FF:Something About You Thread#3 *COMPLETED* - Page 12

Khushi walked around slowly, apprehensively around the large, strictly exclusive studio of AR Corp's design division. Only a select few could come into this building where the studios of various designers & their work stations & trial rooms were housed. But the top floor was reserved for exclusive clients &, in today's case, family only. & Khushi couldn't help but feel extremely uneasy at the thought that, Arnav was present in the same premises, at the very next building to be exact.

She had been very successful in her mission 'Avoid Arnav Sinister Raizada' for 11 straight days. He had started calling her from the very minute he had gone out of her home that Sunday. She had seen him going out in angry, long strides from her safe hiding place behind the ledge of their roof, & even before his Audi was out of the main gate, her phone had started to ring.

She hadn't picked up that call, or any of the 200 plus calls he had made in the days following. It had been 7-8 calls at one time for the first four days, 5-6 times a day. Then the calls had dwindled & the texts had started coming in. 'We need to talk.' 'I have to talk.' 'I want to talk.' 'Stop this ridiculous behavior & let me explain.' 'Damn it. Don't you think you've behaved like a child enough to last a life time? I am downstairs. When you are finished talking to Di, you better come down with her!' & every other kind of texts in the book was sent, varying from mildly threatening to outrageously condescending.

She hadn't, of course, paid heed to any of those messages. She might have gone over one text over a thousand times before the next one came, but neither had she returned his texts nor had she done anything that he had asked her to. & then after five days of that, even that had reduced. In the last three of days she had got only one text yesterday, very early in the morning, probably before he went to his office. Khushi could recite it by heart, she had gone over it so many times. It was 'Ok. I get it. You're very angry. Call me when you've cooled down & wanna talk.' & he had called once, in the last three days, each day around 11pm at night, probably after coming back from office.

He had come by Nikunja during the first week too. But Khushi had not only come down, she had strictly told everyone in her family to not disturb her, stating her mid-term was going on & she couldn't afford to just leave everything behind & come down to socialize every time someone came. So, no one had bothered her. & when Anjali & Naniji had come to meet Buaji & Amma-Bauji, they had come up to meet her & she had learned from them that Arnav was downstairs too. & later, he had come to meet Rohan in the evenings too. But Khushi had avoided him so studiously, that in the end it had become almost painfully obvious to everyone that something was off with her, but Garima had told everyone to let her be, as she suspected Khushi was just tired & cranky due to her exams.

Today was Khushi's last mid-term, & as soon as she had come out of the exam hall, she had seen 17 missed calls on her phone. She was ashamed to acknowledge it, but her heart had leapt in her chest hoping it was Arnav, but they had been from Payal & Anjali. & when she had called Payal back, Payal told her excitedly, they were waiting for her in Anjali's car outside her faculty building & they were going shopping. & now, walking around in the huge studio, checking out patches of fabric & laces strewn everywhere as Payal & Anjali discussed their wedding trousseaus with the lead designer of AR Corp's bridal collection, Khushi felt nervous like never before as if any moment Arnav would jump out of the various doors on the walls on every side leading to either a trial room or a storage.

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Arnav threw another impatient glance towards the screen of the lift flashing the progress of their ascend, & sensing his impatience Akaash, standing beside him ask in an incredulous tone, "Bhai, I know you're too busy to spare this visit today. Why are you even bothering going up there? Di called me as Payal is refusing to order more than one outfit per function, but there is no real issue there, so you didn't have to-" Arnav cut him off with an irritated snap, "Cut it out, Akaash! I just wanna have a talk with Suhasini so that she knows her priorities clearly!" & he also wanted to have a talk with someone else so that she knew his intentions clearly too.

He had never called anyone so many times himself, ever. He seldom made professional calls himself, his executive associate handled those responsibilities, & that meant Aman, in India. The only few persons he actually called were Aman, Anjali, Akaash, Mamaji & Rohan. But in these last 11 days he must have broken some kind of personal record of calls made to a single person. He had even texted her, which was another first for him. He e-mailed his business associates, & that was it. For the first 4 days, he hadn't even known what to write in a text. There were no message templates for 'I was a jerk. I f**ked up. Let me explain.' Then he started writing whatever came in his mind in a brief, concise manner. His business mind had told him that was the best way to get through to a hostile client.

She had unbelievably diligently avoided meeting him whenever he had gone to her house. He couldn't just march up to her room. Not because it was rude, as he couldn't care less about that. But because, both their family members would be present there, & he did care about them. He couldn't ambush her on her way to or from her campus. Not only because she usually got a lift from Lavanya, but also because if he followed her around to get her alone, he was pretty sure that was what stalking was by its very definition, & plus he couldn't even manage time off from his work to do so.

