He opened his eyes to the loud noise of the washing machine reverberating from downstairs. Glancing at his mobile on the bedside, he observed that it was already 11:00 am. He tried to get up from his bed, but there was some slight pain in his head, as well as a low buzz in his ears, indicating the symptoms of his hangover.
He tried to recollect what happened in the night. But he couldn't think straight. His whole body was aching as if he had been hammered by a wooden log. Angling his head upwards, he noticed that an empty bottle of vodka was sprawled on the floor, providing evidence to his hangover. He couldn't believe he had consumed so much liquor in just one night. But then, his nights were no more the same since his family had been held hostage.
Aman woke up with great difficulty and dragged himself downstairs to take some medicine for this hangover. As he descended the stairs, the noise of the washing machine spinning, amplified the pounding on his sensitive ears, increasing his headache. Cursing it, he went to the living room to retrieve the tablet from the medicine kit and while popping one into his mouth, he observed the same girl who was lying all over Arnav yesterday evening, enter the laundry room at the other end of the room.
"Can you shut the door of the room?" he shouted out on top of his voice, clutching his head. Khushi didn't seem to hear him the first time. So he called out even more loudly.
"Hey you!" he tried to recollect the girl's name. But he couldn't.
This time Khushi heard him and turned around to see, the same guy who had walked in over Arnav's and hers private moment, calling her. She felt the same embarrassment returning back to her once again. The whole night yesterday, she hadn't seen that guy. He had remained locked up in his room for some reason. And honestly, she was glad she didn't have to face him.
"Yes?" she asked, wondering what he wanted from her.
"Can you shut the door of the laundry room?" he blared out, unable to bear the pain in his head.
Startled by the sudden loudness of his voice, Khushi immediately shut the door, muffling out the loud noise that was now reduced to a low buzz.
"Are you alright?" she asked alarmed, seeing him scrunching up his forehead, as if he was in enormous pain. She rushed to his aid. Reaching him, she realised he was completely smelling of alcohol and inferred that this was clear case of a hangover.
"Yeah." He replied grumpily, not liking this girl at all. "Where is Arnav?" he asked looking around the house and not finding any traces of him.
"He's not at home. Said he had some work to do. He left at 8 in the morning and will return back at 1:00 pm." She informed him.
"Okay." He said, dismissing her with his hand and dragged himself into the kitchen. "Om Prakash!" he called out loudly. But there was no response from the servant.
"Aman," Khushi called out behind him, wondering if she had got his name right. "Actually, Om Prakash has gone for grocery shopping. He will return back in half an hour."
Irritated, Aman pulled open the refrigerator door and searched for the lemons to make some lemon juice to cure his headache. He turned around to take a tumbler from the rack, but it slipped from his hand, crashing down on to the floor.
Khushi turned around, startled by the noise to see Aman fumbling around. Sympathizing with his condition, she rushed to his side. "I will help you." She said seeing the lemon in his hand.
"No thanks. I can do it." He replied firmly, not wanting to involve her with his tasks. He was least interested to have a company of a person like her, who brought all the more trouble in his life.
"You know, you need help. Just go and sit there, I'll prepare the lemon juice for you." She said, grabbing the lemon from his hand and ushering him to move out of the kitchen, leaving him with no other choice. Since he was in no mood to argue with her, he relented and went and plopped down on the couch.
Few minutes later, he saw Khushi bring the lemon juice and hand it over to him. He instantly gulped it all down, feeling a bit relieved as the cold liquid poured down his throat.
"Breakfast is ready. I'll warm it up and bring it for you." Khushi said, moving into the kitchen.
"No need." He called out, trying to stop her.
"Yes, you need to eat. It will make you feel better." She said, noticing that Aman was no less stubborn than Arnav. No wonder they were best friends, she concluded.
After the breakfast, he felt the haze engulfing his mind, slowly clear out, the throbbing pain in his head ceasing a bit. He observed Khushi, who was now sitting on the couch, reading a book. Something felt very familiar about her, as if he had seen her before. He tried recollecting where he had seen her. For few minutes, he couldn't make the connection.
And then, as if he was enlightened, he instantly remembered.
She was that Lavanya Kashyap's friend that he had once seen in Shimla.
Oh God Arnav! Are you freaking kidding me? He muttered under his breath, clasping his forehead. No wonder Arnav had said that he was in a big mess. Out of all the women in this world, did he only have to end up with her?
Arnav was royally screwed. His best friend was dating the best friend of the girl who he supposedly dated just to use her to get to her father's file. And the girl had no clue about it, especially the fact that she could be a sacrificial lamb as a consequence of it.
