Arnav used the master key to unlock the back door of the Guesthouse, then he consulted his wristwatch. As it was it was only 10.15pm, & it was actually NK's dud of a party that had made him seem like it was late night. He knew everyone was staying on the upstairs bedrooms as Shashi had been telling just this morning, when he had had to invite Arnav to go upstairs with him so that he could fetch some receipts from his wallet kept in the bedroom he & Garima were staying in. So, that means if no one had any specific works, or until Rohan & Payal came back from the Bachelors' Party, the downstairs would be completely deserted, & so would be the stairwell & the hallways. & then as Arnav caught on the train of his thought, he sighed self-derisively. This is what Arnav Singh Raizada had been reduced to. He, who had never even spent a single night on anyone else's place, & it had always been his girlfriends who had had to worry about sneaking in undetected & then had to make the 'walk of shame' in front of liftmen & gatemen in the dawn. & now, here he was, standing in the middle of his own house, on his own property, worrying about sneaking in undetected in the room of his own- Arnav stopped as if he had suddenly come against a mountain. His own what? Somehow, the title 'girlfriend' seemed like an insult to all that Khushi was for him.. But if not that, then what?
& as no answer came to him instantly, Arnav gave himself a mental shake & a good berating. There Khushi was, probably waiting for him just upstairs! & here he was, contemplating & assessing mighty complicated things standing here on the kitchen of the Guesthouse, where if caught by someone he had no reasonable explanation for his presence there! That got him into movement, & Arnav swiftly ran to the staircase in the hall & started climbing the stairs three at a time. He reached outside the yellow room in no time, in which he knew she was staying. He looked at the doorknob, wondering if it was locked or not. & if it was locked, should he knock or text her? & then a derisive voice in his head almost screamed, "Why don't you try twisting it around first, Mr Oversmart?" Arnav shut his own voice up with a silent "f**k off", & as he twisted the doorknob, to his amazement he found the door unlocked, & without being able to waste another second he entered the room & swiftly locking the door without making any sound, he turned towards the bed.
Khushi was laying sideways on the pillow, looking straight at him, in the same, babyish, Hello Kitty PJs he had seen her in that night when he had come to her after his hustle with Karan. A quilt was pulled over her upto her waist & her hands were resting beside her head on the bed. Arnav looked at her face critically, searching for signs of distress. But if anything, she just looked tired than anything else. & then, she raised her hand, & gently patted the empty space beside her on the double bed, indicating him to go & take that place. There was nothing provocative or insinuating about the gesture, it was almost a friendly invitation & Arnav went as if he was being pulled by an invisible rope. He went, & sat on the bed for a couple of seconds, looking at her for some sort of instruction on what to do next. But when nothing came from her, except a curious stare, he just laid down beside her, keeping his head on the pillow tentatively. & his eyes fell on her right hand laying palm upwards beside her head on the bed & the 'crappy' Mehendi work done by him on it.
Arnav gently slid his right hand over her palm, caressing the very dark smudge of Mehendi on his way, & then softly holding the hand in his own, he pulled it towards his lips, & kissed the Blackish Red patch of Mehendi on her hand lingeringly. & then raising remorseful eyes at her that spoke volumes, he said in a raspy voice, "I am sorry.. for this." He felt the hand inside his hold shake with a jerk & then Khushi said in a low voice, "It's alright. It's just Mehendi!" Arnav grabbed the hand tighter in both of his at her light voice, & said gruffly, "It's not alright, Khushi! & it's not just Mehendi. I saw how upset you were!" & Khushi saw how visibly contrite with himself he were, so she hurried to comfort him, "I was not- Ok, I was upset.. But it is alright. You're forgiven, Ok?" Arnav abruptly looked up at her from where he was pressing short, brief kisses over her hand, & said reproachfully, "You're much too easy on me!" & before he could finish, Khushi retorted just as hotly, "Because, you're much too hard on yourself! About almost everything!"
