustling with teases, giggles and of course, food. Akash and Pari had returned from their honeymoon while Payal would leave for US in two days. The Guptas were invited for dinner. After all, Payal was no less than a daughter to them.

"So, Payal, can we expect that someone will impress you in US at least? Guys have failed to impress you here", Pari teased Payal.

"Meri baat chhodo Pari. You and Akash will be the first one to know if someone manages to grab my attention. Tum batao. When are we going to expect some good news?"

Manorama said, "Why are you teasing my bahu?"

"Mano Aunty, I am dying to be a bua you know."Payal winked at Akash. Pari blushed while the entire family giggled.

Khushi was enjoying her time. Yet, her eyes were looking for a certain Raizada.

"Ahem, Jise dhoondti hai tu har kahin,

Jo mila nahin tujhe hai kahin,

Tujhe jiske pyaar par ho yakeen,

Woh ladka hai yahan"

Avni sung the parody in Khushi's ears, loud enough for only Khushi to hear.

"Kya Avni?"

"Arnav Bhai is here, Khushi."

"So?"

"So, nothing. I was just singing."Avni said innocently.

Khushi looked at Arnav going to his room from the corner of his eyes. He looked tired.

She had not met him for five days and presently she would like to meet that "obnoxious" man whom she had missed terribly. However, that did not mean she would just run into his arms and be mercilessly teased. A part of her mind wanted to do that but the fact that Arnav had not even spared a glance at her did not go unnoticed by Khushi. How dare he! Here I am dying to meet him and he just ignores me! Huh! Rude!

She went to the kitchen and said, "Smita Aunty, may I take the coffee for Arnav?"

"Of course, Beta."

As soon as Khushi left the kitchen, Smita said, "What did I say Garima? See how responsible Khushi has become."

Arnav had just started unbuttoning his shirt when he heard someone barging in his room placing something on the table.

"What the!"

"How dare you ignore me?"

Both the statement and the question were uttered at the same time.

Ah! So here she is. A very angry Khushi!

"Don't you know that you should knock before entering someone's room?" Arnav said in a mock angry voice.

That is when our Jalebi noticed Arnav's state of undress. "Oh, I didn't know I would need permission to enter my fiance's room. From next time, I will surely take your permission." Arnav bit back his smile. He liked being called as her fiance. He folded his arms and asked, "So, what is this accusation for? When did I ignore you?"

"Really?! Did you even call or text me in these five days?"

"I was busy, Khushi." Arnav said plainly and sipped his coffee. "Why? Did you miss me?" He probed further.

Arnav looked at Khushi in amusement. She tried hard to hide her feelings.

She had missed him but Chilli did not have to know that. "Umm... no." Khushi said trying to sound indifferent.

"Okay. So why are you accusing me of ignoring you?"

Uh-oh! She had forgotten that the Raizadas were too intelligent for their own good. As Khushi racked her brain to come up with a brilliant reply, Arnav had covered the distance between them.

"If you had missed me so much, you could have called me or texted me."

He found her breathing heavily. "Say, Khushi. Why didn't you?"

"I didn't miss you." She replied and pushed him creating distance between them. She was about to leave when she was pulled back by Arnav.

Pulling her flush against him, Arnav said, "Liar. You missed me. I know that." Taking advantage of her shocked state, he pressed his lips on hers. He had wanted to do that since she had entered his room. Snaking her arms around her waist pulling her even closer, he took her lower lip tasting the sweetness. It only took a few seconds for Khushi to respond to his kiss.

He released her soon shocking her yet again and said, "I think Ma is calling you. I will join you at dinner." He flicked her nose and went near his wardrobe to take his clothes out. Just before entering the bathroom, he said, "By the way, the kiss was to tell you how much I had missed you."

Well, Chilli had successfully left Jalebi speechless and how!

*****

"Kumaarriii, my presentation is ready. Have you finished yours?"

"No",Khushi replied without looking up from the file.

"I still don't understand how you got this position when clearly you are incompetent for this." NK continued with his usual rants. However, Khushi did not reply. The entire scene was witnessed by Arnav,who was surprised by the fact Khushi not paying attention to NK's jibes. Khushi and NK's fights were famous and Khushi never failed to come back with a fitting reply to NK's jabs. He decided to intervene.

"Ms. Gupta, come to my cabin now."

Khushi quietly followed Arnav to his cabin with the same disinterested look on her face.

"How much is left with the presentation?"

"I am working on it."

"We don't have the entire day, Ms. Gupta. It should be done by evening."

"I will do it, Sir." She stressed on Sir. "May I go now?"

Arnav sighed. Something was definitely wrong with this girl. She was behaving unlike her nature. He walked towards her and asked, "What's wrong, Khushi?"

"Uh. Nothing."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Why would anything be wrong?"

"Because I thing you are tensed or hiding something."

She looked into his eyes. His were fixed on hers in a determined look which meant he wouldn't budge till she said everything. She let out a sigh.

"It is really nothing Arnav. I... I was just going through some of the crash courses animation. I actually wanted a course which would let me work at RHF and also study but the timings are such that I don't think I will be able to work at RHF. I don't know what to do and so I was just thinking of solutions... you know... like..."

