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Hello everyone. Here is Chapter 6. i wrote it, deleted it and wrote a completely new one😳. Hope you like it. 😊😊
Chapter 6: Reality check
Freddy and Aadit were waiting up for Khushi when she got back.
"How was dinner?" asked Freddy
"Food was good. Company not so much. At least no one made a fuss" Said Khushi. "I'm glad that's over and done with. Now, I can focus on work."
"And ASR?" asked Aadir, "How was he?"
"Usual. Grumpy." Said Khushi, eyes twinkling.
"You like him!" said Freddy. "Ohmigod! Minnie has a crush on ASR." He exclaimed.
"I do not." She said huffily. "Not anymore, anyway." She amended. "ASR isn't meant for loving. And frankly, neither is Khushi." She said. "Sheila called while I was at dinner. You should've seen their faces when I told them I had 2 daughters and was unmarried. They were shocked!" she laughed.
"And ASR, was he shocked?" asked Aadit quietly.
"Shocked is putting it mildly. He almost bust a blood vessel" said Khushi.
"Well, I would too if the girl I loved was going about having babies without me knowing." Said Aadit.
"ASR doesn't love me Aadit." Said Khushi. "The only person ASR loves, apart from himself, is his sister Anjali. For her, he will do anything." Said Khushi bitterly. "Anyway, I'm really sleepy. I think I'm going to turn in and you guys should get some rest too."
"G'night Min." said Aadit, giving her shoulders a light squeeze. He walked towards the door. Freddy followed suit.
Khushi got into her PJs and snuggled under the duvet. She was wide awake of course. She'd kissed him tonight. There was no way sleep would come easily. Her mind wandered back to a just such a chilly evening as this one, 7 years ago.
"What the…Khushi!" yelled ASR.
"Ji, Arnavji?" queried Khushi mildly.
"What the hell is this?" he said pointing to a misshapen design on the floor. It had about 7 colors and vaguely resembled a fat man wearing a robe and smoking a cigar.
"It's Lavanyaji's practice rangoli." Said Khushi.
"Practice for what?" asked ASR
"Errr..Diwali." said Khushi.
"Why is he smoking a cigar?" asked ASR
"What?"
"Why is that fat person smoking a cigar. You know I don't like smoking."
Khushi looked about him for a minute, before saying, "I don't understand!"
"The Rangoli Khushi. Why is the man in the rangoli smoking a cigar?"
"There is no man in the rangoli. Its supposed to be an elephant. And what you are calling a cigar is the elephant's trunk." Said Khushi, trying to keep a straight face.
"What! What the! Arnav cocked his head and squinted at the rangoli. OK. Why is the elephant wearing purple socks?" he asked.
"Lavanyaji says its too cold in the Raizada Mansion for human beings, so it would amount as cruelty to animals to not clothe them adequately." Muttered Khushi.
"Rubbish" said Arnav, stalking off. He turned back. "Is it?" he asked.
"Is it what?"
"Too cold" he said giving Khushi an exasperated look.
"You might consider turning down the AC a little. It IS October in Delhi. Except you, everyone else is freezing. And too scared to say anything. Even Anjaliji." Said Khushi defiantly. Arnav walked off without saying a word. He told OP to turn the central AC down a little and went back to his room.
Khushi went back to the living room to regale Anjaliji and Naniji with ASR's perception of Lavanyaji's attempt at Rangoli making. Lavanya took it in good part. She'd loosened up considerably around Khushi once she realized Khushi was genuinely trying to help her. When ASR left home for an hour to meet with Aman, Khushi quickly slipped into his room. She left about 45 minutes later, a mischievous smile on her face. By the time ASR returned, Khushi had left for home. The next day when she came in to Raizada Mansion OP informed her that ASR had asked her to step into his room the moment she arrived. She went up, now regretting what she'd done on impulse last night.
Arnav was in the garden adjoining his room, tending to his beloved plants when she stepped in and cleared her throat hesitantly. "Arnavji, you wanted to see me." He turned to her and gave her a withering look.
"Oh, yes. Our resident artist. Since you were good enough to display your artistic skills to me yesterday, I've been thinking. You are hiding your light under a bushel. Well, no more. Its almost Diwali. Time for the annual house-cleaning. You will clean out the store-room. Its on the top floor. I want it reorganized, and cleaned thoroughly. And you will do it all by yourself. You have 2 days. Starting now." He turned back to his plants.
"All by myself, Arnavji, the store-room is huge." Said Khushi, her eyes as round as saucers.
"Well, Khushi, I know you can handle it. You are, after all, extremely efficient." Said ASR.
"But Arnavji." She protested. "No arguments" he cut her off. "Go. Now." He said roughly. Khushi sped away muttering under her breath about unreasonable employers.