Arnav reached out with a hand & gently brushed away a few loose tendrils of hair that had gotten loose from her ponytail, wondering at how this girl always felt the need to defend him against anyone & everyone, including himself, he asked for the second time that night, "Tum theek ho?" This time though, a different answer came. Khushi pulled their joined hands towards herself, & pressed his hands to her heart, & said confidently, "I will be now!" & then she became a little serious as she said in a hesitant voice, "Thank you.. for standing up for me like that.. Par khamakha aapko chaar baate sunni padhi, humare wajah se..(But you had to endure the taunts for nothing, because of me..)" & she looked up when she felt Arnav's hand pulling slightly inside the hold of her own to attract her attention, & as she looked up at him, she saw laughter glinting at his eyes & as she asked with curious eyes the reason behind his mirth, Arnav said in a laughing voice, "You also did the same for me remember? You stood up to Dadi.. thinking she & Ma used to beat me up as a child? Compared to Dadi, trust me, that woman was nothing!"
Khushi giggled a little at his deliberate joke to make her a bit more cheerful, & then seeing her opening as he was the one to have mentioned his Ma & his childhood, she clutched onto his hands more tightly & asked in a timid voice, "Arnavji?" Arnav was looking intently at the mole on the side of her cheek, so he answered in a preoccupied tone, "Hmm?" Khushi gulped nervously & just came out right, "Will you tell me about your childhood? Your mother?"
Arnav looked at her with suddenly volatile eyes, his mouth slightly parting in shock. He couldn't believe what he had just heard! She of all people was asking him this? He was used to people probing & poking him for information & gory details about all that had happened that day. This was the primary reason he had chosen to become a bloody hermit to the whole world. & now she, who had become his refuse, whom he had come to synonymies with peace itself, was trying to open his wounds again?! Did she want to know his pain & humiliation from that day out of mere curiosity?! Arnav couldn't think further than this, he just sat up & was about to climb down from the bed, snatching his left hand away from her grasp, but he abruptly turned his head towards her in greater shock than he was already in, when she clutched onto his hand like it was a straw to a drowning person & pressed the hand snugly to her chest.
As Arnav looked on at her with a shuttered expression, Khushi cursed herself for coming out so blunt. She could see the defensive walls had already gone up in his mind & around his heart. She could see the hurt & vulnerable teenager she had seen shadowing Rohan silently for months, & she hated herself for bringing him back. & fighting desperately for the calm & peaceful Arnav who had been lying beside her a few minutes ago, she said desperately, "Arnavji! Humara aapka dil dukhane ka koi iraada nahi tha.. Hum jaante hain ki aap apni pareshaaniyan.. dukh.. dard.. kissike saath nahi baante hain. Aur humein isse koi takleef nahi hain! Hum aapko badalna nahi chahte aur nahi aapke ateet mein jhaakna chahte hain.. I just wanted to know you like you know me! I just wanted to be there for you, like you're always there for me! You fight with people for me!.. Physically & verbally! I just wanted to fight with the demons within you.. for you! Lekin agar aap humein kuchh nahi bataana chahte hain toh aage se.." (Arnavji! I had no intention of hurting you.. I know that you don't share your worries.. sorrows.. pains.. with anyone. & I don't have any problem with that! I neither wanna change you, nor do I wanna snoop into your past.. I just wanted to know you like you know me! I just wanted to be there for you, like you're always there for me! You fight with people for me!.. Physically & verbally! I just wanted to fight with the demons within you.. for you! But if you don't wanna say anything to me, then from now on, I won't..) But she stopped mid-sentence as suddenly she felt Arnav's hand pressing back onto hers in a reassuring way, & then as abruptly as he had got up, Arnav slumped back onto the pillow, his right hand going up to lay across his eyes warily.
