ArShi SS-Love in Delhi University~Thread 1 - Page 7

Chapter Two

Arnav could barely pay attention in his class. Not that he ever did but some words did seep in on general days but today was different. He had noticed that Khushi had seen him with Lavanya and was probably very hurt. He tapped his feet and pen impatiently. He had to talk to her. Right now!

"Are you ok, Khushi?" he texted and waited expectantly for her reply. Minutes passed but there was no reply. He checked his watch, the needles showed Nine Fifty. "She's free now! Why isn't she answering? It doesn't take minutes for her replies to come" he murmured. Arnav knew her timings through and through and knew he wasn't wrong in his assumptions. She had her class again at one thirty. She was mad.

Even though they weren't in a relationship, they shared something very intricate and delicate. Arnav knew just how sensitive Khushi was in the inside even though she was capable of breathing fire on anyone who annoyed her. Khushi never saw the side of Arnav by which the world had learnt to recognize him. He wasn't the cold, arrogant man he was to the world before Khushi. To Khushi, he was the world's greatest listener. She cribbed about how she was the only one who talked but Arnav knew that in her heart, she was glad that Arnav listened to her without an interruption. She wasn't used to it. Someone or the other would ask her to shut up now and then.

As the professor strode out the room at ten thirty, Arnav followed out at his heels, oblivious to his friends' calls. He got to the parking lot, kicked started his black Harley and set out on the roads, towards Khushi's college. He knew not why he was looking for her as he wouldn't talk to her lest his friends saw them and that would make Khushi's life more miserable than his. He took out his phone and speed dialled her but the phone went unanswered.

Deciding that it was a stupid idea to come here, he turned his bike back to try his luck in Kamla Nagar. Khushi loved that place. He rode down there and was cutting his way through the crowd in the market when he spotted Khushi. There she was, gleefully slurping on her chuski(ice candy) and laughing on something her friend had said. "What the!" he muttered under his breath.

~

He was pacing around his room in his usual night casuals when checked the clock on his bedroom wall, 10pm it read. That was the time when Buaji would go off to sleep and his father would retire to his room with his mistress. Even the thought of that man infuriated Arnav. Living in this house made him choke with disgust. All this had once belonged to his mother and his Dad had killed her in greed when he was fourteen years old. Half of the property had passed onto Arnav and that's the reason he was breathing today. His father had kept him alive for his own interest.

Arnav's eyes closed and his fingers fisted in anger. He was cursing his father in the darkness of mind when the peaceful image of a playful Khushi started playing before his eyes, calming his nerves. In one of the parties, Khushi had worn a pink anarkali with golden dupatta and her hair was let loose. She was looking the prettiest that day. When he complimented her, he had seen the blush creep upto her cheeks as she shied and looked away. How could anyone not fall in love with her?

Yes, he'd been in love with her since long but never told her in the fear of it getting jinxed. He didn't want them to have a miserable ending. He knew it was stupid but he didn't want to touch the bubble he was living in. Khushi was his getaway, his paradise and he didn't want the thorns of his life to be anywhere near her.

Picking up his phone from the bedside table, he strode out to the poolside. They would both sit under the stars as they would talk sweet nothings through the night. He dialled as he sat down by the pool. A few rings went unanswered, which was pretty unusual as Khushi would generally receive his phone latest by the second ring. Finally, after a couple of massive heart skips in Arnav's chest, Khushi meekly answered her phone.

"Hello?" he heard Khushi's soft voice from the other side.

"Khushi? Tum theek ho?" (Are you ok?) asked Arnav, the first thing as he sat up in his chair with worry lines all over his face.

"Haan hum theek hain, Arnav Ji. Aapko chinta karne ki koi zaroorat nehi" (Yes, I'm okay, Arnav Ji. You don't have to worry about me) came a meek unenthusiastic reply from Khushi, making Arnav's heart grip cold steel.

"Khushi, woh Lavanya.." he started but was cut off mid-sentence.

"Arnav Ji, Bua Ji ki tabiyat theek nehi hain. Mujhe phone rakhna hoga" (Bua Ji isn't well. I need to hang up now) said Khushi heatedly as she didn't want any explanations from him and that fired Arnav up. Here he was trying to make amends for the first time in his life and she was pretending to play it cool. No one talked to him that way and he wasn't going to take it from Khushi either.

"No one talks to me like that, Ms. Khushi Kumari Gupta" he spoke through his gritted teeth. He had to get to the end of this. It had been bothering him the whole day. "Khushi, that was Lavanya, tumhe pata hi hoga. Woh mere dad ke naye business partner ki beti hain and I had to be nice to her." (Khushi, that was Lavanya. I guess you already know that. She's my Dad's new business partner's daughter and I had to be nice to her) he explained to her as a matter of fact-ly.

Arnav was about to spill out how his Dad threatened him to harm his Nani if he didn't play along but stopped himself in time. Arnav hated being helpless like this and wanted to move out as soon as possible. He wanted to start his own empire which would beat his Dad to no end. No, Khushi didn't need to know all this now. Not yet. She was still a child and he didn't want her to suffer with him. It was his own hell and Khushi was the last person he wanted to share it with.

Moments of silence passed and Arnav got no reply. "Khushi! Tum kuch keh kyun nehi rahe ho!" he urged. (Khushi! Why aren't you saying anything?) Few more moments of dread passed through him before he finally heard Khushi's voice.

