Khushi sat nonchalantly drawing circles on the floor of the living room of Gupta Mansion. Her heart wrenched seeing those immaculately pristine white tiles, wondering why one's life couldn't be as smooth and pristine as them. Why couldn't it keep the shades of pain from an emotion as pure as love?
"What happened, Beta? I noticed you turned quite gloomy after your marriage. Is there a problem?" questioned Shashi as he took his seat beside her, as her heart exploded into pieces seeing her father who was showering concern on her and the father whom she had lied to.
"A problem which I myself created, Papa. I don't know how to get out of this," she said. Taking a deep breath and telling herself that she needs to do it, Khushi continued,
"Papa, I hid something from you. I am so sorry for that but it seemed like the best thing to do back then."
Shashi Gupta seemed to be surprised and shocked at his daughter's revelation but decided to hear her side before judging her.
"What is it, Khushi? Is something serious?"
Khushi related the entire episode of hers and Lavanya's life related to NK and Arnav. She was the one who had stopped Lavanya from revealing anything to their father and it was only rightful that she was the one to reveal.
To say that Shashi was shocked would be an understatement. The daughter who never hid anything from him had hid something so crucial from him. His heart also went out for his daughters who decided to bear the agony themselves and thinking about his feelings more than theirs.
"I am so sorry, Papa. I don't know what to do. I am scared to love, Arnav. I want to love him. I just can't understand what is happening with me and what I am thinking," Khushi sobbed as Shashi pulled her into a hug.
" Give it a try, darling. At least you will not regret that you did not try. You came so far into this. Just one more step. Give him a true chance and if he doesn't stand up to your expectations, I will myself go and wack him across the face like hit a boy who pulled your hair when you were young," said Shashi while Khushi smiled at the memory and the pleasure she got by seeing that guy being hit by her father.
" Are you not angry, Papa? That I hid so much from you?" asked Khushi, hesitantly and guiltily.
" Why should I be? Will we get a good outcome by me being angry at you? Absolutely not! You would be more devastated than you are now and moreover, only the person who has lived through the pain will know the true depth of it, no one else. What you did, I am sure, was after a lot of thought and I trust you to be extremely responsible, Beta. I am sure your intention was not to hurt me but was against it. It must have been very difficult for you to lie to me and I know it. I am not at all angry on you, Beta. I am proud of you!"
"Thank you, Papa. I love you so much," she whispered affectionately.
"I love you too, Beta. And will never stop doing so. Now cheer up! I don't want to see my daughter sulking!" he said, making Khushi smile for the first time in days.
---------------------------------------
Evening,
Khushi impatiently waited for Arnav to come and pick her up. Never did a day seem so long or did she wish to leave her home so eagerly. She was unable to place her finger, if her anxiety was because she wanted to see his reaction or she could simply not resist their separation and had fallen for him so deeply and irresistibly that he leaves a void behind him when distances come between them.
To add to her anxiety, NK had picked up Lavanya an hour ago and still there was no news of Arnav Singh Raizada coming.
"Ma'am, Arnav Sir is here," informed a security personnel, lighting her face up with unmatchable joy.
Before Khushi could respond to the security, Arnav Singh Raizada walked in through the doors of Gupta Mansion, making Khushi's heart flutter and breaths stagger.
Realizing that they had audience, Khushi decided to postpone their confrontation to a more private atmosphere.
She turned to the security and requested, "Call Papa, please."
Khushi's voice brought Arnav back to his senses. He was struggling since the morning, unable to concentrate on anything except his one-day-old wife and when his eyes finally landed on her, after the battle he fought with himself, he couldn't hold the reins of his senses anymore. Momentarily, his fears were replaced by happiness but soon the happiness faded away, paving the path to increased fears and questions as he knew that there was a confrontation due.
"Good evening, Arnav," she greeted, trying to lighten the atmosphere which had tension thick enough to be cut with a knife, thanks to their ongoing internal battles.
"Evening, Khushi. I hope you enjoyed the day," he said, questioning himself how much more were they going to act. She had greeted him as if nothing had happened between them and his impulsive self forced him to retort with the same carefree nature, only with underlying sarcasm.
