ArHi FF: Highway to hell-3, last Ch. pg 89 - Page 7

YEEYEYEYEYEYEEE I'M SO EXCITEDDD! CONTINUEEE :) I spent one whole day reading from the beginning and now I need more of this! You're SOOO good! I swear to God, you should direct a show! You have an amazing plot line and it's not the typical bollywood type duppata romance, it's mature, it's real and it's so western, I LOVE IT!! It's like one of those TV sitcoms like FRIENDS or Grey's! :D

Congrats for a new thread..! 🤗

And loved the update..! 😳

Warning: There's some heavy drinking and getting drunk in this chapter. I'm in no way condoning drinking till you're wasted. Nor do I condone teenagers having fake IDs and sneaking into bars. Just saying.

Chapter 40: Girls just wanna have fun

"Arnav, I need to talk to you," whispered Malli.

"OK. But why are you whispering?" asked Arnav in a mock loud whisper.

"Because it's a secret!"

"What's up Mallu?" he asked, adopting the silly name he'd given her. She hated it. He figured she could do with some silliness in her otherwise too tragic life. Giving her a nickname she disliked was good beginning to teenage normalcy.

"I need to get out of babysitting all the kids tonight."

"Why? I thought you liked the children." Said Arnav, looking worried. He was afraid she was slipping into an abyss of depression. It had already been so hard for her.

"I want to gatecrash Khushi's bachelorette party."

"What?" he asked, slightly relieved it was that. So much for worrying about her tragic past and its semi-serious repercussions on her present and future, he grimaced.

"I want to gatecrash Khushi's bachelorette party." She explained patiently, as if she was talking to a 5 year old.

"I heard you the first time. You can't!" he said firmly.

"Why ever not?"

"Because they are doing a bar crawl and you can't go to bars. You're too young."

"I can't DRINK at bars. I can go to them."

"Some of them are adult clubs, they won't let you in."

"Err..that won't be a problem," she said, shifting from one foot to another, looking down.

"What the? Are you saying you have a?"

"Fake ID? Err. Yes. Most kids do."

"Give it to me now. And you are not going! That's final."

"Arnav, c'mon be a sport. Besides, you'll need someone to make sure she does nothing too wild. I mean, it is a bachelorette party! Do you want her to get drunk and dance on top of the bar?"

"Oh, the girls are going with her. Nothing like that will happen. Besides, since Di is pregnant, she can't drink. She'll keep an eye on Khushi." Said Arnav nonchalantly.

"Can you trust your Di, who fell in love with a man 10 years younger, and ran away with him to get married to keep an eye on your fianc and make sure she does nothing too wild on her bachelorette party?" asked Malli, widening her eyes innocently.

"When you put it that way," he said, "Hmmm. Yes. I. Can. She's my Di, and you Miss, are only 17. Not happening Malli. Don't push it." Arnav said, his tone final.

"You're mean. You never let me do anything fun. I hate you." Said Malli, running up and slamming the door to her room shut behind her. Arnav had never been happier to hear a tantrum in his life. Maybe Malena was more Mallu than he'd thought.

That evening:

Khushi, Lavanya, Payal and a very pregnant Anjali were at their club of choice for the evening. Freddy had wanted to come, he said he was eligible on account of being a queen. But Lavanya, who had planned the evening, had vetoed his suggestion. All the girls were in black except Khushi who wore a short, white dress. It was strapless and hit halfway down her thighs. It showed more cleavage than she usually went for, and was 3 inches shorter than she usually wore. But it was her Bachelorette evening. She figured she'd go all out. Arnav had whistled when he'd seen her, then handed her a jacket. She'd laughed at him, and given him the jacket back. "It's summer honey. I don't need a jacket!" she said smiling at his crestfallen face.

"OK, bartender! Tequila shots, all round. Except the pregnant lady of course. She'll take a lemon soda!" said Lavanya. 4 shots later they were a giggly, buzzed gaggle of slightly drunk, very loud women. Anjali was having the time of her life egging them on. Unsurprisingly, Payal was the loudest. She wasn't a big drinker. And certainly not a big letter down of hair. She was having fun tonight. If Akash had seen her, his jaw would've dropped. Currently, she was sashaying to LMFAO's "Party rock anthem" like her life depended on it.

"Wow, look at Payal go!" said a voice that appeared suddenly at their table.

"Malli! What are you doing here?" asked Anjali, surprised.

"I snuck out. I wanted to come to the party too. I never have any fun!" said Malli, making a pitiful face.