He watched her walk away and then went back and looked at the rangoli she'd made on his bedroom floor, in a corner removed from everyone's sight. It was of an inordinately fat, bald man wearing a suit, and smoking a cigar. He wore Purple socks and Orange shoes. Also, she'd drawn a speech balloon and the man appeared to be saying, "What the!" which she'd written in Hindi. ASR smiled at it, and snapped a picture with his cell phone camera one last time before messing it up and calling for OP to clean it up.
Khushi spent the whole of that day in the store-room, trying to organize it. It had old furniture, some antiques, a few paintings, and lots of boxes of crockery, clothes and photographs. Also, a veritable treasure trove of books. She was tired out by the end of the day. Her arms hurt from lugging all the heavy boxes around. But she'd made inroads. If she could finish organizing tomorrow, she might be able to clean it by the end of the day. She went home really late that night, hating the thought of how worried Payal jiji would be, and thinking that Buaji would Sanka Devi her to no end. She slept off about 10 minutes after eating dinner, completely exhausted.
She was in at work at 6am the next morning. She worked steadily until Noon, when it was time for her lunch break. Just as she was getting ready to slip out of the infernal store-room, ASR walked in. "Hmm. Not quite done, I see."
"I'm getting there, Arnavji" She said, getting up and walking to the door.
"And just where are you going, Miss?" asked Arnav, eyes gleaming unpleasantly.
"To eat lunch." She replied.
"No need. Finish working. I'll get someone to send lunch up to you." said ASR.
"But I'm really" she started to protest. "No arguments" he cut her off. "No breaks for you today. OP will come in with your lunch." He walked off, feeling that unpleasant prickly feeling he always had when he was mean to Khushi. He shrugged it off quickly. She deserved it for being cheeky to him, he thought.
4 hours later, in the middle of a meeting at work he realized he'd forgotten to tell OP to take Lunch up to her. Cursing himself, he also realized there was no way he could make that phone call right this moment. He waited 30 minutes for the meeting to finish and then called home. No one picked up. "Typical" he thought unfairly, "No one would ever pick up when it was urgent" He drove home as fast as he could and ran up to the store-room quickly. The entire family was assembled there. Khushi lay on the floor, her head in Lavanya's lap. There was a large bruise on her forehead which was turning an ugly purple.
"What the hell happened?" he asked walking to Khushi quickly.
"Khushiji slipped while carrying some heavy boxes and fell. One of the boxes hit her on the head" Said Anjali. "Also it looks like the poor girl decided to skip lunch today so she could finish working on the store-room. That made her dizzy, which is why she fell in the first place." Said Anajli in a mild scolding tone.
ASR knelt next to Khushi. "Are you OK?"
She opened her eyes slowly and nodded without speaking. "Can you walk?" he asked.
"I think so." She said sitting up cautiously. She stood up slowly with Lavanya's support and took a few unsteady steps. "OK. You really shouldn't be walking" said ASR. He swept her up into his arms and carried her to Lavanya's room. He placed her on the bed gently. "Rest for a bit. Eat something. I'll drop you home tonight." He said shame-facedly. Khushi nodded mutely.
They were in his car an hour later heading towards her home. Khushi sat silently, looking out of the window into nothingness.
"Khushi, I'm sorry. I don't know how I forgot to tell OP." said Arnav
"It's OK." Said Khushi quietly.
"I never meant to hurt you, you know that right?" She didn't reply to that, just continued to look out the window. ASR braked sharply, then pulled the car to side of the road.
"I'm talking to YOU. Answer me, dammit." He said in that tight, controlled angry tone she feared so much. When she didn't speak, he turned towards her and shook her mercilessly, till her eyes filled with tears. The sight of her tears always affected him powerfully. He let her go immediately, and started the car again. The rest of the drive was completed in silence. When they got to her home, he turned to her again. "I really didn't mean to hurt you, Khushi. I'm so sorry. Forgive me." He pleaded.
"It's OK Arnavji. I know you didn't mean to forget to tell OP. That's fine. But you did mean to punish me. For a silly joke. Why do you hate me so?" she ended, her voice breaking.
"I don't hate you Khushi. In fact, I.." his voice trailed off. She looked up quickly at the throbbing note in his voice. His eyes were sharp and bright with an emotion she didn't understand. He lifted an arm to her cheek and caressed it lightly. "I don't hate you Khushi." He whispered. She closed her eyes, her heart beating very fast now. This happened to her every so often. Whenever ASR came close to her, in fact. She didn't know what to make of it. "Go." He said. "Your home is here. Go. And take tomorrow off to recover. I'll send the car for you the day after." He said. She slipped out and ran out of the car, not turning back. He scared her. Her reaction to him scared her. His erratic behavior scared her.
Khushi switched her mind back to reality. He didn't scare her anymore. But her feelings for him did. Unbelievable how hard it was to stop loving someone who'd specialized in making your life hell, she thought wryly.