Arnav's demeanor surprised Khushi. She hoped that he had not taken offense of anything she had said in the morning or the evening. Somehow the very thought of him being upset because of her made her heart wrench.
"Hello Arnav. How are you?" greeted Shashi Gupta, who walked up to Arnav and patted him on the shoulder affectionately.
"I will be back," said Khushi, excusing herself to gain control of herself and look at her maternal home till it quenches the thirst of her heart.
She made her way to the topmost floor, visiting every nook and corner of her home, trying to sketch those in the deepest canvases of her heart, never to forget. Each room had its own memories associated with and each of them was relived by Khushi as she traced her hands over them, trying to memorize the touch of it.
The knowledge that she would not come back here after tiring herself out at office made her wince in deep pain. How had anyone expected women to leave the homes they had lived in for ages and the leave those who meant everything to them? The moment was not meant for questioning the rituals, she knew, it was a moment to fall prey to those rituals she hated the most.
Her eyes turned teary while a weak smile played on her lips as she reminisced the various memories associated with her room. She told herself that irrespective of where she was, the room she was standing in would always be hers, in an attempt to console herself. Only if it was so easy.
She glanced at the grandfather clock in her room to realize that she had been lost in time-travel for the past thirty minutes. Realizing that her father and husband would be wondering if she was somehow lost, she made her way downstairs, trying not to look back as she knew that if she did she would break down as her heart wanted, into the arms of the two most important men of her life.
"Here she is. Khushi, I was just about to send someone to search for you. Where were you?" Shashi asked, rising up and cupping her face affectionately.
"I was just looking around, Papa. I am fine," she said in a shaky whisper, revealing it to the men in the room that the truth was just the opposite of what she had uttered, but they chose to maintain their composure.
"Shall we leave?" Khushi asked Arnav, thinking that if she moved away from there, the pain would recede. She had been so engrossed in pondering over Arnav's actions before her wedding to relish in the days she resided in the house and she knew that she regretted it immensely as she stood prepared to leave from there.
"Sure. Goodnight, Papa," said Arnav, addressing Shashi as 'Papa' as per his demand.
"Goodnight, Arnav. Take care, Khushi. I love you," said Shashi, pulling her into his arms as she rested her head against his heart, just where she and Lavanya resided.
"Love you too, Papa," she whispered, a drop of brine trying to make its way out of her eyes.
In the same position, Shashi took Khushi till Arnav's car, as she seemed to develop an inhuman grip on her father. If he had not known the truth, Shashi would have surely been surprised to see Khushi so disheveled, not at her Bidaai, but while returning to Shantivan after the Pag Phere ritual. But now since he knew, he could fathom that yesterday was just a whirl of emotions for his daughter and now she was seeing every emotion distinctly and this was truly her farewell.
"Take care of her, Arnav. Or else you will not be able to even think of the consequences," Shashi warned shakily, moved by his daughter's turmoil.
"I will," Arnav promised, as he pulled Khushi into his own arms, as Shashi signed.
Khushi, who had shut her eyes, felt a change in the feel but the comfort was all too familiar. She opened her eyes half to observe what caused that change to look straight into her husband's eyes, which revealed all that his lips would never be able to: boundless unconditional love.
Instinctively she moved closer to him as he moved his arms to accommodate the changes. They said that girls fall for those who resemble their father and that moment, Khushi knew it was the truth. The comfort which she felt in Arnav's arms filled the void of the comfort she thought she would lose as she leaves her father's arms, and she relished in it.
The eye-lock only broke when the door of the car closed with a thud after Arnav made her sit inside the car. A new emotion seemed to take over her and she vaguely recognized it as anxiety. Just as she seemed to analyze her emotions, Arnav began the engine and she looked at her father to take some last looks before she left.
She waved at him just as she did when she left for her first school trip. That trip was unforgettable and memorable and she hoped that the journey she was to begin with Arnav was equally amazing.
As the nostalgia faded away, Khushi began to control herself as she prepared herself for the confrontation.
"We need to talk," she said, firmly.
-----------------------------------
I think this was one of my best updates. I am so proud of this!
Edited by -Slytherclaw- - 8 years ago
43