IPKKND FF:Tearing Ourselves Apart Parts 1-26 :) - Page 17

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Previous Chapter 9

Hello everyone, so we have another weekend to face with an interesting pre cap so I've written a bit more to keep everyone high on ArHi times. Thank you to everyone who takes the time out to read my posts. This one goes out to everyone who likes and comments, especially to

nyxx aka Dee who provides me with detailed feedback that I love to read, thank you so much for your time Dee (and everyone else)!! This part isn't anything too special, but I hope you enjoy reading it anyway. Anyone wanting a PM please like a post AND buddy me. Much Love xx

He angrily changed and before going to bed he made sure to reinforce the line of pillows that separated them even though the back of his mind told him that a few pillows wouldn't keep his feelings at bay.

He fell asleep with the image of her starry eyes on his mind.

She awoke with the image of his worried face looking down at her.

Her hand felt warm and comfortable, so she snuggled closer to it to find that she hit something solid. Opening her eyes, she saw that she was leaning against their pillow barrier with her hand reaching out over it so that it was holding on to Arnav's arm. She jolted awake and sat up in the bed praying that he hadn't seen that.

Arnav woke up from the movement "What, what happened" he stuttered, half asleep.

"Nothing, nothing, go back to sleep" Khushi replied, who was now curled into a ball near her pillow from embarrassment.

Arnav snapped open his eyes, surprised at how she was sitting, confusing it for her being upset over something.

"Khushi are you okay?" he asked, sitting up quickly and looking at her. Her hair was just as beautiful as the night before, except that it was a bit messy which made her look irresistible. Her sari, now crumpled and worn out still complemented her skin and body perfectly and the reminders of her make-up made her look effortless.

"Yes, please go back to bed"

she whimpered. It was embarrassing enough that she had been sleeping with her arm around him, but she now realised that she never remembered getting into bed either.

When he continued to stare at her, she grabbed the blanket that was now at the foot of their bed and threw it over to him as she scrambled to rush to the bathroom and shower "Back to bed."

He was too tired to argue or worry too much considering she looked perfectly fine so he covered his eyes with the blanket and was back asleep within seconds.

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Khushi was downstairs preparing a tray of breakfast for Arnav again with a smile on her face when she heard someone walk down the corridor.

"Arnavji!" she called, hoping she heard him.

BANG, the front door shut close.

"Oh" was all she could say, looking back at a half prepared tray with a bit of disappointment before carrying it up to her room so she could have it herself. She had skipped dinner the night before and her stomach wasn't letting her forget it.

On her way up to her room she saw Anjali walking out of her room.

"Good morning Di"

"Khushi ji" she looked up surprised that Khushi was awake so early.

"Where are you going?" Khushi asked, looking at the bags near Anjali's feet.

"Oh, Shyam was just leaving..."

Khushi stopped listening as she heard those words, Shyam was leaving. She could go back to trying to fix her relationship with Arnav and stop having to worry about him. She hastily mumbled an excuse to go back to her room so that she could avoid having to see Shyam.

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Arnav spent the whole day at work staring at his phone, wondering if he should call and check on her. Shyam was still home, he had left because he wasn't sure he could face her after what he had done last night, tracing her cool skin with his warm fingertips. What if she had felt him? He shook the thought from his head.

"What is wrong with you Arnav" he scolded himself.

In the evening he rushed home to see her, to check if she was okay. Walking through the house he had felt her absence downstairs and through the hallways, and was surprised to see his room empty. "Khushi!" he called.

"Yes, Arnav ji?" came a voice from the balcony.

He softened up, he wasn't expecting a response and what should he say now?

"Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" she replied, confused at his question "You know, normal people ask others how their day went, how they have been, what they have been up to? You know, normal questions"

It hit a nerve how she was behaving so nonchalant when he was trying to be serious with her.

"Khushi, look, it's not that I care, I thought maybe you would be worried because of him"

"Who?"

Arnav snapped up with anger, what was wrong with her. Here he was trying to show his concern.

"Khushi, I am not in the mood for jokes, you may not understand how to be serious but that does not mea..."

"Ohh" she said, slapping her forehead "You are talking about Shyam? Sorry sorry sorry, I thought you knew he left"

"Well, like I said, alot of things that you think ar... wait. What? He's gone"

"Yes, gone" she repeated as she walked up to him and grabbed his coat to take off. Arnav was still surprised at what she had said and so did not take notice as she slipped his jacket off and rounded up to loosen his tie. As her cold fingers brushed his warm neck he suddenly realised what she was doing.

"I got it" was all he was able to say as he grabbed his tie, prying it away from her fingers and walking in to the bathroom.

Khushi plopped on to the bed behind her "Devi Mayya, please don't tell me he has gone back to being a Rakhshaas again, cant he even have a normal conversation" she prayed, opening her eyes again, they flew open from shock as she saw him watching her through a gap in the door. She awkwardly looked around her, finding nothing worthy of an excuse and went running out of the door as fast as she could.

