||~Something About You~||#9 *COMPLETED*

Khushi waited till her Babuji came back downstairs, where he resumed his chatting to Manohaar Raizada as he was doing before he had left for upstairs with Arnav. Khushi knew Arnav wasn't gonna come down till she went upstairs as per his demands. While passing the gathering of the elders, she heard Shashi tell Nani that Arnav had been detained upstairs by an important & urgent conference call & he would leave as soon as he finished it. Khushi silently started counting to 10 biding her time, gave up when she reached 4, & going upto Buaji said in a hurried way, "Buaji, we'd need more Mehendi cones here! I stacked some in my room last night. I'll just bring them down!" & then, not waiting for anyone to have a chance of holding her back or offering to come with her, holding her Lehenga slightly up from the ground, she started running up the stairs to meet him like she hadn't seen him in days.

~~~~~~

It was complicated to explain how being in love, admitting that love to one's own self, & then confessing it to the one they loved, were all entirely different things. Arnav cursed himself for the umpteenth time for calling her up like he had done earlier as he waited for her in the upper floor study. He had come to talk about some wedding bills with Shashi, thinking of doing it himself instead of sending Aman, as he considered that to be more respectful. He should have just done what he had come to do, & go away. But no! He had to make eyes at Khushi & summon her upstairs to him. Now he knew without any doubt that she'd come. But what then? What would he tell her?? That he loved her? What if she laughed? It's Baby freakin' Gupta! Everyone knew she was crazy, & no one knew more than himself how crazy she was with him! & what if she cried?? That was even worse than her laughing at him!  & the absolute worst possibility was.. what if she repeated what he said to her? What would he do then??

Khushi. She was life. She was sunlight. She was happiness. Was he worthy of her love? Did he deserve to be the one to love her? What if his love wasn't enough for her? What if he failed her? He knew his love had fallen short before, he had failed Ma. That's why when his father had betrayed her, she hadn't even waited around for Anjali & him.. Arnav cursed himself again as he forcefully stopped the horrible train of his thought. He knew these were just nerves.. jitters.. cold feet, in plain term. & Damn it, Arnav Singh Raizada didn't suffer from nerves, or jitters, or cold feet or whatever! It was all Khushi's fault!

& just then he felt a soft weight colliding against his back & delicate arms went around his body to hug him snugly. As the sweet scent of vanilla tantalized his senses, he felt soft kisses being pressed onto his back, & saying compulsively the F word in a very creative way, Arnav grabbed the hand over his heart & pulled her around to face him. & seeing the warm, loving smile on her face, he felt instant panic rising inside him. Those words felt like a boiling lava inside him, threatening to erupt any moment, & if he looked at those bewitching eyes a second more, he wouldn't be able to stop himself.. So Arnav blurted out the first thing he could find at the remotest corner of his mind, "What were you & that pony-tail doing, sitting cozily on each other's laps?"

Khushi's mouth fell open in a wide 'o' as she blinked her eyes confusedly, & then seeing the hard glint in Arnav's eyes, she felt her defense mechanism kicking in, & said through gritted teeth, "Not that I care for your tone, but just so there's no misunderstanding, which you seem to be the king of, by the way, 'that pony-tail' is a Mehendi artist about to apply Mehendi on me!" For better effect, she tilted her head towards the plate laden with Mehendi cones she had kept over the table beside them to take down with her whenever she went. Arnav pressed his lips in real annoyance now. No way was that pony-tail wearing pony going to apply anything on her hand! He said in a quick angry retort, "You want Mehendi applied by a man on your palms?" Picking up a random cone from the plate, he grabbed Khushi's right hand up before she even understood what he was going to do, & turning her hand palm upwards, he squeezed a big glob of Mehendi on her palm. & then, as Khushi gasped really loudly, he picked up her left hand, & bestowed the same treatment on it too. & then throwing the cone back on the plate carelessly, he shrugged rhetorically, & said in a smug drawl, "There you go!"

Khushi looked at the gooey messes over her palms for a full half-minute, unable to believe what just happened, & then looking up, she yelled forgetting everything else, "How dare you ruin my palms?" Arnav tilted his head as he looked at her skeptically & said in a sarcastic tone, "Really? Over-react much?? You wanted Mehendi.. You got it!" Khushi restrained herself from clawing at his face with difficulty, & then yelled again, "It's not Mehendi! It's crap! It's my siblings' wedding & I have this crappy turd smeared all over my hand!" & then, as she felt a full-blown tear-tantrum coming to the surface from deep within herself, she just turned away while still screaming, "I don't ever wanna talk to you again!" & started running out of the room, but not before she heard his insolent, "Fine! Don't!"

Khushi began rushing down the stairs unseeingly, immersed in her own sorrow. She knew she was never gonna have a Haldi, or a Mehendi function. How could she, when the one she loved didn't even believe in the institution of marriage?! That's why she had been adamant about enjoying these weddings to the fullest. She had wanted to soak up all of these functions.. & now all she had was a crappy smudge to show for a Mehendi! & still thinking of all this, just as she jumped over the last stair onto the Hall, she collided noisily with someone, with her Mehendi filled hands flailing everywhere to regain some of her lost balance. As she looked up to see who she had collided with, she saw Buaji's sister-in-law, with Khushi's Mehendi now smeared all over her saree as a result of her movements.  & she was looking back at Khushi with fire-spitting eyes.

