Writer's note: Okay guys, I know I introduced Shyam in the last chapter and he called up his beloved (or not so beloved) Rani Sahiba. And we also know they showed a lot of hide-n-seek and "mushy" look-into-my-eyes-my-darling romance between them in the reel life. Can you please pretend all that has started now in my FF too. I won't be writing many Shayanjali scenes unless until I absolutely need to i.e. to further the story/ maintain the logical flow of events. I'm sure you guys will understand :)
One more thing, I know I have mentioned VASANT VIHAR house several times in the past few chapters.. it was an errata on my part (or lack of info).. but thanks to Newbiesoapfan for pointing that out to me.. I actually meant the Laxmi Nagar house where Khushi currently lives. I'll use LN from this chapter onwards and will be correcting the previous ones. Sorry about the confusion.
thanks for the comments and the likes.. keep them coming.. please scroll down to the end of the post once you finish reading the chapter for a surprise!
*None of my work can be copied without explicit written permission from me. It's not polite to steal ideas.*
Precap: Arnav's property lawyer notices some discrepancy in the land documents given by Dadi. In order to arrange for money for her father's operation, Khushi starts working on her Dabba Service again. Payal also helps her. Shyam is lurking in the background. Arnav comes to know that Khushi has started working again and he tricks Aakash into revealing the reason. Since, he knows Khushi will not accept any help from him directly, Arnav instructs Aman to throw a fake birthday party the coming weekend. He gives the catering contract to Shuklaji, much to Khushi's blissful ignorance.
Let's proceed!
Chapter 8 Lord of the rings
Scene 1
[Raizada Mansion, the next morning]
Arnav is sitting on his recliner and arranging his files in his office bag. He takes out the buff coloured envelope containing the house ownership transfer papers given to him by Dadi and places it on the table. He withdraws the single sheet of incomplete document regarding the Laxmi Nagar house and keeps it by the side of the envelope. His gaze lingers momentarily on it. As if on cue, Dadi knocks on his door right then. Arnav straightens up and wordlessly nods to allow her in.
"Arnav, humein woh ghar ke kagazaat- " she pauses as her eyes fall on the envelope on the table in front of her.
"Haan Dadi, achha hua aap hi aa gai. Main abhi aap hi ke paas aane wala tha. In documents par maine signatures kar diye hain." Arnav hands her the buff envelope. Dadi smiles smugly to herself.
"Dhanyawaad Arnav. Ab hum inhe apne wakeel ke paas bhej sakte hain," she replies and starts walking out.
"Dadi ek minute." Dadi stops at Arnav's summon. "Lucknow mein aapka kaun sa wakeel hai jiske bare mein mujhe nahin pata?" Dadi's eyes widen.
"Woh... woh aapke pitaji ke purane wakeel the. Aapke pitaji ke guzar jane ke baad se, unhone hi hamare ghar aur jayedaad ke kagazaat sambhaal ke rakhe the. Aap unse kabhi mile nahin hain, isiliye unhe jante nahin hain," Dadi explains. Arnav nods in understanding.
"Ohh, matlab woh Delhi ke nahin hain?" Arnav enquires. Dadi shakes her head.
"Nahin. Woh Lucknow mein rehte hain," confirms Dadi. Feeling suspicious about Arnav's questioning, she decides to probe him. "Par aap ye sab kyun pooch rahe hain Arnav?"
"Bas aise hi Dadi." Arnav says dismissively and walks back to stashing files into his office bag. Dadi hovers uncertainly for a moment and then walks out of his room.
Arnav looks back towards the door, now a pensive look on his face. He sits down the recliner and picks up that stray sheet of paper which he didn't include in the buff envelope on purpose. If Dadi's lawyer is based out of Lucknow, what was this paper related to a property in Delhi doing in those documents? Arnav wonders as he reads the lines written on the paper carefully. Arnav again looks towards the door from where Dadi had left just a few minutes ago. He picks up the phone and dials a number.
"Gupta?" ASR slowly tears the paper in half. "I need you" another tear "to check something for me." He goes on tearing up the paper till it is in tatters and then throws it into the dustbin.
[Cut to Gupta House]
Khushi rushes into the house from the courtyard, huffing and panting and walks towards the kitchen. She starts searching within the boxes for something. Buaji hears the rattling of the containers and shouts from her room.
