Arshi OS: Tere liye!

Arnav walked into the kitchen and stopped, as he saw a lone flower garland hanging on the wall. Most of the decorations of the mehndi function had been taken down, but they had forgotten to take down this garland and it had been hanging on the wall, alone. Arnav looked at the medicine in his hand and then at the garland on the wall. He closed his eyes, a tear rolled down his cheek. He opened his eyes, as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Khushi.

"Arnavji, are you alright?" Her face was contorted with worry.

Arnav pulled her close in a tight embrace. Khushi put her arms around him and hugged him tight. "Khushi, I am sorry. I have been so worried about Di. But I forgot how much you wanted this wedding, how happy you were earlier today and the past few days... the smile on your face... and .. and now because of me, your happiness has been destroyed, again. Your smile has been replaced with tears.. again. I have failed you, again, Khushi."

Khushi pulled away and shook her head. She took his hand in hers and said, "Arnavji, don't. Don't ever think that you have failed me. There is nothing more important to me than you, Arnavji. I am happy when I am with you and when you are happy. I love you a lot.. dammit!" She put her arms around him and pulled him close. She pressed her body against his and hugged him tight. Tears rolled down Arnav's cheeks.

As they pulled away, Khushi's eyes opened wide. Dadi stood at the kitchen door. Arnav looked at Khushi and then followed her gaze. Dadi looked at Arnav and said, "Anjali needs her medicines now". Arnav nodded, took Khushi's hand in his and walked past Dadi to Anjali's room.

Arnav helped Anjali sit up on the bed and helped her take the medicines and drink water from the glass. Khushi took the glass from her hand and placed it on the side table. Arnav helped Anjali lie down on the bed. She closed her eyes. Arnav pulled the blanket on her and got up from the bed. He looked at Khushi and they started walking to the door, when Arnav stopped. He turned around and saw that Anjali had grabbed his wrist. Arnav moved quickly towards her and sat on the bed next to her.

"Chotte", Anjali started, her eyes filled with tears. "I deserved this, Chotte."

"Di.. ssshh.. don't say anything. Please, I want you to get some rest. We will talk later, ok?" Arnav said, his eyes filling up with tears, seeing his sister's pain.

Khushi stopped and watched the siblings, her eyes filled with tears.

"Chotte, can you stay with me?" Anjali asked, softly. Arnav nodded. Khushi slowly walked out of the room.

Khushi wiped her tears as she walked out of the room. She walked into the living room and looked around. There was no one there; suddenly a flickering light caught her eye. She walked towards the mandir. She collapsed on the floor and closed her eyes.

"Hai Devi Maiyya, please help Di get over her pain. Please give Arnavji the strength to support her." She said softly.

"What are you still doing here?" Khushi opened her eyes. She turned around to see Dadi standing behind her. "You are not part of this family and you should not be here in this house this late at night. I think its best if you leave right now."

"Dadiji, Di.." Khushi said, getting up to her feet.

Dadi lifted her palm to stop her. "Her family is here to take care of her. You are not required here. You may leave now." She turned around and started to walk away. Khushi stood frozen, wondering what to do. Dadi stopped and turned around. "Are you going to leave or should I call the security to throw you out?"

"Sumi!" came a scream. They turned around to see Nani standing with NK, Payal and Akash. "Khushi bitiya is not going anywhere." Nani said, angrily, as they walked towards the mandir.

Payal ran to Khushi and put an arm around her. Dadi looked away, angrily and folded her arms. "I was just telling her that as long as she is not married to Arnav, she cannot be a part of the family. If she is not part of the family, she has no right to be in this house this late at night. Women who stay overnight in houses other than their own are referred as.."

"Dadiji, Khushi is my sister. So she is a part of this family." Payal said, through clenched teeth. Dadi stared at Payal angrily.

"Sumi, you don't know what Khushi has done for this family. She is more a part of this family than you ever will be". Nani screamed angrily.

"Is that so?" Dadi turned to Nani. "I know what she has done for this family." She turned to Khushi, angrily. "I know she is responsible for Anjali's condition". Everyone raised their eyebrows, shocked. Dadi continued, "She made Arnav throw Damadji out of this house. She diverted everyone's attention to herself during the mehndi that no one noticed Anjali, and Anjali lost her baby. Yes, I know what she has done for this family!"

"Dadi!" Arnav's scream echoed in the living room. Everyone turned around to see Arnav walking angrily across the living room. "Not even one more word against Khushi in this house. Not one more word!" He looked at Khushi. She was looking at Dadi, horrified, as if her life had been sucked out of her. He grabbed her from Payal's arms, pulled her close and put his arms around her. He held her tightly and then glared at Dadi. "You have no idea what she has done for this family. For all of us. Even for Di."

"Arnav, of course you will support her. She trapped you with her charm and forced you to marry her!" Dadi scoffed, staring at Khushi.

"Enough!" Arnav screamed. "I forced her. I forced her to marry me."

Khushi suddenly snapped out of her trance. She pulled away and looked at Arnav. She shook her head and grabbed his arm.

"I forced her to marry me for six months. She had to agree, because I threatened to stop Payal's wedding if she didn't marry me that night".

Khushi closed her eyes, hearing the gasps around her.

Payal grabbed Khushi's arm. "Is this true, Khushi? Did Arnavji force you to marry him?" Khushi opened her eyes and remained silent.