"Whoa! Whoa! Stop woman! Don't put so much pressure on that small brain of yours", Arnav said stopping her rants. "I think you should take a break. Have your lunch and finish the presentation. Then we will discuss about the courses and how to manage them. Okay?"

She nodded her head.

"Great. Now, put on a smile and grab your lunch. I can hear your stomach grumbling."

"Haww! It is not." Just then, her stomach betrayed her making a grumbling noise. Damn! She was really hungry. Arnav chuckled while Khushi looked at him sheepishly.

Later that night,

Arnav wondered what to make of the unique species sitting in front of him. In the afternoon, she looked as if something terrible had happened to her and now when they were here to discuss about her so-called problem, she was busy gobbling jalebis.

His lips curved into a smile on its own accord.

"What?"

"Nothing. I am just waiting for you to finish your dessert."

She pushed the empty plate away and said, "I am done."

Turning her laptop towards him, she showed him the courses, their duration and timings.

"Okay. This one looks great. The institute is well known and the faculty seems really good. The course starts in two months. I think you should go for this."

"But the timing? I won't be able to work at RHF na?"

"So? Didn't you plan to leave RHF? And now Shashi Uncle also supports your decision of pursuing a vocational course. Then what is stopping you?"

"Woh... the project I was working on is not going to get completed by that time."

"Stop giving unnecessary excuses. If you choose to leave, your part will be assigned to someone else."

"I am scared, Arnav. What if I am not able to do well?"

"Khushi, please don't overthink. Just concentrate on what you want to do. Rest will fall in place. So fill in the application form right now in front of me."

"Mr. Raizada, you cannot boss me always."

"Ms. Gupta, I will if required."

*****

Six months later,

"This one is done. Two more left and then over. Yay." Jalebi's mutterings continued as she finished off her work. Khushi had resigned from RHF few months back and was busy with attending her classes and projects. In these six months, many things had happened. Arnav and her closeness being one. Their dates had increased and their level of comfort had rapidly progressed. Of course their fights had reached its pinnacle. But Khushi's distance from everyone was felt. She had become silent, her course taking all of her attention. In short, Khushi was not the Jalebi everyone knew.

Just then, Garima interrupted her. "Khushi, yeh lo. Ek letter aaya hai tumhare liye." With that she left, making Khushi curious. "Who is still using this type of communication, unless it is for online shopping?!" She wondered. She ripped of the seal and opened the letter. A very familiar handwriting stared back at her. Various emotions crossed her face as she read through. She did stop at certain parts to smile. A beautiful smile remained intact on her face. She closed the letter and dialled his number. The call went unreceived. She guessed that he was expecting her call and wouldn't attend her call. She knew what to do.

"Hellooo Mr. Raizada"

Arnav opened his sleepy eyes to check the time. 2 A.M. Just because he didn't attend the call earlier (at night), she decides to trouble him now. But why does this girl have to call at such odd time always? She didn't have anything important to say or she wouldn't have taken such a long time saying just "Hello".

"Khushi, it is late. We will discuss tomorrow whatever you have to say."

Well, he was angry and rightly so.

"Open the door, Mr. Raizada."

"WHAT?"

"Offo! I said open the door of your room."

"My room? Wait. You are here?" He removed the duvet and sat up straight.

"Wow! Genius! Now open the door... arrey not that... the French door."

As Arnav slid the French doors, he was greeted with a cheerful Khushi. Before she could complete saying "Hi", she was bombarded with questions.

"What are you doing here? How did you reach here? No wait. You came alone?! How can you be so careless Khushi?"

"Shhh... Will you please talk softly? You will wake up the entire house. I didn't come alone. I came with Mohan Bhaiyya and I had already told Hari Prakash Bhaiyya about my plan. So he had opened the door and let me in. Here I thought of surprising you on your birthday. I spent the whole evening baking this sugar free cake for you and you spoiled my surprise with your questions."

He shook his head at the crazy girl in front of him. And here he thought she had forgotten about his birthday. Not knowing about his birthday was not an option as Avni had been talking about it the whole week. He had waited for her call or her message but was disheartened not finding any of them. In fact he had been teased mercilessly by Avni and Pari when the whole family had come to wish him at midnight.

"You should have come at midnight. What is the use of coming now?" He tried to sound angry and hurt. "I wanted to surprise you",Khushi tried explaining but noticing his smirk, she knew he was just teasing. She decided to play along, "But I guess it is of no use now. I am going home now."

"No no, since you have put in so much of effort, let's taste the cake."

She smiled brightly. They fed each other the cake. As Khushi cleared the plates, Arnav held her hand and asked, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What?"

"You still have not wished me, Khushi."

Khushi stood near him. Standing on her toes, she pecked his lips and said, "Happy Birthday, Arnav."

"I think I should thank you for the amazing birthday surprise," said Arnav huskily as his lips met hers again kissing her fully this time, tasting the unique mixture of chocolate cake and the very own taste of Khushi.

"Aren't you forgetting something else Khushi?"

