"Khushi..." he whispered softly into her ears, pushing aside the strands of hair that were covering her face. He could still never get over the sight of her sleeping. So serene and peaceful, an absolutely brilliant visual treat for his eyes in the morning. He pulled up the sheet that was lying on her waist to cover up her bare torso.
"Hmmm..." she groaned in her sleep, snuggling closer to his arm.
"Wake up for a minute. I need to tell you something. You can sleep after that, okay?" He continued, placing a feathery kiss near her ear.
"What?" she asked, opening her eyes slowly, taking in the sight of an already dressed up Arnav.
"I have some urgent work. Got to leave right now. Breakfast is ready in the kitchen. I'll be back for lunch, alright?" he replied, getting up to leave.
"No..." she groaned once again, pulling him back to her. "What time is it?"
"Seven." He replied, landing on top of Khushi due to the sudden force.
"mmm... you smell nice. I feel like eating you up." She moaned taking in the fragrance of his cologne, nibbling his earlobe.
"I know." He said, grinning back at her, while he proceeded to nuzzle her neck. "But it is very urgent and I really have to leave now. Bye. And call me if you need anything." He added and hoisted himself up from the bed and turned around to leave.
"Bye Arnav!" she called out, smiling back at him and closed her eyes, dozing off once again.
o0o
"Mmm..." she mumbled, stretching out her hands and feet over the bed, feeling lazy to get out of the bed. But Lavanya knew that she had to, coz her project for the semester was due to be submitted today. She stared out of her window, the morning heavy with fog, making it nearly next to impossible for her to look at the nearby building. Why she had to wake up so early on such mornings, she wondered, cursing her preposterous lecturer who had kept the project submission deadline for today out of all the days.
Reaching out for her Blackberry that was on the bedside table, she grabbed it and went through all the messages that were awaiting her. Yawningly, she made her way to the bathroom and splashed the warm water on her face that was specifically heated for winter.
After she was refreshed, she dragged herself downstairs to the dining table. As usual, he father was absent. She had gotten used to it by now. A business man like him, never really had time for family meals.
The servant came and served her black coffee and waffles, which she lazily put into her mouth. Ping! She heard the BBM tone and smiled to herself, guessing that someone must have not finished their project and they were panicking at the last minute. She ignored it and continued her breakfast. Few more pings echoed across the quiet dining hall.
This time, she picked up her Blackberry and went through the messages one after the other, smiling at some while pouting at others, typing back the replies quickly. And suddenly, her eyes stopped on a message from an unknown private number. Wondering who it was from, she opened it curiously.
'Best friends? Really? Not really.' The message read and she saw that some images were also attached to the message. Utterly confused at the message, she proceeded to open the images and found what seemed to be like an picture of a girl and a guy, hanging out cosily with each other. The faces were not clearly visible and hence, she zoomed into the picture to get a clear view on their faces and then, what she saw was enough to strangle out all sleepiness within her in an instant.
"What the F*ck!" she exclaimed out loudly, instantly recognising the guy's face. "Rishab?" Yup, she was definitely sure about him.
Wait! Was that? No! Not possible! She mentally noted to herself looking at the girl. The whole idea itself seemed preposterous. She went through the other pictures and found another one which had a complete close up of both their faces.
Khushi? Was that really Khushi in the picture? Was she...? "Oh my God!" Lavanya exclaimed out as she saw both of them sharing an intimate moment with each other. She actually zoomed the picture again and again to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her and the girl she was seeing was indeed her best friend with her ex boyfriend.
Was this picture doctored? But the dress looked definitely like something which Khushi would wear. And then her mind was bombarded with infinite questions. Where? How? When?
She was hundred percent sure Khushi had never mentioned about her dating a guy, forget about that guy being her ex. And then, before her mind could register any more facts, she saw her Blackberry pinging once again. She instantly opened the message.
'Don't be confused Pretty girl. That is indeed your best friend Khushi Gupta and your ex. Et tu Brute? Definitely.'