______________________

Arnav decided to go to bed before she came back into the room, he wasn't really tired but he didn't know how to act around her anymore, so he was delaying the inevitable.

Khushi looked around at the spotless kitchen that she had spent the last 3 hours organising and cleaning. Jai Prakash had looked on in surprise as she had refused to allow him to help. She needed to be busy so that it didn't look obvious that she was avoiding her husband, what was this weird feeling?. She jumped at the sight of dust next to the stove and rushed to clean it, only to find that her eyes were playing tricks on her. There was nothing she could do here anymore; she had to face him at some point.

Slowly opening the door to her bedroom she found Arnav sound asleep snoring lightly.

"He must be really tired"

She tip toed across the room, trying very hard not to wake him when she notice that he still had his socks on.

"Amma ji always said socks off before bed" she whispered, holding her finger in her mouth, thinking what the best next move was.

He didn't look like he was going to wake up any time soon so she crept up to him and took off his socks, leaving them in a pile next to the bed as she looked up at him.

If Arnav Singh Raizada was many things, handsome was definitely one of them. His jaw locked perfectly with the rest of his features, everything so perfectly arranged, no wonder women would flaunt themselves at him. He had it all. The looks, the riches, everything girls like 'that' wanted.

"And he is stuck with me" she wondered aloud. She was surprised that she felt that way, self conscience and even more surprised that she was sitting by his bed thinking about how handsome her husband was - well, if you could call him that.

Her clothes were dusty and her hair felt heavy after several hours of cleaning and lifting pots with flour, dough and spices.

"A quick shower is what I need" she yawned, heading out to the bathroom before slipping under the blanket to join Arnav in a soundless sleep.

She opened her eyes to find that it was morning, with a few rays of light piercing through the gap in the curtains. Arnav was gone, she didn't have to look to know. Feeling her day take a turn for the worse Khushi slumped up and went to freshen up in the bathroom. Black. She was going to wear black today, just because she never did, and she felt like she had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Arnav was gone. She always liked to see him once before he left, even if it was just watching him sleep when she woke in the early hours of the morning, to know that he was okay, but he had just gone.

"This reflects my mood perfectly" she said to herself, staring at her reflection in the mirror whose paleness was intensified by the black shalwar kameez she wore. It was still stunning, with silver thread work around the sleeves and hem, it looked like something off of a fashion page. She fixed her scarf snugly around her neck and tied her hair in a messy pony tail high on her head, having given up her constant plaits after she had gotten married.

Arnav sat at his office table looking down at his workers below him. She used to be one of them, running around in her colourful dresses, unphased by the hate towards her from everyone else. She was so strong and positive, he smiled at the thought of her, thinking of earlier that morning when he had woken up thinking he had dew droplets on his face only to find Khushi sleeping like an angel near him, her wet hair sprawled on her pillow, flicking dampness at him when she turned. He looked down at his phone, thinking of calling her as he had done the day before. Lost in thought for a few minutes, he snapped out of it as his assistant asked him to check his emails for the presentation forwarded to him. Angry at himself for zoning out for so long, he looked down at his phone which had Khushi's number on display as he had been about to call her and he promptly shut his phone off. No distractions.

"Stop thinking about her man" he tried to motivate himself.

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Her long hair swayed behind her in its band as she made her way down to the breakfast table.

"Khushiji"

Khushi froze as she heard the voice behind her. She could recognise that voice anywhere, it gave her a run of chills down her spine. Closing her eyes without having turned around she starting chanting

"Please no Devi Mayya,, not again, please no, please no, no, no, no"

The hand that touched her on her shoulder made her eyes fly open in rage, she had not forgotten the last time she had heard that voice so she turned around pushing the hand off of her shoulder roughly as she rounded off to face Shyam.

"Dont touch me" she almost screamed, jumping a step back as she met his eyes.

"Again?" she accused.

Shyam just looked on at her, glowing in darkness, she looked amazing, like always. His eyes following her made her feel extremely uncomfortable as Khushi started shaking from the anger building up inside her. This much hate was new to her, she had never felt about anyone like this.

"Why are you doing this? I told you once, leave us alone"

"Us, Khushi ji, again?" he mimicked "why are you lying to yourself?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, outraged that he was playing her again.

"Khushiji, he is not good enough for you"

Khushi laughed out forcibly "Oh, and what you are" she mockingly retaliated, not realising what she was saying

"He is a thousand, no, a million times better than you, you don't even deserve a second look" she spat, trying to scar him as he had done her. He had a wife! What was he doing?

He was clearly hurt by her words, but he was deluding himself, she is just angry he thought, she doesn't mean any of it, she wants me, just like I want her, like I need her.

He smiled "So you are happy with him?" he mused, having seen the way they behaved with each other, cold and distant. Not like any other married couple, he knew his brother-in-law hadn't touched her yet.

"So much happier than I would have been had I said yes to you a few weeks ago, you are sick you know that? Absolutely SICK, I don't want to see your face so just LEAVE" she shouted, and with that she backed quickly out of the corridor as she watched Shyams face twist in anger.

