A love sensation!! (page9) chapter 5

The new found confidence was starting to make her stronger. With each passing day, she tried to find new ways to annoy Arnav, make him feel miserable and make him pay for all the wrong he had done. He'd fall into her traps, compromise in front of his family and show his discontent when they were alone. Khushi was enjoying all of it. Finally, she felt like she was in control and Arnav was getting what he deserved. He had forcefully married her and had not even thought it was necessary to let her know the reason why. He had gone too far this time. Her life turned upside down because of him and for that she would never be able to forgive him.

Arnav was finished shaving and slapped some Platinum around his jaw, cologne that had most women sniffing with interest. But not his wife for six months, the indomitable Khushi Kumari Gupta. She regularly wrinkled her nose at it as though it was offensive and openly showed her displeasure over the smell of it. Her reactions amused Arnav and so he would deliberately put on more cologne. He really enjoyed getting to her, sitting back and watching the fireworks explode in her big eyes. The eyes of a tigress, he'd often thought, and wondered if she could ever be aggressive with him in ways he had never seen. Could be exciting'all that reserved passion bursting out, attacking him.

But he didn't want to lose control over the situation and end the exciting battle they were having. Khushi was his salt, a tangy contrast to the sugar of all the others who tried hard to sweeten his life, comply and consent to all his decisions. He wasn't all happy with the marriage as it was nothing but a compromise and frankly he'd be more than happy to set her free from her misery. He knew he'd miss her if she walked out on him. Still, he couldn't give up the exciting sense of clash with her. It was irresistible. He loved challenging her in petty ways as she always lived up to his expectations and many times even surpassed them. And when she would win, he loved the look of satisfaction in her eyes, which he believed was his trophy even after losing. He liked to do things that annoyed her. She was doing the same too. If she annoyed her, he'd annoy her more. He grinned to himself in the mirror. The very thought of putting up another challenge in front of his wife made him excited. He was ready for today and he knew so was she.

As he came out of the bathroom, Khushi was folding the blankets and tidying the bed. The two of them had decided they would sleep in the same bed. His sister Anjali had once caught Khushi sleeping on the couch and they had to make up stories to convince her that everything was alright. Arnav was not going to take any chances with the situation anymore. He divided the bed using pillows and told Khushi that she should sleep in the same bed and remarked that he would not touch her. Khushi had agreed to his decision as she felt it was not a bad idea as long as they used as many pillows as required to separate their sides. Also, she trusted Arnav when he said he wouldn't touch her. She knew he despised her and that he didn't marry her out of love but he married her for reasons that were still unknown to her.

Arnav intentionally threw the wet towel on the bed. He knew his tigress would react and so he waited for it with a smirk on his face.

Khushi: "Arnav ji, take the towel off the bed."

Arnav: "Now you are going to tell me what I should and should not do? This is my room and I will do whatever I feel like, you are not the boss around here."

Khushi: "I have mentioned earlier that this is my room as well and this bed is also half mine so take the towel off."

Arnav: "Oh if this bed is half yours then take it off yourself."

With an annoyed face Khushi went forward to take the towel when suddenly Arnav caught her hand. She felt weak at his touch. Her body shivered at the feel of his hand and her heart skipped a beat. She faced him and looked him in the eye with surprise. His eyes were different today. They were not dark with rage or discontent, she felt warmth in them. She was aware that he knew she'd be dumbstruck when he touched her, was aware that he'd try and put up another challenge for her and she was aware of what he was trying to do. Nevertheless, despite this knowledge and all her wary defenses, he'd sucked her right into an emotional whirlpool and kept tugging her more deeply into it all the time. If she didn't climb out of it, she'd end up losing all respect for herself. She didn't want to end the magical moment but she had to. Her rational mind told her so.

She broke their gaze by freeing her hand from his grasp. His face frowned when she did that. He knew she'd never take his actions genuinely as he had been successful in making her believe she meant nothing to him. The thought hurt him. He would have treated her differently but he knew he would never be able to fall in love with the woman who would only bring sadness in his sister's life. Yet, he always found himself getting weak when she was near. He'd always fight his emotions and hurt her by saying thing's he never meant to say but felt he had to. That was the only way to keep him from getting too close to her. He was scared he'd fall for her and his actions were a shield for him. He had to struggle with his passion and suppress it because he couldn't bear thinking about the pain this woman could cause her sister, who meant the world to him. No, he wouldn't back down. He would continue hitting her with harsh words and challenging her until she would hate her to such an extent that she would go away from his life forever. He was going to win this battle anyhow. He was acquainted with his feelings for her and he knew that he had to get her out of his life completely. Holding her hand like that and caving to his heart's desires was not going to help him achieve that goal. He'd have to come up with another idea because he refused to be defeated by her. He was going to break into the woman she was inside. It was just a matter of time.

Arnav: "I'm your husband, I have the right to hold your hand don't I?" he teased.

Khushi: "you don't even know what a husband means."

Arnav: "Oh really? Enlighten me will you. Tell me." He really wanted to know.

Khushi: "There's no point in telling you. But if you really want to know'a man who forces a helpless girl into a six month marriage is not a husband. Marriage is a lifelong relationship and a man who has no regards for other people's emotions would never understand this"

Arnav: "so Khushi Kumari Gupta''Singh Raizada, if I'm not your husband then what name will you give to our relationship?"