Lavanya didn't know what was happening to her. Initial confusion and chaos were followed by first signs of feeling hurt and wronged. She immediately picked up the phone and tried to dial the number from which she received the message. But since the caller id was unidentifiable and private, she was unsuccessful. And then, she heard her cellphone pinging once again.
'Khushi Gupta would have a wonderful explanation to it. Isn't she your best friend? And if you're curious to know who I am, I'm just your well wisher.'
Lavanya looked at the pictures once again, making sure that what she was seeing was absolutely true. And then, a strange sense of betrayal enwrapped her. How could her best friend do this? That too, when she clearly knew about her break up that had occurred not so long ago.
No, she had to confront Khushi at any cost and demand an explanation for this.
o0o
Abbas flashed an evil grin as he kept his cellphone down on the table. He knew that all he had to do now was wait and watch as the drama unfolded in front of him. He had done his part very well and he knew that a girl like Lavanya would definitely go and confront her best friend. And this would ultimately lead to the breakup of Arnav and Khushi.
"Sorry Arnav, but you cannot get everything in life. You have to lose something to earn something. It would have been better if you had taken heed of my advice. Alas, you are going to have a heart break now." He said aloud to himself, taking out a cigar and lighting it up.
Only fools were ruled by emotions. To be successful in life, one had to push them aside and climb the ladder. Otherwise, one would be trampled mercilessly by this vicious world.
Ofcourse, who would have known it better than Abbas Malik, the man whose life was based on this very idea.
o0o
Khushi went to the bedroom and started gathering clothes for the laundry. She had finished her breakfast and decided to do some household chores. On her way, she found Arnav's black shirt of previous night thrown over the chair. Picking it up, she smiled as wonderful memories of last night flashed into her mind, causing her to even blush a bit. He seemed to affect her even when he wasn't around her.
She brought forward his shirt to her face, inhaling the fragrance that smelt just like him, intoxicating, woody and all masculine making her head go dizzy with the effect. Instantly, she got an idea, something that she had always wanted to do, but could never really gather the courage to do it in front of him.
Khushi undressed herself and slipped into his shirt that covered herself up to her mid thighs. She went towards the mirror and gazed at herself, admiring at how she looked, half blushing thinking about this ridiculous idea, imagining how Arnav would have reacted if he saw her wearing his shirt. Maybe she could try it the next time, she decided.
Glancing downwards, she observed the emerald pendant that nestled between her breasts and smiled, remembering how he had urged her to keep wearing it, even when she was devoid of all clothes during their intimate session. She could still feel his lips tracing a line of fire over her body, a fire of insatiable thirst, which only left you wanting for more.
Khushi was completely lost in those memories when suddenly, she heard her cellphone ring. Wondering who it could be, she made her way to the table and saw Lavanya's number flashing on the screen. She grinned wondering why her friend had remembered her out of the blue today morning. It had been days since she had spoken to her and thus, felt excitement bubbling beneath her.
"Hello Lavanya." Khushi greeted in a cheerful tone as she was in a very good mood today.
"Khushi, Where are you right now? And why is your house door locked?" she heard her friend blare at her over the phone.
"Whoa! What's wrong? Why are you sounding so upset?" Khushi questioned back, alarmed at the tone of her friend.
"I need to meet you right now." Lavanya replied in a serious voice. "Where are you?"
"I'm at the temple." Khushi lied, not knowing what other explanation to provide. First of all, she hadn't revealed to Lavanya about Arnav and now, if her best friend knew that she was living with him, she would either freak out or bombard her with unnecessary questions. And as it is, her friend sounded upset. So maybe this was not the right time to drop the bomb. "I'll be home in twenty minutes." She continued, calculating the exact time she needed to reach Laxmi Nagar and disconnected the phone.
Khushi hurriedly removed his shirt off, tossing it over the bed and rushed to the wardrobe to get ready. As she dressed up, she wondered what was wrong with Lavanya. Did she have another break up with a guy so fast? Maybe, she concluded, rolling her eyes, chuckling to herself.
o0o
As Khushi approached the gate of her house, she noticed Lavanya's Black Audi parked a few metres ahead of the gate. She hurried to the car and found the engine still on, indicating that her friend was inside it. Knocking at the tinted window, she announced her arrival.
