ArHi FF: The One Meant For Me [Link Pg 143] - Page 73

"Amma, it's already 8:00. I don't want to get late for my morning lecture…I'll have breakfast in the canteen" Khushi hurriedly uttered, as she made her way out of her house.

An unexplainable uneasiness was overwhelming Khushi who had experienced a twitching eye since she woke up, and she directly associated it with the superstition lying behind it: a bad omen. She tried to dismiss the negative vibes by rejoicing over her success in making Lavanya's and Arnav's lives messy ones. Khushi couldn't wait to witness the fruits of her efforts, already anticipating that Arnav would quit the university out of failure.

As she walked towards her scooter, her hands immediately flew to her mouth.

"My scooter!! How did this happen?" Khushi murmured, as she noticed that the tyres had been punctured. "I knew it that it was going to be a bad day, and I guess it has just started. Karma, Khushi, Karma. This is certainly a punishment for having punctured Lavanya's car! Hey Devi Maiyya, please don't be angry at me! You know why I did that!"

Since it was already getting late, Khushi rushed to the bus stop, aware of the fact that there would be one bus heading towards Delhi University in the next five minutes. Waiting under the shelter, her attention soon diverted towards the hooting sound of a car, which slowed down in front of her. The white SUV looked familiar, and she soon confirmed the owner of the car as he lowered his window, revealing Arnav Singh Raizada.

"I am on my way to university" Arnav let out.

Khushi glanced at distance to observe whether the bus was coming, and when she realised she would get late, she hopped in the car despite being sceptical about travelling with Arnav. As soon as Khushi buckled her seat belt, Arnav drove off, not speaking a single word throughout.

"What happened to him? Must be the after-effects of yesterday's confrontation with Lavanya! But why is he going to university now?" Khushi thought.

"Thank you for the lift; else I would have surely missed the lecture" Khushi expressed smilingly.

No answer came, not a reaction either but instead Khushi felt the car was speeding up.

"By the way, how are things going on with Lavanya? All settled?" Khushi asked.

Arnav drove the car at an even greater speed, causing Khushi to close her eyes and clutch the surface in front of her seat.

"Arnav, what are you doing? Please slow down! I hate fast driving!" Khushi nearly shouted, but then became speechless as she saw Arnav taking up a different route.

The car made a screeching sound as it halted in the middle of a road, and Arnav got out, opened Khushi's door and pulled her outside. Khushi was too dumbfounded for words as to what was just happening…there she was standing on a deserted road while she observed the change in Arnav's facial expressions which were being ruled by anger. She had never seen him that furious before: his glaring eyes throwing dart looks, his closed fists and his overall persona conveying coldness.

"What…h … happened?" Khushi managed to deliver, keeping a distance from Arnav, not an ounce liking the way Arnav was behaving.

"What happened? Is that only what you have to say, Khushi Kumari Gupta? Who the hell are you?" Arnav exasperatedly groaned.

"I am Khushi…remember?" Khushi tried to lighten the atmosphere, but soon grasped the fact that it was no time for jokes.

"Okay so you want to continue playing games? Everything is a game for you, right? Just a silly game!! Life is also game then for you! How could I even think like a low standard girl like you could help Arnav Singh Raizada? Actually my fault…I accorded too much importance to you"

The words 'low standard girl' had the intense effect of piercing Khushi's heart who soon retaliated.

"Listen…you have no right to treat me like this, not even talk to me on such a high tone! I wonder what is your problem?"

"My problem is that in the name of playing games, you messed with my life! My problem is that you are ruining me! My problem is simply YOU!!! Don't pretend to be that innocent! Truth or Dare, daisy flowers, tyre puncture…do these ring a bell?"

Khushi stood silent, registering each and every word pronounced by Arnav and taken aback by the fact that he had learned the truth. She was completely in a fix, and just wanted to get out of such a delicate situation as soon as possible.

"Everything was going on fine until your stupid plans proved the greatest obstacles ever! You must have had great fun watching me so helpless, right? How did you feel relishing the sight of such a scene? Powerful, thrilled? Was it entertaining enough?"

Arnav had grabbed Khushi's arms onto which he was exerting pressure as his anger was scaling new heights with each passing second. Khushi did not know which pain was greater…the physical one that Arnav was inflicting or the psychological one with Arnav's stabbing words. Not withstanding the turn the conversation was shaping to, Khushi broke free of Arnav's grip, but Arnav reacted quicker and pulled her hand forcefully towards him, twisting it at her back.

"I want an answer! Why did you do this? Do you have any idea how I felt?" Arnav said, his face close to Khushi's.

"It's hurting"

"Yes, it hurts"

"Arnav, my hand! You are hurting me!"

Arnav just realised that she was not talking about him but about her hand that he had been holding, and immediately let go of it. Leaving her alone on the road, Arnav went to the car and drove off. Khushi felt a tear falling down her cheek, and winced in pain when removing the broken bangle which had caused her hand to bleed, while walking aimlessly.

