From the author's desk: Hello peeps! thanks for your wonderful comments on the last update. I am amazed at some of you who still remember my updates 6 years back. Yes, I had updated the story until this part, but again since I lost them, I had to rewrite it all. So, though the underlying story remains the same, the updates may seem new. For instance, My updates 6 years ago didn't have Abhi.
Coming back to the story, . the man can be as boisterous as he can get and Khushi got caught up in the storm of his impudence. Devi Maiyya, save her! or does she really have to? Read it on, Happy reading!
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Chapter 12: The clash of Titans
Part 3: Crazy date
By the time Arnav opened the door that connected his personal cabin into his office space, he got speechless. Not speechless because he was looking into a ravishingly beautiful Khushi all dressed up and ready for the date but because of the audacity of the very same girl, coolly sitting there on his couch, sipping a cup of coffee from the vending machine and reading her book. The package along with the dress that he had given her was lying next to her. She was still in her kurti and Patiala.
He stepped closer to her and pulled the book from her hands as she let out a whine of protest.
“Your date with this book is over Khushi” He said as he held it too high for her to reach out.
“Give my book back”
“What’s so captivating in this book that you couldn’t keep it down?”
“A book lover like you shouldn’t ask questions like this” she said as she unreservedly climbed the plush sofa to cover the height at which he was holding the book.
He looked up and down at her as he took a step back, still remaining unreachable
“What are you going to do now? Plunge at me?” he asked smirking at her
“You know I would do that if I want to” she said as she got down and tried pulling the stool nearby towards him
He rolled his eyes at her as he threw the book on the sofa.
“Khushi, I told you we are starting in 20 mins”
“So what?” she asked him cheekily “You are not used to waiting, so you should probably proceed without me”
“Did you hope that I would do it this time?” he asked raising his eyebrows at her
“Aren’t you going to do that?” she asked mockingly.
He shook his head “Don’t be so hopeful, you are coming with me”
She let out a sigh that he almost laughed out loud
“I am not getting dressed in that” she told firmly pointing to the dress that was lying on the sofa
“Why? What’s wrong with that?”
“I like to choose what I wear. And now that it’s too late for us to shop and then go to the party, I think you should proceed without me. I will take an auto back home”
He looked at her for a few seconds and then smiled mockingly at her
“If you had thought that I would let you go if you stalled, forget it”
It was her turn to roll her eyes at him
“No seriously” she said with mock seriousness “how I would love to come with you…” she said battling her eyes at him “but for the dress… Maybe next time…” she said throwing her sweet smiles…
He smirked mockingly at her
“Not done Khushi, Come let’s go” he said as he walked to the door.
She didn’t move an inch from where she stood.
“You said that there is a dress code. I would look awkward out there like this”
“It was your choice not to wear the dress”
“But…”
“But what? If dress is your only problem then that can be fixed…”
“No not only that… I have a problem with the party too”
He held the door for her “You have no choice there” he said in a tone of finality
She let out her hands as if in exasperation, bent down to shove her book into her cross bag and then picked up her shopping packages and walked out with him.
***
“Look, I would totally understand if you don’t want to come” Payal spoke into her mobile with Akash. She was at her parent’s place.
“But I would love to come” Akash re-assured her
He was on his way to her parent’s place. During the reception yesterday, her mother had requested Akash to send Payal home with her as they hadn’t had her pag phera visit yet. Payal wasn’t too keen to go for the night and so Akash had promised her mom that they will have it the next day.
With all the events that followed, Payal had not been too keen to go this morning as well, but Akash had insisted that they finish this ritual.
“Fine, Mom wanted to let you know that there is a surprise waiting for us”
“What kind of?”
“She wouldn’t break the suspense for me. But just be prepared, they are having a party at home for us… for my parent’s circle of friends”
“Oh!” Akash exclaimed “But I am not dressed for a party… how big is the party? Would casuals do?”
“Don’t worry about that. I have got a dress picked up for you”
“Ok see you in 20 mins”
“Will be waiting…” She said “and hey, just a bit of warning. If mom’s suspense has something vicious in it…”
“Don’t worry dear, I suppose, I can handle that for your sake”
“Oh I am not worried… my warning is not about that, If she does something awkward, I am going to blow my top”
He smiled into the phone “handling you is my pleasure. See you in a bit”
***
Arnav watched Khushi as she tossed dress after dress shaking her head. This was the second shop that they have visited in the last hour. They arrived at this boutique nearly half an hour ago and she hadn’t picked a dress yet.
“Is this one of your tactics again?”
“Am I that obvious?”
“Seriously Khushi” he said as he saw the growing pile of gorgeous dresses that she had rejected. The tired attendant looked at him with a helpless smile.
Khushi took out a cream outfit “How would this look on me?” she asked particularly to no one
“The dress code is red or black” Arnav reminded her.
