Arhi FF:Mirage Note pg 158 for next thread link - Page 66

A young boy of eight lay on the bed, watching cartoon on the tv, munching the chips from the packet in his hand. His mother was busy in the kitchen preparing the meals for the night. They were living in a guest house in Delhi and it had been a week after they had arrived from Mumbai.

Suddenly, he heard someone ringing the door bell. His mother walked towards the door to open it. He had been busy watching the tv, when suddenly he heard two men arguing loudly with his mother. Due to the loud volume of the tv, he couldn't understand what they had been arguing. He lowered the volume getting up from the bed to go towards his mother. And all of a sudden he saw one of the men push his mother aside and enter the house.

"Please don't hurt him! He is still a small kid. He doesn't know anything." He heard his mother scream out to the man, with tears streaming down her face. But the man didn't stop. The other man grabbed the woman's hair preventing her from rushing to the rescue of her son.

"Run Arnav! Run!" he heard his mother scream out at him. And then, before he could react, he heard a gunshot. His mother dropped down lifeless on the floor, blood soaking through the yellow carpet on the floor.

He didn't know what to do. All he knew was that he felt his legs moving of their own accord, without his will. He jumped out of the window, too shocked to react to anything, escaping into the dangerous night from the hungry predators on the prowl for him, never to see his mother again.

Arnav had never wanted to remember this memory. It was always locked away deep inside from the outside world. Even today, thinking about it, made him shiver with fright. Those horrendous visuals were enough to destroy his sleep for the rest of his life.

But everytime, he took a life in his hands, he was reminded of that fateful night. He felt a mocking laugh escape his lips. He was no less than those monsters who took his mother's life that day. He had turned into one of them. His destiny had deceived him.

"I'm sorry Mumma!" he whispered, his throat choking with guilt, a lone tear escaping down his face. He felt like a murderer of his mother everytime he took a life.

But he had to do this. It was necessary to eliminate Karthik out of the picture, coz he knew he wouldn't back off from Lavanya so easily. And this would have led to his identity being discovered and his mission being foiled. His only chance at freedom being snatched away. And this was something, he couldn't let anyone jeopardise.

o0o

Four days had passed since Khushi had joined Akash's clinic. The work wasn't bad. All she had to do was look after the administrative work of the patients. With some guidance from him, she had settled down comfortably. Her Buaji had returned home from the hospital. Her medications were being continued at home.

It had been past 6 in the evening. Khushi was still at the clinic, arranging the files and jotting down appointments, when she was called inside the doctor's room.

"Yes, Akash. Did you need something?" Khushi asked knocking at the door.

"Are all the appointments done for the day?" Akash asked busily going through the files.

"Yes, they are done." Khushi replied back.

"Ok, then you may go home." He said getting up from his chair and heading to the medicine cabinet, searching for something.

"Aren't you going home?" Khushi asked curiously. For the past three days, they had both left the clinic together, while Akash dropped her to her house in his car.

"No. My friend will be arriving for a special appointment. His stitches need to be removed. Sorry Khushi, I won't be able to drop you home today."

"Oh, that's okay. I could stay if you need any help. I won't mind it." She said offering her help.

"No, it's fine. I can handle it." Akash reassured her.

Khushi went back to her desk and picked her bag. She was about to leave when she heard someone entering the clinic. Reflexively, she looked up at the face. She couldn't believe whether her eyes were telling her the truth. There, in front of her, stood the man, who she had last seen ten days ago. He was wearing a white hoodie with beige trousers, clinging dangerously low on his waist. His hair was messy and ruffled. His hands were lazing inside his pockets, while his eyes travelled to the contents of the room, finally stopping on her. But this time, the eyes looked drowsy and weary. As if he hadn't slept for the past couple of nights.

He couldn't grasp the vision in front of his eyes. She looked the same, like he had last seen her. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, while some strands of her hair, managed to escape on her face. She was wearing a gorgeous red and green salwar kameez, that left him absolutely stunned just like the first time he had seen her. She was staring at him, like she had encountered a ghost. Her face had turned pale and weary. As if she was strained by some problem in her life.

Both stood still in their positions, gazing at each other, when they were suddenly snapped back to reality at Akash's voice.

