Arhi FF : Living and Loving ~Lnk for Thd 2 on pg.1 - Page 59

well, someone is eating the humble pie, just to win ladylove back..
arnav can take anything but kushi's rejections...

its a great start that he has support from her friends at Hope..

Thanks for the PM. Loved it. Good that Arnav and Khushi talked. Ajay and Arnav get along well.

Part 7

Arnav had slept like a log, owing to all the toiling that he had done the previous day. Even though his room smelled of freshly cut wood, and sawdust, he was proud of what he had accomplished. With Ajay's help of course. He opened the door of the ancient cupboard, which he had found in the store room, and had repaired for himself. Extracting his clothes for the day, he went to the common bathroom that was meant for the staff of Hope. This was his second day there, and yet it felt like he belonged there. Everybody were so warm and friendly. Well. Except Shiva and Khushi, that is. The former was hell bent on giving him the toughest time, whilst the latter had not yet come to terms with the fact that he was now a permanent fixture in her life. Or maybe she always had, and she was afraid to accept it in front of him. Either way, she has to, thought Arnav as he scrubbed his body, concentrating on the knotted muscles of his shoulders.

As soon as he was dressed and ready for the day, he went in search of Shiva, who was supposed to be his mentor at Hope. He found her in Khushi's chamber, going through a file. He stood next to her, waiting for her to tell something to him, when she closed the file and looked up, directly into his eyes. "What are you good at?" she asked, and Arnav wracked his brains for a moment to mention his skills. "Anything related to clothes, repairing stuff, cleaning. . . . Umm. . . . Gardening. . . . That's about it, I guess." Shiva was thoughtful for a while before she asked, "What are you bad at? Apart from loving someone, that is. . ." Arnav gasped, as what she said touched home, and Shiva gave him a cruellest smile, and looked expectantly. He gulped, willing his breathing to come back to normal, reminding himself that he would make everything alright, he would bring back the happiness into Khushi's life, as he stood silent. "How are you at cooking?" Shiva asked when Arnav failed to answer her previous question.

Arnav looked at her in surprise, thinking of what could be answered about the question. "I've never cooked in my life. . . . ." He answered promptly, and saw the victorious grin on Shiva's face. "Come." She said, and Arnav raised his eyebrows as he followed her. 'Trust her to find my weak point right away!' Arnav was thinking, when he felt his fingers becoming wet. He bent to see Casey, the friendliest dog he had ever seen, and bent to scratch her ears. "Hey, girl!" he murmured, and felt a slight growl erupting from her, telling him he was rubbing her the right way. "You are expected in the kitchen. You do know that you'll have to clean yourself before you step into the kitchen. . . ." Shiva almost snapped, and Arnav sent Casey away before he cleaned himself up in the nearest hand-wash available and joined Shiva.

Soon, he was being decked in an apron and a chef's hat, before the chef started giving him instructions as to what had to be done. Since most of the inmates of Hope were aged, the food that was to be prepared was to be easily digestible, and also nutritious. Arnav's first job was to peel the carrots, and he had managed to peel two carrots, managing to cut himself in the process too, when he felt Khushi nearby. He looked up and saw that she was staring at him, a sad look in her eyes, before she sighed and went to the chef, asking him what the menu was, for the day. As the chef went to collect few other things, Arnav went to Khushi, and called her name when he stood directly behind her. She turned to him wearily and looked at him for a second, before her hand reached out and removed his hat. A flop of hair fell on his forehead, and he noticed Khushi clenching her free hand into a tight fist, as if her hand was itching to smooth his hair. He passed his fingers through his hair, sending the wayward fringe of hair back to its original place.

Khushi tried to ignore him as she went to the chef and was discussing about the menu for the day. Her stomach had become all knotty at the sight of Arnav peeling a carrot, holding it carefully in his large hands, and with so much concentration, as if he was writing some sort of test. And now, when he called her from exactly behind her, she had a good mind to ignore it and leave. But her betrayer heart made her to turn, and look into the warm brown eyes, which she knew would render her senseless within a second. And before she knew, she had removed the hat which would make anybody look silly, but had actually made Arnav look even more adorable. She clenched her free hand, when she saw the lock of hair which rested on his forehead whenever it was allowed to grow longer than he usually allowed.

