FF:Something About You Thread#2 *COMPLETED* - Page 17

Khushi opened her eyes in a flutter when she felt Rohan clutching her shoulder, & looked at his concerned eyes, "Where is Payal? Is she upstairs?" Khushi shook her head in a negative motion, & true to nature, she started behaving all flustered as she always did whenever she had to conceal something from Amma-Bauji & her siblings. "Bha.. Bhaiya, Ji.. Jiji, went to see her friend. Yes! Friend!" Khushi looked quite impressed with herself at being able to come up with a believable excuse, but her pride in herself was deflated quite soon, as Rohan looked at her incredulously, "She went out? Leaving you all alone like this?" Then he looked beyond Khushi towards the stairs & all around the house as if hoping to see Payal materialize out of thin air. But when nothing of that sort happened, he made an annoyed sound with his tongue & took out his cell phone to call up Payal.

Khushi immediately held his hand to stop him & said hurriedly, "Wo, Bhaiya, Jiji didn't want to go. But her friend is going abroad... No, she's getting married... No, both..." She looked away from Rohan's searching eyes that made lying much more difficult for her & said, "I mean, she'll get married & then go abroad with her husband. Yes! & the wedding is not in Delhi, I guess. So Jiji went to meet her as she wouldn't be able to meet her later." She finished breathlessly.

Rohan looked at her a little distractedly & said, "Still she didn't have to go today, leaving you alone like this. She knows you would be all alone! & it's not like her to..." Khushi knew she had to distract him soon! So she shouted suddenly, startling Rohan, "Bhaiya, I am hungry!! Will you make Pasta with white sauce?? Please? I was about to make some Dal-Chawal, but now that you're here.. You make Pasta with white sauce so good! Please Bhaiya, please?? I'll be your souse chef, like I always be. Chaliye na!" & before Rohan could utter a single protest, she was steering him in the direction of the kitchen by shoving at his back.

Fifteen minutes later, as Rohan was cutting up onions & Khushi was sitting beside him comfortably sipping some left over Orange juice from breakfast, Rohan looked over at her & said with a chuckle, "I cancelled a luncheon with Mr. ASR for this. I had to reschedule it for tomorrow. & for what? To toil away in my own kitchen, while Bauji's ladli ordered me around." Khushi looked at him through deliberately narrowed eyes & said waspishly, "Am I only Bauji's ladli, & not yours?" Rohan laughed out loud at her tone & bending over dropped a kiss over her head. After several minutes of compatible silence, Khushi asked in a small voice, which she hoped sounded disinterested also, "Bhaiya? Why are you so fond of Arnavji? Why have you always been so fond of Arnavji?"

Rohan stopped in his task, & looked sideways at her, & then shrugging a little, he continued with cutting up the onions & said in an affectionate voice, "Because it's hard for me not be fond of him. Knowing him as I do." Khushi immediately sat up from her assumed careless position on the chair, & asked a little too eagerly, "But Bhaiya, I know him for as long as you know him. He's arrogant, smug, ruthless, insolent, an atheist, & borderline unpleasant, not to mention promiscuo-" Khushi stopped abruptly as she realized what she had been about to say & her cheeks heated up as she felt Rohan's unwavering gaze on her.

Then Rohan again looked down at the knife in his hand & said in a distant voice, "We all have our own defense mechanisms, Bachchi. It's so easy to be tagged as arrogant if you don't answer the questions asked by snooping elders. Nobody is gonna go & see what the question was. It's so easy to grill a teenage boy about his mother's suicide, his father's affair, his sister's broken marriage. Nobody even thinks what's going through his mind! Nobody even thinks that maybe he's as clueless about everything as they are! & then when he doesn't answer you satisfactorily, it's easier to just tag him as arrogant, insolent, smug & what not! Khushi," Rohan suddenly turned towards her & his eyes seemed so angry when he spoke next, "He never was the heart-to-heart kind, but we were practically shadows of each other at that time' & I saw. Life was very cruel to him! & now if he's repaying a bit of that cruelty... Well, I won't say he's fully justified, but I won't blame him either."

