Rules Of Attraction ( Updated Part 21)- Pg 139 - Page 2

Khushi couldn't sleep properly that night, and ended up fully awake and stifling away a yawn at 4 in the morning. It usually took her parents almost an hour to wake her up, but maybe due to the unfamiliar surroundings, she woke up so quickly. She was starting to feel homesick slowly, considering the fact that she had never been away from Lucknow, for even 24 hours, She dialed the land-line number into her antique Nokia was listening to the distant ring until a hoarse 'Helloo..' interrupted. 'Amma...' her mother's voice made Khushi want to run back to Lucknow and hug her.

' Khushii, how are you, wait let me call your father, Shashii...' , 'No Amma, its okay, I was just missing you guys , so..' 'You miss us, well then you have no idea as to what a fit your dad threw when I made him tea yesterday, which was not according to his taste of what you made usually..' Khushi smiled, and remembered her dad and his fetish for the perfect 'tea'. ' How is everything there Khushi, you like the campus?' Garima asked, now fully awake.

' Its beautiful here Amma, Delhi is well, obviously immensely different from Delhi,but its nice, I'll get used to it. The campus has this historic aura to it, and oh, you know who came to address us yesterday..? ' Well even if I knew Khushi, you would still be telling me, won't you, so who was it?'

' The Arnav Singh Raizada, him, in flesh and bones, the very man.'

' Ah, so is he as handsome as he looks in those magazines, or...' ' Handsome he is, very, but also very arrogant,' Khushi said , now full of energy giving a hearty laugh to Garima who on the other end of the line, seemed bemused. ' Anyways, how are you and did you and dad take your blood-pressure medicines?' 'Khushi, you've been gone, for what a day, stop worrying so much.' 'Amma, don't change the topic, did you take it or not? ' Yes, yes we both took it, happy?' ' Very. Okay, tell dad I'll call him later, I should get going now.' ' Okay, okay, go and don't miss us too much.' ' I'll try, but you guys take are , love you , bye,' Khushi said and jumped off the bed and went towards her suitcase and picked out her clothes, heading to take a shower.

---

Arnav got up around an later and went through his Blackberry for the texts, missed calls etc and went for a jog. He took in the image of the beautiful, morning, no traffic, no sounds, except that of the birds, leaving their nests to look for food. And Coldplay on his headphones just added to the effect. He stopped on sighting a bench and sat down and breathed in the cool air . After a few minutes, he headed back to the Guesthouse and took a shower.

---

Khushi looked at her watch, it was only six, and they had breakfast at eight. I could go back to sleep or I ...She took out her sketch book from her bag and a few pencils and sat down to complete many of her designs and add a few more. She loved to design clothes, it had been a dream to organize a fashion show and walk on the ramp with the show-stopper one day. She silently mumbled to herself ...you're going to do it Khushi, graduate out of NSD, join a top-notch fashion house and...

How cute could someone be...Arnav wondered, looking at Khushi's mumbling face, she talked to herself ...She was looking perfect, how could someone look so fresh and what...pure, all the time, he wondered to himself, staring hard at her face and then she looked up at him. And this time Arnav didn't move an inch away from the window and smiled at her shocked face. She was staring at him, he thought gleefully. Then he waved his hand at her, as if to say 'Hi' in a very calm, suave manner, ignoring his erratic heartbeat due to her scrutinizing gaze.

She smiled, little hesitantly, but he liked the pleasant shock on her face. He quickly made too call. One to Aman, ordering him to extend his trip and one to the Dean of NSD.

Bloody hell, what is wrong with him, did he just say hi to me, that too from that cursed window, shirtless, and that hair, shit, that stupid wet hair hovering around his forehead, Khushi thought , biting her nails and trying to stop her from hyperventilating and fainting. Khushi Gupta, get a hold on yourself. She closed the curtains and headed toward the class munching on an apple.

She was talking to some fellow students who had come early like her to class when the Dean's PA appeared out of nowhere and shouted out- 'Ms. Khushi Gupta, the Dean's calling you.'

Khushi followed him to the Dean's office.

Arnav only did designs for AR Designs, he had long given up his passion for pure art. It had been many years since he had set foot in his own personal studio, or for that matter painted on a proper canvas.