"Hey!" she smiled faintly waving out her hand. "What happened Lavanya? You sounded so upset over the phone."
"Get in!" Lavanya ordered, rolling down the window, her eyes seething with fury. Khushi quietly nodded and stepped into the car, getting into the passenger seat beside Lavanya. "Are you alright?" she asked, concerned for her friend.
"How could you do this Khushi? I thought you were my best friend." Lavanya started vehemently, feeling disgusted and betrayed by the person in front of her.
"What? What did I do?" Khushi asked innocently, feeling utterly confused at Lavanya's words.
"I stood by you through everything, even when your Buaji passed away. You knew how horribly Rishab had broken up with me that day. And yet, you chose to back stab me. Is this what I get for being your best friend?" Lavanya replied, loathing her so called best friend for pretending to be naive about this matter.
"Wait Lavanya. I seriously cannot understand what you are trying to say. When did I back stab you? And why is Rishab brought into all this?" Khushi answered back in disbelief, not being able to comprehend what she was talking about.
"It isn't even a month since I broke up with him and here you are lying all over him, God knows doing what else with him. I didn't think you could be so cheap Khushi. Atleast not with my ex and that too behind my back. I thought you had morals and you valued our friendship. But I think I was wrong." Lavanya sighed, turning her head towards the window, unable to stare into the eyes of her friend anymore.
"Hey Devi Maiyya! Lavanya, what are you saying? Atleast think before you hurl such accusations at me. I don't know anything about Rishab. So why would I go behind him?" Khushi shouted back, her temper rising at being accused like this.
"So now you are pretending to be all naive and innocent huh? I would have believed you if it weren't for these pictures Khushi." Lavanya paused when suddenly, the realisation struck her. "Wait! Oh my God! So you two were together even before we broke up? You were the girl for whom he broke up with me. And yet that day, you were giving me false consolation telling he isn't worth it. Why? So that you could have him all to yourself with me out of the way? You should have just told me you know. I would have broken up with him for you." Lavanya glared at her, as tears stung her eyes. This was even worse than what she had anticipated a few hours earlier.
"What pictures? Show me!" Khushi ordered, wanting to clear out this mess as soon as possible.
"These!" Lavanya said and took out her Blackberry, flashing the pictures to her best friend. Khushi grabbed the phone and went through them.
"How did you get these?" Khushi asked, immensely shocked at finding the pictures of yesterday night on her friend's phone. Why were Arnav's and her pictures with her best friend? And what did this all have to do with backstabbing her best friend? And who the hell was Rishab in all this?
"Changed your colour so fast Khushi, now that I have evidence to prove it? So what do you have to say to defend yourself? That it's not you in that picture? Tell me!" Lavanya demanded in a loud tone, startling Khushi out of her wits.
"Yes, that is me." Khushi whispered. "But I was with Arnav."
"Oh! So now, this is Arnav? Are you trying to fool me by saying Rishab is Arnav?" Lavanya replied back sarcastically.
"Why are you being so sarcastic Lavanya? You get to have as many boyfriends as you want and while I have one, why are you behaving like this?" Khushi blared, totally annoyed at her best friend.
"Wow! So now, you are justifying your actions. Unbelievable Khushi! You are just unbelievable!" Lavanya snorted back. "You are asking me why I am behaving like this. What else do you expect me to do when you learn that your best friend is cheating you with your ex boyfriend behind your back? I knew Rishab could droop so low, but you Khushi, simply pathetic!" She sighed with absolute disgust.
"But what has Rishab got to do with all this? This is Arnav. Not some Rishab of yours." Khushi exclaimed out loudly. "Ok, I'm sorry I should have told you about Arnav earlier, but this is not Rishab. I know this guy from the past two months. Lavanya, do you even realise what you saying?"
"Khushi, please stop defending your actions. You and I both know very well that this is Rishab. And no, I'm not drunk. So please stop staring at me like that. I know what I'm saying." Lavanya declared, folding her hands, wondering how much lower her friend could drop.