“I will settle for something black then” she twisted her lips impassively and put it back on the shelf.
Arnav decided that it was time he took things into his hands
“How about this?” he asked pulling out a Red dress on the display
“Looks pretty” she said non-committedly “but too flashy” She turned to check out another dress
“It isnt” he protested
“It isnt for you… It’s quite flashy for my liking”
“Then try this…” he said picking up another red dress, which he thought looked better than the rest
“No. What’s is it with you and red?”
“My favorite color” he muttered
“Oh…that’s funny” she said
“What’s funny?” he asked her with an incredible look
“Would you dare to wear a flashy red shirt for the party? Why would you want me to wear your favorite color?”
He let out an exasperated sigh as he saw her turn around the shop looking for something that would interest her
“This is the first time I am seeing a girl who fusses to shop”
“Oh don’t think so high of me… It’s simply that this is not my kind of a shop”
“So which is your kind of shop?”
She let out a hundred watt smile.
“Chandini Chowk”
“What?” Arnav looked genuinely horrified.
“Yeah” she said and closer to him and whispered to him as she kept an eye on the shop assistant “you get much better designs with lesser price… here its either too expensive or the design is not good...”
“Are you crazy?” he asked her and then muttered “Of course you are… We are already running late and you want me to take you to Chandini Chowk?”
“Not at all... I am just mentioning that I like to shop there… Since it is impossible to go there right now… Maybe you should go without me… I hate to make people miss you at the party because of me”
He looked at her with an incredible look.
“Nice try Khushi”
“uuufff”
“Come let’s go”
It was Khushi’s turn to look at him with an incredible look when he turned his car towards Chandini Chowk
***
“Hey Khushi where are you?” Anjali asked over phone
“Somewhere near Lakshmi nagar.. why?” Khushi replied. She didn’t know if it was OK to let Anjali can know that she was with Arnav in his car, on the way to Chandini Chowk
“Ohk… Are you coming for a movie?”
“MOVIE” she screamed excitedly and toned down as Arnav raised his eyebrows “No yaar… have some work”
“Hey Khushi come on… Salman Khan Movie…La wanted to watch a Bollywood masala movie and NK promised to take us… we got tickets for you as well”
“Did you say Salman Khan? Khushi asked longingly and looked at Arnav. He pursed his lips and shook his head indicating “No way”
She muttered some curses under her breath
“Hello…I can’t hear you Khushi? Hello Khushi…”
“Yeah…Anjali.. I was just talking to myself”
“Ok…hmm…So where shall we pick you up?”
“No Anjali, you all go… I have some commitments” she said as she glared at Arnav who was now sporting a full blown smirk
After the call, for the next few minutes until they reached Chandini Chowk, Arnav had to endure Khushi mutterings about how she had to forego a Salman Khan movie because of a stupid bet and an annoying Laad governor…
***
“That’s something…fishy” Anjali finished as she closed the call and looked at NK who was driving the call.
“What’s fishy?”
“Khushi missing a Salman Khan movie for some ‘commitment’… I wonder what it is”
“Maybe she was struck up with the NGO work that she went to this morning” La commented
“That orphanage is in the outskirts La… what is she doing in Lakshmi Nagar that interest her so much that she has to miss Sallu’s movie?”
“May be there is a nice explanation to this fishy expedition” NK chipped in as he continued to drive
“I am going to get to the bottom of this” Anjali decided aloud
“Oh you and your inquisitiveness” La teased her
“You won’t know when that comes handy…” Anjali replied
“Dear sis! You should start a detective agency… it would run so well… Ms. Anjali Bond Raizada.. Born talent!” NK said as Anjali whacked him on the head.
***
It was almost 8.00 in the night when the two hurried back towards the area where Arnav had parked his car, struggling to navigate through the swarm of people on those narrow streets, carrying the shopping bags.
Khushi seemed to be full of energy, chattering non-stop, giving Arnav a gyan tour about each of the shop they passed, sometimes, stopping for a friendly chat with the shopkeeper (in some cases, Arnav had to remind her to hurry up) and their specialty.
“Oh… You are such a Kaddoos”
“Really? Do you have any time sense? Its 8 already.”
“You still want to go to that party?”
Arnav turned to glare at her
“Ok, alright, you want to go. But don’t blame it on me… I already asked to carry on without me… not once…not twice…umpteen times”
“I want you to go with me as well” Arnav told her mulishly “I told you umpteen times as well”
“Stubborn ass” she muttered.
Arnav smirked at her mutterings as they walked forward, soon the smirk turned into an utter shock followed by a loud profane swear
Khushi who followed him just behind, looked up to see what had upset him so much.
Khushi’s mouth took the shaped of a large O as she looked at state of Arnav’s SUV. All the four wheels were gone and the car stood on bricks.
“Devi Maiyya!”
