New ArShi FF: Birds of a Feather Link to Thread 2 on Pg. 1 [20/04/'20] - Page 90

Originally posted by: -Archi-

"did arnav just end the myra chapter ? Just like that ? " - Not exactly As I explained in my comment above, Arnav has realized that him and Myra are not meant to be, not that he is okay with it. That will come with time and acceptance! But at least he is not running after her, beating himself up over it...

I will be looking forward to it :) 

"arnav (on his knees )asking for an apology was again  too good to be real " - Hehe... Arnav has always been like that with Khushi tho. If you go back to the earlier chapters, during their dinners, he is light and funny and it's because he knows Khushi has no expectations from him. He can be himself.

 Yes he was very sweet with khushi ..(but he was sweeter with myra too ) anyways  i was thinking after the fight and all that he thought and believed about khushi like thinking she is equally responsible for their marriage etc being all angry and then apologizing on his knees ...was surely surprising in a good way 😃

"why was he asking khushi to say sorry ? What did she even do" - she jumped to conclusions about him and called him selfish and immature (chapter 28). Khushi spoke to him that day with good intentions, but she still didn't have a right to butt into his personal life and make comments about it. And it's because she said those things that Arnav retaliates and comments about her father... So that's basically why he says in this chapter, either we both apologize (because we both jumped to conclusions about the other) or we both don't... He definitely regrets what he said to Khushi, because he recoginized that she wanted to help him, but at the same time, he wants her to understand that she shouldn't assume the worst about him, especially without knowing all the facts. I hope that makes sense!

Well , i never realized khushi was rude to him maybe because i believe it myself that arnav is a bit immature & somewhere i agree with khushi .. 😆... sorry arnav 😳

What a treat this chapter was !! I loved the omlette , a peacefully sleeping khushi and i loved the arnav who was sooo caring about her ❤️ i m fond of this gupta clan and their  sweet bond  ... i m hoping arshi will have great time at the weekend .. and arnav will carry khushi more often in his arms 😉

This is such a beautiful story!!I'm in awe of your writing.I stumbled upon this while I was re-reading Silent Tears for the nth time and I read in onego...I read silent tears many times and loved it everytime...i was  silent reader back then so never commented .Whenever I feel nostalgic about the show there a few stories I come back to and yours is one among them.The best thing about your stories is that though you have  kept the essence of Arnav and khushi intact they are totally different from the show. To be honest I liked the Arnav in your stories better than khushi...especially Silent tears...he is seriously any girl's dream guy..Looking forward to coming chapters..keep up the good work👌

Waiting 

Please update soon 

Hello hello,

Unfortunately I had a very busy weekend, so I’ll have to postpone the update to Wednesday 😒

Very sorry to keep you waiting! I will be back soon 🤗

Archi

You broke my heart 😭

I was waiting for your update 

Originally posted by: -Grace-

Hey Archi, 

I v been reading this FF but never commented as I stopped using IF long time ago. But today I decided to write one down. 

I absolutely love the story, love the way you write so simple but just enough to be immersed in it. I love this Arnav. It is so different than the one from the show. I adore how he started caring for Khushi when she first started her internship despite being forced into the marriage. Love the mix of calm and anger his character has. 

When I read details about medical training and symptoms I knew you or a family member had studied medicine and then I read in one of the comments about your sister. 

So far my favorite two characters are Arnav and Satya. 

She is such a cool mother in law. 

I used to write FF too long time ago, and hadnt written anything since. But your story made me want to write and I have even started one. 

Can't wait for the next chapter!

Firstly, welcome to the FF 🤗 It means so much to me when I hear back from readers... I think this Arnav has been the most controversial hero I have ever written 😆 I always love writing about struggles girls go through (which are a lot) but I think, we end up forgetting that men have their issues too. I'm so glad you like him!

Satya is a darling - I can't wait for you to read a chapter about her (coming up very soon!). 

Would love to read your FF... send me a link if you end up positing it😊

Originally posted by: yanka

Yay! An update :)

Such a lovely one at that! Light and breezy... So what was in the omlette? 

Looking forward to the next update and keeping fingers crossed that it is on Monday and that I can deal with my impatience :)

What was in the omelette? That's for Arnav to know and for us to never find out 😆😉

Originally posted by: jabilli

Archi 

You must have done MBA  because of family tree which looks more company organizational structure. Good luck in your life with whatever you are doing. 

Thanks for update.  It's wonderful story of human emotions. 

