"Ji bas aap naam thik se likh dijiye, KKGSR Dabba service!" She grinned widely when she suddenly heard footsteps, his footsteps nearing the room. Uh oh! Seems like Laad Governor is on his way! She thought and scrambled up from the floor just in time to see Arnav's furious face looming right in front of her. Raksha karna devi maiyya, she sent a silent prayer to her favorite goddess.
He once looked at her and then looked pointedly at the blutooth device that was latched on her ear and seethed,"Khushi, what the hell are you doing? And what is all this mess?" She looked around the room. Finding nothing much out of the place she asked him- "what?" thoroughly confused with his stupid demands and comments which almost always escaped her. Almost. "LOOK what you've done to the room Khushi Kumari Gupta!" Khushi confusedly looked around again and said- "But all this is on my side of the room, how does that bother you?" Ignoring her statement like Arnav always usually did, he warned her to clean the room immediately to which she refused. "Yeh Aadha HUMARA kamra hai..poore aadhe saal keliye..hum jo chahe-" she was cut short when Arnav ruthlessly snatched the Bluetooth device from her ear and warned her dangerously, "Khushi, clean the room, now." Khushi gulped. She knew that she was playing with fire whenever Arnav talked that way, but his highhandedness always rubbed Khushi the wrong way and she..like a fool continued to play with the dangerous fire that Arnav was! Oh what a fool she was!
Suddenly she made a move to snatch her Bluetooth device from Arnav Hand only to have Arnav easily moving it away from her reach. She struggled and hhmphh-ed and harrumphed but Arnav's tall stature gave him the edge over the silly game they were playing.
Khushi failed to notice his grim eyes taking an amused look. She was seriously trying to defeat him or rather was trying to make a point where she was seriously outdone in the department of height and physique, compared to him. Her slight frame and her being several inches shorter than him certainly didn't give her any bonus points. He continued to look amused when suddenly in desperation to get her newly bought Bluetooth ear device from his hand she didn't realize when she came to stand close to him. Very close. So close that she felt his breath fan her lips. Uh oh.
Alarm bells started ringing..no, raging in her head but she did the mistake of looking up in his eyes. Again. His eyes, though serious held something else which she couldn't figure out for the life her. The same look which had been haunting her for days, the look which made her breathless, the look which made her heart go dhak-dhak. What the hell was that but? She mused. She could distinctively hear Rabba Ve in the background.
What the-? Rabba Ve? Again? Oh no..no..no..not again. He groaned inwardly. Lost in her eyes, the mighty ASR didn't realize when his most passionately hated; thoroughly underestimated adversary snatched that coveted device from his hands.
Er, what? Di? Where had Di come from? He shook his head and realized that she had tricked him. Tricked him by taking his sister's name. He grumbled and was about to shout at her when he was really stopped by his beloved sister. Di? He thought. How come she always manages to come in between their fights or whatever it is that they always did together? Maybe she thinks I'll eat her precious sister-in law. Little does she know what ideas this chit of a girl has in her mind'what all she had done, what all she was capable of doing. The same thoughts made their way back with a vengeance in his convoluted brain. And he stomped off to take his clothes from the cupboard, when he heard'...
"Di! I am SO happy today. My only wish, my only dream is going to come true. I've always wanted to cook and wanted to cook for others. Now, I'll be able to do that. Abb hum chain se marr sakte hain." Khushi chirped brightly. The rabba ve already forgotten.
Both of them failed to notice a certain someone who had gone a little stiff. "Khushi ji, don't say such things. Bhagwaan kare aapko humari umar bhi lag jaye." Anjali cupped her cheek fondly and smiled sweetly. Instantly concerned and worried about her dearest sister in law and her almost always blabbering mouth and the almighty above who had the uncanny ability to listen to the stupidest and worst of all things said. Sending a quick prayer for a long life for her chotay's life she walked out of their room. Little did she know that such innocent wish for a loved one had the ability to crush the dreams of an innocent person, to destroy her chotay's life and to ruin the Raizada family.
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Unaware of a furious Arnav, Khushi smilingly bent down to tie the knot around their pet goat's neck which had just entered. Also blissfully lost in the amazing feeling of being loved she narrated the whole tale to Laxmi ji, who seemed mesmerized by Khushi ji, like everyone..except one.
All that Arnav had seen on the night of Akaash's marriage, all that lecherous Shyam had ever said played in his head like a broken record which was stuck at a single scene. His sister's life being taken so lightly had instigated the same irrepressible fury he felt whenever he remembered Khushi Kumari Gupta's so called debauchery. That too, against his sister. HIS sister.
