Arhi FF:Never Gone, Never Far. link to thd 2 pg.1 - Page 33

Loved this update!! AND it was NOWHERE close to being bad!! IT WAS FANTASTIC!!

Originally posted by: roshnidiya

i didnt comment or like ur work for more dan 25 days n u still didnt unbuddy me...so sweet of u !

thankx a lot for pming me

actually i had my exams...so...hope u know dat...i pm'ed...

i read both d parts today n dey were awsome!

everything perfect n beautifully written...

loved it

bye

Hey y'all! I dunno if I'm being that bad in explaining or you're not interested in this and hence not understanding it! But yes. The Arnav who's always there with Khushi right now is her imagination only and nothing more! Hopefully I explain it in proper terms in this update, So that you can understand what I'm trying to narrate! :P

Oh! And Khushi will definitely meet Arnav in a. . . . . I dunno. . . . Probably in the second or third thread?! ;) Until then, enzaaay the angst, miladies.. :P

Part 3:

Aditya's apartment, West Hampstead, London

He advanced at Khushi with a sneer on his ugly face. Khushi shook her head, too weak to protest in any other way. He had put his hand on her shoulder, intending to pull off her pallu, when a voice was heard, "Yeh kya kar rahein hai aap?!"

And Khushi woke up with a start, breathing heavily. She wiped the sweat off her forehead, after she realized that she had been having the same nightmare. Again. She looked around and jerked away when she found Aditya staring at her intently. She looked at Lavanya sprawled next to her and back at Aditya who was smiling at her warmly. Khushi tried to pull up the edges of her lips, hoping that it would pass for a smile. For the last thing she felt like doing right now was to express the happiness and warmth which seemed to have been lost somewhere.

"I was here to keep some coffee and aspirin for you and Lav. . . Take it and make yourself at home, okay? I've got an appointment within 20 minutes. I'll see you both in an hour or so.." Aditya said carefully, so as to not disturb his cousin. Not that any amount of yelling would have had any effect on Lavanya's slumber!

Khushi nodded once, and watched Aditya leave. She had for once felt somewhat secure even after having the nightmare that she had had, after seeing Aditya. "Good morning, Khushi. . ." Arnav's voice came from the spare couch in the room. Khushi sighed and didn't even spare a glance in his direction, as she rose and went to the bathroom, hoping that there was an extra toothbrush. She soon found one, and freshened up and came out to see Lavanya sitting up and rubbing her eyes sleepily. When she felt Khushi move in, she looked at her by opening one eye and wished her a good morning and complained about her head pounding with a headache. Khushi handed her the tablet and coffee, which was almost cold by now.

She left to heat her coffee up, and later joined Lavanya in the living room. Not in a mood to watch TV, Lavanya turned on the audio system and played the CD that was already in it.

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49skGFijPhA&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]

Khushi sat by the window, staring out, as she cried silent tears and Arnav watched helplessly. He tried to console her, but Khushi started singing again, to drown Arnav's voice out. And when the song was finished, Khushi turned it off and turned to face Arnav. And before he could say anything, Khushi muttered in annoyance, "Just leave. I'm not coming back to you!" Arnav looked down, frowning in anger. Anger that nothing he did or does would ever be able to win her back.

"Chamkili?? Whom are you not going back to? And to whom are you talking to?!" Lavanya asked, her voice filled with incredulity. Khushi, though surprised at being caught, composed herself as she brushed her question off nonchalantly.

After they ate breakfast, Khushi told Lavanya that she wanted a job to earn her bread, and more than that, to keep herself occupied. "Hmm.. Lets see.. What are your skills??" Lavanya asked and Khushi mentioned every skill of hers, right from sewing to embroidery, from dancing kathak to singing, and cooking too. Lavanya clapped her hands suddenly, after a while of silence, scaring Khushi, and said, "You could teach Kathak! I know an institute run by Mrs. Havisham. She was my nanny and not the freaky old lady from Great expectations!"

Khushi, who didn't understand the joke made by Lavanya, just took in the information about a Mrs. Havisham, and made her mind to try it out once and see how it would suit her. 'Yes its true that I love him. And I may never be able to forgive him. And I might even go mental hallucinating about him. But I will NOT sit and mope around.' Khushi thought, as she selected a salwar kameez from the few reserve clothes that Lavanya kept in Aditya's apartment, for the times when she stayed at his place.

---ooo---

Lavanya and Khushi came back to Aditya's place, Lavanya excited as if SHE was the one who had secured a job. "So, Khushi? Got the job?" Aditya asked. Khushi was about to nod when she asked, "How did you know?" Aditya grinned as he replied, "I'm the psychic, remember?" Lavanya rolled her eyes as she explained, "I had left him text, Khushi!" Khushi nodded in understanding and excused herself. "Is your friend alright, Lav?" Aditya asked, his eyes returning back to Lavanya after watching Khushi leave the room.

Lavanya nodded doubtfully as she said, "Well, she's heartbroken because the man she loved foolishly decided to ruin her life. Apart from that she's alright, I guess. . . ." And Lavanya told him how Khushi had been talking to someone that morning when it had been just the two of them in the apartment. "Why do you ask, Adi?" she questioned.

Aditya frowned thoughtfully, as he came to sit by Lavanya on the couch, and said, "I think she's schizophrenic. Not to a very large extent. But I definitely see the initial symptoms. . . ."

Lavanya had always been proud of Aditya's intelligence, smiled sweetly as she said, "Bhaiyya!! Dumb it down for me, please??"

