ArHi FF: Love for Hire (Pt13 Pg146, upd 12th Oct) - Page 87

Part 11

Arnav and Khushi are still locked in their passionate embrace when Maanvi and Virat come down from the terrace to "check on the situation at the front porch." Arnav is already gone-case, but even Khushi seems as lost as him, when she suddenly feels someone is watching them and pulls away from Arnav.

Khushi briefly closes her eyes, and opening them, looks at Arnav in shock. As realization dawns on her that she just kissed her boss, her eyes widen. Maanvi and Virat who are standing in a hidden corner in the house, seeing everything on the front porch clearly, smile to themselves.

However, their smile soon vanishes when Khushi suddenly starts crying. Theirs and Arnav's fear as well, is worsened when Khushi finally regains her complete senses and starts talking.

"Stop it...! Just stop it Arnav sir!!!" Khushi says, pushing Arnav hard.

"What the...!! Why did you just push me away?" Arnav enquires.

"You were kissing me..." Khushi accuses Arnav.

But, Arnav gives her a fitting reply. "You were kissing me back as well...!!!"

Arnav and Khushi both raise their voices, and soon their disagreement turns into a full blown shouting-match, though fortunately no one other than Maanvi and Virat are there to hear it.

"Sorry for kissing you back then. I was just lost in the moment." Khushi suddenly feels embarrassed for accusing Arnav of doing something, while she seemed to be doing the same thing as well.

Arnav looks at Khushi in disbelief, though he can't help but feel a little hurt at Khushi's rejection and accusation at the same time.

"Anyways... I'm supposed to get married to someone else...!!" As Khushi says this, Arnav totally shatters on the inside, but keeps a cheerful and rather fake mood upfront. Arnav apologizes for his behaviour and action, and Khushi accepts his apology. They both decide not to let this matter get in the way of their work.

Maanvi and Virat watch all this from their corner inside Peter's home. Both of them seem terribly upset at the sudden turn of events. Arnav realized and confessed his love, and Khushi even seemed to reciprocate for a while, but then rejected him in the end. Arnav was happy, and Khushi though confused seemed cheerful as well, but then the whole mood seemed to suddenly turn sour.

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A few hours later...

Everyone has turned in for the night and is fast asleep... Everyone, except Arnav that is... Arnav continues to toss and turn in his bed while thinking about Khushi.

"Why didn't Khushi tell me about her so-called fiance? I would have kept myself from falling in love with her then... Seriously, Arnav Singh Raizada - how can one stop oneself from falling in love? Love just happens, and that too when you least expect it. But why does it bring so much pain with it as well? The pain that comes along with rejection is too hurtful to bear... I don't know how I can stand facing Khushi in office, how I can see her marrying another guy. I love Khushi too much to do that. But then again, because of my love for her, I have to find happiness in her happiness... Yes, I will do that. I will hide my own love, perhaps laughing it off as infactuation and terming the kiss as an 'on the spur-of-the-moment thing', and have a cheerful upfront..."

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And, Arnav does exactly that the next day. A new year, a new beginning - for both Arnav and Khushi. They decide to resolve their fight and put all the events of the previous night behind them.

Maanvi and Virat are disappointed that Arnav and Khushi are not 'getting together,' but are happy that they at least are not shouting at each other, and seem to be 'good friends.' Akash-Payal, Yash-Aarti, Aman and Peter seem startled yet happy that the once 'sworn enemies' now seem to be quite close to each other.

Only NK, who has really understood Khushi since the time he has met her, notices that something is amiss. He asks Khushi about what happened last night, but she doesn't give a direct answer and laughs it off. NK still doesn't seem to believe Khushi, so he resolves that he himself will find out and set everything straight.

"Judging by Khushi's reaction, I suspect that whatever happened last night has something to do with Arnav... Nevermind, whatever it is, I will find it out and resolve it..."

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The New Year break gets over, and everyone returns to Delhi. Something new seems to have happened with everyone... Yash and Aarti find out they're about to become parents, Virat finally gets over his fear of commitment and proposes to Maanvi, Akash plucks up some courage and romance while Payal changes her attitudes towards love marriage as she gets herself a boyfriend, and Aman and Peter both decide that dating and flirting is not for them and request their respective parents to arrange a match for them.

For Arnav and Khushi on the other hand, the New Year does bring in something new, but it is a sad, confused, and loneliness-causing something new... Arnav realises that he can and infact did fall in love, only to have his heart broken by the very girl he gave his heart to. Meanwhile, Khushi is committed to her fianc, but can't help care deeply for Arnav and feel "acidity" whenever she is near him.

Nevertheless, everything seems to go back to normal when Raizada Industries reopens after the short break. Only Arnav and Khushi know what has really happened, as do Virat and Maanvi, but agree to keep it to themselves.

Arnav and Khushi come close to forgetting their own sadness and troubles due to the excitement of Payal and Akash's wedding, which has been fixed for 14^th of February, or Valentine's Day in other words.