Hima

Awwww 🤗 Thank youuuu! ❤️ I have OCD with things like that.... like all the chapters I post need to have the same font, size, colour, the family free needs to be aligned, it's weird I know 😆

Originally posted by: crazy_vaish

Wohoo!! You're back with the update. Thank you for taking out time to reply to my comment and YES!! I'm absolutely thrilled to see what Arnav would do once he gets to know how much Khushi has suffered at the hands of Alok. As always when the cousins get together, it's lots of masti not to forget the leg pulling our fav couple are subjected to. Though Khushi has agreed to come to farm house ( coutesy Arnav's aplology), the silence during the ride speaks that things have not returned to pre-fight phase. 

Arnav gently warning everyone not to disturb Khushi from her sleep, actually picking her up to take to the room and turning off the alarm (cleverly dodged it when asked) shows that he's not the one to hold grudges and is a lot more forgiving and might I add less stubborn than Khushi. I see who's going to relent in future fights.

And as for Khushi, She's getting to see a different side of Arnav ( especially cooking) and man!! while all the truths  were unraveling, our girl was actually missing "her Arnav" who used to do all those things for her without expecting anything from her. Hope she gets to see  lot of her Arnav during the stay at the farm house and late on too.

Khushi was observant of the fact that Arnav was very comfortable and doesn't  feel inferior cooking or  doing dishes but I wonder what viewpoint does she have on this coming from a family where roles for men and woman in the household were stereotyped. What would be her reaction when she gets to know that Arnav's passion is cooking and to open a restaurant of his own in future? 

PS : Didn't miss the fact that Khushi is feeling butterflies in her stomach. Having never experienced it before and being a doc would  she attribute it to some stomach ailment ?   . I know who is going to fall first and fall she will , very hard. 

And the family tree gave a clear picture. Thank you for that!!

And dying to know what was in the omlette that made it the best!!

And last one before you hit me, I started stalking you on wordpress too.

Thanks love!! 

"he's not the one to hold grudges and is a lot more forgiving and might I add less stubborn than Khushi. I see who's going to relent in future fights." - So well said 👏

"Didn't miss the fact that Khushi is feeling butterflies in her stomach. Having never experienced it before and being a doc would  she attribute it to some stomach ailment ? " - 🤣🤣 I'm just imagining her doing all sorts of tests on herself, trying to figure out what's wrong!

"And last one before you hit me, I started stalking you on wordpress too." - YAYYY! I actually prefer WP over IF... the new update just so annoying 😆

Originally posted by: rethkumar

YOUR WRITING SOOTHES MY SOUL....AS I SLOG WITH RESEARCH WORK....PACE OF THIS STORY IS SO RIGHT...N U GIVE SO MUCH SPACE TO THE READERS TO READ AND EXPERIENCE THINGS AT THE SAME TIME.......I REALLY DON'T KNOW HOW U DO IT........BUT PLZ KEEP ON PRODUCING MAGIC....

THANK YOUUU! 🤗 I know how hard research is... I used to do that as well. But you got this girl 👍🏼

Originally posted by: Bizzykizzy

Wow!! Loved everything about this update. A few things that went through my mind:

Arnav’s cousins must’ve met Myra as well (from the past chapters we find out Myra didn’t really fancy going to their cousin get-togethers) so I wonder if they all are mentally comparing Khushi with Myra. As in, how different is Khushi than Myra herself. I’m sure they would think twice before even bringing her up to Khushi since Khushi is now Arnav’s wife. But the fact that Khushi worked long tiring hours at the hospital and still came along with arnav and wasn’t rude about it to them at all must tell them how thoughtful Khushi is vs Myra. 

I absolutely loved how Arnav opted to cook breakfast for everyone. Seems like he’s finally letting go of Myra and getting back to his passion. I can’t help but realize that while living together, Arnav has never once cooked for himself or Khushi. They always had Lata’s food. Or food at the hospital or at work. But this is the first ever time Khushi is eating something especially cooked by Arnav himself. I wonder if her shocked reaction will earn her a confused one from her cousins as they must already know his love and passion for cooking and will wonder how come she never got to eat Arnav’s cooked meals before. Hmm this might lead Anjali and Lavanya to think that things still aren’t okay between them. But honestly tho, these two gotta stop interjecting in their married life. I kinda want Arnav and Khushi to mold this relationship all on their own. 

Loving the friendship vibes between them. I hope their friendship grows more and sees more before they go into that romantic zone. 

Continue soon! Can’t wait to read the update on Monday :)

Bizzy 

Bizzy yaar, how do you do it? Your comments are always on point 😆🤗

You're absolutely correct about Arnav's cousins - they think very highly of Khushi, and that's why they have warmed up so quickly to her. This will became obvious in the next chapter!

