What if .. - Page 17

"Thank you. Have a good day!" Khushi said to the shopkeeper at the duty free store, after paying for the chocolates she bought. "Jiji will be so happy! I bought her a bunch of chocolates! I will never understand her obsession for chocolates! I'm sure she will end up marrying a guy who owns a chocolate factory!" Khushi giggled. "Ouch", she crashed into someone and dropped her paper bag. "What the..?" She raised her eyebrows, as she heard a familiar voice. She looked up and saw Arnav standing in front of her. "You again? Are you following me?" Arnav asked her, angrily. Khushi ignored him and sat down on her toes, to pick up the chocolate boxes that had fallen out of the paper bag. Arnav sat down next to her, picked up a box and handed it to her. She took it from him and muttered a quick thanks and walked away. Arnav got up and watched her walk away, surprised. Khushi walked away, deep in thought. Why did I not say anything to him? Why was I happy to see him than angry that he bumped into me? Khushi, if you were happy to see him, why didn't you say anything? Why did you run away from him, you moron? Khushi stopped and turned around. Arnav was nowhere to be seen! She closed her eyes, disappointed.

Khushi flipped through the pages of a Danielle Steele, shook her head and placed it back. She turned around to leave the bookstore, when she noticed something; there was a naughty smile on her face. She grabbed the book off the shelf and her smile disappeared; she looked straight into Arnav's face. Arnav had picked up a science fiction book off the shelf, and saw Khushi standing on the other side of the shelf. He raised his eyebrows, in shock. Khushi turned around, scared and closed her eyes. Suddenly she opened her eyes wide and looked at her chest; her heart was beating wildly. She gulped, unsure of what was happening. Suddenly someone grabbed the book from her hand. She looked to her side and started saying, "What the.." and froze. Arnav looked at her confused. "What?" Arnav asked. Khushi gulped. "An hour ago, you wouldn't shut up and now you can't even say a word in front of me?" Khushi opened her mouth to say something, stopped, looked confused and closed her mouth. Arnav chuckled and said, "Well, I don't have all day to stand here and wait for you to say something." He turned to leave and Khushi heaved a sigh of relief. Then she raised her eyebrows as he turned around. "Khushi? You can read these, but you won't learn anything until you practice it!" Arnav had a naughty smirk on his face; he took her hand and placed her book on it and turned around and walked away. Khushi looked at him confused and then looked at the book in her hand. She opened her mouth wide; it was the erotica book she had taken off the shelf earlier. She placed it back angrily and made an annoyed face. What's wrong with you, Khushi? Why didn't you say anything? Why are you suddenly so scared of him?

"Hey, Rachel!" Arnav's voice made Khushi turn around. She raised her eyebrows as she saw a blonde girl hug Arnav and place a kiss on his cheek. They were standing just outside the bookstore. "Arnie, it is so good to see you". The girl said with a British accent. Arnav pulled away from the hug and noticed Khushi staring at Rachel, her face fuming with anger. Why does she look angry? "What are you doing in London?" Rachel's question interrupted Arnav's thoughts. He smiled and said, "Just stopped here on my way to India." Rachel grabbed his arm, excited. "Oh you know what you should spend the night in London. Take the first flight to India tomorrow. You can stay at my place; my parents are out of town. We have a lot of catching up to do right?" Arnav looked at Khushi; she first opened her mouth wide, then pressed her lips together, fuming with anger, her hands curled into fists. Arnav tried to control his smile; she is jealous.

