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what a roller-coaster it was
yet Arnav doesn't know about khushi rishta here when he will get to know tab to...😉
Chapter-14
Not proof-read yet.
"Hai re nand kisore! Party?"
Madhumati Gupta was now an exception to a world generally swayed by love and hunger. She was continually swayed by her niece, and the new mischief's she cooked up on a daily basis.
"Kahe ki party? Kaun si party? Kauno party-varty mein jaane ki zarurat nahi hai, samjhi tum?"
(Where party? What party? No need to go to any party-varty, do you understand?)
"Voh... buaji... party matlab..."
(Actually... buaji... by party I mean to say...)
Madhumati placed an elephantine hand on her hip, and swung her plait around with another. The plait was Madhumati's source of joy, her constant companion. The world will come and the world will go, but the plait stayed on forever.
"Tum abhi AR designs ki party mein gayi thhi naa?"
(Had you just not gone for that party for AR designs?)
"AR ki party... HAAAN! Voh actually buaji, AR vaalon ne ek aur party rakhi hai. Iss baar jiji ko bhi bulaya hai. Hum... humein vahan par jana hai, varna paise nahi milenge! Socho buaji, aapke pension se kitne din chalenge, aap hi batao? Paise nahi, toh khana nahi! Khana nahi, toh mein pagal! Aur mein pagal hoti hun... toh aapko bhi pata hai aur mujhe bhi... ki kya-kya hota hai"
(AR Party? OH YES! Actually bua-ji, the AR people have kept another party. They want jiji to come too. We... we HAVE to go their, or we won't get our pay. Think buaji, just think! For how many days will we survive on your pension? If we don't have money, no food. And if there's no food, I'll go mad. And I think we both know what will happen THEN)
Our venerable bua ji, led forward by Khushi's details of the events, could very well imagine the situation, if no food was involved. She could see it, you know? The sight of an unnaturally thin Khushi trying to chew through the furniture, even as the lovely Payaliya shouted at her to stop eating. Khushi on the other hand, could hear the wheels of her buaji's brains rustily swing into action.
"Theekh hai, JAO. Jo jee mein aaye, vahi karo nand-kisore"
(Alright, GO. Do whatever you feel like, nand-kisore)
* * *
Even by her standards, Anjali was unusually jumpy. She could hardly be blamed, though. There were decorators, getting chhotte to attend the party, caterers, making sure chhotte eats his medicine, arrangement for the entertainment, make sure chhotte doesn't make excuses... chhotte, party, more chhotte and less party.
So much to do, so little time.
"Anjahhlliii daahhlliinnggg, I cannot tell you how much I've missed all this... all this colour! The Raizada's are totally my cuppa, and I'm oh so glad you decided to get me to plan your parrttaayyy!!"
"JayPee!"
The loud man, complete with the yellow pants, pink floral T-shirt, dip dyed hair and fluttery hands, rushed forward with his derriere sticking out and hands in the air.
"come on dahhlinng, gimme a kiss. Muah! Muah! Now tell me what is the scene!"
Anjali quickly consulted the tablet where she'd been making the ticks. "Well, we've called for the decorators and the caterers and the..."
"Theme, dahhhlliinnggg, give me the themmee!"
"Uhh... theme?"
"Do NOT tell me you haven't thought of a THEME!?! Tell you what, give it over to ME. You sit back, get some facial done, send your loony grandma to the bin... I'm just kidding daahhlliinngg, just kidding. Now go on, get a life! Shoo!"
JayPee shooed away the visibly miffed Anjali and clapped his hands together.
Now, they could really start the party.
* * *
Had the Raizada Mansion been a woman, she would have made a beautiful bride. The endless Raizada wealth and JayPee's artistic hand made a good match. All the guests who entered the driveway could only stop, gasp, recompose their expressions and place cool kisses on their venerable hosts' cheeks.
The interior of the house was another story altogether. The theme of the party was "South Asia". JayPee had insisted that the theme was in vogue, a hit among the creme-de-la-creme. The guests had cast admiring looks around at the typically oriental decorations, at the south-eastern drinks. The music was excellent, the conversation- highlighted with giggles and small smiles- was free-flowing and JayPee was happy. He had ever reason to be. He'd done all this in a single day
But one person in the party was extremely unhappy. The said person was currently locked in the bathroom, furiously whispering into the phone.
"Hello Khushi?"
"Oh-ho jiji! I am coming na? Why do you keep calling me again and again?"
"Khushi come quickly! These people are crazy! There is this really ancient woman in the house who has a branch in her hand. Instead of dogs, these people keep goats. Akash ki voh mummy... Khushi she looks like a clown! And your Arnav ji is just sitting in the bar and he's sulking. And that model, Lavanya? She isn't wearing any clothes! And then this Ahem? He keeps going ji mom, ji mom like a goat! And his mother... Khushi TEN people have come to Akash and I since we got here, to tell us what a great couple we are. And I'm not even able to correct, because Anjali ji tells me not to. This Kokila ben and Ahem ji are just standing and glaring!"
"First off, Arnavji isn't mine. Second off, I will take you to the eye doctor. You keep watching those stupid serials despite me telling you not to. See what has happened now? You have started seeing people naked. And third, since when have you removed the suffix from his name?" replied Khushi.
"Did you not hear a word of what I was saying? They have a goat in the house, a... fu... I mean... Devi Maiyya Khushi! They have a goat! And who's name?"