"He is not Rishab. I know this guy very well. He is not someone who will do something like this. We both love each other a lot. And I never backstabbed you. I haven't even seen Rishab." She cried out helplessly. "Wait! Are you doing all this because you are jealous that your best friend is happy with a guy and you have none? Ok, I admit, I didn't tell you about him because I wanted to be sure about Arnav's and my relationship and only then inform you. And when I was about to tell you about him, you just had your break up. So I didn't want to hurt you. I was being your best friend by being sensitive about it." Khushi exasperatedly tried to explain to Lavanya.
"Khushi, this guy is Rishab. Rishab Malhotra. The guy whom I met in Shimla. You want proof? Check this out." Lavanya replied and grabbing her cellphone, she went to the image folder to show her a picture of both them that she had managed to click in a mall, a few weeks before their break up. Somehow, Rishab had always evaded getting photographed with her and this was one rare occasion when she had taken their picture without his notice.
Khushi stared wide eyed at the mobile screen, as complete shock enwrapped her body. She simply couldn't believe her eyes. That guy indeed looked like Arnav. Infact, he was Arnav. His clothes, that stubble, even his wrist watch was the same.
"Now, don't tell me, this is not Rishab. You cannot refute this picture." Lavanya said, sighing out loudly.
Khushi felt tears slowly stinging her eyes as realisation dawned upon her. Lavanya, her best friend was indeed telling the truth. Then, how else could she explain Arnav and Lavanya being together in a single photograph?
There was only one explanation to this and she feared the truth.
"Stop crying now!" Lavanya shouted at her, causing her to snap out of her thoughts. "Your tears are not going to set right what you have done to me. I can never forgive you for this Khushi. Never. Today, I have lost my best friend. I don't know why you did this to me." She replied, turning away her face from Khushi.
"But Lavanya..." Khushi interrupted to convince her friend that she had never done this intentionally.
"Just leave me alone Khushi. Just go away." Lavanya stopped her midway and opened the door ushering her to step out of her car. Khushi had no other choice except to oblige. There was no way Lavanya was going to listen to her explanation. When she lost her temper, Khushi knew her best friend would never listen to anyone or anything.
Lavanya pulled the car door with a sudden force, banging it right in front of Khushi's face and sped off the car leaving behind a teary eyed Khushi all by herself on the roadside.
o0o
"Khalid Bhai, how was your trip?" Arnav asked sitting across the elder man in the living room of the latter's house. Khalid had arrived back to India three days earlier, but only returned to Delhi yesterday morning. On returning back, he had immediately scheduled a meeting with Arnav to discuss about the important mission he had earlier mentioned about before leaving to South Africa.
"It was good. The deal went successful and they said the next consignment will be arriving later this month." Khalid replied, resting back his head on the couch.
"Bhai, you had mentioned about some important mission and I think I have been invited here to talk about it, isn't it?" Arnav asked, looking at the other man's face.
"Ah yes. This is about it. Listen Arnav," Khalid straightened himself, while he looked all around him to make sure no one was within the earshot of their conversation. He had sent away all his men from this part of the house coz he knew no one could be trusted. "What I'm going to say is a very confidential matter. Only you and I will know about this. I don't want you to tell about this to anyone. And anyone includes everyone in the gang as well as outsiders."
Arnav nodded silently, wondering what was so important to be guarded so secretively.
"I have got insider information that a notorious drug peddler from Assam is after me. His name is Ramcharan Das. He wants to topple over our gang and control Delhi. And for that, he is targeting you." Khalid paused, taking in the sight of absolute shock that flicked through the young man's eyes before it vanished away in an instant.
"He knows that you are my right hand man and my prized possession. Once they take you down, they know that I will be weakened and all our suppliers will instantly switch sides. And I know you are curious to know this and the answer is yes, he was the one behind your attacks. That day, when you were shot, I had got suspicious. Hence, I sent one of my men to track down your attackers. It was very hard tracing them coz they covered up every trail, leading it to a dead end. But somehow, one of them gave into our threatening and provided this information. Now here comes the shocking part of the information. Ramcharan Das has managed to infiltrate our gang and someone amongst us is working for him. This is the reason why I warned you earlier to keep this conversation between us a secret because we cannot trust anyone. I could only trust you because I know you Arnav. You are not the one whose loyalty could be swayed away easily. I can even blindly trust my life with you." Khalid said looking straight into his eyes.