Chapter 6: Reality check
Freddy and Aadit were waiting up for Khushi when she got back.
"How was dinner?" asked Freddy
"Food was good. Company not so much. At least no one made a fuss" Said Khushi. "I'm glad that's over and done with. Now, I can focus on work."
"And ASR?" asked Aadir, "How was he?"
"Usual. Grumpy." Said Khushi, eyes twinkling.
"You like him!" said Freddy. "Ohmigod! Minnie has a crush on ASR." He exclaimed.
"I do not." She said huffily. "Not anymore, anyway." She amended. "ASR isn't meant for loving. And frankly, neither is Khushi." She said. "Sheila called while I was at dinner. You should've seen their faces when I told them I had 2 daughters and was unmarried. They were shocked!" she laughed.
"And ASR, was he shocked?" asked Aadit quietly.
"Shocked is putting it mildly. He almost bust a blood vessel" said Khushi.
"Well, I would too if the girl I loved was going about having babies without me knowing." Said Aadit.
"ASR doesn't love me Aadit." Said Khushi. "The only person ASR loves, apart from himself, is his sister Anjali. For her, he will do anything." Said Khushi bitterly. "Anyway, I'm really sleepy. I think I'm going to turn in and you guys should get some rest too."
"G'night Min." said Aadit, giving her shoulders a light squeeze. He walked towards the door. Freddy followed suit.
Khushi got into her PJs and snuggled under the duvet. She was wide awake of course. She'd kissed him tonight. There was no way sleep would come easily. Her mind wandered back to a just such a chilly evening as this one, 7 years ago.
"What the…Khushi!" yelled ASR.
"Ji, Arnavji?" queried Khushi mildly.
"What the hell is this?" he said pointing to a misshapen design on the floor. It had about 7 colors and vaguely resembled a fat man wearing a robe and smoking a cigar.
"It's Lavanyaji's practice rangoli." Said Khushi.
"Practice for what?" asked ASR
"Errr..Diwali." said Khushi.
"Why is he smoking a cigar?" asked ASR
"What?"
"Why is that fat person smoking a cigar. You know I don't like smoking."
Khushi looked about him for a minute, before saying, "I don't understand!"
"The Rangoli Khushi. Why is the man in the rangoli smoking a cigar?"
"There is no man in the rangoli. Its supposed to be an elephant. And what you are calling a cigar is the elephant's trunk." Said Khushi, trying to keep a straight face.
"What! What the! Arnav cocked his head and squinted at the rangoli. OK. Why is the elephant wearing purple socks?" he asked.
"Lavanyaji says its too cold in the Raizada Mansion for human beings, so it would amount as cruelty to animals to not clothe them adequately." Muttered Khushi.
"Rubbish" said Arnav, stalking off. He turned back. "Is it?" he asked.
"Is it what?"
"Too cold" he said giving Khushi an exasperated look.
"You might consider turning down the AC a little. It IS October in Delhi. Except you, everyone else is freezing. And too scared to say anything. Even Anjaliji." Said Khushi defiantly. Arnav walked off without saying a word. He told OP to turn the central AC down a little and went back to his room.
Khushi went back to the living room to regale Anjaliji and Naniji with ASR's perception of Lavanyaji's attempt at Rangoli making. Lavanya took it in good part. She'd loosened up considerably around Khushi once she realized Khushi was genuinely trying to help her. When ASR left home for an hour to meet with Aman, Khushi quickly slipped into his room. She left about 45 minutes later, a mischievous smile on her face. By the time ASR returned, Khushi had left for home. The next day when she came in to Raizada Mansion OP informed her that ASR had asked her to step into his room the moment she arrived. She went up, now regretting what she'd done on impulse last night.
Arnav was in the garden adjoining his room, tending to his beloved plants when she stepped in and cleared her throat hesitantly. "Arnavji, you wanted to see me." He turned to her and gave her a withering look.
"Oh, yes. Our resident artist. Since you were good enough to display your artistic skills to me yesterday, I've been thinking. You are hiding your light under a bushel. Well, no more. Its almost Diwali. Time for the annual house-cleaning. You will clean out the store-room. Its on the top floor. I want it reorganized, and cleaned thoroughly. And you will do it all by yourself. You have 2 days. Starting now." He turned back to his plants.
"All by myself, Arnavji, the store-room is huge." Said Khushi, her eyes as round as saucers.
"Well, Khushi, I know you can handle it. You are, after all, extremely efficient." Said ASR.
"But Arnavji." She protested. "No arguments" he cut her off. "Go. Now." He said roughly. Khushi sped away muttering under her breath about unreasonable employers.
