I don't know why I let Sami & Saiyyu intimidate me into doing this'!This is the biggest mistake of all!!!
Anways, here goes nothing'!
Part 10
''KHUSSSHIII !! WHERE ARE YOU? Are you SAFE ?!?!'' ...
Khushi heard La's panicked voice, & squeezed her eyes shut at the sudden surge of guilt she felt. It was really commendable that La cared enough about her to barge in on Arnav's home like this, not to mention, it was very necessary in today's time, where a person gone missing for even a night could spell bad news. Especially for a girl.
Khushi licked her dry lips, & got out in a hoarse voice, "L..La? I.. I am fine. I..am home..!" & Khushi hated it that her voice quavered on the lie. As if it wasn't enough that her voice sounded as if it was grating on sand-paper. But her self-deprecating session was short lived as she heard La's demonic scream, "Khushi Kumari Gupta! Don't you dare lie to me! I have been to your house twice in the morning, & you freakin weren't there! You didn't bother answering your cell. & now, you have the gall to lie to me? Are you kidding me?" Khushi let La's rantings wash over her, as she felt the voice pulling & anchoring her to the life she had without Arnav Singh Raizada, before Arnav Singh Raizada.
She took a gulp of big, calming breath, her mind running fast, & said in a dull, regular voice to try & calm La down, "La..! I.. I was really feeling not so good last night. Kept feeling sick & you know, how I haven't been keeping well these past few days? & you all were enjoying yourselves so much, na? So, I just came home & got down for a sleep. I even switched my cell off. That's why you couldn't reach me. & when I woke up by the dawn, I felt.. You know, like stuffed up..! So I thought I'd just go for a run.." Khushi kept talking at a steady speed, thinking at lighting speed, consciously keeping in mind that, other people might think Lavanya Kashyap didn't possess enough brain cells, but she knew better.
"Khushi, you never run! In fact, for the whole time that I have known you, I have never seen you voluntarily participating in any kind of physical exercise, ever! Tell me the truth! Where are you??" Khushi pressed her eyes tightly shut with exasperation with her own foggy brain. It's taking longer than usual to reboot, & waking up with Arnav's arm wrapped around her upper body just might be the reason behind that!
Khushi let out a careful whoosh of breath to let all the panic just out of her system & tried again, "Umm.. La, it's just.. Um, yeah! When I woke up, I was hungry! Yes! You know how I am always hungry!!!" Khushi's voice gained conviction as she started feeling more & more like herself. She heard the suspicion in La's voice as she asked, "& just where did your hunger take you?" Khushi blurted out the first place she could think of that was far from both Arnav's & her place, "Sarah's M & C!" & before she could finish, she heard La's scream down the line, "Khushi! You went all the way over to Huron Village so early in the morning just to have breakfast?! I couldn't drag you to go to the place for a nice & quite brunch last Sunday!"
Khushi rolled her eyes at La for still holding her refusal of last Sunday against her, & said in a sheepish voice, "I was really hungry." She heard La's sigh on the other side as she asked as a forgone conclusion, "Couldn't you have just gone to Zoe's or Leo's? You hate Sarah's as it is as they use fresh produce, & you hate it!" Khushi chuckled a bit as she discerned the note of irritation on La's voice, & said, "Sorry, La. Should've at least texted you after I left last night. I just really needed the walk to unwind this morning." There was a lengthy pause, then she heard La's almost back to normal drawl, "Should I come to pick you up?" Khushi sent up a small prayer for guardian angels in the guise of friends as she said hastily, "No. It's alright. I'll see you later tonight? I have some errands to run in the day. Banks & all." & before La could question her further, she cut the call with a renewed surge of guilt.
As soon as she cut the call, Khushi gathered the sheets tightly around her body & went to the door to press her ears up against it, so that she could hear what was going on outside. She heard La starting to explain vaguely about where Khushi was, & NK interrupting to sneak in a question or two in between. As Khushi heard her two closest friends now discussing herself somewhat normally, she realized actually how abnormal this whole situation was. & the thing to top the list of abnormalities going around was her nudity! Where were her clothes??!!
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Fifteen minutes later, Arnav almost threw out NK & pushed La out of the front door of his apartment, after his threats to both of them about pop quizzes for the entire remaining duration of the semester & about reporting this inappropriate trespassing to the Teacher's Council failed to scare either of them even one bit. He bolted all four of the locks securely, double checked them, & after assuring no one would be able to barge in unannounced, he made his way towards his bedroom a bit unsurely.
