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It's literally been forever since I've written anything, so forgive me if I'm a bit rusty. I was listening to this song for the millionth time the other day when it struck me that the lyrics fit perfectly with ArHi. After a lot of forcing myself to stop being lazy and start typing, this chapter was born. I want to make it a series of one-shots, and to do one chapter on each and every (and I mean EACH and EVERY) one of the couplets in the song, that is if you guys want me to *hint hint* comment *hint hint* 😆
Chapter 1:
Tarq-e-talluqat pe roya na tu na main...
Tick. Tick. Tick.
The clock hanging on the side of the wall was ticking in an infuriating manner, its each sound reverberating through the silent bedroom. With each tick, Khushi's already irate brain fell into more and more irritation, and it took her all her self-control to not get up and just smash the damn thing to pieces.
Because no matter how annoying it was, it wasn't the clock's fault that she couldn't fall asleep. The blame for that fell squarely on the shoulders of the man lying just a few feet away from her on the lounger, blissfully asleep and unaware of her growing restlessness.
Come on Khushi Kumari Gupta, she told herself angrily. You fell asleep in seconds out there in the cold next to the pool. So what's the problem now?
But for some reason, sleep seemed to evade her even when she was lying on a large, comfortable bed. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that she was now in the same room as her infuriating husband.
What the hell is his problem anyway? Why is it so hard for him to just finish his damn sentences?
First it was the "faraq padta hai" fiasco that had blown away her sleep and kept her up at nights. And now he had to go and come up with a whole new problem.
Iss pyaar mein sahi or ghalat ka koi matlab nahin hai. Sirf ek cheez ka matlab hai. Ke hamesha main tumse...
What had he been going to say? What was it that he had nearly poured out of his heart in the heat of the moment? Did she dare believe that it was the same thought which she nearly blurted out to him not two days ago?
Yaqeen nahin aata ke aap wohi insaan hain jinse humne...
Maybe this was Devi Maiyya's way of getting back at her. Perhaps this was her punishment for not completing that sentence.
But no, that couldn't be it. Arnav's incomplete thought had her staring at the clock in frustration, willing herself to fall asleep. But he definitely wouldn't have lost any sleep contemplating what it was that she was going to say before she stopped herself. And besides, she didn't have to finish what she was saying! She didn't owe him any explanations! Whereas he owed her a whole bunch...
She stopped wallowing in self-pity for a moment as she heard a rustling noise coming from the direction of the lounger. She closed her eyes and leaned back onto her pillow.
Arnav stood there for a minute or two, not moving as far as she was aware, and she tried to slow her breathing to make it seem as though she had finally caught ahold of the elusive sleep. Apparently she succeeded, because the next thing she knew, the door to the poolside was sliding open and he stepped out of the room, closing the door in his wake.
She tried to tell herself that it didn't matter why he was awake at this time of night, but curiosity got the better of her in the end and she slowly sat up in bed, peering out through the glass doors.
What she saw warmed her heart. There was Arnav Singh Raizada, gazing up at the stars with the most peculiar expression on his face. He seemed to be confused about something, his furrowed brows told that much. But his eyes held a sadness which had her unable to move, and suddenly, Khushi had no doubt that he was missing the only people besides his sister whom she had ever seen him grieve for her. His parents.
A rush of affection coursed through her, and before she knew what she was doing, she was on her feet and walking towards the poolside.
***
Arnav looked to the glass doors in surprise as he heard them slowly sliding open. There stood his wife, clad in her pink shalwar kameez, her long hair swept into a hasty ponytail and her face a picture of concern.
She stepped towards him and sat down next to him on the floor, and he quickly turned back to the stars, pretending as if her presence wasn't wreaking havoc on his senses.
"Couldn't sleep?" She asked softy and he nodded, not looking at her. "You know, I sort of miss sleeping out here by the pool."
His eyes finally met hers and he looked at her incredulously. "What?"
She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine without the cold and the hard floor, thank you very much." His mouth turned up at the side as she went on. "It's just that when I slept out here I was under the open sky. You know I'm scared of the dark, but I never felt afraid out here. I felt as though the stars were keeping watch over me."
He turned his gaze back to the sky. "Your parents." he said simply.
She nodded. "Back at Buaji's house, I would always sit outside on the charpai in the backyard whenever I couldn't fall asleep. And then I would talk and talk to my parents until I was sure that they if they could, they would come back from the dead just to tell me to shut up."
He smiled, a genuine smile albeit a small one. "You just need an excuse to starting talking Khushi Kumari Gupta."
"Singh Raizada," she added on in a half-hearted joke.
As if he needed reminding, he thought bitterly. "You told me once that my parents would only be happy if they saw that I was happy." He begain, and she turned towards him, her eyes questioning. "Do you think your parents are happy right now?"
She sighed heavily, leaning back against the wall. "Of course they are. Why wouldn't they be? I got married into a nice family, to a rich, powerful man. Isn't that what every parent wants for their daughter?"
He gazed at her intently, willing her to look at him, but she kept her eyes glued to the sky. "Your parents know the truth, even if no one else does."
"Then they also know that getting sad or feeling piteous isn't going to help anybody."
"Still," he pressed on, not knowing why her refusal to acknowledge her pain was making him so emotional. It shouldn't matter to him whether she had given up or not. He should be happy in fact, that she had decided to give in without a fight. And yet, something kept nagging him in the back of his mind. "Don't you think your parents would be worried that their daughter was forced into forever being trapped in a loveless marriage?"
"I don't think they would mind," she said in a voice that made Arnav want to pick her up and take her away from whatever anguish caused her to sound like this. "Besides, forever only lasts for 6 months right?"
Their eyes met, and for a second it seemed as though time had stopped. He gazed into her eyes, trying to figure out what was going through her mind, but all he saw was the veiled sadness that seemed to be omni-present there ever since their hasty marriage.
He didn't know how long they sat there staring at each other, both trying to fathom what the other was thinking, but he finally broke away from her gaze.
"I'm tired." He muttered before stepping back into the bedroom. He didn't miss the irony of what he had said; there was no way that he was going to be able to go back to sleep now.
Laikin yeh kya ke chein se soya na tu na main
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