This was a question the answer of which even Khushi wanted to know. She had a blank look on her face. The images of how the marriage took place flashed before her eyes. She recollected how helpless she was and how cruel Arnav Singh Raizada's intentions were. Tears shimmered in her big eyes as she remembered how the man with whom she was falling in love with had never wanted anything but to fill her life with misery by marrying her for Six months. But she wasn't going to cry. No, she was much stronger now. She wasn't going to let this man win anymore. She took a deep breath and answered.

Khushi: "Compromise! That's what I call this relationship. If it wasn't for your condition and my sister's life, I would have never agreed to be married to a man like you."

Arnav : "but u did marry me. And I won. End of discussion!"

Khushi: "You love bossing around don't u?" she had a disgusted look on her face.

Arnav: "I am the boss and that's what bosses do. I told u earlier as well that you are not the boss. Nobody tells me what to do and I don't obey anybody's orders. Do you understand that?"

Khushi: "oh really? Well then I'll order you for one thing." Her mind worked sharply and she knew what she was going to say would not be taken well by her husband.

Arnav: "You are ordering me to do something? Dream on". He knew she'd come of with something, whatever it was he wasn't going to comply.

Khushi: "for this I don't have to dream. Come down for breakfast! Take it as an order Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada."

Arnav snapped after hearing this. He was aware of how smart his wife was. But He wasn't backing down.

Arnav: "if that's an order then I'd rather not eat at all." He meant that.

Knushi: "Well, that is your choice but if you do decide to come down to eat, please remember that you would be obeying my order".

Arnav had no answer to this. He thought of what he should say but couldn't come up with anything. With the satisfaction of having won the battle of the words, Khushi left the room with a huge grin on her face. She felt content. She knew he'd always come down for breakfast and the trick of bossing him around worked as a charm. She couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he'd be there for breakfast. She really couldn't wait.

Khushi was busy in the kitchen getting the morning chores done. She along with her sister Payal, had taken the whole responsibility as expected. Payal, the more pessimistic of the two sisters knew Khushi was hiding something about her marriage from her but she thought she'd wait for the right time to ask her about everything. For the time being she had a much bigger problem to deal with- her mother in law, Manorama Raizada who was never satisfied with her and always searched for reasons to throw her out of the house.

The whole family gathered around the dining area for breakfast. Khushi's eyes searched for Arnav but he was nowhere. Noticing the restlessness in her eyes, Anjali started to tease Khushi.

Anjali: "Khushi ji, who are you searching for?"

Khushi: "Huh'umm no one...I was just'."

Anjali: "I know you were searching for Chotte but he's not having breakfast with us today. He said that he has an important meeting and so he will eat out. He will probably not be home for dinner either."

Khushi: "Oh...But he didn't mention that to me."

Anjali: "Don't worry Khushi ji I can understand how you feel. I too get worried when yeh (referring to shyam) do the same thing. What to do, a wife's heart wont understand meetings, all we care about is our husband."

Anjali gave a sweet smile to her husband Shyam while saying this. Shyam too faked a smile and gave a cunning look towards Khushi. Khushi knew his intentions. She looked away with a disgusted look on her face. She didn't want to think of him and the betrayal her family had to bear because of him. Everybody started to have their breakfast. After they had all eaten, Khushi and Payal went to the kitchen again to get the work started on making lunch for the family. But Khushi was getting restless. Her mind was now constantly thinking about Arnav. She bossed him today but she never thought he'd not even show up for breakfast. The man was driving her crazy and was unbearable. She didn't know why but she was starting to worry for him. She knew he would definitely eat something from the office canteen but she felt like she had to be sure. What was happening to her? She was supposed to be happy that Arnav was suffering but that was not the case. Here, it seemed like she was the one who was suffering.

Payal: "Khushi, are you alright? What has happened to you?"

Khushi: "Nothing, what has happened to me? Nothing has happened. I am fine. Why don't I look fine?"

Payal: "Khushi, if you are fine then why are you going to put sugar in the sabji?"

Khushi looked at what she was about to do. She was holding the jar of sugar instead of salt. Shocked at herself, she realized she was not ok. She had to call Arnav and end her restlessness. She couldn't understand why she was reacting this way when this marriage was just a compromise. She shouldn't be caring about a man who changed her life in minutes. She recalled the night when he compelled her to marry him. She tried to hate him but she couldn't. She again recalled the time when he humiliated her in front of his family members, recalled moments when he'd mistreated her. she tried to get him out of her mind by recalling all the bad things he had done to her but the same thing kept recurring in her mind "has he eaten or not". Khushi thought to herself "why did I boss him about breakfast? I could have bossed him about something else. Hey Devi Maiyya why is this laad governer like this? He doesn't even care about his own health. How do I find out if he has eaten or not? Oh yes! I will call Jijaji'..

Khushi dials Akash's number.

Akash: Hello Khushi ji. Is everything alright? Why have you called?

Khushi: Jijaji, have you had lunch?

Akash: (remembering the morning scene when khushi was worried about Arnav) Yes Khushi ji I have eaten. But are you sure you called to ask me or did you dial my number by mistake?

Khushi: No, I wanted to ask you only. Ok I'll put the phone down.

Khushi ended the conversation hurriedly and started to curse herself for not asking Akash directly about Arnav. She dials Akash's number again.

Akash: Yes Khushi ji I have eaten. Is there anything you'd like to say to Bhai coz he's right here?

Khushi: no'.no Jijaji'.

At the very moment Akash hands the phone to a busy Arnav who receives the phone without asking who's calling.

Arnav: Hello'.

Khushi 's stunned to hear his voice. She can hardly speak. She gathers all her strength and tries to talk to her husband.

Arnav: Khushi?