The response on the teaser was unexpectedly low. Let's hope it increases somewhat after this chapter ._.
Ch 10 ~Khushi~ {Happiness} *a relatively lighter chapter. Enjoy!
"Anju, stop crying now," Lavanya whispered, holding her friend close to her, patting her wobbling head to hush down her low sobs.
"How can I, Lav? He.. he is going behind that... This is so wrong.." Anjali sobbed.
As soon as Arnav took leave, Lavanya came to the Raizada Mansion. She did expect some tension between the brother-sister duo, but never expected Anjali being left in such a vulnerable state. It was Lavanya who had initially filled Anjali's mind with hatred for Khushi, when Anjali had told her everything that was told to her by Arnav. Lavanya herself wondered how Anjali was related to Arnav by blood, for she was so influential and emotional unlike Arnav.
Anjali and Lavanya had met at a fashion show, in which she was the show stopper amongst the other models of AR Corp. and then there was no looking back. Lavanya had been working for AR for nearly six months, when Arnav was informed that their very confidential information was being leaked to their rival company and the person responsible was Lavanya. After being confronted by Arnav himself, she, in the fear of being thrown out of AR and Arnav's life, went up to Anjali to make her believe in her self-concocted stories. From being in love with Arnav to doing everything to please him, she filled an already emotional Anjali's ears with lies, even before she heard anything from her brother's side.
Lavanya was obviously thrown out of AR, but she got a chance to pat her own back, for Anjali didn't let a crack seep through their friendship. Arnav ignored her whenever possible, yet she was confident about Anjali persuading her brother in favor of what she wanted.
"I'll get something to eat," Lavanya said, getting up from the bed, while Anjali moved into the washroom to wash her face.
*
Khushi placed the cake in the refrigerator, sighing as the cold air from the refrigerator hit her warm face. It wasn't like she was sad that Arnav couldn't get Mish to her, but everything didn't seem to be too right either. Arnav hadn't said a word about what actually happened during his visit to the Raizada Mansion, which obviously made her curious; but then again, who was she to ask him? She shrugged off her thoughts and picked up the jug of water to place it on the dining table, closing her eyes for a second to swipe away all her thoughts related to Shyam.
"Khushi?" Arnav's voice startled her and the jug slipped from her hands, crashing down on the floor, with water spilling out and wetting the whole floor.
"Careful, dammit!" Arnav immediately stepped forward and groped Khushi's elbow, pulling her on a side. Looking concernedly at her feet and arms, he frantically asked, "Are you okay? Did the glass prick you anywhere?"
Khushi blinked her eyes several times to stabilise herself, before her lips curved into an amused smile. She looked at Arnav and the next second she broke into fits of laughter; giving him turn to be amused.
"Kya? What happened?" He asked, starting to laugh with her. An amazing feeling took over his heart suddenly, and he felt them take another step towards brightness, where neither pain will exist, nor sadness.
"You scared me!" She gushed, hunching her shoulders and starting to move to clean the mess.
Just then, as expected, she slipped over the wet floor and screamed, her hands reaching out in his direction for support.
"Careful!" He held her waist and made her stand erect, before they burst out laughing once again.
"You look even more beautiful when you laugh." his thoughts made their way out though his mouth in the form of a soft whisper, making her laughter cease suddenly. She shifted, getting conscious of their proximity. "S-Sorry!" She stuttered, adjusting her dupatta consciously and moving out of the kitchen carefully to call the servant from the servant-room to clean the kitchen. "Khushi?" He let out an inaudible whisper and stared at her retreating back, his smile contracting within a second. Shaking his head, he too walked out of the kitchen. * Arnav sighed as his umpteenth call to the landline number of the Raizada Mansion went unanswered. 'I am so sorry,' Arnav stared at his phone with a sad expression, wanting to talk to Mish. In the process of arguing with Anjali, he had hurt Mish; he had seen her tears, yet he didn't stay there to console her, too infuriated with Anjali's attitude towards Khushi. Being unable to control his urge to have a talk with Mish, he decided to try the other way. Leaving a message for Khushi and making his servant fetch something for him from the kitchen, he left for the Raizada Mansion. * There sat a doll clad in her pink frock, hugging her huge pink teddy bear with a pout adorning her lips. Her little nose had gone red after crying, while her already red cheeks burned as the salty water dried out on them.
"Mish?"