"I can’t help but realize that while living together, Arnav has never once cooked for himself or Khushi. They always had Lata’s food. Or food at the hospital or at work. But this is the first ever time Khushi is eating something especially cooked by Arnav himself." - Hehe, nice catch! I think after the restaurant closed and Myra walked away, Arnav distances himself from his passion on purpose... there are just too many memories attached to it and he doesn't want to revisit them. So it's really like a new beginning that he willingly offered to cook this time around...

" But honestly tho, these two gotta stop interjecting in their married life. I kinda want Arnav and Khushi to mold this relationship all on their own. " - Very true, but you know what, Anjali and Lavs will back off as soon as they see some effort from Arnav... and in this trip so far, Arnav has been on his best behaviour!

Originally posted by: Borntofly

This is such a beautiful story!!I'm in awe of your writing.I stumbled upon this while I was re-reading Silent Tears for the nth time and I read in onego...I read silent tears many times and loved it everytime...i was  silent reader back then so never commented .Whenever I feel nostalgic about the show there a few stories I come back to and yours is one among them.The best thing about your stories is that though you have  kept the essence of Arnav and khushi intact they are totally different from the show. To be honest I liked the Arnav in your stories better than khushi...especially Silent tears...he is seriously any girl's dream guy..Looking forward to coming chapters..keep up the good work👌

WELCOME TO THE STORY 🤗 So happy you found this after silent whispers (can't believe it's one of your all time favourites, it feels like I wrote it in another lifetime altogether ). 

Arnav in SW was definitely every girl's dream guy... that's the way I intended him to be. The Arnav here is quite different, but like you said, in the end the essence of him won't be that much different 😉

Thanks so much love! Hope you like the rest of the story just as much ❤️

Hello!

As promised, back with the next chapter.

Thank you for all of the wonderful comments - replied to some above (pg. 121) 🤗

___________________________________________

The content of this story belongs strictly to the author, -Archi-. Any unwarranted use/copy of it is not encouraged and is strictly prohibited.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Lost

“I swear Mitali, if we are going to have to spend the night here, I will personally kill you!”

“Calm down Sam, the boys will eventually figure out that we are missing and come find us.”

“Are you kidding me? The guys will pass out drunk before they even think about us, forget about coming and finding us!”

“Well, Bhagi can’t sleep without wishing me good night, so he will come for sure.”

“You have seriously lost it!”

Khushi groaned, mentally kicking herself for agreeing to come on this field trip. After Arnav’s endeavour with omelettes, she was dragged into taking a walk around the farmhouse, which on one side was covered with a small forest. While it was Mitali’s idea to begin with, Khushi had only agreed on the behest of Anjali and Lavanya, except neither of them actually came. 

Anjali had to return to Delhi when Shyam received an urgent phone call from work and Lavanya decided to spend the evening with Akash, who apparently never had enough time for her. The cherry on top, of course, was the rest of the boys planning a game of football in the backyard, with Prachi, NK’s girlfriend, assigned to keep score. Mitali had been close to tears at that point, forcing Khushi to grudgingly set out with the remaining Samriddhi, who also didn’t have the heart to say no to her bestie. 

After almost two hours of roaming, however, the three girls despairingly realized that they were completely lost. Being rural lands, there was no marked trail. Their phones too were out of reception range and so they had no choice, but to stop and wait, hoping the boys will show up eventually. While Mitali was optimistic about it, Khushi supported Sam on the matter – it would be midnight before any of the boys realized they were even missing, and who knew what roamed these woods at nightfall. 

“Okay fine,” Mitali said. “If not Bhagi, then Arnav will come for sure. He will definitely notice that Khushi is missing.”

Sam was too disgruntled to answer. 

So, Mitali turned to her. “Right Khushi?”

Khushi tried hard to agree, but she couldn’t. “I don’t know Mitu… I didn’t tell Arnav where we were going.”

“Great,” Sam muttered. 

“Oh come on,” Mitali replied, rolling her eyes. “Stop being dramatic. If not Arnav, then Arjun or Dev will find us!”

“Well out of the three of them, I am placing my bet on Arnav Bhai.”

“Why do you say that?” Khushi asked.

“As if you don’t know Bhabhi,” Sam said.

She didn’t, well, at least not as much as them. “No, I am curious… why do you think Arnav will find us first?”

“Because he is the nicest one out of all of them!” Sam said, sitting down against a tree. “Dev is a goof ball, and everyone knows it. Arjun Bhai doesn’t understand human emotions –like at all– and–”

“Stop exaggerating,” Mitali interrupted, settling on the ground beside her. “Arjun understands emotions… he just doesn’t show them. That’s all.”

