Part 18
Mr. Darcy had at first scarcely allowed her to be pretty: he had looked at her without admiration at the ball; and when they next met, he looked at her only to criticise. But no sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she had hardly a good feature in her face, than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes. To this discovery succeeded some others equally mortifying. Though he had detected with a critical eye more than one failure of perfect symmetry in her form, he was forced to acknowledge her figure to be light and pleasing; and in spite of his asserting that her manners were not those of the fashionable world, he was caught by their easy playfulness.
- Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice.
"Yes bitwa, Arnav and Khushi will be coming to Australia soon" Devyani said into the
phone, a kind smile on her face as she listened to the person on the other side of the phone,
"inkaar nahin, intezaar" Nani corrected, a chuckle escaping her lips. Khushi set the tray of
hot tea and biscuits on the small table in front of her, and passed her a small smile, crouching next the bed, to tickle Laxmi behind her ear, a smile spreading across her face as the goat turned her head towards Khushi, seeking more affection.
"Okay bitwa, I'll ask Arnav to stay in touch with you" She said, and the hung up, letting out
a tired sigh. Rubbing a hand over her forehead, her face scrunched up in discomfort, and Khushi got up concerned,
"Nani, are you okay?" Khushi asked, a hand resting on her shoulder, giving it a slight
squeeze of comfort and concern. Nani nodded, and tried smiling, waving off Khushi's concern.
"I am fine, just a small headache"
Khushi quickly went to medicine cupboard and fetched out a packet of medicine. She placed it on the table, and said, "I am leaving these medicines here, Nani. Make sure you take some if your headache worsens. And if it's still not better, let me know and I'll make some some haldi doodh for you"
Nani looked up at her and grabbed a hold of her hand, patting the space next to her, "Sit down, bitiya"
Khushi sat down next to her, and Devyani brushed the hair from khushi's cheek, anc tucked it behind her ear, her eyes glistening with tears,
"You know, Arnav's dadaji always used to tell me what a kind soul you were. He had only
praises to say for you whenever he met me. And ever since you have come into this house, it's almost as though colour has slowly seeped into a black and white film. I can see the difference bitiya. I can see the difference in all my children" She halted, her eyes looking down for a few seconds, a frown creasing her forehead as she mulled over her next words, and then finally looked back up,
"I see a difference in Arnav as well. I know how hard it is for you, and I just...Khushi..."
She trailed off again, taking a deep breath, tears leaking from the sides of her eyes, and Khushi grasped a tight hold of her hand, and Devyani clutched onto it, with her frail old hands, "I know that this has been hard for you. I know Arnav is...he can be harsh. But Khushi, believe me when I say, he is a kind soul. He just..." A far away look came in her eyes, focussing on something over Khushi's shoulder, delving deep into her memories, "The things that have happened to both Anjali and Arnav. It forced them to mature quickly. I came into the picture too late" She whispered, and Khushi could see that the memories were too painful for her. Khushi felt her breathing quicken, as an unknown fear gripped her insides, reminding her of her own dreadful past, the crash, the screams, the lights. She quickly shut her eyes and tried to block them off.
She felt a hand on her cheek, and she gently opened them to see Nani's teary eyes focussed on her,
"It's not my story to tell. But I wanted to thank you bitiya. I wanted to thank you for what
you have done for this family. You have slowly breathed life into each of its members. Laxmi included" Nani chuckled, attempting at lightening the situation, and Khushi cracked a small smile.
She brought her hand and held Nani's hand that was cupping her face. She felt tears prickle her eyes as her chest slowly filled with warmth at being given such love by its members. She squeezed the hand, as the smile spread wider on her face.
Letting Nani settle back in her bed, she grabbed the tray of tea, and decided to take it back downstairs. Just as she stepped out, the fast clicking of expensive shoes against the tiled floor halted her in her tracks. Her ear perked up, as her eyes quickly darted to the stairs, which Arnav was climbing, a hand on his ear, as he barked orders into the bluetooth, a file in his hand, the vest and shirt snugly fitting his form, the black and gray combination making him appear more sinsister than usual.
Her eyes narrowed briefly, as she glared at him, silently praying to her Devi Maiya to make him trip and fall down the stairs, but as soon as she sent the prayer, her eyes widened, and she quickly apologised, closing her eyes and muttering to her idol under her breath, before opening and looking at him coming up the steps.
Her eyes followed him as he continued to walk down the corridor, heading straight towards Nani's room, and she held her breath as he came to stop in front of her, his eyes slowly darting from the file in front of him, and settling on her face, his eyes widening for the briefest of seconds, before he quickly masked the surprise.
He swallowed hard, his mouth setting into a think line, and she heard the other person talking to Arnav, his voice travelling from the bluetooth, to her ears. Arnav's eyes continued to hold hers, as his jaw tightened and he snapped into the phone, "Aman, handle it"
Switching off the bluetooth, Khushi stared back at him, her face blank and void of any emotion as she stepped to the side, ready to walk away before he turned this into another fight.
"Get ready, you are coming to AR today" He said suddenly, and Khushi halted for a second before taking another step to walk away when he stopped her again,
"Khushi!" He snapped, and Khushi halted in her tracks again, her eyes widening as her hands clutched at the tray tightly. "Answer me. Yes or no."
She looked over her shoulder, her eyes meeting his hazel ones, silent anger brewing in them, as his eyes hardened and stared at her. She contemplated going away. She wanted to walk away, to run away and not answer him. She wanted to show him that his anger no longer made any difference to her, but as the seconds ticked by, she saw him get more agitated, his hands clenching at his sides, as he opened his mouth to say something,
"Chote?" Nani's voice floated from inside the room to where they stood outside, and Arnav quickly snapped his mouth shut, his eyes darting from her to the door that was slightly ajar.
