Posted:
hahah good chapter
i thought he would be proposing to her LOL
love khushi and arnav in this
I'm glad you all enjoyed the previous chapter! Now this one is long...really long. It's also fast paced so that it meets the tempo of the rest of the story. I hope I didn't disappoint anyone! Please keep on commenting/liking. Your kind responses have made me write this chapter very fast.
Chapter 8
Khushi Rathod. Marry me.
He watched in slight disgust as she popped one jalebi in after the other with no intention of stopping.
How could she remain so petite when she consumed the same amount of food that a body builder would eat?
Arnav inwardly sighed. Judging by her posture and the way she was eating, it would take a long time to convince the woman who was just as stubborn as he was.
Khushi was not expecting this, not in the very least. Even after the words had left his mouth, she was in a state of shock.
Arnav Singh Raizada
had asked her to marry
him.
Had pigs started
to fly?
Was the apocalypse coming?
The man who never believed in
marriage was proactively asking her for hand in marriage?
The very thought caused her to eat the delicious sweets at an even faster rate.
Two boxes down, five to go. The amount of sugar in her system definitely would have killed Arnav by now.
"Khushi?" Maybe it was too soon to ask what her answer was.
By the murderous glare she shot him, it was way to soon.
He sat beside her
on the bed and placed the sweets down. She turned away from him and
hastily swallowed whatever was in her mouth.
"Khushi, please listen to me."
"Have you gone mad Arnav!" He tried very hard not to grin at the sticky crumbs on her face, and tried even harder to resist the urge to wipe them away.
"Marriage! Both of us are not ready for marriage! We have out careers to think about. I can't leave everything to become a loving housewife!"
"Khushi -"
"And you! You don't even like me!"
That's not true.
"Khushi,
just -"
"Why don't you think before you say something!?"
Okay, now he was getting very angry. "KHUSHI! JUST SHUT UP AND LET ME TALK DAMMIT!"
Her mouth closed slowly as she realized that he was right. She hadn't let him explain. It was her turn to take some deep breaths.
"Arnav..."
But he didn't hear her voice. Something in him had snapped. He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her onto her back, his body covering hers.
She looked at his trembling body and noticed for the first time just how much bigger he was. She gulped which he saw. At least now she'll actually hear what I have to say.
"That's better isn't it?" His voice was mocking. "The tables have turned Rathod. You WILL listen to what I am saying!"
Arnav watched as she struggled against his iron grip. He made sure that she wouldn't move, though he didn't mind if she did. Seeing Khushi this submissive did something to his screwed up mind. "Marry me Khushi. For Di."
She stopped squirming as realization dawned upon her. For Di.
He saw the comprehension on her face and smirked. "I hate to admit it, but you're a smart woman. If you marry me, you'll live here with all of us. You can keep an eye on Di and Shyam...better than I can. And before you say that you can do that without us being married, you know that that's not true. It'll be a marriage in name only that will end once Shyam is gone from Di's life...both physically and emotionally."
Arnav let her go
and helped her sit up. His hand shot out and wiped the sticky mess off of her mouth, noting the way her eyes closed at his touch. Her lips were softer than he had expected. How would they feel against his?
"You
won't make me give up my job?" She asked slowly, still recovering from his sudden touch.
He looked disgusted at the very thought. "I don't want my wife to stay at home and make food all day. We don't live in the stone ages anymore. Shyam returns home about the same time that we do...and then he leaves again. Di needs you, she needs us. I...I want this Khushi, because I know that you can protect my sister." His voice was softer than before as he looked at her imploringly.
She ate one more jalebi, chewing slowly, mulling his words over in her mind. Overall, her lifestyle wouldn't change much. She would just live in RM, which was her second home anyway. Maa and papa would be fifteen minutes away. Her parents wouldn't nag her about marriage anymore...until Shyam was caught. She was seriously considering accepting his proposal.
In name only.
Khushi looked at Arnav and hid a blush. Arnav was attractive, very
attractive. Could she live with him? Could he live with her? Would
the marriage lead to something else?
A sliver of hurt ran through her. He only considered her as the prime candidate for marriage because of her proximity to Di as well as her career, not because he cared for her. What toll would that take on her?
This wasn't about
them though, this was about Anjali. And to protect the woman who was like her sister, she would go to the very end of this earth.
