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Awesome update
loved it
Khushi and Arnav are poles apart...but opposite poles always attract each other
Awaiting the next update
Banner Credit: boyznaka
Chapter 9
The moment Arnav left the house, Anjali's mind started working. Even a blind person could see that Arnav liked Khushi. And this was Anjali we were talking about - the ever-seeing and the manipulating one.
She mentally ticked a few points:
Attraction - check
Jealously - check
Chemistry - double check
No girl affected her Chotay like that. No girl made him angry like her. No girl made him go multiple shades of green with envy. She had witnessed Chotay breathing fire just because NK knew Khushi from before. She had finally found her brother's match.
"NK Bhai!" Anjali hollered. She knew if she left this matter to her Chotay, he would most definitely screw it up royally and they will lose the only girl her brother reacted to.
*
Khushi sat on the wooden chair, both her palms cupping her chin, her elbows resting on the table where her Devi Maiyya sat smiling at her now worried child. Her eyes kept moving between the pack of jalebies and the anonymous note like the pendulum of a wall clock.
There was no doubt in Khushi's mind that the note was sent by Arnav Singh Raizada. There was only one person she had met in her existence who was Laad Governor enough to presume that she would come running to him even if he didn't sign his name on the farman nama (summons).
However, this was not the focus of her worries, they just added to her ire over that man.
Ironically her worry were the jalebies that accompanied the note and thus started her rambling.
"Why did he send me jalebies? Why these delectable, piping hot, beckoning, mouth-watering jalebies? How does he know I like jalebies? Is this a trap? Is he trying to lure me to him to avenge for the slap? I knew he had a psycho streak in him - the way he looks at me as if he would eat me! Yes! He wants to meet me all alone and then he will kill me!!! Nahiii!!!!" Khushi screamed covering both her ears with her palms.
Complaining to her Devi Maiyya, Khushi opened her ever working mouth again "I don't want to die now! I am not even married yet. I can't die a virgin...Ouch..." Khushi rubbed her arm where Payal had just pinched her.
"Khushi are you even aware of what you are saying?" Payal reprimanded her. Khushi ignored her sister as another thought entered her mind.
"Why am I scared? Khushi Kumari Gupta is not scared of anyone! I will meet him and walk out unscathed. That will make Salmanji proud and bruise that Laad Governor's ego. Hud hud Dabangg. Let the flares of a new war rise." Khushi declared rising (pun intended!), blowing at the flick of hair fallen on her eyes with a new found determination.
Payal let her sister have her usual monologues and picked up the note next to the pack of jalebies. She read the anonymous note and looked at the untouched jalebies. She picked up one dripping jalebi in her hand and enquired "Khushi who sent that note and why aren't you eating these jalebies?" Her teeth were about to dig in to the sinful delight when her hand was slapped and the jalebi went flying outside the window.
Khushi picked up the packet of jalebies, dumping them in the bin in her room, turning to her sister she informed her "These could be poisonous"
"Khushi, I knew that there was some problem in that apex organ of yours, but I didn't know it was this severe. Why will anyone send you poisonous jalebies, Khushi?"
"Jiji you don't know anything about it"
Payal shrugged at her sister's strange ways and decided to day dream about her Akash ji.
And Khushi didn't pause to wonder why would Arnav send her poisoned jaleibis if he was planning to kill her in the office tonight.
*
Arnav came running to his house and went straight to his Di's room, exclaiming with a 'Di!!!' when he found Anjali sitting on the bed with a glass of orange juice in her hand.
In the next second he was sitting on the bed holding Anjali's free hand in his "What happened to you?" turning to NK he asked him in a severe tone "Why did you call me so urgently from her phone? Tell me what happened to Di!"
"Chotay, I am absolutely fine. I just felt a little weak because of my fast. But now I am fine. NK Bhai panicked for no reason" Anjali played her role well.
Throwing NK a grateful nod he turned back to his Di "He did the right thing Di. You should take care of yourself" Anjali nodded and requested that she wanted to lie (pun intended!) down for a while and she shouldn't be disturbed at least for the next four hours and Arnav couldn't agree more.
As Arnav made way to his room, NK stopped him.
