ArHi SS! Love, Inc. [Completed] - Page 22

Chapter 04: Breakfast at Tiffany's

"What the hell is a chiropractor?" Khushi asked vigorously mixing stuff in a bowl. Lavanya took several steps back when a drop fell three centimeters away from her skin.

"You don't know who a chiropractor is?" Lavanya asked surprised. Khushi was easily the smartest one in the group and she didn't know something so…simple. "They do stuff on your back and such. Who cares what they do? The guy I am talking about is one and he is single."

"My back is perfectly fine." Khushi deadpanned. Lavanya wanted to tear Khushi's hair out so that she could stop mooning over that loser gamer. It was pathetic to watch her love sick.

"Cooking again?" Payal asked sighing at the mess Khushi had made in kitchen. All four gas burners were on, oven was on, microwave was on and even food processor was on. It was one of the worse cooking marathons she was witnessing but the scale of cooking scared her.

"I needed something to think. Cooking is therapeutic and meditative." Khushi said seriously.

"What are you cooking?" Lavanya managed to ask.

"I am cooking things that need precision and attention and most definitely not easy to cook; about fourteen varieties of main course, six appetizers and three different cakes." Khushi said seriously.

Lavanya and Payal exchanged horrified looks.

Lavanya pushed Payal out of the kitchen. She rasped in hushed whisper. "Your roommate is certified lunatic. I man which sane person cooks like this?" She pointed to Khushi who was rushing around the place and tending to all things at once. "Is she mutant or does she has some super power to think and move around with such speed?" Lavanya continued to whisper.

Payal dragged Lavanya out more harshly than she expected.

"Let her be La. Once she is exhausted, maybe then she will sleep." Payal said hopefully.

"Or we can slip a valium or two in her water bottle," Lavanya supplied helpfully.

"La!" Payal exclaimed. "We can't give her sleeping pills!"

"What? You can't have her running around like this!" Lavanya tried to explain. "It gives me a headache to see her work so fast."

"We have a bigger problem here La."

"What is it P?" Lavanya asked bored.

"What do we do with the food? Khushi will ask us to 'dig in'!"

"We ask her to frack off." Lavanya replied calmly. Payal pinched her arm. "Oww…that hurt, P!"

"How about we invite few of our friends?" Payal asked thinking fast. "We can tell Khushi that they decided to drop by and we asked them to stay for dinner."

"None of the gang is in town. So we have to look for next circle of friends – especially those who owe us and are in need of some serious punishing," Lavanya said thoughtfully. Payal rolled her eyes but secretly agreed with Lavanya. "Why don't you call that guy with sexy pecs and specs?" Lavanya asked wriggling her eyebrows.

Payal looked abashed. "Won't it be too soon? I mean we have hung out with common friends few times."

"I thought you liked him." Lavanya observed.

"I do. I like him a lot." Payal smiled brilliantly.

"Then what the frack is stopping you from inviting him. Look, if you find it too forward then tell him that he should come with a friend or two as a favor for your friend. It's win-win P." Lavanya explained.

Payal bit her lower lip and controlled the very large smile spreading across her face. "Call that chiropractor friend of yours. Maybe we can get Khushi hooked up with him."

"I don't think it's such a good idea so I will definitely call him and see how badly all this goes." Lavanya grinned evilly.

"Payal! Payal! Payal! Payal! Payal! Payal! Payal! Payal! Payal! Payal! Payal! Payal! Payal! Payal!"

Khushi chanted loudly non-stop.

"What the hell Khushi!" Payal asked, her hair wet, her body wet and only a towel across her lithe frame. Khushi looked nonplussed.

"Check salt," she said and shoved the spoon she was holding in Payal's mouth.

Payal chewed thoughtfully though a bit annoyed. "Exquisite texture, impressive colors, smoky flavor adds on to overall melange of ingredients. I would give it seven out of ten."

Khushi stuck her tongue out. Before Payal could respond another spoon full of food was rushed into her mouth. "Just tell me if it is okay or not P," Khushi huffed. But Payal commented on every dish she tasted with water droplets pooling near her feet and didn't give any dish more than seven – just because.

"Thanks P, you are the best," Khushi hugged her friend. "Why are you wet?" She asked seriously.

Payal wanted to cry. "I was gardening and it started raining." She deadpanned. Seeing Khushi's confused look, she sighed and left her friend alone with confused thoughts to finish her shower grumbling about innocuous roommates.

Khushi was cleaning the kitchen after placing everything she had cooked on dining table when Payal came in dressed in simple jeans and a low cut cute top. Lavanya followed her seconds later.

"How did you manage to clean all this in such a short time?" Lavanya asked peering at the shining counter.

"Where there is a will there is a way." Khushi replied sagely.

"Who is Will?" Lavanya asked immediately. "Is there someone else we don't know about?" She turned to Payal and whispered in her ear, "I have that Valium in my purse P. Just give me a sign I will ensure that it's in this lunatic's stomach ASAP. I will open her mouth and shove it down her throat if I have to."

Payal elbowed Lavanya and glared at her.

"Khushi, why don't you go take a shower and change clothes? Few of my friends are coming over; I hope it's alright with you as I have invited them for dinner."

"You have invited your friends for dinner?" Khushi asked stopping the mopping. Payal nodded slowly. "There isn't enough food!" She cried.

Payal and Lavanya looked at each other again horrified at the thought of more food.

"No Khushi, whatever you have prepared is more than enough for all of us. Why don't you go ahead and take a nice shower with lots and lots of body wash?" Payal said wrinkling her nose at the steady smell of onion, garlic and spices on her.

Khushi nodded mutely and went to her room.

Fifteen minutes later, doorbell rang. Payal rushed to the door, checked her appearance in front of hallway mirror and then opened the door.

"Hello Akash. Please come in," she invited the young man and her friend charmingly. "Oh, you brought a friend." She said looking at the handsome man next to Akash.

"Payal, this is Arnav, my best friend and cousin." He introduced the two.

"Nice to meet you Payal. It smells incredible in here. Your friend must be really good in cooking," Arnav said politely.

"I am Lavanya, you can call me La." She said pushing Payal out of the way and snatching Arnav's hand. Arnav smiled wanly at the girl and nodded. "Wine?" She asked huskily.

"Water," Arnav replied immediately. Lavanya's face fell. "I am driving back, so…" He trailed. She perked up again and excused herself.

"I don't see your friend," Arnav asked speaking for the first time since they sat down to eat some light appetizers. As if remembering that Khushi was strangely absent, Payal hurried to her friend's room to see if she was ready.

She stood on the threshold of the room and smiled softly at the sight. Khushi who had showered and dressed halfway – her pants were still in her hands – was fast asleep on her bed. Her hair spread around her like a blanket and Payal felt incredibly sad for her friend. Khushi was a generally nice girl but was having horrible luck in the area of men. The previous night, she was attracted to what she called as Mr Bournvita Eyes only to find out that he was married.

She wished and hoped that Khushi found a man who respected her enough to leave her alone with her quirks and odd hobbies.

Payal gently placed sheets over her and smiled when she saw Khushi snuggling into it. She closed the curtains. She turned around one last time to look at her friend who was sleeping soundly without a care in the world, nursing a heart break and dreaming something simple. Smiling, she closed the door behind her and walked towards the dining area.

If only she had woken up Khushi that evening…