Arnav
watched her carefully. She was going to say yes, he knew it. That
knowledge sent a tingle up his spine. He didn't know how long it
would take for her to catch Shyam...a month...a year...more? What he
did know was that he was going to enter into a union with this
beautiful woman for a period of time.
A woman who could match him in
words, temper, stubbornness, passion.
How exactly was he going to keep his desires to himself? There was something between them, there had always been something between them. He just didn't wanted to acknowledge it.
Arnav had never seen Khushi as a sister even though NK, Anjali, and Akaash had. He had seen her as the girl who had intruded on his life since he was two years old.
Now she was a beautiful woman who turned heads everywhere she went, who wielded as much wealth and power as he did.
Hate had turned to rivalry which had turned to mutual acceptance. They had come a long way in twenty five years.
He remembered the darker days in his life when he was still Arnav Malik., when his uncle had cruelly kicked them out of the house after his dad had...
Arnav cringed at the mere thought of the man known as his father.
His
uncle had stolen everything from him. His home, his innocence, his
khushi.
His mother had left them forever on the day of his sister's broken wedding.
Suicide.
For a long time, he had thought that Di would be like Maa, and go off on the deep end. But luckily, Khushi's mother had been there, and helped all of them when society had seen it fit to discard them like a piece of trash.
It had been Vivek
Uncle who had taken him and Anjali under his wing, who had brought them all to Delhi, who had taught
Arnav about business, sending him off to Harvard.
And it had been Khushi who had comforted him the day his mother had died by cradling him. She who had massaged Anjali's shattered leg, rubbing ointment onto it every hour. She who had wiped away both of their tears with her soft angelic hands. She who went into his room when he had nightmares and sat with him, holding his hand, murmuring sweet nothings into his ear.
If he was honest with himself, she would be his perfect life partner, the person who knew him better than himself.
But he wasn't honest at all.
"Arnav."
Her voice shook him out of his thoughts.
She scrutinized him thoroughly before raising her hand up and smacking him across his head.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" He yelled, nursing his sore, aching head. She was smirking at him. Khushi was actually taking pleasure in his pain! That little minx...
"That was for popping this question on me when I wasn't prepared. But...I've thought it over."
She took one more breath before saying,
"I'll do it. I'll marry you."
***************************************************************************************
For some reason, Arnav had the odd urge to jump up and shout "YES" while pumping his fist. Well that wasn't so hard. He didn't need the salve and band-aids he had bought after all. His head would be alright soon. Convincing a woman to marry him wasn't that difficult...not that he would do it again. Once was enough.
"Really?" He had to make sure.
She shot an annoyed glance at him. I must be insane to do this. "Didn't I just say yes? Don't make me change my mind."
An awkward silence descended upon the couple, both averting each others eyes.
"So, when should we get married?" Khushi asked.
"Right now." Arnav replied back nonchalantly.
She stared at him in shock.
"WHAT! You want to get married now?" He didn't understand why she was so surprised.
"Well yes. You know that I'm not going to sit through an entire Indian wedding with all the stupid rasams and what not. Plus, I need you in the house immediately. We can go down to the register and marry each other. All we need are witnesses."
She slapped him on the back of the head again...even harder.
"Khushi!" He yelped, rubbing his sore head.
"Tum pagal to nahi ho? When do we tell everyone...what do we tell everyone? That we just decided to get married all of a sudden. It's like we've eloped or something! We are eloping! They'll think I'm pregnant! And did you ever think that maybe I wanted a real wedding, one with all the pomp and show?" Her voice was rising higher and higher.
Arnav pinched the bridge of his nose. Women. "I have a plan Khushi. Just trust me this once. We get married now, and tell everyone tomorrow. I'll break it to everyone...including your parents."
Arnav winced at the thought of Vivek Uncle strangling him with his bare hands for marrying Khushi without taking his permission first.
Her hand was about to hit him again but stopped right before reaching his head. "Fine." She sighed in defeat. "I'm trusting you...but only this once."
He nodded solemnly, not wanting to incur her wrath again. She was strong.
"So," Arnav clapped his hands together. "Shall we go?" It was like he was asking her to take a stroll in the park rather than asking her to go get married.
"After you, my lord." Khushi replied sarcastically, standing up.
"Wait, you go down first, and I'll follow." Arnav commanded.
"What's the point now? We're engaged aren't we? Honestly, only you would propose to a women with seven boxes of jalebis!" She muttered nastily under her breath, but loud enough so he heard her.
