"Nani, what am I going to do if it rains like this on my wedding day too?" Anjali frowned at the wet weather, while the family assembled in the dining room for their breakfast.
"Then, you would have to wear a raincoat over your wedding gown." Manorma Pandit sniggered earning a whine of protest from her niece.
"Chutki, you know it's actually auspicious if it rains on your wedding day. Isn't it Nani?" Arnav said, just to pacify his sister, who was beginning to panic for every little reason as the wedding day was approaching.
"Bhai, puhleeze! Don't make up things from your imagination." Anjali retorted, smacking her brother on her arm.
"Ouch!" Arnav glared at her, rubbing his arm. "Atleast have some respect for your brother. Otherwise, you won't get your wedding gift from me." Saying so, he wagged his finger on his sister's face until she accepted her defeat and kept quiet.
"Fine." Anjali pouted and concentrated on the bowl of cereals in front of her. "By the way, where did you go yesterday?"
"To bring your wedding gift." Arnav replied and he suddenly remembered Khushi, his eyes automatically wandering around the room to find her. But to his surprise, she wasn't present anywhere in the vicinity. Strange, he thought after being used to seeing her every other day around the Raizada Manor.
Making a note to talk to her, especially after what had occurred between the two of them yesterday, he silently continued to eat his breakfast.
Fifteen minutes later, when he was done, he set out in search of her, going through every nook and corner where she might be present. But to his dismay, she was missing.
Where is Khushi? He wondered, as he stormed into the kitchen to ask his mother about her whereabouts when suddenly, he chanced upon meeting Madumati on the way.
"Madhu Aunty, do you know where is Khushi?" Arnav asked the elder lady, who was quite taken aback at being stopped this way by him. Afterall, the younger Raizada hardly spoke to her.
"Khushi? She's at the cottage. Why? Did she do something? Or you want some work to be done? Tell me, I'll do it for you." Madumati replied, wondering why he was after her niece.
"Actually nothing important Aunty. Thank you." Arnav said and before she could ask anything, he hurried to the back door, towards the direction of her cottage.
Within few minutes, he was standing outside the old cottage and observing the door open, he walked inside unannounced.
The cottage was eerily quiet and looking around, he noticed the untidy state of the room. But she was nowhere to be seen. Remembering the last time he had been here, he hoped that the same scuffle wouldn't be repeated once again between them and walked towards the other room.
"Khushi?" he called out for her, when instantly, his eyes fell on the sight of her, curled up like a ball, lying on the bed inside the tiny room.
She slowly turned around at his voice, only to have him rushing towards her the very next second.
"What happened Kukku?" Arnav asked concernedly, at the sight of her dreary and tired eyes unlike her cheerful self, causing to him panic with worry at her state.
"Nothing. Just not feeling well." Khushi replied in a hoarse voice, trying to sit upright. "Did you want something?"
"Can I not come here just to talk to you?" he said, urging her to lie down, while his palm automatically reached out to her forehead to check her temperature. "You are running down with fever." He added, while he proceeded to check her palms that were now icy cold.
"I guess I spent too much time getting drenched in the rain." She tried to laugh, but he could notice the difficulty in doing so.
"Did you take any medicine?" he asked, as he held her cold hands, transferring the warmth from his body to hers.
"The fever will go away in another day."
He noticed how she didn't pull away her hands from his grip and this simply made him smile at her. Atleast, she was not acting awkwardly after yesterday's events.
"If you take care of yourself, you will recoup back faster. And I know the perfect way to make you feel better." He added, remembering something. "Can you wait for half an hour?"
"Why? What are you going to do?" Khushi immediately protested even in her hoarse voice, but he was in no mood to listen.
"Just sleep well. I'll be back soon." And saying so, Arnav pulled over the woollen blanket over her, tucking her in, and hurried back to the Raizada Manor where he knew he would find the remedy for her.
o0o
"Chicken soup? Are you not feeling well?" Naina Singh Raizada asked, reaching out to touch her son's forehead.
"No Mom, not for me. For Khushi. Actually, she isn't feeling well. And you know how magical your chicken soup is. It can cure even the worst of colds and fevers, right?" Arnav explained, after coming up with the idea of taking some mom-made chicken soup for Khushi.
"For Khushi?" Naina asked, surprised at her son, her eyebrow raising quizzically at him, beginning to smell something what her son was up to.
"Please?"
"Sure. Why not?" Naina eagerly agreed, not missing out the excitement on her son's face after her acceptance.
She didn't miss out how enthusiastically, he was standing right next to her as she prepared the soup, handing over the ingredients to her, nor did she miss the distant smile on his face.