Khushi looked at Rohan & she felt on the verge of tears, when he must've wanted Rohan's company for a bit of solace, she had made achieving even that difficult for him. & then she heard Rohan continue in a gentler tone, "& time & again since I have known him, I got glimpses of his golden heart. He is compassionate without being obvious about it, he's helpful without being public about it, and he's always there for you without making you feel conscious about it. How can I be any less fond of him?" & Khushi was instantly transported back to the night of the party, how he had helped her up, how he had carried her back to the guest house, never letting it on that he was indeed her savior in that moment. & how he had kissed her & that too only after making sure that the decision to stay there was entirely in her hand.

& suddenly Khushi felt hard-pressed for air as her lungs seemed to squeeze all the air out by shrinking in size & her heart seemed to inflate so much that she felt it would burst, & she got up from the kitchen chair, mumbling some excuse to Rohan, she felt her head swimming dangerously. She ran out of the kitchen blindly & a few seconds later found herself sitting in front of Devi Maiyya's idol in the living room. She stared at her favorite deity for several seconds & then, she blurted out, despite herself, in choking voice, "Devi Maiyya! I love him!"

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When Khushi heard the doorbell ring two hours later, she gleefully left her seat behind Rohan at the living room couch & flung open the door with great force. Payal stood there with a most beautiful smile on her face, & as soon as her eyes fell on Khushi, she started blurting out, "Khushi! I said it! & it felt so amazing to be finally able to say it..."

"Say what?" Khushi couldn't see Rohan as she was facing Payal, but the shocked, freezed expression on her face told Khushi that Rohan was close behind her. Payal continued to look flustered as Khushi pulled her inside the front door & closed it behind her. & as soon as Payal was inside the door, Rohan charged, "Payal, you actually left Bachchi behind? You guys were supposed to be together till Amma-Bauji came back right? If you had to go out, you could've just taken her with you. I don't like the idea of you guys being home alone or roaming around the city alone when Amma-Bauji isn't around, Payal."

Khushi hastily put herself between her siblings, "Bhaiya, stop taking Jiji's class! & Abby's been calling you since an hour ago. Shouldn't be on your way?" She looked pointedly at the clock hanging in the wall of the hall. Rohan was moved into action as soon as he glanced at the clock, & patting Payal's head a few times, he started going out the door, but once outside, he stopped, & looked back at Payal, saying, "Just let me know if you guys need to go out or something. & did you have lunch at your friend's house? If not, I have made Pasta with white sauce. Eat & make Bachchi eat some too. She made me cook for her & then just played with the food once I went through all the troubles, claiming she lost her appetite suddenly! & take care of yourselves till I come back, OK?" Then he pulled & shut the front door behind him & waited till he heard the three locks getting turned on, & then they heard the sound of his car pulling away.

Khushi looked at Payal & got out a long sigh, & Payal did the same as she asked breathlessly, "Khushi when did Bhaiya come? & why didn't you call me when he came? I would have come back instantly!" She looked at Khushi with large fearful eyes. Khushi just shook her head & went & flopped down in a couch in the living room, "It was OK. He actually came minutes after you left. I was worried for a minute that he might've seen you leaving of something. But then I managed him' It's Bhaiya na? He was just worried about us being apart, alone & all. But forget that! You tell me, what happened? & don't you dare leave out any details!" Khushi threatened Payal.

Payal sat down opposite Khushi & slowly a gleeful smile spread across her face as she whispered conspiratorially, "You know Khushi, he actually came early & he had been waiting for me for over two hours?" Khushi rolled her eyes & almost shouted, "Who are you whispering for? There's no one in the whole house except for us! & now Akaash ji is showing all the eagerness? After he let you get engaged to some leech & that is engagement is only broken due to the activities of the leech, no thank to Akaash ji?? Well, all I can say is, better late than never!" Payal slapped Khushi's hand none-too-gently before Khushi could finish though.

"KHUSHI!" Payal pouted prettily & tried to turn away from Khushi, but Khushi stopped her, & said sternly, "Now don't act so pricey. Tell me!" Payal didn't have to be told twice as she turned around with a bright smile & said, "I said it Khushi! & it felt so good to be finally able to say it out loud. To not hold back all the things that I feel." Khushi looked at Payal & could only think, 'Ditto! It felt so nice to finally be able to not push it down into some dark corner of my heart & let it out! Be it in front of Devi Maiyya. But it still felt liberating!'