“What the”
“How did it…”
“Did you ask anyone to do this to stall us?
“Me? Are you crazy? Why would I do that?”
Arnav flipped his mobile to call the police while Khushi tried to ask the nearby vendors to check if they saw anything
After a few minutes of hopeless follow up, Khushi came back to the spot where Arnav was still in conversation with someone.
“No one saw anything… I think they are bluffing… what are we doing now?”
“Shut up!”
“What did I do?”
“Just to save a few bucks… you cost me my car wheels…”
Khushi was fighting back tears by now.
“I.. I was just kidding… so you would…”
“Shutup Khushi!” he said as he called his car service center to take care of his car. After a description of where the car would be, he dialed his driver. After a short conversation with him, he let out a sigh of frustration.
“What happened?”
He didn’t reply. He reached out to his Office desk to ask for some car to be sent right away.
Khushi had by then gathered that he was trying to arrange for a vehicle for them. Khushi stood watching his conversation and knew from his facial expression that things were not working out at that end too.
Arnav’s next call was to Akash. She saw him asking the typical “where are you?” and then listen briefly before he said “No, nothing... carry on with your party... Have fun.” and cut the call.
His call to NK or Anjali didn’t even connect.
“I think we should hire a taxi” he told her in a calmer tone than before.
“Taxi?” she asked “they will charge you your whole house” she told him “besides, if you still have plans to go for that party…”
“We are going home…” he said interrupting her “I have had enough adventures for the day”
“Phew! That’s one of the best decisions that I have heard out of your mouth in the recent past” she declared dramatically.
He broke into a smile. “Why do you hate parties?”
“I don’t hate them…”
“So what makes you avoid it so much? Is it coming with me?
“No… Haven’t I spent the entire day with you already?” she asked “It’s just that I don’t even know the context of the party. Honestly…I hate to play the ‘pretty doll clinging to the wealthy business man’ role” she explained so seriously that Arnav broke into a loud chuckle.
“You are incorrigible!”
“Thanks. Can’t help it. So what are we doing now?”
“We have to wait until my car service guy reaches here. Then we should head home in a taxi”
“Not taxi… I have a better idea”
“What?”
“Before I tell you that… since we are already waiting… can we have a dinner here while we wait for your service guy? The paranthas at the parantha galli are awesome…”
He raised an eyebrow at her
“Oh please say yes… I have an obligation to treat you to good food since we missed to have a proper lunch and I was also partly responsible to make you miss the party dinner”
“Lead the way” he said as he picked up the bags again
“Yay!”
***
As Arnav looked at the array of plates with scrumptious looking dishes in front of him he shook his head in disbelief
“Is there someone else who is joining us here?”
“Oh come on… just because you have a poor appetite and even lesser metabolism… you don’t have to tease me”
He smiled mockingly at her comment as he sipped his lassi, the only thing that he ordered. The rest was ordered by his companion, all for herself.
“How do you hog like this and still maintain your body?”
“I am not telling you my secrets” she said as she saw him smile again. “You know what…” she said as she munched her parantha “You should smile more often…you look more handsome with it”
He paused between his sip and looked at her. He had been given compliments before but he never bothered about it. This one wasn’t like the others…it was very random, casual, and genuine all at once and of course, he realized with a jolt, it felt special. Probably because, he realized that he was smiling more and more in her presence.
***
Arnav couldn’t believe he was standing in front of a bike rental watching Khushi bargain with owner at 10.30 in the night.
“Khushi, that’s ok” he tried convincing her but in vain
“No Arnav Ji, this is not OK… You are so naïve in these things”
He let out a sigh. He couldn’t believe how he let her talk him into taking a bike for rent rather than hire a taxi. He had been telling her about his conversation on phone earlier. Mohan, his driver had told that no cars were available as Akash had taken one, NK had taken the other and SUV was with Arnav.
Akash was at a party at his in law’s place and NK was at the cinemas. There were no cars available at the office premises as every single car was away for drops and he was told that they would arrange for one. He had asked them not to as anyway it would take much longer to reach there with the kind of traffic at that time.
It was then she had suggested taking a bike for rent rather than hiring a taxi.
At that point, it had seemed rather tempting to ride a bike with her on the billion. But now, it didn’t seem so appealing. The rental shop that she took him to was at the other end of Chandni Chowk and wasn’t looking very impressive. He was starting get tired of it when finally after 15 minutes into argument, Khushi happily beamed at Arnav for having brought down the hiring price.
“Yup, Thanks a ton for saving me a fortune” Arnav told her sarcastically as he mounted the bike which was decent enough.
“Alright big shot… this isn’t much fortune for you”
“Oh Khushi, I really appreciate your great bargaining skills... now please get into the bike, let’s leave already”
“But hey wait… Do you know how to ride?”
“Aren’t you getting this doubt a little too late?”