Khushi and Payal begin to frequent the Raizada house, and Arnav and Akash's sister Anjali, and Nani (maternal grandmother) grow very fond of the Gupta sisters. Khushi especially, makes a special place in Anjali Di's, Nani's, and even Mama-Mami's hearts. Her bubbly nature and nonstop talking just seems to light up the whole house.

The servants in Shantivan (name of the house where the Raizada's permanently reside) - brothers Om Prakash, who takes care of the cleanliness and maintenance, and Hari Prakash, who is the cook - are happy that there is someone to make their daily mundane tasks less boring.

Only Anjali's husband Shyam Manohar Jha doesn't get to meet Khushi. He is in Myanmar on a 2-month long business trip, which ends early in February. Due to very weak connectivity in Myanmar, Shyam is unable to get in touch with the Raizada's so knows nothing of Akash's and Payal's upcoming wedding. However, he will surely come back in time for all the functions, as was told before he went.

Thus, everything seems to be falling right into place... Moreover, there is no news of Lavanya - she has not tried to contact Arnav in quite a long time. But, rumours have it that after the camel vomited on her hair and destroyed it, she went a little berserk and had herself admitted to a mental institution. Someone from the mental hospital called to inform Arnav about that fact, but due to disturbance in the background, and his own ears ringing of disbelief, he's not exactly sure if he heard right.

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A few weeks later...

Akash and Payal's wedding is about 8 days away, and the festivities and pre-wedding celebrations begin with a bang. Arnav has decided to not do anything about his feelings for Khushi - he decides to follow the saying "Love is like a bird. Set it free. If it comes back, it's yours. If it doesn't, it was never yours..."

Everything proceeds as it does - with a lot of excitement and happiness. There is no bachelor or bachelorette party, but a joint-cocktail party for both Akash, Payal, and their guests. Only the youngster's attend though, excluding Anjali who has just found she's a little over 2 months pregnant - and due to a complicated pregnancy has been advices lots of bed rest. She decides to wait till Shyam comes back to Delhi to tell him personally.

Shyam's business trip ends on time, and he calls from Myanmar's new international airport to tell the Raizada's that, but is cut off because of the weak signal. Then, due to the heavy thunderstorms when Shyam is in the air, his plane gets re-routed to Singapore. The first flight to Singapore is only the night before the wedding, and there is no other way for him to return, so he can only be in time for the haldi ceremony and the wedding itself.

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After the cocktail party...

All the guests have gone, and only close friends are left. NK, Yash-Aarti, Virat-Maanvi, Aman and Peter, Arnav and Khushi, and of course, Akash-Payal, decide to stay up the night and play games. NK suggests "Truth or Dare".

"Hey! That's Aarti's favourite party game." Yash exclaims and looks over at Aarti, only to find out that she has dozed off on his shoulder.

"Don't wake her up, Yash," Khushi says, "The pregnancy must be causing her to feel sleepy. It happens in the first few months."

"Did someone say 'Truth or Dare'?" Aarti asks waking up. "And is there anything to eat and drink? I'm hungry and thirsty again."

"Already?" Yash seems surprised at Aarti request for food.

"Yash, like I said, it happens in pregnancy. Now go get food for your lovely wife and pamper her a little. She may give you a little less trouble in her third trimester then." Khushi chides Yash, and everyone laughs.

As Yash goes to get Aarti something to eat and drink, the rest of the people form a circle and sit down. It goes like this - Payal, Akash, Arnav, Maanvi, Virat, Peter, Aman, NK, Khushi, Yash, Aarti (then Payal again) - so coincidently, Khushi ends up sitting almost exactly opposite Arnav.

The game goes well and everyone has fun. But, throughout, Khushi can't help look at Arnav with a guilty look on her face and feel sad for rejecting him. "If only I wasn't going to get married to someone else, I would have accepted Arnav sir and his love. He may seem a bit bossy and hot-headed upfront, but deep inside he is a real sweet guy."

At the same time, Arnav keeps on taking glances at Khushi i when she's not the one glancing at him - and wishes that she was sitting beside him and not opposite. "I really wonder who is the guy Khushi is going to marry. I hope he keeps her happy, if not I will kill him. I don't know why, but sometimes I feel that her fiance is not the right person for her. Something just doesn't feel all that right..."

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Arnav spends the next few days brooding over his sad life - he fell in love only to get his heart broken. He participates in the remaining pre-wedding celebrations and ceremonies of his brother Akash moping over his own fate, but with all his feelings hidden inside him. No one, other than Virat and Maanvi know what is really going on with Arnav. They try to console him, but he just shrugs it off.

The wedding draws closer...

On the morning of the wedding, the haldi ceremony takes place. The Gupta family is awaiting for Akash's 'haldi ka paani' to come from Shantivan so that they can carry on with Payal's haldi ceremony.

Arnav brings the haldi-water over. He tries ringing the bell and knocking on the door but no one answers, probably because no one can hear due to the loud music. So, Arnav looks through the living room window and tries to see if he can catch someone's attention.

Instead, Arnav is the one who sees something that captures his attention and shocks him to the core.

Do comment, or click on the like button... thanks :)

is shyam khushi finace