ArHi FF! Freeloop Chapter 9A, Page 40, 09/Sep - Page 22

Originally posted by: lakraj80

Hi S, nice story! Thnks a lot for the pm's. Can I be a bit cheeky and ask for longer updates please. Thnks!

Thanks..As I write three stories in parallel, this is all I can do. I post everyday and I don't have the kind of time to write longer updates. Thanks :-)

part 7 A
nice part...
Khushi is J...
wow...
cont soon dear...

Chapter 7(B):

"How are you Khushi?" She heard her father's shaky voice on ear piece.

"I found a job which pays pretty well," she said not really replying to his question. "How is…mom doing?" She asked begging her voice to stop shaking.

"She is doing well." Her father's answer wasn't satisfactory but she didn't dare ask any further.

"Why don't you…come home?" He asked knowing very well what her answer was going to be. Khushi didn't respond. She clutched the receiver harder and leaned on the wall of the public phone booth.

"Khushi?" She heard her father say when she didn't reply for a lengthy period.

"Coming to the city and living alone wasn't my choice nor did I volunteer for this, dad. I was thrown out of the house, the company, and was fired from my job. I accepted the decision; decision you made with mother," Khushi said flatly, her voice no longer shaking and energy fully spent.

"But it wasn't…" She didn't hear the rest of the conversation as she hung up the phone in mid conversation.

She was probably a masochistic to make a phone call to her father to say hello after weeks of leaving her life behind fully knowing the impact of the emotions that would bombard on her from all directions. And not to mention the emotional turmoil she had undergone when Arnav had unloaded a truckload of his mess on her.

She walked home dragging her feet and crashed on the bed in the way she had done early that evening. Her life had taken a complete three sixty after the scandal back home and the new life she had hoped for in the new city she had moved to, was already looking like a bad movie. All the resentment and disappointment came crashing down on her as she screamed into her pillow. She made her way to bathroom once she calmed herself and her voice turned hoarse from screaming. After splashing cold water on her face for several minutes, the heat in her cheeks reduced.

She looked up to see her run down expression in mirror above sink and saw her reflection to be a doppelganger of her former self. She was Khushi – strong, independent and sat in board of a company that was tier one supplier of artillery and a defense contractor.

But now she was alone, living in a strange city and worked as a clerk in a very large corporation. And the man she was attracted was probably sleeping with her boss's sister.

She punched the mirror then.

*****

"This is all I have," she emptied her tiny purse on a three year old sports magazine.

The bookstore owner looked at her, the small purse and the notes and spilled coins.

"Alright fine. Take it. I am giving it away just because it's been a dull week and you have such a pretty face. I can see that you really want to read it," he said pulling in the coins and horribly folded notes.

"Thank you so much," Khushi exclaimed in sheer joy.

"There may be few pages missing in that book. Encyclopedia lost its charm when Google became famous and accessible," the man's voice was laced with age and longing.

"Do you know why Encyclopedia was famous?" Khushi asked already knowing the reason. In her office she had a complete leather bound set and at least one of them would be open on her large desk – bookmarked.

"Because it had everything. And also because a person could just walk to their shelf, pull a book out and open to read a page – any page and be surprised at the knowledge it had to offer." The shopkeeper dusted the top shelves while one of his hands fixed his spectacles with shaky hands.

She didn't have the heart to tell him that search engines were now improved to provide such an experience where users didn't need to enter a search topic but could click a button which would take them to a page with information. He didn't have to know that technology was now becoming an easy and affordable alternative.

"Fancy seeing you here," she heard s voice behind her.

"You haven't changed your clothes since last night," she said giving him a onceover and turned to wave a goodbye to the shopkeeper.

"Buying encyclopedia now? You never fail to surprise me," he said pointing to the tome in her hand.

"Ignoring my question? Your never fail to disappoint me," she replied with a smile. "And yes, this is encyclopedia and I purchased letter M for a pretty sweet deal," she added waving the book in front of him. "It has few pages missing but it's no biggie," she replied.

"I was stuck last night," he shrugged and walked next to her.

"Where? In between sheets?" She said distractedly looking around searching for a coffee shop. Arnav stopped in his tracks. He knew that Khushi could easily get snarky and acerbic but never…vindictive. He recovered quickly.

"Actually it wasn't all that fun." He said. She turned and raised an eyebrow at that. "There was an accident at the venue of an event we are planning for tomorrow. So I had to go there and do some paperwork, for the injured person's family," he said. Khushi's face didn't betray any emotion. He concentrated on her face to find any shift, any change in emotion but it was…lifeless. It was practiced aloofness – the same thing which he had witnessed the morning after he had kissed her.

"Good for you," she said finally breaking into a tiny smile which didn't reach her eyes. "I am off for coffee and some reading. Get some rest Arnav. You look exhausted," she turned and walked away without waiting for a response.

He swallowed at her rebuttal of his behavior previous evening and had thought the worst of him.

He wondered if his characterization in her eyes was a latest development or was she merely acting upon it only now.

To be continued.

First to comment😊 *Happy-go-lucky does a happy dance*
Ok, now on to more important stuff-
"... She turned and walked away without waiting for a response" -- All I can say is-Take that, Arnav. See how it feels? And, Go Khushi...😆
So, Khushi's staying away from her family because of some problems, and still, this isn't helping...
And she bought an encyclopedia... I'm surprised too
This update really made me happy, especially the last part (can't stop gushing about it, so don't get irritated, huh?)

Finallu Khushi's past... She punched the mirror and didnt get hurt or he didnt notice? Letter M... Hmmm
encyclopedias are great :)
Good to see the update

I liked the conversation between A&K...one never fails to surprise the other while the other, disappoint. Well written.

She is able to mask the feelings..

khushi and arnav convo was very nicely written

nice updatess...

khushi s jus amazing!! loved d update