Arnav's face softened. "Yes Payal. I made the mistake of talking to Shyam before asking Khushi the truth. I trusted the wrong person. I was wrong". Arnav closed his eyes. 

He opened his eyes and stared at Dadi. "But now I know the truth. Yes, I married Khushi for six months but in my heart, she is my wife forever. If you insult my wife, you are insulting me, Dadi. If you don't consider Khushi a part of your family, then I am not a part of your family either. But don't forget Dadi, this is my house and if I want Khushi to stay here as my wife, no one can force her to leave here. No one!" Dadi looked away, angrily.

"Chotte!" Everyone looked around shocked as they heard Anjali's voice (All stand for Her Highness, Mrs Poojali Snakewa!). She limped towards them and started to faint (Ok, if she can run up and down the stairs in the dark in the show, she can do that now too! At least in this case, she is here to do something useful 😆). Akash ran to Anjali and grabbed her before she fell. Everyone ran to Anjali, as Akash helped her sit on the couch. Arnav sat down on the sofa next to Anjali and grabbed her hand.

"Di, why did you come here? You were supposed to take rest". Arnav said, tears in his eyes.

"Chotte, I heard you". Anjali said, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Di", Khushi started saying, but Anjali shook her head.

"Please, please let me finish. This is no one's fault, but mine. Chotte, this is my punishment for lying to you". Everyone raised their eyebrows, shocked. Dadi opened her eyes wide. "Chotte, I have been seeing him (His Highness the Snakewa) and talking to him (His Highness the Snakewa) regularly for the past few days. He (His Highness the Snakewa) even came here earlier tonight to see me. I was scared that you might see him (His Highness the Snakewa), so I had switched off the lights. I went upstairs to see him (His Highness the Snakewa). My mind was so occupied about him, that I completely forgot about my baby. I thought I saw him (His Highness the Snakewa)in my room and walked into my room, I didn't notice glass pieces on the mat".

"Glass pieces?" Arnav screamed. He looked down at Anjali's feet as she continued.

"And when I couldn't find him (His Highness the Snakewa), I walked with the glass pieces stuck on my feet. I was already losing blood. I should have thought about my baby, but I didn't. And then I got an electric shock when I grabbed the railing and I lost my balance. If only I had been more careful. But then again, maybe my baby hated me ever since I tried to kill her the other day. It is all my fault Chotte. I deserved this". Anjali burst into tears. Nani put her arm around Anjali and Anjali turned around and hugged Nani.

Arnav was deep in thoughts. Glass pieces? Wire? He opened his eyes wide, when he remembered the electrician at the railing the other day, who disappeared mysteriously. Could it have been..? Arnav stood up and ran up the stairs to Anjali's room. "Chotte?" Nani screamed after Arnav.

Arnav checked the mat, there were no glass pieces on it. Did someone clear the mat? He wondered. He turned around and then froze. He turned back to look at the mat; he saw something shining. It was a tiny speck of glass. Shyam! Did he..? Arnav stood up, his face fuming with anger, his hands curled into fists. He turned around and ran back to the living room.

"Chotte.." Anjali screamed as they saw Arnav run back down the stairs.

"Di.. Di.. ssshhh.. everything will be fine". Arnav sat down next to Anjali and touched her face. Tears rolled down her face. "You didn't lose your baby because of you. It wasn't your fault. Di, no matter how hard we try, there are some things in our life that are out of our control. That is called luck. We just cannot control it!". Anjali stopped crying. That didn't sound like something Arnav would say. She turned to look at Khushi; she was staring at Arnav, her eyes opened wide. Anjali knew what she had to do!

Anjali turned to Arnav, wiping off her tears. "Chotte, I have wronged you. You have suffered so much because of me. You and Khushiji, both of you. But no more. I want to see you get married. I want the wedding to happen, just like we planned".

Everyone opened their eyes wide. Arnav shook his head. "But Di.."

"No, Chotte. Please, for my sake. I will never be able to forgive myself otherwise. Please, Chotte." Tears filled Arnav's eyes.

"Anjali bitiya, but.." Nani started.

"No, Nani. I want this. I want this wedding to happen. Not a simple wedding, but the grand wedding that I always wanted for my Chotte. Please, will you please do that for me?" Tears rolled down Nani's face. Anjali turned to Arnav. "Chotte, please.." Arnav stayed quiet. Anjali turned to Khushi. "Khushiji, please.." Khushi shook her head. "Di.. but.."

Anjali shook her head and screamed. "Stop worrying about me. I don't need your sympathy. There is no use crying or worrying now. I won't get my baby back. But these two, they deserve the happiness they gave up for me, for this family. Please I beg you, let them have the wedding they never had.. because of me! And that is what will make me happy now." Anjali slowly tried to stand up, but collapsed. Everyone screamed her name.

"Ok, ok, bitiya. If that's what you want, that is what we will do." Nani said. Anjali burst into tears, smiling. She hugged Arnav and turned to Khushi and extended her hand. Khushi sat down next to her on the sofa and hugged Anjali. Arnav and Khushi's hands touched on Anjali's back and their fingers intertwined.

Anjali hugged Nani, as Khushi pulled away and stood up. Arnav and Khushi looked at each other; they smiled. Payal hugged Khushi and Khushi burst into tears. Khushi pulled away and looked at Anjali. Anjali smiled and extended her arms.

Arnav looked at the two most important people in his life, hugging each other, smiling. Tears filled his eyes as a smile appeared on his face. Then his smile disappeared. Shyam! Your days are numbered.