Stoically enough though, the first person that he saw the moment he entered the studio today behind Akaash, was Khushi. & somehow, he couldn't feel relieved or victorious at being able to see her despite her efforts against it, because of the way she looked. In a simple white dress & cardigan, she looked like she would waste away in thin air if she lost any more weight. Her shoulders looked slumped with the weight of her over-flowing shoulder bag. She seriously looked like a lost 12 year old, her hair getting loose from the careless, messy bun she had held them up in, & Arnav suddenly started feeling unbelievably angry at the whole wide world just looking at her.

Khushi had started feeling a little dejected. She wanted nothing to do with him, but his attempts to get through to her had actually started to get to her. But the disappearance of the text today & the reduction in call, plus his disinterest in coming to see her, now that she was here in his own office compound, felt like an indirect refusal. & at this contradictory thought of hers, that just ridiculed her resolve & success at being able to avoid meeting Arnav, she started feeling literally lost. & she was staring unseeingly at the raised podium at the end of the studio with mirrors fitting in angles around it to show each side of the figure a person standing in the podium, when she felt someone breeze past her like a storm.

Even as Khushi turned to see who it was, she already knew who it was. She fisted her palms as Arnav went straight to where the other three ladies were going over sketches, & started saying rapidly, "Su, they are not professionals. Keep the sketches aside & take them to your station. Show them the actual samples. Di, be specific about what you want. Payal, Nani & Mami want to put together a trousseau for you. Work with Su for them, please?" As he went on like the true dictator that he was, Khushi smiled her greetings at Akaash feebly & regarded Arnav under her lashes. He looked his usual lean self, but his stubble & the grooves under his eyes looked more prominent than usual.

But Khushi had to hastily look away as suddenly Arnav walked straight to where she stood & addressed Akaash directly, "They will be busy for a while. Can you go down to the third floor & just sign off the consignment papers, the Chinese ones, & ask them to send it off to Aman for further proceedings? If it's OK with you, that is!" He hooked his left eyebrow up as he finished softly. & like magic, Akaash hurriedly scrambled off with a mumbled, "Sure, bhai!"

As soon as the door closed behind Akaash, Khushi looked around the now empty huge room nervously, but before she could even look back at him, Arnav grabbed her wrist, & said to her, "& you' will come with me." But as he turned around & tried dragging her, he felt her pulling back. He looked back to see her glaring at him, her lips pursed & her feet trying to hold her ground. Arnav scanned her from head to toe once, & then looking up, said in a derisive tone, "Really? Like that would stop me?" & then turning away, he literally dragged her behind him & opening the first door in front him, peered inside. When he saw it was a storage unit, he pushed Khushi inside & followed her in.

As soon as Arnav closed the door behind him, he let go of Khushi's hand, because he feared if he held on any longer, she'd break her own wrist from the violence with which she was twisting it to free it from his grasp. She immediately stepped several steps back to put as much distance as she could put between them in the span of a single second. Arnav's eyes narrowed as he looked at her shuffling feet. Now she had started stepping back from him without him taking even one step forward? Somehow, there was something endearing about it when she used to take matching steps backwards to his forward steps, but this' A feeling of chill went down his spine, leaving him feeling cold to the core, as the thought suddenly hit him, was she now afraid to be alone with him? Was that why she had been the way she had been these past 11 days? Like she'd keep away from him, if that's the last thing she did?

Khushi saw his jaw clenching as a hard glint entered his eyes, & before he could say anything, she almost screamed at him, "Listen to me carefully, cos I am saying this once & for all. Drag me like that one more time when I am telling you to leave me alone, I swear on Bauji, I'll scream the house down, & I wouldn't even care, what the consequences will be! I don't even care if no wedding happens between the two families, you don't get to drag me around anymore! Try that one more time & you'll have to bear the penalty, not me!" She stopped to take some much needed breaths into her lungs, her chest heaving as her eyes glowed with fury.

Arnav just stared at her as if she was manic for a few moments, then he said in a hard voice laced with disbelief, "Khushi, why are you acting so dramatically?? Don't you think you're overreacting a lot? I already told you I misunderstood about those damn scripture things! Everyone knows my Nani & Mami aren't the world's most clear-cut persons! But I said sorry for the way I behaved! & that's not something I ever did for anyone outside my family! & the avoidance act that you have been putting on since that day, what's that about Khushi? I told you I was mistaken, & if you still had issues, you talk to me! & Damn it, look at me! What? You're too disgusted to look at me & too afraid to stand within five feet of me now?" he barked at the top of his voice, & if anyone came back into the outer studio, they would have been able to hear him clearly. But Arnav was past caring now.