"How did she fall sick?" she asked, curious to find out more about the whole picture presented in front of her.
"Actually, we were both out in the rain nah, that's why." Arnav explained, oblivious to what he had given away to his mother.
"In the rain?" she asked, continuing to stir the pot.
"Khushi loves rain and was all excited to go out and get drenched."
"And you followed her? I thought you hated rains."
"She's contagious." Arnav explained, laughing at the memory of yesterday and so did Naina, feeling happy seeing her son so happy.
And then, her sister-in-law's words flashed in her ears from the conversation that they had had few days earlier, stirring up suspicions on her son.
Was there really something going on between Arnav and Khushi?
But then what about Lavanya?
Or was she just reading too much between the lines?
No, Arnav and Khushi were just best friends and nothing more.
"Thank you so much Mom. I love you." Arnav said, hugging his mother while she handed over the soup bowl to him.
"I love you too, Chotey." Naina replied, watching her son walk out of the kitchen.
And a strange sense of foreboding filled her heart. What if there was indeed something going on between her son and Khushi? Was she ready to face the reality?
o0o
"I'm back!" Arnav announced, as he walked into Khushi's room, finding her still curled up like a ball and sleeping. In reply, all that she did was open her eyes and struggle with a slight smile.
"And I've brought some things to make you feel warm and better." He added, as he sat on the bed, pulling her upright.
"What?" Khushi asked eagerly, her eyes scanning his arms curiously.
"First, some pair of socks and gloves to warm up your hands and feet." He said, retrieving them out from his pocket and before she could react, he pulled her hands and feet, covering them with the warm fabric.
"There was no need for it." Khushi protested, but she knew there was no point in doing so because when her best friend made up his mind, nobody could dissuade him from his plans.
"I took so much effort to search for them inside the huge wide Raizada Manor and the least you could do is appreciate it." Arnav pouted, as he pulled her leg and covered it with the sock.
"Thank you, Arnav." She said, as a warm smile spread on her face and when he raised his eyes to meet hers, her smile managed to make him fuzzy from the inside all over again.
"And now time for some yummy mummy soup, courtesy my mom." He said, handing over the soup bowl to her.
"Your mom prepared the soup for me?" she asked surprised to hear it and he didn't miss out the way her eyes glistened moist instantly, while he nodded his head. "You're lucky to have a mother like her." She said as she sipped the first spoon of soup, her eyes lowering.
"She likes you, you know." Arnav said, not realising when his hand had casually rested on her thighs and neither did she. "She used to scold me whenever I used to hit you when we were kids. And do you remember those blueberry cupcakes that she used to bake every fortnight? Actually, I preferred the strawberry ones, but since you liked the blueberry ones, she used to only bake them for you and I was forced to eat them." He laughed sheepishly as he saw her eyes widen hearing this.
"You didn't like those blueberry cupcakes?" she asked, the delicious warm chicken soup clearly affecting her in a positive way.
"Nope. I abhorred them so much that if you offer me one now, I would run miles away from them." Arnav burst out laughing remembering the childhood days, until he was forced to stop seeing her mouth open wide with shock.
"What happened?" he asked curiously seeing her state.
"I hated those blueberry cupcakes." She whispered, her eyes similar to a deer caught in headlights and now it was Arnav's turn to stop laughing.
"What?"
"Yeah, I hated them. Infact, I used to only pretend to like them because I thought you liked them."
An entire moment of utter silence passed between the two before the impact of their words finally hit them and they started laughing loudly.
"So we had tolerated those blueberry cupcakes for five whole years just because of some misunderstanding? Damn!" He banged his fist on his head, earning a giggle from her. "I wonder what Mom would have to say about this."
"She would only smile at both of us, because your mom is really sweet." Khushi replied, unknowingly reaching out to hold his hand.
This time, Arnav was aware of her touch. Lowering his eyes, he could see her little finger entwined with his own, just like they used to do when they were kids. Maybe last time, he had let go of that finger, but he knew that life was giving him a second chance and he couldn't afford to let go of her.
Because she was too precious to be lost.
Because somehow, she had unknowingly done so many things for him, things which no one else had even attempted, let alone do them.
"You ate all those cupcakes because they were my favourite?" he asked, suddenly feeling overwhelmed about the whole idea while she silently nodded her head. "Why?"
"Because that's what best friends do." She answered, and all of a sudden, he felt a lump in his throat, finding it very hard to swallow. It was painful, because he had failed to do the very words that she had uttered a second ago.
He had failed to be her best friend.
"What happened?" his reverie was broken by the soft touch of her fingers on his face.
"Nothing." He tried to fight back the tears threatening to spill down his eyes remembering the day that had changed both their lives forever.
