Posted:
No, you are not dreaming - I am actually updating in less than a week! 😲
I know, there will be an earthquake today! 😆
On the other hand, I am really sorry, for not replying to all your amazing comments - I only have ten minutes to post this! But THANK YOU for loving the last part so much. I didn't expect you guys to be moved by Arnav, because he is still the bad guy here. Hopefully you like the next chapter just as much!
Jaane Doh Naa
-CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE-
Irrational Tangles
Khushi stared at Shantivaan, lost deep in thought. Never
in her dreams did she imagine that the house she stumbled upon by random
chance, would be the one to give her both boundless joy and unforgettable pain.
How is that she could hate and love this house, which never held anything that
made it a home?
While it definitely had all the
comforts one needed, it failed to have warmth that comes with a loving family,
even the small bit of which is constantly driven away by the jet of air
conditioning. It lacked the personal touch every home gets with its furniture,
which despite being from the country's best designer, wasn't the same as
hand-sewn blankets. It missed the concept of togetherness, as people become
lost within its vast walls that they don't even realize the suffering of
another.
And yet with all these
conflicting emotions, how and when did she fall in love with this house, or as
it rightfully should be called, mansion? How did she manage to find a home in
it?
The
same way you fell in love with Arnav…
And there it was again. The
biggest question of her life. How had
she fallen in love with this complicated being called Arnav Singh Raizada?
"Let's go?"
Khushi jumped upon hearing the
quiet voice. Arnav was almost amused to see her panicky condition.
"Are you actually nervous about meeting your own family?"
Khushi pressed her lips in
answer.
"Fine," he said with a shrug.
"Don't answer… but can we please go inside? I need a shower!"
"We have to wait for Ayesha."
"You guys go ahead," came
Ayesha's voice from the other side of the car. "I have to make an important
call."
And they set off towards Shantivaan in silence. Khushi felt her
heart race as they neared the door and much too soon Arnav was ringing the doorbell.
"Khushiji?" said a disbelieving
Hari Prakash, who came to open the door.
"Hello Hari Prakashji," Khushi
replied, her face splitting into a wide smile. "How are you?"
"I am fine, but how are you?!"
"HP?" Arnav interrupted, his eyes
widening in the slightest of ways.
Hari Prakash's response was
instant. "Sorry Bhaiyya! Please come in. I will get tea for you both!"
And the faithful servant was off
running towards the kitchen.
Khushi sighed but decided against
reprimanding Arnav for the rather rude interruption. She knew how he treated
his employees and there really was no room for change. So, without another
thought, she stepped inside and was momentarily stunned to see the sight that
followed.
Everything was the same… the furniture
was arranged the same, the paintings seemed to have never left the walls, the
carpet appeared to be maintained but not replaced and the list continued. It
was as if Khushi left the house only yesterday, and not two years ago.
As she hungrily looked around,
she found various servants hanging up streamers and balloons in the hall.
"MAMU!!"
Before Khushi could locate the
sudden source of the voice, she saw Arnav bend forward to pick up a small boy
no older than two and spin him around.
"Again!" the boy commanded, when
Arnav stopped.
"You will get dizzy," he warned.
The boy pouted and to Khushi's
utter disbelief Arnav spun him once again as his giggles echoed throughout the
house.
"Happy?" Arnav asked, as he
watched the boy clap in joy.
But even before the question was
complete, the boy stretched out his hand, clearly asking for something.
"I know," Arnav replied in answer
to the unspoken question. "I have your chocolate as promised, but to get it,
you have to answer to one question, okay?"
The boy nodded.
And still holding him in his
arms, Arnav turned to face Khushi. "Who is this?"
Khushi watched in shock, as the
boy curiously looked her, analyzing her every feature. What caught her off
guard was not his adorable face, but his striking eyes, which were an exact
replica of his mother's and her brother's. They were the same muddy brown eyes
that haunted her.
"You know her," Arnav said. "Maa told you right?"
The boy looked away in answer. He
was clearly shy of the stranger.
"Come on," Arnav said, a look of
mock disappointment colouring his face. "Big boys are not shy. Tell me, who is
this?"
"Mami."
It was very quiet, but it was
undeniable. Varun Singh Raizada had indefinitely recognized his Mamu's wife
"That's my boy!" Arnav cheered,
the smile back on his face. "Give me a five!"
