Rules Of Attraction ( Updated Part 21)- Pg 139 - Page 19

'Payal, when did you plan on telling me that your getting married, haan?' Khushi accused the woman on the other end playfully.

'How are you Khushi? And put that phone of your to some use; you never pick up,' came back the concerned reply of Khushi's beautiful cousin.

'It's switched off. And I'm fine, okay? And can we not bring up this topic every time we talk, please?'

'Okay, fine, but take care of yourself.'

'SO, so, his name is Aakash…and..,'

'God, are you blushing, what's with the hesitation?,' a now laughing Khushi replied.

'It's called love baby, how will you understand…,' Payal's voice faded away by the end of the sentence, immediately regretting her words.

'True that, um , when's the wedding?,'

Fighting back the tears, she spoke on with all the courage she could, the earlier excitement visibly gone. Her sister was so right. So much in the world, left to experience, but so little time. She harshly brushed away her tears and finally ended the call to head to the empty classrooms.

----

'You've never stayed for more than two days on the campus,' Anjali stated, in a mock worried tone.

'I've some work here Di,' Arnav replied sincerely to his ever concerned sister, her thoughts hovering on Khushi.

After talking to her for about an hour, only to be interrupted by the ever efficient Aman, he went to the AR Headquarters to check over the preparations of the impending Annual Charity Ball, AR sponsored every year.

----

The assignments were slowly getting more tedious and Khushi was lagging behind for obvious reasons. She was designing a poster for a play being put up by The Blind School and mentally noted to ask Arnav to cut back with the 'Muse' sessions. And then, thinking about him, made her work come to a standstill. All the classes, something that she would have otherwise enjoyed, seemed wonderfully dull. There was this painful, desperate urge embedded in her chest, of wanting him beside her all the time. His gaze hovering over her, her husky voice resounding in her ears. She had realized that she had fallen for him, completely, and therefore she had put forward the idea of them being 'friends'. She knew it was foolish, but why take a chance?

----

He hadn't known her then; the year before. But this year, he was determined to have that one woman beside him on the day of the Ball. A refreshing break from the skinny models. But would she agree? His thoughts were conflicted, especially after the name she had given to their relationship. Friends. But maybe it was for the best. This one woman had changed the many rules by which he played. She had turned the usually crystal clear mind of Arnav Singh Raizada's into a pool of conflicting emotions. She had managed to bring to surface his otherwise deeply embossed better nature. Above all, her voice, the sound of her laugh, the very image of her hair playing on her pale skin, sometimes the twinkle in her eyes, sometimes the tired, bloodshot eyes had found a place in his heart. But every moment he had with her, he wanted to memorize it to detail. He didn't know why, but it was like, he had a feeling, a gripping fear that she would leave him, that too, when he didn't even have her.

----

She made herself comfortable on the stool, getting accustomed to the sound of the dripping water from the tap over the tiny basin, waiting patiently for Arnav to arrive.

'So sorry, had to go office,' Arnav said, smiling at her, the tiredness of the day evaporating into thin air with one glance of her beautiful face.

'No worries,' Khushi smiled, 'You go to office too, I thought you were on a holiday or something,' earning a small laugh from Arnav.

Khushi admitted to herself, that she found the dark, brooding, mysterious side of Arnav deeply alluring. But when he laughed, even for a moment, that moment was magical. Worthy of being captured in a picture. The power his laugh held could literally light up the atmosphere of the otherwise grim room.

----

'So, who was the woman in the picture? Down in that room?' she asked, a little hesitantly. She didn't know what she was expecting, him shouting at her, shoving her out of the room, anything , but not a calm Arnav, simply answering her simple question.

'My mother, Amrita Singh Raizada,' Arnav replied, stiffening at first, but then with a certain pride in his voice. He didn't know why he was telling this to a girl who he had met days ago. Probably because they both had faced the same fate of losing their parents at a young age. Or perhaps, he admitted, he trusted her. Plain, simple, a pure sheath of trust. He was a man who weighed his actions and words with acute practicality. But with her it was based on pure instincts.

Khushi waited for him to say something. She did not want to break into his chain of thoughts. She watched as his eyes travelled from the range of uncertainty to a since of calm, as he finally spoke.

'She taught here. Architecture. That room was built in her memory.'

They talked some more. First his parents, then hers. Words dancing on the nuances of their childhood memories, some painful, some bubbling with laughter. They didn't know how time passed, the water kept dripping on from the old rusted tap, as if listening to each word they spoke, trying to hold on to its own memories.

----

'I'm sorry to disturb the ever thinking Khushi Kumari Gupta, but I would like to show you something.'

She went up to him, putting on an inquisitive look on her face as she stared into his.

'While you were away, I was getting a little impatient, so I finished the painting,' he said, slowly removing the soft cloth from over the canvas.

She stared into a face that looked like hers but the eyes gave them away. Her eyes held so much joy, a zest for life, a radiant glow on her face. She was beautiful. She was alive.

'Okay, will you please say something? It can't be that bad?' Arnav complained. He couldn't understand the range of emotions that flitted across her face, each contrasting the other.

'It's brilliant. Beautiful, really. Can I have it?' Khushi asked, a little sad, a little expectant. She felt him stiffen beside her.

'No, I want it, for myself. It's like a keepsake, a memory.'

Khushi smiled to herself. Irony. Maybe, just maybe, she too would actually become a memory. But the fact that Arnav wanted to keep her in his memories, made her happy. The happiness , she knew was temporary, futile, but in the moment, it was all she needed.

----

He wondered how to ask her about the Ball. Never had his mind faced such hesitation to ask out a girl, that too for a simple dance. He watched her as she played with her fingers, continuously blabbering about some cousin of hers about to get married. As he watched her closely, he noticed for the first time how thin she had become since the first time he had met her. She looked tired, extremely exhausted.

'Willyougooutwithmehh?' Arnav blurted out, stupidly.

'Sorry, did you say something?' Khushi asked apologetically.

Arnav sighed, took a deep breath and finally asked, this time, serious and in a slightly disarming tone.

'Will you go out with me?'

Arnav took in her slightly shocked face and emphasized.

'It's just a dance, a Ball rather, that I have to attend. And the only company you get is old men, and skinny models. So your company would be much appreciated.'

And Khushi laughed out. Partly because of Arnav's grim face and the extraordinarily serious tone he spoke in and partly because of her strong urge to say 'Yes'. She weighed the options. In Lucknow, the concept of a 'date' didn't exist. She knew, only the company of boys with excessively oiled hair and tobacco stained teeth. 'Dates' had existed for her only in the pages of the books she read. She could go out on a date right? It wasn't wrong: she wouldn't be leading him on..these thoughts kept crossing her mind incessantly.

'What is so funny, Khushi? Will you come or not?' Arnav asked, getting a little impatient.

Khushi thought, going out with him would at least earn her a new experience, a memory before she would come to terms with her seemingly unavoidable fate. She took a long breath and finally said.

'I will.'

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