***

Arnav was in the lecture theatre, all decided to start afresh but he also knew that after the eve's unfortunate events with Lavanya, he had to put a break into pursuing her at the moment. Time would heal all wounds, he thought. But right now more than Lavanya, something else preoccupied his mind.

As he waited for the lecture to start, his eyes spontaneously drifted to the empty seat that was right beside him, and he looked around the class, thinking she might be talking to someone, but to no avail. It had been thirty minutes since he and Khushi had the showdown, and she had not yet reached university despite the place where he left her being only a fifteen-minute walking distance.

"NK, Khushi is not here yet?" Arnav asked, pretending to look unaffected as NK settled in his seat.

"Hi Arnav! No, I am actually getting worried. Khushi never fails to miss any class, and she would have told me if she was not coming! I've been trying her cell since the past few minutes but it's unreachable" NK replied, seeming anxious.

"Why should I bother about this girl anyway?" Arnav thought.

***

Arnav noticed that Khushi did not come to the second lecture as well, and he just couldn't refrain himself from asking NK repeatedly if he had any news concerning Khushi.

"Are you having any guilty feeling?" NK finally asked "It's just that whenever someone feels he has done any wrong does he feel that way, like you are doing now! Getting all worked up!"

"Why should I feel guilty? She punctured the car, and I punctured her scooter so that I could blast her alone with no one around. She ruined everything and I left her alone on that empty road. Tit for tat! Simple logic!" Arnav revealed.

"What? You did all this? Very bad Arnav! Actually you both are kind of the same even if you don't admit it! If Khushi was wrong in playing the dangerous game with you and Lavanya, you were equally wrong after what you just did! And I no longer want to get into such a mess, so you better sort out your differences on your own very soon!" NK replied.

***

Khushi had reached the Mandir … she wanted to have some time of her own reflecting upon all the Arnav-Lavanya saga, her own deeds, and Arnav's echoing words in her mind. After spending hours gaining mental peace, she stepped down the stairs when she noticed a woman in her thirties clutching the handrail, her other hand resting on her head. Khushi rushed just in the nick of time to give her support as she held onto Khushi's shoulder, and walked down the stairs. Noticing that she had a limp, Khushi slowly made her walk towards the bench where they sat, and she quickly offered her some water.

"How are you feeling now?" Khushi asked.

"Better! Thank you! Actually I was fasting, and today's heat just complicated things. I don't know what would have happened if you were not here. By the way, I am Anjali. And you?"

"Khushi" Khushi smilingly replied.

"What a sweet name you have!" Anjali said when she suddenly noticed Khushi's wrist which had a red mark caused by the broken bangle. "What happened to your wrist? It needs to be bandaged. Come with me"

"Oh no, I will be fine. Don't worry"

"You helped me and I really want you to come over my house, Nani will be very pleased to meet you. You are from Lucknow, right?"

"How do you know?"

"Your chikan kari suit"

Khushi could not refuse her new friend, and she went to her house which gave her the impression of visiting a luxurious palace. As soon as she crossed the threshold, her eyes conveyed wonder at the sight of such a beautiful big house. Anjali dressed her wound while Nani came to meet her, and they all bonded over tea and snacks, talking about memories connected to their native place.

"Naniji, Anjaliji, now I should go. You have pampered me so much." Khushi told.

"Bitiyaan, you are most welcome to come anytime! It was a pleasure meeting you."

***

"Khushi bitiyaan, you need to say sorry! What you did was not correct at all! Would you have liked it if someone had played with you like you did?" Garima, Khushi's mother asked.

"I won't say sorry Amma! I know I played with his emotions but did he have to get that angry? He was worse than a laad governor "

***

"Chotte, how could you do this? I agree it was immature of her part but your behaviour cannot be condoned. You should ask for forgiveness!"Anjali said after listening to Arnav's narration of the events.

"Di, I will never say sorry, and that too not to that girl!"

***

Despite not wanting to, the whole night Arnav could hardly sleep, thinking about why Khushi had not come to university. He had even gone back to the deserted road, just to check whether she was still there. The first thing he did when reaching the campus on the next day was to look around for Khushi, and he could not refrain himself from heaving a sigh of relief when he saw Khushi sitting in the lecture theatre. He walked up to his seat, neither looking at her nor talking to her. Khushi glanced at him from the corner of her eye, while Arnav did the same.

"Come on guys, be civil to each other" NK attempted to be the intermediary, but to no avail.

The small bandage on Khushi's wrist suddenly caught Arnav's attention as the eve's scenes replayed in his mind, and he also managed to notice the marks he had left on her arms which she was covering herself with the dupatta. He mentally slapped himself for having gone so far. But no way was he going to say sorry and he did not expect one from Khushi as well.

Both Arnav and Khushi took the resolution of not addressing to each other, but it seems a different plan had been sketched for them.

"Students, you will have to submit an assignment in two days and for this I will team you in pairs randomly" Professor Mathur announced, and started giving the list of names.

"What the"

"Hey Devi maiyya".

Uttering their trademark words, Arnav and Khushi looked at each other when they heard the professor say "Arnav Singh Raizada and Khushi Kumari Gupta".