Arjun and Neev entered the restaurant and moved towards the table where they saw their Dad seated with four people who were the Ahluwalia's. Rudra saw his both son's coming and said "Here they are." He then pointed towards Neev and introduced him. Neev greeted them respectfully. Rudra then introduced Arjun "And he my elder son Arjun." Listening to the name Arjun, Arohi instantly looked up and saw Arjun. 'He looks familiar' Do I know him? I'm sure I have seen him somewhere. But where?' Thought Arohi. Arohi was just staring at him trying to figure out where have she seen him. She saw Arjun looking at her, so she right away looked down. Purvi had also thought that she has seen him somewhere but she dismissed the thought right away.
Arjun shook hands with Arvind and Salil and then looked at Arohi and was stunned. He just stood that like a statue 'She's the same girl.' Was all Arjun could think right now. He could not believe his eyes. He was stunned, confused, exited, everything at the same time. He just kept on staring at her. 'I'm dreaming.' He thought and then closed it eyes for a second and opened then and saw her sitting in the same position. 'It's not a dream; she's there in front of me for real.' Thought Arjun. Arohi looked up at Arjun and saw him starring at her 'Why is he starring?' thought Arohi. She saw his brother shaking him but he kept on looking at her. Arohi again looked down; she was feeling a bit awkward.
Neev was shaking Arjun but Arjun was not responding. Arjun's face looked like he has just seen a ghost in front of him. Neev followed Arjun's gaze and got to know that it's not a ghost but his would be bhabhi. He then noticed that she's the same girl who had collided with Arjun in the mall. Neev smirked evilly and then looked at others who were busy in themselves 'So no one noticed.' Thought Neev. He looked at Arjun and rolled his tongue inside his mouth, trying to control his laughter. He then came and stood in front of Arjun blocking his view. That's when Arjun came out of the shock and released the breath which he was holding from god knows how long.
Arjun looked at Neev who stood in front of him, smiling widely. "What?" asked Arjun. "That should be my question." Said Neev still smiling widely. Arjun gave Neev a questioning look. "I know she's beautiful but stop starring at her, you will scare her." Said Neev. That when Arjun realized that he was starring at her and indeed must have scared her. "Shit" he mumbled. Neev kept his hand on Arjun's shoulder from behind and said excitedly "Bro, she's the same girl who had collided with you in Mall; you remember she had dropped food on you." Arjun gave him a 'I-will-kill-you' look and Neev immediately removed his hand from Arjun's shoulder.
"Why are you both standing?" asked Rudra to both his son's. Both Arjun and Neev shook their heads, explaining nothing and both sat down. Neev sat besides Rudra and Arjun beside Neev that was between Neev and Salil. Besides Salil was Purvi then Arohi, then Arvind. On one side Rudra and Arvind were talking about business, on the other side Salil was asking questions to Arjun as to what does he do and where does he stay and all that, to which Arjun was answering politely and was stealing glances at Arohi, Neev and Purvi were listening to them and Arohi seems to be in her on world, actually she was still trying to figure out where have she seen him.
Neev leaned towards Rudra said "Dad don't you think we should leave them alone for sometime so that they can talk?" Rudra thought for a moment and said "Yeah, you are right." Neev nodded his head and said wisely "I know" to which Rudra shook his head. He then turned towards Arvind and asked "Do you mind if they talk for some time alone?" "No no I don't mind at all. They can talk." Said Arvind. Neev immediately pulled Arjun to and said in his ear "You should thank me." Arjun just gave Neev a glare.
"Arjun? Why don't you take Arohi for a walk-" said Rudra and Neev cut him off in between and said "Yeah there is a garden right behind there." He pointed towards the door which leads to the garden. "Sure" said Arjun getting up from the chair. He then looked at Arohi and saw her doing the same. He signaled Arohi to move ahead by showing his hand. And they then moved towards the garden. "I think he likes her" Neev said in a low tone to himself.
