ArhiSS|Synchronizing Forces| Chp13Pg39 19th Oct - Page 20

Chapter 11

Sprawled on his bed Arnav was in deep thought. Arnav liked the way his name sounded when she said his name. As if it was recorded, it came over again and again in his mind like an echo… 'Arnav… Arnav…' He was starting to like his name a little more. He rewound the events of the day. That moment he bumped into her… Those eyes…. The way she danced….The way she smiled… That moment when she was in his arms… Her tiny waist in the span of his hand… The way she got tensed when Varsha came into the room… Wait a minute! He put his thoughts to a halt. She wanted him to let her free only because Varsha was seeing. She actually was getting more comfortable with him. That made him glad. He was a bit confused at his own self. Why was he thinking about her, when he must be thinking of the deal to be finalised the next day? Why was he thinking about her, when he had to decide the theme for their summer collection? Why was he thinking of her, when he had to plan strategies for making it big in the international level? Why the hell was he thinking about her, when he had to think of himself in the first place? Arnav was completely blank. He couldn't think anymore.

'Me thinks you should forget her! She's nothing buddy! Ah! At least NOW you're thinking something sensible!' his brain yelled, not wanting to let go of the chance to confuse him. But THAT stopped him. 'No.' was all he could say. 'I'm not going to forget her. Not her. She's …..' he paused, trying to find an appropriate word.

"Your Life, Chotey" said a voice from his mind. A voice he could never forget. The voice that said these words during the most important moment of his life… The voice of his Mother…

~*~

Khushi was standing on the cliff's edge. She had to cross a small distance, a space, to reach to the other side. Where, he stood. She wanted to move her leg, fling it forward and land smoothly. But she couldn't understand why, something was pulling her back. No matter how hard she tried, she was pulled back again. But she decided she wouldn't give up. She looked up to see his face seeking support; Strength. All she could see now was a translucent image of him having tears in his eyes, spreading his arms wide out, inviting her. She was confused for a moment. But in a split second, her mind urged her to throw herself forward, indecisively. And that was the biggest mistake she committed. Her foot slipped on the edge and she was falling down, and down. The only sensation she felt when she was last conscious was a lone tear landing on her palm, from his eyes. He was letting him fall too, as she was falling…..

"Arnav!" Khushi shrieked out from her sleep. She was completely covered by a thin layer of sweat.

"Khushi! What happened? Are you alright?" switching on the night lamp reflexively, Varsha was worried, completely awake due to Khushi's alarming cry.

Khushi just realizing that it was just a dream was now relieved. Varsha was completely stunned to see Khushi covered in sweat. "Khushi, speak out! What happened?"

"Ah! Nothing, Varsh, it was just because of a bad dream. You go to sleep now. Um… can I have your mobile for a minute please? I -er- actually need to set the alarm for tomorrow morning, you know. I have to rise up early." replied Khushi.

"Oh. It's there on the table near the nightshade. Call me if you want something, okay? Now sleep peacefully. Good night!" Varsha wished good night and lied down to sleep.

Khushi slipped out of the bed and tiptoed out of the room. She went to the loggia and dialled Arnav's number. It took forever for him to pick the phone.

"Uhh…What is it Varsha? Why the hell are you calling me at this time of the day-er-night? And you could have come straight up to the room and knocked the door instead of calling me!" mumbled Arnav in deep slumber.

"Hey, it isn't Varsha. I'm Khushi. I didn't have your number, so I decided to give you call from Varsha's phone. Are you alright? Is everything okay there?" asked an anxious Khushi with a tinge of panic in her voice.

"What?" Arnav was kind of taken aback at her question "I mean, everything's alright here, what could go wrong at this time? What's the problem? Anything wrong?"

Khushi pressed the end button as soon as she got her answer. He was fine. Now she was relieved. But something bugged her a lot. She didn't have a good feeling thinking about the dream. First of all, she didn't understand why she had dreamt about him. And secondly, even if that was because of her stupid, brainless hormones, why would she dream such a mishap? She had a very bad feeling. She felt her throat lumping. But she managed to console herself with an excuse saying it was nothing. She muttered a silent prayer to Devi Maiyyah and tried to sleep.

~*~

Arnav totally couldn't understand Khushi's action. 'Why did she call? And why was she so nervous?' he kept questioning himself. He totally couldn't understand why she had cut the phone; that too, this abruptly. In a confused state, he rested on the bed trying to find some answers, along with some sleep. He knew deep down in his heart that something was wrong. "I've got to ask her why she called me. I'm definitely not going to leave this." He told himself.

~*~

"Work, work, work, dammit! Why can't you just work!" bellowed Anjali out of frustration. And that was it. There was a small click sound followed by a beep. She couldn't believe her eyes. Her plan actually worked! Her favourite toaster came back to life and started fuming. Her heart was fluttering out of joy. "Aww! Dear! You have no idea how much I missed you these days!" She was about to hug her toaster and brought her palm near it just when the tip of her hand touched it. It was hot. Hell hot. She gave out a high pitched cry. So long she hadn't noticed that her toaster was on the "Cook" mode. She rushed to the sink to wash her hands and BOOM! The toaster blew up with a blast! She was really depressed. She had been working on this for three days <and nights too> and now, she had screwed up everything! And this wasn't an ordinary toaster. She had experimented with it for long and it was actually kind of important for her. "Oh God! Why, why, why?" she yelped. She was trying to figure out how she was going to fix it again. And just then her phone buzzed. She picked it up and the computerised voice from the other end told "From SSO. To: Anjali Malik. Your assignment has been mailed to your address. You are required to discuss matter with the Chief. Time 12:30 hours. Message terminated." Anjali couldn't understand a single thing. She looked at her phone and she saw a new message. It read "Address to be extracted from Comp. Database. – SSO, India." She was completely lost. Nothing made sense to her. And that was the very first time she was being addressed and "Anjali Malik". No one knew her real name. That was kind of a secret that existed within the family. She was puzzled. The fumes from her toaster diverted her attention. She went back to her toaster and started cleaning the mess she had created, all the while thinking of the strange messages….

~*~