While he was still staring at her, he saw her suddenly turn around her head and smile at him, which for some unknown reason spread some tiny warmth in his frozen heart.
o0o
"Aah, you're back!" Khushi exclaimed out from where she was seated, seeing Arnav enter through the main door. Aman, who was busy watching some movie, looked up to the sound of her voice.
"How was your day?" she asked, as he sat beside her, grabbing her waist to pull her closer to him, so that he could give a quick peck on her cheek.
"Arnav!" she whispered horrified, pointing with her eyes to Aman who was seated opposite to them, not before hitting him lightly on his arm.
"He doesn't care you know." He whispered into her ears, kissing her collarbone, raising goosebumps all over her body. "My day was absolutely good." He replied to her first question.
"I'll ask Om Prakash to arrange the lunch." She said pushing him away, making her way into the kitchen.
"Where?" Aman asked softly, only audible to Arnav, after making sure that Khushi was way past the earshot of their conversation.
"Adil Sheikh's house. Vijay's contract." Arnav said mentioning where he had been since morning.
"How much?" Aman asked interestedly.
"Three crores. Twenty five percent is mine." Arnav replied smiling, referring to his accomplished mission of money extortion.
"Lunch is ready. Both of you may come." They heard Khushi's voice, resounding from the dining area.
"So that girl is in-charge now?" Aman asked rolling his eyes.
"Looks like that." Arnav replied smiling back at Khushi, who was waiting for them.
Taking their respective places, they finally sat down and commenced their lunch. For the first few minutes, there was an awkward silence between them. Deciding to break the ice, Khushi started talking.
"So how long have you both known each other?" she asked suddenly interested to find out more about the two men in front of her. One thing she had instantly observed after Aman's arrival was that, both of them were quite similar to each other. They were ardent followers of the 'Actions speak louder than words' school of thinking. Always silent, serious and lost in their own worlds, keeping their thoughts to themselves.
"For a decade." Arnav replied, stuffing the warm roti in his mouth.
"Wow!" Khushi exclaimed out. "So it's like Lavanya and me. You know, Lavanya?" she asked turning to Aman. "She's my best friend from childhood. I've known her since Grade 5."
Arnav felt the food hit the roof of his mouth, choking on it, as he heard Lavanya's name mentioned by Khushi. He immediately began to cough tremendously, as tears rolled down his eyes with the strain on his food pipe. He managed to see Aman flash him narrow eyes, before turning away to the other side.
"Arnav!" Khushi got up and rushed immediately to his aide, instantly rubbing his back to soothe him down. "Look up!" she said, holding his neck for support, as she poured some water in a glass in the other hand. "Drink this." She ordered him, rubbing his neck, while he accepted the glass of water and gulped it down. "Feeling better now?"
"I'm alright Khushi." Arnav managed to whisper, still feeling some food particles trapped in his throat.
Aman didn't fail to notice the way they interacted with each other. Khushi had reacted even before Arnav could and was by his side immediately. It was as if their movements were strangely, synchronised with each other. And the way Arnav had let her take care of him, it was quite odd. He had never seen his friend allow someone to touch him like this. Arnav had always maintained the image of a rough and tough person, who never really accepted anyone's help.
There was only one conclusion to this. That girl had seriously messed up his best friend.
Khushi continued to rub his back and only after Arnav had assured her for the fifth time that he was completely alright, she went and sat down on her place.
"Yeah, so what I was saying? Aah, okay, so what do you do Aman? Do you work along with Arnav?" she resumed her conversation.
"Yeah, we both work together." Arnav replied on his friend's behalf, seeing a slight hue of annoyance in Aman's eyes.
"So what exactly does your job consist of?" she asked, putting a spoonful of yogurt into her mouth.
Extortion, smuggling, kidnapping, burglary, assassination, dealing.
Arnav noted all this in his mind, as he recollected his actual job profile. "We do trading business." He said, looking at his friend, who now sat motionless, hearing his reply.
"Oh, so that's why you had that money laundering file with you. Even I was wondering how it was related to you."
"What file?" Arnav asked suddenly alarmed.
"That black file, which you brought to Mumbai. Hmm... what was that name? Yes, something about Goenkas. That money laundering file." Khushi replied, successfully recollecting the details about it. "Actually, I found it in your suitcase while taking out your clothes. And even that day, when it was at my house, I took it out and kept it back inside while packing your bag. I think you have kept it in your cupboard now."
The two male ears that were present in the room instantly perked up, alerted by the mention of Goenka's name.
Oh F*ck! Arnav cursed himself. So Khushi had seen that file!
He saw Aman staring at him suspiciously with a What-the-hell look on his face.
And now Aman was confirmed that the file was in his friend's room. That very file that he had searched unsuccessfully for so long. That very file that could have saved his friend's life and now, when it was right in front of him, it was useless, coz those men had come up with an alternative plan, which he did not know about and which he feared would be unstoppable.