“Are you kidding me? I went to him crying about how badly my exams went last week and he sits me down and gives me a lecture on how critical college exams are in life. Who does that?!”

Mitali burst out laughing. “Why would you go to Arjun?!”

“Lesson learned,” Sam muttered, shaking her head. “But my point is, out of all of them Arnav Bhai is the most sensible. He actually tries to understand and help you out.”

Khushi was quiet. So he wasn’t kind just to her, but to everyone around him? 

“True,” Mitali replied nonchalantly. “Myra was an idiot if you ask me.”

Sam’s eyes widened in panic, and gave Mitali a pointed look, who realizing her folly hesitantly met Khushi’s eyes. But it was too late, the damage was already done. 

Khushi looked back at their guilt-ridden faces, knowing exactly what she wanted to do, but not knowing whether it was the right thing. For so many months now, she had ignored this topic, feigning deafness every time it was brought up, thinking it was none of her business. 

But was it really not her business?

So calmly sitting down and hugging her knees, she said, “I know who she is. You guys don’t have to hide anything.”

Mitali let out a sigh of relief. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I’m a blabber mouth… I didn’t mean to ruin your mood.”

“I am not offended,” Khushi said with a small smile. “Why do you think Myra is at fault?”

The two girls exchanged hesitant looks. “It’s probably best to ask Bhai,” Sam finally said. 

“I did… and he told me his side,” she lied recollecting their horrendous fight from a week ago. “But I want to know yourside.”

“We don’t have a side,” Mitali answered. “Lavanya is the only one who knows the full story.”

“But she won’t tell us anything,” Sam added. “All we know is that Bhai was really heartbroken when Myra broke up with him. We all thought he would do something stupid.”

He did, Khushi thought ironically. He married me. 

However, what caught her attention more was that Myra broke up with him. Khushi had always assumed that their separation was mutual due to pressure from Arnav’s parents or perhaps, her own impending marriage with him. 

So she asked curiously, “Why did Myra break up with him?”

“No clue,” Sam replied. 

Mitali had a different opinion. “Well knowing Myra, it’s not that hard to guess.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because she wanted to keep Arnav in a box… relationships like that are toxic.”

Khushi, who was expecting everything but that, was startled. “What do you mean? Doesn’t every girl expect something from her boyfriend?”

“Yeah, but there is a difference, isn’t there?” Mitali answered rhetorically. “Do you think it’s the same if I expect Bhagi to keep me happy as opposed to forcing him to drop everything else so that he has no other choice but to keep me happy?”

“Okay, now you are exaggerating,” Sam objected. “Myra didn’t force Bhai to drop–”

“Look who’s talking,” Mitali muttered. “Who was pissed when Arnav stopped spending New Years with us?”

Sam bit her lip. “Okay fine, yeah I didn’t like some things, but that doesn’t make her a bad person Mitu–”

“Frankly, I don’t care what kind of a person she is. What matters is what kind of a girlfriend she was and sorry to say, she wasn’t a good one.”

“I still don’t understand,” Khushi said. 

“It’s simple Khushi,” Mitali replied. “Arnav and Myra were together since college… but from the minute they graduated, Myra had her own priorities and she just expected Arnav to tag along. Sure for one year or two or maybe even three, you tag along, but at some point, Arnav will question that, no? Won’t he say, what is my role in all of this?”

“What were her priorities?” Khushi inquired. 

“Job for starters… I lost count of the number of times Arnav would be excited to bring her to meet us and then show up alone, saying Myra was busy with work. Sure, I get it that your job is important, but isn’t your boyfriend just as important?”

Sam interrupted. “Okay, that’s a different scenario… Myra probably was avoiding us.”

Why would anyone want to avoid the Raizada cousins, Khushi wondered bewildered. She could only imagine them showering love and concern on Myra, who was actually Arnav’s choice, as opposed to her, who was just an obligation he couldn’t refuse. 

“She didn’t like you guys?” Khushi asked quietly. 

“It didn’t look like she did,” Sam said dejectedly. “It was weird to be honest… the first time we met her was at NK’s graduation party. Everything seemed well to me, but I guess she felt awkward. She stopped coming after that… and the worst part was, she slowly stopped letting Bhai come too. Every time we would plan something, she would convenientlyhave something that both of them had to go to.”

“You see?” Mitali said superiorly. “This is the problem… like one would have to be blind to not see how close all of you guys are. Why would anyone try to break that up?!”

