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To all my readers, thank you so much for your comments (and for the shocked reactions at the cliffhanger 😆)
Next update will be tonight
cheers!
Writer's Note: So people I'm back where we left off. I'm going to get a lot of brickbats for this scene.. It was immensely difficult to write this one, but I had promised my dear -sanika- that she'll get her dose of Angsty Arnav.
PLEASE NOTE: This chapter has very few dialogues.. most of it is expressions.. so I'd request you to use your imagination to the max! The anger, the hurt, the desperation, it is straight out a Lalit Mohan directed episode! So imagine people, imagine!!
Hope you guys like it.. Btw, the weekend party is happening in the next chapter 😉
Feedback would be most welcome!
*None of my work can be copied without explicit written permission from me. It's not polite to steal ideas.*
Chapter 8 Scene 3
[Raizada Mansion, Arnav's room]
Khushi stands at the main door, looking into Arnav's room. She is surprised to see the shambolic state of his usually well organized and clean room; the duvet isn't folded up; the bedside drawers are half open; there is a fold in the rug which anyone can trip over; one of the pillows is on the floor. Aaj subah kamre ke safai nahi hui kya? Khushi wonders as she steps into the room. Her eyes roam all around the room before finally stopping on the recliner. The messy state of the room goes to the back of her mind. The last time she was in the room they both were sitting on it when he had stolen her away from the Mehndi Ceremony for a private moment.
Khushi sighs and slowly walks towards Arnav's closet. Ye sab baatein soch kar, ab kya faida hai Khushi. Sach to yahi hai, ki tum iss parivar ka hissa nahin ho. Tum Arnavji ki patni nahin ho... Tum kuch bhi nahin ho... She slides open the door of the closet and starts searching for any of her old clothes. Her hand pauses on her white chikankari suit. Ohh ye suit... old memories flash back into Khushi's mind. The hug on the night Shyam had been thrown out of the house, the night when he had given her the gifts on Rakshabandhan to woo her back, the morning she had woken up to be reminded by him that it was their Suhaagraat that day... it was the same suit she had been wearing during each of those times. She slowly pulls out the hanger. It was incredible that a simple piece of clothing was capable enough to make her feel so dejected.
As she withdraws the suit from the wardrobe, it grazes the surface of the shelf. She hears the distinctive sound of metal against the floor. Confused, she glances down to see something glinting on the floor. She picks it and holds it up confusedly. But before she can study it closely, the bathroom door opens with a snap.
A harrowed looking Arnav rushes out of the bathroom. He stops dead in his tracks as he looks up to see Khushi standing in front of him, her white salwar suit in her hand. It feels like the air has been knocked out of his lungs.
Khushi also freezes at this sudden appearance in front of her. She goes pale, as if she has just seen a ghost.
Neither of them utters a word. The silence is so absolute in the room that even the rustling of leaves by the poolside can be heard clearly. The memory of their last meeting flashes in their minds; Arnav's apology, his insistence for her to come to him and Khushi's refusal. Her "Hum wapis nahin ayenge" echoes in both their minds simultaneously.
Arnav goes on staring at Khushi, his eyes widening in astonishment. Slowly, his mind kicks into action. Khushi? Khushi yahan kya kar rahi hai?
Khushi's heartbeats slowly start racing in panic. Arnavji yahan kya kar rahe hain? Woh to office mein hone chahiye -is the first thought that registers in her mind. Then she remembers she is in his room, without his permission, going through his things. Hey Devi Maiyya, humein sach mein nahin aana chahiye tha. She gulps in fright.
"Maaf kijiyega. Humein laga aap ghar pe nahin hain," Khushi mumbles, still not meeting his eyes. "Humein Anjali ji ne bataya ki humara kuch saaman aapke almaari mein hai. Hum wohi lene aaye the." He stares at the suit that Khushi is holding in her hand. It is the same suit that Anjali had left in his closet by mistake when she was packing Khushi's remaining clothes. That was the last of Khushi's things that was left with him. A strange feeling of possesivness surges in Arnav's heart. He suddenly wants to grab that suit away from her hands. He looks up at her.
"To tum yahan sirf apna saaman lene aai ho?" he says scathingly. What? Why did I say that? Arnav mentally smacks himself as Khushi looks up at him, her eyebrows lifted in surprise on hearing his tone.
"Hum kuch lautane bhi aaye the," she replies softly. Arnav cocks his head slightly in wonder. Lautane? Kya lautane?