Arjun and Arohi were now in the garden and were walking. Arjun was continuously stealing glances at Arohi and Arohi did not even once look up at him, she kept on looking down like she was doing inside. 'She's very beautiful' he thought. The dress she was wearing was looking very pretty on her. 'No actually she is making the dress look pretty not the other way round' thought Arjun. He kept on admiring her beauty from corner of his eyes but he could not see her face clearly and he wanted to look at her face he wanted to look into her eyes, those eyes which showed pain in them when he'd collided with her in the mall. He wanted to see is there really pain in her eyes or he was just imagining it.
They have been walking from quite a long time now. "Umm, you want to sit?" Asked Arjun looking at Arohi. Arohi for the first time looked up at him and could only say "Huh?" Arjun's heart skipped a beat when she looked up at him. He immediately composed himself and again asked "You want to sit?" Arohi shook her head, again looked down and said "No, I'm fine." Arjun nodded his head. 'How should I start a conversation?' thought Arjun for a while. 'I'll first apologize for my behavior at the mall that day, yeah that will be good.' thought Arjun. He took a deep breath and then said "I wanted to apologize to you." Arohi looked at him and gave a questioning look. "Actually that day in the Mall, when we ummm collided, I was very rude with you." Said Arjun. Arohi frowned and thought for a moment, she saw flashes of that day and got to know where she had seen him. She smiled slightly looking straight, the smile did not go unnoticed by Arjun and then she said in a low tone "You don't have to apologize, you were not rude, actually it was my mistake I should have seen." Arjun cut her off and said "No' I mean no it was not your mistake, I guess it was ought to happen." Arohi nodded her head and whispered "I guess."
'Her voice is so sweet, it feels so good to hear her and her smile, but I can say that it was not her real smile.' He thought and looked at her. 'I think I should now talk about the main topic for which we have met.' He thought again and started "I don't know how to actually start" he paused and then said "Well, you must have known my name by now, its Arjun, I'm 24 years old and have done MBA from Mumbai University and rest I don't know what to say" Arjun sighed. Arohi smiled slightly listening to Arjun. Arjun looked at her and saw her smiling, this was the second time she smiled but still he felt that it was not her real smile he then continued "I don't stay here, I mean I stay in Mumbai, I have my own business out there, so if in future we get married you'll have to leave Chandigarh." "I don't have a problem with that" said Arohi in a low tone. Arjun nodded and said "if you want you can ask me anything." Arohi shook her head saying "I don't have any questions." "Hmmm" said Arjun. There was a silence for few minutes and then Arjun broke the silence saying "Ummm Arohi? Are you fine with this arrange marriage thing? I mean, I just wanted to know if you are comfortable with it or not so we can think ahead about it." Arohi glanced at Arjun once then looked ahead and said "I don't have any problem with it, in fact from my side the answer is yes." Arjun was stunned listening to her answer and stood rooted at the spot 'Did she just say yes for the marriage with me? We don't even know each other well, not that I have a problem with it but we've just met. What should I do now? Should I say yes? But before that I want to know her more. Wait, is her family forcing her for the marriage?' Arjun came out from his trail of thoughts when he heard her say his name.
Arohi looked at her side and saw that Arjun was not there; she looked behind and saw him standing. He looked like he's in a deep thought. "Arjun?" said Arohi in a low tone but was audible for Arjun. Arjun looked at Arohi. His name was sounding so beautiful in her sweet voice he thought. He smiled faintly and came in stood in front of Arohi. Arohi saw him coming and looked at the other side not meeting his eyes. "Will you mind if I give my answer afterwards, what I mean is I would like to meet you couple of times more." "I don't mind" said Arohi. "Okay" said Arjun and then added "I think we should go inside now, they must be waiting." Arohi nodded her head and they both turned around to go back to the restaurant.
They moved a little ahead when Arohi hit her leg with a stone and was about to fall. She immediately closed her eyes tight as she was sure that she will now land directly on the ground but the next moment she felt someone holding her from her waist, and her hand were clutching something. Those arms made her feel safe, she felt protected in those arms. She slowly opened her eyes to know who was holding her and what was she holding on to and the very next second she opened her eyes and saw Arjun gazing at her. She looked into his eyes and was lost in them...
Edited by veds_6791 - 14 years ago
Bade Acche Lagte Hai 3
