OS: A Poolside Proposal, note on pg 14

Posted: 12 years ago
For Nancy (lexaxel) who hearts the Raizada poolπŸ˜†

OS: A Poolside Proposal


"Marry me!" It was less of a question, more of a statement.
 
Khushi whirled around at the sound of his voice. His gazed was fixed on hers with such intensity that it scared her. She lowered her eyes for a second. Then she turned back around to the french windows she'd been staring out of. They were by the pool in his home. Payal and Akash's engagement had just happened. Everyone was in the living room eating dinner and chatting. Khushi had escaped at an opportune moment.
 
She needed some air. She felt cloistered in there. In that room. With that man staring at her all the time. Having to pretend everything was alright. When in fact, nothing was OK. Nothing. She had never loved Shyam. But she had believed in his sincerity. Her family's trust in him had been the sole reason to consent to an engagement that she knew would never make her happy. Now that trust was gone. She was free of a relationship that she had never wanted in the first place. But her family's happiness was at stake. She couldn't stand to have them hurt. They had rallied around her. But she knew they were worried about Payal's engagement. She felt like she was the harbinger of bad luck for Payal. And she had determined that this time, Payal's wedding would happen. If that meant not exposing Shyam's actions to his wife and her family, so be it. It was wrong, and she knew it. And she was prepared to face the consequences at a later date. For now, she just wanted to get through this evening.
 
"Did you hear me Khushi Kumari Gupta? I said, marry me!" said ASR imperiously.
 
"I heard you. I thought you mistook me for Lavanya. She's in the living room. And she's already agreed to marry you. Remember?" said Khushi without turning around.
 
"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" he held her by the arms and whirled her round to face him. She pushed his arms off angrily. "Don't manhandle me. I've had enough of being used by men!" she snapped.
 
His eyes narrowed. "Is that what he did? Your fianc? Did he hurt you? What did he do to you dammit? I'll kill him. I'll kill the bas***d."
 
"Let it go. Please. I have. I'm hungry. I'm going back to get some food."
 
"Not until you answer me."
 
"What is it that you want ASR? I'm exhausted. I can't do this anymore. I can't fight with you anymore. Please. Leave me be."
 
"Marry me Khushi!" he said softly. He looked into her eyes as he said it. They were luminous pools of genuine shock at that moment.
 
"Rubbish! You're getting engaged and I'm.." her voice trailed off.
 
"Let me be clear. I'm not getting engaged. At least, not to Lavanya. I broke up with her yesterday. As for your engagement. I don't care if you are engaged to someone else. Break it off! I know you don't love him. He clearly hurt you, for which I will gladly break his face someday. But for now, I'll settle for you agreeing to marry me. Please, Khushi."
 
"No." She turned away and made to walk away. He held her hand tightly, not letting her go.
 
"Why not? You know you want to," He said.
 
"Forget my feelings. Why do you want to marry me?' she asked angrily.
 
"Because you haunt my dreams, and waking up to a reality without you every day is like living life in black and white. Stark. Colorless. Unlivable, essentially,"
 
"Huh? In English please," she said, looking puzzled.
 
He sighed. This was one of her most endearing traits. A total lack of understanding of the concept of subtlety. With Khushi Kumari Gupta you had to lay your cards on the table. No gentle hints worked with her. "Because you make me happy. Now, are you happy? I said it," he said, a little angry at having his hand forced thus.
 
"I make you happy?" she cocked an eyebrow. "You mean like when you yell at me for, oh, I don't know, breathing? That makes you happy? Or when you taunt me about my poverty? That makes you happy? Screaming at me for trying to help Lavanya? That makes you happy? You are such a sadist. But, I'm not a masochist. I don't enjoy inflicting pain on myself. So, the answer is No. Now, will you please let me go. I'm not marrying you. Or anyone else, for that matter. I've had it with men!" she tried to wrench her hand away.
 
"You're not getting married? Your engagement was called off?" he asked, intensely curious, his heart racing suddenly.
 
"I broke it off. But that doesn't mean I'm marrying you! I'm not. Will you let me go. Don't be such a caveman!" she said, tugging on her wrist in vain.
 
"Not until you let me answer your questions. Want to know how you make me happy? You make me happy when you come in to work every morning with a sunny smile playing on your lips. You make me happy when you make my family laugh with your ridiculous antics. You make me happy when you bring me a glass of cold milk for my poor, ulcerated insides. You make me happy when you find a silver coin in a bag of detergent and dance around with glee. You make me happy when you laugh that silvery laugh of yours, when you're teaching Lavanya to cook. Or talking to Di about something. Or telling Nani how Lakshmi loves gulab jamuns. And I want to be the one to make you laugh. To put that smile on your face. I want to make you happy, because your happiness is entwined with mine. In fact, it's the same thing. Your joy is mine. Seeing you happy, makes me happy. Now, for heavens' sakes Khushi, marry me!"
 
"No!"
 
"Why not?"
 
"Because I don't want to," She said stubbornly.
 
"Oh! You totally want to. I don't know why you're holding back. But it's not because you don't want to," he said letting go of her. She stepped away, rubbing her wrists where he'd held her tightly.
 