Suddenly his smile disappeared and he screamed, Khushi, look out! Khushi raised her eyebrows, turned around and saw books falling on her. She moved away, but screamed, "Ouch" and grabbed her leg, as she twisted her ankle. Arnav ran to her and grabbed her arms, "Are you alright? What were you thinking? Did you not see the guy standing on the ladder behind you, grabbing the books from the top shelf? Couldn't you have been more careful?" Khushi looked at him, angrily and said, "How would I? I was looking at.." She bit her lips and looked away. Arnav raised his eyebrows and put his arm around her shoulder to help her. She pushed his hand away, "Leave me alone." Arnav looked at her, shocked. "Khushi, you can't walk. Let me help you." She pushed him away again. "Go back to your Rachel. I don't need your help." Arnav said through clenched teeth. "Khushi, let me help you." Khushi pushed him away again, saying, "Leave me.." But before she could finish, Arnav had lifted her in his arms. Khushi put her arms around his neck and looked at him, her eyes opened wide. "What are you doing? Put me down. I said put me down." Arnav ignored her and carried her to a row of seats close by. He placed her on the seat and sat down on his toes. He took her foot, removed her sandal and placed her foot on his thigh. She tried to move her foot away, but he kept a firm hold on it. "This will hurt", he said. She looked at him, and screamed in pain, her eyes closed and grabbed his shoulder as he twisted her ankle the other way. He placed her foot down and turned to look at Rachel, who was standing next to htem. "Hey, you are still here? I didn't see you." Rachel started saying something, but Arnav interrupted him. "Hey, I actually can't stay back. I need to get home tomorrow. But maybe next time." Rachel nodded, smiled and hugged him. "I understand Arnie. Until next time!" He hugged her back; she turned around and walked away.

Arnav turned around to look at Khushi; she was staring at the wall in front of her. He smiled and sat down next to her; he touched her arm and asked softly. "Are you feeling better now?" She looked at him, her eyes open wide. "What's wrong, Khushi?" Arnav asked her, concern in his eyes. She snorted; "Don't act so innocent, mister." Arnav looked confused. "What are you.." "How many girls have you trapped this way, with this chivalrous act, huh?" He opened his eyes wide. "What? Why are you so shocked? I know your type. You act like a gentleman, be the hero by helping the damsel in distress, all the time with only one motive in mind, getting into her pants. That might work on other girls, but that wont work on me, oh no, that wont". Khushi stood up, fuming with anger. "Just stay away from me." She turned around and walked away. Arnav grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him. She crashed into his chest and grabbed his arms. Arnav said, through clenched teeth. "If I wanted to get into your pants, I would have, moments after I met you". He looked into her eyes and released her wrist; her eyes opened wide as she saw pain replace the anger in his eyes. "Well, thanks for letting me know what you think of me. Good bye!" He turned around and walked away.

Arnav sat down, took out his laptop from his bag, placed it on his lap and opened it, his face fuming with anger. He switched it on and closed his eyes, trying to control his anger. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and turned around to see Khushi standing behind him. He ignored her and looked at his laptop screen. She sat down next to him and touched his arm. "Arnav?" He ignored her. She touched his arm and said softly. "I am sorry." He ignored her. She grabbed his arms and turned him around. "What the.." he screamed. She raised her eyebrows, expecting an outburst. But he calmed down and turned back to his laptop. She closed the laptop and took it from him. He started to say something, but she interrupted him. "Let me talk. Look, I am sorry I reacted that way. I didn't mean to. I broke up with my boyfriend just two months ago. We had been together for six months; we had even decided to get married. I was going to tell my parents about him this time when I went home. Everything had been fine, when suddenly one day, one of his friends teased him about how we hadn't taken our relationship to the next level. I was so proud of him when he explained to him that we had decided to wait until after our marriage. But then that night, we were watching a movie in my room and he started misbehaving with me." Arnav raised his eyebrows. "I slapped him and he tried to attack me. That's when he told me that he had agreed to marry me just because he thought we would actually do it then. That's all he wanted from me; but he had waited for six months and he couldn't take it any more. And then he.." Arnav grabbed Khushi's arms and asked, through clenched teeth. "Khushi, did he hurt you?" Khushi looked at him surprised. She shook her head and giggled. "I kicked him so hard in his private parts, I doubt he would ever hurt a girl again." Arnav smirked.

Khushi put Arnav's laptop on her lap and said, her lips trembling. "Look I am sorry. You have been nice to me since we met and all I have done is insult you. Arnav, I am just very careful with guys ever since what happened with Abhay". Arnav shook his head, "It's okay. Relax. I understand. Now, can I have my laptop back?" Khushi smiled and shook her head. "No, not until you let me buy you lunch." Arnav had a naughty smirk on his face. "If I let you buy me lunch, then I will have to sleep with you." Khushi raised her eyebrows and looked at him; they burst into laughter.