She got up from the lap of the teddy bear, her ears rising in the direction of sound and her mind quickly realising the source of sound. 'Mamu?' She wanted to run and hug him for the longest of times, to spend her day with him and tell him how hurt she was when he behaved like that with her; but she didn't do any of that. She cuddled back into her teddy bear, frowning in its fluffy chest. "Mr. Teddy, do you want to eat chocolate cake?" Arnav said in a childish treble, entering the room and walking near the bed with a box held in his hands. "Mr. Teddy. You are my friend, you will not eat the cake, okay?" Mish instructed the toy-bear, not sparing a look to Arnav. No matter how much she wanted to turn around and snatch the cake from him and gobble down the whole of it, yet something stopped her from within; maybe something which every girl in this universe treasures within her. "His eyes says he wants to eat. Why are you stopping him, babygirl?" Arnav smiled sheepishly, holding the free arm of the bear and giving it a gentle tug. "No he won't eat if I don't eat!" Mish screamed and stood up on the bed, facing Arnav for the first time in a span of few minutes. "Who is stopping you, princess?" Arnav opened the lid of the container and extending it in her direction, a smile still plastered over his lips. "Mamu" The little doll's voice decreased to an almost inaudible whisper and she stared into his eyes with a sad expression on her young face. He placed the box carelessly on the bed and scooped his niece in his arms, closing his eyes as she rested her head on his shoulder, with her tiny arms chained around his neck. Patting her back while rocking her back and forth, his voice came out broken, "I am very sorry, Mish! Very very very sorry!" He felt her arms tighten around his neck and her head dig more into his shoulder. He kissed her rosy cheek and landed her gently on the bed. She slumped on the bed and took the box of cake in her tiny hands, taking a full piece of the chocolate cake in her widely gaping mouth. Arnav chuckled and cocooned her in his arms, nuzzling his nose with her's as she hurriedly chewed the cake in her mouth. "Very tastyyy!" She rolled her tongue over her chocolate-laden lips cutely, simpering gleefully at him. "Guess who has made this?" He asked her, smiling at her as she dug into more of the cake. Getting a confused expression from her side, he let out a throaty chuckle, "Khushi, she has made this for you." "Wow, Khushi auntie?" She gushed in excitement and stood up on his thighs, her small hands landing on his shoulders for balance, "I want to meet her!" "Sure," he smiled, taking her hands in his and kissing them. He picked her up and walked out of the room, only to be greeted by Anjali and Lavanya standing near the door. Having no mood to mar his very-elated mood, he chose to ignore both the ladies and concentrate on the little bundle of joy in his arms. Not that he liked to be rude to his own sister, but yes, he hated Lavanya, to such an extent that her mere presence forced a disgusting feeling in his gut. "ASR, listen.." Lavanya came forward by a step, trying to act innocent, yet again. Arnav moved back a step, putting Mish down on the floor and telling her to go and wait for him in the living room, downstairs. Mish smiled at him and then looked at her mother and her friend with a frown on her face, before running down the stairs. "Di I am sorry for whatever happened few hours back," he said coldly to Anjali and ignored Lavanya completely. He was in no mood of any fresh argument with her or his sister. "ASR," Lavanya came closer to him and caught hold of his upper arm, "Sorry..." His fists clenched tightly, the bluish veins getting highlighted on his clenched fist. Shoving her hand roughly away from his arm, he strode downstairs after hearing a mouthed 'sorry' from Anjali too. Lavanya cringed at his retreating back, muttering profanities inaudibly and then suddenly, her anger morphed into tears - scratch that - crocodile tears, which like every other time, gained Anjali's sympathy. * "And I also love pancakes and donuts!" Mish excitedly said while counting on her little fingers, while Khushi smiled and Arnav grinned at her. She was seated on the dining table, accompanied by Khushi sitting on one of the chairs and Arnav standing next to her. "I don't know how to make pancakes," Khushi pouted animatedly, earning a chuckle from the girl, and Arnav stared at them silently. Everything seemed just so fine at the moment. Khushi is happy and Mish isn't angry anymore; rest about Anjali, she will be fine eventually with whatever decision he makes about his life. He wanted time to cease, like everything should stay the same for eternity. "Mamu and I made pancakes once and they were so hard that we used a hammer to break them," Mish laughed loudly, followed by Khushi's soft chuckle and a cute simper taking over on Arnav's face.
"That was a disaster!" Arnav bit his lower lip in embarrassment, looking at Khushi for sometime and then at Mish who was nibbling over the cake, a part of which she already ate in the Raizada Mansion. The ringing of the doorbell interrupted the moment and pulled the attention of all the three towards the door. Having no visitors to the farmhouse as such, Arnav looked confused and looked at Khushi, who had gotten up from her chair to attend the door. "I'll check," Khushi said quickly and walked towards the entrance. She opened the door, which revealed a young man dressed in plain white clothes and a black coat hanging loosely on his left arm. It took less than a second for Khushi to judge him to be an advocate, which further planted a seed of confusion in her mind. "Yes?" She asked politely, gaining a stern smile from the man. "Myself Arun Roy, Mr. Raizada's advocate," he smiled slightly before extracting a packet of some documents from his bag and extending it towards her, "These are the divo-" He was bluntly cut off by Arnav, who suddenly appeared behind Khushi and took the packet from the man, "Thank you for these papers, Mr. Roy. I'll get back to you regarding this tomorrow." The visitor nodded indifferently before turning and leaving the place. Arnav closed the door and glanced at Khushi from the corner of his eye. He knew he was, yet again, taking decisions on his own, but his objective was nothing but to keep her safe. Yet, he was scared this time. * Please let me know about your views! Edited by -SanjanaSobti- - 8 years ago
Cricket
Bhabhi Ji Ghar Pe Hain?
708