He took in the heady smell of the strong paints, grazed his hands over the crisp paper and the many paint-brushes scattered on the teak table. He removed the cobwebs himself and the pile of dust using a stray duster.

He had found himself a muse. Her beautiful face deserved to be captured on paper, and he wanted to be the one to do it.

'Morning Khushi. How are you today? the Dean asked, flashing a sunny smile. ' Good-morning Sir. I'm good ,' she replied sincerely. ' Not many students get a opportunity like this everyday Khushi, you have been approached to be a muse,' he said suddenly, in a very serious tone.

' Muse..? Khushi asked hesitantly.

'You will be Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada's muse for the next month.'

'You will be Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada's muse for the next month.'

'So would you like to talk to him Khushi?' the Dean asked kindly, very well knowing the fate of any student, in the vicinity of the great Arnav Singh Raizada.

Whoever said live sketching was easy, did not know Arnav Singh Raizada. Khushi had been trying to sketch the damned man since the past hour bearing no result whatsoever. The first years had been told to get some sketching done in the absence of ill teacher. Khushi found the flowers, and the stray dog a bit too dis-interesting and hence settled down for a certain Mr. Raizada. He was talking to someone, on the Bluetooth perhaps, few lines of worry crowding his forehead . Therefore he was constantly moving to and fro in front of the large window. She had managed to get the upper half of his delectable body, when he moved again. Aah, she thought exasperatedly. She was sitting on the grass in front of the Guesthouse with a few more students in the open, the heat was slowly getting to her, she thought taking large gulps of the pleasantly cooling water from the nearby water-booth. Live sketching and Arnav Singh Raizada can wait she said out softly splashing the cold water onto her face.

'Remembering me?' came the sarcastic voice of the one man, she could recognize anywhere.

Arnav had to put his hands back into his Armani pants' pockets, to control the irresistible urge to graze his fingers over her now wet face. The water droplets were hanging onto her black eyelashes, some on those stray strands of hair hovering over her face and some on those now stuttering lips.

Regaining his ever suave composure he pointed towards he sketchbook where he was looking mildly amused at his own face.

' You can speak you know' Arnav asked softly.

'Er, no, actually, we had to do some sketching, and...um, there was no one else...' she managed to form a coherent sentence , clearly embarrassed. Flustered even.

'Not bad, I look more or less the same, but my face, come on, I ain't that ugly...?' he commented almost dejected.

'No, NO, you are obviously anything but ugly...I mean , I'll just do it over..' she tried to cover-up for her stupid blabbering mouth.

'Ah, that's okay,' he replied , now smirking openly, walking away taking in her flushed cheeks.

---

Bloody hell, if he smirked again, I will make it a point to punch his jaw, but then what a waste of perfectly beautiful face. And his clothes, I mean did he model for Giorgio Armani, or what.She kept thinking on her way to his studio.

He didn't speak much that evening, quietly sketching away on the canvas. His eyes were distant today, she noticed. Grim, and just, sad.

'Are you okay?' she asked meekly.

'Ya, just fine,' came his hoarse reply.

Khushi didn't say anything.

The uncomfortable silence was broken into by an eerily sad voice.

'My parents died. This very day, eleven years back. Its been me and my sister since then,' he spoke in a steely stance.

Khushi didn't know what to say, as tears welled up in her own eyes.

' What about you, your family?' he asked.

'They are there back in Lucknow,' she said her thoughts now hovering around a certain fire.Then Khushi came out of her own world, rubbing away her tears roughly with her shaking fingers and spoke.

'I'm so sorry. I understand how you must be feeling right now, I've gone..'

She had barely uttered those words, when Arnav walked towards her and held her up from the stool and growled at her.

' Why would you say that? You have a mother waiting for you at home. A doting father who misses you every night. A family for god sake. How the bloody hell would you understand?'

Arnav had no idea where that sudden anger erupted from. He was shaking violently. His eyes moist and his hands literally digging into Khushi's arms. A lone tear trickled down from her eyes onto his hand, and he let go of her.

She was crying, silently, whispering a faint sorry.

He had turned his back on her, He couldn't face her. He bellowed a loud 'Get out' and after hearing a shuffled noise of withdrawing footsteps he sat down the previously occupied tool, letting his face rest in his hands.

Once again the lonely man, in his lonely world.