Aditya lost the train of his thoughts as he heard Lavanya address him as Bhaiyya and when he found her smiling sweetly at him, it was like they had moved back in time, and they were just kids, growing together, Aditya helping Lavanya with everything. He smiled lovingly at Lavanya and ruffled her hair, and Lavanya feigned indignance, as she straightened her hair.

"Remember when your parents separated when you were fifteen, Lav?" Aditya asked. Lavanya nodded, curious to know why Adi had brought this matter up. "You had wanted your dad back in your life so badly, that you had started imagining him? You know?? Hallucinating?" Aditya continued.

Lavanya blushed at that memory, annoyed that Adi knew her so well, that he had caught her "talking" to her imaginary dad when she was a teenager. "Why do you ask, Adi?" Lavanya asked, really curious now.

"I think Khushi is doing the same with her husband. . . . . She obviously loves him very much. . . . And even though she is very angry on him, subconsciously she just isn't ready to give him up. . . . . And honestly, nothing can cure her but his presence. . ." Aditya murmured, thinking of all the symptoms that he had seen in her, and what Lavanya had told him about Khushi talking to somebody.

Lavanya remembered the days when her world had came crashing down on her. She had always thought that she was blessed with a happy family and one day, just like that, her parents got divorced, and her dad left her. If not for Aditya's constant support and help, she didn't know how she'd have coped. "You know how lost I was, during those days? My whole world tore apart then, Adi. . ."

Aditya scooted near her and put an arm around her shoulder, and with his free hand, held her hands, giving a reassuring squeeze, as he said, "We all have our losses, Lav. . . ." Lavanya looked up at her cousin's face and knew he was thinking of the loss of his sister. She felt so sad on seeing him so vulnerable that tears sprang to her eyes.

She rested her head against his shoulder as she tried to gain some control, and Aditya silently rubbed her head, suddenly at loss of words.

Khushi who came out of the room, drying her face, looked at them both and asked with concern filled eyes, and asked, "Lavanya? Aditya? What's the matter? Are you okay?"

Aditya and Lavanya looked at each other with a wry smile on their faces. The woman was missing her husband so mush that she had started hallucinating about him, and she was concerned about her friends?!

"Look who's asking that!" Aditya muttered, his voice audible just to his cousin, and Lavanya started giggling. Khushi frowned and pouted as she yelled, "Hey!!! You both are being rude now!!" And when Lavanya still didn't stop laughing, and even Aditya joined her, Khushi huffed as she slumped into a couch and folded her arms across her chest.

Lavanya and Aditya stopped laughing with too much difficulty, as they rushed to their friend, trying to make it up for her.

---ooo---

Shantivan, New Delhi

Arnav entered Shantivan and saw Payal balling her fists as she stood up and started to leave.

"Payal. . . ." Arnav called her out, trying to make her talk to him. It was like she was the only connection to his Khushi and seeing her fuming like this, bothered him a lot. "Ji, Jethji?" She asked, without turning to him.

Akash was already in the living room, looking pointedly at his wife, and Payal sighed as she turned to face Arnav and plastered a fake smile on her face, though Arnav could easily make out the anger that was spewing out of her eyes.

Anjali sensed the strained silence and soon rushed to her brother's side, and held his arm. Payal shot a questioning look to Anjali. Anjali had been the one who had slapped Arnav when Shyam had been exposed, as well as the reason behind Arnav and Khushi's marriage, and now she seemed to have forgotten all that.Payal couldn't help but drift back to that day. . . .

Anjali had spotted Shyam in the kitchen, trying to force Khushi, and had slapped him, and sent him away. And the whole Raizada family had been the witness to it, except Arnav. And when he came back from work, when Anjali cried in his arms, and explained what she had seen, Arnav had still doubted Khushi. That she would have willingly gone to Shyam's arms.

"I married you to make you stay away from him, and you still did it??!! How cheap could you get, Khushi??" He asked, doing nothing to hide the abhorrence in his voice.

Khushi just looked at him, as if the most vital part of her had been ripped out of her, as she cried silently, and stared at him with eyes full of hurt.

"Chotey! What are you saying?!" Anjali asked, as she came to stand in front of him, not able to believe that it was her Chotey who had said all these abominable things.

"Di, you don't know her! She. . ." Arnav was stopped as the sound of a slap resounded, and Arnav's hand went to his cheek, where his sister had slapped him, as he stared with shocked eyes.

"Is that why you married Khushi, Chotey?" Anjali asked, her voice shaking with rage.

"But, Di. . . ." Arnav started explaining, when Anjali stopped him again.

"Is that why you married her?" Anjali asked again in a stern voice.

Arnav's shoulders slumped as he nodded, and Anjali looked at him with the same expression that he had seen Khushi a while ago. "What's the difference between you and Shyam then, Chotey?? He ruined mine and Khushi's life, and as if that wasn't enough, you joined hands with him in ruining Khushi's. . . ."

Payal came back to the present, when she felt her husband's arm go around her shoulder and she watched Arnav staring at her, hoping to elicit some kind of response from him. She could see what four days of staying away from Khushi had done to him. He looked like a man who was burning in the deepest pit of hell. But she couldn't bring herself to forgive him.

"Hum chai laate hai. . . ." She said generally to everybody, which included Arnav too, hoping that her husband wouldn't goad her to talk to his brother.

Arnav sighed as he watched Payal leave, and then at Akash who smiled at him encouragingly, and he attempted to return a smile, but in vain. . . . . . . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you guys think that Payal has no right to be angry on Arnav, just put yourself in her shoes and think. . .

If you still don't see my point. Well. . . . . Too bad! That's the way it is!! 😛 😆

P.S: Do leave me likes and/or comments, please. . . Good or bad, doesn't matter. . . 😳

Link to part 2

Link to part 4