"I'm glad you are taking action against money laundering. It is such a serious thing and people think that they can easily get away with it. I say such people should get even more rigorous punishment. God knows what all crimes they resort to, to earn that filthy money." Khushi uttered in disgust. She had read about it in the newspaper about how most of this money came from human trafficking and contraband deals.
"What do you mean?" Arnav asked suddenly curious to hear a new piece of information.
"I mean the punishment for it is upto fifteen years in jail. But still, our law isn't that strictly implemented and hence, many people get away with it. If we could somehow stop these activities, crimes would be reduced as the criminals would no longer have any incentive to indulge in such activities. I'm happy that you are doing your contribution to stop it."
Fifteen years in prison! That was something which neither Arnav nor Aman knew about. They didn't know they were dealing with such a big matter. Goenka would be doomed if this file went to Finance Ministry. No wonder he had agreed to pay Ten Crores just to steal the file from Kashyap.
"Hmm..." Arnav nodded as his mind began to work over the new piece of information. There was one consolation for him. Even though Khushi had seen the black file with him, it would be no trouble for him, coz there was no way she would connect the dots and figure it out, when Kashyap himself would never find out that it was Arnav who stole the file from his house.
"So Aman, Arnav told me last night that you hail from Haryana. Is your family out there? I heard you have a huge wonderful family. How are they?" Khushi focussed on Aman, wondering why she hadn't heard a word from him from the time they commenced the meal.
Aman didn't know what happened to him, but he suddenly felt his temper hit the roof at the mention of his family. He forgot about everything else around him. He couldn't reason out why he felt angry at the girl in front of him.
But then, he realised. She was the sole reason why his family will still somewhere out there crying out for his help. If Arnav wouldn't have kept that damn file in her house, he would have easily stolen it and rescued his family and his friend.
"I think that you should stop interfering in the personal lives of people whom you don't know." Aman blared out, standing up from his place and without any further word, he marched to the kitchen to drop his plates into the sink and in the same manner, stormed upstairs to his room.
"What... happened?" Khushi stammered confusedly, wondering what wrong thing did she ask that upset him so much and led to this outburst. He had seemed perfectly normal until the question was asked.
"I don't know." Arnav replied equally confused. He had never seen Aman talk to anyone like that. His friend barely lost temper and even if he did, he knew it very well to conceal it.
o0o
"Did you try talking to him?" Khushi asked eagerly, waiting at the bottom of the stairs, watching Arnav climb down it.
"He isn't opening the door. Let him be there. He'll be fine." Arnav assured her, hoping his words would be true. They hadn't heard from Aman from the time he had stormed off to his room in the afternoon. And now it was nearly 8:00 pm.
"You know, he was drunk in the morning when he woke up." Khushi added, thinking it would be best to let Arnav know about it.
"That's fine. Nothing to worry about." Arnav dismissed it, knowing very well about the drinking habits of his friend and his own.
"Should I go and apologise or something? Honestly, I don't know what to apologise for. But if it is going to help, I'll do it." Khushi asked with a worried voice.
"I don't think you said anything that you need to apologise for. Maybe he is PMSing." Arnav joked, letting out a chuckle.
"Haww... How mean!" Khushi hissed out, narrowing her eyes, punching him lightly on his abdomen.
Suddenly, Arnav felt his cellphone vibrate in his pant pockets. Taking it out, he noticed that it was one of the dealers calling him. Not wanting to converse in front of Khushi, he decided to go outside the house, signalling Khushi that he would be back in few minutes.
"Tell..." he spoke on the phone, closing the main door behind him, while the person on the other end filled him with the necessary details.
"Ok, I'll take care of that. Tell him to be ready with the consignment on Friday morning. I'll come to collect it." He said and disconnected the phone. While he was about to turn around and go back into the house, he heard a car stop to a halt just outside his gate. Wondering who could it be at this hour, he turned around to find a familiar looking car in front of him, and a few seconds later, a tall shadow stepped out of it and entered the compound.
"Akash?" he muttered wondering what he was doing here at this hour of the night. And then, in an instant, he felt fury rising in his eyes as he remembered their last conversation together. Before Akash could reach the main door, he walked forward, blocking him mid way in the garden. "What you doing here?" he asked furiously.
"I came to meet Khushi." Akash replied in a no nonsense voice. "I went to her house and found out that she wasn't at home. So I suspected she would be here. And by your actions, it seems she is here indeed."
"And why do you want to meet her?" Arnav asked firmly, blocking his path as Akash took a step ahead.
"Because I want her to know the truth about the man she is living with. I want her to know how she has been deceived into this relationship."
"And what makes you think I would allow you to do that?" Arnav growled, taking a step closer to him.
"Try stopping me!" Akash said, moving towards the side so that he could move past Arnav.