"Nannav. Khushi ji left this for you" NK handed him a note. Arnav took the note from his hand and cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Khushi left this note for me? When?"
NK ran a hand on the back of head and answered "Wohh apna bhola yaha bhool gayi thi. (She forgot her innocent here) So she came back to get it"
"Bhola?" ("Innocent?")
"Haan bhola. The thing in which people keep their stuffs"
"You mean jhola" Arnav shook his head in exasperation.
"Haan haan wahi wahi" ("Yes yes that")
Arnav opened the note and found something written in elegant Hindi.
Aman ka haath? Ya ek nayi jung ka aelan? Aap tay ki jiye. Aapki karyalay mein aanth baje mulakat karte hai
(Peace offering? Or rising flares of a new war? I will let you decide. Meet me at your office at 8)
*
When Arnav left, Anjali heaved a sigh of relief, "Devi Maiya only knows what damage he would have done if he had reached Khushi ji's home now."
"Di if he gets a whiff that I had a hand in fooling him to come back he will eat me alive and won't even burp"
"NK Bhai! Chotay's wife is more important than your life! Now tell me did Raheem Chacha drop the note at her place?"
"Yes Di. In fact he was telling me it reminded him of his youth when he did similar things"
"Raheem Chacha used to drop anonymous notes to girls to come meet him at 8 with a box of jalebies?"
"Umm I didn't ask him. Should I go and ask him now?"
"No NK Bhai. Final time, are you sure jalebies are tempting enough to lure Khushiji to Chotay's office?"
"Of course Di. There were only three things that she talked about: Gotas, Salman Khan and jalebies"
*
Khushi jumped when her Amma dropped a glass in the kitchen, when a cat mewed in the angan visible through her room's window, and when the door bell rang. She expected him to appear out of thin air from every nook of Gomti Sadan. She mentally slapped herself and chanted 'Hud hud Dabangg"
Peeking outside her bedroom door she saw her Buaji welcoming a lady in an intricately embroidered net saree with a deep neck blouse. Khushi tilted a little more to see the lady's face and lost balance, falling on the floor with a thud and a 'Devi Maiyya'
"Arre O Sanka Devi. Jara dekhav toh kaun aaya hai" ("Arre O Sanka Devi. Look who is here")
Khushi got up wincing a little at the pain in her foot, not without recalling that the last time she had tripped who had caught her. Shaking those thoughts away she went to greet her guest, "Aap yahan?"
Anjali smiled at her and asked her to sit next to her. Hesitantly taking that place, Khushi wondered if she knew about the slap and if she was here to avenge her brother.
As Anjali was bringing her hand closer to Khushi's face, Khushi started leaning back. Finally Anjali touched her face and cupped her cheek, "You left hurriedly. I wanted to speak with you."
The twinkling eyes, the 1000 watt smile, the gentle touch on her cheek, drew Khushi to Anjali's genuineness.
"Why did you want to meet me?" Khushi asked with a smile of her own while her Buaji threw curious glances at the two.
"I have a proposal for you" Anjali started.
And in the 1000th fraction of a second Khushi's mind raced to Arnav Singh Raizada, how she had fallen in his arms, their proximity, their kiss, his house, his family, their wedding, their kids...this train of thought was brought to an abrupt stop by another- his grip on her arms, her slap, his anger, her words, the anonymous note, his plan, her death...
"Nahi!!!" Khushi exclaimed in horror while getting up with a start and both Buaji and Anjali followed suit.
"Kya hua Khushiji?" (What happened Khushi ji?)
"I can't do it!"
"I think Khushiji only you can do it"
"There are millions of girls who can do it"
"But I think only you have the ability to do it"
"Why can't your brother do it with anyone else?"
"You have been working for him for so long, you have done it with him once and I don't think so there is any harm in doing it with him again" Anjali explained feeling a little confused.
"See...I know you saw us together in a very compromising situation but we haven't been doing it. Promise!!!" Khushi spoke hurriedly while keeping her fingers crossed behind her back having lied to Anjali as she had kissed her brother, but only later.
"Khushiji I am just asking you to work with AR on our bridal collection. That's it. It has nothing to do with what you were doing with my brother the other day" she tried to control the smile that was itching to form on her lips.