"To ab tumhara kaam khatam ho gaya hai?" he prompts, in the hopes she'll snap.
But his question has the opposite effect: Khushi looks perplexed. To kya ab humara iss kamre mein rehna bhi inse bardasht nahin hota? She bows her head and mumbles, "hum ja hi rahe the."
Arnav's jaw hardens. No! That's not what I meant, Khushi.
She walks slowly back to the closet and keeps the metal thing back from where it fell. Unexplicably, the lump in her throat is back. She stands still, hesitant to turn back and face him.Why is it so difficult to be in the same room as him? She could face him perfectly fine when he'd come to Gupta House a couple of days back. Is it because they were in that room together? The room which held so many memories for her?
Arnav's eyes are fixed at her as she stands silently by his closet. He is burning with curiosity. Meri taraf dekho Khushi, look at me, he mentally begs her.
Khushi eyes casually draw towards the thing she has just kept on the closet's shelf. She stills. Then she walks closer to take a keener look at it. The realisation makes her body go rigid. Ye... Ye to Arnavji ki angoothi hai! Khushi immediately looks at Arnav's right hand and notices the faintness of the skin suggesting the ring had been taken off. Her eyes get clouded with tears of disbelief. Unhone angoothi utaar di? She slowly looks up to meet his eyes.
Arnav stares at her, baffled with this change in her demeanor. Then he notices the tears in her eyes and he feels like something has gripped his heart tightly. She's upset. What's wrong? Why is she crying? Concern grips his senses as he slowly walks towards her.
"Khushi...?" he mumbles softly and raises his arm to hold hers in a bid to comfort her.
But she takes a step away from him. Arnav stops again, his outstretched arm frozen in the space between them.
Khushi looks down at her own ring as silent tears flow down her cheek. Bas yahi ek cheej reh gai hai aapko lautana Arnavji, she thinks to herself. Her right hand reaches over her left hand and her fingers start pulling the ring off.
Arnav's eyes widen in shock as he watches Khushi take off her engagement ring right in front of her. He looks at her face disbelievingly. What the hell is she doing?
The ring is stuck in her finger and no amount of tugging or pulling is making it budge even a little. Small sobs of frustration and hurt rock her body as she continues to struggle to take the ring off. Humein bhi nahin pehen ni aapki angoothi, she resolves.
"Khushi!" Arnav's voice stops her struggle. "Yeh tum kya kar rahi ho?"
"Hum aapki amaanat wapis kar rahe hain," she replies and goes back to pulling the ring.
"Mujhe ye wapis nahin chahiye Khushi." Arnav says calmly. Khushi stops and looks up at him.
"Ye koi gehna nahin hai jo aapne humein tohfa samajh kar diya ho. Iss angoothi ka ek matlab hai Arnavji. Ye angoothi ek rishte ki nishaani hai," Khushi replies. Don't break down, don't break down in front of him! "Aur jab humare beech woh rishta baki hi nahin raha, to ab iss angoothi ko kyun pehen na? Hai na, Arnavji?"
Shock surges through his body like an electric current. He stares at her, unsure if he heard her correctly.
"Kya kaha tumne?" he asks, his voice deceivingly soft. Khushi watches him silently.
"Humne wohi kaha jo aapne -" she replies scathingly.
Before she can complete the sentence, Arnav covers the distance between them in two long strides and grabs Khushi tightly by her arms pulling her body close to his. Khushi drops the suit in surprise. His eyes are suddenly blazing with fury, his mouth is slightly open showing his teeth grinding against each other in rage, and his breath is coming out in short angry gasps. His whole demeanor has changed in moments!
"Kya kaha tumne?" he repeats his question, this time his voice was menacing, each word dripped in fury.
Khushi's heartbeats start racing in fear. She looks up at him scared but doesn't answer him. He glares at Khushi, his jawbone rigid. She starts struggling against his hold as his iron grip on her arms shoot a piercing pain through her body. Her tears of distress have been replaced with tears of physical pain. But her struggles are worthless as a sense of maddening anger raises its ugly head inside Arnav's mind.
"Humein dard ho raha hai," Khushi whimpers softly. "Arnavji chodiye humein! Humein dard ho raha hai!" her voice rises to a shout.
Arnav immediately drops his arms, but his breathing is still coming out ragged. She bows her head down, tears streaming down her face. Her arm stings due to sudden release of blood where he had gripped her. Her whole body is trembling. Arnav too lowers his head and closes his eyes, his clenched palms now throbbing with a guilty pain. They stand like that, inches away from each other but neither making any attempt to touch the other. Silence descends again.
