What if .. - Page 9

"Thank you." "Excuse me?" Arnav turned to his right to look at Khushi. Khushi made an annoyed face and said, "I said thank you! Thank you for returning my passport". Arnav smiled and said, "You are welcome". His smile disappeared. "How about the train?" She turned to him confused. "What about the train?" Arnav raised his eyebrows. "If it weren't for me, you would have missed the train." She opened her mouth wide. "Excuse me, I did run into the train before the doors closed but I fell because you were blocking my path. You should apologize to me." Arnav tried to control his anger. "You are unbelievable! I tried to stop the doors for you and I broke your fall." He turned away and said, through clenched teeth. "And my back..". He turned to her and said, angrily, "Before you fall on top of someone else, you might consider losing some weight." Khushi opened her mouth wide. "How dare you!" She snorted and looked away. She opened her book and started reading, muttering something angrily under her breath.

Arnav turned away and looked outside the window; he was sitting at the window seat. Khushi leaned back against her seat and her arm brushed against Arnav's. Her eyes shot open wide; she felt a chill down her spine. She looked down at the hand rest and moved her arm away. She looked at Arnav; his arm was still on the hand rest. Khushi gulped; he didn't notice it, maybe he won't mind. She slowly placed her arm back, next to his. Arnav was still looking outside the window, when he felt her arm brush against his. His eyes shot wide open; as he felt a chill down his spine. Sparks when our arms touched; is that even possible? I wonder if she felt it too. Her arm was smooth and soft. Arnav had to admit that he felt disappointed when she moved her arm away; a faint smile appeared on his face when she moved her arm back to the hand rest.

The plane took off; Arnav watched the brilliant night-lights of New York City moving away from them. When the flight finished its ascent, a stewardess offered drinks. Khushi took an orange juice from her, while Arnav politely refused. Khushi opened the tray table and placed the glass of orange juice on it. Just then her book slipped from her hand and fell down. She lifted the tray table slightly, toppling over the glass; the juice fell on Arnav's pants. "What the.." Arnav screamed. Khushi opened her eyes wide and looked at him. She opened her mouth wide as she realized she had spilled juice on him. She grabbed the napkin from the tray table and started wiping the juice off his thigh, saying, "Sorry.. I'm sorry.." Suddenly she froze, opened her eyes wide and looked at Arnav. Arnav looked at her confused. She pulled away quickly and looked away. What did you just do, Khushi? Did you just wipe his pants? She gulped, wondering what had come over her. "Excuse me." Her thoughts were interrupted by Arnav's voice. She turned to look at him and he indicated with his eyes that he wanted to step out into the aisle. She got up and moved aside so that he could pass.

Arnav was reading a book, when suddenly Khushi's laugh startled him. He turned to look at her; she was watching a movie. Crazy girl, he thought and smiled. He turned back to his book. A few minutes later, he heard sniffles. He raised his eyebrows and saw tears rolling down her cheeks. He made a weird face and looked at her screen; aah, a romantic comedy. How typical! He shook his head and thought, girls! He took out his handkerchief and handed it to her. Khushi looked up shocked, her eyes still filled with tears. She looked at the handkerchief and then at him. Who does he think he is? Why is he always trying to help me? Does he want something in return? Oh, so he thinks he can get into my pants if he keeps helping me? Well, mister, I will show you. She gave him a fake smile, took the handkerchief from him and blew her nose on it. Arnav made a disgusted face. Khushi smiled and handed it back to him. Arnav shook his head and said, "No, keep it." He turned back to his book and Khushi giggled.

"I will take the chicken and beans." "Ma'am?" "I will have the chicken and beans." The stewardess smiled and looked at her trolley. She looked up and said, "I'm sorry, but we have only one chicken and beans left". Arnav smiled and said, "That's ok, let her have it. I will take the vegetarian option." Khushi raised her eyebrows and looked at him. She turned to look at the stewardess and said, "Great. I will take the chicken then."

Arnav put the broccoli in his mouth and his eyes opened wide as he watched Khushi picking up the beans from her dish with her fork and putting it on the side of the plate. Arnav made an annoyed face. He picked up one bean from her tray with his fork and popped in his mouth. Khushi put a piece of chicken in her mouth and her eyes opened wide when she saw what Arnav did. She turned to him and asked him angrily, "How dare you pick food from my tray?" Arnav said with clenched teeth. "I hate broccoli. I wanted to eat the beans. I was kind enough to offer it to you and now you are wasting it?" "I don't like beans", Khushi replied. "So you will throw it away? I love beans, I will have it." He took her plate from her tray table and dumped the beans on his tray. She opened her mouth wide and blinked, unsure of what to say. Arnav turned to look at his food and put two pieces of beans in his mouth; what the hell is wrong with you? Did you just pick food from her plate? He shook his head, wondering what had come over him.

