Arhi FF : Living and Loving ~Lnk for Thd 2 on pg.1 - Page 50

Part 6:

Arnav woke up when he heard someone banging the door incessantly. He rushed out of the room where he had slept and went to the living room, where Ajay was opening the main door, yelling to stop the noise. "Aditi??" Ajay questioned, as he scratched his head, wondering why on earth would she be coming to his place at this hour. It was hardly seven in the morning. "I need to rush to Hope. Its an emergency. . . ." Her voice trailed off, as she saw Arnav coming to stand behind Ajay, a similar, perplexed expression on his face. But when he heard of the emergency, he asked, "Is Di alright?!" Aditi averted her gaze from him and muttered, "She's fine!" Turning to Ajay, she asked, "Will you drop me?! My car seems to be dead! And I don't want to go racing on a rickshaw right now!" She had barely slept too, and she was majorly frustrated by the lack of proper rest, one of the side effects of her profession, which she never usually complained about.

"Can I put on my shirt at least?" Ajay asked, as he turned away, already walking towards his room. "And you were supposed to be there by 8. You remember right?" Aditi asked, looking directly into Arnav's eyes. He nodded and was about to leave to get ready too, when she called him, "Mr. Raizada?" And before he could tell her to call him with his first name, she said, "I don't want to know why you are back in Khushi's life. But please do not hurt her once again. She won't be able to take it." Arnav looked down, not knowing how to express his state of mind at that moment. Not that any amount of words would be able to express his regret, his remorse, his hurt at being the reason behind her hurt. "I've told him that I'd kill him if he hurt Khushi once again. That should hopefully do." Ajay said, as he entered the living room, buttoning a random shirt that he wore.

"And you could come with us too. . . You don't want to give Shiva one more reason to act nasty with you, trust me!" he spoke to Arnav, who nodded and told Ajay to carry on. And that he would be there as soon as possible. Ajay promptly handed him a spare set of keys to his apartment. And Arnav took it without even a bat of his eyelashes, and Aditi watched this exchange in surprise. This seemingly impossible friendship seemed to be a lot deeper than these two men showed, or maybe even realized. There was this silent understanding, probably neither of them had even noticed, thought Aditi. It was her forte to observe people, and she could see Ajay's acceptance, as she had grown up knowing him. But about Arnav, she was not so sure. Or maybe it was because she was not ready to trust the man yet. About anything related to him. Be it his alleged love for her best friend, or his friendship with Ajay. Her scrutiny was disturbed when she was pulled out of the apartment by her friend, Ajay.

As they rode to Hope, she sat silent, though she was dying to know why Ajay was doing this all. Helping Arnav when he was supposed to marry Khushi. "You know you can ask me anything, right?" Ajay asked, giving her an amused look. She sighed before turning in her seat, "Yaar. . . . Why?! I don't understand!!" Ajay sighed too, as he replied in a low, serious voice, "Haven't you seen what's in between them?! That just cannot be left to go in waste! Yes. I wanted to marry Khushi. But that was not because of love. She has my utmost respect, Aditi, and I would be honoured to spend my life with a person such as Khushi. But not at the cost of her happiness! She can be happy only when she's with Arnav!" Aditi frowned at the thought of Khushi ending up hurt. Again.

"I'm not sure, Ajji. . ." Aditi said, calling him by his nickname, lost in her thoughts. "Okay tell me this. . ." Ajay started explaining again, "In these months of friendship with Khushi, have you ever seen Khushi so. . . . . lively as she seemed yesterday?! She might have been angry, but have you seen her react in any way to anything over these months?? Yes, Khushi has lived in contentment, and all thanks to her new found profession. But she is a person who has to love like she lives. And she can only love Arnav. No one else! You understand what I am telling, and I know it. You have to make her see sense."

"I am not doing any such thing right now. You want me dead or what?! Shiva would kill me, and Khushi would not bother to cry even a single tear over me!" Aditi said in an acerbic tone. And Ajay told her to take her time, and it was only the right thing to do what he had asked her to do. They had arrived at Hope, and Aditi thanked him and left with her doctor's satchel, and Ajay came out too, and followed her at a slow pace. A child had been found, unconscious, and who had been a victim of malnutrition. She had been cleaned up, by the time Aditi had reached there, and Aditi did her routine checkup, and decided what had to be done to revive the child back to good health.