Finally, Khushi steps back from him. After another futile effort of pulling the ring, she puts her entire finger in her mouth to moisten the flesh around the ring and gently slips her it out of her finger. She places it on the table next to the recliner. She then picks up her crumpled suit from the floor, looks up at Arnav's face one last time before wordlessly walking out of the room.
After a long moment, Arnav opens his eyes and looks towards the door, maybe hoping she'd still be there. But she's long gone. He doesn't realise that there are tears in his eyes. He walks to the recliner and but collapses to the floor itself. His eyes fall on the ring lying innocently on the table. He picks it up between his fingertips and stares at it. Why did you do this, Khushi?
ENGLISH VERSION
Chapter 8 Scene 3
[Raizada Mansion, Arnav's room]
Khushi stands at the main door, looking into Arnav's room. She is surprised to see the shambolic state of his usually well organized and clean room; the duvet isn't folded up; the bedside drawers are half open; there is a fold in the rug which anyone can trip over; one of the pillows is on the floor. Hasn't anyone cleaned the room since morning? Khushi wonders as she steps into the room. Her eyes roam all around the room before finally stopping on the recliner. The messy state of the room goes to the back of her mind. The last time she was in the room they both were sitting on it when he had stolen her away from the Mehndi Ceremony for a private moment.
Khushi sighs and slowly walks towards Arnav's closet. What's the use of thinking this way, Khushi? Truth is that, you are no longer a part of this family. You're not Arnavji's wife... You're nothing... She slides open the door of the closet and starts searching for any of her old clothes. Her hand pauses on her white chikankari suit. Ohh this suit... old memories flash back into Khushi's mind. The hug on the night Shyam had been thrown out of the house, the night when he had given her the gifts on Rakshabandhan to woo her back, the morning she had woken up to be reminded by him that it was their Suhaagraat that day... it was the same suit she had been wearing during each of those times. She slowly pulls out the hanger. It was incredible that a simple piece of clothing was capable enough to make her feel so dejected.
As she withdraws the suit from the wardrobe, it grazes the surface of the shelf. She hears the distinctive sound of metal against the floor. Confused, she glances down to see something glinting on the floor. She picks it and holds it up confusedly. But before she can study it closely, the bathroom door opens with a snap.
A harrowed looking Arnav rushes out of the bathroom. He stops dead in his tracks as he looks up to see Khushi standing in front of him, her white salwar suit in her hand. It feels like the air has been knocked out of his lungs.
Khushi also freezes at this sudden appearance in front of her. She goes pale, as if she has just seen a ghost.
Neither of them utters a word. The silence is so absolute in the room that even the rustling of leaves by the poolside can be heard clearly. The memory of their last meeting flashes in their minds; Arnav's apology, his insistence for her to come to him and Khushi's refusal. Her "I'll not come back" echoes in both their minds simultaneously.
Arnav goes on staring at Khushi, his eyes widening in astonishment. Slowly, his mind kicks into action. Khushi? What is she doing here?
Khushi's heartbeats slowly start racing in panic. What is Arnavji doing here? He should be in the office right now -is the first thought that registers in her mind. Then she remembers she is in his room, without his permission, going through his things.Oh Devi Maiyya, I really shouldn't have come here today. She gulps in fright.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were at home," Khushi mumbles, still not meeting his eyes. "Anjaliji told me there was some of my things still in your closet. I just came to collect those." He stares at the suit that Khushi is holding in her hand. It is the same suit that Anjali had left in his closet by mistake when she was packing Khushi's remaining clothes. That was the last of Khushi's things that was left with him. A strange feeling of possesiveness surges in Arnav's heart. He suddenly wants to grab that suit away from her hands. He looks up at her.
"So you came here only to take your things?" he says scathingly. What? Why did I say that? Arnav mentally smacks himself as Khushi looks up at him, her eyebrows lifted in surprise on hearing his tone.
"I came to return somethings too," she replies softly. Arnav cocks his head slightly in wonder. To return? To return what?
"And now your work has finished?" he prompts, in the hopes she'll snap.
But his question has the opposite effect: Khushi looks perplexed. So you can't even bear it that I'm in your room? She bows her head and mumbles, "I was just leaving."
Arnav's jaw hardens. No! That's not what I meant, Khushi.