Khushi's mouth formed a huge 'O' which she closed immediately and opened again to speak "You were proposing that"
"Yes. What did you think?"
"I thought...Never mind. But why have you come to discuss this?" Khushi wondered out loud.
"I liked your work on the Miss India swimsuits so I got your contact details. Since, I am a major shareholder in AR I have the right to make decisions and I want you for ASR, I mean AR"
Turning to Madhumati, Anjali spoke "Auntyji, Khushiji is extremely talented and really very innovative and I think she has a lot of untapped talent which can take AR to a new level" 'and my brother too' Anjali added mentally.
"Auntyji, but she will have to live and work in Delhi for a few months. Don't worry about her accommodation and remuneration. She will stay in our house. We are Lucknowis like you. Your daughter is our daughter. She will be treated as our own" 'till we make her our own' she added again.
A good remuneration? Her Nand Kishore was actually listening to her, "Of course, our daughter is all yours. But you don't have to worry about accommodation bitya. I live in Delhi too. I just visit Lucknow once in a while. Khushi bitya will live with me"
Anjali didn't like this turn of events but she was desperate and ready to clutch at straws.
"When did I accept the job?" Khushi asked astounded at the sudden turn of events.
"Arre O Parmeswari. Use that non-existent brains of yours if not always then at least once. Don't refuse"
She looked at her Buaji, Anjali ji, closed her eyes and thought of the Laad Governor, his AR, his office in Delhi, a chance to work with him, his eyes, his lips, his encouragement to visit Sheesh Mahal to do better professionally... At that point in time he crowded her mind with his presence. His anger and her death momentarily forgotten, she said "I want to be a designer"
*
Khushi entered the silent AR office at 8 that night. The watchman let her in, having been already informed that she would be coming.
"At least the watchman saw me coming in. If he actually kills me, we have the watchman as a witness. But what if he has already bribed him?" Khushi muttered under her breath.
She touched her jhola feeling the contents from the outside, increasing her confidence. This was no time for chilli powder. This was not a spontaneous attack but a well-laid plan which required better, state-of-the art weapons.
Removing one of her weapons out of her jhola she knocked on the door. "Hud hud Dabangg...Hud hud Dabangg"
*
Arnav couldn't think of anyone else after he received her note. Hell! He couldn't think of anyone since he had laid eyes on her. The problem was he was not contemplating murder for her transgression. If anyone else had so much as touched Arnav Singh Raizada he would have cursed the day he was born. Here, she had slapped him!
But with Khushi, his anger towards her had dissipated by the time he had returned to his room mid-way to her house. He realised guiltily he was the first person to hurt her physically, she had only reacted.
Of course, he wanted to get back to her for slapping him. But why waste that opportunity on bickering with a feisty girl when he could utilize that same passion more fruitfully?
If she could slap him to vent her anger on him, he was more than willing to take out his anger on her in his way. He smirked thinking that he will go with the first option of 'Aman ka paigam' with a touch (pun intended!) of his own.
He had reached his office well before 8 trying to look in to a few things to get his mind off her and thinking that once she would come here he would make sure to not keep his hands off her. He had to collect his debt from her and how!
*
The door opened the instant her hand touched it. She peeked inside the cabin, checking behind the door first. Finding no one there she stepped inside noiselessly and looked at the office table, where he sat with the back of the chair facing the door.
Is he going to spring from his chair with a knife in his hand like those thriller movies the moment she comes within hitting distance? were her thoughts when the chair turned.
*
"Why the f*** are you holding a rolling pin in your hand?" Arnav exclaimed. Khushi checked his hands for any weapons and looked at his table and around the cabin for the same. She saw a death threat in every article her eyes laid on. Was that curtain her shroud after he would kill her with that measuring tape? Just when she was about to think how badly that paper weight would hurt her if it hits her head, Arnav called out to her his anger turning in to concern "Khushi! What happened? Why are you looking so lost?"
"Don't sound so innocent. I know you are planning to kill me" Khushi threatened him by holding the rolling pin ready to attack.
"With my looks and my charm you mean?" he smirked and the look in his eyes distracted Khushi as he stood close to her.
"Wohh I meant...the measuring tape...around my..." she stammered looking at the tape on the table.