Ajay watched, as Khushi stood watching Aditi do her job, and also instruct some workers regarding something else too. It looked like there was some sort of preparations going on for some event. She came over when she spotted Ajay, and stood in front of him, not meeting his eyes for once, her lips pursed together. He smiled, knowing she was still angry at him. "Khushi. . . I am sorry. You know that you can still remove him off your property if you want to. I would assist you in doing it, if you really wanted it . . . . Our marriage is still on too. And it shall be, until and unless you want otherwise. All he's asking for is one chance. Won't you give it to him??" Khushi looked up at him when he asked this question, and he could see her fear in her eyes. The fear of getting her heart broken again. And before she could tell anything, she was approached by the chef to talk about some problem in the kitchen, and she left.

Shiva came too, and greeted Ajay with her usual formal style, and when Ajay asked what the event was, Shiva smiled affectionately and answered, "As a part of my birthday celebrations, Khushi has arranged a lunch for anybody who enters Hope today. We still don't know what number we're to expect, and she has hired additional chefs and equipment to cook for the number as and when they arrive." Ajay smiled as he once again justified his respect for the woman he intended to marry.

They both headed towards the kitchen, and saw the chefs working with extra large pots and Khushi assisting them too. What surprised him more was to see Anjali working in the kitchen too. Her delicate hands held the handle of a large spoon as she stirred a gooey mixture of probably some sort of sweet. Ajay's culinary skills ended in eating food, and differentiating between a spoon and a fork. He casually walked towards her, before he could even think of what he was doing and stood beside her, as she added fried cashews and stirred. She noticed him, and flashed a small smile at him. Ajay sighed, as he realized the animosity between them had somehow ended as he poached a few raisins from her hand and grinned at her when she saw what he had just done. She shook her head and got back to stirring, still smiling. She was using too much of her strength to stir the now-thick paste, and Ajay was suddenly concerned if this was allowed for pregnant woman. He put his hand on the handle too, as he easily took over the stirring using just one hand.

Anjali took a small step back, as she felt Ajay step even closer, realizing that his nearness was not making her feel uncomfortable in any way. But she did feel a twinge of fear. He was too warm. Almost as if he was made to melt the brittle cold wall that she had built around her heart. She stared at him, as he concentrated on the stirring the mixture for the sweet. She remembered the first time when Shyam had helped her in some way, and her eyes glistened with unshed tears. She looked down, staring at the thick paste which was angrily boiling in the pot. She clenched her jaw as she felt a sudden wave of fury gripped at herself. For being so susceptible, also knowing it was not really her fault that Shyam had not turned out to be what she had thought he was. He simply did not deserve her love and trust, did he? He did not even deserve more of her thoughts, let alone her tears. She heard someone clear their throat and she looked up to see Ajay staring down at her questioningly. She did not utter a word, as she left, making Ajay think if he had done anything to offend the princess.

Khushi and Shiva had observed the whole of the exchange, and looked at each other, Khushi having a small smile on her lips, feeling happy for Anjali and Ajay, if something were to happen between the two. While Shiva had a sarcastic smile on her lips, before Ajay turned to her and asked in Tamil, as to what he had done. Shiva easily shrugged it off, and headed out to see what else had to be done. After making sure Ajay's help was not needed in any way, he left to freshen up. It was not like Khushi could not afford for extra help, but she was a firm believer of saving for the rainy days. Besides, they were all like a family. If not at times like these, were whole of the family worked together, when could they?

*****

Arnav had left Ajay's apartment, locking it behind him, and pocketing the key for when he would need it. He caught a cab and went to a mall, only to find it closed. It was still wee hours, you see. He frowned and was thinking what has to be done when the cab driver asked what he needed. Well, Arnav right now needed a few pairs of denims which would not complain against the labour he had to do to repair his accommodation at Hope, and also the raw materials for the repair. The driver took him to what looked like a timber depot, and Arnav felt a sense of deja vu, before he shook it off and bought wooden planks sufficient to repair the entire building of Hope, if needed. By the time they came out, it was almost nine, and the driver took him to a local shop, and Arnav smirked to himself. The prince of the fashion industry in India was now shopping for jeans in a small shop in Goa. He bought the basic necessities of clothes required for his stay at Hope, and after buying the equipments to repair his room, he headed back to the depot, where he paid the driver and thanked him for all the help. As soon as the timber was loaded onto a goods carrier truck, he climbed in with the truck driver, and listened to the driver chatter like an idiot, explaining what just could not be missed at Goa.