“It’s different for you Mitu,” Sam said reasonably. “You grew up with us–”

“Really?” Khushi interjected. She had always been curious about how Mitali fit so well into the group, especially since she wasn’t related to any of them by blood. 

Mitali grinned. “Yeah, me and Sam were neighbours when we were teenagers… my parents just moved into the city, and I had no friends, so I would spend all my time at Sam’s house.”

“And that wasn’t enough, apparently. She went on to fall for my brother and became my Bhabhi… well almost,” Sam added rolling her eyes, but there wasn’t a speck of annoyance on her face. 

Khushi laughed. It was so easy to like them. “That’s sweet!”

“Thanks Bhabhi… but I really don’t agree with Mitu on this,” Sam said seriously. “Like yes, we all cousins are close, but to an outsider, that might seem overwhelming… who likes joint families nowadays anyway? It’s actually pure luck that all of us get along and that we are friends without our parents forcing us to.”

“Khushi comes from the outside,” Mitali said pointedly. “But she seems to have no such problems with us.”

Sam looked at Khushi, silently asking for verification. 

“No problem whatsoever,” Khushi assured her with an impish smile. “I mean, yes, it was a little bit scary at the beginning because I couldn’t remember all of your names, but it’s all good now… I know both of yours.”

Mitali burst out laughing. “We need to hang out more!”

Khushi grinned, a tiny bit flattered. She wasn’t used to people liking her so quickly. 

“I agree,” Sam said, also smiling. “Next time, I am planning a date with the three of us.”

“Oh you better make sure Lavanya is invited to that,” Khushi replied knowingly. “If not, she will sulk for the next year and half about being left out… god save us then.”

“I don’t want to sound like a know-it-all,” Mitali began. 

Sam interrupted: “And yet, you are…” 

“My point is, Khushi has only been here for four months and she already figured out our names, who likes what, and has the decency to come to most of our over-the-top gatherings… Myra was with Arnav for six years, and she couldn’t even manage half of that.”

Six years. Khushi knew she shouldn’t be surprised, after all hadn’t she witnessed first-hand how broken up Arnav was over the matter? It was really no wonder they were together for so long. 

“I am not denying that Bhabhi is the best,” Sam answered, throwing a wink to Khushi. “But I just feel like we don’t know the full story… because six years is a significant amount of time, and to think that during all of that Myra didn’t love Bhai even for a second is just wrong.”

“So how else do you explain it?” Mitali countered. “Even you saw how she was acting at Dev’s birthday party last year!”

Khushi intervened. “What happened at Dev’s birthday party?”

“Well, Bhagi and I were having a moment–” Mitali explained.

“Correction: you and Bhagi were making out,” Sam cut-in with a smirk. 

Mitali –surprisingly– blushed. “Ahem… yes, so we were in the middle of something, the party was actually in Arnav’s penthouse, so you know the den–”

“Arnav’s office, you mean?” Khushi clarified, wondering if Arnav knew what his cousins were up to in what Lata had almost called as 'sacred'. 

Mitali nodded. “We were in the den, and Myra suddenly walks in without knocking–”

“Once again,” Sam interrupted. “It’s not a crime to walk into the den.”

“It is if the door is closed!” Mitali exclaimed. “Like people could be busy–”

“Oh yes, we all know how busy you and Bhagi were.”

Khushi couldn’t help but giggle as she watched Mitali turn even a darker shade of red. 

“Anyway,” Mitali said, trying very hard to appear dignified. “So she walks in, realizes we were… um, busy. And she literally rolls her eyes, as though we were being silly and walks back out, slamming the door.”

Khushi tried to look outraged, for that was clearly the reaction Mitali was expecting. However, she found nothing wrong in the encounter. Perhaps Myra was having a bad day. 

“That’s not the point of the story,” Sam muttered, who seemed to understand Khushi’s predicament. “Mitu is just pissed that Myra didn’t apologize for walking in on them.”

Mitali pretended not to hear that. “Anyway, so I go running behind her, just to make sure she doesn’t misunderstand us, and we start talking… mostly about her busy life, but something just seemed off… it was like she was conflicted about something.”

“Did you ask her about it?” Khushi pressed. 

“Of course,” Mitali replied, almost proud of herself. “She was hesitant at first, but eventually she blurted out that she got a job offer from Dubai and that it was a very nice position that could do wonders for her career.”

Silence followed that revelation. Khushi had an inkling of what was coming next. 

“Obviously, I was very surprised… and I asked her what she was going to do. Because Arnav’s life was here in Delhi, I didn’t think he would be happy to pack up everything and just leave, you know?”

Khushi nodded. 