"Arnav! Come in. I've been waiting for you." Akash said motioning him to enter into the inner room.

Arnav walked towards his direction, his eyes still transfixed on Khushi's face. Akash ushered him towards the bed, asking him to sit on it.

"Can you remove your hoodie? I need to examine the wound." Arnav heard Akash asking him. But he was completely lost in those eyes, which were now staring curiously at him from outside the door. He pulled down the zipper of the hoodie, pulling it away from his body to reveal a white vest underneath it.

His gaze was interrupted when Akash suddenly pulled the staple from the nearly healed wound, causing him to hiss out with pain.

Khushi stood at the doorframe curiously observing him sitting on the bed. When she saw him hiss out with pain, she couldn't help flinching at his reaction. It felt like she was the one who was experiencing it. It was a strange feeling. After their last encounter, how could she still feel something for him?  

"Don't worry. It's just a matter of days before the pain subsides. I'll give you a pain killer for now." Akash said injecting it into his arm. After about ten minutes of cleaning the wound, Arnav stood up to leave. Saying goodbye, he walked out of the clinic's door, glancing one last time at Khushi before stepping outside. All this while, Khushi had been standing at the doorside, intently observing him.

"Khushi? Didn't you go home?" she heard Akash call out to her.

"I was observing you doing the procedure on him." She admitted unknowingly.

"Oh! I didn't know you were interested in this. He was the friend I mentioned about earlier." He asked raising his eyebrow curiously, cleaning his hands with a sanitizer.

"What happened to him?" Khushi blurted out instantly, in quest of answers to so many questions that bugged her from day one of their meeting.

For a minute, Akash was tongue tied with his reply. He had sworn to Arnav about not revealing his secrets to anyone. Using the first excuse that came into his mind, he replied. "He was shot by mistakenly by some assailants. He was caught inbetween crossfire. He was completely innocent. No fault of his." He said shaking his heading, deeply pondering over the lie he had just made up. Lying was one of his weakest points. He just hoped Khushi was convinced with it. "Anyways, let's go." He added trying to divert the topic.

Khushi was confused seeing Akash's face. He had a weird expression on his face for some reason while explaining it. But then she suddenly remembered Arnav. She couldn't help feel bad for him. He had been an innocent victim. So he wasn't the bad guy, she sighed with relied. And here she had been thinking that he might have been a criminal. Maybe the incident had traumatised him. She had read in a psychology book about how drastically, trauma can affect one's life. Especially if it involved innocent victims. Maybe that was why he was behaving in a strange way with her.

o0o

"So Akash, I see that you have a new girl at your clinic? I'm sure she wasn't there the last time I visited." Arnav asked over the phone. He had been too shocked to find the same girl, who he had been trying to get away from the past couple of days. He had been successful in forgetting her. But after seeing her today, at Akash's clinic, he couldn't stop himself from wanting to know more about her.

After feeling low for the past four days, he had suddenly felt alive seeing her face. Just a glimpse of her, brought a pleasant stirring in his heart. At that instant, he didn't remember Lavanya and his mission. He didn't remember killing Karthik. He didn't remember his horrific past. All he knew was that he wanted her.

But he didn't know how to face her, especially after deserting her in their last encounter at the resort. Thus, he had quietly walked out of the clinic, hiding behind the shadows of the buildings, and observed her returning home from the clinic.

Using an excuse to know about his medicine, he had rung Akash's phone.

"Oh, you mean Khushi. Well, I met her at the hospital. She is facing financial problems at home and needed a job. So I offered her a job at the clinic. She's been working for the past four days. " he heard Akash's voice on the other side of the phone.

Oh! So that's why she had looked perturbed and worried today evening.

o0o

Arnav sat on his bike, a few metres away from the clinic's entrance, not entirely sure as to what he was doing here at this hour of the evening. He didn't know what had made him take this decision. But as soon as the clock struck six, the next day, he had made his way towards the clinic, in hope of catching a glimpse of her. Impatiently, he kept glancing at his watch, as the minutes passed by.

Then all of a sudden, he saw Akash and her, making their way out of the clinic. After bidding goodbyes, Akash walked towards his car, while she walked in the opposite direction towards him.