& so was Khushi. She glowered at him, & said looking away, "Looks like you've got me all figured out. Now get out of my way. Let me get out!" Arnav looked at her averted face, her hair falling over her cheeks & he felt frustrated at her stubborn willfulness. He took a careful step forward & said in a voice that was strained with the control he was exercising on it, "Khushi, what was all the silent treatment about? I thought we were... Yes, I may have stepped out of line. But before that, Khushi, I thought, we were...?" Khushi suddenly turned her flashing eyes toward him, & Arnav felt like he was hit with a physical blow with the fury at her eyes.

Khushi pursed her lips for a moment, as if stopping the words from flowing out, but despite her efforts they came out in a venous spew, "You thought what?? That I would get into a meaningless fling with you? That's why even if I wanted, I couldn't marry NK?" & when Arnav didn't answer, but just continued to stare at her angrily, she relented, "Well, I'll give you some credit. Yes, I did think about it for a while. But fortunately for myself, I am still not as jaded as you are. I am still not as disillusioned as you are! Or... Or Lavanya is! I don't believe like Lavanya does that in order to find the one, you have to dally with countless meaningless faces. Whatever's the thing between us was, chemistry or whatever, I don't think exploring that is the best option for me. Maybe that's all Lavanya or you deserve. A string of empty flings. But I deserve better." & before she could go on some more, Arnav grabbed her left arm & shook it briefly.

When he spoke, he sounded exasperated, "Shut your nonsense, Khushi! What are you on about?? & where did Lavanya come form?" The moment Khushi had felt him clutching her arm, she knew she had to get out from there as soon as possible. As she looked up at him & saw his face set in a furious mask, she knew why she had thought he hated her when they were children. When he looked at someone like that, that person couldn't help but feel shrinking to a worm crawling the face of the earth. & today that look broke her heart some more. It was one thing to see him preferring someone else over her, it was another to see that kind of fury in his eyes directed at her. It somehow felt like her love was being flung at her face.

She wriggled her arm out of his grip & started to run towards the door, but Arnav was too quick for her. He reached the door first & with his back pushing against the door, he finally screamed like a crazy maniac, "Can you please, for once in your life, stop acting like the self-centered, melodramatic, pampered little princess Gupta that you are?" & Khushi's mouth fell open at the injustice of those accusations, & that was all that she could take. Her right hand rose out of its own volition, but before it came in contact with his cheek, she felt it gripped in an iron-vice grip, & felt him starting to twist it behind her body.

Khushi violently jerked out of his hold & punched his shoulders with her fists as hard as she could. Then pushing him again with the palms of her hands, she yelled in a possessed manner, "& can you please, for once in your life, stop acting like a two-timing, cheating bas***d? Can you stop making out with La, my best friend, after you've just accused & punished me for apparently thinking of marrying someone else? & can you please stop rubbing your face against another girl after you've just kissed me to supposedly give me a reason to not marry someone else?" & as she continued with her rant, she saw Arnav's expression change from incredulity, to shock to a carefully expressionless mask as understanding finally dawned.

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Precap:

Arnav asked in a deceptively hushed voice, "So what are you saying, Khushi? You don't believe me when I say it wasn't like what you're thinking it was? You don't believe me, when I say I wasn't making out with your friend? That I was never even tempted to do so??" But even as he was speaking, he saw Khushi rapidly shaking her head as if disagreeing with every word of his. & as he halted, she said in a desperate voice to get her meaning across, "I am saying, I almost fooled myself once. But not again. & it's not La. It's you! Can you honestly deny that you haven't cheated on girls before?" & she saw Arnav instantly look away & something inside her died, again.

Khushi licked her dry lips & said quietly, "Exactly! That's just how you are in a relationship, because maybe that's what happened to the only relationship you have ever witnessed personally. But that's not how I perceive a relationship. I have seen my Amma-Bauji. & perhaps you can't see it past your cynical view of the world, but I can also see Bhaiya-Anjali Di, Jiji-Akaashji. & those are exactly the kind of relationship I want for myself. Maybe I can deal with the commitment issues... Maybe I could take the plunge & 'explore' if I saw that kind of love or respect for me in someone's eyes.But I can see only desire for me in your eyes Arnavji, & that doesn't promise me that you won't humiliate me, like what I felt when I saw you with La, again!"

Arnav narrowed his eyes, & his lips thinned as he said in a barely audible voice, "So what are you saying? What we have between us isn't enough for you? That it doesn't matter to you?" Khushi looked down at her own pink shoes & said in a slightly broken voice, "What you're offering isn't enough for me. So it's better for both of us, & also for our families too in way, if we nipped whatever this is in the bud. & yes' it really doesn't matter all that much too."

Saza hume ye kaisi mili dil lagane ki,
Ro rahe magar tamnna thi muskurane ki,
Apna dard kise dikhau aye dost,
Dard bhi usine diya jo wajah thi muskurane ki…

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