ArHi SS! Love, Inc. [Completed] - Page 42

Chapter 7: Serendipity

"You little sneak." She heard Lavanya say in her signature husky tone as soon as she stepped into the apartment.

"What are you talking about?" Khushi asked looking innocently.

"You ditched us." Payal said somberly.

"Were we supposed to stick together? I thought you were following me at a safe distance," Khushi said plopping on sofa holding the book bag to her chest and sighed happily. "You also asked me to ignore you completely."

"The cheese you are oozing is enough to use as topping for the pizzas for the entire planet." Lavanya said snidely. Khushi grinned widely.

"Seriously, where did you run off to?" Payal asked peering at Khushi.

"I met Mr Bournvita Eyes and he took me away to Disney land." Khushi said with a toothy smile. Lavanya groaned and fell back on the sofa. When Khushi was being this way, it was impossible to get anything out of her. But she and Payal were experts when it came to extracting information from the lunatic.

"You actually met him?" Payal asked leaning forward. Khushi nodded vigorously.

"And guess what?" Khushi asked in fake whisper.

"What?" Lavanya and Payal chorused.

"The woman he was with isn't his wife. She is his sister. Isn't it awesome?" Khushi shrieked like a little girl. Payal couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm.

"How did you leave the bookstore without being seen?" Lavanya asked. She had felt incredibly stupid after Khushi left them hanging. She thought she was better at spying on people but apparently not.

"He helped me sneak out. He caught my hand and we both crawled till entrance and from there we just ran out." Khushi giggled happily.

"He held your hand on your first meeting?" Payal asked. Khushi nodded. "And you let him?" Another nod. "You liked it?" More nods. Payal chuckled.

"Tell me his name. I will look him up," Lavanya said whipping her cell phone out. "This curiosity is turning my luscious locks grey," she grumbled.

Khushi fell silent. Lavanya raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

"He isn't on any social networking websites." Khushi shrugged.

All her previous relationship had begun with an introduction, followed by becoming "friends" on a social networking site and it generally proceeded from there. She checked the guy via the pages he "liked" and the detailed history posted in his profile. This allowed her to put up certain guards around her heart not that it helped in any way. In some cases it also helped her to decide if she was willing to pursue a relationship or not. These sits had become sort of screening process which she had come to rely on. The sites also offered her a strange sense of security – they gave her an insight to the probability of how the person thought and went about his life and she preferred it to the old fashioned way of talking.

"That's dangerous. A person in this day and age isn't on a social networking site would mean that he is hiding something." Lavanya said in a whisper laced with conspiracy. "He could be a potential felon," she added.

Khushi rolled her eyes. "It also means the guy believes that the whole concept is pretty much farce where everyone has an in-disposable need to share every little thing in their life and actually believe that there is an audience out there who is interested in that kind of detail," Khushi shrugged.

Payal raised an eyebrow at that. "Looks like you have met your match Khushi. Your paranoia about privacy and his absolute abhorrence to sharing in virtual world – I must say it's pretty fascinating."

"I am not sure how much commonalty we both have but I believe reading is one of them. His taste is eclectic and stark different than mine," Khushi said thoughtfully. "His perception about certain aspects of writing may seem very…raw and simplistic and I could easily see what he was driving at." Khushi added.

"You are such a pushover Khushi," Lavanya said expressionless.

Khushi and Payal both looked at their friend. Lavanya rarely called her by her name and when she did, it was because she was deadly serious.

"Or should I say a living proof of social evolution? When one starts adapting to newer things each time it crosses their path then their individuality gets lost in the process and there comes a point when they are simply an amalgamation of several personalities. I am not saying getting exposed to new things is bad but when you are with the person, there is no need for you to be a different person. Just be who you are." Lavanya said.

"Sometimes being ourselves isn't enough Lavanya. Many of us have to be much more than what we are, something different than whom we are and many times we just have to be a whole new person to be with someone. There are times when I felt as if I was cheating Manish by faking my affection to whatever nuances he was harping about. But those moments were peaceful than showing my indifference and making it…confrontational." Khushi replied softly.

"Do you think it's a happy relationship Khushi, where you have to lie about what you truly feel?" Payal asked gently. The thought had been festering in her mind for couple of years now and now that Lavanya had raked the topic she decided to gently nudge Khushi out of her zone.

"There is no such thing as being happy Payal. It is merely a state of non-confrontation and acceptance at a given point of time. Being truthful is overrated to the point that it is a nauseating concept for me. No one is truthful in this world about their personality. Why do you think we wear makeup and wear flashy clothes? Why do we do subtle proclamation of how good we are, how successful we are to the world with the way we talk and present ourselves?" Khushi said clearly. Unlike other times, her eyes were calm and her voice never quivered. It was as if she thought about it more than they anticipated and Payal felt petty for assuming that Khushi was unknowingly being a doormat.

"We all stand behind a frosted glass and see the world in its hazy glory missing its imperfections, lies and deceit. I accept whole heartedly that I continued to deceive myself with men who weren't anything like me and were probably with me because they all believed they could mould me to the person they wanted me to be. Why do you think it never lasted for those men?" Khushi asked standing up.

"Because your true self always won out," Lavanya answered immediately.

Khushi smiled. "Exactly La. There is something called as tolerance because of which we compromise, accept, lying to ourselves, cheating heart, overcoming heartache…when that tolerance limit is reached, the two people in a relationship cease to exist." She shrugged.

"Why should you even be with a person whom you cannot tolerate in the first place?" Lavanya asked.

Khushi smiled. "You should be able to answer that yourself better than me La. I am still your friend, aren't I?" Khushi asked raising an eyebrow.

Lavanya laughed. "Alright lunatic, I get your point. But I do hope you scored a second date with Mr Bournvita Eyes."

The memories of evening flooded in her brain and she blushed as if she was thrown from ice cold room to a hot sauna. "We are meeting at the same place next week." Khushi danced on her feet happily.

Payal joined Khushi in her happy dance. The two looked absolutely ridiculous but it made Lavanya smile for her friend anyway. "Since there is no social networking site involved, you will go to a bit older method of sending texts to each other. Or will you guys be using pigeons for communication?" She asked snidely.

Khushi stopped dancing and looked at Lavanya in horror. "Oh shit."

"What did you do?" Payal asked stopping immediately.

"I forgot to ask his phone number," Khushi wailed.

"You are such a lunatic," Lavanya sighed and watched Khushi hop around the living room berating her stupidity like a pigeon on wide terrace.

*****

"I must say that was pretty smooth Arnav," Anjali said in half-annoyance.

"I know, right? How awesome am I, really?" Arnav said bloating his chest and annoying his sister more.

"I really wanted to see Ms Ponds Skin." She said bleakly.

"You wanted to know her dermatologist name first," Arnav deadpanned. "Where is Shyam? You are sort of package deal when it comes to interfering with my personal life."

Anjali shrugged. "He is on a call from last thirty minutes that's why it is solo interrogation buddy," Anjali said poking his chest. "Where did you run off too?"

"If you must know, Ms Ponds Skin and I escaped the evil goblins trying to spy on us and rode away on a unicorn to the land of rainbows." Arnav grinned.

Anjali rolled her eyes. "You are such a meanie. I-"

"Arnav," Shyam interrupted their conversation. Arnav sighed and looked at his brother-in-law who was looking grim. The playful mood sudden turned serious when Shyam spoke.

"We have a huge problem."