Arnav choked a little. Engaged? Oh right, they were. After all, he had proposed and she had accepted.
Wait. Engagements usually involved rings.
Rings. They needed those...or at least she did.
He really hadn't thought this through.
"Khushi? Is it okay if I get you a ring tomorrow, or a mangalsutra? Which do you prefer?"
On her part, she had forgotten that marriage usually included those things therefore she was extremely surprised that Arnav had remembered. Truthfully, she wouldn't put it past him to put a jalebi on her finger and declare that their engagement ring.
"Oh...um...either is fine I suppose. Maa and Nani would want a mangalsutra, but a ring says the same thing. So it's up to you." She was a bit lost for words.
He nodded slightly, not looking forward to tomorrow at all. Thank God it was Sunday tomorrow.
"Witnesses!" Khushi exclaimed suddenly. "We need witnesses!"
They looked at each other for a moment.
"Aman."
"Atman."
He couldn't help but smile. "Done. Call your guy, and I'll call mine."
***************************************************************************************
After their respective calls were made telling Atman and Aman to come to the Municipal Building, Khushi went downstairs first.
The family minus Shyam was still seated in the living room when Khushi entered. The talking stopped immediately and Khushi rolled her eyes. They were no doubt discussing her and Arnav which she knew was their favorite topic. Well, their wish will come true...only for a little bit.
A pang of guilt ran through her. She wasn't just deceiving Anjali, she was deceiving the entire Raizada Parivaar, plus her own. She was probably deceiving herself as well.
This marriage, though legal, would be a dhoka, a sham. However, she and Arnav had to sell it in order for Di to be safe.
She snorted. Arnav Singh Raizada was about to play a man who got married because he loved his woman (her) too much to wait any longer.
If only.
The sadistic part of her wanted to make him explain tomorrow just how and why they had gotten married, but she knew that she would have to do it because Arnav could not lie to his family convincingly.
"Arey Khushi-bitiyaan, tum aa gayi ho?" Nani asked slyly. Khushi just smiled back. Honestly, these people forgot that she could read a person like a book based on their emotions! They had to be a little more discrete next time. There wouldn't be a next time. The next time I set foot in this house, I'll be Mrs. Arnav Singh Raizada. Just that thought conjured up a dozen images that she didn't want to even contemplate.
"Yes Nani. Lekin I have to go. I neglected paperwork all day and now it's coming back to bite me." She said with a smile.
The family however, was still sporting knowing smiles.
"Hey Khushi, do you know where Bhai is?" Akaash asked, seemingly innocently. Khushi wanted to scream. Could they be anymore obvious?
"He was in his room the last I saw him. Arnav rushed after me because he forgot about some deal that needed to be finalized." There was always some deal or another that was going on in AR Design.
And judging by Akaash's sour expression, she was right. "Oh, the Khurana deal?" What Akaash didn't know was that Arnav had closed this particular deal before and forgotten to tell him.
"That's the one." Khushi chirped happily. "Well, I've got to go. See you all tomorrow maybe?"
It was then that Arnav stormed down the stairs, fully dressed in his suit, nearly screaming into his phone.
"What do you mean he said no Aman! No one refuses me! Get that idiot back to the office now!" Arnav paused, letting the imaginary Aman on the end of the line 'talk.' "It's not late at all. If he has time to say no to me then surely he has time to come down to my office and explain why!"
Khushi watched in amusement as Arnav got angrier and angrier. She could almost see the steam coming out of his ears...and this was a fake conversation.
Arnav removed the phone from his ear, staring straight at Khushi. "Rathod! Wait!"
Irked at the use of her last name when just minutes before the two of them had decided they would get married, Khushi scowled at him. "What?"
"Your building is in the same direction as my office. Drop me off." He demanded, not letting her even speak. "Aman, I'll be there soon. Just make sure Khurana gets there now as well!" Arnav made a show out of taking a deep breath. "KHUSHI!"
"Fine fine. I'll drop you off. But if you scream at me in my car, I will kick you out!" It really looked like they were arguing and not faking the entire thing.
Arnav sneered at her, rudely brushing her shoulder as he walked by. "I don't make arbitrary promises."
Khushi threw up her hands in exasperation. "Lovely boy." She muttered. "Bye everyone." With a wave, she followed Arnav, walking as though she was going to her death.
In the living room, shocked expressions covered everyone's faces.
"Well, it seemed as though we were wrong." Anjali sighed. "I really thought..."
