Arhi SS: The devil is back COMPLETED parts 1-9 - Page 6

Part 5

Khushi looked up, mechanically raised the ends of her lips and shook her head. In the end everyone would know what Shyaam wanted, what he was capable of, how he couldn't be redeemed. But at what cost?

They finished off the cleaning in silence, Khushi trying to think how to expose the snake , Payal worrying about her Babu-ji and relieved she was going to be with him for the next few days.

Arnav marched to the poolside, trying to gain some composure, trying to tell himself it would be okay, but he couldn't find a loop hole in all these problems. He grabbed the glass table and with all the force he could master threw it against the wall, the sound of glass smashing against the bricks vibrating throughout the poolside. His eyes searched for something else to break, to tarnish, to vent his frustration with, when he couldn't find anything he whirled around to see if he could find anything in the bedroom. He froze.

Khushi was standing a few feet from him, her feet rooted to the ground. She had never seen him like this. Arnav stepped forward, his anger still throbbed at him, yet he focused on her face, allowing it to wash away. "Khushi..." he said carefully, not wanting to scare her, he racked his brains for some sort of explanation, hoping she would say something first. However, just stared at him, shocked. "I'm sorry, I...I"

His soft eyes met hers, and at that, Khushi smiled, "it's okay, I know how you must be feeling," she explained and sat down on the bed, hands covering her cheeks, trying to think of a way out of this hell. "I didn't mean to frighten you, Khushi," Arnav said, sitting down next to her.

"I'm fine," Khushi replied, "it's fine," she sighed. She shook her head and threw it back, "nothing's fine, Arnav-ji, what are we going to do." She said desperately.

"I have no idea," Arnav said, shaking his head, "we have to show Di who this-this idiot is, but she won't believe us, she thinks he's sorry." He scoffed at the last bit, "one thing is for sure, he's not going anywhere near you..." how could he keep her close by? He smacked his hand against his forehead, he had been so wrapped up in his complicated thoughts, that he hadn't even thought about the obvious answer. "You're coming to the office with me," Khushi's eyebrows pulled together, "but how-"

"No arguements, Mrs Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizaida, you're coming with me, that's that". He couldn't help but grin at the thought of seeing her, where her thoughts were normally with him.

She watched him, his smile was contagious, she bumped his shoulder with hers and then leaned against it, "whatever you say boss," Khushi said submissively.

"Good," Arnav said, pressing his cheek to hers, at that movement both closed their eyes, absorbing the prosperity of each other's company. After a minute, Arnav placed his hand on her shoulder and pressed his lips to her cheek, leaving a rush of warmth to spread over it. "Come on then, let's get ready for bed, we have work in the morning," Arnav said, smiling at the last words.

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"Good morning, boss" Khushi greeted a tired Arnav, she was wearing a beautiful silver and purple dress. He opened one eye, and sure enough his hand was empty, lacking her's. He pulled on the blanket, buried his head in it and rolled over to his right side, mumbling "five minutes."

Khushi shook her head, and stealthily walked to the end of the bed; she grabbed a fistful of blanket and pulled it from his grasp. "Khushi!" Arnav wailed, he really should have been accustomed to this routine. "Mr Raizaida, how will you be a laad governor, if you just stay in bed, huh?" Khushi teased.

Arnav opened his eyes and grinned, in an instant he had swung his legs over the bed and was running after her, sweeping her up in his arms, her laughter filling the room, and their happiness radiating the atmosphere. "If I'm such a laad governor then I wonder what I should do with you?" He retaliated

"For starters, you can put me down as it is almost 8:30," Khushi replied, smiling.

Arnav gently placed her down, planted a kiss on her forehead, and began to get ready.

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They walked down to the dining room together; the sound of the usual buzz was present, indicating Shyaam was absent. Dadi was in the mandir, Nani in her seat, trying to teach NK the difference between mard (men) and mara (died).

"Good morning, Nani." Arnav greeted her.

"Good morning, Chote," Nani replied bestowing a smile at him, "good morning Khushi bitiya, come have breakfast."

They took their seats across NK, "'Sup Nanav?" He enquired, plopping three parathas in his own plate and scooping up a tablespoon of butter. "Nothing much, really, NK-" he needed to tell Nani Khushi was going to be coming to work with him. "Nani, Khushi will be coming to the office now," Arnav said.

Nani nodded, "yes, I think that is best for," she sighed "I don't understand what to do now."

Great. Everyone was in the same boat.

Nani resumed her Hindi language lesson with pauses for laughter and corrections, and Nk's "that's it, that's it".

Arnav glanced down at his watch, "KhushI I think we should go now."

"Let's go," she replied, anticipating the day ahead. They both rose from their chairs, bidding goodbye to NK and Nani.

I hope this was better, and just a heads up Shyaam will be out of the house soon 😊

-please leave your comments as they are much appreciated😃 x