"Malli, I'm not sure if Chotey would appreciate this. Does he know?" asked Anjali.

"Oh, let her shay!" said Khushi, slurring a little. "I'll make it OK with Arnie poo later!" Anjali and Malli sniggered at the "Arnie Poo" bit. Anjali called Arnav and told him Malli was with them, and the men needed to watch the kids. (Not that they needed watching, Malli had efficiently put them to bed before sneaking out)

"OK Khushi! Are you ready for your first challenge of the evening?" asked Lavanya.

"Yessshh!" said Khushi, swaying a little.

"OK. You need to go get that guy's number," she said, pointing at an 40-ish, bald man with a bit of a paunch. Khushi peered at him unsteadily. "He's kinda cute!" she said.

The girls exchanged smiling looks. "Yes, he's right up your alley Khushi. Now, hop to it!" said Lavanya.

Khushi walked up to the poor man who was nursing his Single malt alone at the bar. "Hey!" she said, in a low husky tone.

"Hi," he barely looked at her.

"Wanna buy me a drink?" she asked, leaning towards him precariously.

"Err.No, sweetheart. I think you've had quite enough," he said, leaning back a little.

"Oh come on Mister. Have some fun. OK, no drink. At least dance with me?" she said laying her hand on his. He gave her an exasperated look.

"Ok, one dance." He said, allowing her to lead him on the dance floor with an exasperated look on his face. He was an executive in a bank with a stressful job, and all he really wanted was a stiff drink before going home and hitting the sack. He really didn't need a drunk woman (no matter how hot she was!) hitting on him. Khushi danced rings around him. Since she was slightly uncoordinated, she stepped on his toes several times, making him wince. Anjali, Payal, Lavanya and Malli laughed uproariously and took a few grainy cell phone pictures of Khushi making a fool of herself.

"So, can I have your number, now, Pleaassshhhe?" she asked. "I'll make it worth your whillleee," she said drunkenly. He looked at her, completely wasted and frowned. In his experience, there was no point in talking with drunk people. He asked for her cell phone. She gave it to him. He quickly saved his number in it under the name John Kerrigan. She thanked him for the dance and giving her his number. After promising to call him, she walked away, swinging her hips in an attempt to walk sexy. Since she was uncoordinated, she looked a little like Gajagamini.

Back at her table, Lavanya demanded to see her phone. When Khushi handed it over, after telling her the guy's name, Lavanya called him. He was still at bar, now downing his second Scotch of the evening. They waited and waited. But his phone didn't ring.

"Maybe it's on silent," said Anjali. Lavanya disconnected. Just then, his phone rang, and he picked up ASAP. They all looked at Khushi and burst out laughing. He'd clearly given her an incorrect number.

"I can't believe you got dissed by that guy Khushi!" said Lavanya mopping her eyes. "I bet his name isn't John Kerrigan either!"

"It's becaush I'm a little drrrunk," said Khushi, very much on her mettle. "On a another day, he would totally be into me. He's sooo cute, isn't he?" she asked.

"On another day Khushi, you would notice that he's bald and fat and way too old for you," laughed Payal.

"Really? He's bald?" asked Khushi, peering at him. "I thought he had the nicest brown hair," she said. Malli guffawed. She was loving this. The perfect, always in control Khushi Gupta, drunk as a skunk.

"Can I have a gin and tonic?" Malli asked the bartender. He was about to ger her one when Anjali intervened. "A diet coke for the young lady please," she said firmly. "You are here. Enjoy the evening with us. But no drinks for you. Chotey would have my hide," she said. Malli made a face, but didn't argue.

"Yessshh, Malli poo. No drrrinkkks for you. Arnie would kill me. You don't know what he's like when he gets mad. I do!" she said.

"What's he like when he gets mad?" asked Malli curiously.

"Well, first he usually backs me into a wall. Then he pins me there. And looks deeep into my eyes. Gawd, sometimes I just want to lose myself in Arnie's eyes!" she sighed. "And then, he comes really, rrreeallly close to me. Like I can feel my heart beating hard. You know. Dhak dhak. Dhal dhak. And then, he holds my arrmmsssh sho tight and sometimes he does nothing after that," she went silent.

"Huh?" asked Anjali. "He holds you tight and has you backed into a wall, and looks you deep in the eyes, and does..nothing? What a wimp Chotey is! Aadit would've kissed me by now," she said proudly.

"Nooo! That wassshhh jushhht sometimes. Other times, he picks me up and throws me on the bed and then'you knooowww'" he voice trailed off.

"Then what?" asked Malli, interestedly.