"Kaa karat ho Parmeswari? Itna shor kaahe kar rahi ho?"
"Buaji kesar khatam ho gaya hai. Humein kalakand mein dalne ke liye chahiye. Aapko pata hai kya kahan rakha hai?" Khushi yells back in reply as she goes on her searching mission. Buaji walks into the kitchen, a red towel tied around her head, an annoyed look on her face.
"Haan Sanaka Devi, humne to dukaan khol rakhi hai na," she replies exasperatedly. "Ghar mein kesar nahin hai." Khushi sighs in resignation and starts to walk back towards her open kitchen. Buaji suddenly hooks her arm into Khushi's and pulls her back. Khushi looks astounded.
"Kya hua Buaji? Rasoi ka kaam baaki hai. Manohar ji ne fir se chammach ki jagah karchi istemaal kar di na to hamara dabba service aaj se hi band ho jayega," Khushi says whiningly. Buaji ignores her comment and drags her towards the sofa.
Buaji makes her sit down and sits next to her. "Manohar pe Titaliya nazar rakhe rahegi. Tim humri baat tanik suno Khusee," Buaji starts off irritatedly. "Tum jab se aayi ho yahan bas kaam mein lagi ho. Itni vyast ho gai ho ki ikk bahut zaroori baat bhul rahi ho." Khushi looks at her, surprised to detect a tone of sadness in her voice.
"Kaun si baat buaji?" she enquires.
"Tumhe yeehan aaye hafte bhar se upar ho chukka hai Khusee. Par tumre... tumre shagun ka saaman abhi tak humne lautaya nahin hai," Buaji says. Khushi's eyes widen. She becomes silent and purses her lips. So much has happened since that night. Payal was thrown out of Raizada House, she fought with her jeejaji, then her sister shifted to a house, and now working for the tiffin service. She had been busy like a bee, never once stopping to think or clear her head. Shayad hum uss bare mein sochna hi nahin chahte, Buaji. Shayad humein woh baatein yaad hi nahin rakhni ab. Khushi's eyes are drawn towards the beautiful engagement ring that she's still wearing. She never thought of taking it off. It felt like the ring was a part of her, always attached to her. An ache surged into her heart. She could feel tears starting to build up in her eyes.
She quickly jumps up, surprising Buaji with her agility, and laughs loudly. "Raizada khaandaan itna rayees hai Buaji ki aisi ek nai kai angoothiyan gayab ho jayen to bhi unhe koi farak nahi padega," Khushi says gleefully, trying to distract Buaji. As she expected, Buaji's look of sadness is replaced with a look of annoyance as she slaps Khushi admonishingly on her arm.
"Chup karo Sanaka Devi! Tum kabhi koi baat gambheerta se leti bhi ho?" Buaji scolds her.
"Acha lo hum gambheer ban jate hain," Khushi starts enacting as if she's hitting an imaginary ball with an imaginary bat. Buaji looks at her in confusion.
"Yii kaa karat ho tum Parmeswari?"
"Hum Gambheer ban gaye hain Buaji. Woh ballebaaj nahin pata kya aapko?" Khushi replies gaily which seems to infuriate Buaji even more. She holds her head in exasperation.
"Haye re Nandkishore! Iss ladki ko thodi sadbudhi deyo!" Khushi laughs merrily and then hugs Buaji tightly, quickly wiping away the tears in her eyes.
"Accha Buaji. Hum dabbon ka kaam khatam karke, shagun ka saaman lautane chale jayenge. Gehne, shaadi ka joda, humari angoothi, sab kuch..." Khushi's voice trails off as the lump starts forming in her throat again. She withdraws herself from Buaji abruptly and rushes away towards the courtyard, hiding from Buaji's scrutiny.
At the stairs she pauses and looks back towards the house. She can see Buaji muttering something and walking back to her room. Khushi's eyes look away and she looks towards her open kitchen where she can see Payal supervising the other two cooks. Somehow her idea of distracting herself from the pain wasn't really working when something or the other kept happening to remind her that she wasn't where she was meant to be ' at Raizada House as their new daughter-in-law. She slowly sinks down to the floor and sits down on the stair. Her gaze falls at her ring again.