Khushi had decided to go home by the bus as Akash had been urgently called to the hospital. She had been busy glancing ahead at the shops on either sides of the road, when she instantly noticed that familiar face staring at her.

Khushi stopped right in her tracks, astonished to find him sitting on the bike, as if he was waiting for someone. He was wearing a lavender coloured t-shirt and denim.

"Arnav!" she exclaimed out loudly and went towards him. "What are you doing here? Did you want to meet Akash? He just left for hospital." She said peeking at the direction of Akash's car, speeding away from them.

Hearing her, he felt his voice fail him. He didn't know what he was supposed to say. Heck! He didn't even know why he was here.

Khushi was initially reminded about their last encounter at Shimla. But then she remembered her yesterday's conversation with Akash, about how Arnav had been an innocent victim of crossfire. She stepped closer to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, careful not to hurt his wound. "I know about that day. Akash told me about how you were shot."

Arnav felt panic rapidly spread across his face. What had Akash told her about him? That he was a criminal. Then why wasn't she afraid of him.

"That you had been innocently targeted the night you were shot. It's ok. Sometimes, life doesn't go the way we want to. Certain incidents are beyond our control. It doesn't mean that we blame ourselves for everything that happens. We need to move beyond it." Khushi said smilingly at him.

Innocent? What exactly had Akash told her? Had he lied about him? Ofcourse he would have lied. He had been sworn to secrecy by him.

"I can now understand why you didn't answer any of my questions. It's because you didn't want to dwell on that horrific incident. I get it. I'm sorry for my outburst at Shimla. " she continued.

"No. It's fine." He said instantly, unable to see the guilt spread on her face. He was equally relieved that she didn't know his real identity yet.

Khushi didn't know how to react to his silence. Maybe he was still uncomfortable to talk about this. Maybe he needed his privacy. So she decided to leave him alone and continued walking towards the bus stop.

Arnav suddenly saw her walking away from him. He didn't want her to go away from him. "Wait!" he called out behind her. Khushi turned back to face him. "I can give you a ride home. It's already dark." He asked pointing to the empty seat behind him.

She didn't know why she started walking towards him. It was as if she had been subconsciously awaiting this. "Are you sure?" she asked contemplating on whether to accept this offer or not.

He nodded silently. Khushi hopped into the seat, putting her legs on either side of the bike, behind him. He put on his helmet and rode off. Initially, Khushi had been sceptical to hold his shoulders for balance and support. Even though she wasn't uncomfortable with this physical proximity, yet she was confused about this reaction of hers. She had hardly known him. Especially after their strange encounters earlier, she had expected to distance herself from him.

Guiding him with directions to her home and with her one half of the mind, pre occupied with all these thoughts, she wasn't ready for the sudden jerk caused by the hump on the road. In order to control her balance, she tightly gripped his shoulders with her hands, on the very place of his wound. She immediately felt him flinch and squirm away his shoulder from her grip, making her realize her mistake.

Khushi instantly withdrew her hand, lowering it downwards and instead wrapping her arms over his chest. His body seemed to relax in this position.  She didn't notice how long she had held him like this, until the bike stopped right in front of her house.

Arnav slowly removed his helmet, turning around to face her. He was surprised to find her still sitting behind him, holding his chest. "Khushi!" he whispered causing her to startle from her thoughts. She immediately pulled her hands away from his body and jumped down from the bike.

"Thanks for the ride." She said fidgeting with her dupatta. "Bye Arnav!" she said smilingly, waving her hand slightly and made her way into the house.

"Bye!" he whispered into the cold evening breeze hoping that it would reach her ears. He could still feel her warm hands on his chest. Somehow it made him feel warm. So she had enquired Akash about him, he thought to himself. Maybe this feeling was mutual afterall, he concluded.

CHAPTER 15

For all those hating Arnav, remember that there is strong reason why he is what he is today. His past has made him ruthless. He has ceased to feel anything for anyone. In the coming chapters I'll try to give you more glimpse into what made him choose the life of a criminal. And for those dying to get Arhi doses, the next few chapters will be all about them.😃