As he pushed the door open, he saw her standing by his bed, her ruffled hair falling over her face & shoulders & everywhere around as her head was bent to look down at the buttons of her shirt, which she was donning one after another with deft fingers. He also noticed regretfully that her jeans was secured around that delectable ass of hers too. Was she leaving? & Arnav would never admit it to even himself suddenly how restless he started feeling at the thought of her leaving. He cleared his throat to get her attention & as she looked up, they both spoke at the same time.
"Was that just an excuse you made to Lavanya, or are you really, really hungry?"
"Is it true what I think? Are you gay??"
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Khushi came out of the wash room after freshening up, feeling a lot more capable of acing the world than when she had first woke up. She followed the sizzling sound of oil on fry pan to the small studio kitchen-cum-dining area just in time to see Arnav piling a plate with scrambled eggs from the pan in his hand. He looked up sensing her presence there & silently indicated with his head for her to sit on the stool in front the plate now laden with eggs & toasts. Khushi sat down readily & picking up a toast bit on it & after gulping it down hungrily, asked in a casual tone, "So, why do you two have to hide it that you're cousins?"
Arnav loaded a plate for himself & came to sit beside her on the only other stool in front of the counter & explained matter of factly, "Mostly because I asked him to. I mean, if they knew he's my cousin, we'd have to notify the University Senate, & they would set up a chain procedure. I wouldn't be able to make question papers for the course, not even pop quiz ones. & marking the papers would be possible only if they were later checked by the 2nd & 3rd examiners later. Not to mention the mountain load of paper works we'd both have to go through! The only other option was for NK not to take the course, but it would really be beneficial for him later. So I just suggested we got done with it this way. He isn't my first cousin in any case, & plus he doesn't even care about the extra marks I am not going to bestow upon him." He finished with a chuckled laugh, at which Khushi's stomach somersaulted in a peculiar way.
Khushi hastily stuffed her mouth with the toast & started chewing without even taking the piece out of her mouth for once. She could feel his unwavering gaze on her. Suddenly she jumped as a hand shot out & removed the toast from her mouth & kept it on her plate. Khushi refused to look at him as she was feeling utterly foolish at her own antics. Since last night, the way she had been behaving, it was such a poor reflection on her personality' What must he be thinking of her?
She came out of her thoughts, as suddenly Arnav bumped her shoulder sideways with his in a heart-wrenchingly casual way, & as she looked up, he gave her a lop-sided grin so unexpectedly that Khushi visibly gasped. Arnav hooked his index finger under her chin, closed her mouth shut & then looked away to examine some imaginary crumb on his plate & said in a carefree voice, "Relax. Nothing happened. Again!"
& the rueful way he said the word 'again' broke the ice & Khushi burst out in spurts of giggles. He turned around to watch her laughing her heart out for a while, then it was as if he gave himself a mental shake, & sipping on the now lukewarm coffee, he asked, "Why did you thing I was gay, Khushi?!" Khushi sobered up enough to study the side of his face & at last said in a little breathless voice, "Because you never seem to do anything whenever we spend a night together?" Then she shrugged nonchalantly & looked away, saying, "Or maybe that's due to the fact that you just find me attractive enough to take advantage of me even in a drunk state. You don't find me even a bit attractive when I am drunk?" She finished in an almost hopeful tone.
Arnav leaned a bit towards her, & said in a whisper, "There is not one moment when I don' find you attractive, Khushi! I don't think I have been given the power to find you unattractive. Under any circumstances." Khushi looked at his deep chocolate color eyes, & found that she was unable to look away. Taking a deep breath, she said in a raspy voice, "Yeah?? So why don't you prove it me by not restraining yourself this time?" & with that she cupped his jaw & pressed her lips over his.
Arnav remained absolutely fixed on his place as he felt her lips pressing over his own. He was literally too afraid to move. What if she panicked from over-eagerness & never wanted to do anything of this sort again? But then again, he was thinking of another time when he was sitting duck on this time?& he felt her lips teasing his, trying to pry them open, with a groan he snaked his arms around her & yanking her off the stool, pressed her body against the refrigerator behind her with his own body & tilting her face backward, he deepened the chaste kiss that she had started.
After several seconds they both came up for air & as Khushi clutched at his shoulders, Arnav started raining butterfly kisses down the column of her neck. Then he groaned as he nuzzled her neck with his neck, "Khushi, seriously. I can't stop everytime! I am not superhuman & I am pretty sure that's not very good for my system too!" Khushi clutched the nape of his neck & turned his head to face her, & shook her as she said, "Do I look like I want you to stop?" This time Arnav shook his head in the negative & kissed her open mouth briefly before suddenly asking suspiciously, "Do you wanna get pregnant?"