"We all did bitiyaan, we all did." Mami patted her shoulder sympathetically.
While the rest of the family discussed ways of getting Arnav and Khushi together, Mama sighed. Everyone else was clearly blind if they couldn't see that that this was all a farce. Arnav and Khushi's behavior was too drastic of a change from this morning.
Those two were going somewhere together, and they didn't want anyone else to know.
***************************************************************************************
When Aman Mathur and Atman Kulkarni met each other at the Municipal Building, they both knew that something was wrong.
"I'm assuming you're here for Raizada." Atman crossed his arms across his chest, looking extremely intimidating.
To poor Aman who dealt with ASR everyday, this man seemed slightly scarier, and not only because he carried a gun.
After Aman had gone home yesterday, he had turned on the news only to see Khushi-madam, the very same woman who had stormed into AR Design on T.V. That's when he had realized why her name was so familiar. She was someone who everyone in India knew, the youngest STF Commander in history, who happened to be his boss's...acquaintance.
"Y..y...yes." Aman stammered, hating how pathetic he sounded. "Did Khushi-madam call you?"
Atman choked at the name. "Khushi-madam? Does she know that you call her that? If you call your boss Arnav-sir, then it seems as though she's Arnav's wife!" His laughter rang through the entire room. "But yes, I'm here for Khushi."
"Why would both of them call us here?" Aman mused while tapping his chin. "And on a Saturday? I mean, people come here to pay taxes, get birth certificates, death certificates, marriage licenses..." He trailed off, not seeing the horrified expression on Atman's face. "What could they possibly want?"
"Hey kid, what's your name?" Atman asked, dread setting over him.
Aman was more than a little miffed at being called a kid, but he feared being shot. "Aman. Aman Mathur."
Atman stared at Aman with his customary scrutinizing gaze. "Well Aman, my name is Atman Kulkarni, Khushi Rathod's right hand." Atman paused dramatically before continuing. "I have an odd feeling that you are going to be calling my boss 'Khushi-madam'."
He let what he had just said sink in, grim satisfaction setting in when he saw the younger man's face pale.
"Oh crap."
"My sentiments exactly."
***************************************************************************************
The car ride to the Municipal Building was awkward to say the least. Eye contact was completely avoided and conversation was not even attempted. Both of them knew what they were getting into, but none knew what would actually happen.
Khushi still couldn't believe that Arnav had asked this unthinkable question, and Arnav couldn't believe that she had accepted. This was like those crazy Indian soap operas that Mami and Nani religiously watched...but worse.
In just a little time, they would be husband and wife, bound together by a piece of paper as well as mutual love for Anjali.
That was all.
That's all that there ever would be.
Well...no. But the two of them didn't know that detail yet.
Khushi drove up the massive building with some amount of trepidation. She risked a glace at Arnav who was seemingly fascinated by the window.
"We're here." She said monotonously.
"I know." He nearly tore the door off as he opened it. He stalked off without a second glance to her, leaving Khushi stupefied.
"Idiotic fool." She muttered under her breath before catching up to him.
*********************************************************************************************
They were greeted by the sight of a terrified looking Aman and a terrifying Atman who glared daggers at Arnav the second he was within sight.
Atman took in Khushi's annoyed stance and posture as well as Arnav's tense one. Making sure no one was in the vicinity, he pulled out his gun and pointed it at Arnav.
Aman immediately jumped in front of his boss who didn't looked very scared by the sight of a fully loaded gun being pointed between his eyes.
Khushi
would have told Atman to stand down, but this was very
amusing.
"Agent Kulkarni! What are you doing?" Aman asked fearfully, not sure where the sudden burst of courage to jump in front of a gun came from.
"Mathur, I'll give you till the count of five to move away." Atman said lazily, checking his watch.
"One."
"Boss! Move!"
Arnav being Arnav, didn't move. Instead, he scoffed at Aman and kept his eyes on the gun.
"Two."
Atman, though he didn't like Raizada very much, had to admire the way he held his ground against a man wielding a gun. There was something in this man's eyes that he liked...determination, confidence, arrogance, whatever it was, Arnav Singh Raizada seemed pretty sure that he wasn't going to die.
"Three."
Khushi sighed. Arnav wasn't going to move. Damn his stubbornness, and damn her unwillingness to do anything.
"Four."
Aman was seriously panicking. Was his boss suicidal? Did he want to die, and if he did, would Akaash-sir be a good ASR? "Sir! I'm begging you to move."
