OS:The Locket :)

Hey...something that was in my mind from a long time...this takes place on the day after the truth revelation in RM... There has been news that finally we are going to see something apart from "hate" and i couldn't get this scene out of my head!! Beware: No proofreading done.😆 oh and its kinda sorta...long...😆

OS: The Locket

The morning after the storm is always a calm morning. So was the morning at the Raizada Mansion. This particular morning, in a room by the poolside, Arnav lay on his bed looking at his beautiful wife sleep next to him. He had woken up earlier than her with the intentions of getting ready to return to his office but even after thirty minutes, he had been unable to look away from the serene face of his angelic wife.

All the exhaustion of the previous day had been washed away overnight and he couldn't help but admire every feature of her face—the tendrils of hair framing her face, the long eyelashes covering her closed eyes, the well shaped eyebrows, her cute little nose, her adorable and ever pouting lips which were stretched in a small content smile like a child's and her chin which was always jutting out, ready to show the defiance in her.

As his eyes travelled a little lower down her neck, he saw a  silver heart  shaped locket hanging from it. He frowned, he had never seen it before. So,it couldn't be her parents' . May be it was a gift from someone. But who gifts a married woman a heart shaped locket? And that too Arnav Singh Raizada's wife? No one would dare too!!

NO, said a voice in his mind, stop doubting her. It was just a locket after all. What difference did it make that she had worn a small locket around her neck. It must be special to her and if it was something meaningful, he was sure she would tell him. Yeah, that's it. He would wait for her to tell him, he thought decisively.

A while later, he shook his head and thought to himself, Who was he kidding? He was too impatient to wait. He will just ask her after she gets ready. Thinking about how he will ask her, he went to his bathroom to get ready.

***********

How long was she going to take to have a bath? He thought as he paced in his room, stopping eery few minutes before the bathroom where in his wife was taking a bath. Quite leisurely too. His patience never being his best quality, he was about to go and knock on the bathroom door when Khushi decided to have mercy on him and she came out.

All thoughts about the locket flew out of his now blank mind.Time seemed to slow down for him then and there as if Kronos had entered their room. Khushi gave him a confused look when he pinched himself to make sure it was not a dream. Dressed in the color of love, red and incidentally, his favorite colour, he couldn't keep his eyes off her. She was definitely Aphrodite on Earth, he thought. To top it all, she had washed her hair and so there was light floral fragrance in the room.

He took a step forward as if in a trance, and as always, she took one back, the confused look that she sported earlier now gradually turning to one of awareness and self-consciousness and finally shyness which was obvious from the pretty blush that crept up her fair cheeks.

As her back hit the wall of the room, he stopped a few inches from her. He looked at her unabashedly, and couldn't help but smile when she looked down all of a sudden unable to look into his eyes anymore.

He whispered in her ear as if telling her a secret," Good Morning, Khushi."

She looked at him with accusing eyes, her eyes telling him that she knew his intentions were not to just greet her and the grin that Arnav returned confirmed her suspicions. She looked down again, blushing away furiously, wanting to get away from the room and praying fervently in her mind for the intervention of anyone, preferably Laxmiji at that moment.

Arnav lifted her chin up with his finger. Her eyes were shut completely as if surrendering to him. He bent closer down to her face, inclining his face slightly and his lips were about to brush her quivering ones when he heard, a " Meh!!" in the background.

Khushi's eyes snapped open and Arnav backed away little, clearly frustrated at the untimely interruption of the goat. He ran his hand through his hair, obviously cursing the goat and looked on as Khushi went ahead and ushered the goat out of the room if its life was more precious to it.

She was about to leave the room to obviously avoid the completion of the task that had been left off had it not been for Arnav's quick hand which shot out and wrapped itself around her wrist to bring her back crashing into his chest.

She looked at him surprised and tried to free herself from him strong hand but once Arnav said " Stop", she became as still as a statue. She stammered,"Uh.. I need to go to the umm...kitchen."

Arnav smiled slightly at her nervousness and asked,"Is there something more important than me in the kitchen except food?"

Her eyes widened a little but she regained her composure and said quickly," Uhh..yeah...I mean no.. What I meant was food is quite important but umm... It's okay... I am not that hungry right now...may be a little, but I think I'll manage for a while. I guess."

He failed to suppress chuckle and loosened his grip on her hand which she withdrew immediately and said," Go, have some food."

When she was near the door, he remembered that he had to ask her about the locket. So, he called out," Khushi, who gave you that locket?" He hoped that he was not too blunt about it but he was never a good conversationalist.

Khushi blushed and then asked fingering it gingerly," This? This locket was given to me by Nanheji. He said it was a wedding gift. Wasn't it thoughtful of him to give me this? It's very special to me."

Saying this, she left the room hurriedly, leaving Arnav Singh Raizada quite angry. A locket? As a wedding gift? Who the hell gives a heart shaped lockets to women as wedding gifts?

Coming to think of wedding gifts, he realized that because of the way they had gotten married, he had never given her anything. Not even a ring. A lump formed in his throat as he felt guilt weighing him down and he felt like he was Atlas holding the weight of the world.

He couldn't undo the wrong things that he had done but he could definitely correct at least some of the wrong things that he had done.

**********************

Arnav returned home early in the evening given the current state of things in the house with Shyam being thrown out and after spending sometime with his sister, he went to his room, waiting for Khushi so that he could surprise her with his small gift.

Soon Khushi came to the room and she was surprised to see a trail of roses in the room which lead to the poolside. She followed the trail which ended at the poolside. She looked around her and suddenly the lights came on. The entire poolside had been decorated beautifully with the lights that she recognized immediately—fairy lights. She smiled remembering that evening and Arnav's words at the end of it,

" Kuch nahi Di, Khushi ulajh gayi thi."

The speaker of the words came in front of her, his face glowing with genuine happiness after a long time. And then, the very image at which Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada would have laughed at a few months ago, was in front of her.

Arnav Singh Raizada, bent on his one knee, took out a black box from his pocket, opened it and asked her," I know I am very late for this but I want to start again. And this time, the right way. So, Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada, will you please do the honor of  spending your life with me?"

Khushi stood grounded, the voice stuck in her throat, not out of fear. No, she was not Arnav Singh Raizada anymore. She couldn't get the voice out of her throat because she was in shock. She just couldn't process the image in front of her. Then, it struck her. Why he had done all this. All of it.

So, she bent down in front of him, so that she was at level with him. She cupped his face, and said," I don't think I can ever refuse you. So, my answer to you will always be a yes."

Arnav smiled with pure relief and took out the ring and slipped it onto her finger. She looked at the ring lovingly. It was a simple ring, just as she would have liked it to be, yet it had the elegance which was highlighted because of the diamond in the center and on either sides of the diamond, the letters, "A" and "K" were engraved.

They both stood up and he hugged her close to him and kissed her forehead. She could have stayed there but she had to ask him the question. So, she broke apart from him and asked," Did you all of this because of this locket?"

Arnav looked away guiltily and said," Partly, yes."

Khushi smiled in return at Arnav and said," Don't you want to know why its so special to me?"

Arnav looked at her questioningly. She held the locket in her hand and opened it held it in her palm for him to see. Realization dawned in his eyes, as he saw his picture in one frame of the heart and her picture in the other frame.

He simply pulled her close, pecked her on the lips and said," I love you too. Now and forever."

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So how was it?? I know it was too long for an OS but I hope you'll liked it.

Hope it was worth your time.

Do like and comment...Appreciation and criticism equally welcome !!!
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DEVANSHI