"PhD? Interesting!". Arnav smiled, as he took a bite off his burger. Khushi smiled. "Yes, it is fun but stressful". She stuck a fork in her salad and played with an olive. "I have hardly slept in the past one week. I had a conference to attend in San Francisco the past four days. So I first flew across the country- Boston to San Francisco and was busy at the conference. I was planning to take a flight from there to London, but the flight got cancelled. They put me on a flight to New York and on that flight I was sitting next to a woman with a baby that would not stop wailing!" "But then you slept peacefully on the flight to London, didn't you!" Khushi looked at Arnav; a faint blush appeared on her face. Arnav smiled. "You know, Khushi, I am glad your flight from San Francisco got canceled". Khushi smiled, trying hard to stop herself from blushing. She decided to change the topic. "So how about you? Why OB/GYN? Hmm.. let me guess.. the pregnant, vulnerable women?" Khushi winked. Arnav had a faint smile on his face. "There are a lot of women who die every year in India without access to medical care. Someday I will open a clinic and provide free treatment to those who can't afford it." Khushi smiled. "Your parents must be very proud of you". "My dad isn't very thrilled about it. He wants me to join his hospital, but I want to stand on my own two feet and make a name for myself, not just follow in his footsteps". "I know what you mean. My dad is a lawyer and my sister just joined his firm. I never was interested in law'" Arnav chuckled and said, "You would make a good lawyer though." Khushi smiled. "How about your brother?" Arnav smiled. "Now my father was definitely disappointed when my brother said he wanted to open a bakery." "Bakery?" "Yes, he loves chocolates!" Khushi laughed. "Well, so does my sister! We should get them to meet!" Arnav laughed. "Sure, it's a deal. Let's set them up when we get to Delhi."

Khushi and Arnav were laughing, as they walked towards the gate. "No, it gets better. Wait.. listen to me.. " Arnav shook his head, still laughing. "What? there's more?" he continued to laugh. "Yeah and then... ", Khushi stopped and grabbed his arm, excitedly. Arnav looked at her and his laugh slowly faded and a smile appeared on his face. Khushi continued to laugh, clinging on to his arm, as she explained a prank that she and her friends played on Abhay, her ex, the day after he attacked her. Arnav chuckled, but his smile disappeared as he saw a young guy ogling Khushi. He turned around to stand in front of her, blocking her from the guy's view. "What?" Khushi raised her eyebrows. Arnav smiled. "Nothing. I will go grab a magazine to read on the flight. Do you want something?" Khushi shook her head. Arnav had a naughty smirk on his face. "You sure you don't need erotica this time?" Khushi playfully punched Arnav on his arm. He chuckled. Khushi's smile disappeared as she looked over Arnav's shoulder. She stepped closer to him. "Oh no! Don't look, but Mr-Cereal-Bowl is coming towards us." Shyam had just stepped out of the men's restroom and was walking towards the gate. Arnav chuckled. "Aah. Your friend from New York! Is he near us?" Khushi peeped over Arnav's shoulder and nodded. Arnav put his arms around Khushi and pulled her into a tight embrace. Khushi's eyes opened wide; then a smile appeared on her face. She threw her arms around his neck and closed her eyes. Shyam walked by, looking at them, disappointed.

"We will start boarding now." The announcement interrupted their thoughts. Khushi pulled away from Arnav and looked at him, smiling. Arnav chuckled and turned around to look at Shyam who was standing behind Arnav, watching them earnestly. He looked away as Arnav looked at him. "Now he won't disturb you again." Khushi's smile disappeared. "Oh, is that why you hugged me?" Arnav looked at her, confused. "Yeah. What did you think..?" Khushi shook her head. "Hey, it's time to board now. Let's go." "Khushi, why don't you go ahead without me? I will go get the magazine and meet you on the flight". Khushi's face fell; she was disappointed. "Oh, what's your seat number?" "I don't remember, Khushi. But it's fine. I will come find you on the flight, ok? I promise." Arnav smiled and walked away.

Khushi placed her carryon bag in the overhead compartment and slumped into her seat. She closed her eyes; she remembered the first time she had fallen on Arnav on the train, how she had fought with him over the passport and the food, how she had slept on his shoulder on the flight, how he had carried her in his arms at the airport and then the hug they shared. She smiled; her thoughts were interrupted when she heard "Excuse me?" She looked up smiling; her smile disappeared as she saw Shyam, with a wide grin on his face.

I thought I will end it here and then realized I might get yelled at for leaving you at that.. so here goes..