Memories flash into her mind... the shagun, the roka, the kuldevi's pooja, the mehndi, the sangeet, the haldi ceremony, the day upto the wedding... He did go through everything because he wanted her as his wife. He made his intentions crystal clear in everyone's mind. He wanted her! And then other memories come to her mind... when he released her grip on his arm the night of the wedding, when he walked away from the marriage, when he told her to break all her relations with her mother, when she found out that it was him who decided that her sister wouldn't return to Raizada House... Her tears fall on her outstretched hands, moistening her still red Mehndi. She turns the hand over and sees the A written on her palm. Humne aapko apne dil se pyaar kiya Arnavji, aur aapne humara dil fir se tod diya...
"Khushi? Kesar mila ki nahin?" Payal shouts from the kitchen. Khushi immediately gets up to meet Payal and wipes her tears as she runs down the stairs.
[Cut to AR Designs office, Arnav's cabin]
Arnav sits in his cabin working on his laptop. There are a number of things on his agenda, the calendar shoot being the foremost of all. He is browsing through the outfit options mailed to him by his creatives team when he gets a phone call.
"Hello?"
"Nannav mere bhai!" comes the enthusiastic voice of NK from the other side.
"NK main bahut busy hun. Kya kehna hai jaldi bolo," Arnav replies bossily.
"Ok ok. Itna ghoosa kyun ho rahe ho?"
"Main kaam kar raha hun NK. Kuch kaam hai?" Arnav continues disinterestedly.
"Bhai, maine last week Lucknow jaane ke liye tickets book karwai thi. But mere paas tickets rakhunga to woh so jayegi," NK explains patiently. Arnav is confused.
"So jayegi? Kaun so jayegi?"
"So jayegi!" NK repeats emphatically. "You know lost lost!" Arnav rolls his eyes. When will NK give up his penchant for learning Hindi.
"So nahin, KHO jayengi," Arnav replies in annoyance. " Theek hai, to woh tickets kisi aur ko de do." Arnav replies.
"Nannav, Maasi parlour gayi hain, Dadi ji se mujhe bahut darr lagta hai, Naniji to bedrest pe hain aur Di ghar pe nahin hain. To tum hi bache na?" NK says. Arnav looks away from his laptop screen, fixing his attention on NK properly for the first time since they started talking.
"Ghar pe nahin hai matlab? Di kahan gai hain?" A tinge of concern clouds Arnav's voice.
"Pata nahin. Main ticket ka kya karun mere bhai!" NK moans.
"Tickets tum apne paas hi rakho. Main tumse collect kar lunga," Arnav snaps. And before NK can say another word, he disconnects the call. Di achanak kahan chali gayi? He wonders and quickly dials her number. No one picks up the call. He redials. This time the phone rings till the last second before it is picked up.
"Di aap theek ho? Kahan ho aap?" Arnav asks immediately.
"Hum theek hai Chotey. Hum to mandir aaye hue the," comes Anjali's voice from the other side. Arnav closes his eyes in relief.
"Ohh achha. NK ka phone aaya tha ki aap subah se ghar pe nahin ho? Di aisi condition mein bahar jana theek hai kya?" Arnav asks.
"Aap chinta mat kijiye chotey, Dadi ji bhi hamare saath hain. Aur waise bhi hum abhi ghar hi laut rahe hain."
"Theek hai, Di. NK ke paas Lucknow jane ke tickets hain. Aap ghar jaake usse please collect kar lijiye. Woh kaafi impatient ho raha tha ki usse woh tickets kho jayengi," Arnav replies and keeps the phone down.
Anjali sighs in relief. She looks sideways to see Shyam looking at her with a loving smile on his face.
ENGLISH VERSION
Chapter 8 Lord of the rings
Scene 1
[Raizada Mansion, the next morning]
Arnav is sitting on his recliner and arranging his files in his office bag. He takes out the buff coloured envelope containing the house ownership transfer papers given to him by Dadi and places it on the table. He withdraws the single sheet of incomplete document regarding the Laxmi Nagar house and keeps it by the side of the envelope. His gaze lingers momentarily on it. As if on cue, Dadi knocks on his door right then. Arnav straightens up and wordlessly nods to allow her in.
"Arnav, I need those documents- " she pauses as her eyes fall on the envelope on the table in front of her.
"Yes Dadi, it's good you came over. I was about to come to your room. I've signed these documents." Arnav hands her the buff envelope. Dadi smiles smugly to herself.
"Thank you Arnav. I can send these to my lawyer now," she replies and starts walking out.