But Arnav was too fast for him, for he suddenly felt the collar of his shirt being yanked with an enormous force. "Akash, don't forget this is my house. You have no right to enter it without my permission."
Akash tried to free himself from his grip, but his struggle was futile. There was no way he could match the kick boxer's strength. "Arnav, you know what you are doing is wrong. She doesn't deserve this." Akash finally pled, accepting his defeat, hoping to alteast get through to him with his words.
"I know what I'm doing. I know what is best for both of us. I don't need to prove my love for her." Arnav replied back instantly, still not letting go of his grip on the collar.
"Arnav Singh! If you really loved her, you would have told her the truth. You know what, you are one selfish B*stard. You are putting her life in danger just for your selfish love. If you cared for her, she wouldn't be living in your house when you clearly know how the people in your world are."
This time, Akash's words had hit the mark. Arnav finally loosened his grip, letting go of him, as he stumbled backwards.
"Yes, I'm a selfish B*stard coz I love her more than my own life." He whispered into the chilling dark night, letting it know what Khushi meant to him.
"Arnav, do you realise that the girl in there has dreams and aspirations, for a better life, for a better future? She must have already dreamt about how she would have her dream wedding with the man of her dreams, bear his children, have a family that loves her and enjoy a wonderful and secure future with him. She would have dreamt of a successful career and an identity for herself in this world. And you know it very well that being with you, her dreams will never be fulfilled."
"Ofcourse, I will give her everything. I will fulfil all her dreams." Arnav replied, convincing himself more than Akash, because honestly, he himself didn't know whether this was possible.
"Have you ever thought what she would feel when she finds out one fine day, the man she loved was killed in a gang war? That he had been a criminal all the while? Arnav," Akash said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I have nothing against you loving a woman. But the woman here is Khushi. A girl like her doesn't deserve this. She deserves a lot better from life. I want you to listen to your inner conscience and decide about it coz I know that there is no other way to convince you. Goodnight Arnav. I hope you take the right decision." Akash said and turned around, walking out of the compound.
Arnav stood still until the car sped off. After the faint buzzing noise of the car engine disappeared into the quiet night, he turned around and stormed into the house, banging the main door behind him.
Khushi who was seated in the living room was suddenly startled by the loud noise, and looking up, she saw a pale faced Arnav storming into his room.
Confused at what was happening, she followed him and saw him seated silently on his bed in the darkness.
"Arnav? What happened?" she asked alarmed at his behaviour, rushing to his side.
"Just leave me alone!" he shouted loudly, scaring her out of her wits.
What was wrong with the men of this house? First Aman and now, Arnav? Why were they all blasting out at her? she wondered to herself.
"Are you also PMSing now?" she asked jokingly, trying to diffuse the tension between them. Hearing no reply from him, she continued, going towards the switchboard and turning on the lights of the room. "Just a few minutes ago you were normal. Now what happened? Work stress again? I'm sure it will be alright." She tried to console him, hoping that he would calm down.
But instead, she saw him turn around with to face her, his eyes reddened and then, in a fraction of a second, he was up and without a word, he strode towards the door and banged it shut, securing the lock, so that no one from the outside could enter the room.
"Arnav?" Khushi whispered in a soft voice, suddenly feeling apprehensive about the possessed look in his eyes.
She doesn't deserve you!
Akash's words kept floating around his mind.
You will never be able to fulfil her dreams and aspirations!
He felt his legs moving of their own accord towards her. He saw how she involuntarily took a step backward from his advancing strides.
I love you Arnav...
Khushi's words interjected his thoughts.
Deep down inside, you are a really good guy...
Arnav didn't know what was happening to him. All he knew was that Khushi was his. No one could snatch her away from him. He would prove this to the world. Arnav and Khushi were meant to be together. He could never imagine loving anyone else other than Khushi. She had been permanently etched into his heart and no force in the world could undo it.
Yes, he was a selfish B*stard. He was selfish for the love he never had all through these years of his life. He deserved it and no one could stop him.
No one.
"Don't stop me tonight..." he whispered in a possessed hungry voice, as he finally closed the distance between them.
Ok, so I'm feeling all sad and depressed today. I need someone to cheer me up. And you could do it with your lovely comments.
You know what is the next chapter going to be. And to write that I need to feel lurveeed. Only then I can show Arhi's lurveee... So my next update will be on Sunday. coz I need to refill my love supply which is currently empty without a drop of love in it.😆
If you felt Aman too harsh towards Khushi, (actually this chapter was all harsh-harsh right?), that's because this was written after I cried for two hours thinking about my life and the things happening in it. And this chapter was a consequence of all that frustration. So if you don't want this anymore, show me your love people! I promise a steamy chapter next. That is only if you want to.😛
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