“And she says, well, why do I have to be the one to sacrifice my dreams when he hasn’t sacrificed any of his?”

Khushi didn’t follow. “What didn’t Arnav sacrifice for her?”

“Exactly,” Mitali said, shaking her head. “The poor guy put up with long distance, asked her to move in with him, and she still wasn’t satisfied! I obviously asked her what she meant by that statement, and she goes on tell me how much pressure she is facing from her parents about marriage and how Arnav would avoid the topic every time she brought it up.”

Khushi looked at her feet, listening intently. 

“It was a long conversation… the point in the end was that she felt she was being taken for granted and that she wasn’t sure if Arnav was the ‘one’ for her. Of course, I told her that she needs to talk to Arnav about all this. She can’t just accept a position in Dubai without consulting her boyfriend… she wasn’t very keen on it though.”

“She wasn’t keen?” Khushi repeated, surprised. “So what did she plan to do? Just leave for Dubai without telling him?”

Mitali shrugged. “Who knows… the next thing we know is that they are broke up, or rather she broke up with him and Arnav got caught up with Uncle’s stroke. We were all too scared to ask him what really happened… poor guy was going through a lot as is.”

Khushi tried to join the dots. “So you guys think she broke up with him just so she can take that job in Dubai?”

“It fits,” Mitali replied. “I mean what else could it be? Obviously if she talked to Arnav, he would have disagreed to move to Dubai, so she probably figured it was best to call it quits.”

Sam finally spoke. “I don’t think so… I mean, we know Bhai, in fact she knows him too. He has never said no to her, whatever she wanted he agreed to it right? So if she put her foot down, I am sure he would be okay to leave everything and shift to Dubai.”

“True,” Mitali agreed, thinking hard. “But that was not the feeling I got that night when I was talking to her. The way she talked about Arnav… it just felt like she was with him for so long because it was convenient. But in light of the job offer and the opportunity to move abroad, the convenience became just the opposite.”

“But–”

Mitali pressed on. “Plus, since when did Myra have a problem expressing her views? If she really did have a problem with Arnav not marrying her, then she would have made a big deal about it before, no?”

“Well, she didn’t have a chance to make the marriage thing a big deal before though, did she?” Sam replied. “Arnav Bhai wasn’t always this sorted.”

“What do you mean?” Khushi asked sharply. 

“Oh you know with the restaurant failing, him not finishing his cooking school… he was a mess to be quite honest.”

Of all the things she found out that evening, this had to be the most shocking. Khushi couldn’t make head or tails of what she was hearing. Arnav was in culinary school? And yet, it all vaguely made sense. The ease he had while working in the kitchen that morning, the familiarity he had with cooking, the confidence with which he served the omelettes… of course he was a chef. 

“Bhabhi?” Sam called, touching her shoulder gently. “What’s wrong?”

Khushi stared at the two girls. There was no way she could lie her way out of this one, they would know instantly that her façade of a happy marriage was far from reality. 

“Nothing,” Khushi murmured, not knowing what to say. “I just…”

“We are so stupid,” Sam said suddenly, slapping her forehead. “All this Myra talk must be the last thing you’d want to hear… sorry for being so insensitive Bhabhi.”

Mitali looked at her lap, slightly ashamed. “It’s my fault… I really shouldn’t have brought it up.”

Khushi shook her head. “No, I insisted on talking about her, remember? And really, I am fine with it… it’s actually nice to hear it said out loud, you know? Lavanya and Anjali walk on eggshells every time Myra is mentioned.”

 The two girls exchanged looks. 

“Yeah,” Sam muttered, still guilt-ridden. “I heard them debating whether to tell you about her when you and Bhai got married…”

Khushi pondered that, wondering if things would have been better if they indeed came clean to her about their brother’s girlfriend in the early days. She would have taken it all in, no doubt, like she was trained to without uttering a single word. But she didn’t know how she would feel about it. 

“Well things like this don’t stay hidden,” Mitali murmured.

“No,” Khushi agreed with a sigh. “They don’t…”

“Doesn’t it bother you?”

Khushi looked at Mitali, not really sure if the question was posed to her. “Err… what doesn’t bother me?”

“Doesn’t it bother you that Arnav has an ex? And that he was pretty serious about her?” she asked.

Khushi turned her gaze away, thinking hard. Logically speaking, it should bother her. And she knew that was the answer they were expecting. But did it really? 

For so long in her life, she believed it was best to accept things the way they were, for they could always be worse. At least, that was what her mother without failed told her. Be happy your father let you pursue medicine, she used say. If she was alive today, she would probably also say, be happy Arnav and Myra are over. Nowhere in that equation, did Khushi’s feelings ever matter. 

