FF : Start Of Something Good ~ Ch.10 Pg.117 08/06 - Page 77

Arnav had driven five minutes towards Raizada mansion when he got a call from his lawyer, Mr. Tripathy. Why was Tripathy calling him at six in the morning? Arnav wondered. And what his aged lawyer said left Arnav shocked witless. His sister had annulled her marriage. Arnav sat blankly for a whole two seconds. His sister had annulled her marriage! When and why?! Had Shyam done something to hurt her so much that she took such a drastic step? Even before this question had formed in his mind, he was shaking his head to himself in negation. His sister would have surely told him if something like that had happened. But then, why such a radical step in her married life, without even bothering to tell him. Her Chotay! - Her only remaining family. Arnav asked why she had done this and was shocked even more when he heard his answer. "Miss. Anjali Raizada told me that Shyam Jha is a fraud, womanizer and had many more reasons." How did she know all this? Another thought crossed his mind which made him blanch at the possibility of such a thing. Whether Shyam loved his sister or not, he had remained answerable to Anjali, as every man is, to his wife. If Anjali had cut that cord, Shyam had been officially set free. That meant that Shyam could spend all of his sickening time on his wife! Additional steps needed to be taken to protect Khushi.

His lawyer had also said that Aman had brought back the annulment papers, duly signed by Mr. and Mrs. Jha. How the f**k is he involved in all this?! Arnav muttered to himself. He called his executive assistant immediately, not even realizing that it was still early morning. And when Aman picked his call, his assistant remained as professional as ever. "Aman. What do you know about my sister's annulment?" Arnav got straight to the point. Aman was silent for a beat of a second, before he replied, "I am afraid you will have to ask your sister about this." Arnav was taken aback by this answer. Aman, who seemed almost subservient, had the nerve to give his boss, such vague answers? "You do know that you're answerable to me as my employee, don't you, Aman?" Arnav muttered through gritted teeth, his velvety voice threatening. "If that's the case, I will quit, ASR." Aman declared - his voice full of conviction. Arnav's left eyebrow rose at this, and he countered, "We'll talk about this when I get to work - If I get to work today." He cut the call, sitting in his car, which he had parked in the side of the road.

What in the name of bloody hell is going on here?! Arnav's mind was plaguing with all these thoughts when Khushi was facing her own distressing situation. After spending a sleepless night in a cheap hotel, Shyam had chosen that moment to call Khushi. "Namaste, Khushiji. Kaisi hai aap?" Khushi just gasped in answer, not knowing why he was still calling her, and he continued speaking. "Aap ko pata hai? Hum donon ki raaste main jo kaanta tha, woh aaj nikla gaya, Khushiji!" (Do you know? Whatever hindrance we had in our way, has been removed today, Khushi!) Shyam's voice was filled with daft glee. Khushi took in a sharp breath as she hissed into the phone, "Kya keh rahe hai aap?! Kahi Anjaliji ko kuch kiya tho nahi?!" (What are you saying?! Did you do something to Anjali?!) Shyam laughed maniacally in answer, before he retorted, "Arre nahi, nahin! What will I do to her? Anjali is not as fragile as you all think she is, I must say. She was the one who said she wanted annulment. I simply signed those papers. And I stand in front of you, single again, like you wanted." Khushi's hand went to her mouth at this news. Di had made him sign the annulment papers?! But why that in such a sudden move?! "Why have you called me? If you think that this changes anything about my decision regarding you, you're wrong."

"Ab hum kya kare, Khushiji?" Shyam's voice sneered, his voice gaining a scary edge, "You have crawled under my skin, you see, Khushiji. I want to possess you and get under your skin too. I want to make you addicted to me just like I am, to you. That's what I want to do to you. And soon, I shall." There was a hair-raising quality to his voice which made Khushi shudder in equal mixtures of fear and revulsion. Her mind failed to register that Shyam had ended the call. She sat there, her eyes wide with shocked terror, her hand shaking as she still held the phone to her ear. Gasping in dread when she felt herself being pulled by two hands at her shoulders, she saw it was Arnav. He had returned for her. "Khushi... Khushi, its okay... I'm here now. Look at me. Look at me, damn it! Tell me what happened?" Arnav chanted and her fear started to ebb, and her shallow breathing turned into normal. Hugging him tight, Khushi explained what Shyam had told her over the phone, and felt him tense up in her arms. Khushi had refrained from telling Arnav Shyam's exact words, for the fear of having Shyam killed at his bare hands.

Arnav looked into her eyes and murmured, "Time to include our families in this, Khushi. Get ready. We're going to Di." Khushi nodded, kissed him reassuringly and prepared herself to face whatever the day had in store for her. They drove to Raizada mansion in silence, their minds weary with trepidation.

*****

Aman had been running - his daily routine to keep his body fit - when Arnav had called. After talking to his boss, he wanted to let Anjali know what had happened so that she was at least prepared to face those questions. Not that she wanted such warnings. She was more than capable of handling her life. He should know! He smiled wryly, making a teenaged girl running from the opposite direction almost swoon at such display of sexiness early in the morning. This was simply another reason for him to see her.

'Meet me at the gate of your house.' Aman sent a text to Anjali, and found a sole taxi, with its driver fast asleep. Getting in, he waved a 500 rupees note to get the driver back on work.

'Now?!' his phone pinged with immediate reply.

'Uh-huh' Aman replied and instructed the driver to drive faster.