She concentrated at a point somewhere in the middle of his well-sculpted chest, before she said, "Leave, Arnav. This is not going to work. . . ." She heard him gasp and take a step back in shock, and raised her eyes to see pain, as clear as day, written in his eyes. "If that's what you want, I will. . . But please do give me one chance Khushi. Do not snatch it away even before I make good use of the chance you gave me." He wanted to say. But he looked down, as he thought of his answer, before he looked into her eyes, challenging her in his own usual self, and said, "You almost seem like you are afraid of accepting the fact that you want me in your life just like I want you." Khushi's mouth fell open at his blatant arrogant reply. She shook her head and left, muttering something along the lines of 'You Wish', completely missing the wistful look in his eyes that returned once her back was to him, as he thought, 'Wishing is the maximum I could do. . . .'. The same expression, which Shiva witnessed, and looked down, sighing, thinking how much of heart break surrounded her.

"How's the princess doing?" She asked the chef, as she entered the kitchen, and the chef said he had hardly done anything. And before he anybody could react in anyway, they were interrupted by Ajay, who came in with a loud cheer, "Hey! There you are! You going to be the chef next? Sweet Jesus, help the people here!" Arnav gave him awry look and got back to peeling the carrots, when Ajay neared him and said, "I'm leaving to Dehradun." Arnav spared a questioning glance at him, and Ajay explained that he was on an assignment. And when he was about to leave, Arnav called him again, "Ajay. . . You almost know everything as to what had happened with my family, right?" Ajay frowned, wondering where Arnav was getting to, but nodded once. "Do you know where that son-of-a-bas***d husband of Di is?"

Ajay remained silent, thinking of the details that he himself had put together regarding the Raizada family, before he answered, "Shyam Manohar Jha. He was last seen in Lucknow. In a very pathetic, drunken state. . ." Arnav nodded, and replied, "Once this mess clears up, I'll get back to him. . . ." This mess referred to his life that was without Khushi, but Ajay understood it perfectly well, as he smiled and nodded in understanding. He had bid farewell to him and had just come out through the door, when he collided into Anjali. Again, he made sure she was safe, before he snapped, "Careful! I will not always be there to catch you!" "Well, excuse me! I do not remember asking you to catch me! Tell me how and why it bothers you if I fall down and something was to happen either to my child or me?!" Anjali snapped too, immediately forgetting the gratitude she had felt when he had held her safe from falling. Ajay stared at her in disbelief and muttered, "Do you even know what you're telling?!"

"I know exactly what I am telling! Perhaps it is your sympathy towards this woman who limps, but I don't care! Whatsoever! I would rather fall, than to take help from a moron like you!" Anjali almost yelled, and saw Ajay's eyebrows rise in sarcasm. "Oh, I'm sorry! I had no idea that you expected sympathy from me, you see? Shit happens in life. You've lost your leg, and some people lose their lives. The key is to move on, you see? Which you're miserably failing in! Trust me, Anjali. The last thing you would get from me is sympathy. I'm a follower of tough love. Go, deal with it!" He said this and left, as Anjali stared with a little hurt in her eyes. It seemed like he had said the truth after all. It was true that she did not expect sympathy from anyone, but when he said it like this; she realized she had expected something warmer from him. If not sympathy, then what else was the next question. He walked away, not even sparing a glance back at her. (Though he had been using all the swear words he knew at himself, for being so rude to a woman. That too such a woman, who had grown up, being the princess in her own safe castle. He badly wanted to look back, but he safely made it out of the building before he sighed and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He may say that he was not bothered by Anjali, but she always proved it otherwise. She certainly seemed too determined to prove the exact opposite to him!)

*****

A week passed like this. Arnav toiling hard, doing whatever work was assigned to him. Shiva admiring the persistence Arnav seemed to possess, and Khushi still wondering why he had not left yet. Anjali would either be tending to her brother, or thinking as to where Ajay had disappeared to. And the worst part was that she could not ask this to anyone. Khushi had noticed the restlessness growing in Anjali and had talked to her too, telling that she had been trying to contact Ajay, but he seemed to be out of station, and she had not known where he had gone to.

It seemed like Arnav was the only person who knew about Ajay's whereabouts and since he did not know that Khushi and Anjali were both in search of Ajay, he had remained silent. And he had caught Khushi staring at him at multiple points of time, which somehow kept up his hope of getting her back. Shiva had surprisingly allowed him to take care of the garden too, even after knowing that he enjoyed gardening. He had thought that her motto would be to make him do the toughest things possible. But she had relented and given him a chance to do one of his most favourite things. He had been puzzled for days, and had eventually come to know why he had been assigned the task of maintaining the gardens. It had been because of Khushi. Shiva had been admonishing Khushi in her chamber, telling that she had already started warming up to Arnav, what with giving him the task of gardening so that he could "enjoy" his work at Hope. Khushi had maintained her silence, which had irritated Shiva and had made her leave Khushi's chamber in a huff. Arnav had peered in through the door silently, and had seen Khushi wipe a single tear across her cheek, a sad smile on her face, and he had suddenly felt too exhausted. The exhaustion that he had not felt with all the work that he did, he had felt with that one tear. . . . . .