Khushi started to apologize to her, but before she could start speaking, the woman wailed so loudly, that the whole house fell silent at the high-pitched angry words, "You mannerless girl! You- This is you taking revenge for last night, isn't it?? You didn't get satisfied even after Madhumati said all that to me! NO! You had to add salt to my injury, right?? So you go & smear this Mehendi all over my expensive Kanjivaram! My saree! My beautiful, expensive saree!.. You!! You showed me exactly what I had actually come to see in this wedding! You proved us all back in Lucknow right! You are just as insolent as that murderous father of yours, & just as arrogant as that characterless mother of yours!"

"Enough!!!" It was like the sound of a whiplash, or a lightening, or both. The sound was so ominous that even Buaji & Garima who were rapidly coming forward to Khushi's rescue, froze in their tracks. "Aur kuch bhi bolne se pehle, itna yaad rakhiyega ki, jiski baare mein aap iss tarah baat kar rahe hai wo meri-" "(Before you say anything else, remember this, the one you're talking about with such disregard is my-)" Arnav stopped abruptly, because just at that moment Khushi suddenly turned towards him where he stood on the middle of the stairs & although she didn't do anything, but just stood there looking at him with red, very shiny eyes, he knew she wanted him to say nothing untoward. Arnav gulped angrily as he bit back some swear words & continued through gritted teeth, "Wo meri best friend ki behen hain, aur meri Di ki hone-wali nanand. & that makes her family! Aur kissi bhi Raizada family member ke baare mein iss tarah baat ho ye hum bilkul bardaasht nahi karenge! Aap yahan mehman hai.. Hum aapko izzat dena chahthe hai aur aapse bhi wahi umeed rakh rahe hain! Aap yahan shaadi mein aashirvad dene aaye hain.. Wo dijiye aur..""(She's my best friend's sister, & my Di's to-be-sister-in-law. & that makes her family! & we'll not tolerate this type of slander against any member of the Raizada family! You're a guest here.. We want to give you respect & expect the same from you! You have come here to give your blessings on the weddings.. Do that &..)"

This time it seemed the woman got her tongue back due to sheer feelings of insult, & said scathingly, "Aur uske baad chale jaiyye...yehi na?""(& then, get going.. right?)" This time Devyani came forward, & just because the other lady was a guest of the Gupta family, she tried to stop Arnav from insulting her like this, lest the Gupta family fell into some deeper troubles in future with their relatives. But as soon as she told Arnav to just walk away & not to instruct the Gupta's guests to go away, Arnav looked at her with hard eyes, & said brusquely, barely keeping his anger in check, "Mujhe nahi lagta uss mein kuchh bhi ghalat hain, Nani. Khushi family hain.. Aur iss ghar ke kisi bhi member ke baaare mein koi iss tarah baat karega, wo mujhe manzoor nahi hain! Aur agar dobara aisa hoga, toh main aise hi baat karunga, jaise maine abhi ki hain.. Khushi ke past se mujhe iss shaadi mein koi problem nazar nahi aati.. Agar kissiko aati hai, toh wo meri problem nahi hai!" "(I don't see anything wrong in that, Nani. Khushi's family.. & I won't accept anyone talking about any member of the family like this! & if this thing happens a second time, then I'll talk exactly in the same way as I have done just now.. I don't see any problems in the weddings stemming from Khushi's past.. & if anyone does so, then it's not that's not my problem!)"

The lady this time gathered her purse huffingly & walked straight towards the main door, but before going out, she spewed one last spit of venom, "Yes, of course, you'd come to her defense na?? You & your parents' tales are not much less behind in popularity than hers in Lucknow! Huh.. Birds of the same rotten feather! Remember, it's true what they say; the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree!" & before she stepped a foot out of the main door, Khushi let out a strangled whimper & clasping her hand over her mouth, she ran like a wind past Arnav for her room upstairs.

Arnav stood rooted to his place for a second, & then he was about to go after Khushi, when a sobbing Garima whizzed past him, & then Shashi, Madhumati, & Payal followed her. Nani came & held Arnav's hand to lend him some support, fearing how the parting words of that lady might have affected him. He squeezed Nani's hand back, his whole mind concentrated on the upper floor & what may have been going on there. He didn't have to wait long, as soon a subdued looking Madhumati came down & apologized to all the guests for everything, & promptly Nani & Manorama took over, & assured Madhumati that nothing was ruined. They pointed out that, it was the Mehendi ceremony & the brides already had Mehendi applied on their hands alright. Then they all agreed to keep the happenings from Rohan, who was at the Main house with NK & Akaash, preparing for the Bachelors' Party that night.

& just when Arnav was going to leave, getting angrier by the minute that no one was supplying him anymore information about Khushi & her wellbeing, Buaji came & thoroughly shocking Arnav, cupped his face in both her hands, as she said emotionally, "Thank you, Babuwa! You know, today for the first time I see what our Rohan Babuwa must see in you! Why he can't just stop singing your praise, & why a man like him considers you his best friend.. Cause, you're just as noble as our Babuwa, if not more.. Babuwa, strong people stand up for themselves, but stronger people stand up for others! You are a very good man, Nand Kissore. Thank you!" Saying this, she pulled Arnav's head down & kissed his forehead affectionately. & seeing those tears in her eyes, Arnav couldn't help the query that left his mouth, "You all.. All of you.. Everyone will be OK, right?" Buaji appreciated his concern for everyone, not really understanding who constituted everyone for this Babuwa, & reassuring him that they all will be fine, she let him go & urged him to go attend his works, as he had been about to leave when she had stopped him. With a surreptitious glance towards the staircase & a long drawn-out sigh, Arnav left the Guesthouse, but he was aware that he left a live, beating part of his body back inside that house.