*****

Khushi stood back and saw if there was anything else that needed to be done about the makeshift stage, when she heard a truck roar into the premises of Hope. She racked her brains to remember if she had ordered something, which was supposed to come by a truck. She stared as it came to stand in front of her, and a second later, Arnav jumped out of it, and Khushi raised her eyebrow. Since when did he grow so comfortable with trucks? She wondered and looked on, as he ordered the truck driver and the accompanying helper as to where the wood had to be unloaded to.

Shiva had come over too, as she watched with disinterest and stood next to Khushi. Arnav strode over to them and wished them a good morning, and explained to Shiva, "I wanted to come by eight, as you had told me to, but I had to get these things, and the shops were not open." Khushi felt a twinge of guilt to see him explain to someone about his actions. Arnav Singh Raizada, whom she had always associated with a majestic king, now stood humbly in front of her best friend, and explained his actions. Shiva just shrugged and ordered him to get to work, and Khushi smiled to herself too. He might be Arnav Singh Raizada, but even she was Sivaranjani! Khushi chuckled when Arnav had left, and Shiva smiled at her too, knowing entirely well, as to what was the source of Khushi's amusement.

They were about to talk about Arnav, when a few volunteers started to come in on their bikes. The pillion riders had megaphones in their hands, using which they would be announcing to the city, about the luncheon. Khushi thanked them again, and made sure that they announce it well in the downtown areas. For she knew that the creamy layer of the society in Goa would hardly be craving for food from a destitute house!

Arnav, after making sure that the wood was kept in a dry, safe place, tipped the helpers and changed into a pair of denims and a simple white tee-shirt. Anjali had come over too, and smiled sadly to see her brother work like this. She had never thought that the days would come again, when he had to work like this. She had not liked it the first time, when he had to work to buy food at least once per day, when they had been thrown to the streets right after the demise of their parents. They had been at the mercy of this cruel world, and she had seen her younger brother change into a man within a minute, as he started to toil, to feed her. To keep her fed and groomed. She did not like it now too. But she knew this was necessary. And if he was doing this on his own, there had to be a reason. And she knew what it was too. . . .

Love.

Which was missing from her life at the moment.

That's not true! She chided herself and thought of her unborn child, her brother and Khushi, who loved her a lot. Ajay's face flashed in her mind, and how he had saved her from falling, and she shook her head to clear away those thoughts. And as if her thoughts had resulted in materializing the object of her thoughts, Ajay stood next to her, grinning at Arnav. And she watched with bubbling joy as her Chotey smiled back too, asking Ajay's help to speed things up, as he entered the dusty room, tying a clothe around his mouth and nose. Ajay nodded and started to remove his expensive looking watch. "You would help?!" Anjali asked, her eyebroes almost touching the top of her forehead in surprise, thinking why would someone enter such a dirty place to help someone they hardly knew. "Of course. Would you mind keeping this watch with you? Its my dad's gift, and I don't want a scratch on it." He asked, as he handed his watch to her. She took it too, and called him when he was about to leave. He turned to her, expecting her to tell him why she had called him, and Anjali said in a wobbly voice, "Thank you. . . . You are the first actual friend my Chotey has had. And probably will be the only one."

Ajay looked down for a second and smiled, before he looked back into her eyes and said, "Yeah. . . . He's my first boyfriend too, and probably will be the only one. . ." Anjali gasped and put a hand against her mouth to stop herself from laughing, though her eyes gained the twinkle, and left Ajay almost breathless when he saw it. She shook her head, and smiled as she limped away from him, and he sighed too, before he got to work. Within an hour or so, they had dusted the room, and had started to remove the almost rotten wooden planks that had been used for the roof. They sawed the wooden planks in an even size, enjoying the feel of letting their full strength on something, and by noon, had covered half of the roof with the new, sturdy wooden planks.

Shiva walked in, when it was lunchtime, and she was dressed in a saree, ready to welcome whoever entered the gates of Hope, and called them to have lunch too. Well. She did invite Ajay. And Arnav just followed him, suddenly realizing how tired he had become from all the work he had done. As Arnav saw the first horde of people enter the gate, he saw how all the members of Hope gathered and started to make them feel at home, Shiva, Aditi, his Di and Ajay included. And it was then that he realized how Khushi had truly turned them into one big family. He watched as his Di, having the warm smile on her face, which had gone missing since the last few days, stood near the gate, next to a table laden with glasses of sherbet. She handed each of them a glass of sherbet and welcomed them, not for once seeing the difference in the difference of her and the person's statuses. She watched as everybody chipped in, in some or the other way, and his eyes strived to see the reason behind it all.

Khushi.