Blinded by irrational rage he stalked upto Khushi and dug his fingers in her soft upper flesh of her arms. He knew that that hurt her. Shaking her in his strong grip he threatened-"How DARE you Khushi Kumari Gupta? Nothing will happen to my Di. NOTHING and NO ONE can ever harm her. Not even YOU. I won't let anything happen to her". Highly confused and irked by his irrational threat Khushi shouted-"What do you mean? And what will I do?" Strengthening his grip on her arms and ignoring her wince he viciously said- "If I don't say or do anything doesn't mean that I don't know anything." Surprised and a bit intrigued at what he said, and curious to know why and for what he almost always accused her of, she demanded- "What..what do you know Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada? All you ever seem to do and know is how to hurt me. Now LEAVE me, you're hurting me." He further dug his fingers in her arms to hurt her and whispered softly. His threat making her shiver- "Don't shout at me like that Khushi." Irritated and extremely hurt by his irrational temper, Khushi shouted again- "No. I won't. What will you do?" She challenged him. Pushing Arnav further.
He dragged her to their room's poolside and backed her against the wooden frame in the wall which had small spaces, making it easy for the evil to hear everything which was being said. Jumping upon this golden opportunity, he called his Rani Sahiba to introduce her to the reality of her brother's marriage.
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"I hurt you because you deserve it. You deserve EVERYTHING that has happened to you. And in future, worse things will happen to you. I don't know what you're thinking Khushi but I do know that whatever it is that you want, You'll never get" Arnav lashed out at her...now beyond seeing that what he had said had made Khushi cry. She looked at him with a strange expression of pain mixed with bewilderment and said- "I can't believe you're the same man whom-" But she stopped. Her unfinished sentence left Arnav gobsmacked for a moment..What did she say?
But fury took over his rationality again and he was about to reply when he heard the sickeningly sweet tone of his so called brother in law call out, "Khushi ji, Saale sahab? Is everything alright? I heard someone shouting from your room." His expression completely somber but his eyes held a glint of vengeance which didn't go unnoticed by the usually clever brain of Arnav Singh Raizada. Instantly knowing that this was one of Shyam's attempt to tell Di about his contract with Khushi and to claim Khushi and destroy his Di's life he walked purposely towards Shyam and said very softly- "I don't think so, Jee-Ja-Ji. And even if we were fighting, that is between us. I think every husband and wife have these small fights." Putting extra emphasis on "Husband and wife" which was not lost on Shyam..causing his nose to twitch.
No one in his or her right mind would think that those words were spoken politely as it had a hint of sheer coldness, coldness capable of freezing any probable enemy of Arnav Singh Raizada and hence it wasn't missed by Khushi either, who looked rather surprised and a suspicion formed in her mind about Arnav knowing the truth about her and Shyam.
But Anjali, unaware of the burning hatred and animosity between her husband and brother asked Khushi who looked unnaturally pale and whose eyes seemed a little red, "Khushi ji, are you okay?" Her concern evident in her eyes for she knew her brother well. She knew he was capable of hurting Khushi ji, his wife, even though she knew that his brother cared about her a lot. Her question earned her a watery smile from Khushi and an unconvincing reassurance, but believing that it was between Chotay and khushi ji, she asked Shyam to leave them alone..making the snake's plan fail, yet again.
Arnav turned around, his formidable fury founding another target now that the deserving target had reluctantly walked out of the scene, Arnav turned around to face her and gritted out- "I wish I could tell everyone about your disgusting thoughts and disgusting ways. AND I am never going to trust you, especially your tears." He pointed towards her tears making Khushi back away a little..looking up at him with a shocked expression which elicited another response from him, "You cannot weaken me with your tears" he grated and turned to walk away only to be stopped by the Hurt and angry beyond belief Khushi who lashed out at him. "Nahi. Hum abb inn aansuon ko aap pe zaya bilkul bhi nahi karenge. (I'll not waste my tears for you)Because the man who has a heart of stone doesn't deserve my tears-" Said Khushi. "ENOUGH!" Arnav bellowed, instantly cutting off Khushi and now pushed her on the sliding door which separated the room and the poolside, holding her hand tightly beside her head only to slacken his hold on her when he saw immense hurt in her eyes. Trying to turn a blind eye to her pain he stomped inside the room and shut the sliding door in anger.