~~~~~~~~~

Khushi laid as she had been, since she had come running up to her room after she had heard that woman defame Arnav's parents' names, especially his mother's name, just because he had stood up for her. She had seen how bleak his eyes had looked then. Maybe because every fiber of her being was intricately attuned to every little changes in his energy, that's why she had been aware of the almost indiscernible shift in his energy. It was as if suddenly all the warmth had been snagged from him, leaving a cold, detached shell behind. She had wanted to immediately go upto him, to hold him to herself. But neither had she wanted their whole families & the wedding guests as their potential audience, nor had she felt Arnav would welcome any form of comfort exactly at that moment. So she had just run past him, stifling her cry, as seeing him so wrecked had broken her.

She had been so wrapped in her own tragedy, her own dramas, this stupid Mehendi stuffs.. Khushi angrily snatched a tissue from the box & was about to wipe away the gooey looking Mehendi smeared on her left palm, but then she stopped just short of it as she remembered how her hand been enclosed within Arnav's & how he had created the ugly looking mess on her palm. She clutched both her palms & just pressed them closer to her heart.

Arnav had spent so much of his time without any difficulties, breaking down her walls, comforting her in her dark moments. But today, in that moment of conflict with that lady, Khushi only just remembered that, Arnav had his own walls too, and she didn't know his deepest secrets or his worst pains, like he had come to know hers. She really only knew the little things, or what she had observed of him or gotten from his family or other people in his life over the years. And really, she had never tried to get any of that information out of him. She had been so wrapped up in her own walls and traumas that she had never had the chance to. Not until now.

Khushi sat up & wiped away the few drops of tears that had seeped out of her lashes & making up her mind, squared her shoulders in a resolute way. She had become Arnav's Khushi long back. Now it was time to become Khushi, literally & metaphorically, for Arnav.