"I don't!" she said indignantly. She backed away from him a little. He walked towards her purposefully. There was a fire shining in his eyes that she'd seen once before. At this very place. On Diwali night. She stepped back, alarmed. That hadn't ended well. But she had no place to go. And he kept coming towards her, and she kept stepping back. Until he had her backed her against the wall, just like that evening. Her eyes looked into his. Afraid. Expectant. Her lips quivered. Her heart pounded. She shivered a little. He put his hand up to her cheek, caressing it lightly. Her eyes closed, and she clutched at the sides of her dress with her hands to prevent them from going up to encircle his neck. He bent towards her lips, and she wanted it. She wanted him to kiss her. Now. His lips were almost on hers when he backed away. For a moment, she didn't know what had happened. Then her eyes flew open.
 
"You totally want to!" he said smirking at her obvious embarrassment.
 
"Go to hell!" she said, chest heaving.
 
"Marry me, and I'll take you with me."
 
"Flattering! That's what girls like. To be told they'll be taken to hell after marriage."
 
"So, that's a yes?" he asked doubtfully.
 
"No, you fool. It's a No."
 
"But why?" he pouted like a little boy who'd been thwarted.
 
"It's my life. Do I need to explain why I don't want to marry you?" she asked.
 
"You need to explain why you won't marry me even though you want to. There's a difference."
 
"Because I. Because I." she stopped, unsure of what to say.
 
"Because you what?" he asked. "You don't even have a good reason not to." He said gently.
 
"More importantly, I don't have a good reason to marry you!" she shot back.
 
"Khushi. I already said it. You make me happy. And I want to spend my life making you happy. What else do you want?" he asked exasperated.
 
"Do you love me?" she asked slyly, looking at him.
 
"Errm. Ummm. Sure. I guess." He said, cornered.
 
"You guess? You guess? This is why I won't marry you. I don't want to marry a man who guesses he loves me!"
 
"Like you're sure you love me!" he asked angrily.
 
"You know I do!" she said quietly.
 
"Dammit Khushi. If you love me why won't you marry me?"
 
"Because you haven't said you love me."
 
"Does everything have to be spoken out loud? Surely you know how I feel about you? I go crazy when I don't see you for an entire day. I worry when you're late coming in to work, or your sister calls saying you haven't gotten home yet. Your tears disturb me. Your bleeding finger hurts me. The thought of another man touching you sickens me. And the idea of you marrying anyone but me is incomprehensible to me."
 
"So, you love me?" she asked doubtfully.
 
"Yes, baba. Now, marry me."
 
"Are you asking me or telling me?"
 
"Are you going to, or do I have to make you?" he countered.
 
"Either way, looks like we're getting married," she said.
 
"That's a yes, right?" he asked, wanting to make sure.
 
"Yes, it's a yes. Let's go tell everyone. I want to tell Jiji!" she exclaimed excitedly.
 
"Not so fast. We have some unfinished business," he pulled her close.  "This pool has witnessed too many almost kisses and near hugs. I want a bone-crushing hug and a kiss to melt the ice-caps!" he said.
 
"After all these months of blowing hot and blowing cold on me, suddenly, you're all about making your intentions crystal clear!" she said exasperatedly, throwing her hands around his neck. "Now, where were we?" she smiled up at him.


I thought today's episode was awesome. I crushed on ASR a little more than usual. So, this OS was born. Tell me what you think folks. 😊

Cheers!
Vidhya

My other works:

FF: Highway to Hell






 
 
Edited by madmaxine - 12 years ago
Posted: 12 years ago
Vidhya, this was amaaazing. 

This really needs to happen in the show, I loved the straightforwardness in Arnav's voice. Loved this one shot! (: Keep them coming!

--Garima
Edited by -Garima- - 12 years ago
Posted: 12 years ago
Hey Vidhya! 
This was soo good! Loved how Arnav was so persistent. If only this happened in the show *sigh* 
Loved it! :D
Edited by reyabear - 12 years ago
Posted: 12 years ago
OMG dear this was simply Amazing!!! Loved the bitter sweet dialogues between Khushi and Arnav!!! Would totally love to see this scene portrayed in the show!! It was intense, subtle and romantic!!! I loved reading it from beginning to end!!! And it made me laugh at how they just kept retorting back at each other..neither one backing down!! Well u can say that i Loved this OS!! Excellent OS!!!πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘
Posted: 12 years ago
Asr very  persistent  I love the way she is standing up for herself

I am glad finally they hug and kiss

Thanks for such nice os

And also for the pm
Posted: 12 years ago
freakin' awesome ! kept me hooked..Great job Vidhya!
Posted: 12 years ago
Thanks for the PM. Loved it so much. The dialogues were awesome and I love that Arnav didn't give up easily πŸ˜ƒ
Posted: 12 years ago
Awesome OS! The back and forth between them was cute πŸ˜†

xoxo
Aanya
Posted: 12 years ago
very cute... reminded me of some of my favourite mills and boons stories tht i had read as a kid :)

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