It was then that Arnav growled and shoved Aman aside. Honestly, the man was great at his job, and Arnav admitted that he did push Aman too hard, but this was a bit too much. He knew that he didn't deserve to have anyone die for him.
"Fi-"
"I didn't get her pregnant."
His voice theatrically echoed through the deserted corridor.
Arnav watched as
Khushi's version of Aman casually put his gun back in its holster and
nodded ever so slightly. He made sure to conceal the way he let out a
shuddering breath so no one would know how his heart had stopped in
his chest at the sight of that gun.
"Just making sure." Atman smirked at Aman's incredulous expression and Khushi's rather amused one.
"Atman Kulkarni." He stuck his hand out towards Arnav who shook it and tried not to wince at the iron grip.
"I already know who you are, Raizada." The older man said when Arnav opened his mouth. For a moment, Arnav was stunned. Never once had anyone who knew his name (except Khushi) talked to him like this. Inwardly, he was happy. There was someone in the world who didn't care who he was.
"So..." Khushi drawled. "If your drama is done, shall we proceed?"
She walked over to Atman. "Really Bhaiyaa, was that necessary?
Atman caught Arnav's eye. "Hey, I have a little sister complex. Can't a brother protect his sister?"
Arnav's breath hitched in his throat. Can't a brother protect his sister? It was the duty of a brother to do so, a duty he had failed.
Anjali had paid the price for his failure.
Khushi was going to be his redemption.
A storm raged within him, she could see that. A tempest gathering on his forehead, his eyes clouded over, fists clenched. The moon seemed to create enormous tides throughout his being, pushing and pulling, tearing him asunder.
"He should. And if he can't, then that man does not deserve to live." His voice cracked ever so slightly.
For a split second, Arnav met Khushi's gaze. Her heart constricted at the pain etched into those caramel depths. Arnav had just implied that he was better off dead than alive.
He
tore his eyes away, not wanting to see her sympathy, not wanting to
succumb to his urges and take her in his arms this very moment.
"Come on, let's do this."
****************************************************************************************
A marriage really didn't take long to perform. All it entailed was obtaining a license, use your status as important figures in the community to eradicate the customary 24-hour waiting period, have the man perform the wedding, show some form of ID, sign the document, have your witnesses sign it, say that you will lawfully take this man/woman as your husband/wife, and voila, you're married.
"Do you take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife?" Arnav desperately hoped that his voice was impassive. The foreign emotion that generated in his chest was threatening to burst out. It felt so...so genuine for something so fake.
"I do."
Her heart chipped at his dead voice. None of this is real. Get your head out of the clouds, Rathod. You're doing this for Di and Di only.
"Do you take this man as your lawfully wedded husband?" The question was directed at Khushi this time.
The full reality of what he was going to do her hit him at that question. He was asking her to give up her independence, her freedom, just to help him. The man she hated, who had taunted and teased her as a child.
It was all to help Anjali. Why? Why had she agreed? Why hadn't she said no like a normal person? Why?
For a fleeting moment, he wished that she would say no, that she would back out. But one look at the steely determination in her eyes told him that she would say...
"I do."
She had said it. It was done. Khushi Rathod had tied herself to Arnav Singh Raizada in the eyes of the law, laws that she was paid to protect.
However in their case, the sanctity of marriage was not being upheld. Yes, she would perform the tasks of a wife, and he of a husband...on the surface. Anything deeper than that was off limits.
"Very well then, if you two would just sign here..."
The man performing
the ceremony glanced at this odd couple as they picked up the pen in
an almost robotic manor to sign the document that would make them
one. These two didn't look like two people madly in love, they
looked...bored.
As he asked the witnesses to sign as well, he noticed the way the two, Arnav and Khushi, remained in the background, not talking, just standing there. Out of all of the people he had married together, these two were by far the strangest.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife. Congratulations."
For the second time since they arrived at the building, they looked at each other, the same emotion reflected in their eyes.
What was it?
She didn't know, and neither did he.
What they did know was that now, their entire life was changed.
In sickness and in health.
Through thick and thin.
For better or for worse.
Atman turned to his boss and his boss's husband, a small smile lingering on his face. He didn't ask any questions as to why these two people had married, but he was happy nonetheless. If this is what his boss wanted, then so be it.
"Congratulations indeed, Khushi Singh Raizada."
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