"Jiji stop doing drama. You are acting as if you have never seen goats. And I'm talking about Akash ji"
"Khushi Kumari Gupta, you get here this instant. Do you understand? Or no jalebi for one month"
"Ek MAHINA? JIJI TUM... arre nothing Bua ji, Jiji is saying she wants to take sanyas for one month... as I was saying, you will stop my jalebi for one month?"
"Just get here"
"Arre I am just joking, you get too serious all the time"
"What?"
"Not you, to bua ji. I'm coming jiji, I'm coming. Don't worry"
"Oh ho buaji! Tell Happy ji I'll play tash with him tomorrow!"
The phonecall ended with satisfactory results. Khushi would come, everything would be alright.
To poor Akash standing outside the room, it seemed as if Payal too a hell of a lot of time to powder her nose.
On the other side of the now ended phone call, Khushi was impatiently dialling another number, praying to Devi Maiyya for him to pick up
"Anjali ji? Part A plan ka ekdum bindass! Ab kya karun?"
(Anjali ji? Part A of the plan is successful. Now what should I do?)
"Khushi ji, you come here. I'll tell you what to do, and when to do it"
"Theekh hai"
* * *
The guests were now getting bored. For how long could you pretend to know everything about South Asia? Talking and bitching does get boring after a while, does it not? Payal, thoroughly bored, right from the start, was cursing Khushi into the gateways of heaven, without her jalebi. So much for her ten minutes. Fu... Devi Maiyya this!
It was in this moment of absolute boredom, when Khushi quietly slipped into the room, and just as quietly led to the poolside, and asked to wait their by a sweating Hari Prakash.
"Arre par Hari Prakash ji! Batayie toh Anjali ji ne kya..."
He was gone.
Khushi desolately walked to the pool, all the while admiring how pretty it looked in the moonlight. She did not notice a dark shadow in the corner, angrily muttering. But the shadow noticed her.
"What are you doing here?"
Khushi jumped, turned around, called Devi Maiyya bad names, cursed her acidity and said "Aap yahan par kya kar rahe hai?"
Arnav stepped out into the moonlight. "This happens to be my house"
"I happen to be your guest. Athithi Devo Bhava and all"
"I'm an atheist"
Silence. More Silence. No replies. Prolonged stares. Rustling desires. Veiled moonlight. Beautiful hearts.
"Main hi baat shuru karti hun" said Khushi, after ten minutes of quiet.
"Of course"
"Paani achha hai na?"
"Yeah, I got it changed yesterday"
"Have you ever jumped into a paani like this?"
"No... I... Khushi... yes Di... Khushi, Di is calling me, I'll try jumping later"
"Arnav ji! This is the right option. I don't want to stay alone with you. You don't want to attend the party. Aap toh deal karte hi rehte hai. You see, ismein dono ka fayda hai!"
"Khu.. Khushi, Uhh... ONE question... why don't you want to stay alone with me?"
"Because of the Acid... I mean because you are akdoo. Don't change the topic, Mr. Raizada, jump into the pool. We both know you'll never get another opportunity like this"
"What acid? And I'm not jumping into the pool"
"No acid, only base. The base of the pool is strong, Arnav ji, JUMP IN. Aapke ego ke weight se nahi tutega"
"Khushi I'm warning you, keep your..."
"You asked for it Arnav ji"
"Khu - No - AAAHHH"
And with just a single swipe of her hand, Khushi Kumari Gupta had pushed her Arnav ji into the pool. Once she was done admiring her handiwork, she offered a hand to him, asking him to step out. He gingerly pressed caught hold of her fingers. She shivered at the unexpected warmth, at the tingles. She felt herself blush. Not for long though, because one second later, she was pulled into the pool herself ' sari, screams and all.
Twenty minutes later, they both sat across each other in towels generously supplied by HP, giggling like fools in love. Khushi was asked to wear Anjali's old clothes, and Arnav found his excuse not to attend the party. They ignored the tightening in their stomachs, the flutter of their hearts. They decided to enjoy the moment.
Carpe Diem.
Sitting across Arnav, still giggling, she could not help but marvel how absolute domestic this was. Just sitting around across each other and giggling. She felt like Archimedes, out of his bathtub. New discoveries did that to you. Khushi had discovered something everybody already knew. This was not some war, they weren't some soldiers. They were just diametrically opposite people, sitting across each other and giggling.
All they needed, Khushi thought, was a jungle, a fireplace and some music.
Anjali peeked into the room where Arnav and Khushi sat giggling and walked off. She grabbed the celebratory champagne from the passing waiter and patted herself mentally on the back. Khushi and Arnav were alright, now it was Payal and Akash's turn.
___________________________
A/N: I'm so sorry you guys had to read this after having read 13 spectacular updates. I promise I'm never going to write for the collab again 😆
A huge thanks to Hot.Pink.Heels, MadMaxine and Rasgulla_sp for their reviews. All the love and mucho gracias, you guys! :D
Here is the link to my other FF, currently on the forum - ArHi FF: Glitter
I liked that reference to Buaji's plait!😆
Eating furniture!?😲 Ewww!
Every second thing on Anjali's To-Do list involves her chhote!
Hey, I liked that whole Arnav – Khushi's part of the chapter!
Pool thing reminded me of JWM, but, this was in Arshi style! Awesome!😊
Payal is not at all demure here, fu.. Devi Mayya!😛
So all this was planned by Anjali! Ahem n Kokila would run away from Payal and Khushi now!😆
What next?😉
I am glad that even after 14 chapters, this FF is as entertaining as it was in the beginning. How well all 14 people have held on to the entertainment part and have kept it light hearted! And at the same time, story is moving forward too!😊
V323, you were fantastic! 👏
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