Why was he back? He was supposed to have gone, why was he still here? A shaking Khushi made her way down to the breakfast table where she was met by the rest of her family, and she averted her eyes when Shyam walked in to the room, taking care to avoid him as much as possible.

"Khushi ji, I have some exciting news" Anjali chimed, as Khushi looked up from where she was sitting to see Shyam and Anjali smiling at her as the rest of the family looked on "I wanted Chote to be here too so I could tell you both at the same time but I can't hold it in!"

Khushi hesitantly smiled, knowing that this was probably what Shyam had come up with. She made sure to look at Anjlai, and only her as she was still embarrassed by her outburst at Shyam earlier.

"Yes, Arnav ji doesn't like surprises" she managed, trying to make a point of it.

Anjali looked over at Shyam with a smile on her face before turning back to Khushi "Shyams present to me this year is a week's trip to a hillstation"

Khushi tried her hardest to not allow her face to drop, she could sense what was coming.

"Guess who he also booked a room for?"

Khushi closed her eyes as Anjali's were still open from excitement.

"You and Arnavji !!"

She swiftly dimissed herself from the table a few minutes later, there was no way Arnav was going to agree to this. Nervously glancing at the clock, she decided she should call Arnav and talk to him about his. Whats more is that she wanted to mention how Shyam was behaving with her. Wasnt the whole point of letting Shyam off the hook that he was going to change, accept his mistakes, and regret them. Not continue his pursuit of her. Arnav needed to know that Shyam did not look like he was going to change any time soon and it was not safe to have Anjali around him. Khushi knew how much Arnav loved his Di. If anything were to happen to her...

Once, twice, thrice ... five times ... ten times.

His phone went straight to voicemail every time she called, and with every failing beep Khushi could feel her heart drop lower and lower. She needed to talk to him, seeing Shyam all of a sudden that morning had been a blow to her. She had thought he was gone, for a long time, not just a single day.

An hour later found Khushi still sitting next to her phone, dialling his number every few minutes. At this point she had almost forgotten what she was even calling about. She just wanted to hear his voice, why wasn't he picking up.

"What if he is deliberately rejecting my calls" she sighed, she was upset now and she could feel her throat tingling as her eyes threatened to start watering. It was more frustration than anything else.

"Khushi ji? Are you okay" asked a concerned Anjali who had walked in to find a worried Khushi.

"Y..yes Anjali Ji" she replied at the unexpected visitor.

Anjali upon seeing that Khushi was glum walked over to her and started to pull her towards the door

"C'mon Khushi ji, its time to go shopping for our trip"

"Whh..what?" Khushi replied, she hadnt had the heart to tell Anjali that they were not going to go, she didn't have a reasonable excuse. She needed Arnav, thinking about him again her face dropped.

"Look Khushi ji, I don't know why you are so upset, but a bit of shopping for lots of beautiful things might turn that frown upside down" she continued, as jolly as ever, as she dragged Khushi along behind her, leaving her phone, and her memories of Arnav sitting firmly back in their bedroom.

They spent the next few hours roaming the streets of Delhi, shopping their worries away. Anjali picked out a few very expensive and very beautiful dresses that she forced Khushi to buy. She was a part of their family now, their money was her money, she didn't have to feel bad about anything, she explained to her.

_________________________

Arnav walked back from his last meeting, settling himself in his chair and sighing as he looked at the time. 7 o clock. He would have to head home soon, she was home. He had been thinking about her all day, those eyes, those lips. Pulling his phone out of the front drawer of his desk and turning it on he jumped at the 27 missed calls he had received from his wife's number. Immediately pressing the call button he tried to reach her, cursing himself each second for turning his phone off. After his third attempt he threw on his coat and marched hurriedly out of his office building. He kept calling on his way, even forgetting to switch to his bluetooth headset as he began to drive away. Starting to panic he called his home number and froze as he heard a familiar voice at the end of the line.

"Hello?" came Shyams voice, piercing Arnavs feeling of worry and replacing it with anger.

He threw his phone sideways a second later and a heard a loud crack as it hit the window and fell to the bottom of the car. He didn't care what was happening, or whether Shyam was involved.

Heyyy!!

loved it. I wonder what will happen on the trip. Great job. Di will probably convince Arnav to go on the trip. Yuck Shyam is back and love the way Arnav is so protective of Khushi. Update soon 😃 Thanks for the PM

wow..loved it..loved its last part..that ASR,,lloved the update..m already waiting for nxt..and thnx for pm hun

Really very very nice update . I enjoyed it a lot. Plz update soon i ll wait.

omg Hayley! tht wuz amazing👏👏
U better update ASAP or Im gonna die! tht wuz awesome!!
wow. im speechless... i will comment more when I feel more sane

wooo great update!! shyam is ganna die in the hands of arnav...arnav is gonna die in the hands of khushi...its oll good. ;)