"Dadi one minute." Dadi stops at Arnav's summon. "Who's this lawyer in Lucknow whom I don't know?" Dadi's eyes widen.
"He is... He was your father's old lawyer. After your father passed away, he maintained all our documents relating to real estate and property. You have never met him and hence you don't know him," Dadi explains. Arnav nods in understanding.
"Ohh, so he's not from Delhi then?" Arnav enquires. Dadi shakes her head.
"No. He lives in Lucknow," confirms Dadi. Feeling suspicious about Arnav's questioning, she decides to probe him. "But why are you asking all these questions Arnav?"
"Just like that, Dadi." Arnav says dismissively and walks back to stashing files into his office bag. Dadi hovers uncertainly for a moment and then walks out of his room.
Arnav looks back towards the door, now a pensive look on his face. He sits down the recliner and picks up that stray sheet of paper which he didn't include in the buff envelope on purpose. If Dadi's lawyer is based out of Lucknow, what was this paper related to a property in Delhi doing in those documents? Arnav wonders as he reads the lines written on the paper carefully. Arnav again looks towards the door from where Dadi had left just a few minutes ago. He picks up the phone and dials a number.
"Gupta?" ASR slowly tears the paper in half. "I need you" another tear "to check something for me." He goes on tearing up the paper till it is in tatters and then throws it into the dustbin.
[Cut to Gupta House]
Khushi rushes into the house from the courtyard, huffing and panting and walks towards the kitchen. She starts searching within the boxes for something. Buaji hears the rattling of the containers and shouts from her room.
"What are you doing Parmeswari? Why are making such a racket?"
"Buaji kesar has finished. I need it to put in the Kalakand I'm preparing. Do you know where is our bottle?" Khushi yells back in reply as she goes on her searching mission. Buaji walks into the kitchen, a red towel tied around her head, an annoyed look on her face.
"Yeah Sanaka Devi, I have opened a shop haven't I?" she replies exasperatedly. "There is no kesar at home." Khushi sighs in resignation and starts to walk back towards her open kitchen. Buaji suddenly hooks her arm into Khushi's and pulls her back. Khushi looks astounded.
"What is it Buaji? There's still work left in the kitchen. If Manohar ji uses the serving spoon again, my tiffin service will shut down today itself," Khushi says whiningly. Buaji ignores her comment and drags her towards the sofa.
Buaji makes her sit down and sits next to her. "Titaliya will keep an eye on Manohar. You listen to me, Khusee," Buaji starts off irritatedly. "Ever since you've come home, you've always been busy. But in all your work, you've forgotten a very important thing." Khushi looks at her, surprised to detect a tone of sadness in her voice.
"Which is?" she enquires.
"It's been more than a week since you've returned home, Khusee. But you haven't... you haven't yet returned your Shagun's things," Buaji says. Khushi's eyes widen. She becomes silent and purses her lips. So much has happened since that night. Payal was thrown out of Raizada House, she fought with her jeejaji, then her sister shifted to a house, and now working for the tiffin service. She had been busy like a bee, never once stopping to think or clear her head. Maybe I don't want to think about those things Buaji, maybe I don't want to remember any of it. Khushi's eyes are drawn towards the beautiful engagement ring that she's still wearing. She never thought of taking it off. It felt like the ring was a part of her, always attached to her. An ache surged into her heart. She could feel tears starting to build up in her eyes.
She quickly jumps up, surprising Buaji with her agility, and laughs loudly. "Raizada family is so filthy rich, that even if many such rings disappear, it won't affect them much," Khushi says gleefully, trying to distract Buaji. As she expected, Buaji's look of sadness is replaced with a look of annoyance as she slaps Khushi admonishingly on her arm.
"Shut up Sanaka Devi! Do you ever take anything seriously?" Buaji scolds her.
"Ok, I'll become gambheer (serious)," Khushi starts enacting as if she's hitting an imaginary ball with an imaginary bat. Buaji looks at her in confusion.
"What are you doing now, Parmeswari?"
"I've become Gambheer Buaji. Don't you know that batsman?" Khushi replies gaily which seems to infuriate Buaji even more. She holds her head in exasperation.
"Haye re Nandkishore! Bless this girl with some brains please!" Khushi laughs merrily and then hugs Buaji tightly, quickly wiping away the tears in her eyes.