Not realizing that Khushi's hand was still there'.and Arnav suddenly felt and heard few things at the same time. The sliding door probably for the first time refused to close; Khushi's muffled scream and a slight cracking of something.
Instantly concerned and angry at himself for hurting her physically he turned around and tried to see the damage that he had so foolishly done,he softly asked her, concern heavily present in his voice- "Khushi?" His hand involuntarily reached out to soothe her hand and see the damage.
But this time, that concern was lost on Khushi Kumari Gupta. This time she refused to melt because of his insanely attractive and expressive eyes. "Nahi! Leave it. I deserve this Pain anyway." She said and snatched back her hand as if the very thought of his touch repulsed her.
He mistook her anger and hurt as her repulsion to his touch which angered and hurt him further and the irrational hurt he felt confused and irked him even more, causing him to walk away from her. Leaving a shattered Khushi behind.
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All she could think was that Arnav had hurt her, physically this time. He had always hurt her immensely with his actions, with his stinging words, even when he used to shake her up, his tight grip always used to hurt her...but this was different. Arnav had never let anything else hurt her. It was always his action or his words. Be it even a stupid shard of glass from a bangle stuck in her skin. This hurt her a lot. A lot. She knew he did it in anger but it still hurt. This time, the hurt was beyond what she could have ever let herself believe. As she walked through the corridors of RM with a strangely hollow feeling in her heart...she was halted by the words she suddenly heard.
"You and Khushi can NEVER get what you two want. None of you can hurt my Di. I won't let you. You know I can crush you two so much with a flick of my finger. Be grateful that I am not doing any such thing. STOP interfering and stop trying to play your games with me Shyam and drop the innocent act or else you know what I am capable of." The words spoken by Arnav, however softly and politely, held a strong hint of steel which came as a severe blow to Khushi who stood against the door, frozen with shock. Arnav knew? He...he knew about her and Shyam? But if he knew then why did he think that She was with Shyam in his devious ways? She thought confused and hurt at first when the next sentence cleared all her doubts'
"I will never let my family and especially my Di, be the target of your and Khushi's plan. Ever." Arnav said, with finality and stormed out of Shyam's room. He didn't notice a freakishly pale Khushi frozen near the threshold of the room.
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He believed the snake's word. He didn't trust me. He thinks that I am a home-wrecker? He thinks that I would even dream of hurting his Di, his family, after spending so much time with me? He doesn't trust me. He never did. Suddenly the reason behind him marrying her became crystal clear and the hurt she felt was beyond something which she could have ever fathomed. How can her heart still ache for him? Ache for his acceptance, for his faith, for his trust, for his love?
She finally admitted to herself that she loves him. Always did. The kind of person Khushi Kumari Gupta was, she was incapable of un-loving someone. Highly incapable of hating the one she loved. But once her trust was broken only devi maiyya could help re-forming the trust again. And Arnav had broken her trust, her heart, her everything. Even after all this, even after all that she heard made her incapable to hate Arnav. But the extreme hurt and pain and anguish in her heart made her quietly walk away from him, from his life.
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Arnav was pacing like a caged lion in his room. It was already 8 in the evening and there was no sign of Khushi. Was she upset because of their fight in the morning? Of course she must be. Arnav chided himself. But she had never before done something like this and they had fought a million times before this. But not like this. His heart reminded him. And the kind of person Arnav Singh Raizada was, he ignored the voice of his heart, yet again. So what if he said all that? It was true only. She was behind hurting his family and his Di. Really? His heart questioned him again. Thrashing the voice again his mind provided him with another excuse. It was necessary to say all that, after all she has hurt me so much and anyway she must have just gone to mandir just like she usually does when she is upset, she must come back in no time. Was it really necessary to hurt her physically? And what if she doesn't come back? His heart reasoned, this time really managing to freak him out. He picked up his cell phone to call her when his phone sprang to life'.
Unknown number? He thought but took the call anyway.
"Hello? Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada?" A deep voice said. "Yes?" said Arnav a bit apprehensively. Somehow he knew that whatever he was about to hear was not going to be pleasant in the least bit. "I am ACP Akhil Sinha. I am calling from City Hospital. Mr. Raizada, your wife has met with an accident. Her condition is critical..." Arnav didn't hear anything else as his cell slipped from his numb fingers, dropping on the carpeted floor which silently echoed in his numb heart.
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I would sincerely love to read your views, please drop in a comment! Criticism or praise, everything is welcome! :P
:D
Arjun
Cricket
Udne Ki Aasha
10