And he did – he reached up to hit
his Uncle's hand as a high-five and once again stretched it out demanding for
his prize. It seemed that even the mighty Arnav Singh Raizada couldn't turn
down his nephew for he pulled out a big bar of Dairy Milk and handed it to a smirking Varun.
"Lets play!" Varun said, jumping
down from Arnav's arms.
"Football?"
And they were off; Hari Prakash
obediently delivered the ball and Varun began running, trying his best to kick
the ball that was clearly too big for him.
"Come on," Arnav cheered. "You
can do it… you beat Mamu before!"
But it appeared that Varun wasn't
listening. His eyes were only on the ball as he tried with his tiny feet to
kick it further than a meter.
"Khushi Betiya?!"
The incredulous voice of Devyani
Singh Raizada seemed to somewhat break Khushi's trance at watching Arnav easily
mingle with a toddler. When and how
had he become so caring? How did she fail to notice this compassion for the
past one month?
As her mind whizzed away with
questions, she saw Devyani rush towards her, followed by a stunned Manorama.
"You are here?!" Devyani asked.
"How come no one told me?!"
Khushi blinked trying to brush
away the astonishment filling her veins. She could deal with this new Arnav
later – right now, she had a whole family awaiting her arrival.
"I just got here," she said,
clearing her throat. And as she was taught for a very young age, she bent
forward to take the elderly lady's blessings.
"Always be happy. Now tell me, how are you? Chote was telling me you
have boutique now?"
"I am fine Naniji," Khushi answered.
"And yes, I run a small business with a friend."
"Thanks to Devi Maiyya! I always
knew you would do something big. I knew it the day you walked in-"
Khushi nodded, not really
listening to the praises being pushed her way. She knew that these were just
words… words to cover the frustration, grief and most of all regret that
appeared to have never left even for a second in the past two years. It wasn't
everyday that Devyani ran out of words, but today it seemed that she was far
from expressing the feelings that were engulfing her.
It was then that Khushi got a
chance to see Manorama, who was still dressed in an odd assortment of colours,
with heavy jewellery and make-up dominating her rather beautiful features.
Ayesha
is going to be horrified seeing her… a complete fashion disaster!
"Hello hi bye bye," said
Manorama, catching her eye. "Why you stares at me Phatti Sari?"
Khushi shook her head. "Nothing…
how are you Mamiji?"
"As if you care. I sees everything…no salwar kameej, no braid… did you finally
hit a lottery?"
Khushi didn't know what to say.
While she knew the comment was meant to be hurtful, she couldn't help but not care. What Manorama Raizada said or
did anymore was completely pointless, for there were much more pressing matters
in her life.
Thankfully, the three women were interrupted
by the arrival of Akash.
"Dadi did you se– Khushiji?!"
Khushi smiled at her shy
brother-in-law, who appeared to have changed dramatically in the past two
years. The glasses were gone, a slight beard was materializing on his usually
clean-shaven face and his eyes appeared weary, as if he hadn't had a good
night's sleep in days.
However, before she could
register any of these changes, Akash covered the distance between the two and
pulled her into a tight hug.
"Thank god Khushiji," he
breathed. "Thank god you are okay. Payal
was worried out of her mind… we looked everywhere
for you, Bhai just went-"
"Calm down Jeejaji," she
interrupted. "It's all fine… I am here. Breath in and breath out!"
Akash couldn't help but smile.
"Looks like my Saali is a lot tougher now."
"But looks like my Jeejaji is not
sleeping enough. A lot of stress at work?"
"The usual," he replied. "Wait –
does Payal know you're here?"
The mention of her sister brought
Khushi back to reality; Reality of the torn relationships that drove her out of
the house. And suddenly she felt distant. The faces, which appeared familiar
two minutes ago, were now cold and she couldn't help but wish that Ayesha were
present at that moment with her.
"OP!" Akash called. "Tell Payal
that Khushiji is here."
"Hello hi bye bye," Manorama
said, shaking her head. "Sisters reunion equalz time to leave!"
And she departed the hall,
muttering to herself.
Devyani looked apologetically at
Khushi. "Do you want something to eat Betiya? You must be hungry after the
travel. Wait, I will get Hari Prakash to make something."
And without paying heed to
Khushi's protests, she strode out of the hall, leaving the latter completely
alone.
"Khushi?!"
It was Payal.
Khushi could recognize that voice
anywhere, and yet she found that she couldn't answer. Her feet remained frozen
on the floor as she kept her back to her only sister.
