That day in the cafe, Khushi lost faith in friendship of two friends and gained a whole new meaning of friendship from another.
La's revelation and Arnav's admission, had shattered her more than she knew. Long after they had gone, she had sat in the caf, in shock.
So, she had merely been a stepping stone for a bigger goal for Arnav?
Had their friendship meant nothing?
Was it all to gain La's attention and friendship?
Did he just use her?
And all those nice things he had done for her? What about them? Were they just a means to an end?
The more she thought, the more it hurt and she thought she would die of the pain.
She did not realize that she had sat in the same spot for nearly 4 hours, without moving, occasionally crying and occasionally lost in thoughts.
It was only when Nand Kishore Sharma, the young caf owner's son touched her gently that Khushi had realized where she was and what the time was.
'Anything wrong?' he had asked her gently.
Mutely she shook her head, trying to gather her thoughts.
'Something is wrong. I am 28 years old and I have seen enough of the world, to know when a person has gone through a shock. Something happened didn't it?' he asked her again, in a gentle soothing voice, as if he was talking to a child.
'No'no---nothing,' she said, but her voice betrayed her words.
'I may be a stranger. But sometimes, it is ok to tell a stranger what you can't tell friends. You never know, it may help. Sometimes strangers are a lot more trustworthy than friends' he had said wisely.
At that Khushi had broken down and cried her heart out to Nand Kishore, whom she fondly called NK later. He had let her cry, gently telling her 'it will be fine. Everything passes'. He had given her water and hushed her as she hiccupped and cried like a child.
Arnav had come in then and looked from her to Nk and rushed to her.
'Khushi. Baby. What's wrong?' he had asked, concerned. But his concern felt fake to Khushi. Their friendship had felt fake.
Yet she had let Arnav escort her back to her dorm. On the way he had tried mending the fences
'Khushi, it is not the way Lavanya put it. I admit I befriended you for her, but somewhere along the way you became very important in my life. You mean more to me than anyone in the world. I would be lost without your friendship' he said earnestly.
Khushi felt the sincerity of his admission. She knew he cared a lot for her. But it was not love. Yet, she loved him. Even after everything, her heart had a mind of its own. She just could not turn him away when he needed her and yet could not be close to him, because of how she felt.
She had told him that she forgave him.
And then started another phase of their relationship. She began to maintain a warm friendship with him and yet maintained her distance by not spending as much time with him or sharing anything personal with him.
La had added to this distance. Khushi saw another side of La emerge from that day in the Caf. Was it La's insecurity over relationships? Or was it the fact that she had come to trust and care for only one man-Arnav? But she acted very possessive. She constantly reminded Khushi of her place in Arnav's life, her unattractiveness, her social status-things that made Khushi feel she belonged to a different world than Arnav.
La never lost a chance to emphasize that she and Arnav belonged together. Khushi never let Arnav know the extent of La's possessiveness for him or her barbs. If Arnav really cared for La, she did not want to hurt him.
Between all this, the best thing which happened to Khushi was NK. Khushi smiled at the thoughts of NK crept into her mind. NK-selfless, loving NK-where would she be without him?
Khushi spent a lot of time sitting in the caf and doing her homework and studies. Back in the room, she felt lonely as La had become very cold to her. In the caf at least she saw a lot of people.
Nk would come over and chat with her.
And thus began their friendship.
'You should eat more Khushi, you are too thin,' he would say.
He would talk about politics and movies and philosophy and love and every topic under the sun. His wisdom and maturity was a welcome change from the meaningless college topics.
'Why on earth do you wear such terrible clothes despite being a fashion design student? You can get good clothes at reasonable prices too. Let's go shopping,' he had said one day.
Khushi had spent a happy day shopping for some cotton skirts, T shirts, jeans, kurtas, leggings and shirts.
It had been NK who had told her to change her hair style.
It was NK who had given her the reassurance constantly that she was beautiful and she needed to feel it.
He filled her loneliness with his friendly banter and endless wise cracks.
She learned that he had already been married and divorced at the tender age of 28. His wife had not been happy in the marriage.
'I must have been a horrible husband. Imagine, not being able to keep a wife happy even for 2 years,' he had smiled sadly.
What drew them to each other was their utter loneliness and utter lack of faith in themselves. NK too believed he was a loser and not good enough to be loved.
They were two of a kind and that explained their warm friendship, which always remained within the boundaries of friendship. However, Arnav had not seen it that way.
Khushi's eyes burned with unshed tears as she tried to block some more memories. It was already very late. She had to sleep.
Changing into an oversized T shirt and Capri's, she went to sleep.
It felt like her head had just touched the pillow, when she was woken up by the ring of the doorbell. She looked around groggily. It was just the crack of dawn. Who could it be? Room service? Cleaning?
After quickly freshening up, she walked to the door, wondering who it could be.
It was dawn already. Without releasing the latch chain, she opened the door slightly and froze.
There stood Arnav Singh Raizada, leaning against the door.
'Hi, can I come in?' he asked looking into straight into her eyes.
Too shocked by his presence, she opened the door almost automatically. He casually walked into the room, as his eyes swept it in a swift glance.
No photograph of Nk, he noted with satisfaction.
Next he took in her disheveled appearance. Hair tussled, eyes sleepy, T shirt that was almost sliding off her shoulder, the long shapely legs---
Time had not taken away his desire for this woman. He felt heat creep through his body. She needed no make up or jewels to make her look beautiful.
Time had added to her beauty. Her thin body had filled out at all the right places and she looked delectable. Her face looked a little more mature, her lips were fuller and her eyes---the most arresting features in her face, still looked vulnerable and innocent, as they did all those years ago.
He just drank in the sight of her.
Khushi felt the blush creep up on her, as his heated gaze travelled across her body, lingered on her lips and finally locked gazes with her.
As they stared at each other, Khushi felt herself getting lost in those powerful eyes. They seemed to penetrate right into her soul.
In a casual black T shirt and jeans, disheveled hair and early morning stubble, he looked incredibly good.
Khushi could not move from the spot, as she felt her heartbeats increase.
Slowly he walked towards her and though she wanted to flee, she stood her ground. He wouldn't dare touch her, knowing she was married.
But Arnav Singh Raizada always shocked and surprised her.
First he took her hand in his and said 'No wedding band.'
Next he moved his hand to brush the hair from her forehead and said 'No sindoor'.
Following this, he reached and touched the pulse throbbing at the base of her neck and said 'No mangal Sutra.
And you still blush like a teenager and tremble like a leaf if I come near you. See,' he said and stepped even closer to her.
'So Khushi, let's cut the crap and get to the point.
Why the hell are you lying to me that you and Nk are married?' he asked point blank, dragging her arms and pinning her against the wall as she tried to escape him---
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