New ARSHI FF- Beauty And Her Prince- Chap 19 - Pg 91/ July 1 - Page 35

He observed her closely as she remained still in his hands, her eyes tightly shut and murmuring something which sounded like a prayer, totally unaware of where she was and what she was doing to him. He looked at her beautiful innocent face and then at her petite body which molded itself so well into his hand. "If only I could be this close to her always.", he said to himself bewitched.

Slowly coming to her senses, she hesitantly opened her eyes which only grew bigger and bigger by each second when she saw him before her. As her caramels met his browns, a strange current circulated her body giving her goosebumps. She had a strange feeling that she was not just looking into his eyes but at something very deep within him. Unable to bare the intensity of his gaze, she turned away. And at same time feeling nervous and intimidated by his proximity, she subconsciously tightened her hold on his collar which she was holding all along, balancing herself.

The sudden pull from his collar brought him back to reality. He slightly glanced at his collar confirming to himself that it was indeed she who was holding him. Following his gaze, she found her hand comfortably holding his collar and to his amusement her eyes shot out into huge saucers as they shot at him and then at her hands few times before snapping her hand away from his collar, trying to find her footing.

He delicately held her till she got back her balance and then unwillingly let her go. She looked everywhere but his direction, embarrassed. He too looked around, trying to get a grip on his heart which was threatening to burst any second and his thoughts which were messing his mind. "I somehow knew it was her even before I saw her, how? Why does her touch create such pandemonium within me? What is it about her that every time I am with her, I forget everything else? HOW IN HELL COULD I HAVE KNOWN IT WAS HER? HOW IS IT POSSIBLE?", he was shouting and fighting with himself, unwilling to listen to his heart. His heart which knew it was her before actually seeing her, his heart which wanted to protect her before his brain even processed the happenings, his heart which was no longer listening to him. "Something is really wrong here. I am behaving like a teenager. I can't lose my control. I am ASR, Damn it! I have to regain my control. I have to stay away from her." Halting his thoughts, he sternly asked her hiding his concern, "Are you OK?"

Khushi was looking around flustered to see if anyone saw what just happened but to her surprise no one was glaring at her. "How much time did I stay in his arms? Maybe not long enough to grab everyones attention. Good. Thank you, Devi Maiya, for listening to my prayers and saving me. But does it really have to be him? I can feel you looking at me and laughing. He is a good person but for some reason I feel some strange unexplainable something between us and I don't like it. Maybe it's because of his Laad Governism.", she thought. His sudden question brought her back to him. She obediently answered, "I am fine, Thank you."

As she gently smiled at him he almost lost himself again in her but his brain shouted at him, "WARNING, stop thinking of her. You have just decided to stay away from her. Leave her. GO. Move", it was literally trying to push him away. Thanks to it, he gained his sense and tried to walk away but as he looked ahead he realized, he couldn't go. He has to be there, he has no other way. The line was not moving. He was stuck there with her when he finally decided to walk away from her. "Damn it!", he murmured exasperated. He kept repeating to himself to not look at her but within no time he realized it was hard to stand next to her and not look at her.

Khushi looked at him while he kept looking the other way. For some reason she didn't feel good about it. " Oh no! what if he is thinking I am following him or something. He must be thinking I am crazy. What should I do? Devi Maiya, I will cancel all your jalebi's if you keep pushing me into such awkward situations." Taking a deep breath she blurted out, "I usually am not like this you know?"

Her question startled him. "What do you mean ?", he asked curious.

"Umm. I mean, I don't generally slip. Infact, I never slipped. At least not like I did yesterday and today. I am normally very careful.", she tried explaining.

"You need not explain to me.", he said amused.

"No, I want to. You must be thinking, this girl is so clumsy. She always keeps falling. But I want you to know it never happened before, that to this frequently. For some reason, I keep falling around you. I am really very cautious person. Believe me." She didn't understand why she desperately wanted him to believe that she is not some silly girl.

Suddenly the line started moving and someone jolted her, making her push hard into left side of Arnav, almost falling on him. Lucky for both of them Arnav stood firm on his ground preventing both of them from falling between the puddle of disciples. Khushi held onto Arnav's shoulder trying to balance herself as few more people brushed through her, squeezing her more and more into him. Protectiveness kicking in, Arnav lifted his hand to place it around her to prevent people from further pushing her but before his hand landed on her she gained her balance. Blushing a little she swiftly released his shoulder from her grip and stepped back, creating few inches space between them.

They both started moving with the crowd when out of nowhere Arnav said, "I believe you."

Forgetting about her earlier shyness, she looks at him confused and questioned, "What?"