"Maybe... is it about a certain letter?" She pretended to think, smiling inwardly.

So she did read it. "Were you wooed?"

"Maybe... had you attended my call you might have known. But definitely a step closer, I'd say."

"So...?"

"So?"

"The reply?"

"Since you never attended the call, I assumed you did not want a reply. Now that I think about it, I shall reply whenever I want. Don't give up so soon. Just wait for it Raizada."

"Don't I always?"

*****

Another two months later,

Arnav waited patiently leaning against his car. Khushi would arrive any minute. Her final exams would be over today. He had planned to give her a surprise. His eyes searched for the girl amongst the swarm of students when he heard her voice from behind.

"Aww! My fiance is here to surprise me." He turned around and found her flashing her dazzling smile.

"How was your exam?"

"Awesome! Finally it is over and I don't want to talk about it. I am very hungry. Can we please head for lunch?"

"Yes, ma'am."

They were in the middle of their lunch when Arnav's phone rang.

"Haan, Ma."

"Err.. I am with Khushi."

"What happened? Is everyone fine?"

And the line went dead.

"What happened Arnav?"

"I don't know. Ma asked us to go home now. So, finish up quickly."

Well, for once, both Chilli and Jalebi had no answer.

*****

Hey Jalebi,

There I called you with the name I associated with you in my mind for all those years. What did you think? That I never knew about your existence until you started troubling me at my own cabin? Or did you think I forgot about you when I went to States? Sadly, my family did not want me to live in peace even then. Now stop pouting. The point being you and your jalebiness stayed with me always. Whenever someone spoke about you, all that came into my mind was Jalebi.

I never really thought I shall wed a brat like you. If God had hinted this long back, I would have made sure not to return to India. If not that possibility, I would have at least not wasted all those years breathing fire down your throat. I think I should be given an award for actually eliciting some work from you, right?

Even during school I have secretly admired you. The way you carelessly roam around, your happy go lucky attitude and your laziness. It is the part of who you are. I still remember those days when you used to stand outside the class... always the outstanding student. Whenever I crossed you, you made sure to make your presence known to me, the tongue always stuck out. The way you twirled around looking for trouble and new scapegoats. You remember that day? Your dare to steal my president badge. How did you manage that woman? One minute it was in my pocket and the next moment you were having it. But the best part was you gloating it when I was standing right behind you.

All these days I have always admired your straight forward attitude. You did it, you did it. End of the story, you never bothered to think if your actions will affect you. Act first, think or repent later. Like your dare to kiss me. ;) Ha! Wonderful days, don't you think? By the way, do you know who the spy is? It isn't NK. It is your Jiji, engineering wizard. If you are wondering how she did it, then let me tell that to you. That day you kissed me, there was a camera on the button of you shirt. This was done to actually prank you. Payal never knew you we would kiss. She just wanted to record some embarrassing situation so that she could tease you later. It was sheer coincidence that the camera recorded the kiss. Later, she took the screenshot of the kiss and showed it to everyone. Anyway, it ended up in their favour. I shall let you know one more secret. I did know the truth when you all but tried to make NK the spy. Maybe the marriage isn't forced?;)

We have come a long way since then. I hope I have kept my end of the promise and you are wooed. You still can back out of the marriage...As if I shall let that happen. Just being the gentleman you prefer me to be. Don't you worry about any of my girlfriends and stuff. I never had one, unless Angelina Jolie is counted to be one. Come on, I am definitely not a fan of blondes. By the way, how do you want this marriage to be?

So why do you think I wrote this letter? Definitely not because you wanted to write letters with your fiance. *wink * Just to relieve you some stress. Where has your smile gone? Your career has started a bit late. That doesn't mean you become serious. I can definitely not handle another me. And why aren't you attending all those pujas? I come home early just to see... oops tease you. Live your name's meaning Khushi. Everything will fall in place if you flash those 1000watts around. But don't go scaring people. Coming back, why is Happiness hiding? What's the deal with her? There is nothing bad about trying and failing. You can proudly flaunt that. A girl who was flaunting her naughtiness, is now hiding her achievements. Why the shift? It takes guts to restart your whole career at 23. And woman, why aren't you troubling me? Where have those calls disappeared? And those naughty, perverted messages? I am not a stone, I have feelings that involves a certain happiness. :)

Take your time, live your dreams but don't exclude me from being a part of your ups and downs. Let me be your own personal punching bag (figuratively of course). Call me once? I am really disappointed in you Gupta. You have stopped rendering me speechless. Even Avni seems to miss you. I think Aman is jealous of you now. Avni's eyes scan the crowd searching for you. And she keeps asking me about you, as if I really know!

You know what, I have found this new Italian restaurant in the outskirts. It should be an hour from your home. Up for a lunch date this Saturday? If you dare say no, then I wouldn't mind bodily lifting you and throwing you in my car. Yeah exactly the kidnapping style. So be ready.

Now that we have cleared your busy schedule, be sure to attend the future pujas, weddings and other boring stuff. Allow me to spend time with my fiance. So, Let me now get back to my work. Bye Happiness!

Yours,

Chilli (Did you think I did not know about my nickname?)

*****

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