After dinner, the lights were turned off in the flight. Khushi and Arnav were reading and had their reading lights on. Suddenly Khushi's book dropped from her hand. Arnav turned to look at her and realized that she had dozed off. He bent down and picked up the book from the floor and put it in the seat pocket. He looked at her as he moved back into his seat; her face glowed in the reading light. Arnav felt his heart stop for a second; she was so beautiful, like an angel. Suddenly she made an annoyed face and started moving her arms across her chest. Arnav raised his eyebrows; is she cold? He checked her seat pocket for the blanket pouch, but didn't find any. He tore open his pouch and took out the blanket. He spread the blanket on her and watched her drift back to a peaceful sleep. He smiled and turned back to his book. There was a sudden turbulence; the plane jerked. Khushi's head swung onto Arnav's shoulder. Arnav looked at her, smiled and went back to reading his book. He kept looking at her, unable to concentrate on his book. He smiled watching her sleep. Suddenly his smile disappeared, as he realized she was drooling. Unbelievable, he thought, chuckling. Just then, her head slipped and started falling from his shoulder. He touched her cheek and brought her head back to his shoulder. He started taking his hand away, when she pulled it and tucked the intertwined hands under her face. He tried to take his hand away, but she had gripped it firmly. He gulped and watched her sleep. He kept his book aside, switched off the reading light and closed his eyes.

Khushi's eyes flickered open as the lights came on. She smiled; she hadn't slept like that in ages. Who knew you could sleep so well on a flight! Suddenly her smile disappeared, as she realized she was lying on someone's shoulder. She lifted her head and Arnav's head moved away; his head had been resting on hers. She opened her eyes wide and pulled her hand out of his and pushed him away, waking him up. He looked at her, sleepily; then his eyes opened wide. "What were you doing?" Khushi screamed. "What?" "Why were you sleeping on me?" "Excuse me?" he asked, confused. "You put your head on my shoulder." She opened her mouth wide. "That must be because you pulled me towards you, why else was your hand in mine?" Arnav said through clenched teeth. "You were falling off, so I moved your head back on my shoulder and then you wouldn't let go of my hand." She made an annoyed face and turned away. "Fine!" Arnav said angrily. "Next time I will let you fall. Now give me back my blanket." "Excuse me?" Khushi looked at him, her eyes open wide. " Arnav pointed at the blanket. "That's mine." "What? Where is mine then?" Khushi realized then that she had been sitting on the blanket pouch all this while. She pulled it out from under her and threw it on his lap.

Arnav's face was fuming with anger; he was about to scream at her, when the smiling stewardess appeared. "Oh, you are up. Would you like something to drink?" Khushi shook her head, with a smile. The stewardess continued, "You both were looking so cute when you were sleeping, I took a picture of you. Our crew was wondering whether we could submit the photograph to be published on our website. Of course, if you agree, we will offer you both two free tickets for a romantic getaway in Paris". She handed them a polaroid photograph. "What?" Khushi's eyes shot open. Arnav took the photograph from the stewardess's hand; she smiled and walked away. Khushi turned to look at Arnav. "How dare you take my photograph?" Arnav looked at her, surprised. "It's my photograph too". "But I'm in it as well. Give it back." Arnav shook his head and moved the photograph away. Khushi reached for it, her arm on the hand rest. Arnav raised his eyebrows and moved his hand away; Khushi's arm on the hand rest slipped and she fell forward on him, her lips brushing against his cheek. They looked at each other, eyes wide open. Khushi snatched the photograph from him and moved away. She tried to tear it; Arnav smiled. Her face filled with anger, as she couldn't tear it. Finally she crumpled it, threw it on the ground, stood up and stomped away. She walked into the bathroom, shut the door and leaned her head against the door. Why, Khushi? she thought to herself. Why did you crumple that photograph? She continued to bang her head against the bathroom door. Arnav smiled as he watched Khushi walk away. He bent down and picked up the crumpled photograph. He straightened it, smiled and slid it into his jeans pocket.

When Khushi came back to her seat, food was being served. As Khushi started eating, she put her book vertically next to her food tray, and stared angrily at Arnav. He chuckled; she had made a barrier so that he wouldn't take the food from her.

"Welcome to London. We thank you for flying British airways!" The head stewardess announced as the plane rolled to a stop. "I'm Arnav, by the way." Arnav said, as he turned to Khushi. Khushi looked at him and raised her eyebrows. "So?" Arnav smiled. "It was nice meeting you too, Khushi." She opened her mouth wide. "How do you know my name?" Arnav grinned. "Remember I found your passport. I even know your age and your address." "What?" Arnav smiled. "I am kidding." His smile disappeared; he raised his eyebrows and said with contempt, "Don't think you are that attractive that I would be dying to find out where you live and how old you are!" Khushi opened her mouth wide. She stood up quickly and yanked open the overhead compartment. A bag fell out; Arnav opened his eyes wide. He jumped up and grabbed the bag before it fell on her. "Careful, Khushi!" He screamed; Khushi gaped at him, unsure of what to say. She picked up her bag and walked away. Arnav had a confused look on his face. "She's weird!"

Next update: 4 hour stop-over in London.