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Chapter 14
The traffic was finally clearing and Arnav put his foot down on the accelerator, anxious to get home. This was the first Saturday in a month that he hadn't picked Khushi up because this meeting had been unavoidable and he'd spent most of the meeting looking at his watch urging it to move faster.
He'd made sure to tell his driver repeatedly to remember to pick Khushi up at 12 and had even in his madness called Khushi last night to inform her that he wouldn't be picking her up. He wasn't sure what he'd expected when he'd called her. Probably disappointment from her end; instead he'd been the one disappointed. 'Okay, that's fine. Was there anything else?' That was all she'd said when he'd told her he'd be at a meeting all day. As far as she knew he wouldn't even be home today and she couldn't even pretend to be disappointed? Although why he wanted her to be disappointed he had no idea.
***
Khushi didn't talk much whenever Arnav came to pick her up now because he always seemed to get annoyed by any mention of work or Abhi, but on the way home she'd make up for her morning's silence by hardly drawing breath and telling him about what she and Anjali had done that day. Anjali was a safer topic than Abhi, Arnav clearly didn't like him and would usually get irritated with her but when she talked about Anjali he only listened silently.
Khushi had asked Abhi what possibility there could be for Arnav not liking him but the only reason they could come up with between them was that he resented Abhi having had his company basically handed to him on a plate. Recently Abhi was increasingly becoming Khushi's favoured confidante even over Jiji. It seemed that everyone at home apart from Babuji couldn't understand why she still kept an association with 'those Raizadas' as Shyam called them. There hadn't been a single weekend where Khushi had escaped their lectures about how she should just cut 'those Raizadas' out of her life.
Every week Khushi had considered refusing to go with Arnav just to make her family feel better but she never could. If Babuji ever expressed doubts about what she was doing Khushi would stop immediately but he never did. Secretly Khushi was glad that he seemed to have no problem with it, she couldn't explain why. Abhi's explanation was that she was too nice, she wanted to please everyone.
Khushi had felt so much more relaxed today that there was no chance of seeing Arnav. Normally whenever she came to visit Anjali she was always on edge that Arnav would walk through randomly and see her doing something he'd consider stupid. They'd called a sort of unspoken truce recently but she still felt nervous and awkward around him.
And now standing in his room Khushi felt even more awkward, she'd been in his room many times before but Anjaliji was expecting her to sit on his bed!
'Come on Khushiji, the film's almost about to start.'
Khushi regretted even bringing up the idea of a film now. She'd thought they could watch it on the TV downstairs but Mami had commandeered that to watch reruns of her favourite soaps and Anjali didn't have a TV in her own room so they'd ended up in Arnav's room. There was an intimacy associated with sitting on his bed and being in his room for a prolonged length of time that Khushi would rather avoid but she hardly had any choice now.
While Anjali settled herself comfortably at one end with her feet up and back resting against the headboard Khushi sat down uncomfortably and perched herself precariously on the other end.
***
Arnav went straight from the living room to the kitchen but they weren't there either. They were always either in the living room or the kitchen and he wondered if maybe Khushi hadn't come today after all. He was going to kill the driver if that was the case. He could always ask Mami where they were but Arnav really wasn't in the mood to deal with her not so subtle insults about Khushi so he went straight upstairs planning to change before he checked if they were in Di or Nani's room.
He opened the door and stood frozen in place. Khushi was lying on her front on his bed with one of his pillows clutched to her chest looking at the TV and Arnav could only stare.
'Chote, how come you're home early?'
Arnav hadn't even registered that Di was in the room and he continued to stare at Khushi as she jerked at the mention of his name and immediately sat up and began straightening her clothes. He attempted to respond to Di's question but his throat was suddenly so dry that talking seemed like an impossibility. Instead he tore his gaze away from Khushi and walked past both of them to his bathroom shutting the door behind him.
What was he thinking? This was Khushi. Khushi for God's sakes! He rubbed his eyes with his hands trying to get the image out of his mind. He looked in the mirror wondering if his thoughts were visible on his face. Di always said she could tell what he was thinking and he wondered how shocked she would have been if she really could tell what he'd just been thinking about.
He splashed his face with water and tried to relax before he went back out to his room. Di was still sitting in the same position she had been before but Khushi was now sitting upright on the edge of the bed, practically falling off it.
'Chote, you don't mind if Khushi and I just finish watching the film and then we'll get out of your way okay?'
'Th-that's fine,' his voice sounded strained and alien to him, he avoided looking at Khushi, not wanting to conjure up those mental images again. 'I'll just take my laptop to the poolside and work there.'
***
Khushi couldn't believe she had let herself relax and actually lie down on Arnav's bed in such a familiar way. There was no chance of that happening now though; she wasn't even concentrating on the film anymore. From the corner of her eye she could see Arnav sitting at the poolside with his back towards the room as he worked.
As soon as the film was finished she jumped up and straightened the bedcovers 'I should really be going Anjaliji I have a lot of things to do at home.'
Anjaliji walked down with Khushi which slowed her progress a bit but thankfully Khushi couldn't see any sign of Arnav following them and she allowed herself a small sigh of relief as she closed the front door behind her and leaned against it.
Khushi felt the door give way behind her but never having had particularly good reflexes she closed her eyes in anticipation of stumbling and falling over. The impact she had been expecting didn't come, instead there was a dull thud as she fell back against a hard chest and a much louder thudding in her heart as two hands came up to hold her arms.
Khushi opened her eyes and turned her head slowly to find herself only inches away from Arnav's jaw. She could see the individual hairs that made up his stubble and felt an inexplicable desire to run her palm over them.
She'd almost begun raising her hand when she realised what she was doing and instead stepped forward away from Arnav's body. He was looking at her with a raised eyebrow and a stern expression on his face. 'Oh god, he's angry because I was in his room, I just know it. But it's not my fault, I couldn't say no to Anjaliji,' Khushi muttered to herself as she twisted her dupatta around her fingers.
'Where are you going?'
He was definitely angry, she could tell by his voice.
'I'm going h-home.'
'How?'
'H-how? I was going to..'
'Going to what Khushi? I thought we agreed I'd take you home. I have been for a month now so what's different today?'
'I... I didn't want to disturb your work.'
Arnav gave Khushi a condescending look and sighed before he used his keys to unlock the car and indicated that she should go and sit.
Once they were both seated and he'd started driving Arnav asked annoyed that he'd rushed home and she was leaving almost as soon as he'd arrived. 'Why are you leaving so early anyway?'
'Oh, I have to go home and get ready for the party.'
Arnav's head swivelled immediately to Khushi, 'party?'
'Erm.. yes I'm going to a party with erm... Lavanyaji.' Khushi fiddled with her dupatta when she saw the shock on Arnav's face. She found herself feeling hurt that Arnav was obviously still affected by Lavanya even if he didn't admit it.
'What? You're going to a party? With Lavanya?'
'I'm sorry, you probably don't want to speak about her. But she asked and I couldn't say no.'
Arnav didn't speak for the rest of the drive as he tried to imagine Khushi at one of Lavanya's parties; drinking and dancing. The idea of her dancing with some man was still stuck in his mind after he'd dropped Khushi off and started driving home.
Chapter 15: Here
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