ArHi SS! Love, Inc. [Completed] - Page 29

Chapter 05: Sleepless in Seattle

"What the hell are you doing?" Payal asked walking inside their living room with Lavanya in tow.

A week had passed since Khushi's encounter with Mr Bournvita Eyes and postmortem of the situation had given them bad results. Payal always admonished when Lavanya called her with her favorite nickname 'Lunatic' but of late she tend to agree with the rich brat.

"I am eating mangoes. What else does it look like?" Khushi said looking up from her plate.

She was neatly seated on floor with a plate in front of her and four mangoes next to her.

"Do you have to eat like that?" Lavanya asked pulling a face. "You look like a hobo," she muttered and teetered around her.

"This is the way to eat mangoes La – with your hands and slurping away the pulp directly into mouth from the fruit." She slurped loudly just to irritate Lavanya some more.

"How many mangoes did you buy now?" Payal asked seeing a pile of mango peels in front of Khushi. There must have been at least four mangoes worth peels there.

"I didn't buy anything. You know how I am the amma of aam right?" Khushi said seriously.

"What the frack is she on about now?" Lavanya asked primly sitting on sofa mimicking Payal.

Payal removed her strappy heels and massaged her feet. "She thinks she is the mango whisperer." Payal said with a straight face.

Lavanya twisted her face between surprise and laughter. "Are you fracking for real?" She asked in between peals of laughter.

"I am the mango whisperer La. Everyone in this building take my consultation while buying mangoes. By touching the mango, feeling its skin, shape and sniffing the smell I know exactly what it is all about."

"What do you mean finding what it's all about? It's a freaking mango lunatic. You eat it with sugar if it is sour without if it is sweet." Lavanya said flailing her hands.

"Why do you get so hyper about every little thing La? Here, have a mango," Khushi offered her a mango with juice of the mango she had just eaten smearing the skin.

Lavanya grimaced at the sight. Payal took over before an unnecessary argument broke between the two. "Did you buy these? And are you done?" She asked tucking her legs under her knees.

"I just ate seven of them P and have five more to go. I help people buy the best mangoes – be it raw mangoes for pickles or jams or ripe ones for direct consumption, and they reward me with mangoes, pickles, jams, milkshakes etc.," she replied dreamily. "I got about three dozen inside. Do you guys want some?"

The girls shook their head vigorously.

Payal cleared her throat. "You remember me telling you about Sunday night's dinner? That there were few people in our house and how…"

"Yeah yeah…a dude by name Arnav is now in love with my cooking," Khushi dismissed biting into another mango. Payal flinched at the sight as the mango juice dripped from Khushi's chin on to her t-shirt while Khushi sat with closed eyes relishing the taste.

"He isn't in love with your cooking just something you put together. I think he was just being polite," Lavanya said masking her annoyance. Payal glared at Khushi as a wan grin started to spread on her face.

"Me thinks something burns badly here," Khushi said sniffing around her. Payal took the small throw pillow from the sofa and hid her grinning mouth behind it. It was evident that Lavanya was attracted to Arnav while the man had maintained a healthy distance away from her. It didn't matter to the girl that she was in a relationship at the moment. "Are they fried green tomatoes?" Khushi asked comically widening her eyes.

Payal's shoulder shook as she laughed behind the pillow.

Lavanya rolled her eyes at the two.

"I think he was more interested in your kitchen garden. And that you have used balcony space so wisely," Payal said.

Khushi's laughter morphed into a soft smile. "Really? He noticed that?" Khushi asked. Payal nodded and Lavanya too nodded albeit grudgingly.

"Do you two need coffee?" Khushi asked standing up. "I just brewed another pot." She said walking inside the kitchen to discard them.

Payal and Lavanya looked at each other. Lavanya flopped back on sofa and glared at Payal.

"You told me you will fix this lunatic's sleeping problem." She grumbled. "Why the frack is she still hung over that loser gamer and drinking copious amount of coffee?"

"It's not Manish, La. It's her Mr Bournvita Eyes who is keeping her awake at night. She is reading non-stop, her room is now impeccably clean to the point that I find myself unclean whenever I enter her room and she is day dreaming."

"Uh-oh. Day dreaming – so not good. We are practically fracked, is it not?" Lavanya said.

Payal nodded. "She is going to stalk him in a bookstore he is said to frequent on Saturday evenings."

"How does she know he visits the book store on Saturday evenings?" Lavanya asked scratching her head delicately.

"He told her about that, apparently." Payal shrugged.

"Is he a moron to give out goodie information like that to lunatics like her?" Lavanya screeched like a banshee. Payal wondered if Lavanya was irritated that she wasn't aware of this information before.

"We are totally stalking the stalker and see the stalker stalk the stalked this Saturday," Lavanya said.

Payal looked at her friend. "That's grammatically correct, if you are unnecessarily wondering about it rather than the lunatic on the loose," Lavanya said snarky.

Payal grinned. "Try saying that five times very fast."

Lavanya rolled her eyes. The girls fell silent when Khushi came out with three mugs of coffee where each mug held at least half a liter of coffee.

"And you wonder why she doesn't sleep. Mr Bournvita Eyes, my ass. If she drinks this much quantity of coffee and seven in evening, how the frack can she sleep?" Lavanya gritted.

Payal sighed. Khushi hadn't been sleeping well and a preppy Khushi gave her headache. Her peppiness and overtly cheerful disposition made her head hurt.

She rubbed her temple with tip of her forefinger and middle finger as Khushi started a sermon on –How to recognize the best raw mangoes for pickles.

Frack.

*****

"Are you happy?" Shyam asked seriously. Arnav dangerously moved the shovel in front of Shyam's face.

"I am dripping in happiness. Even my sweat has essence of happiness." Arnav deadpanned. "I know I am going to regret asking this question but since my insomnia is acting up I will humor you this once: Why are you asking me this question?"

"Tomorrow is Saturday." Shyam said, still serious.

"I know. Today is Friday. Saturday comes right after Friday and just before Sunday. I know all seven days of the week. Awesome, aren't I?" Arnav said flatly. Shyam rolled his eyes.

"We have to plan for tomorrow." Shyam said.

"What do we have to plan for?" Arnav asked raising an eyebrow.

Shyam sighed. "We have to plan the logistics Arnav. How many cars, who meets who and where, where do we eat, when do we meet etc."

"Are we going on a picnic?" Arnav said scratching his stubble.

"No silly. We are going to see Ms Ponds Skin tomorrow evening at the bookstore. We discussed this last week, remember?" Shyam said walking back inside.

"Wait. Stop. Hold on. None of you bozos are coming with me. I am going there to buy books and if I run into her but I doubt she is going to be there, I just want to have a nice conversation without any of you freaks hanging around like vultures." Arnav lashed.

Shyam looked at him with a sullen expression. Arnav wondered if he had crossed some sort of line.

"That's alright then. We will plan on our own and you can be on your own and the twain shall most definitely meet in the bookstore." He said cheerfully. Arnav banged his head on the doorjamb repeatedly as Shyam rattled of the stupidest plan ever.

But his face softened when his mind wandered at the memory of the girl and the way her Lara Croft hair sprung around her back.

wow finally an update... u was eagerly waiting for it

I loved the conversation btn shyam n arnav

I hope they meet in the book store without family interruption

guess payal n la wud also accompany khushi thanks for the pm