"Arnav Ji, agar aap just being nice ho rahe the Lavanya ke saath, toh phir usne aapko.." her voice trailed off and Arnav smiled. "Usne mujhe kiss kyun kiya?" he asked her, completing her question. "Haan" came a squeak from Khushi, to which Arnav laughed softly. His Pagal. "It doesn't matter to me, Khushi. You'll always be my number one" he assured her. Getting nothing more than a 'Hmm..' from her as reply, Arnav continued "Achcha baba, if you don't like it, agay se aisa kuch nehi hoga"(Ok, if you don't like, I won't let it happen again.)

Khushi cheered up instantly and got back her formerly glory. "Haan. Ab bolo sara din kya kiya?" (Tell me what you did the entire day) said Arnav as he smiled while he leaned back on his chair and relaxed. Khushi, as usually chirped on and Arnav replied with his usual 'Hmm's and 'Achcha?'s. When she got to the part where she went to Kamla Nagar with Preeto, Arnav halted her.

"Haan, usse yaad aya. Tum paagal ho jo sardiyon mein chuski pee rahi thi?" (Yeah, that reminds me. Are you insane, having ice candy in this winter?) he asked, worrying.

"Haan. Humay chuski bohut pasand hain. Chahey woh December ho ya June" she replied in a happy tone. (Yes! I love ice candies, be it December or June)

"Aur tumhe thand lag jati toh?" asked Arnav (And what if you caught cold?)

Khushi had no reply and just pouted instead.

"Tumhari naak laal ho jati!" Arnav answered his own questioned and laughed a little. (Your nose would've gone red). "Aur haan, tumne mera phone kyun nehi receive kya?" he asked, pretending to be mad at her. (And why didn't you receive my calls?)

"Kyunki hum aapse gussa the!" (Because I was mad at you)she answered sweetly. "Achcha, ab who sab chodiye aur agey suniye" (Achcha, let it be for now. Now listen to my story) said Khushi, dismissing her anger and proceeding in informing Arnav about her day. Arnav just smiled at the stars and thanked his mother for sending her into his life.

"Par class mein ek cheez samajh mein nehi aayi" cribbed Khushi (I didn't understand one thing in class)

"Kya?" asked back Arnav, casually.

"Marxism" replied Khushi.

"Marxism? Sociology mein Marxism kyun padha rahe hain? It's an Economics topic! Humare 2nd year mein tha!" replied Arnav (Marxism? Why are they teaching you Marxism in Sociology? It's an Economics topic. We had it in 2^nd year)

"Hmm. Ap toh third year mein ho. Agle saal pass kar jayenge, phir?" asked Khushi (Hmm. You're in your last year. You'll graduate next year. Then what?)

"Phir kya? Phir Harvard. I told you Harvard accepted me, didn't I? I'm.." Arnav was saying but stopped short as he realized what Khushi was trying to imply. They would be separated. The air around them became solemn and no one said a word.

"Achcha, hum baad ki baat baad mein karenge. Abhi present ki baat karte hain. Haan, tum kya keh rehi thi? Marxism, na? Kal Central Library mein milna. Main tumhe Marxism samjha doonga" (We'll discuss about it later, when time comes. For now, let's discuss the present. What were you saying? Marxism? Meet me in Central Library. I'll teach you) said Arnav jovially, trying to lighten the mood when in reality, his heart was shattering into pieces. He didn't want to leave Khushi's side.

Khushi fell for Arnav's trap and got lost in the game. She fell for his feigning tone. "Central Library? Kahin aapke dost aapko dekh liya toh? Aapko toh sharam ati hain na?" she replied, adding a bit of stiffness to her last couple of words. None of them really talked about it much. (Central Library? What if your friends see you? Aren't you 'secretive' about us?)

The jab was completely unexpected causing Arnav to sit up straight in his chair. "Aisi koi baat nehi hai, meet me there at 12.30. It's Friday tomorrow, we're both free after then" he said curtly, hiding his hurt. (It's not what you think.)

"HAAA!" Arnav heard Khushi gasp all of a sudden.

"Kya hua?" he asked, worried. (What happened?) Knowing Khushi, the world's most bizarre thing could've happened and thus his worry was justified.

"Arnav Ji! Subah chaar baj rahe hain! Humara kal saade aath (8.40) ka class hain. Humay sona chahiye nehi toh Buaji fir se chillaynge humare upar subah subah!" she cried out. Arnav just smiled at her innocence. (Arnav Ji! It's four in the morning. I have a class at 8.40 tomorrow. I should sleep else Buaji will start screaming at me early in the morning!)

"Ok. Goodnight, Khushi"

"Goodnight, Arnav Ji"

A moment of silence passed as both said their secret 'Love you's.

"Kal! Central Library. 12.30" said Arnav

"Ji" replied Khushi smiling and pressed the end call button.

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CHAPTER THREE: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/71676502

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Precap:

While Arnav and Khushi relish their new found love and freedom, the jealous pair of eyes of Lavanya goes unnoticed by the oblivious Lovebirds.

Will Lavanya win Arnav over in the upcoming party at RM or will Arnav prove himself to be Khushi's knight in shining armour?

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A/N: I really don't like proofreading.. So, Kindly ignore typos😊

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