"Alright Buaji. I'll finish my tiffin service work and then will go to their house to return the Shagun. The jewellery, the wedding atire, my engagement ring, everything..." Khushi's voice trails off as the lump starts forming in her throat again. She withdraws herself from Buaji abruptly and rushes away towards the courtyard, hiding from Buaji's scrutiny.
At the stairs she pauses and looks back towards the house. She can see Buaji muttering something and walking back to her room. Khushi's eyes look away and she looks towards her open kitchen where she can see Payal supervising the other two cooks. Somehow her idea of distracting herself from the pain wasn't really working when something or the other kept happening to remind her that she wasn't where she was meant to be ' at Raizada House as their new daughter-in-law. She slowly sinks down to the floor and sits down on the stair. Her gaze falls at her ring again.
Memories flash into her mind... the shagun, the roka, the kuldevi's pooja, the mehndi, the sangeet, the haldi ceremony, the day upto the wedding... He did go through everything because he wanted her as his wife. He made his intentions crystal clear in everyone's mind. He wanted her! And then other memories come to her mind... when he released her grip on his arm the night of the wedding, when he walked away from the marriage, when he told her to break all her relations with her mother, when she found out that it was him who decided that her sister wouldn't return to Raizada House... Her tears fall on her outstretched hands, moistening her still red Mehndi. She turns the hand over and sees the A written on her palm. I loved you with all my heart Arnavji, but you broke my heart again...
"Khushi? Did you find the kesar?" Payal shouts from the kitchen. Khushi immediately gets up to meet Payal and wipes her tears as she runs down the stairs.
[Cut to AR Designs office, Arnav's cabin]
Arnav sits in his cabin working on his laptop. There are a number of things on his agenda, the calendar shoot being the foremost of all. He is browsing through the outfit options mailed to him by his creatives team when he gets a phone call.
"Hello?"
"Nannav my brother!" comes the enthusiastic voice of NK from the other side.
"NK I'm very busy. Whatever it is you have to say, say it quick," Arnav replies bossily.
"Ok ok. why are you getting so ghoosa?"
"I'm working NK. Do you have some work with me?" Arnav continues disinterestedly.
"Bhai, I bought some tickets for Lucknow last week. But if I keep the tickets with me, to woh so jayegi," NK explains patiently. Arnav is confused.
"So jayegi? Kaun so jayegi?"
"So jayegi!" NK repeats emphatically. "You know lost lost!" Arnav rolls his eyes. When will NK give up his penchant for learning Hindi.
"So nahin, KHO jayengi," Arnav replies in annoyance. " Fine, then give those tickets to someone else." Arnav replies.
"Nannav, Maasi has gone to the parlour, I'm petrified of Dadi ji, Naniji is on bedrest and Di is not at home. So you are the only one left right?" NK says. Arnav looks away from his laptop screen, fixing his attention on NK properly for the first time since they started talking.
"Not at home meaning? Where has Di gone?" A tinge of concern clouds Arnav's voice.
"I don't know. What do I do about the tickets, bro?" NK moans.
"Keep the tickets with you, I'll collect them from you," Arnav snaps. And before NK can say another word, he disconnects the call. Where did Di go away suddenly? He wonders and quickly dials her number. No one picks up the call. He redials. This time the phone rings till the last second before it is picked up.
"Di are you alright? Where are you?" Arnav asks immediately.
"I'm fine Chotey. I had come to the temple," comes Anjali's voice from the other side. Arnav closes his eyes in relief.
"Ohh alright. NK called to tell me you haven't been home all morning? Di is it wise to go out in your condition?" Arnav asks.
"don't you worry, chotey, Dadi ji is with me. And in any case, we are on our way back right now."
"Okay, Di. NK has the tickets to Lucknow. Please collect them from him when you reach home. He was getting impatient that he'd lose them," Arnav replies and keeps the phone down.
Anjali sighs in relief. She looks sideways to see Shyam looking at her with a loving smile on his face.
WRITER's NOTE: I'm sorry I had to leave some lines spoken by NK in hindi itself.. translation to english would have lost its NK charm. If you are wondering where did Aman's birthday party go.. weekend ain't here in the story yet 😆 patience kids! btw, Arshi encounter alert soon 😉
cheerswa!
UPDATE: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/3197063/ch2-pg6-laxmis-one-true-love-ipkknd For some comic relief!
Book Talk
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
Cricket
Real Estate
Cryptocurrency
Financial markets and global economy
37