"Don't lie. I have been your best friend for long enough to know when you are worried." And when he looked at her confusedly, she pointed out to his fingers nervously wriggling around in his hand. "You tend to do that when you are nervous. You haven't changed all these years."
Those words, somehow managed to hit home, causing him to abruptly stare into those hazel eyes, a strange haunt dwelling in them right before she closed them, the fever making her dizzy.
Taking away the soup bowl from her hand, before she could lie down on the bed, he slipped right beside her, pulling her towards him, while asking her to rest her head on his shoulder. At first, she was indeed hesitant but not having the strength to defy him, she complied and leaned against him, welcoming the warmth of his body.
"Should I narrate some fairy tales to rock you to sleep?" Arnav chuckled, pulling her tightly in an embrace.
"Arnav, I'm not the ten year old Kukku anymore." She managed to hit him despite her condition, making her utter an 'ouch' for the second time in the day.
"Oh! So Kukku is grown up? Okay, so do you want to instead hear adult stories?" He grinned mischievously, only to have her push him down on the bed, managing to punch him two -three right on his abdomen.
"Seriously, that doesn't even qualify as a woman's beating. I swear, if you weren't a girl, you would have received some blows from me." He whined in pain, rubbing his abdomen. "What do you eat daily? Iron tablets?"
"That is for all the times you beat me up in childhood. I couldn't fight back then, but now I'm stronger than ever. Looks like staying in London hasn't made you any stronger."
"But I'm glad you've become stronger." He said, getting up from the bed, pulling her into a hug once again, only this time, kissing softly on her forehead. Her eyes automatically closed with the touch of his lips, as if to reminisce the feeling.
It wouldn't be wrong to say that Arnav was tempted to trail down his lips towards her own lips, but knowing that she was ill and would be quite uncomfortable with it, he simply kissed her cheek and pulled away, cuddling her once again to sleep.
"Arnav?"
"Hmm..?"
Her hand rested on his chest and with every passing moment spent with her, he felt a different sort of solace encompass him.
"I don't want you to tell me stories. Instead, I want to know more about you."
"About me? What do you want to know about me? You already know everything."
"Arnav, I only know about the five years you spent with me. I know nothing about the rest. About your life in London? Do you have your own house in London? Do you stay all alone? Dadi told me you stay with your uncle. But that was long time ago." Khushi said, settling more comfortably in his arms.
"Who? Uncle Rob?" he asked, and suddenly remembering his father's brother, he felt restless. The name he wanted to forget had slipped from his lips reflexively. But he knew he had to control himself and thus, tried to divert his attention elsewhere. "That was long time ago, at the beginning when I was small. After my graduation, I lived in a separate apartment."
"All alone?"
"No, with my cats, Snowball and Bubbles. And then there is Mrs. Wright. She's the caretaker of the apartment in my absence. She does all the cleaning and cooking and takes care of my cats too. Right now, the house is currently under her care when I'm here."
"You must've studied in a big college right?"
"Not so big!" Arnav laughed, amused at the way she was asking him questions just like a little kid. "It wasn't even a college. It was the London Business School." He replied, winking at her, only to see a surprised look on her face. "But you tell me, why did you discontinue your studies after school?" he asked the very thing which had been bothering him for a long time now.
"Me? I wasn't interested in studying anymore. I find it quite hard to sit around listening to boring people giving some boring lectures." Khushi explained chuckling back at him, but Arnav knew that this wasn't the full story.
"But you know, if you had completed your education, you won't have to work like this anymore. You will get a better job and a better salary. Wouldn't that make you happy?" He asked, only to find her silent at his words.
"Kukku?" he called out to her after a minute of silence. He had been thinking about this for a couple of days now and he knew he had to talk to her. "You consider me as your best friend right?"
"Do you doubt me?" she asked, meeting his molten brown eyes. Somehow, those four words managed to make him feel uneasy. What was it about the words she spoke? They were spoken so innocently, yet they always managed to hit him where it hurt the most.
"Then, would you listen to whatever I have to say?"
"Depends on what you have to say." Khushi replied, moving apart to listen to him.
"I want you to complete your education, get a degree so that you can take care of yourself better. I don't like to see you working around in my house like a maid. You are not my maid, got it?" Arnav warned, trying to get his point across her.
"You cannot paint a crow white and call it a dove. A crow will always remain a crow. And what will I do going to a college now? I'm already 25. And I love the way my life is. I feel free and I wouldn't want to trade in that freedom for any riches." She answered back, looking away at the distant tree outside the window.
"You talk nonsense Khushi. Why are you hell bent on destroying your life?" Suddenly, Arnav felt ire burning through him hearing those words. "Why can't you get up from the pit you are buried in and look at the world outside waiting for you?"
