Part 1: Living without You
Index:
Part 2:
Parts 3, 4, & 5:
Part 6:
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/2972233/ss-living-without-you?pn=52
Part 7:
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/2972233/ss-living-without-you?pn=68
Part 8:
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/2972233/ss-living-without-you?pn=75
Part 9:
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/2972233/ss-living-without-you?pn=92
Part 10:
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/2972233/ss-living-without-you?pn=95
Part 11:
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/2972233/ss-living-without-you?pn=107
Part 12:
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/2972233/ss-living-without-you
Part 13:
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/2972233/ss-living-without-you
Part 14:
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/2972233/ss-living-without-you
Part 15:
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/2972233/ss-living-without-you
Parts 16 & 17
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/2972233/ss-living-without-you
List of my OS
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/iss-pyaar-ko-kya-naam-doon/2652341/list-of-smitars-os
AUGUST 14
She smiled and smiled as she packed her clothes in her ratty bag.
"This is the jewellery set that Nani gave me for doing well at the Heer-Ranjha act. Please return it to her after I leave." She placed it on his laptop table and went back to rooting in her cupboard.
Arnav stood, arms crossed, his full focus on her.
"Khushi..."
She couldn't let him speak. "Your clothes have to be collected from the dry cleaners tomorrow. Please ask Hari Prakashji to do so."
"Khushi..."
"Ji? I have so many accounts to settle with you." She smiled.
She extended Rs 300 towards him. "This is the money you lent me to buy colours for Holi."
He stood still, making no move to take it. She placed it safely beneath the jewellery box.
She came back to him, not meeting his stern gaze, with a small packet.
"This is the Rs. 55,000 I owe you. You paid Rs 30,000 for Babuji at the hospital, and I owe you Rs 25,000 for damaging your car by ramming it with Bediji's scooter." She smiled, and placed it along with the Rs 300.
She brought out another, bigger packet from her cupboard.
"I don't know how much this is...", she said hesitantly, "...but this is the full amount that you placed on my plate on our dining table in Laxmi Nagar the night you kicked me out of RM. My Babuji's shop was to be auctioned off, and he was sick. I thought I would use your money to help him. But he didn't need it. By the time I contacted him, the shop had already been sold. So I rolled up the money in the paper and put it under my clothes in Buaji's house."
She kept it on the table, and smiled.
"Stop smiling!"
Her smile faltered.
"Why? Why shouldn't I smile? After all, my name is Khushi." She smiled a naughty smile, and quickly moved away from him, not wanting to risk her neck. Her sanity and her heart were on the line anyway.
He pulled her to him, his hands on her arms, desperate.
"Khushi, I am sorry... I should have trusted you. I...I am sorry...Very sorry... You don't have to go..."
She frowned at him as though perplexed.
"I don't? But our contract period is over. Now you don't have to see my face, the face that you hate. And I don't have to listen to you screaming at me...", she added in the best of spirits as she freed herself and walked away from him to the cupboard again.
She brought his Mama's kangans and added them to the growing pile.
She said cheerfully, "I am lucky I don't have to pay you the 1 lakh as per the job contract I had with you. Anjaliji made a deal with me that if I came to train Lavanyaji, I wouldn't have to pay her that amount."
Arnav swallowed. "Dammit! I don't want your money."
"I don't want yours, either!", she chirped. "I know you think that I have no dimaag. And maybe you are right. But now that this thought has struck me, I have to tell you. Otherwise I won't be able to sleep.
When Anjaliji is slightly better, please give her a job in your company. She is very smart, very sharp. She is truly your sister.
If you don't want her there, then please arrange for her to help out at some clinic for the poor. She will feel better when she helps others, when she sees that there are many who are more unfortunate than her. Their courage will help her stand on her own two feet. It will teach her to be happy again."
She smiled. "It is just a thought. You must do what you think fit..."
Arnav cleared his throat, finding it difficult to breathe.
"It is time for me to go."
"I..I will drop you."
"No, no... If you come with me to Buaji's house, the neighbours will gather around you asking why we have come home. Amma and Buaji will be so happy to see you that they won't let you go to your office today. A clean cut is the best." She smiled.
"Khushi..."
"There is just one thing that I would like you to do..."
"Yes?"
"Explain our 6-month contract marriage to your family. If they ask me, I...I won't be able to answer them."
Arnav nodded, feeling all shaky inside.
She lifted her shabby bags, and turned towards the door. Arnav reached the door before her and opened it for her.
She looked at him.
"If you are determined to go to Buaji's house, I will take you, Khushi.", he said, knowing that his sin was without pardon.
She didn't get an opportunity to argue with him. Mamaji and Nani came upon them.
"Khushi Bitiyaa, where are you going?"
"I am taking her to her Buaji's house, Nani."
"Accha, but come back in the evening. This house needs your laughter, Bitiyaa..."
Khushi hugged Nani, and smiled brightly, remaining wisely silent. She took her leave of the other family members, and got in to Arnavji's car.
They sat, silent, lost in their own sad thoughts. Arnav stole a look at her pensive face.
"From where did you get the money to pay me?"
She looked at him. He had his eyes on the road. Sighing inwardly, she said cheerfully, "My Amma had left me her jewels. I sold a necklace."
"What the... Tumhari Himmat Kaise Hui! How dare you sell your mother's jewellery?"
She remained silent, as though he were addressing some third person sharing the car with them.
"Where did you sell it? I will buy it back.", he fumed.
"I don't want it anymore..."
He stared at her, nonplussed.
"She would rather that I sold it and moved on, rather than leave you without paying what I owe you..."
He ground his teeth.
"I would like to look at myself in the mirror..."
He stood on the brakes. The car squealed to a stop on the bridge where they had had their last big quarrel.
Part 2:
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/2972233/ss-living-without-you?pn=14
Avatar and Signatures Shop
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