“I was planning to ride the bike”
He gave her an incredible look as he gave her the pillion rider’s helmet
“Oh... how did I miss it… you are miss know it all… You wanted the bike to nourish your passion!”
She twisted her lips as she put on her helmet and sat on the pillion.
“You are THE king of sarcasm”
He smiled into his helmet again as he started the bike.
***
“Hey wait… isnt that Khushi?” Anjali screamed
They were at a signal enroute home after the movie.
“Where? Oh yeah. I think so, she is wearing a helmet” La confirmed “Looks like her”
“Oh gosh” NK gasped “Khushi is with bhai”
“Bhai? You mean Arnav?” La asked him
“Oh yes! It is Bhai” Anjali squealed again “Interesting!”
“Very!” NK complimented her “You have sharp eyes Anjali”
“They went on a date then?” La wondered
“How I wish I knew La” Anjali quipped “how I wish I knew…”
“Is that a rental bike? I didn’t know we had a bike at our garage”
“No you are right… it’s rented”
“How romantic... we should do that once” La told NK
“OMG… I can’t hold my excitement... I am not going to let them go on this…”
“Of course we are not going to. It’s going to be fun…” NK said as the signal turned green and they drove on.
“Oh look they are stopping by” La commented as the three saw them stopping the bike at a lay-by at the bridge. “It’s them… They just removed their helmets”
“How can we go wrong… we knew it was our brother…we don’t need to look into his face to recognize him”
“and Khushi too…”
“Who would have thought…”
“Is there some problem? Should we stop and give them a lift?” Anjali asked as they passed by the parked bike
“No I don’t think so” La told her
“Oh kiddo, let them be” NK winked at Anjali…
“Eh…hmmm” Anjali hummed happily.
***
“Wow, the city lights are beautiful from here” Khushi gushed
“What do you like about it?” he asked
“It’s as if the boundary between the sky and earth is no longer there… the stars from the sky have spilled into the earth and everywhere its glittering” she explained and then paused to ask him “What do you like about it?”
“That it is serene and calm… peaceful!” Arnav told her simply
“What do you expect it to be at 11.30 in the night?” she asked him “So do you come and watch this quite often?”
“Occasionally” he told her “I love this view…”
“I like to gaze at the stars too… I can do that for the entire night”
“It soothes me…When my mind is troublesome, I hit the road on my car. Come here and watch the lights and the sky…”
She stood by his side as they took another lasting look at the lights of the sky and the city…it indeed looked like the boundaries between the sky and the earth had vanished somehow.
“Is there something that’s troubling you now?” she whispered slowly
He turned to look at her once and thoughtfully turned back to gaze at the horizon. He didn’t answer her. She didn’t press him further.
“We should go. It’s getting late” he told her a little later.
“Hmm” she agreed as they got back to the bike.
"Arnav ji, shall I drive this last two kilometers please?"
Arnav knew that she loved bikes and she had talked him into renting this out for this lone reason.
He nodded as he shifted backwards, gesturing her to sit before him. With a squeal of happiness she got in and started the bike.
She wasn't bluffing when she said she knew how to ride bikes. She rode really well.
***
Anjali, NK and La were at the second floor balcony waiting to shoot the spectacular event of the biker and the pillion rider entering into the Raizada Mansion.
"Wait till I show this to Payal. She wouldnt believe it" Anjali hushed in excitement.
"Oho... there they are" La announced.
"Is she riding the bike?" NK asked "oho, yeah she is"
"somebody pinch me" Anjali gushed in excitement.
***
As Khushi parked the bike in the garage of RM, Arnav complimented her.
"Not bad Khushi, I am impressed. How did you learn to ride this well? Shashi uncle?"
"Nah, Aman taught me" she smiled proudly "I learnt it when I was only 16, I think. He had just got his new bike and he let me drive it. We used to sneak off during the afternoons when nobody was watching."
Arnav started to feel uneasy yet again with the green monster raising its head again at the mention of Aman.
"Hey, By the way, I just remembered. I should call Buaji. She should be back from the trip"
"Buaji? who?"
"Madhumati ji " Khushi told him "Don't you remember, I was trying to reach her and she was away on a pilgrimage tour? "
"You call Aman's mother as Buaji?"
"No, she is Aman's Buaji actually. He lost his mother when he was really young and his Buaji raised him. I call her Buaji as well. I think she should be back by now. I should call her in the morning"
As Khushi walked ahead carrying her packages, Arnav glared at her, No way was he going to let her shift anywhere else. Not even if Aman comes seeking her.
***
To be continued.
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Done with chapter 12 ! lol, sorry peeps if I had disappointed you with a Khushi style date when you were expecting an Arnav style one. Haha, the girl is a pataka and she wouldnt give up so soon. so how was it? Let me know how you liked it.
See you soon with another chapter.
Cheers
Vi
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