"It's unfortunate to know that you call my world a pit, Chotey Saab." Khushi replied, stressing painfully on the last two words as she suddenly moved away from him, getting up to walk towards the window.
"Wow, 'Chotey Saab'? You've proven your friendship Khushi." He replied, walking towards the window, standing right behind her. "In a second you abandoned me, just because I showed you the mirror."
"Where were you all these years close to me, that I should abandon you?" She laughed, only this time, anguishing and haunting pain, dwelling in every note of that laugh.
And Arnav Singh Raizada didn't have a word to say in his defence. He closed his eyes in shame, guilt and remorse. What was he thinking before saying all that to her? Why did he always end up messing things between them? How did the atmosphere between them charge in just mere minutes?
"You failed to even recognise me the first time we met after those fifteen years. You denied my existence. And you say, I've abandoned you."
"I didn't mean any of it Khushi. I didn't. You know, I'm stupid. Let's just say I was trying to be a jackass. But believe me, I remembered you every single day of those past fifteen years." Arnav replied, and he knew that every single word he had just spoken was the truth.
However hard he had tried to forget her, those scared hazel eyes from that fateful day had haunted him for every single day of those fifteen years of existence. They had painfully reminded him about how incapable and undeserving friend he had been to the person standing in front of him right now.
He was about to continue when he saw her moving back to the bed to sit down, her arms frightfully shivering due to the fever and the stressful atmosphere around her.
"I can take care of myself," was all that she replied, closing her eyes.
And Arnav knew he had to leave because today was just not his day and he was only going to end up hurting her more if he pursued this topic. Instead, he walked towards her and kissing her forehead, and wrapping the blanket around her, he turned around to leave.
Just when he was about to step out of the cottage, he stopped midway, nearly colliding with the person walking opposite him.
"Ranvijay? What are you doing here?" Arnav asked, utterly shocked to find his brother-in-law at Khushi's place, that too when he was supposed to be at his Hotel.
"I' erm' err'" Ranvijay stammered, unable to respond, he himself quite taken aback at Arnav's presence here. But he was rescued on time, by Khushi who had heard his voice and come out of the room.
"I don't think it's any of his business to know it." Khushi replied, walking towards the other man. "Ranvijay Saab, come in. I was waiting for you."
"Ouch!" Ranvijay exclaimed, sensing the strong vibes passing between the two. "Looks like I arrived at the wrong time. By the way Arnav, what are you doing here?" he asked, enjoying the lover's tiff, wanting to stoke more coal on the burning fire.
"I don't think it's any of your business to know." Arnav suddenly replied angrily and stormed out of the cottage, before any of the two could react.
"What was that Khushi?" he asked, looking at his fiancee's brother hurrying over the path towards the Raizada Manor.
"I don't know. The fever is making me crazy."
"Or was it the kiss, babes?" Ranvijay cocked his eyebrow, grinning at her smugly.
"Saab? How did you know?" Khushi asked surprised, suddenly reddening with embarrassment.
"Ohh!" he drawled out. "So it was the 'Kiss'. Well, I was just blindly shooting the arrow in the dark. Honey, I know the effect of a first kiss. Let's just say, I'm a master at it." He explained, only to see her even more scandalised.
"By the way, I've brought something for you. I know you're ill, but for God's sake there are only few more days left for the wedding and you have a lot to teach me in cooking. And thank God, Arnav didn't try to pursue why I was here. You know how much this surprise is important for me. I can already imagine Anjali's face when I surprise her with a dinner cooked by me." Ranvijay replied dreamily lost in some thoughts, with a silly smile on his face until Khushi's giggle brought him back to the reality. "So you drink this and sleep well. Tomorrow, you have to be fit and healthy. Now, open your mouth." He said, forcefully opening her mouth and putting in some liquid from a small bottle.
"Eww.. Saab! What is this thing?" Khushi asked, making a sour face.
"Now go and sleep well." He ushered her, pushing her to the bed.
"No, seriously, what is it?" she asked, beginning to taste what seemed to be alcohol.
"It's the one and only perfect old wives' remedy for all illness. My personal favourite, brandy." Ranvijay smirked at her, with an air of pride on his face, and waving goodbye, he walked out, only to have a shocked Khushi gaping at him like a goldfish.
o0o
As Arnav walked towards the Manor, dragging his feet painfully on the pebbled path, only one sentence managed to ring in his ears, haunting him with guilt all over again.
"Where were you all these years close to me, that I should abandon you?"
And he felt two huge drops of tears helplessly roll down his cheeks.
CHAPTER 20
Next update Sunday night.
CID
142