The thing that amazed Arnav most was that, how much he wanted to talk to Khushi about it all. How much he just wanted to let it all go, dump every bad memory onto her in a blink, & in return take the peace from her that he knew only she could offer him. He felt like a heel for letting his defense mechanism turn him against Khushi that rapidly. He did know it that Khushi would never try to hurt him just to satisfy her curiosity. & as he felt Khushi raising his hand to her lips, pressing soft kisses to it, he just couldn't stop them as the words tumbled out from his mouth, "Chauda saal ka tha jab meri Maa ne suicide karli.. My mother committed suicide." & before he knew what happened, he felt Khushi's soft weight crashing on his chest, her face pressed tightly against the crook of his neck & her arms went around his torso firmly. Arnav lowered his hand from over his eyes & looked down at the top of her head, wondering if his words had upset her, & as he was about to ask her if she was alright for the fourth time in total that night, he heard her speak.
Khushi said in a light whisper, "Not that.. That I know. From everyone else closest to you, I do. But tell me the beginning of your story?" As Arnav looked at her now upturned face bewilderedly, she spoke gently, "Tell me, how you became Chhote for everyone? No one would dare nickname you Chhote if you were always like this.. how you're now! Tell me how you were as a child.. tell me how Aunty was." Arnav listened to her whispered words with a growing sense of tranquility. It had been years after he had gone off to US that the memories, the good ones, had come back to him, penetrating the deep fog of the murky ones. When he had achieved something for him, when people had started to show him reverence & respect, when Di had started to sound happy again, he had found that it was becoming easier to remember the good things more than the bad ones. They started coming more effortlessly to him. But he had never talked of them to anyone, not even Anjali or Rohan, because by then, he had already become ASR, & talking about feelings or memories had been a strict no-no in ASR's rule book.
But as he felt the soft body pressed against his, & the caressing hand playing over his chest, Arnav felt that he wanted to talk. He felt that ASR was no where inside him, he was only Arnav. Khushi's Arnav. & as if to pledge his being to her, he started talking falteringly, "I used to keep ill.. when I was young.. before I was diagnosed with diabetes.. you know, 3-4 years old? So I used to shadow Ma everywhere. Everyone would tease Ma that she went everywhere with a chhotu assistant of hers. & before you know it, from Arnav babuwa I became Chhote for all!.. Wanna hear something hilarious?? Do you remember Di telling you about how Ma beat me once as I did something outrageous?" As Khushi nodded to indicate she did remember, Arnav continued, now completely in his flow, "You know Krishna's birthday celebration-?" & Khushi supplied helpfully, "Janmaashtami?" Arnav nodded immediately, & gathering Khushi more closely to himself subconsciously, he went on to recount how he had super glued his mother's Kishanji in the cucumber, & then he went on to narrate a few more of his childhood tales, until he noticed the steady rise & fall of her breasts over his own & deduced she was off to sleep.
Khushi roused from her peaceful sleep as she felt someone lightly tickling her right ear. She swatted at the hand & felt with relief it went away. & then she became more alert as she felt the hand travelling down her shoulder, slowly to her waist, & when the hand slipped inside the top of her PJ, her eyes flew open in panic. & when she felt the hand daringly travel inside her PJ bottom, going south of her navel, she gave a loud yelp & grabbing the hand, rolled onto her back quickly. As she glared at Arnav's glittering eyes for waking her up so obscenely, Arnav smirked & announced arrogantly, "You fell asleep while I was still talking! Red, don't talk in between, walk away, turn away, or sleep off while I am talking, samjhi tum?" Khushi glared at him some more, & then suddenly she couldn't remain annoyed at him anymore as she burst out giggling & said feigning tiredness, "What could I do? You talk so much!" Arnav lifted his left eyebrow in a challenging gesture & said teasingly, "As punishment.." & as he spoke his hands started roaming under her top, "you're sentenced to a night of amorous labor! Hence, no more sleep for you tonight!" & as his thumb flicked over a highly sensitive peak, Khushi teased him in a languorous sigh, "I thought we wouldn't do this tonight! I was beginning to wonder whether last night was a one-night-stand for you." Arnav chuckled & pressed a bruising kiss on her parted lips before drawling, "More like an endless string of one-night-stands." & then he started going downwards pressing short, hard kisses on her jaw & neck as he said against her skin, "While we're on the topic, can you imagine what NK unintentionally supplied me with at the Bachelors' Party?" & he held up the stack of condom boxes after extracting them from his back pockets.