That’s probably why she didn’t have an answer now. 

“I don’t know,” she finally admitted. “I mean it’s obvious that this whole break-up thing has messed with Arnav’s mind… and at times I don’t know how to deal with it…”

“You don’t have to be nice Bhabhi,” Sam said gently. “I’m sure you felt a million times why you got stuck with someone else’s screw ups.”

Khushi shrugged. She felt that about everything in her life, particularly the decisions her father had made. Next to that, Arnav’s decision to marry her despite having such a complicated history wasn’t all that bad. 

“Considering how or why Arnav and I ended up here won’t change the fact that we are here,” Khushi said, more to herself than them. 

Mitali wasn’t convinced. “How much has Arnav even told you about all this?”

“Not much,” Khushi confessed, unable to avoid Mitali’s shrewd gaze. “But to be fair, I didn’t really ask him either… we both didn’t get married in the easiest of circumstances.”

“So then… how do you deal with it?” Sam asked, confused.

“We deal with it as it comes,” she replied with a humourless laugh. “Baby steps you know?”

Sam nodded. “I know you have Lavanya Di and all, but if you ever need a break from all this, you can come over any time, okay? I promise I won’t ask you anything, we can literally just watch TV together…”

Khushi was touched. “I’d like that very much.”

Mitali smiled too, albeit a little forcibly. Khushi could tell she wanted to talk more about her relationship with Arnav but kept quiet for the sake of the conversation. There was a lot of sense behind her blabber mouth, it seemed, something that Khushi was pleasantly surprised with. 

So looking at the both of them, Khushi said, “And thank you for telling me so much about Myra.” 

“No, we should be thanking you,” Sam replied instantly. “For being so gracious… and non-judgemental. All these days I thought you didn’t know about Myra… but you did, and you still didn’t say anything. I would have called it quits if I was in your place!”

Mitali nodded furiously in agreement. “Seriously Khushi… you have no idea how special you are for all of us. It’s such a relief knowing that Arnav has gotten a wife who finally understands him…”

Guilt pooled deep in the pit of Khushi’s stomach. 

If she really meant the world to you then why don’t you try being a man and win her back?

If everything she heard today was true –and she was pretty sure it was– then Myra was not the saint Khushi had thought she was and nor was Arnav, the criminal. How could she have judged him so wrongly? How did she even think that the man who had selflessly tried to make her life better could be the one responsible to break another woman’s heart? She had blamed him for not understanding her, but how was she any better than him? 

Khushi cleared her throat, trying hard not to drown in remorse.

“If you don’t mind,” she said timidly. “Can I ask you girls one last thing?”

“Of course!” Sam replied. 

“If Arnav wanted to be a chef, why did he take over the company?”

It was the final piece of the puzzle that was missing, and since they had nothing better to do, they might as well discuss it. Anything to keep the regret at bay.

Mitali was the one who answered. “Shankar Uncle had a stroke remember… so I’m sure he felt obliged to take over the company to make his father happy.”

“But you said he had a restaurant?” Khushi interjected. “What happened to that?”

“It’s a long story,” Sam said taking a deep breath. “Since time immemorial, Bhai and Bade Papa didn’t get along… their fights were legendary, apparently. And it only got worse when Bhai decided to become a chef. He even enrolled in a cooking school after his university, but halfway through it, he quit and opened his own restaurant... for whatever reason, that didn’t do very well. So he ended up selling it less than a year later.”

Wow. That was all Khushi could think of as she tried to process it all. 

“It killed him though… I can never forget the look he had on his face the day his restaurant closed. I honestly thought he will never ever cook again…”

“Same here,” Mitali agreed. “It was such a pleasant surprise seeing him bustling in the kitchen this morning.”

Khushi couldn’t help but recollect Lavanya’s words from not too long ago. 

Imagine what it must have felt like seeing your father almost paralyzed in the hospital, not being able to even get down from the bed to use the bathroom and yet the only thing that he worried about was the company, the company for which he sold your mother’s jewelry to start?

Imagine what it must have felt like, knowing that your father has put you in charge of his life’s hard work, and mind you, it’s the same father you neglected, and walked away from when he needed you the most, but still, he placed his faith in you. How would it feel to know you are letting him down?  

Khushi bit her lip, being suddenly reminded of the feeling of claustrophobia that overwhelmed her when her father abruptly announced that she was going to get married last September. Perhaps what Lavanya had said was indeed true. Perhaps Arnav didn’t marry her out of greed. Perhaps it was his last resort. 

