ArHi SS: Heartbeat Radio - Completed - Page 12

Originally posted by: metaphor4

Beautiful !!!! Read all the parts and you have written it so nicely its like reviving the show again.

I am glad I came across this ff. Looking forward for more updates.

Thank you :-)

Hello,

This style of writing, it reminds me of someone...

Originally posted by: ivre

Hello,

I just read the entire thing. Needless to say, beautifully written. Especially the quotes. This one- You hand out warmth like sugar packets in a coffee shop; up for grabs but under appreciated. The title is kinda nice too :D

I love the randomness of all of it. Its been quite a long time since I have read something and this was a good start.

I was glad to see a Lavanya perspective in the last one. Was kind of hoping you would include it.

Please do update soon

Sur

There is a strange satisfaction in utter randomness. A hidden beauty underneath the pattern which is laid down before them.

When you give it a twist of perfunctorily inanity, you'll have something close to poetic bullshit :-)

Thanks!

9. Pretension

A butterfly must have flapped its wings in Sahara or a thousand angels messed with destiny to make me crash into you.

And then our hearts began a civil war for the life we could have had.

*****

"It's in the way he looks at us - like he is the only superior species standing in an ocean filled with amoebae and plankton." Khushi's fingers violently dance in the bowl of batter. Payal swallows a sigh escaping her lungs and motions Khushi to continue.

"He is one of those people on who you start writing a love ballad twelve seconds after laying your eyes on him and half way through the ridiculously long ballad, you find out he is a jerk who deserves nothing but a tragic violent ass-kicking end." Jalebi batter sloshes dangerously near the rim of the mixing bowl.

"Arnav annoyed you?" Payal ventures a guess. It isn't a guess but an easy deduction judging Khushi's mood. Khushi's fairly easygoing attitude ruptures and gets splintered the moment she shares a conversation with Arnav.

"He called me a badly drawn painting with excessive colors and minimalistic personality." Khushi's voice show traces of hurt and...betrayal.

Arnav's words are still ringing in her ears. You are a wall on which colors splash and words decimate one another, a cage of longing breaths and wishful thinking.'

"I know you are working at his house as a glorified teacher because of the financial crisis we are going through. But if you cannot stand your employer's presence, you should probably just quit." Payal's perspective has been simple all her life. While she believes in staying away from an open wound like Arnav, Khushi is drawn to him like a despondent Shakespearean heroine.

Khushi stills. "I...can't..." It's a choked whisper, blindly groping at tender words once spoken in angry whispers and heaving breaths.

Payal nods. She pretends to understand this...this thing that's going on between her sister and Arnav. She pretends to ignore the crossroad where the two stand and hover over the line that divides. She waits patiently for the moment when the lines will get erased and there will be nothing more to trample upon.

"You have put faith in something unknown and what you have is..." Payal blurts but cannot find words to continue.

"...morphine like agonizing sweet ache," Khushi finishes.

Payal already knows this because she has been eavesdropping on their hearts but pretends to be deaf.

10. Spaces

The greatest love stories are wedged on beginnings of a tragedy.


She shoves words into spaces where they aren't supposed to go - cramming them in tiny crevices where no one would bother a second glance. Talking is her way of escaping the cagey feeling she gets while surrounded by happiness that involves Arnav and Lavanya. The family is making their relationship official and for a nano second she hopes for Arnav to refute.
He smiles instead.

Arnav was like an edge of cliff where depth is both daunting and alluring at the same time.


Its a party with its ironic subtlty of declaring the world the relationship of Arnav and Lavanya. Her family is invited, of course. They mingle, mix and find people to talk to. She stands in balcony, the cotton of her sari not providing the warmth her skin demands. She takes the bite of chill in the air with gritted teath and jackrabbiting heart. She wants to curl into the shadow of the corner and hide till everyone is gone and the ebb of lights and laughter died out. Her lips crack with constant worry of her teeth on them.

"You aren't inside."

She doesn't turn around jerkily or flail under sudden intrusion on her quiet time. She heard his footfalls and the waft of his perfume before he entered balcony. She holds her ground and her movements are surprisingly still; gracious even.

"Noisy. Crowdy. Bright-y." She decides on neanderthal monoworded response.
"Too many adverbs in your answer, don't you think?" The easeness in his voices cramps her chest. He is happy. Why wouldn't he be? He won the unannounced contest going on between him and his grandma and the party was the way his grandma was approving of his relationship with Lavanya. So everything was coming together for me. While she was left in the sidelines questioning her sanity.