Khushi didn't even look at them as she stretched like a feline animal, making a sensual, deep noise in her throat, & then reaching up, she freed her hair from the restraining band & asked naughtily while shaking her hair wildly around her face with her hands, "Do you really want me to imagine NK now?" She felt rather than heard Arnav's sharp intake of breath & then saying a growling, "Shut up!", he swooped down to take her mouth in his in a long culminating kiss. Then he again moved towards the valley between her breasts as his hands started sliding the top up. Khushi helped him get the top off of her by raising her body up from the bed & asked in a breathy tone as he started raining kisses over her exposed cleavage, "Waise, why are you so happy about the condoms?" Arnav looked up at her at that & asked sarcastically before pressing kisses to her jaw, "Do you wanna get pregnant?" But Khushi's instant reply froze him in his actions, "Of course, I do!"
Sensing his sudden stillness, Khushi came down to earth from her delirious travel over the moon, & realizing what she had just said, she froze up too. & then quickly, to diffuse the tension, she jumped into explanations, "Someday, I meant! Maybe.. In distant future.. Who knows?! I had always wanted a little girl. Maybe two little girls.. But that's from when I was 10, so forget it!" & then seeing Arnav still looking fazed out, Khushi wrapped her legs around Arnav's hips & then rolling around, she came on top & sat straddling him, as Arnav continued to look more baffled by the second. & then, looking straight in his eyes, she reached behind her, & started unhooking her Black bra, praying what she had always heard about being the sure shot way of diverting a man's attention was true, & said in a way that she hoped was sexy enough for him, "The wedding's at noon tomorrow & we'll all have to wake up early! Can we start already?" It didn't matter whether he was dazed, baffled or shocked. Arnav didn't need any more incentive than a topless Khushi to come out of his stationary state, & he impatiently reached for her as a ravenous gleam entered his eyes.
~~~~~~~~
More than an hour later
Arnav looked down at Khushi, sleeping bundled up inside his arms, snuggling into his chest like a little child, & he couldn't for the world doze off to a much needed sleep as the only thought that had been going around in his head in a loop, disturbing the freakin' hell out of him was, Khushi wanted to have kids. Two girls. Girls who would probably look like her.. red plump cheeks, big golden eyes & bright sunny smile. & just before Arnav himself drifted off to sleep, his last drowsy, sleepy thought was, they'd need a couple of brothers for each of the girls. If they looked anything like Khushi, they'd each need a couple of brothers to save themselves from the wolves of the world like Arnav.
Arnav tightened his hold around Anjali's shoulder & as she looked at him, he searched her face intently as he asked earnestly, "Di, you're happy, right?" Anjali smiled shyly, & said briefly, "I would be happiest if I saw you finding the same happiness I did.. Otherwise, I couldn't be happier!" & suddenly, seeing the happy tears glittering in his sister's eyes & almost all the elders in his family also wiping their eyes surreptitiously with tremulous smiles on their lips, Arnav felt like this would be the happiest moment of his life, if only Khushi was here by his side. That was all the difference between happiness & euphoria for him. Khushi!
Arnav almost turned right then towards Anjali to let her know that she can be her happiest, as he had found she was hoping he would. But then he restrained himself, as something in his heart wanted Khushi to be the first one to know. At the earliest. He tuned sideways, & pressing a kiss over Anjali's hair, he nodded towards Aman in a way that spelled 'Take care of everything here!', he started sprinting towards the stairs to go up to his room. On his way up, he tried Khushi's call twice, but she didn't pick up, as he had expected. This was practically dawn for her, Arnav thought as he smirked to himself. But he had to do something, right now! He thought for sometime, & as soon as he entered his room, his eyes went toward his closet space, & he knew what he wanted to do.He went towards the closet, got the shoe box containing Khushi's lone sandal out from its esteemed position on the top shelf, & opening it, he checked out the sandal, all repaired & as good as new, & he took out the ring he had gotten for Khushi that he had also kept inside it last night, & kept it on the box that was also kept over the top shelf.
Cricket
CID
44