Khushi again looked at Payal as Payal grabbed her hands tightly, "& Khushi, when we were finally together, holding each other's hands, all I could remember was how used to play house as children. Isn't t weird?!" Khushi mumbled a whispered, "Maybe'" But all she could really think of how she could peculiarly remember clearly that Arnav was wearing an apple-green T-shirt the day she had thrown the cricket ball & cut his eye-brow. As if that is one of the most important details of her childhood. & Payal was talking about weird feelings to her?

Payal cupped her jaw & turned her face towards her so that she could look into Khushi's eyes, "& Khushi? All those reasons, those excuses I made for us not being together? The broken engagement, Karan, the society & all? Nothing mattered the moment I said it! I can't remember now why I ever thought those were worth any consideration!" & Khushi nodded, because she understood too. None of it mattered! She still thought he was arrogant, ill-mannered, insolent cos he didn't bow before Devi Maiyya, but truth be told, if tomorrow she had to look for a life partner, she would now look for an arrogant, insolent, smug devil like the Laad Governor! Because that's all she wanted now!

Finally Payal laid her head down on the back of the couch & closed her eyes as a contented smile played on her lips, "Do you know, what he said, when I asked him what he'd have done if I hadn't gone today? He said he'd pursue & he'd make me see sense, & he wasn't gonna let my fear of the society & others ruin the chances for our love! Isn't that the most romantic thing you've ever heard, Khushi?" & she didn't see how her baby sister's eyes flared with a determined glint. Khushi set her jaw as she decided to herself, 'My love deserves a chance too! & if she, Khushi Kumari Gupta could fall for that Rakshas of a Laad Governor, then why couldn't he fall for her? He already found her attractive & he made that pretty clear with all the grabbing & licking & sneaking & all. Then why couldn't he fall in love with her? A girl at least gotta try, dint she? & maybe if he fell for her, he'd think beyond casual sex & more along the lines of commitment concerning her?' But Khushi had no idea where she would start in her endeavor.

As Khushi was trying to think up a way to make Arnav fall in love with her, Payal shook her out of her important thoughts by slapping hand over her forehead, "Why do you look like that? What's going on in that sneaky head of yours?" & Khushi started to rub the place on her forehead where Payal had slapped her, but suddenly she looked up at Payal with a Eureka expression on her face, "That's it! That's how love happens in films! Hero-heroine bumps into each-other, they gaze into each other's eyes, someone sings a romantic melody in the back ground & they realize they're in love! Yes!" But she suddenly started to bite the nail of her right index finger as her inner voice posed another dilemma in front of her, 'The back ground score would have to go due to practicalities, but the bump's essential! How would you accidentally bump into him?' Then a slow smile spread across her face as Payal looked on at her as if she thought her sister was demented, didn't Rohan say he was having a luncheon with a Laad Governor tomorrow?

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Then she asked in a small voice, "Do you even watch movies?"

Arnav looked over at her with curious eyes, What was up with her? Then he answered her while shrewdly studying her features, "Course I do!" Khushi looked at him with hopeful eyes, "What's your favorite movie? DDLJ, QSQT, MPK, KKHH, HAHK, or something else?" Arnav bent his head fully towards her & looked at her as if she had just got out from a mental asylum, & asked in an incredulous voice, "What the-?" & Khushi realized he had no idea what she was talking about. She asked sadly, "Arnavji, what's the last Hindi movie you watched?" Arnav looked over at her & answered vaguely, "I was in London when Ra.One premiered there. Unfortunately, I went for it." Khushi jumped up so violently in her seat that Arnav was again compelled to say 'What the-?", as she charged on, "Unfortunately? SRK looked so cool in blue contacts! & Chammak Challo? It's my favorite disco song! Akon rocked it big time!"

Arnav put the gear to parking as he stopped at the red sign & finally turned to look at Khushi fully, & asked in a deceptively neutral voice, "Akon? Isn't he the one who sings, 'I wanna f**k you', Khushi?" & as Khushi's face flooded with deep crimson, he held her gaze for a couple of seconds & then he turned away to look ahead & said in a dry, humorless voice, "No wonder you know what comes after 'What the-?' so well."