"What do you want me to do?" Arnav asked, directly jumping into the main part.
"I want you to go to Assam and swindle away his suppliers and weaken his stance." Khalid replied coolly as if it were some ordinary errand. But Arnav knew there was more to this. "And?" he asked staring at the elder man's face.
Khalid put his hands into the pockets and took out a bundle of photographs, placing them on the table in front of him. "I want you to finish off all of these people. Three of them. Main people in Ramcharan Das's gang. If he dares to attack my men, I know very well how to pull down his men too."
Arnav took the pictures in his hand and carefully glanced at their faces, memorising them.
"You will need to leave tomorrow night. And remember once again, don't mention about this to anyone. I want you gone away in the dark so that no one comes to know about you missing in the city. Once you reach Guwahati, one of my men will guide you." But suddenly, Khalid saw some hesitation flick in Arnav's eyes.
"I know you are thinking about the reward. Your reward will be whatever you shall ask for. Yes, you heard it right. I will give you whatever you ask for, anything." Khalid smiled, knowing that he had rightly hit the target.
Anything... the words echoed through Arnav's mind. Was this how he could get freedom from this criminal world? Would Khalid Bhai allow him to leave the country and work somewhere else to provide a stable life for himself and Khushi? Would these three murders be his last ones?
Three men. Three bullets.
That was his price of freedom. And more, because those same men had tried to kill him. Maybe he could exact revenge on them. And revenge was definitely sweet.
"Ok Bhai. Done. I'll do this." Arnav smiled back, getting up from his place.
"That's good. So I'll see you tomorrow before you leave." Khalid said, standing up, patting the young man's shoulder. Somehow, he couldn't deny that this boy always had a special place in his heart.
Maybe because he reminded him of someone very dear to him.
"Arnav, you have the Goenka's file don't you?" Khalid asked suddenly remembering about his conversation with Goenka yesterday.
"Yes." Arnav spun around, a little bit startled by the question. After his fight with Aman, he had forgotten completely about the file.
"Goenka said that he doesn't need the file. But you need to destroy it so that it doesn't go into the hands of the authorities at any cost. And yes, he has transferred the ten crores into your account." Khalid announced.
"Oh okay then." Arnav nodded and left through the main door. He knew one thing. That file was too precious to be destroyed. Maybe he could use it for a later day. But for now his hands were full. He had to prepare for his trip to Guwahati. He then remembered Aman. If he were with him today, they would have discussed about how to go through with this. But his idiotic friend had at the right time decided to walk out on him and now, Arnav had no clue as to where he could be.
B*tch! He cursed his friend, wondering what Aman would be doing right now. He was still angry with him but not for the initial reasons but rather for not returning back home. Now that he thought about it, he noticed that the fight between them was absolutely silly. Somehow both of them had managed to make a big thing out of a petty issue and now Aman wasn't even picking his calls.
Maybe he would come back when he was finally tired whining like a puppy, Arnav chuckled to himself. As he sat in the car, he wondered about what Khalid Bhai had said to him a few minutes ago. People from their gang itself were betraying them. So that meant someone had planned all the attacks on him. He gritted his teeth, clenching his fists, promising a painful end to that traitor. But who could it be? he wondered. If only Aman was still talking to him, he would have discussed this with him.
But for now, he was tired and all he wanted to do was get home and be with Khushi and do arrangements about tomorrow's trip. Could he take her along with him or could he leave her all alone over here? Maybe he could take her to Guwahati. It would be a welcoming change for her too. They could stay there for sometime while he secretly carried out the mission. Yes, this was the best idea, he decided, as he drove off the car, completely oblivious to the storm that was brewing ahead of him.
CHAPTER 43
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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