When he reached Raizada mansion, he saw that Anjali was waiting for him at the gate in a peach coloured, two piece nightie, which covered her aptly, yet showcased her curves. She gave him an once-over with apprehensive eyes, as if to make sure that he was alright, before guiding him away from the gates. "What's the matter?" Anjali asked, bringing Aman out of his trance. He was busy in observing the rosy hue that the chilly air had brought in Anjali's nose and cheeks, and how the cold breeze flapped the outer covering of her nightclothes in a typical Bollywood style. "The matter?" Aman questioned before he remembered why he had come here. "Oh... Your brother knows about your annulment." Anjali grimaced as she muttered, "Why, that old coot, Tripathy." Aman's fingers travelled to her cheek, and he touched her as if he was trying to search something and he posed, "Did you think that you could hide such a big thing from your brother? He would have noticed that Shyam was no more in his house, you know?" Aman made no effort to cover his joy at the aspect of Shyam being so elegantly kicked out of the Raizada mansion, and Anjali swatted his hand away from her face - but only for a second. "Come now, Anjali. You can't be really mad at me. Not that much!" Aman whined and Anjali almost had to smile see that boyishness emerge out of the composed mask that Aman wore all the bloody time!

Anjali was getting back to him with a sharp comeback, when they heard a distant, "Di?" Anjali and Aman turned to see Arnav and Khushi staring at them with confusion in their eyes. The confusion in Khushi's eyes, though, soon turned into understanding and Arnav's into anger. Aman and Anjali looked at each other once before they started to walk towards Arnav, where he stood by his car. Aman

Arnav had got down and helped Khushi out when he had seen a fluttering of something bright in the garden through his peripheral vision. He had turned to see his sister and Aman, his hand on his sister's face! So this was how he was involved in Di's annulment! "Di?" he called out and saw them look at each other before they walked towards him. Khushi's hand squeezed his, making him look at her. Khushi shook her head minutely, requesting him not to display his anger as he would have liked to. Wonder of wonders, he felt himself comply! Nodding once - very slowly, his mind still shocked at the fact that he could be reasonable to any type of requests (only when the one making the requests was Khushi!), he turned to face his sister. "Can we sit inside and talk?" Arnav asked and Anjali nodded with a warm smile.

When they sat in the living room, Mamaji and Naniji frowned to see the tensed manner in which Arnav was. They had seen him become very relaxed after his marriage was fixed with Khushi. Why this change in his mood? Especially when Khushi was right next to him? They saw Aman and Anjali walk in next. "Di. Would you like to tell anything to the family?" Anjali and Aman exchanged a silent look where Aman nodded and Anjali turned to face her grandmother and explained what she had done and why. Manorma soon joined them and luckily she had heard everything and there was no need to explain it twice. The family sat shocked at this revelation, and finally heaved a sigh of relief that none of them had been harmed in anyway. Anjali concluded by saying, "And hence I kicked him out of my house." "And how!" Aman muttered for her hearing only and Anjali grinned at him. Arnav and Khushi traded a surprised look at this zone of comfort that they shared. This meant that whatever was between Aman and Anjali, was going on from quite a long time.

Apparently, the elders had noticed it too, and Naniji questioned, "Tho aapne Shyam se kabhi bhi pyaar naahi kiya?" "Nahi, naniji. Humne sirf aapke kehne par unse shaadi ki thi..." Anjali frankly answered. "Hume maaf kijiye, Anjali bitiya. Humri wajah se aapko itna sab kuch sehna pada... Agar humne aapse iss shaadi ke liye zabardasti nahi kiya hota tho... Hume ab bhi yakeen naahi ho raha hai ki Shyam..." the venerable Raizada lady apologized and expressed her shock, and Anjali shook her head with that genuine smile, which she reserved only for her family.

"Di, I thought you would be heartbroken to know all this about Shyam. You almost seem relieved." Arnav asserted, and Anjali gave an embarrassed smile before she clarified, "When ma died, you were not the only one who changed, Chotay. All those silly, romantic notions I had in my mind died that day. If the love that was there in between ma and papa could fail, no love was strong enough then. I stopped believing that love could exist between two people in that way. And that made me really, really cold. I turned into a downright cruel woman, Chotay." Anjali laughed an ironic laugh, "And when we were brought here, I saw that Mamaji, Mamiji, and Naniji used to forget their sorrows at least to take care of me. So I behaved in that 'needy' way for a few days. I saw that you changed too, after those initial, few days. I saw you become so determined, so responsible - just to take care of me! So I extended my act for another few more days. And you know? How when you lie for a few days, it becomes really awkward to reveal the truth? I... I just could not get myself to tell all of you that I could take care of myself. That I did not want your support each time I stood." Anjali smiled sheepishly at her younger brother and Arnav averted her gaze, looking thoughtful.

"Where does Aman stand in all this?" Manohar quizzed, knowing the answer, yet wanting to hear it from his niece. Arnav turned his expectant gaze to his sister too, and Anjali went a little stiff, a little defensive as she answered, "He was the only one who knew that I am strong woman. He has been very supportive and..." she looked at him before she declared, "I respect him a lot. And I care for him too." Aman's hand squeezed hers as he turned to face Naniji. "I love your granddaughter, Mrs. Raizada. The only thing that had been holding me back was the fact that she was married. Even though she did not consider this an actual marriage, she was married nonetheless. And now, since she is single, I would like to court her and would be honored to have her as my wife, someday - If she would be willing to take me as her husband, that is."

Khushi and all the Raizadas - including Anjali! - sat shocked at his revelation.

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If I've missed anything out, It will surely come in the chapters ahead...

But please do point it out... A li'l gently, though.. 😳

I don't react well to taunts, you see!! 😛