"He you know'hasss hisss wickkedd way with me!" sighed Khushi.

Malli whooped with laughter. "That is a line from a bad romance novel!" she quipped.

"I concur," said Lavanya wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. "Has his wicked way with you! That's funny."

Khushi made a face. Then she leaned to Lavanya and whispered something into her ears. "Ohmigod! He doesn't! That really IS wicked," said Lavanya.

"What? What does he do?" asked Malli.

"I can't say. I wouldn't want to corrupt innocent minds," said Lavanya primly. "I can tell you, if you want to know," she nodded at Anjali and Payal. Both of them shook their heads violently. Anjali didn't want to know anything about her Chotey's wicked ways and Payal didn't want to hear such things about her Jethji.

"OK, Khushi you ready for challenge number 2?" asked Lavanya.

"Right now, walking in a straight line would be challenge enough!" quipped Malli.

"No lip from you little one. Or you're going straight home," said Lavanya. Malli piped down instantly.

"OK Khushi. You have to stand up on the bar and yell, "I'm getting married, somebody stop me!" said Lavanya.

"I told Arnav she'd get on the bar and dance!" said Malli.

"Don't be silly. I'm not going to dansshhe!" said Khushi.

"Here, let me help you. You better take your shoes off. You might break your neck if you tried to climb up on the bar with those heels." Said Anjali. She slipped Khushi's silver heels off. Khushi clambered on top of the shiny granite bar.

"Lisssenn Upp, peoplee! My name is Khoosshiii Koommaaarrrii Goooppta. And I'm getting marrrieddd in a few dayysshhhs. Who's gonnaa stop me?" she yelled.

A few people turned around to look at the extremely pretty but, obviously drunk woman standing on top of the bar precariously, and slurring her words. Most people just sniggered. A few made lewd suggestions. Anjali made a HD quality video on her cell phone. Malli, Lavanya and Payal laughed. The bartender was not amused. It took him and a bouncer to get Khushi off the bar.

"I did it Lavz! What's challenge number 3?" asked Khushi.

"Challenge number 3, darling Khushi, is being able to live all this down tomorrow. Expect pictures and videos to be plastered all over Facebook," said Lavanya.

"That should be fun!" said Malli. "Arnav's going to love those pictures of you dancing with the bald dude!"

"Not as much fun as Akash's reaction to the video I made of Payal grinding with that guy with dreadlocks!" said Anjali.

"Oh man! You didn't," said Lavanya. Anjali giggled and nodded yes. Payal was too drunk to care what Anjali was saying.

"It's a good thing I have a hard head. And you escaped since you're pregnant," chuckled Lavanya.

"I've never been happier to be pregnant than tonight," said Anjali, pointing to Payal and Khushi who were dancing to "Footloose" now. They made a few more videos of the Gupta sisters comical dancing. Then they decided to bundle everybody back home. Nobody protested. Khushi and Payal fell asleep on the drive back. They'd hired a limo for the evening, so nobody needed to drive. Lavanya got dropped off first, before the rest headed to Khushi's home. Arnav and Akash had to carry Khushi and Payal upstairs since they wore both snoring loudly and couldn't be awakened. Malli made a video of that too.

"I hop you had fun flouting my authority!" said Arnav to Malli after he'd put Khushi to bed.

"Sorry, it was too much fun to pass up," said Malli.

"Well, have fun being grounded now. From now, until the wedding, you're grounded. No leaving the house. No phone, nothing. You will stay in your room, young lady, is that clear?' asked Arnav strictly.

"That's not fair. There's all the parties coming up before the wedding. And the Mehendi and everything. Come on Arnav, be fair." Complained Malli.

"No arguments Malli. Go to your room. Now," said Arnav.

"You're being completely unreasonable!" she said, slamming the door on her way up.

Arnav sighed. First he'd been worried she didn't behave enough like a teenager. That she was too quiet. Too grave. Not anymore. Malli the silent angsty girl had turned into Mallu, the rebellious teenager from hell. "Well done Arnav!" he said. "From the frying pan into the fire!"

As for Khushi. He would deal with her tomorrow.

Alrighty folks. Fire away!

Cheers!

Vidhya

For other works, please see my Index.

haha cant wait to see how arnav deals with khushi

oh my god! i just read your whole FF, from the first thread till chapter 40 and I love iT!!

LOL oh god i can't wait to read the aftermath!!

Haha what a bachelor party. Arnav better deal with her properly hehe

oh my god dancing with bald guy
she got dissed
and loved the kossshii kooomari style...

Malli Grounded poor thing...