He found her leave the main building of Hope, decked in a colourful saree, and walk towards where the throng of people were made to sit. He literally thanked the forces that she believed in, as his eyes took in fills of the Khushi Kumari Gupta signature style that he had missed so much since what seemed like an eternity. He watched as she graciously welcomed the people to Hope, and also thanked them for coming. They were soon guided towards the rows of table where the food was to be served. The college kids, who were the volunteers of Hope, helped in doing so, and even Khushi fixed her pallu into the saree folding as each of them started to serve what the chefs had prepared since the morning. As she stood and watched the people eat happily, she instructed the chefs to start cook again for the next batch of people. He watched with pride as Khushi turned into a totally different person. Fully responsible, fully mature, and the childishness lost somewhere. However, he could not help but reproach himself for being the reason behind it. Soon Ajay and he were serving the people too, as it started becoming a madrush after a while. A few local people recognized Ajay Bharadwaj for he was a almost a celebrity among them, but not Arnav, which was fine by Arnav, even though Ajay did make a show out of the fact that Arnav Singh Raizada was unrecognizable when compared to Ajay Bharadwaj.

Khushi watched, as Arnav served the people, not for once complaining, and always sparing a smile or a grin or a jibe in the ribs with Ajay. It was astonishing as how these two had grown inseparable within a day. And whenever she saw Arnav smile, she felt her lips pulling up in a smile too, and if he looked at her, her smile would immediately fade. When she had seen the people rush in, she had not panicked even a single bit. Being a daughter of a halwai, she had been accustomed to the pressure of handling huge number of people turning up without notice. But she could not have taken one more minute of the scrutiny from the brown eyes, now filled with warmth, she was sure. All the love and the warmth reserved just for her. But she had not spared him a glance, making up her mind that the guests had to be taken care of, and not the laundry list of her personal problems.

And only after making sure that no more people would arrive, did everybody from Hope sit down to have their lunch. The chef, a round, jovial man, told the exact number of people who had arrived to have lunch, and how he had enjoyed cooking for so many people, and Khushi thanked everybody too, appreciating eaverybody's help and all of them applauded for each other. Khushi, Shiva and Aditi had sat at a table, when Ajay, followed by Arnav and Anjali joined them too, and they discussed the day, each explaining some or the other funny experience they had had. All except Khushi and Arnav. They just sat there, Arnav staring at only Khushi, while Khushi looked only at her plate, feeling a sudden at a loss of appetite.

Ajay tried to ease the all consuming electric charge that seemed to form between Arnav and Khushi, which was slowly encompassing them too, attracting them into the force which held them together against all odds. A few people had come late, and were enquiring if they could get any lunch, when Shiva and Aditi left to handle them. Ajay and Anjali looked at each other, their eyes locking with each other, communicating that the miffed lovers should be given some privacy, and they got up at the same instant, leaving just Arnav and Khushi at the table.

Khushi surreptitiously glanced at the suddenly empty chairs at their table, and she also knew that Arnav was still gazing at her. She made to get up, when Arnav called her name, and she could not avert her gaze any longer. She looked up into his eyes, basking in all the love that shone down on her, and having a strange urge to ease the pain in those deep, brown eyes. The pain, which she knew, was due to the fact that he was regretting hurting her like he had. He called her, and sat there, silent, without even bothering to say something, and Khushi asked, "Why are you doing this, Arnav?"

"I have realized that the life I created and lived all these days – a life without you – was due to my own foolish mistakes. And I also know that I would always want you with me. If you're not willing to come to me, then the only choice for me is to come to you. . . . . ." Arnav explained, and watched as Khushi closed her eyes, her head bent, as she massaged her temples with her knuckles. "Look, Khushi. . . . I know I've wronged you like nobody else can. But I won't be grovelling at your feet too. . . ." Khushi's eyes snapped open at this statement from him, and she looked at him in disbelief. Just look at the arrogance of the man, she was thinking, when he continued. "What?? You know me better than that. Khushi. Did you expect that from me??" Khushi sighed as she went back to her previous action, suddenly realizing how bad a head ache she was having at the moment.

"Give me crap, and I will take it without a second thought. Anything. But not leaving you. I would not leave you if my life depended on it, Khushi. No running. Not anymore." Arnav stated, and left the table, satisfied that he had made Khushi understand that come what may, she would have to get used to him in her life. Khushi opened her eyes to find herself alone at the table, and she pushed her full plate away from her and groaned, as she rested her heated forehead against the cool table top, feeling too weak. . . . . . . . . . .

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