Chapter 4b: A Helluva Night
"NO WAY! Did you get that? There is no way you're convincing me to do this, Shefali", Sanchit cried.
"You betcha I am, now you either do what I'm telling you.....", Shefali flipped her phone open and with a wicked grin replied," or else I press send. Now, tell me, what'ya gotta say?"
"But...But", Sanchit whimpered.
"I can't believe you, Sanchit", Simi said rolling her eyes at him.
Arohi and Arjun watched the scene unfold from from the loveseat in Shefali's dining room.
"She makes a damn good blackmailer", I said as I admired Shefali from afar.
"Where do you reckon she got the photos?", Arohi asked as she cuddled closer in to him. It still all felt a bit surreal to her, but she was starting to believe it. Her life, which she'd thought of as a nightmare just a couple hours ago was beginning to show the signs of a fairytale ending.
"Hmmm", I replied playing with a strand of her hair, "I have a faint idea as to who might have helped her get them", smirking as I thought of Billu's love-stricken face.
"Who?", Arohi asked innocently. I stared at her innocent puppy dog eyed face and turned away abruptly.
"You really shouldn't do that", I said shaking my head with a smile.
"Why not?", she asked playfully hiding a grin, she so knew what I was talking about.
Two can play at that game Arohi, I thought smirking as I turned to face her now. I grabbed her by the waist and leaned towards her till our faces were only inches apart. I could feel her breathing increase rapidly as I came nearer.
"Because...."
"Because...", she replied entranced.
"Oye, lovebirds we got work to do here, so get a room", Shefali interrupted. Shefali watched them jump apart hearing her voice, a naughty glint visible in her eyes. Looks like Sanchit had finally agreed, couldn't he have agreed two minutes later?
"Heard of timing, Shefali?", I asked her, not bothering to hide the sarcasm in my voice.
"You should be thanking me you're getting any time at all", she replied pointedly.
I guess I should be. If it wasn't for her and Billu, I doubted that our plan would have been successful. Convincing Sanchit to rebel against his own family for Arohi and I was a bit of a tough job. Not so tough when you blackmailed him with pictures of all his current girlfriends and threatened to text them all the pics. Simi had amazingly been a pretty good sport about it all and had even supported us against Sanchit. I could sense it in the air, this was one night we'd never forget.
"For that matter, where is Billu?", I asked her.
Billu burst into the room then, his expression one of worry. He ran straight for me and spoke as fast as he could, "You have to get out of here as fast as you can bhai! Rashi di overheard dad's conversation with Gauri, they won't let you be together. They want to separate the two of you. She sent me with everything you'll need to get out of here", he said reaching into his pockets and pulling out a passport, two airline tickets and some other important looking legal documents he'd stuffed in, but I wasn't paying attention anymore. My mind had refused to acknowledge what my ears had just heard.
Dad teamed up with..with Gauri? He wouldn't, he couldn't! He would never do that to me, would he? Did he...did he really not care at all? Rashi di had told me a countless number of times that I was just a pawn in dad's business, but I had always refused to believe her.
Billu put his hand on my shoulder and shook me slightly. My face was expressionless as I turned towards him. It was a lie, please say it's a lie. Dad could never do that to me! He knew I loved Arohi, I'd opened up my heart to him. So how could he even think of separating us? I could feel my chest becoming constricted, like it would soon explode only to leave a gaping hole that could never be filled.
"I know you don't want to believe it, but it's true Bhai. He doesn't care for you, all he cares about is his business", Billu continued his voice becoming bitter as he spit out the words, "In fact he was planning on....on...killing bhabhi if it became necessary", he stopped, unable to go on.
I gripped Arohi's hand tightly. My chest constricted over my ribs until I thought my heart stopped pumping, instead it shattered into a million tiny fragments leaving me numb. The shattered fragments made no sound in the eternal silence that had eerily crept up on us, yet they deafened me. Dad could have done anything to me and I wouldn't have said uff in return. He could have asked for my life and I'd have given it to him without even asking why. However, the thought of losing Arohi forever........NOOOOOOOO! I would never let that happen! Nobody hurt Arohi and got away with it. Nobody. I didn't care if that person happened to be my 'dad'.
And with that thought I felt the shackles that had binded me in emotional slavery from the time I was six, lift from my heart. I wasn't Arjun Singhania anymore, just Arjun.
Okay, this chapter is going to take a lot longer to complete....hmm you see the hellish part has just started, but for who that you'll find out in the part c! ;)
This chapter was difficult to write, I wrote it and then read it and then re-wrote it and then re-read it like a million times, but I'm still not satisfied with it. I've tried to convey Arjun's feelings and thoughts as best as I could, but I don't think I've done justice to it. There's just this nagging feeling that something's lacking......oh well tell me what do you think of this chapter? :)
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