"Coming Nani" He said, and looked back at her, "Be ready"
Khushi turned on her heel and quickly walked away before he could say anything else. She knew he would not be happy at her not answering. But as she walked down, a small smile of satisfaction rested on her face at having infuriated him, and she sent a silent thanks to her Devi Maiya for sending Nani to her rescue.
********
Khushi twirled the chair around, her plait flying around, before settling on her shoulder, as she glanced around the busy office, seeing everyone absorbed in some work or another.
"Bored?"
Khushi immediately sat up to see Lavanya sitting on her desk, looking at her with a small smile, and Khushi smiled back, settling back in her chair and giving a sheepish nod.
"I can understand. Sometimes when work finishes early, and you have nothing left to do, it
can become so boring. And ASR refuses to let us go early, saying there is never no work. He believes that if you run out of work, then you should look around for more" Lavanya rolled her eyes in amusement. "But anyway, how are you settling in?"
"I am settling in fine. Though some people seem to be scared of me because of I am Mrs.
Raizada" Khushi said, and Lavanya threw her head back and laughed.
"I think it's because everyone expected you to be another ASR." Lavanya said, and attempted to imitate Arnav's scowling expression. Khushi felt laughter bubbling in the pit of her stomach at seeing Lavanya scrunching up her eyebrows, tucking in her chin, and her mouth turning downward.
Khushi let the laughter out, and Lavanya soon joined in.
"Arnav has sent these for you" A girl said, and dumped 20 files on Khushi's desk. Khushi
looked up to see the same girl who had refused to tell her where the canteen was.
The girl gave Khushi a once-over, before glaring and stalking off. Khushi looked at Lavanya confused.
"Don't mind her" Lavanya said, "She...used to like ASR"
Khushi gaped at Lavanya with wide eyes, and Lavanya misunderstood that as anger, and quickly tried rectifying what she said, "I mean I don't think she likes him anymore. Ever since he got married. And ASR definitely does not like her" Khushi nodded to let her know that she understood, though she still found it hard to believe that anyone could like Arnav Singh Raizada.
"ASR is glaring at us. I should go" Lavanya said meekly, and slipped off the desk, walking
towards her own work station. Khushi looked up and saw his eyes were trained on her. She quickly averted her gaze, and fiddled with the files in front of her, pretending to be absorbed in work.
Though the heat of his gaze was starting to make her uneasy, and when she glanced up from the corner of her eye, she saw that he hadn't moved an inch. She quickly looked away once more, and frowned. She picked up her dupatta, and draped it over her head, to hide her face away from his, so she could no long feel his gaze piercing through her.
It seemed to work, as a few minutes later when she glanced up, Arnav was back at his desk, furiously typing away.
********
Khushi worked through the 20 files that had been stacked on her desk, her eyes tiredly reading over the last file, a yawn breaking past her lips, as she leant her cheek against her palm, her elbow resting on the desk, and her fingers flipping the pages of the file.
She heard everyone stand up in the office, and she looked around to see Aranv walking down the steps, and the workers standing to greet him. He barely passed any of them a glance, his eyes trained on her as he walked towards her work station. Khushi felt her heart skip a beat, as she unconsciously clutched onto the papers of the file, scrunching them up. Arnav stood in front of her, and Khushi looked up at him with wide eyes, waiting to know what he was doing down here.
He looked down at her, before looking away and focussing on something over her shoulder, refusing to look at her, "I have a meeting" He said gruffly, "It'll take me a while"
Khushi nodded in understanding, and felt her heart deflate at having to stay back longer because of Arnav.
Khushi turned back to her file, and she smoothed out the page, readying herself to finish the content. She noticed, from the corner of her eye, that Arnav was still standing there, waiting for something. She looked up at him curiously, and he was looking down at her his lips thinned in frustration before he closed his eyes took in a deep breath and asked,
"What...I mean...how-" He halted, his eyes flickering over the workers who were pretending to work, but curious to know their conversation, closed his eyes briefly, and looked back at Khushi, swallowing hard before continuing on, "Are you planning on staying back?" He finally said, and Khushi's eyes widened briefly, before she quickly masked her surprise and tried deciphering his actions. Why was he concerned? He had never asked before.
"I don't know" She admitted, and he stayed quiet for a few moments, before he swallowed
hard and said,
"I'll ask Di to send a driver to take you home" He said, and started turning on his heel when
he was interrupted,
"Arey Saale Saab, you don't have to worry about that. I'll take Khushiji home" Shyam said,
a twinkle in his eye as he smiled at Khushi warmly, and looked back at Arnav.
"Are you sure?" Arnav asked, "I don't want to inconvenience you in any way jijaji"
"Of course not!" Shyam laughed, waving Arnav's words off, "We are going to be leaving
around the same time, and our destination is the same. So what inconvenience?" Shyam chuckled, "You carry on with your work, saale saab"
Khushi glanced at him to see him pass Shyam a quick smile, a nod of gratitude before turning on his heel and quickly up the steps where two clients awaited for the meeitng to begin.
"Thank you jijaji!" Khushi said, grinning up at him, feeling her shoulder relax as the tension ebbed away. Shyam grinned back at her and passed her a small wink,
"Seeing that saale saab is busy, we can probably sneak out earlier, without him noticing" Shyam grinned, and Khushi laughed, feeling the liveliness bubbling inside her again. Pretending to celebrate at the prospect of leaving early, Shyam left from there, back to his office stopping to chat and greet a few fellow workers. Khushi's eyes followed him, a small smile resting on her face.
It felt good to have someone she could be herself around. Whom she could laugh with, and someone she could call her friend.
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