She walks slowly back to the closet and keeps the metal thing back from where it fell. Unexplicably, the lump in her throat is back. She stands still, hesitant to turn back and face him.Why is it so difficult to be in the same room as him? She could face him perfectly fine when he'd come to Gupta House a couple of days back. Is it because they were in that room together? The room which held so many memories for her?
Arnav's eyes are fixed at her as she stands silently by his closet. He is burning with curiosity. Look at me Khushi, just look at me, he mentally begs her.
Khushi eyes casually draw towards the thing she has just kept on the closet's shelf. She stills. Then she walks closer to take a keener look at it. The realisation makes her body go rigid. This is... This is Arnavji's ring! Khushi immediately looks at Arnav's right hand and notices the faintness of the skin suggesting the ring had been taken off. Her eyes get clouded with tears of disbelief. He's taken it off already? She slowly looks up to meet his eyes.
Arnav stares at her, baffled with this change in her demeanor. Then he notices the tears in her eyes and he feels like something has gripped his heart tightly. She's upset. What's wrong? Why is she crying? Concern grips his senses as he slowly walks towards her.
"Khushi...?" he mumbles softly and raises his arm to hold hers in a bid to comfort her.
But she takes a step away from him. Arnav stops again, his outstretched arm frozen in the space between them.
Khushi looks down at her own ring as silent tears flow down her cheek. This is the last thing that I need to return you, Arnavji, she thinks to herself. Her right hand reaches over her left hand and her fingers start pulling the ring off.
Arnav's eyes widen in shock as he watches Khushi take off her engagement ring right in front of her. He looks at her face disbelievingly. What the hell is she doing?
The ring is stuck in her finger and no amount of tugging or pulling is making it budge even a little. Small sobs of frustration and hurt rock her body as she continues to struggle to take the ring off. Even I don't want to wear your ring, she resolves.
"Khushi!" Arnav's voice stops her struggle. "What are you doing?"
"I'm returning what belongs to you," she replies and goes back to pulling the ring.
"I don't want it back, Khushi." Arnav says calmly. Khushi stops and looks up at him.
"This is not a piece of jewellery that you have given me as a gift. This ring means something Arnavji. This ring is an indication of a relationship," Khushi replies. Don't break down, don't break down in front of him! "And now that there is no relationship between us anymore, why to wear this ring too? Am I right, Arnavji?"
Shock surges through his body like an electric current. He stares at her, unsure if he heard her correctly.
"What did you say?" he asks, his voice deceivingly soft. Khushi watches him silently.
"Exactly what you hea-" she replies scathingly.
Before she can complete the sentence, Arnav covers the distance between them in two long strides and grabs Khushi tightly by her arms pulling her body close to his. Khushi drops the suit in surprise. His eyes are suddenly blazing with fury, his mouth is slightly open showing his teeth grinding against each other in rage, and his breath is coming out in short angry gasps. His whole demeanor has changed in moments!
"What did you say?" he repeats his question, this time his voice was menacing, each word dripped in fury.
Khushi's heartbeats start racing in fear. She looks up at him scared but doesn't answer him. He glares at Khushi, his jawbone rigid. She starts struggling against his hold as his iron grip on her arms shoot a piercing pain through her body. Her tears of distress have been replaced with tears of physical pain. But her struggles are worthless as a sense of maddening anger raises its ugly head inside Arnav's mind.
"It's hurting," Khushi whimpers softly. "Arnavji leave me! You are hurting me!" her voice rises to a shout.
Arnav immediately drops his arms, but his breathing is still coming out ragged. She bows her head down, tears streaming down her face. Her arm stings due to sudden release of blood where he had gripped her. Her whole body is trembling. Arnav too lowers his head and closes his eyes, his clenched palms now throbbing with a guilty pain. They stand like that, inches away from each other but neither making any attempt to touch the other. Silence descends again.
Finally, Khushi steps back from him. After another futile effort of pulling the ring, she puts her entire finger in her mouth to moisten the flesh around the ring and gently slips her it out of her finger. She places it on the table next to the recliner. She then picks up her crumpled suit from the floor, looks up at Arnav's face one last time before wordlessly walking out of the room.
After a long moment, Arnav opens his eyes and looks towards the door, maybe hoping she'd still be there. But she's long gone. He doesn't realise that there are tears in his eyes. He walks to the recliner and but collapses to the floor itself. His eyes fall on the ring lying innocently on the table. He picks it up between his fingertips and stares at it. Why did you do this, Khushi?
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