Khushi was strolling in the garden that evening, Casey by her side, when she saw Anjali, who sat on one of the benches, handed her Chotey a piece of fruit. He had been watering the plants, but strode to her in that proud gait of his and bent to take it in between his teeth, as Anjali smiled warmly at her brother. He had walked away when Casey decided it was time she asked her share of what they were eating too, and trotted towards the pregnant woman and thumped her tail against her legs. Khushi joined Anjali too, and took a piece of fruit that Anjali offered her too. She saw that Anjali watched her brother work with a desolate look in her eyes, and asked, "You must be hating me for making your brother work like this."

Anjali turned to look at Khushi, who seemed to be affected by the fact that Arnav was working like this too.She gave a genuine, loving smile to the young woman, before she said, "Not at all. . . Its just that. . ." A sigh from Anjali paused her explanation, as she continued, "I have seen him like this before. When. . . When our parents died, our uncle threw us to the streets. . . And it was months before Naniji found us and took us under her care. Until that happened, it was Chotey who worked and fed us both. He used to work in a timber depot, and assist a few carpenters. That is how he knows a little of carpentry and he could so easily repair his room. . . ." Khushi raised her eyebrows at that. She had not known this! And she listened as Anjali continued, "Darr tho hume iss baat ki hai. . . . That he might be thinking of our past too, when he works like this. I don't want him to brood on such things, Khushiji. But you know him. He keeps his pain bottled up. Never tells it to anyone, my Chotey. . . ."

And this made Khushi feel horrible, as she rose from her seat and walked in the direction that Arnav had walked in. She thought about how her friends would react, and she easily shrugged it off too. . . . Something had to be done about this. . . . Something had to be done about him!

*****

A grimy hand mercilessly folded the newspaper which had a picture of Arnav Singh Raizada and Khushi Kumari Gupta serving food to random people, their backs to each other. In the background, he also saw his second wife, Anjali Jha standing next to Ajay Bharadwaj too. He had met Ajay once or twice before, owing to their professions, but he never knew a day might arise, when the same Ajay Bharadwaj would be interested in the woman that he had impregnated. But that was the least of his concerns. He had tried his level best to find what had happened to Khushi, when she had gone absconding all of a sudden. He had spent almost a month's time to search for the love of his life, as he knew it. But then he had started to scheme and had failed to come up with a plan which could make him get his dirty hands on the huge properties that Arnav Singh Raizada had managed to put together.

But then his fate had brought him out on the streets, penniless, and totally helpless in each and every way. He was even scared to walk around freely, fearing that the cops might be in search of him. He had known Arnav Singh Raizada closely, you see? And he knew what taking Arnav Singh Raizada against you would result in. he had even gone to Lucknow, when Arnav had himself told that he had got rid of Khushi. He had so wanted her to be here. So what if he had failed in taking Arnav's property. He could at least have a proper life with her, he had thought. But she was not here too. And with no money in his hands, his hands were tied. His closest of friends (or so he had thought), had refused to help him too.

He managed to rake some old contacts out in Lucknow, and had borrowed some money and led a pathetic life since the last few days. When he had seen the photo which had come in one of the national level newspapers, some of them taunting that AR fashion house was running under loss and hence the owner had found himself a new job, whereas some of them had admired the sense of responsibility that Arnav Singh Raizada had displayed, Shyam's blood boiled with rage.

He had to take his revenge.

And he would!

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This was a little short when compared to my previous updates, I know. . .
Also I did not have the time to proof read. . . So please pardon the errors if you found any. . . 😳

Liked it, loved it, hated it??!!

Lemme know whatever it is!! 😃

And HarshuSmiles is the account with which I send PMs to regular comment-ors only! So add that to your buddy-list to receive PMs. . .

Moi too Res. Waiting.

so finally khushi is softening or dropping the pretence that she doesn't care.. i really like the story how it is going.. loved your writing..

whether the update is long or short.. i guess that matters less.. but the content it matters a lot.. and I enjoyed reading it.

Trust shiva to mk arnav's life hell😆 bt she's doin d right thng..he dsrvs all these, n he needs to undrstand..n nw khushi knws abt arnav's past..n m sure she wud tk some step..
ajay is a really great guy..n he's right for anjali..he cn teach anjali thngs she needs to learn..
n dis creep..he's again in d scene..grrr😡

res

Really like the way the story is shaping..