"You won't even turn around?"
Payal's voice was edging closer
and despite the years of gap, Khushi could clearly detect the silent tears
flooding her eyes, the hope for forgiveness and most importantly the feelings
of guilt and regret that follow a misunderstanding.
"I know you don't want to look at
me after everything that I did… but can't I
see my little sister?"
Khushi closed her eyes. Where the hell is Ayesha?!
"You know… you were always the
smarter one out of the both of us. You knew exactly how to make everyone smile
and you would go to any lengths to make it stay. But I never thought in my
wildest dreams that you would ruin your life to keep mine."
Khushi didn't reply.
"I never thought my younger sister would teach me what it
means to love, to smile… to be happy.
But you did Khushi… you taught me what it means to have a family. What it means
to trust even though I didn't trust you or give you a chance to explain."
Silence.
"It's pretty stupid right?" Payal
asked, snorting to herself. "I couldn't trust the girl who once put her life at
risk to save my marriage. And she did
it all over again a second time without hesitating even for once!"
Payal paused, no doubt waiting
for a response. But nothing came for Khushi remained rooted to the spot.
"But enough is enough," Payal
said. "I am not going let my baby sister do anything stupid again. I am not
going to let her throw away her life for people who don't deserve it. For once
in my life, I want to be the older one. Can you give me that chance?
Can you give me the chance to
take care of you? The chance to prove that I am still worthy of being your
sister? If not for you, can you atleast do it for me? I know it's selfish, but
I want to be happy again Khushi. I want to get up in the morning and not miss
my sister. I want to spend my day smiling, not cursing myself for letting you
go. And most important of all, I want to go to bed, knowing that when I wake
up, you will still be here with me.
Can you give me that?"
Khushi could now openly hear the
quiet sobs breaking out from her sister and suddenly, she felt childish;
Childish for not even looking at her sister after two long years, childish for
still holding on to things that were of no importance.
Sure, Payal made a mistake.
But who doesn't? Even the best of
people have the worst of times. And holding them responsible for that is not
only cruel, but just plain unfair, because the truth is no matter how much we
get mad at our family, we still need them. The same way a tree needs its roots
even after it rises so high, that they become almost invisible.
And so, she whipped around,
determined to grab the relation, which seemed so lost minutes ago, only she was
stunned into a momentary silence.
"You're pregnant?!"
Payal looked down at her bulging
stomach blankly, caught off guard by the irrelevant question.
"I'm going to be a Massi?" Khushi shrieked.
However, before Payal could
answer, a loud crash echoed through the house, pushing all sound into oblivion.
"VARRUUUN?!"
Khushi turned back to see Varun
look fearfully up at a silent Arnav. It seemed that he broke a vase while
trying to kick the ball.
"How many times did I tell you not to play football in the house?!" came
Anjali's voice, who strode into the hall fuming.
Varun hid behind Arnav, trying to
shield himself from his mother's wrath.
"I know you broke the vase,"
Anjali continued in her dangerous voice. "Don-"
"I did it," Arnav interrupted. "I broke the vase while playing football.
It's not Varun's fault."
"Don't you dare take his side,"
Anjali warned.
"I am not! Seriously, I broke it. So yell at me!"
Anjali let out a frustrated
groan. "I am tired of this Chote. He is two
and already he feels he can get away with anything."
"He is a kid-"
"And he needs to learn! You pampering him is not helping
things!"
"It's his birthday… and come on Di, it's just a vase. We can buy another one.
A better one!"
"It's not the point of the vase.
It's the point of manners!"
"Diii! Can you please pause the
lecture for today?!"
Anjali glared at Arnav, before
sighing exasperatedly. "It's pointless talking to you."
And shaking her head, she turned
around to leave when- "Oh, Khushiji – you're here already!"
Khushi stared hard at Anjali
Singh Raizada, completely at a loss of words.
____________________________________________________________________________
Don't you love cliffhangers?! 😈😆
I certainly do!
Haha...But on a serious note, there have been mixed feelings about Anjali. So I am just going to let you speculate on how she is post Shyam. As for Khushi... while she is sitting on the fence. Some part of her wants to forgive everyone, because she genuinely missed them, while the other part of her is holding on to Ayesha's words from the last chapter. In short, she is overwhelmed and highly confused.
Waiting for your comments! 😃
Archi
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