"Probably." She cannot help but quirk her lips. Arnav chuckles shaking his head and her stomach churns.

"I read somewhere that JK Rowling was criticized a lot for the generous use of adverbs in her books." He comes up to stand next to her and sees her watching parking lot. Her quirks and actions still manage to surprise him.
"But she got what she wanted. So who cares," she replies loftily and proceeds to empty the glass in her hand. Apple juice, Arnav notices distractedly.
"You weren't inside when grandma introduced Lavanya to everyone." His tone has an edge of accusation to it. Khushi stomps down the bubble of irritation that gurgles in her throat.

"Why? You got what you were fighting for. Did you want my blessing or something?" She congradulates herself for maintaining aloofness though she wants to hurl her body away from everything that was Arnav.

Arnav looks surprised and his shoulders stiffens. "No...I thought you would be happy to see Lavanya. You helped a lot in making her what she is today, you know?" Arnav seems genuinely confused.

Khushi gapes at him. "Lavanya has always been amazing Arnav. I always thought being onself was enough. For you and your family, it clearly isn't." She slams half emptied glass on table and catches railing tightly to contain the irritation that has been building since the day Lavanya opened up to her.

Arnav narrows his eyes, humor long gone from them. "Bit late to go around with that moral compass isn't it? I mean you took the job without much fight, didn't you? No one forced you or anything."

She shrugs knowing it would irritate Arnav. "They aren't the same." She lashes out. She doesn't know what's right and whats wrong. She doesn't know if she crossed some sort of line drawn between two humans in terms of respect and understanding.
She doesn't know why she didn't refuse when her first instinct was absolute annoyance towards the offered task. Was it the distant hope of placing herself better than Lavanya in front of Arnav and his family? Or was it showing off the supposed knowledge Arnav's grandma thought was necessary to become a member of the family. Or was it all a subconscious ruse to get closer to Arnav?

Arnav clutches her arms and pulls her towards him. "Get off that high horse of yours Khushi. You and I aren't all that different." His tone has lost the ease and lightness it had few moments ago.

"Stop touching me without my permission." She hisses. Arnav drops her arms and takes several steps back as if burnt. She absently runs her fingers on her arms where his palm had been to soothe the angry imprint of his fingers. She walks away from the balcony but his voice stops her.

"Don't forget to collect the payment for your hardwork. With the way the night has turned out, you may even get a bonus."

He walks past her without as much as a glance.

His words aren't cruel. It was said with much indifference to an employee by an employer. She had foolishly thought it would end up being otherwise.

"I'll cash your cheque in morning." She calls out.

She takes great pleasure in the way he fists his palms and the tension that sets between his shoulders. She whispers a good-bye in her mother's ears and steps outside Raizada mansion.

Things are far from over between them. But for tonight, she was done.

Originally posted by: greenteaholic

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Khushi gapes at him. "Lavanya has always been amazing Arnav. I always thought being onself was enough. For you and your family, it clearly isn't."

Originally posted by: meera30

And this one slams right into my chest, powerful and potent - like two angry waves colliding in the ocean, just because they can't help do anything but.

What a frikking brilliant whirlpool - you hurt and you prod because anything else would hurt right back. You revel in the way the other responds, fire for every flame and yet, you know the end is nothing but scorched earth.

But there will be rain. Someday. And the earth will rejoice again. But for now, burn, heart, burn!

greenteaholic - one of your best pieces this. But then I say that about everything you write now :)

Yes, someday it will rain. I wonder if everything will be washed away by then or the cracks are so deep and so large that no amount of rain can cool the lava flowing between them. Only time will tell.

Thanks Meera :-)

Originally posted by: ivre

I was hoping somebody says this. The way they made Khushi train Lavanya was preposterous, why did Lavanya even agree to it? If only the show would incorporate some respect for individuals (any fans- please refrain from arguing, not trying to hurt you)

This one was much less vague. I liked the insight and the conversation (argument) :P

Its not going to be vague anymore. I started this story with a definite ending in mind and everything from start to pen-ultimate chapter is a wrestle with words and emotions. How I get to that point is challenging but as far as the characters behave in a specific way with slowly changing ways, am good :-)

Yeah, I had to shoot it down and build the story surrounding that. Khushi finds Arnav's ways irritating and insulting for once and Arnav sees her perspective on things that actually matter.