He watched her walk away and then went back and looked at the rangoli she'd made on his bedroom floor, in a corner removed from everyone's sight. It was of an inordinately fat, bald man wearing a suit, and smoking a cigar. He wore Purple socks and Orange shoes. Also, she'd drawn a speech balloon and the man appeared to be saying, "What the!" which she'd written in Hindi. ASR smiled at it, and snapped a picture with his cell phone camera one last time before messing it up and calling for OP to clean it up.
Khushi spent the whole of that day in the store-room, trying to organize it. It had old furniture, some antiques, a few paintings, and lots of boxes of crockery, clothes and photographs. Also, a veritable treasure trove of books. She was tired out by the end of the day. Her arms hurt from lugging all the heavy boxes around. But she'd made inroads. If she could finish organizing tomorrow, she might be able to clean it by the end of the day. She went home really late that night, hating the thought of how worried Payal jiji would be, and thinking that Buaji would Sanka Devi her to no end. She slept off about 10 minutes after eating dinner, completely exhausted.
She was in at work at 6am the next morning. She worked steadily until Noon, when it was time for her lunch break. Just as she was getting ready to slip out of the infernal store-room, ASR walked in. "Hmm. Not quite done, I see."
"I'm getting there, Arnavji" She said, getting up and walking to the door.
"And just where are you going, Miss?" asked Arnav, eyes gleaming unpleasantly.
"To eat lunch." She replied.
"No need. Finish working. I'll get someone to send lunch up to you." said ASR.
"But I'm really" she started to protest. "No arguments" he cut her off. "No breaks for you today. OP will come in with your lunch." He walked off, feeling that unpleasant prickly feeling he always had when he was mean to Khushi. He shrugged it off quickly. She deserved it for being cheeky to him, he thought.
4 hours later, in the middle of a meeting at work he realized he'd forgotten to tell OP to take Lunch up to her. Cursing himself, he also realized there was no way he could make that phone call right this moment. He waited 30 minutes for the meeting to finish and then called home. No one picked up. "Typical" he thought unfairly, "No one would ever pick up when it was urgent" He drove home as fast as he could and ran up to the store-room quickly. The entire family was assembled there. Khushi lay on the floor, her head in Lavanya's lap. There was a large bruise on her forehead which was turning an ugly purple.
"What the hell happened?" he asked walking to Khushi quickly.
"Khushiji slipped while carrying some heavy boxes and fell. One of the boxes hit her on the head" Said Anjali. "Also it looks like the poor girl decided to skip lunch today so she could finish working on the store-room. That made her dizzy, which is why she fell in the first place." Said Anajli in a mild scolding tone.
ASR knelt next to Khushi. "Are you OK?"
She opened her eyes slowly and nodded without speaking. "Can you walk?" he asked.
"I think so." She said sitting up cautiously. She stood up slowly with Lavanya's support and took a few unsteady steps. "OK. You really shouldn't be walking" said ASR. He swept her up into his arms and carried her to Lavanya's room. He placed her on the bed gently. "Rest for a bit. Eat something. I'll drop you home tonight." He said shame-facedly. Khushi nodded mutely.
They were in his car an hour later heading towards her home. Khushi sat silently, looking out of the window into nothingness.
"Khushi, I'm sorry. I don't know how I forgot to tell OP." said Arnav
"It's OK." Said Khushi quietly.
"I never meant to hurt you, you know that right?" She didn't reply to that, just continued to look out the window. ASR braked sharply, then pulled the car to side of the road.
"I'm talking to YOU. Answer me, dammit." He said in that tight, controlled angry tone she feared so much. When she didn't speak, he turned towards her and shook her mercilessly, till her eyes filled with tears. The sight of her tears always affected him powerfully. He let her go immediately, and started the car again. The rest of the drive was completed in silence. When they got to her home, he turned to her again. "I really didn't mean to hurt you, Khushi. I'm so sorry. Forgive me." He pleaded.
"It's OK Arnavji. I know you didn't mean to forget to tell OP. That's fine. But you did mean to punish me. For a silly joke. Why do you hate me so?" she ended, her voice breaking.
"I don't hate you Khushi. In fact, I.." his voice trailed off. She looked up quickly at the throbbing note in his voice. His eyes were sharp and bright with an emotion she didn't understand. He lifted an arm to her cheek and caressed it lightly. "I don't hate you Khushi." He whispered. She closed her eyes, her heart beating very fast now. This happened to her every so often. Whenever ASR came close to her, in fact. She didn't know what to make of it. "Go." He said. "Your home is here. Go. And take tomorrow off to recover. I'll send the car for you the day after." He said. She slipped out and ran out of the car, not turning back. He scared her. Her reaction to him scared her. His erratic behavior scared her.
Khushi switched her mind back to reality. He didn't scare her anymore. But her feelings for him did. Unbelievable how hard it was to stop loving someone who'd specialized in making your life hell, she thought wryly.
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