"What you said earlier. That.", he smiled.

After a few seconds she said, "Oh, that." and remembering how she almost lost her balance again, smiled back feeling like a complete idiot.

The smile turned into laughter and they both laughed together.

Arnav's brain tried to remind him of his 'mission - keep away from khushi' but before it could completely deploy its plan he saw her smiling face and at her. That was when he realized she was wearing a red anarkali, red his favourite color. Though he could easily say it was just a simple dress, it radiated her beauty. Unable to take his eyes off her, he whispered to himself, "She is sooo ... Beautiful." His brain lost the battle as his heart took control. Mesmerised, he followed her in the line, gawking her. "Beautiful - The word doesn't do complete justice to her.", he murmured, completely lost in her.

"Did you say something?" she questioned.

"Uhhh... What? NO."

********

For half an hour they followed the line without much interaction. Khushi was found a new friend in the 5 year old boy who was walking with his family ahead of them. As she talked, played and smiled with him, Arnav watched her in amazement.

After few more minutes the boy and his family halted at a corner for little rest as the line moved on. As Arnav fought within himself whether to start a conversation or not, Khushi asked, "Are you visiting alone?"

"No, I am here with my Didi and cousin..."

Once he explained how he lost them in the crowd, he asked, "Why are you alone? I thought you are visiting with your friends?"

"Ya, I am. Almost similar thing happened to me too and I lost them. You are here with your family, that must be fun."

"No, Not really. I prefer staying home than to come here."

"Why do you say that? If it was me, I would love to spend time with my family."

"No, it is not that. I like to be with my family even though they can be pretty bothersome at times. I was talking about this place. Anyway, you should have come with your family if you wanted to spend time with them."

"Family?", she whispered and paused before she asked, "Why don't you like this place?"

" I don't believe in god. So, there is no point in me coming here now, is there?"

"WHAT? You don't believe in god? Why do you think there is no god?"

"There is nothing to be surprised about it. I don't know why everyone ask me why I don't believe in a stone idol. I just don't. There is nothing you can't achieve in this world with hard work, intelligence and important of all money."

"Oh, you are one of that kind.", she said it before thinking.

"What? I am sorry. What does that mean?", he asked a little rudely.

"I ... I meant you are the kind of person who thinks money can buy you anything.", she shuttered.

"Yes, I believe it.", he said confidently.

Even though she was feeling very intimidated by his sharp voice and stern look, she wanted to know more. She deep down knew the conversation might end badly but she kept going. "So, you feel money can buy you love and happiness too?"

"Yes, I do. And why does everyone ask me this question? I ask you, does your so called god guarantee you true love and happiness?"

Khushi was too dumb stuck by his question to say anything.

"See, you are not sure. If he is that great and has all those powers that everyone talks about then why does he give people pain? Why make some people rich and some poor? You need to be smart to survive in this cruel world, not god. And tell me, Why should I believe in such god? Give me one good reason?"

The something Arnav never thought of happened. Khushi bursted into laughs. Till now she reacted just like every other person who heard him say God doesn't exist. He anticipated her every question and reaction but never expected her to laugh at him. For the first time he opened up about his thoughts to someone and she laughs at him. He was frustrated. "What is so funny?", he hissed through his teeth.

Composing herself, she said, "I am sorry. I don't know why I laughed. It was just, you were talking so much and here I thought you can't talk or hold a proper conversation."

"What?", he was confused and also losing his cool.

Feeling his displeasure, she mentally smacked herself for her tongue slip and immediately changed the topic. "So how did you end up here if you are against god?"

He paused a second looking at her as if trying to read her mind and with the earlier tension in his voice gone answered, "My Didi."

"So, she got you here. I never thought a person like you can be compelled. I mean, I thought you are so arrogant.", she bit her tongue for her choice of words. She instantly knew he wouldn't like what she said and waited for his rude tone to return but...

With a smirk on his face he said, "Oh! Really. So tell me, what else did you think about me? You got one thing right, no one can force me to do anything I don't want to. I am here because I was worried for my sister and nothing else."

His question took her by surprise. His actions were quite opposite to what she thought. She didn't know how to react. As she looked at him, she found him looking at her with that smirk still sticked on his face. She blushed and turned her face away from him.

A few minutes passed in silence and then he asked her, "I am waiting. You still didn't give answer to my question?" When he asked the question earlier it was spur of the moment for him but now he badly wanted to know.

Khushi tried to say something but before she could people around them all of a sudden started pushing each other. Before they realized what was happening, the line they were in and the other line merged into one at the temple entrance creating a frenzy. Both of them struggled to hold their ground as the crowd started to push them away from each other.