"You mean this?" he asked picking the tape. He walked towards her and wound the tape around her waist bringing her flush against him.
"What are you doing?"
"Do you really want me to put it in to words?" he asked as he replaced the tape with his hand and pulled the rolling pin out of her hand putting it on the table. He looked at her and he had to agree that royal blue complimented her fair skin very well.
"My... I admit that I shouldn't have slapped you like that. You can slap me back for it. But if you think that if you will kill me and I will allow that without a fight then you don't know Khushi Kumari Gupta well enough"
"Then close your eyes. Allow me to slap you"
He saw Khushi close her eyes and bring her cheek hesitatingly towards him, her face scrunched up cutely anticipating the pain.
He just stood admiring her, not moving, only smirking at how adorable she looked. This cute kitten had actually slapped him!
Khushi blinked her eyes several times before opening them completely and looked at him questioningly.
"Rehne do tum sehh nahi paaogi" (Let it be. You can't bear it)
"Don't underestimate me. Hum bhalein hi aise dikhte hain par hum do kilo jalebiyan yun chat kar jaate..." (Don't underestimate me. Although I look frail but I can munch two kilos of jalebies in a jiffy...)
He didn't let her finish her boasting of how she can bear the pain of a slap by him. Foolish girl! Why would he slap her when there were better ways to touch her?
His lips touched hers in a light caress. His one hand held her lower back whereas the other travelled up to bury his fingers in her hair. She responded immediately as she placed her hand over his chest and then glided them up to clutch at his shoulders. He deepened the kiss as she bunched his hair from behind. He bit her lightly on her lower lip making her gasp and he pushed his tongue inside her exploring the sweet secrets of her mouth.
They broke the kiss together coming up for air when Arnav asked her "Why did you get a rolling pin here?" In answer Khushi pulled him down in to a yet another kiss, avoiding the question.
****
After they had kissed each other thoroughly, Khushi deemed it fit to inform him about the latest developments in their lives.
"Your sister brought a proposal"
Still unwilling to break from their embrace, Arnav looked at her perplexed, "Di! Proposal! She came to your house? Unbelievable! No actually knowing her it is quite believable. She is too much sometimes. I will go home and speak to her. She always jumps to the wrong conclusions. I hope you told her no"
"Why Arnavji? Who could refuse such a good proposal and that too from your family? It is not every day that Devi Maiyya makes your dreams come true"
"What are you saying Khushi? Nobody asked me. I refuse"
"Arnavji..." A tear or two rolled down her cheeks and she continued sniffing, "She said she had the right to make decisions. And I thought you wanted it too. Why will you say no now, after all this?"
For all his anger at her for earlier in the day, he just realised he couldn't see her cry. He cupped her face in his hands and told her, "I am not ready yet"
"But what about my dreams Arnavji? Why send the proposal now? I have dreamt of this since I was a little girl. All those bridal clothes. All the accessories...The..."
This girl here barely knew him and had already added him to her dreams. He kissed her lips gently for several long moments, before cupping her face once again, "Are you sure? I can be a difficult man to handle at times"
"I am kissing the same man now. I think we will handle" Saying that she brought him close for another long kiss.
"You will have to shift to Delhi. Leave your family behind. You will have to adjust in new surroundings, accept new people. Are you ready for that?" He asked concerned only for her.
"I won't be the first girl doing that, right? And I have thought well about it. I want this"
Arnav looked at the girl in his arms and the thought of having her close to him for somewhere close to eternity seemed...inviting. And better him than that moron NK!
He brought his lips to the column of her neck and started placing butterfly kisses there.
"Fine, Khushi. I will tell Di that we can get married"
She pushed at his shoulders and looked at him shocked, "What?!"
______________________________________
I hope this made you at least smile if not laugh and you liked the turn of events. I was very nervous while writing this part.
A big thank you to blahblah16 (Ananya), InvisibleSmile (Shiza), madmaxine (Vidya) for their quick feedback, review and a sharp eye but a sweet tongue while pointing out errors 🤗
I can't thank God enough for making Rasgulla_sp (Saiyu) my sister. What will I do without you? ❤️
It may sound like a thank you speech after receiving an award, but being a part of this collab is no less than an award for an author
Thank you for reading 😊
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