As the reality of that sunk it, Khushi distantly heard leaves rustling as muffled footsteps hastily approached them. The three girls stood up anxiously, not a single one of them daring to believe it could be their family. Then out of nowhere, Mitali screamed:

“BHAGI!! YOU FOUND ME?!” 

Sure enough, Khushi saw Bhagi step into the clearing, holding up his phone for light. 

“See?” Mitali told a relieved looking Sam. “I told you Bhagi would come!”

And then she took off, running straight into his arms. “Thank god you came!”

But Bhagi was nearly not as pleased as her. “What the hell were you thinking?!” he fired as soon they broke apart. “I toldyou the trails weren’t marked, so why on earth would you come this far into the forest?!”

“We got lost–”

“Thank god Arnav could trace the last spot you had signal! If not–”

And that’s when Khushi noticed the silent figure of Arnav, calmly standing behind his furious cousin. Upon catching her eye, he quietly made his way towards her.

“Are you okay?” he asked. 

Khushi nodded, unable to meet his eyes. “I didn’t think you would come.”

“Because we are still not on talking terms?” he teased in a whisper.

She shrugged, not knowing what to say, causing Arnav to chuckle. 

“Oh Dr. Gupta,” he said, interlocking his hand with hers. “That ship has sailed. Come, let’s go home.”

___________________________________________

So Khushi is finally asking questions… it only took 35 chapters, but at least she managed to get here 😂 What do you think she will do next?

Please like & comment!

Archi

P.S. - AD is still quite busy at the moment... I will update by next Wednesday at the very latest. Thank you for being patient 😊

Wow. This update was really an eye opener for both Khushi and I. 

Khushi now has some very crucial information about Arnav and Myra and from the looks of it, she’s come to understand a lot of things. I feel an apology coming from her end which is rightfully needed and this whole Myra revelation has somehow helped her understand Arnav more than Myra. I feel that Khushi will talk to Arnav about going back to the culinary arts since unlike Myra, she truly noticed and appreciated his love and passion for cooking (from as simple a dish as an omelette). She pretty much knows almost everything related to Arnav and Myra except the abortion bit which only Arnav can disclose to her. I can’t wait for Arnav and Khushi to reach that level of trust and confidence and comfort in each other for them to openly discuss Myra without feeling any kind of pain. 

Sam and Mitu were a great way of addressing your readers’ point of views because while one simply disliked everything Myra did, the other was reasonable about why Myra might’ve made those choices. Kinda like how we come at you with our views on her lol.  Despite all of that, they seem cool and fun and I hope Khushi gets to spend more time with them. Maybe she might just look forward to her next time meeting these girls :). I like them more than Anjali and Lavu. 

Okay now to pen my thoughts on Myra. Just like Khushi, I did put some puzzle pieces together that I have connected using this and past chapters. Okay so this is my theory: Myra sees Arnav is well off and very VERY interested in her, decides to get In a relationship with him. Years pass, they move in. She loves the fact that she’s moved into his posh apartment and enjoys the lavish things. Arnav did everything for her and even attested that even tho they’re not married, she is nothing short of a wife to him. Okay so his culinary experience isn’t all that successful and she starts feeling threatened now because she’s technically more well off than him (job and having an income). Still she doesn’t let the whole marriage thing be that big of an issue so Arnav mainly has no clue that she’s facing issues at home. Now, she gets a job offer in Dubai. more opportunities for her to do good. At that point, she feels Arnav is basically a failure. She decides to take the offer and deliberately gets into an argument with him the next day and puts the entire blame on him and uses marriage as a way to force or entice Arnav to say mean things to her and as if on cue, breaks up with him on the spot as if that’s what she was waiting for. Arnav feels like he’s the bad guy here. okay then that phone call, and just driving away making sure he had one glance at her can mean that she couldn’t accept the fact that Arnav had moved on and how dare he start a new life. So maybe she made sure she left him guessing on a lot of things so he doesn’t have a good start with khushi. okay girl my head is spinning. And that pregnancy, hmm maybe it’s Arnav’s maybe it’s not. But that phone call could’ve meant so many things. Like hey I still “love” you and I was pregnant with your child and what not or idk maybe just a way to say a final good bye. Or maybe for him to leave his newly wedded bride  behind and come running to her to show her that she still had some control over him. 

Phew. As always, can’t wait for you to continue!!

Bizzy 

35 chaps to ask questions 🤣

Pata nahi Khushi ka kya hoga😋

Its good that she is getting to know what all Arnav faced. 

I wish you update more😋

Great update, what will happen next