Khushi let out an astonished laugh, & pulled his head back to her to plant a noisy smooch on his lower lip. Then she said breathily, "Maybe not!" Arnav searched her face for a long moment & then rolled his ruefully, "Thank God! At least that tells me you're not drunk this time!" Then without any warning to Khushi, he bent his head down & strated kissing the small amount of cleavage exposed by Khushi's shirt-front, while his hands started working on the offending buttons of her shirt. Khushi squirmed under his lips as she started to feel her control slipping further & as she looked up, she saw the reflection of Arnav's crests & academic certificates arranged on a mantle lining the wall of the living room on the glass doors of the kitchen cupboards.
She wound her hand through the hair on his nape tightly as he kisses started going gradually downwards with each expanse of flesh exposed by each undone button, & said with a catch in her voice, "Arnav! This could be a monumental mistake. A mistake that could ruin your career. You could be sent on to statutory leave from the institution you have worked so hard to enter, you could get banned from teaching which you love." Arnav looked up at her & kissed her on the forehead, pressing his lips a bit too firmly. Then he said against her forehead, "& you could be asked to leave a program that you have worked hard to get into, which could nip your career in the bud. It could ruin your reputation if word got out. Khushi, we can't'"
Khushi cupped his cheek & forced him to look down at her, her eyes glinting determinedly, "I like you! & I thought we had already committed this.. this.. Mistake, if you want to call it that! You even pretended we committed this mistake! I was hurt & angry..& you said I was pregnant! & then I.. I wanted to be.. For a while'I just don't know..& now I am here.. With you! Like this.. I am lying to my friends.. You to your cousin... We have done virtually everything in the name of this mistake! Now can we just get down to finally doing the mistake already, please?" Arnav looked at her with his mouth slightly open & then he nodded obediently & said before claiming her lips, "Yes, please, Ma'am!" Then he bent slightly, picked her up & carried her off towards his bedroom.
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Khushi blinked her eyes open as she felt something vibrating persistently on the bed she was laying. As she located her own device lying a bit far from her hips, she tried to reach out for it, but as she did so she suddenly felt a dull ache starting to throb all over her body & she let out an involuntary yelp. & as if on cue, an arm shot out & knocked the still vibrating set off the bed & she felt hot, open mouthed kisses being showered to the side of her neck. She smiled as she felt Arnav's hand stroking her bare midriff, as she heard him say, "Thank you for talking me into this." Khushi giggled as she said, "No. Thank you for taking advantage of me."
Suddenly Khushi shrugged a little indicating he looked at her & as Arnav did, she said very seriously, "Ground rule! You can't cheat on me." Arnav held her gaze & kissed her forehead, before he said equally seriously, "Ground rule. You can't wear clothes on Sunday." & Khushi burst out laughing as Arnav said in a hurt voice, "I was every bit as serious as you were!" Khushi nodded her head in a complacent way & said in a little voice, "If & when we get caught, I don't wanna regret this. This is not a mistake for me."
Arnav rolled off holding Khushi tightly, bringing her effectively on top of him & said, "Khushi, I have committed my fair share of mistakes in my life & I won't ever call you one of them. So maybe everyone will come to know about us, maybe the worst case scenario will come true, maybe! Or, maybe, we will continue to be just this awesome! Who knows? But do you want to ruin these moments worrying about that?" Khushi looked at him for a long moment, before she leaned over & kissed his nose tenderly. Then she smiled saucily & said, "So, shall we, Professor Raizada? For the 2nd time?" Arnav stroked her cheek with his palm & said with a smirk, "Actually, Ms Gupta, your counting seems to be a bit faulty. Theoretically, it would be for the 3rd tim.." Khushi bent her head & silenced his patronizing lecture the best way she knew how to.
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& for those who want details of rumples between the sheets, fear not!! The next update will be brought to you by none other than the very talented Kalyaani'I am sure if there was ample demand, she'd squeeze in a bit of gutter(or as I am hoping, a LOT of it), in the next chapter! I know for a fact, she's more than capable of doing justice to it!! So, please K, please K, please K, please?...
& just something stupid I always say, press 'like' if you do like & let us know what you all think!
Kumkum Bhagya
Bade Achche Lagte Hain Naya Season
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