Arhi SS : Who Knew? COMPLETED *Awarded* - Page 25

Chapter 5

She dumped the soggy cereal in the garbage, no longer hungry, and made her way to her room. She dialed a number, and she picked up on the second ring.

"Hello?" Lavanya answered.

"La? Let's go shopping, I need a distraction!" She muttered into the phone.

"What's wrong now? How did last night go?"

"He's just so...argh! He thinks he's so perfect, doesn't he? Always in my head, never leaving!"

"Who the heck are you talking about Khushi?" Lavanya exclaimed.

"My soon-to-be husband, Arnav Singh Raizada...Lavanya? Hello? Are you still there?"

"Sorry, I needed some time to process that. Did you just say the Arnav Singh Raizada is getting married to you?"

"Yes La! What do I do?" She pouted.

"The most eligible bachelor, and the hottest guy in the city is supposed to marry you and you're asking me this! Are you mad? Marry him of course!"

As much as they argued, and fought, Khushi couldn't help but admit that she liked him. She liked his personality; he seemed like a very realistic type of person ... the opposite of herself. She found his sarcasm to be quite funny, and although he just seemed like an arrogant and rude business man after their first encounter, he was actually a lot nicer than she had imagined. And so, she thought that if she were to ever marry, the man would have to be similar to Arnav Singh Raizada. Or maybe even him...no no no, she mentally chastised herself.

"I can't marry him! I don't want to get married, remember? And neither does he." She stated.

"I can't believe this...just the other day you guys met, and you ruined his shirt...and now? You guys are getting married, wow!"

"I'm going to ignore the fact that you're more excited about my own wedding than I am. Anyways, I need to go shopping, there's a party tonight and I have nothing to wear!"

Lavanya squealed in delight. "Can I help you choose what to wear? I saw this really cute strapless dress at -"

"Remember that this is my future in-laws house...well for now anyways. It's traditional Lavanya, traditional."

-----

"Oh I'm so excited! It's a big party; I invited a lot of people!" Anjali exclaimed.

"Can I ask why you did that? You know I hate parties." Arnav responded.

"Yes but this is a special occasion! Marriage Chotey, you're getting married. That's a big deal! And tonight, you and Khushi ji will be the center of attention." She said happily.

"Aw, that's so cute Di. I'm so excited!" Arnav said sarcastically.

Anjali stuck her tongue out at him and glared. Arnav smirked at her older sister's childishness and resumed his work.

But she was right, tonight would be about the 'happy couple' who were nothing close to a couple. But he wouldn't deny the fact that he was happy around her, he felt lighter, as if he didn't have to worry about anything else. Although he knew his eyes would hurt after their every encounter, due to the number of times he rolled them, he enjoyed her company. Her uncanny ability to say strange things and make him want to laugh, stirred something deep inside of him that he couldn't describe.

----

"Khushi bitiya, are you ready yet?" Garima called from the living room as she helped Shashi put on his tie.

As if on cue, she came out of the room. She dawned a silver sari with dark blue dangling earrings as her only jewelry. She left her hair in a loose chignon, a couple of light brown strands framing her face.

Garima and Shashi both stopped in their tracks, in awe of their little girl.

"So...how do I look? It's the first time I'm wearing a sari so..."

Her parents stood there, still shocked to see their daughter looking the way she did.

"Do I look that good? Wow!" Khushi whispered to herself and grinned. Satisfied with her job well done, she mentally patted herself on the back.

Garima suddenly approached her and spoke softly. "Khushi you look..."

Khushi looked down and blushed, she knew she looked beautiful!

"I look?"

"You look...so silly! Bitiya, you obviously don't know how to drape a sari, couldn't you have called me?" Garima asked in between laughs. Shashi joined in the laughter as they saw their daughter glare at both of them. She stomped her feet and stormed off to her room, leaving her parents still chuckling.

"Can you believe we've fixed her marriage?" Garima asked her husband, still smiling widely.

"No, it has not hit me yet, and for now I would prefer not talking about how my little girl will leave me very soon."

------

Arnav stood in the living room of Shantivan, as people surrounded him. Family, friends, all gathered around as the air was alive with chatter and laughter. Lights made way around the room, waiters floating around with rounds of appetizers and drinks.

It was a classy scene, something anyone would enjoy attending. But unfortunately, Arnav was never one for parties.

It was then that he felt something, a strange sensation. As if someone was here, nearby.

He felt a gust of wind pass by him...

Where the heck did wind come from? Hadn't he closed all the windows?

And then he saw her and all else was forgotten. She looked stunning, in a silver sari. It worked well with her cream complexion. The green in her earrings brought out the same hue in her eyes. Finally Khushi was here. His...future wife?

------

Khushi noticed him from afar, but decided to pretend as if she didn't. Maybe that would stop the sudden thudding of her heart. To say he looked handsome would be an understatement. The suit was black, sharp-looking, and well-fitted. Exactly the sort of thing that a woman would pick out for her man to wear at a formal event like this. Still - it fit well, it made him look very good, and when he looked over and smiled at her, it was a little bit magical.

"Bitiya, we'll go find the Raizada's. For now, how about you go stand beside Arnav?" Shashi suggested. Khushi nodded, and made her way slowly towards him.

"Hi." She said nervously.

"Well look at you, all dressed up. Not bad Khushi. If you don't aggravate me much tonight, I might just call you beautiful." He smirked as he took a sip of his drink.

"I could say the same about you. You know...with a man as handsome as yourself and girl as gorgeous as me, we would make a pretty awesome couple."

"A little narcissistic are we?" He raised an eyebrow at her. This made her giggle. "I'm just kidding. But you do look good." She smiled at him.

"Thank you. Here, have a drink." He said as he took one from the tray of a nearby waiter and placed it in her hands.

"So, ready to get your act on?" She waggled her eyebrows at him.

Arnav rolled his eyes. "No, of course I'm not. But we'll have to talk to a lot of people tonight. They'll ask us how we decided on this marriage, our plans for the future..." He said. "We should stick to something simple. Our families planned it out, and we agreed because neither of us had a problem and it seemed like the right time."

"What?! Come on Arnav, that's so boring. Can't we think of something else? A more exciting story!" She asked excitedly.

"No, no, no. We are not thinking of anything! And I know you're already planning something in that crazy mind of yours, but I don't want to hear it." He stated.

"Please? It's such a good story! I was thinking...maybe there's a fashion show going on! Your fashion line is being launched, and then I somehow end up there. And then, by mistake I'm pushed on stage and the spotlight is suddenly on me..." She motioned with her hands melodramatically. "And then, I see you. But then I get scared so I try leaving...Except all of a sudden, I accidentally slip on my clothing and fall straight from the stage, into your arms! And then we have this eye lock...and it's so romantic...but then you get mad, and we fight! And then we have this hateful relationship...until one day we realize its love!" She exclaimed clapping her hands together.

"Are you done? I hate to break it to you, but that's not very likely to happen. As dreamy and wonderful as it sounds." He said sarcastically. "But who knows, maybe that's how we'll meet in another lifetime." He shrugged casually.

"Another lifetime? Who says I'm meeting you there? In my next lifetime, I'm going to be a famous actress, and I will marry a hot co-star. I already have it planned out." She said pointedly.

Arnav bit his tongue to stop from laughing. "Like I said before, sticking to something simple is a better idea. Plus, the press is probably outside, they will probably over dramatize things anyways, we don't need your stories to add on to that."

She crossed her arms. "Fine, whatever you say."

And so, families and friends approached the "new couple", and happily expressed their delight towards their decision. Everyone was content about it, they were both educated and from well known families, what could be more perfect?

Khushi felt herself actually enjoying the atmosphere, and every time someone congratulated her, she genuinely took it to heart.

And then, the setting changed for her as a familiar man entered the house with his parents.

Fair skin, black spiked hair, dark brown eyes and a dimple in his chin...NK Sharma.

The only words that came to mind were oh crap.

"What's wrong?" Arnav asked upon seeing her all flustered.

"He's here! NK..."

"Who's NK? Oh, the Sharma's son, right?" He asked.

Khushi nodded. "I think I need some fresh air." She said before practically running out the back door and into the garden.

"Khushi?" Arnav was beyond confused so he decided to follow her.

-------

NK Sharma had heard from his parents that the Raizada's were holding a party at their house tonight. He was surprised to hear that Arnav Singh Raizada, the guy of every girl's dreams was getting married. He didn't know whether it was love, or arranged, but it shocked him nonetheless.

What astonished him beyond that was the fact that Khushi, his girlfriend of 5 months with whom he had broken up with merely days ago, was the lucky lady.

According to what he knew, Khushi had never wanted to get married in the first place. That was his first problem with her. His second was her lack of maturity. And his third was the fact that she didn't seem like the type of girl who was capable of being the traditional daughter-in-law of a household.

But as he stood there for the briefest moment, he noticed how different she looked. She was wearing a sari. She shook hands with various people and talked in a polite, rather than loud tone. She looked beautiful, and he suddenly realized how jealous the rest of the men here would be. She had the full package, and he had been stupid enough to let her go.

He wanted her to be happy, whether it was with him or not. But he wouldn't want her to enter any sort of hasty decision, and he hoped his past words weren't the cause of that decision. So as soon as NK saw her leave, he followed her so they could have a serious talk.

-----

"Why did you just leave like that?" Arnav asked as they stood in front of the garden, silently reveling in its beauty.

"You see...NK is my ex-boyfriend. We broke up right before our families agreed for the marriage." She said while biting on her lip.

"What? You dated that guy?" Arnav asked shocked, with a tinge of jealousy detected in his voice.

"Yes...but then he dumped me because he said I was immature!" She crossed her arms.

"Well..."

Khushi turned to look at him with narrowed eyes.

"I mean, no I don't think you're immature Khushi. You're just a little outspoken sometimes, there's a difference." He said. "Anyways, why is he following us upstairs?" He asked.

"He's coming?" She asked, fearing to turn around and check.

"Yes...he's making his way up the stairs."

"Well he probably doubts this relationship! I mean, we only broke up a couple of days ago; I guess it's not very realistic that I move on so fast." She said as she bit her nails nervously. "Quick, act like you like me!"

"What? How am I supposed to act that?"

"I don't know...think of something before he comes here! I don't want to talk to him."

"Khushi, what am I -"

"Oh, you're useless Raizada! Guess we'll do this my way." She said before she brought his head down to hers, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Of course, that was before he felt her soft lips press against his, and kiss him full on the mouth.

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A/N : Thank you for all the likes and comments, I appreciate each and every one. And I'm terribly sorry for not updating this as often as I would like, but I'm trying to do so every week. Sometimes school can really get to you, no? hope this update was good enough. Leave comments, and don't forget to hit the like button when you get the chance! Buddy me for PM's 😊